Athkatla

Athkatla is the capital city of Amn. Considered a pilgrimage site for followers of Waukeen, the City of Coin is rumoured to have streets paved with gold. This is, of course, untrue, especially in the slums and the notorious Docks districts, where people are poor and crime is rife.

Just about anything goes in Athkatla and actions that would be illegal or immoral in other lands are tolerated. The law permits nearly anything including lewdness and slavery.

Government
Athkatla is ruled by the Council of Five (formerly the Council of Six). Although council positions were once held anonymously, the council members now rule openly. The five council positions are held by: House Selemchant who sponsors the Cowled Wizards of Athkatla, House Dannihyr which belongs to the Shadow Thieves, House Alibakkar, House Ophal and House Nashivaar which is closely allied with the Church of Cyric.

Waukeen's Promenade
The market of Athkatla, named Waukeen's Promenade, is twice the size of Waterdeep's and in it you can buy any item found above-ground (and some from below) for a price. The promenade itself is found right in the center of the city and built as an open, oval stadium surrounded by terraced, 50 ft. walls. It has four stories, each 75 ft. wide with the upper levels providing shade for the lower ones. Each story is accessible from wide ramps leading from the story below. Illegal goods are hard to come by in the promenade as it is patrolled regularly, though contacts for such items abound. It is cheaper to trade in other areas of the city, but it would vastly lower the merchant's and buyer's reputation if seen doing so.

History
The city was founded around 100 DR by the Shoon Empire along with Murann and Crimmor with mostly Calishite immigrants, in what was then known as "the emirate of Amin". The Empire fell and in 460 DR, Amn became an independent nation with the city of Esmeltaran as its capital city (despite Athkatla being the oldest and most established city).

The nation was blessed with peace and prosperity for over 700 years, a period during which the rulers of Amn initiated trade with the far north. Money became the center of every good Amnian citizen's world, and the nation's taste for accumulating wealth corrupted many of the mercantile classes.

Things got worse from 1238 DR forward as every three or four decades saw a trade war erupt that would last for two or three years at a stretch. The worst one came in 1333 DR when all trade in or out of Amn was stopped. A young merchant from Athkatla named Thayze Selemchant had just inherited a rich spice-importing business and the most affluent trading house in the city. He refused to allow this trade war to squash the wealth and power he would inevitably gain from his inheritance, so he personally went out and "persuaded" (using his intelligence, charisma, secret powers of magic and the third largest personal fortune in the country) five other Amnian merchant house leaders into forming a new government that wouldn't be so susceptible to these trade wars. The attempt succeeded and peace reigned once more (though only with a compact of mutual nonaggression with the Shadow Thieves). The new "Council of Six" was based in Athkatla and the city became Amn's new capital and busiest trade port on the Sword Coast.

More recently, as the last free port in Amn, Athkatla has become the hub for nearly all the trade from Maztica although contact with Maztica ended when the entire continent was transported to Abeir during the Spellplague in 1385 DR.

Appearances
(Non-canon): The city featured in the 2000 computer game Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, as an initial setting for the player to collect quests and equipment.