Athkatla, the City of Coin, is the capital, oldest city, and mercantile and social center of Amn. As the seventh busiest port city of Faerûn, business is its lifeblood, and anything or anyone can be bought or sold here. The law here is often blinded by the glint of gold.

Who Rules:

The Council of Six.

Who Really Rules:

The Council and the Shadow Thieves.

Population:

Varies by season: minimum of 130,000 natives during the winter and spring, with well over 400,000 in the summer (90% human, 10% other).

Major Products:

Every product traded in the Realms Above (and many from Below, the Underdark) is available in this city-for a price.

Armed Forces:

A garrison of 4,000 men led by Captain Beelars Orhotek (Lawful Evil, Human Fighter Level 15), with the small Council Navy (eight ships and crews, 900 trained sea-warriors). Each of the major mercantile houses and families of the city controls from 100 to 500 (legal maximum) guards.

Notable Mages:

Any wizards of notable skill are either puppets of the Council or are well hidden.

• Vynmarius (Chaotic Evil, Human Wizard Level 11), one of few wizards openly known in Amn, emanates an aura of distrust and menace. He is feared as a well-known agent for the Council of Six (and, some say, for the Cult of the Dragon).
• Puhrain Bollivar (Lawful Evil, Half-Elf Wizard Level 9), a guarded woman in her late 40s, is known as a book peddler and odds-taker in the Quill District of Athkatla. She is secretly a diviner and an agent (and lover) of the Council's Tessarch.

Notable Clergy & Churches:

Given the symbols of Waukeen (pearls or coins) stamped into many doors and signboards in Athkatla, nearly every street comer there could be considered a shrine to the Coin Goddess.

• Arbalest's House, monastery and temple to the god Milil on the hills north of Goldspires and the harbor. The mysterious Patriarch of Song (Neutral Good, Priest of Milil Level 20) oversees developments. This temple is significant for three reasons: It was Milil's place of rest during the Time of Troubles; it houses the mighty organ called the Bellows of Milil, which can be heard well out into the harbor; and Milil himself made a gate linking this temple and the bards' college of New Olamn in Waterdeep.
• The Dome of the Rose, monastery and temple to Lathander in the city's Gem District. Mornmaster Thaddin Dawnhunter (Lawful Neutral, Human Priest of Lathander Level 11), a quiet, pious priest with little trade-sense, oversees other priests, monks, and followers. The three-story temple hall is capped with a dome of rose tinted glass that glows at dawn during morning song and prayer services.
• Moonhall, seven-sided conical temple to Selûne in the Wave District near the waterfront. High Priestess and Lunar Aryn Gallowglass (Lawful Good, Halfling Priest of Selûne Level 14), an aged half-sister of the tyrant Ernest Gallowglass of Tethyr, is a shrewd business woman with three trade ships to her name. She puts most profits back into a temple fund.
• Many small, opulent shrines honor Chauntea, Talos, and Umberlee; one lone shrine is Ilmater's. Quite a few hidden cellar-shrines are for Cyric, Mask, and Ibrandul.

Notable Rogues & Thieves' Guilds:

The Shadow Thieves. Also, the Harpers, the Rundeen, and the Zhentarim Keep agents posted in the city.

Equipment Shops:

Full.

Adventurers' Quarters:

• The Mithrest Inn:

  old, cultured, stylish, with much pride and attention lavished on the comforts of each guest.

  Quality/Price: Excellent/Expensive.

• The Five Flagons Tavern:

  new, clean, busy drinking establishment with every known drink on Faerûn served here.

  Quality/Price: Excellent/Expensive.

• Den of the Seven Vales Festhall/Inn:

  new, clean, large establishment that caters to adventurers and foreigners. Queries on the confusing name of the inn (no seven vales are nearby) are met with a wry smile: "It served to bring ye in, no?"

  Quality/Price: Fair/Expensive.

• The Seas' Bounty Festhall/Inn/Tavern:

  old but kept up, prides itself on poor service, flat beer, and cold sandwiches (but good hot fish stew). This is the place of choice for monied Amnian youths to go slumming; the hook-handed owner, "Thumb," raised his prices to fit his new clientele.

  Quality/Price: Poor/Expensive.

• Silverale Hall Festhall/Inn/Tavern:

  one of the oldest in Athkatla, stone four-story building, good food and company, very clean and well-kept, busy but never crowded.

  Quality/Price: Excellent/Moderate.

• Delosar's Tavern:

  old, well-kept, short-staffed and frequented by town guards.

  Quality/Price: Fair/Moderate.

• The Adamantine Mug Tavern:

  established crowd of up-and-coming mercantile folk, clientele wary of new faces (until a round is bought for the house), a place to talk of noncommercial things.

  Quality/Price: Excellent/Cheap.

• The Copper Coronet Tavern:

  decrepit meeting place of smugglers and pirates.

  Quality/Price: Poor/Cheap.

Notable Characters:

• Prominent families: As in Waterdeep, powerful merchants here influence, control, or own nearly every business interest in the city. Among the most powerful Athkatlan families are the Alibakkars, Argrims, Bormuls, Colwyvvs, Gheldiegs, Jysstevs, Lurraxols, Ophals, Selemchants, Tanisloves, Vymmars, and the Zoars.

           Of course, the Council of Six counts as the most influential "family" in Athkatla. It controls most of the trade in Maztican gold, silver, spices, and food.

• Terlan Meregar (Neutral Evil, Human Fighter Level 0), property owner and agent in Athkatla, Murann, and Eshpurta. He sells property to anyone with no questions, though said property may lack a roof or complete walls. Terlan also sells good-quality property, but rarely for less than double-normal price.
• Hansol Ynnilross (Lawful Neutral, Half-Elf Priest of Milil Level 2), the proprietor of Silverale Hall: a skilled negotiator, able peacekeeper, failed bard, and expatriate scribe from Silverymoon.
• "Ebon" (Lawful Evil, Human Thief Level 4), a young man formerly of Amnwater, younger brother of Mistress Krigar of the Gilded Spur. "Ebon" (real name: Hepaq) has recently joined the Shadow Thieves and hopes he may soon return to Amnwater to kill the eversmug bully Lord Yhliivast.
• The Herald's office of Stars is held by Ankem Nhriil (Neutral Good, Human Bard Level 6), a young, golden-tongued bard on his first major posting.

Important Features:

         Athkatla is one of the busiest and oldest trade ports on the Sword Coast. Its buildings are generally well kept and rarely betray their age before they are eventually repaired or torn down and replaced.

         Of all the sights to see in the City of Coin, the most impressive is its huge marketplace. Twice the size of Waterdeep's Market and built as an open, oval stadium surrounded by terraced 50-foot walls, Waukeen's Promenade lies at the city's center and provides four 75-foot-wide levels for consumer and mercantile traffic. The upper levels provide some shade for lower ones. The most expensive areas for merchants are at the entry level on the ground or on the first terrace over the entry arches; these are often monopolized by the greater guilds and merchant houses, if not the Council's allied interests. Wide ramps lead up to the successive terraces where additional stalls and booths provide anything and everything from across the Realms. As the Promenade is constantly patrolled by the city guards while open, few illegal or magical items can be found here, though contacts for such abound; clandestine meetings are often planned here for unlawful business that takes place elsewhere. (It may be cheaper to shop or sell items elsewhere, but it lowers a person's perceived status to do so.)

The Citadels:

         These citadels, the strongest fortifications in Amn, were built centuries ago as Amn's primary northern defenses. Abandoned during times of peace, they have been rebuilt or improved twice in the past 800 years. Though the southern Citadel, Rashturl, is 400 years younger than its counterpart, their refurbishing in the late 1340s (against anticipated orc and baatezu attacks from Dragonspear Castle) made them nearly identical.

         Both citadels have outer walls 400 feet high, topped with crenelated walkways from which defensive troops can fire missiles. The lower 350 feet of each wall is carved from the mountain itself; the upper 50 feet is of fitted stone 6-10 feet thick. A gate or bridge on the narrow pass leading to each citadel blocks any chance of using the pass without the okay of the citadel. Each citadel garrisons 700 soldiers, 20 officers, and a citadel commander on permanent assignment, with room for an additional 1,500 soldiers if needed.

Citadel Amnur:

         Though named for the legendary general and prince, Amnur, who led Amn to freedom at the fall of the Shoon Empire, Citadel Amnur has not been a proud place of late. The previous commander was Endrick Hardlm (Neutral, Human Fighter Level 5), a bumbling, indecisive fool whose family's political connections got him the post. The best thing anyone could say of him was that his armor was well made and expensive (scale mail +4, shield +4). In autumn of the Year of the Gauntlet, this Citadel was attacked by an ancient red wyrm who toyed with the soldiers but ultimately ate only a few brave crossbowmen and seven horses while waiting for the cowardly Commander Hardlm to show himself.

         Immediately after the surrender and consumption of the commander, the red dragon was slain in a brief but savage battle with a blue dragon. The blue dragon ripped through the red's wings with her hind claws, and the red fell into a deep crevasse about 1 mile from the Citadel, impaled on shardlike rocks. The victor flew to the Citadel after the battle and introduced herself as Araugauthos the Bluetalon to Captain Arilan Krimmevol (Neutral Good, Human Fighter Level 6). Araugauthos had recently escaped a centuries long imprisonment and now simply sought information, which Captain Krimmevol gladly provided. After two tense tendays of daily discussions and recitations of history, the soldiers of this Citadel were relieved when Araugauthos left after clearing out the red dragon's lair and thanking the soldiers for their news about the Realms. Captain Krimmevol and his men approached the lair later to search for any missed items, and discovered a portable hole in a crack that held 12 short swords +1 and 12 shields +1 of dwarven make. Captain Krimmevol has spent the past year whipping his troops into shape, and they may soon rival the crack troops of the other citadel.

Citadel Rashturl:

         The only difference between the Citadels is Amnur's barbican gate and Rashturl's drawbridge across a 50 foot-wide chasm as the first lines of defense. Citadel Rashturl's commander is one of Amn's greatest heroes of the Dragonspear Wars of 1356 DR: Commander Reyni Delapond (Lawful Neutral, Human Fighter Level 10), a noted ogre- and baatezu-fighter with a never-say-die attitude that infects his troops. His leadership skills and personal charisma (Charisma 18) endear him to his troops, who would gladly die for him. The troops of Rashturl are the best in all of Amn, thanks to their commander's effective training in strategy, tactics, and history. Citadel Rashturl, though spartan, is a an assignment for any soldier.

Athkatla, Capital of Amn - Original Print Version

Athkatla, Capital of Amn - Baldur's Gate 2 Version