Down, Down, Down By the River: Let's Play Baldur's Gate 3

[Timrod]

Summary

: Welcome back to Baldur’s Gate 3! Today, we’ll clear out the two remaining zones in the Underdark.

: Not to mention killing a whole lot of duergar. Some of them we even kill twice.

: Our first destination is just to the right of where we found the fairy rings, at the far end of the explosive mushroom field.

: As soon as you step into the courtyard, the game puts you into turn-based mode. Let’s see what’s got that massive vision field.

: There are two turrets here, which will start firing magic missiles at anyone they have an unobstructed view of. They’re “sturdy”, meaning nothing short of a crit is going to damage them.

: If you know where you’re going, you can run someone who can jump (Karlach or Lae’zel) past the turrets and into an area where you can shut them off.

: Alternatively, you can go back to the sussur tree and grab a couple of its flowers. Because the turrets are magical, the flowers will shut them down.

: Due to a bug (which still isn’t fixed in Patch 8) the turrets will change their appearance to look activated if you drop a flower on them, but won’t actually be activated.

: This bug also makes them invincible. Fortunately, you get the experience for killing them even if they’re just disabled.

: The corner of the courtyard has a bunch of vendor items and a letter.

Dearest Yrre,

I don’t know if you’re coming back, if you’ll even read this message, but if you do come back, could you wait for me? I’ll only be gone a few tendays, but the thought of coming back to this empty tower, with nothing but Bernard to fill these halls.. I don’t know how much longer I can take this. I miss you. I miss you so much.

I can’t shake the thought of how different things might have been if only I’d been less stubborn. Working on your lightning inventions, my magic. Eating together. Laughing at your stupid puns. Waking up next to you. Despite everything, I still love you.

So please, if you read this, can you wait? I’ll be back. I won’t be long.

Forever yours,
Lenore

[A few sentences are penned below, in a different hand.]

I waited. I waited until Tarsahk. I’ll always wait for you, but you didn’t come.

: I almost cried at this part when I played it.

: We could go through the front door (it’s locked) but we really do not want to do that. Instead, we want to send Karlach down this path of mushrooms on the side of the tower.

: You can cast Feather Fall here to avoid taking 2 points of fall damage, but we’ll just take it since it’s easier than going all the way back and getting Lyselle.

: The intended solution is to have a wizard come down here using Enhance Leap and Feather Fall and then summon a mage hand to crawl through the pipe.

: Bashing through the door is always a solution until your wife finds out someone broke the back door.

: The bottom floor is an alchemy lab, and contains the first book we need to solve the puzzles here.

THE ANTIMAGIC PROPERTIES OF SUSSUR TREE FLOWERS
By L. De Hurst

For those knowing about sussur trees, their magical properties have always been a topic of debate; not only their ability to create an antimagic aura, which is complete enough that even those unattuned to the Weave can feel its effect, but also - and most interestingly to those living in the World Above - the ways its roots, bark, and flowers can be harnessed to make magic items.

Rumors of such items are rare, but spread in settlements bordering the Underdark. Their existence, however, has never been confirmed by any of our clerics, nor by any other reputable scholars. I hypothesised that these items are no mere legends, and indeed, in this treatise I will endeavour to explain how I myself created items that have antimagic properties, and that use the magical absorption of sussur tree flowers as a power source.

[ Lines have been drawn on the following pages, as if the author intended to fill them with writing, but the remainder of the thin book is blank.]

: There’s a power generator down here that asks for an item if we try to use it. The blue petals on the ground are also a clue.

: This makes the lights come on outside and disables all the turrets.

: It also powers the elevator, which we need in order to navigate the rest of the tower.

: What was her backup plan if the elevator ran out of power?

: That’s.. a good question. Clerics don’t have access to anything that would allow them to get through that pipe to flip the switch.

: This room has the mushrooms we need for Omeluum’s quest.

: It also has a book (hidden next to the supply pack) that we need to finish the tower.

[This threadbare book looks like it once contained a play, but most of it has been lost to time, vermin, and an unfortunate ink spill. Only two full sentences are distinguishable.]

How can I trust? How will I ever know?
How can I show myself, my darkest me?

: The next floor up is where we would have entered if Astarion had picked the front door.

: The reason you don’t want to do that is because there are two turrets in here, and the elevator wouldn’t be active.

: There is a book here that we do not want to read. It adds a trap option to a dialog puzzle coming up.

: You can fly through the hole in the floor to get to the next level, or just use the elevator.

: This ring is particularly important on honor mode for making a difficult religion check in Act 3.

: The desk has a letter and a book.

Dearest Lenore,

I’m not sure I should say this, but your last letter really worried me. Why in all Hells would you tame a bulette? Just because you found it near Myrna’s grave doesn’t mean that’s a sign. I’m really worried about you, Lenore. A bulette is not a pet. Using it as a guardian is one thing, but you sound quite taken by it. I know you don’t want to come back before you finish your research, but if you are feeling lonely, you know my door is always open.

Lots of love and hugs,
Amarith

P.S.: It really warms my heart to hear that you put the autumncrocus flowers on Myrna’s grave. I remember she liked to roll around in them, even though she’d always sneeze after. She was such a soft, loyal dog. I wish there was more I could do.

: We just killed her pet and used its zombified corpse to kill a bunch of people.

: It died doing what it loved: eating people.

: This book is two pages long and the relevant part is a single sentence, so I’ll just copy the relevant part.

Thunder and lightning, Enter Soreth
SORETH:
New sounds through damp and dark oppression break
Is it the foe, that foul, contemptuous heel?
Or art thou friend, a rescue from my lonely wake?
Come out of love for me, not love for blood and steel.

: This disc will cause Lae’zel to go bitch mode if she’s in the party. This is why I don’t bring Lae’zel anywhere.

Narrator: The disc is formed from slate and engraved with githyanki writing. You examine them closely, but can’t make much sense of them. Without a cipher or primer to aid you, the disc’s message could be near-impossible to discern.

1. Command the disc to reveal its secrets.
2. [INVESTIGATION] Seek a pattern in the writing.
3. Stash the disc in your pack.

Narrator: In your mind’s eye, the symbols trade places with each other until a clear pattern forms. And from that pattern, a story emerges.

The Prince of the Comet, Part One

So it was that we were free from ghaik shackles and turned our blades on each other. The heavens were shattered, and one great empire was divided in two. Gith travelled to the Hells to broker help for her people, her cause. Vlaakith would have you believe Mother Gith proclaimed her our queen.

Lies! Gith made no such proclamation. Vlaakith seized the empire against the Mother’s wishes. But Gith had nurtured a son. Orpheus, Prince of the Comet, the True Heir! He knew Vlaakith’s treachery. Orpheus rallied Gith’s honor guard and declared the throne for himself. The War of the Comet had begun.

Narrator: It’s an intriguing tale - and a forbidden one, given how expertly it was encoded. Lae’zel will surely want to know of this.

: If you have Lae’zel with you, the scene with the disc is very different. Lae’zel will refuse to read it because it’s considered blasphemy against Vlaakith.

: Assuming you’re having trouble, you can read this other gith slate to get advantage on the check.

: This button in the corner seemingly doesn’t work.. unless you’ve found a certain spot already, which I’ve intentionally skipped.

: This grave is behind the hook horrors. We could have used it earlier, but you get a special interaction if you read the letter on the desk.

Narrator: In memory of Myrna - a shining light in this dark world. May you forever gaze upon the lake you loved to play in.

1. Put a bundle of autumncrocus on next to the tombstone.
2. Dig up the grave.
3. Leave.

: At least we got to make her dog happy.

: And now it’s time to desecrate the grave so we can press that button.

: No.

: If you decide to dig the grave up, you get a dog collar that will make the button dispense a piece of steak if someone wears it.

: This page is the last one, and opens up an optional scene.

[The writing on this torn-out strip of paper is shaky and blotted with tears, making it barely legible.]

The silence stretches on - I’m all alone.
Please, can I hold your hands, for just a while?

: The next floor is the top floor, which has a potential boss fight in it.

: “New sounds through damp and dark oppression break / Is it the foe, that foul, contemptuous heel?”

: (It’s a good thing I read that book earlier.)

1. ‘Or art thou friend, a rescue from my lonely wake?’
2. Out of my way. I’m not interested in riddles.
3. I’m a friend. I come in peace.
4. I’m not foul or contemptuous, but I am a foe.
5. Attack it while it waits for an answer.

: Would we win this fight? Yes. Would it be worthwhile? No.

: “Or art thou friend, a rescue from my lonely wake?”

: “Come out of love for me, not love for blood and steel… command as you see fit, my lord, my liege.”

1. ‘How can I trust? How will I ever know? / How can I show myself, my darkest me?’
2. 'There is a light in every living thing. / It’s crawling t’wards the surface to survive.
3. 'The silence stretches on - I’m all alone. / Please, can I hold your hands, for just a while?
4. What is this place?
5. Who are you?
6. Leave.

: Option 2 is a trap option that causes the robot to immediately turn hostile. You only get it if you read the book I pointed out as being a trap.

: (Which one.. let’s try this.)

: “The silence stretches on - I’m all alone. / Please, can I hold your hands, for just a while?”

: “Of course, my love. Don’t be afraid, sweet girl. What can I do? Say, would you like a hug?”

1. Yes, please.
2. I’m fine, thanks.

: “Um.. yes?”

: “Come here. For just a moment. Let it out.”

: How sad do you have to be to build a robot to hug you?

Narrator: His arms are too tight and too low for a comfortable hug - as if he’s meant to be embracing someone slightly shorter.

: This message happens regardless of what race or gender combination you’re playing. If you’re playing as a small race, you instead get a message about his arms closing above your head.

: This means that Lenore was either a particularly short human or elf, or a particularly tall dwarf.

: “Remember: You are loved, Lenore. So much. You’re doing great. And everyone will be so proud of you. As I already am.”

: Doing this gives EXP as if we had killed Bernard. We still need an item from him, though.

: “How can I trust? How will I ever know? / How can I show myself, my darkest me?”

: “If you do not your deepest secrets show? Reveal your truth, give me what you wish to see.”

: Our reward is a ring that mostly exists for navigating Act 2 if you don’t have a caster in your party. It allows you to cast Light at will.

: It also dispels an illusion on the elevator that shows us the button for the basement.

: Before we go down, there’s a stool in the corner here we want to break.

: This gets us a club that sets the strength of whoever uses it to 19. Because it’s a club, anyone can use it - particularly people like Pollux who don’t really care about melee.

: Our last stop is this note over here that will give us one final interaction with Bernard. Speaking of which, you’ll notice the sussur flower placed in the back.

: If you do plan on fighting Bernard, you want to grab all the remaining flowers and put them next to the animated armors. This completely disables them.

: At that point, you either get the bulette and have it kill Bernard or push him out the window.

: The basement is largely superfluous - it’s a second location to find the potion ingredients for Omeluum if you somehow didn’t find them upstairs.

: Both ingredients make potions that aren’t the quest one, but they’re both useless for my purposes.

: The only other thing down here is this staff. In theory, it should be part of a pretty overpowered combination involving a ring you can buy off Volo, but due to a bug it’s not.

: The ring grants Bless for 2 turns if you heal someone, and then the staff doubles or triples the hit bonus. Unfortunately, the staff doesn’t work with the ring.

: Oh right, this ring is here too. It’s meant to be used with those boots that electrify water if you start your turn in it.

: We can also find Lenore’s diary, which tells us she disappeared ten years ago. There’s one more thing to grab on the way out, and it’s on the main floor.

: This chest has a gimmick where anything put into it will transform into a piece of dinnerware until it’s taken out. It was SUPER broken prior to about Patch 4.

: The chest used to randomly eat items and if you put gold into it, it would be deleted past a certain amount (which I believe was 21).

: From Patch 4 to I think Patch 5, the chest was a way to bypass carry weight because you could transform all your heavy stuff into spoons. They made the chest too heavy to pick up to stop you doing that.

: We’re done here. Time to go exterminate some duergar.

: We could just talk our way through it.

: Nothing has died yet and I’m bored.

: Back at the beach, Captain Pollux sets sail on his vessel, which.. apparently uses sails despite being in the underdark where there is no wind.

: Unfortunately, some duergar show up to crash the party. If you talked your way through the first duergar camp, you skip this part and get the EXP for free.

: “Elf! What are you doing on Gekh’s raft?”

: “Where’s Gekh? Who are you?”

1. [INTIMIDATION] In the name of the Absolute - you will let me pass.
2. [DECEPTION] I saw a body left by the myconids - your ‘Gekh’ must be dead.
3. Reach out to the Duergar’s parasite.
4. [ATHLETICS] Push the duergar into the river.
5. Attack.

: There’s no reason to fight these guys.

: They’re big blobs of HP who aren’t carrying much of value. Greymon in particular isn’t worth killing because he shows up at the duergar camp and is a trader.

: If you kill Greymon here, his inventory disappears. If you let him get to the duergar camp, you can kill him later and get all his stuff.

: If you do choose to fight (or are forced into it), the goal is to knock as many of the enemies into the water as possible.

: Pollux’s skills are so high right now that he can roll a 3 and make this DC 15 check. The intimidate check is a DC 10 and he’s guaranteed to make that unless he rolls a 1.

: Foregone conclusions like this are one issue I have with D&D as a system. Skills become kind of meaningless after a point because you’re guaranteed to make them unless you roll a 1.

: “Damn - the sergeant’ll be pissed about her boots. Come on - let’s get you to shore. You’re the one telling the sergeant what happened. The rest of you - keep patrolling. I’ll be heading back with this one.”

: Welcome to Grymforge. This is the penultimate area of Act 1, and can in fact be the last area you visit if you choose not to go past the gith in the mountain pass.

: The thing is, we really do not want to do that. There’s a boss at the start of Act 2, and how you fight him depends on the path you took. The underdark route is MUCH harder.

: Harder if you haven’t been saving explosives the entire game, maybe.

: “Well, I’ll be ploughed sideways - we got a welcoming party.”

: I have no idea why this cutscene glitched and put Karlach and Astarion here.

Morghal: “You shithead - time you showed up. We got trouble.”

: “Spit it out. Sergeant finally choked on True Soul Nere’s prick?”

Morghal: Drugh no. The Twat-Soul caused a rockfall. Trapped tighter than a ring on a fat finger."

: “You’re shitting me. He pay up?”

Morghal: That’s the trouble - he’s got the gold on him. Sergeant’s arm is falling off with all the gnome slaves she’s beating.

Morghal: “Who’s the hoon, Greymon - another slave for the dig?”

: I kinda hate when games do this - have bits and pieces of fantasy slang that don’t mean anything. That’s one thing Cyberpunk (the tabletop game) and Shadowrun did really well.

: Both of those games have extensive glossaries explaining all the slang they use, and everything’s consistent (if a little ridiculous and dated).

1. I am a True Soul. And you will treat me with respect.
2. I was told to report to the sergeant.
3. You keep slaves here?
4. Don’t worry about what I’m here for - I’ll be on my way.

: “Listen here, chummer. I’m a True Soul. You can shut the fuck up, or I can geek you right here and then plug myself in to the Matrix and upload my sick frag vid, which will only take four to six hours depending on which edition we’re playing because no one understands the Matrix rules.”

: Or alternatively,

: “Fuck off, choomba, unless you want me to flatline you. Now I’m gonna go do some coke because it’s perpetually 1985 depsite ostensibly being in the 2070s.”

: The choice is yours.

: For some reason, all the duergar in BG3 are psychic. This is fanfiction - duergar in the Monster Manual are not psychic.

Narrator: You feel the slightest of stirrings in your head. The duergar is not infected, yet your minds resonate.

Morghal: I’ll be - you ain’t shittin’. Felt the tingle. Your Twat-Soul chum owes us a load of coin. You want through? Make a donation.

1. Fine - take it.
2. I’m not giving you a single coin.
3. I’ll take your head before you take my gold.

Morghal: “Unclog your hole - just shitting around. But I’m warning you - that Twat-Soul ain’t settle up soon, there’ll be hell to pay for the lot of you cult-buggers.”

: We get 30 owlbears of experience - 450 for talking our way past the boat, and another 150 for talking our way past this fight. Astarion also gets an inspiration.

: The goal here is to understand that half the duergar are cultists, and the other half aren’t. We’re going to turn the half that aren’t on the half that are, and then kill the survivors.

: Of course, what fun would it be if we didn’t tip the scales a bit?

: Take this idiot standing here by himself. He’s an easy target - except for the spiders behind him who think he’s a god. They’ll join any fight on his side.

Lur Jox: “We need no ‘Lolth’ - no spider queen! Father Murmath is the head of Clan Lur. He hatched us, raised us, feeds us!”

Lur Xanta: “What care we for his business here? He keeps us small. Keeps us contained. We should be with the Spider Queen - revered, adored!”

: The only thing these spiders should be worried about is my boot once my wife finds them.

1. [RELIGION] Recall your learnings about the Spider Queen, Lolth.
2. Turning on your head-of-clan, are you? I’m sure that’ll end well.
3. Spiders for the Spider Queen. Seems logical.
4. See how this mutiny plays out.
5. Attack the nearest spider.

Narrator: You’ve read that harming spiders is illegal among Lolth’s faithful - and often punishable by death.

: “I’ve read that among Lolth’s faithful, harming spiders is punishable by death, because Lolth is really just Evil Hinduism.”

: We could kill the spiders, but why do that when there’s a perfectly stabbable cultist nearby?

: That’s one down on the cultist side. It’s funny to me that the game considers this guy to be worth nearly four owlbears in terms of experience value.

: Heh.

: Can you do anything with that? Surely there’s some interaction..

: Sadly, there isn’t. There’s not even a mod for it.

: Our next victims are these morons, who are busy throwing corpses into the river. If you killed any of the dwarves on the boat by knocking them off, their bodies will be here.

: Naturally, this is also where your party’s bodies will go if they get knocked off.

: You can talk to them and try to convince them to leave, or you can ambush them. One of them has a bomb - it’s the one that’s not this guy - so kill him first.

: That’s three cultists down.

: I didn’t realize we were already exterminating.

: Where the hell were you?

: Hunting down the video I made of when I did this the first time, where I made an elaborate explosive trap.

: There’s a ring on one of the dead gnomes. The duergar will eventually toss the corpse into the water, but we killed them fast enough that it’s still there.

: You may have noticed the massive double doors behind all the dead gnomes. We’ll come back for that because there’s a pretty nasty fight in there.

: These two aren’t cultists and presumably only didn’t notice the party killing the cultists by the shore because they’re too drunk.

: “Another round, Stickshit.”

: Why is he named after a Pokemon?

: “Pisspot.”

: “You flirt. Now jump to it, or it’s up the lift and straight to the shadows.”

: “If I was that slave, I’d be tempted to add a dash of something poisonous to their drinks.”

: It would admittedly be amusing to just kill these two, but I’m not passing up a second opportunity to poison booze.

: “True Soul, yeah? Tell the sergeant we won’t move a pebble.”

1. Your captive is most entertaining. How might I get one of my own?
2. I heard a True Soul was trapped. Shouldn’t you be helping?
3. You disgust me, slaver. How do you live with yourself?
4. Leave.

: “I heard a True Soul was trapped. Shouldn’t you be helping?”

: “Hold out your hands, hoon.”

Ward Pistle: “You heard the man. Let’s see 'em.”

: “Five workin’ fingers. Nice and bony, prime for digging. You want Nere, you claw him out. My drinking hand’s busy.”

: Their cask is down at the bottom of the stairs. If everyone else is dead, you can poison it without anyone seeing.

: Remember when I said the poison from the alchemist’s basement had a niche use? We’ve found it.

: Hey, this beer tastes like almonds!

: The other dwarf will see her partner die and then drink the beer anyway.

: These two aren’t cultists, but they’re so far away from where the fight will eventually start that killing them doesn’t shift the odds at all.

: “Shit. You did it. What now?”

1. Go find somewhere to hide - wait for things to cool down.
2. Take the lift to the surface.
3. Figure it out yourself.

: “Go find somewhere to hide. All these duergar are going to die.”

: “I know a place, cross the lake. Should be safe. Won’t be needing this poison, now that you’ve offed the pricks. Bet you’ll find it handy, though.”

: “You’re a good one. I won’t forget it.”

: The two duergar have mugs of beer on them that are somehow totally safe to consume.

: Now that everyone’s dead, we want to grab this pin off this dead drow. They also have a letter.

Jhaam,

Like a phoenix from the ashes, Grymforge has risen from the dead.

I’ve word of a drow cultist gathering duergar in the old city’s halls. That the Absolute means to recruit them, I’ve no doubt. Yet it’s what they might seek amidst the ruins that most troubles me.

You’ve not failed me yet. Go to Grymforge, cling to shadow - and bring word of the cult’s intentions to Last Light. I will be waiting.

J

: If you use Speak with Dead on the drow, she will tell you who J is. J is Jaheira, a name anyone who played the first two games will recognize.

: There are other places to get one of these pins, but we want to hold on to this.

: We’ll take a break from exterminating to talk to these two dwarves, who are located up the stairs from the dock.

: “How peculiar. Smooth face, cobbled edges. They’re a sign - they must be.”

: “A sundweller in these parts? Look here, my top-side friend - I need fresh eyes. And I doubt I’ll find fresher.”

1. Fine. What should I be looking at?
2. What are you doing, exactly?
3. A friendly welcome? A rarity in the Underdark.
4. Leave.

: “Fine. What should I be looking at?”

: “The rock. The rubble. All of it, if I may be so bold. Take a look. Tell me what you see. And be thorough.”

1. [HISTORY] Assess the statue for technique and composition.
2. [INVESTIGATION] Examine the fallen rubble.
3. [PERCEPTION] Survey the area for unseen curiosities.
4. [BARD] [HISTORY] Try to remember the tome ‘Fables of Forges Grym’.
5. [BARD] [DECEPTION] I know everything about this place. In fact, it was hand-forged by a flumph called Grym..
6. Leave.

: “Buddy, I took a minor in stone-ology in bard college. Let me tell you EVERYTHING.”

: “That’s.. not what it’s called.”

: Everyone knows you’d use brick-ology here. It’s made of bricks. That’s just common sense.

Narrator: Several glassy stones stand out in the debris. Their borders are coated with tiny yellow crystals. The hottest of flames smoothed the stone and left sulphuric crystals behind. The fires of the Hells have touched Grymforge.

: Oh sure, blame Hell. As if there’s nothing on Earth that can melt.. what is that, granite? You don’t even need sorcery to do that.

: I swear, you melt ONE boulder out of anger and suddenly everything’s your fault. Next thing you know you’ve got the unions summoning you to do masonry.

: What about the sulphur crystals?

: False flag operation.

Narrator: Boulders and stone bricks of various sizes clutter the corridor, many split in two. Yet some walls remain fully intact.

Narrator: No quake brought these rocks down - they were smashed through in an instant. Something big charged through here. Something very big.

: I swear, you smash through one wall and suddenly every loose brick is your fault.

: I know, right?

: I never thought you’d be the one to understand.

Narrator: The statue’s meandering curves and golden edges stand out against the weathered masonry behind it. Two styles, two eras. The statue was carved from newer stone and erected by late-comers to this ancient fortress.

: “Incredible - an entire history, risen from dirt and debris! Picture it: an ancient city, hewn from the stone by disciples of Shar, later abandoned.”

: “Untold centuries later, a new tribe revives it. Fresh walls, fresh sculptures.. until a great hellbeast charges through, toppling the walls and crushing the people!”

: “Heh, that explains the infernal plate I found. Perhaps you might have use of it.”

: Kith is also a trader, and carries an Elixir of Vigilance, which I buy off him immediately along with the camp supplies.

: The infernal alloy he gives us is special - we can use it to abuse a glitch in Act 2 that I think still exists in Patch 7.

: Down the hall from Kith, we find some skeletons.

: One of them has a functioning set of Dark Justiciar armor, marking them as Shar worshippers. Shadowheart will comment on this, but we’re ditching her in a minute.

: This skeleton also has a diary we can read to get a quest.

[Cycle Forty]

I know it is forbidden to enter the Inquisitor’s chambers, but I could not help myself. Has Master Ketheric not commanded us to use every possible tool to best Shar’s rivals? Besides, if Sybil meant to keep the amulet a secret, she would have hidden it better.

[Cycle Forty and Two]

The amulet has gifted me a power, an energy, heretofore unknown to me. I’ve never known such might - and such… cheer! I can barely keep myself from smiling, much to the others’ chagrin.

[Cy… Ff n! Ha!]

I c… Ha. HAHAHA!..hBGM…

[Cycle Forty and Five]

It is done, thank the Dark Lady. Sybil ripped the amulet from my throat and cast it into the lava, having found me racked with laughter. The madness has lifted - but I do not yet know my penance. Sybil is not known to take pity on thieves.

: That one entry doesn’t even make sense if he’s hand-writing it.

: This gives us a quest to “Help the Spirit of the Amulet”, which.. really isn’t worth doing. I’ll do it anyway to show it off, but on my first run I intentionally skipped it.

: None of these duergar are cultists, even though two of them have “cultist” as their class. They won’t help when the fight breaks out, and we’ve already killed.. what, five of them? What’s a few more bodies on the pile?

: I’m going to ditch Shadowheart here and bring in Lyselle after respeccing her to Warlock 2 / Sorcerer 3 so she can push with Eldritch Blast.

: “You - grab a cane and whip these drugnin’ beasts into shape. That rubble needs clearing, and my patience is hanging on by an arse whisker.”

1. You want me to cane these poor beasts?
2. Almost sounds like you’re asking for help, if I ignore your tone.
3. Do your own dirty work.
4. Leave.

: “You want me to cane these poor beasts?”

: “Damned right I do. Gettin’ cramps in my arm from trying to whip the drugnin’ beasts back into shape. Now get to the canin’, before I thrash you instead.”

1. What’s behind the rubble?
2. Leave it to me. I’ll show these deep rothe who’s in charge.
3. I know these creatures well. You should give them another lash of the cane.
4. You want to thrash me? Go on, then.
5. Leave.

: “What’s behind the rubble?”

: “You got no need to know, and I got no need to tell. So get to caning, or get to leaving.”

1. [PERSUASION] You want my help? Then you will tell me what’s back there.
2. [INVESTIGATION] Examine the rubble for anything unusual.
3. Call on the parasite, connect with the taskmaster. What does he seek?
4. Leave it to me. I’ll show these deep rothe who’s in charge.
5. Leave.

: “You want my help? Then you will tell me what’s back there.”

: “Adamantine. Stuff’s no joke. Stronger than steel, rarer than mithral. It ain’t mined - it’s made. There’s an adamantine forge back there, sure as shittin’.”

: “Don’t get any smart ideas - that forge is clan property. But get the beasts moving and I’ll toss some coin your way.”

: We could simply kill them all, but there’s more experience in it if we talk to the rothe first.

Deep Rothe: No more. No more pain, no more work. All must die!

1. Hit the rothe.
2. What has you in such a state?
3. [PERSUASION] Breathe. Focus. If you strike, your masters will destroy the herd.
4. [PERSUASION] You were made to serve. This is your meaning. Remove the rubble, as you were told.
5. [PERSUASION] Give in to your rage and avenge your pain. Don’t strike us all, just your masters.
6. Leave.

: If you make the roll for option 5, you get an extra 80 EXP. That’s four owlbears worth, so of course we’ll take it.

: Bye, fucker! Say hi to Lucifer for me! Or don’t. He’ll start singing.

: That’s two down and we haven’t even broken a sweat. Aren’t bottomless pits great? They’re not. Trust me on that one.

: The herdmaster goes down before he can scream. If you miss one of the pushes, chances are the duergar will still hang out by the edge and you’ll get a second shot.

: If you talk to the rothe after killing the duergar, they’ll unblock the passage for you. This isn’t necessary since Lyselle can do it with Eldritch Blast, but it’s 80 extra EXP.

: We could go to the forge this way and fight the boss there - but we’re missing some items we need to make the forge work.

: Instead, we’ll head up to the top level where Nere is. On the way, there’s a trapped chest Astarion can open.

: We get a shield that uses the lightning charges mechanic, which is already kinda underpowered and which we’ll be tossing aside at 6th level.

: If the plan is to turn the duergar against each other, this is the guy to speak with.

: “Seen her run with a barrel under her arm. Just a small one, but enough to blow the drow out. Someone should grab it. Slaves are never gonna manage with pickaxes.”

Stone Guard Kur: “Can’t go chasin’ maybes - the sergeant’s our ticket in.”

: “Would you look at that, Kur. Someone’s having a listen.”

Narrator: A shiver runs through you. Your mind is awash in ancient resentments.

: “True Soul, no less. What do you think, Kur - should we take Nere’s debt off him?”

1. Why would you think I’m a True Soul?
2. You want my gold? Then you’ll have to fight me for it.
3. Don’t be absurd. I hate these True Soul cultists.
4. I want Nere out - and it sounds like you have a lead.
5. Leave.

: “Don’t be absurd. I hate these True Soul cultists.”

: “Yet you got that Twat-Soul stench. If I didn’t know better, I’d say a mind flayer shat a worm in your brain. Should split your head open and poke around in there if you lot don’t pay up.”

1. A stench? Ridiculous. I’m no more a True Soul than you are.
2. Go on, try it. I’ve been itching for a fight.
3. I heard you talking. I want Nere out - and you have a lead.
4. Leave.

Narrator: The shiver returns. This time, it’s colder. Sharper.

: “The stench don’t lie. You’re one of them.”

1. Fine. I’m a True Soul. What do you plan to do about it?
2. [DECEPTION] You’re imagining things. I would never bow to the Absolute.
3. [DECEPTION] I was a True Soul. That cult lied to me - now I want revenge.
4. [DETECT THOUGHTS] Cast Detect Thoughts.
5. Leave.

: “I was a True Soul. That cult lied to me - now I want revenge.”

: “Hm. Revenge, eh? In that case, I got a proposal. Want to earn some gold?”

1. What gold? I thought you hadn’t been paid yet.
2. Depends. What do you need done?
3. If you’re offering me a job, I’m not interested.
4. Please. I’ve already got more coin than you could carry.

: “What gold? I thought you hadn’t been paid yet.”

: “Ain’t my gold I’m offering. It’s the True Soul’s. Thrinn’s after the Absolute’s glory - that’s why she’s got those slaves digging for Nere. But we ain’t need glory - just coin. And Nere’s got plenty.”

: “Help Thrinn free Nere - then you and my chums grind him up. Whatever the spoils, we’ll drop you a fat cut. You in?”

1. I’m in.
2. Count me out.
3. Good plan. I think Sergeant Thrinn should know about it.
4. [PERSUASION] Sounds good. I expect half the spoils.

: “Sounds good. I expect half the spoils.”

: “Half? You drugnin’… Fine. Half it is. But first we need to take care of something. You seen that weird orb-eye floatin’ about? Knife it. And don’t get caught.”

: “The cult watches through it. And we can’t risk more Twat-Souls showing up.”

: And here’s the eye in question. Unlike the goblin camp, most of the obvious pits (like the one Brithvar is standing in front of) are covered by invisible walls specifically to stop you pushing the eye in.

: The guards (even the ones on Brithvar’s side) will attack if they see you attack it, but we don’t need to worry about that. Why? Because the eye will follow the party if it sees them.

: We already know that this room has a cliff we can push things off of.

: And that’ll do it. This is why we cleared the duergar out of this spot before going anywhere near the top area where the eye is, otherwise disposing of it would be harder.

: We can go kill Nere now.. but that explosive barrel is tempting. We’re going to have to go back to the docks for that.

: The double doors near all the dead gnomes lead to a kitchen full of expensive silverware that Pollux takes and refuses to sell.

: The kitchen has a hidden door that leads to the secret control room which contains the button that opens the underground liquid waste facility.

: And no, I’m not kidding when I say liquid waste facility. See those acid pools?

: They spawn ochre jellies. There’s no strategy against these - they have a ranged attack, they have a melee attack that hits for more than the ranged attack, and they’re big blobs of HP.

: No strategy? I beg to differ.

: The jellies won’t drop off the ceiling if you walk through their area while stealthed.

: The top of the stairs forms a natural chokepoint, and crucially only has one jelly spawn on top of you which will die quickly to a coordinated assault.

: The other jellies can’t attack from that far, so they’ll spend a turn dashing to try and lose their height disadvantage.

: From here, toss a grenade at them and then spam throws and Eldritch Blast knockback. You’ll get gravity damage on thrown weapons from this distance.

: And that’s how you do it with no damage taken.

: I stand corrected.

: This door is what we’re looking for. It’s locked, but there’s a hole in the wall you can use if you can’t pick it for some reason.

: Ah, the Runepowder Barrel. It’s nearly as good as the upper-mid end barrels in Hell, and does a whopping 10d8 + 40 force damage in a SIXTY FOOT RADIUS.

: The game doesn’t intend for you to steal it, but we’re stealing it.

: “Hold it. I swear to Ironhand, one more step and I blow us to chunks!”

: Feels like they’re running out of ideas when they’ve had two different people try to kill us by blowing up barrels.

: “Wait. What in the hells? Bugger it all - you moved it. Go on, drag me to Moonrise. I’ll make you cult-nutters suffer.”

1. I don’t want you. I just wanted the smokepowder.
2. I’m not taking you anywhere. You’re free to go.
3. I’d rather have the pleasure of killing you with my own hands.

: “I’m not taking you anywhere. You’re free to go.”

: " 'Course I am. You got the runepowder. So now you cut and run. Look. You have no idea what you’re dealing with. Any true Ironhand would trade their life for a grain of this stuff. It’s the whole damn reason we’re here."

: “Fine - I’ve heard all I need.”

: Normally, you’re supposed to make a check and then she gives you a grenade instead of the barrel. We can pickpocket the grenade off her as she leaves.

: Now that the eye’s dead, it’s time to blast Nere free and let all hell break loose.

Nere: “Finally. Worthless slaves. Your incompetence has been my ruin.”

: “Stop! No more innocents will die today, Nere.”

Nere: “You care for the weak, True Soul. Most curious.”

1. I came on the myconid sovereign’s behalf. It demands revenge.
2. I act on orders of the Absolute.
3. Of course I care. I can’t let these gnomes suffer.
4. This isn’t about them. I just can’t stand your face.

: “I came on the myconid sovereign’s behalf. It demands revenge.”

Nere: “You heed an overgrown toadstool, yet defy a True Soul? Carve out his heart and serve it to the rothe. If he is indeed a True Soul, let the Absolute save him.”

1. You wouldn’t dare. I’m faithful to the Absolute.
2. That’s your cue, Brithvar. It’s time you got paid.
3. You so much as touch me, and I’ll tear you limb from limb.
4. Say nothing.
5. [BARD] In your eulogy, I’m going to call you a Twat-Soul.

: “That’s your cue, Brithvar. It’s time you got paid.”

: “Damn right it’s time. You owe my crew a tenday’s worth o’ coin, Nere - and the reckoning’s come.”

: With the duergar serving as meat shields, this fight is so easy that we barely even take damage.

: Brithvar immediately gets thrown into the lava and dies, costing us valuable experience.

: Three of the cultists have mind control spells, which is.. kind of bullshit. Dominate Person (the only spell that lets you do that) is a 5th-level spell. The earliest you could access that is 9th level.

: Lyselle and Astarion fail their saves against domination. Fortunately, they tend to do useless shit (like throwing potions) instead of attacking the party.

: A few turns later, Nere is dead with the party having taken a grand total of 1 hit.

: We could just turn on the survivors, but this isn’t really much of an extermination. Let’s rewind and kill them all.

: This dipshit patrols between the main room and the stairs leading to the stonemasons. If you attack her right here, no one will notice.

: This next part takes a lot of patience and a warlock. The sergeant and one of the mind controllers patrol around the gnomes.

: With an 80% chance to hit (that could be boosted to near 100% with Phalar Aluve) we can push both of them into the lava, removing the two biggest threats in the fight.

: Everyone else stands up here and uses a chair to block the ladder. There’s an archer up here who dies immediately.

: The trick is that most of the duergar only have throwing weapons for range - and the aiming angles for throwing weapons are mostly blocked by the platform.

: They won’t go up the ladder because of the chair, so they’ll walk all the way around. This gives us plenty of time to pelt them from range.

: They come in one by one and die before they can do anything.

: The only minor issue happens when the other mind controller reduces himself and makes Pollux throw his spider grenade.

: And that’s how you exterminate the duergar. The only duergar still alive at this point are the stonemason and his assistant.

: Greymon has a bunch of generic +1 weapons we can sell for cash, and a couple of the other duergar have some trash on them.

: Last time, we didn’t talk to the gnomes. Let’s do that.

: Is he trying to speedrun being kidnapped?

: “Ah. It’s you. The mascot of my ill fortunes.”

1. How did you end up here?
2. Why are you digging?
3. You were on a quest, weren’t you? Making progress?

: “You were on a quest, weren’t you? Making progress?”

: “I came down here looking for Wulbren - I suspected he and his little friends might’ve come to this region, and I was right.”

: “But I was too late. Wulbren had already been taken to Moonrise Towers. The rest, put to work. You won’t find a worse gaggle of rare-do-wells than these ‘Ironhand Gnomes’ - except for Wulbren, desperate though his taste in companions might be.”

: “As I was contemplating his folly, I was spotted by a very ugly duergar. Now, I dig. It isn’t good.”

: “So uh.. you are aware that we just brutally murdered all of them? Did you see the two that went flying into the lava? There’s nothing stopping you from leaving.”

: “There are still gnomes trapped behind those rock - with a vicious cultist, no less. I won’t leave them to his whims.”

Nere: So you care for the weak, True Soul. Was it your hand that slayed Nere’s servants? Or is there a sane explanation?"

: “The sane explanation is I killed them all, and now I’m coming for your head.”

: Don’t you just love it when some smug prick thinks there’s no way you just murdered your way through all his underlings?

Narrator: The decaying corpse lies before you.

: “Someone cast Revivify on him. I want to do this while he’s still alive.”

Narrator: The head breaks off cleanly from the drow’s body.

: Died just like he lived - a sniveling little bitch.

: Nere has a very good pair of boots that should go on your melee to protect them from your casters. We also get his full gold stash - 1000 gold as opposed to the 400 or 500 we would’ve gotten if the duergar lived.

: He also has a pretty decent rapier. This goes on Astarion.

: Finally, if you somehow forgot to loot it off Minthara, he has a Spider’s Lyre. This is used in Act 2.

Lunkbug: “Beldron! I was so worried! Did Nere hurt you?”

: “No, no - I’m all right. Did the sergeant hurt you?”

Lunkbug: Who cares? We’re together now, thank Ironhand!

: Every single deep gnome in this game is gay. I’m not even kidding.

: “We ought to thank someone a little closer by, I think.”

: “Gaerdal Ironhand you may not be, but you damn well fight like him. I’m grateful, don’t mistake me, but.. why help us? You’re one of them, aren’t you?”

: “Your friend sent me.”

: “Glitterring gods, I should’ve known that one was too damn stubborn to die. Here - the Ironhand Gnomes honor their debts. With Wulbren gone, that falls to me.”

: “Make it quick! We need to find Wulbren - now.”

: “You’re a little late, Barcus my lad. He’s already been sent to Moonrise Towers. We were just slave-hands to the cult, but not Wulbren. He.. knows things. Things they want to know too.”

: “What has he gotten himself mixed up in now…”

1. Before you ask, no - I’m not going to stage a rescue.
2. Whatever the cult wants, I want the opposite. We need to free your friend.
3. [PERSUASION] This is no time to be coy. What is it that Wulbren knows?
4. [INTIMIDATION] I also like to know things. Start talking.

: “We don’t have the luxury of being coy. What is it that Wulbren knows?”

: “You’ll call me mad, but.. fine. Wulbren’s found the formula for runepowder.”

: “What?!”

: “Aye. The explosive of Gaerdal Ironhand’s own creation. Fistfuls wiping out armies, all those old stories. Only Wulbren couldn’t leave the stories be - so he went and bloody found it. A small supply, tucked away down here with a manuscript.”

: “He’d just made sense of the formula when the cult jumped us - so he burned the damn thing. If there’s a single copy left, it’s sitting in his head. Those Absolutists pull it out and make runepowder.. they could flatten the whole of the Sword Coast.”

1. Then we’ll just have to free him first.
2. How long do you think he can hold out?
3. I don’t plan on being anywhere nearby when they do
4. If it’s truly that powerful, then we can’t let the cult have it.

: “Then we’ll just have to free him first.”

: “You really would, wouldn’t you? But not us. My people can barely stand. And we have business back in the city. That business is what sent us after the powder to begin with. Now.. we’ll have to make other arrangements.”

: “And just like that, you’d leave Wulbren behind. I knew you lot were foolish, but I didn’t know you were cruel.”

: “If you knew half as much as you think, my lad, Wulbren might have kept you around.”

1. Enough. Bickering won’t save your friend.
2. You’re just abandoning your leader? That’s cold.
3. Run away, then. I have my own business to be about.
4. If my path takes me to Moonrise, I’ll see about freeing Wulbren myself.

: “If my path takes me to Moonrise, I’ll see about freeing Wulbren myself.”

: “He’d admire your resolve. And your optimism. My people will find somewhere to regroup across the lake. Then on to the city. If you find yourself in Baldur’s Gate, seek us out. We’ll raise a glass to Wulbren together.”

: Next time, we’ll find the forge, fight the guardian, and turn in those two quests back in the mushroom village.