Government
Baldur's Gate is ruled by four grand dukes, the Council of Four. The rulers include Duke Eltan, leader of the Flaming Fist, Belt, a powerful warrior and divine spellcaster, Liia Jannath, a mage, and Entar Silvershield, the richest man in Baldur's Gate, but also a strong warrior in his own right. The Council is part of the Lords' Alliance, which includes Waterdeep, Neverwinter and Silverymoon, among others. However, with Neverwinter being wiped out by a plague whether this Alliance still exists or not is uncertain.
Baldur's Gate contains a very effective Thieves Guild, as well as a powerful and honest Merchant's League. Additionally, the Knights of the Shield and the Knights of the Unicorn are both active in the city. Various thieves guilds have risen and fallen in Baldur's Gate including Xantam's Guild and the Hands of Glory. Amn's Shadow Thieves are also known to be active in the city, although their local operations are believed to be strictly commercial.
Read more about this topic: Baldur's Gate (city)
Famous quotes containing the word government:
“Vanity is as advantageous to a government as pride is dangerous. To be convinced of this we need only represent, on the one hand, the numberless benefits which result from vanity, as industry, the arts, fashions, politeness, and taste; and on the other, the infinite evils which spring from the pride of certain nations, a laziness, poverty, a total neglect of everything.”
—Charles Louis de Secondat Montesquieu (1689–1755)
“Nor the tame will, nor timid brain,
Nor heavy knitting of the brow
Bred that fierce tooth and cleanly limb
And threw him up to laugh on the bough;
No government appointed him.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)