Chapter Five-Baldur's Gate, the
city
With Daveorn dead and the Cloakwood mine destroyed
and the miner's saved, the Iron Throne's last bastion will be
their headquarters in Baldur's Gate. First you need to Cross the
Wyrm River on the bridge
(remember the bowl you took to witch in Chapter 3). At the end
of the bridge to the city, you will meet Scar, a man highly placed
among the Flaming Fist. He will commission you to investigate
the city's recent troubles, and recommend you to Duke Eltan, the
Fist's high commander. Between the bridge and the city you'll
meet Cleric/Illusionist Quayle, the best spellcaster and most
annoying NPC in the entire game. Quayle is certainly worth dropping
Xan or Dynaheir, I actually did this before I went into
Cloakwood.
Now you enter the city - which is segmented
into nine sections.
What can yet be said about this great city
which has not been told to cliché by a thousand of my ancestral
brethren? No matter what your pleasure, however pious or perverse,
the streets and shops of Baldur's Gate hold it in sixfold. From
armor to armament, base jewelry to divine artifacts, ancient knowledge
to unfortunate human flesh, all things can be bought, sold, or
stolen in the town of the Gate. Note the tavern owners only seem
to ask you if you want a drink - a yes gets them to offer
you a room. Many houses we don't mention have valuabe objects
in desks, draws, etc.
Note wait till all other quests are satisfied
before you visit scar, and the flaming fist headquarters. Here
is the order I did quests there.
- Go north of the east and entrance to the
city and meet Marek who will worn you away from the Iron Throne.
- If your main character is a thief, the Gate
is Paradise - there are plenty of rich houses you can plunder.
There are the Shadow Thieves which will help you to no end if
you speak to them right and proper.( before you walk in their
guild, find a man on the street who'll offer you 50gold just
to listen to their leader's proposal). If however you are playing
a lawful fighter, I suggest you barge in, guns a blazing, kick
everyone's ass, and loot everything. Now you can walk proudly
with the knowledge that you just single- handedly dismantled
one of the Realm's premier power groups. Make sure not to miss
that tome of dexterity (increase dexterity +1) in a barrel next
to Black Lily either.
- Sorcerous Sundries: 1st Floor: Halbazzer
is a mage who owns the best shop you can find in Baldur's Gate.
The items he offers include: Battle Axe +1, Darts +1, Darts of
Stunning, Darts of Wounding, Bastard Sword +1, Long Sword +1,
all arrows in the game, all bolts in the game (not Bolts of Polymorphing),
a lot of potions and protection scrolls, magic scrolls (levels
1-5) and a lot of wands. Also Ordulinian, a cleric, tells
you a bit about Arkion and Nemphre, 2 necromancers causing trouble
at the Gate. He doesn't give you any quests but should you bring
him Arkion's bloodstone amulet and Nemphre' onyx ring you get
3500 Exp. but not the cloak he had promised you. You also get
to keep the amulet and the ring, so you can sell them if you
wish. 2nd Floor: Niemain, William Garst, Wheber Ott and Oulam:
Four mages preparing a ritual. They get angry because you have
disturbed them and you'll have to prepare yourself for a fight
(although it can be avoided by choosing the following dialog
options: 2-1). They are not really hard but still cast such things
as Horror and Melf's Acid Arrows. One way of defeating them is
to cast Resist Fear on your party and then have your best fighter
drink an Oil of Speed. The mages will fall like nothing! All
in all, you get 5400 Exp. for killing them. You can then sell
everything downstairs for a good amount of gold. If Xzar is in
your party the mages won't attack you since he's a member of
their group.
- Areana, a noblewoman on the third floor of
the Three Old Kegs in North BG will ask you to kill Cyrdemae
who has been blackmailing her. So why not go to the Elfsong Tavern
before hand and defeat Cyrdemae on the second floor. Later
go to Areana in the Three Old Kegs for your reward.
- Travel to Central City and talk to Lothandar
in the carnival. Do what he says otherwise you will certainly
die (as I did the first couple of times I played the game) before
you finish the game. So this means you speak to the diviner and
she tell you of a scroll to get from the Bitch Queen of
Umberlee in South BG. Lothander will tell you you can find him
afterward at the Blade and Star Inn in Southeast Baldur's Gate.
- Next go to Nadine's house near the
carnival next to the east wall of Central BG and get the Amulet
of Protection to give to Nadine's son Euric who
has run away. Later you will find Euric in the tavern against
the wall in Southeast BG. Give him his mother's amulet.
- At Umberlee, hand over gold just for an audience
and ask her if she can cure Lothander. She'll agree to
it, only if you get her the Book of Wisdom from the Temple of
Tymora in West BG. Seems like you have no other choice. However,
outside of her temple and in a crate you will find a gauntlet
of weapons expertise.
- Go the aforementioned Lady's Temple (alternative
name for Tymora's Temple, often mentioned as the Lady's Hall)
and tell the priest the truth. He'll give you the book gladly.
- Before you return to the priestess, you might
as well do another quest at the same time: A boy, Varci,
behind the Tymora's Temple will approach you and ask you to help
his guardian. Agree and he'll lead you to him. The guardian is
actually Tymora's head priest. It seems that his son's foolish
prank left him dead at the hands of Umberlee's followers. The
priest will ask you to retrieve the body for him.
- Go back to Umberlee's Temple at the docks
bringing the book. Get the scroll first or you'll have to
fight the witches and maybe not not get the body. Still not
time to visit Scar in the flaming fist.
- Return the child to his father, from Varci
you'll get some good XP and re-imbursed for what you paid the
Bitch Queen. Still in West BG go afterwards to the tower
of the wizard Ragefast and set the Nymph Abela
free. She will reward you with a lock of her hair before she
vanishes. Later bring the lock of hair to Halbazzer Drin
in Sorcerous Sundries in East BG to receive the Nymph Cloak.
Fortelling the future, a third quest in West BG is to steal the
telescope from the Hall of Wonder. This had best be done at night
by your thief alone with the rest of your party ready to leave
West BG. Stealth might work if you can avoid the inept thief
trying the same job but invisible potion definitely works. Brevlik
in the Elfsong Tavern in East Baldur's Gate will offer you 500
gold and a scroll for the the scope.
- There is something for you in nearly every
building and boat in South BG. Stay away from the Iron Throne
for now, but the big square building across the street (also
across from the docks) has 5 Ogre Mages who want to kill you.
It appears that the price on your head is now 10000 gp.! Quite
a price for a head. The fight can be quite hard if you don't
buy some Arrows of Slaying (kill ogre mages on touch, no saves)
from the Sorcerous Sundries. Each one of the Ogre Mages is worth
650 Exp. and you can loot them for some treasures.
- Northwest BG: 1. Enter Degrodel's
house inthe south and defeat his guardians. 3 Invisible Stalkers,
2 Helmed Horrors and 2 Doom Guards: Yes, you've read well!
This fight is mega hard even if you are well prepared(i.e. Haste
spell and some other cleric protection spells). Your best bet
here is to summon monsters and undead to hold back the enemies
while you fight them. All are almost immune to missile weapons
but vulnerable to magic. They also do tons of damage. Charge
them with melee weapons and note that the Wand of Frost also
comes in handy. In the end you get 17000 Exp. for this fight
but no real loot. Speak to Degrodel and he will request
that you retrieve the Helm of Balduran for him and will give
you 6 Stone To Flesh scrolls. Enter Felonius Gist's Manor in
central BG and use the scrolls on the statues to restore them.
Speak to Vail and he will give you a note that gives a hint where
the helm might be. You will find the Helm of Balduran behind
a painting on the second floor of the Cloak and Helm Inn in northwest
Baldur's Gate. Give the helm to Degrodel to receive a
reward. He then summons 2 Doom Guards, 1 Helmed Horror and 1
Invisible Stalker to escort you to the exit. Kill him before
he leaves to get the helm back and a Mage Robe of Electrical
Resistance. Then dispatch his servants for a further 9000 Exp.
- If you are on Degrodel's quest, you can turn
Vail and his party (n Central BG to flesh for 500 XP. and question
them on the location of the Helm of Balduran. Vail refuses to
tell you where it is but gives you a scroll containing some hints.
The Helm of Balduran is in the Helm and Cloak inn, in the North-Western
part of Baldur's Gate (check that section for more details) and
the Cloak of Balduran is in the Undercellar
on Quenash, Vail's lover. You can access the Undercellar
from the sewers or the Blushing Mermaid in the North-Eastern
part of Baldur's Gate. After the conversation you can either
let Vail and his party go or fight them for 5800 XP and some
good loot.
- Northwest BG 2. Quinn's house: The
halfling Quinn wanted to come to the Gate with his friend
Nestor to do a bit of commerce and to sell a Shandon Gem(only
worth 45 gp.) but unfortunately they got ambushed by some Ankhegs
near Wyrm's Crossing and even though he escaped his friend was
not so lucky.
- Northwest BG 3. Helm and Cloak tavern: Gorpel
Hind, Farluck, Nelik and Turpin are 4 members of the party
known as the Merry Fools. Talking to them triggers the
entry of the Maulers of Undermountain, another party of
adventurers, Gretek, Wilf, Arlin, Caturak, Pargus and Nader,
so be ready for a fight. If you have told Gorpel and his comrades
a story about your adventures in the Cloakwood forest the Merry
Fools will help you in the upcoming fight. You get 5250 XP
from this encounter and some good loot. After being attacked
by the Maulers of Undermountain the bartender sometimes becomes
hostile towards you. Don't kill him or you lose reputation!
2nd Floor, Part B: Painting: Behind it you'll find one
of the best items in this game, the Helm of Balduran. You can
then bring it back to Degrodel at location for your reward.
- Northwest BG 4. It appears that the Grand
Duke Entar Silverhield's Estate. He is not at home Perfect
for a bit of thievery. His estate is full of wealth and the only
thing you need to remember if you don't want the Flaming Fists
on your back is to charm whoever is in the room you wish to loot
and to send him out(that way, even after the enchantment is dispelled
the person doesn't call the guards). Also, if you don't want
the servants and the guards to call the Flaming Fists just tell
them that you are Entar's business partners from Waterdeep.
1st Floor: 2 Servants and 2 Guards: Tell them that you are Entar's
business partners from Waterdeep and they'll let you by. 2nd
Floor: Brilla: She is Entar's wife and if you enter her
room directly by using the stairs she calls the guards no matter
what. If you use the other stairs and access her room by the
door you can tell her that you are her husband's associates from
Waterdeep and she'll let you go. There is nothing of interest
in her room. Skie: Skie (TN, Human Female, Thief) is Entar's
daughter and the lover of Eldoth. She'll only join you if he's
in your party, else she'll think that you are some brigands and
summon 4 guards. If you want Skie but not Eldoth, here's how
to do: go into the Western part of the Cloakwood forest, drop
the NPC you want Skie to replace and pick up Eldoth. Come back
to Entar's Estate, talk with Skie, pick her up in your party,
drop an NPC you're on good terms with and then kill Eldoth. Remove
him from your party and take back the NPC you just dropped. Et
voila! You have Skie. Her thieving skills are too spread out
but she is better than Alora because her strength is a bit higher.
She is also less annoying even though she is a spoiled and naive
child.
- Northwest BG 5. Laerta and Louise:
are two twins who are annoyed because a buggeyman is coming to
spy on them at night. Talking with the twins triggers the entry
of Gervisse, an evil mage who tells you that the druid Voltine
has dark plans for the twins. Voltine then appears and tells
you that Gervisse is the real danger and that he should be removed.
At this point you have 2 choices: Kill Gervisse (recommended):
You get 900 Exp. for doing so and his Mage Robe of Fire Resistance.
Voltine then gives you a Wand of Polymorphing and the twins give
you 1000 Exp. and a scroll of Protection from Evil. Kill Voltine:
You get 60 Exp. and a Wand of Polymorphing off her corpse. The
twins give you 1000 Exp. and the scroll of Protection from Evil.
- Southeast BG: G'axir the Seer in the Blades
and Stars in Southeast Baldur's Gate will ask you to find a Sphene
Gem. Speak to Nadarin in a building to the south and he will
ask you to help him with an escaped basilisk in one of the storehouses.
Go west to the harbor (near Umberlee in South BG) and in one
of the Warehouses you will find a greater basilisk. Defeat the
creature and take the Sphene Gem from its body. Speak to Nadarin
again in the Southeast BF and he will reward you with 500 gold
and some Boots of Stealth. Give the Sphene Gem to G'axir in the
Blades and Stars for a further 1000 experience and he will give
you a glimpse of your future.
- North BG: Near its entrance from Central
BG speak to Petrine, an orphan standing outside her uncle Bheren's
house in North Baldur's Gate. She will tell you that her cat
has gone back to her uncle's house and she will ask you to get
the cat's ring for her. Enter Bheren's house and you will find
Angel upstairs. Take the Angel Skin Ring from the chest and give
it to Petrine.
- Next door is Rinnie who wants a book on the
sixth floor of Ramazith's towers. Remember he was the guy who
wanted the nymph and his round tower is in the Northwest of North
BG. If you can't beat him and his Ghast, Hobgoblin Elite, Kobold
Commando, Mustard Jelly and get to the top floor with all of
its scrolls, and its book of intelligence (raises it by a point)
and Rinnie's book of the Unicorn Run, then you aren't ready for
the much harder challenges given by Scar and the Duke.
- You can now take on Areana's quest: Areana
is on the third floor of the Three Old Kegs in West North BG
and will ask you to kill Cyrdemae who has been blackmailing her.
Eventually you will have to go to the Elfsong Tavern and defeat
Cyrdemae on the second floor. Return to Areana in the Three Old
Kegs for your reward. But now its time to get rid of Marek's
poison. The way you enter the blocked off section of Northeast
BG is from the east of North BG or is it the east of Central
BG inside the wall?
- Go to the top floor of the Blushing Mermaid.
If you are not carrying Lothander's antidote, Marek's will not
work. There are 10 portions of Marek's antidote, use one on each
of your party.
- If you are not on Alatos' quest (say you
killed the people in the Thieves Guild), forget Oberan's estate
next to the temple. If you are, then Oberan is the mage who allowed
his good friend Shandolar to keep the 3 ingredients of the Halruaan
Skyship in his estate. You'll have to steal them and bring them
to Alatos. The ingredients are guarded on the 3rd floor by Shandolar's
3 daughters(although they are in a cupboard, not on the daughters).
Note that the way to deal with this quest will influence Shandolar's
reaction when you meet him in Ulgoth Beard (ToSC). The servants
will exit the area once you have talked with them, but not the
cook and the fat housekeeper).
2nd Floor: Oberan: He is so exited because the Grand Duke
Liia Jannath will come at his estate that he mistakes you for
some new servants and lets you pass.
3rd Floor: Shandolar's 3 daughters are on this floor. There are
2 ways of dealing with the situation but the final result will
be the same when you go back to Alatos since Resar, the Halruaan
mage, will want to kill you anyway.
Clean way: Send in a thief who has drank a Potion of Invisibility
on this floor. Sneak past the daughters in the southern room,
steal the 3 ingredients (Helshara's Artifact Fragment, Delorna's
Statue, Delorna's Spellbook) and the gold from the cupboard,
hide in shadows or drink a second Potion of Invisibility and
come back downstairs unseen
Bloody way: Go upstairs with your whole party. Read the
useless conversation of the daughters and then kill them. Helshara
is worth 975 Exp., Ithmeera is worth 650 XP. and Delorna is worth
1400 Exp. They have some good loot on them. Then go into the
southern room, pick up the 3 ingredients and the 564 gp. and
go to see Alatos at the guild. Don't kill the servant on this
level else you'll lose reputation points.
- Now return to South BG again North center
next to the shop is Nemphre, an evil necromancer who is
the old rival of Arkion (remember him in East BG?). She asks
you to retrieve his Bloodstone Amulet for her from Arkion and
she promises to "do a few things for you". Once you
have it, bring it back to Nemphre for 1000 XP. You can then decide
to kill her if you wish for a further 1200 XP.
- In the house across from one of the turrets
are two thieves, Tavex and Michael, two thieves from the
local guild who are plundering the house of an honest citizen.
If you tell them that you are not the owner of the house but
that you won't let them walk away they attack you. Together,
they are worth 1275 XP and carry some good loot.
- Now go to the Merchant league, Aldeth Sashenstar
will ask for your help just outside the Merchant League in Southwest
Baldur's Gate. Follow Aldeth inside the Merchant League and speak
to Brandilar on the second floor. Tell him the truth and then
agree to find proof of what has happened. Pick the lock of the
desk in southeast corner of the second floor and take the documents
inside. Show the documents to Brandilar and he will urge you
to destroy the dopplegangers. Zorl nearby will turn into a doppleganger
and attack you. Defeat all the other dopplegangers on the first
and third floors and report to Aldeth on the second floor to
receive a reward.
- In the house of Sunin in the South Center
of the section is Sunin, a mage who thinks that you are
thieves who came to burglar him(which you probably are). He fights
you no matter what and if you chose dialog option 1, he also
summons his 2 guards: Joular and Maka. The three are worth 4500
XP and carry lots of loot.
- In the big house in the center are Wiven,
Meakin, Sath and Dirk - Four thieves from the local guild
who ambush you. Together they are worth 1800 Exp. and they carry
some good loot.
- Now is the time to rest before the big battles
to come - there are two places. If you have an evil member of
your party, a Paladin attacks you in the Tavern & Inn. Ye
Olde Inn is infested with slimes. If you don't kill them quick
enough, patrons die. If the propietor dies, then you can't rest
there.
- When you crossed the bridge a long time ago,
the Flaming Fist leader Scar outside the gate asked you to investigate
the Seven Suns Trading Coster. Enter the Sevens Suns' building
in Southwest Baldur's Gate. Go into the basement and defeat the
doppleganger to free Jhasso. Speak to him and he will promise
you a reward from Scar. Enter the Flaming Fist compound to the
west and speak to Scar. He will give you a reward and will ask
you to return to the Seven Suns to clear out the dopplegangers.
Return to the Seven Suns and defeat all the dopplegangers who
are desguised as merchants. Return to Scar to receive the rest
of your reward. If you agree to another trip he'll send you to
the sewers. Defintely take
this on, there is a lot of experience - the proof is the ring
from one of the bodies found in the east sewer, but you can go
through all three now.
- After you have completed the Seven Suns subquest,
Scar in the Flaming Fist Compound in West Baldur's Gate will
ask you to investigate the sewers in the east. Go to East Baldur's
Gate and enter the sewers through any one of the entrances. Near
the west side of the sewer area you will find an ogre mage and
some carrion crawlers. Defeat the enemies. In a passage way to
the west you will find some bodies. Take the ring from one of
the bodies. Return to Scar in the Flaming Fist Compound and report
what had happened. Return the ring for a larger bonus.
- Also so speak to Fergus in the Flaming Fist
compound. He is looking for a ring for his wife-to-be. Find an
Angel Skin Ring and give it to Fergus. The Ogre mage in the sewer
has one.
- As you have learned elsewhere, the Flaming
Fist are the police in every city and town and one the high way.
But they are a bit high-strung. So be careful and correct in
your answers to the Duke, and do not see him early. If you mess
up, you'll have to fight everywhere and get no rest.
- Duke Eltan's quest: Head for the Iron Throne's
ominous headquarters in South BG. Once inside, make your way
upstairs. Tell the second-floor guard that you believe his fears
about the doppelgangers. Chat with everyone as you proceed upwards-pretending
to be on a trading mission will get you through practically any
potential confrontation. Your mission objective is the acquisition
of incriminating paperwork, not the decimation of Iron Throne
headquarters. The tough guys are on the top floor. Simply cloak
Imoen in her accustomed Invisibility spell, make certain she's
carrying a second potion of the same variety, and send her up
the last flight of stairs, walk straight past the acolytes and
into Sarevok's personal room, check his desk for documents, drink
the potion of Invisibility, and saunter fearlessly back to the
party.
- However, if you can't beat these guys
you are not strong enough yet. If
you want to try here's how I did it with no deaths. Arm
your four bowmen with one arrow of detonation and three
arrows of fire (you can buy them at the Socerous Sundries
in East Balder's Gate). Enter the last floor in reverse order
and pause before the page loads. Instruct your cleric
to summon skeletons, your wizard summon monsters (if he can't
then there is a wand which will do it for him), and your four
bowmen fire an arrow of detonation at the four farthest individuals
(including the woman). While the monsters and skeletons are keeping
the acoyltes at bay shoot fire arrows at a free acolyte. When
these are gone attack any acolytes left one at a time. When you
beat the acolytes, you'll find a reasonable pile of looted goodies.
- Bring your findings to Duke Eltan, and he'll
give you the means of re-entering the gates of Candlekeep. Again,
ypu you best not do this until all your work in Balder's Gate
is finished.
Now for the major quests in Baldur's Gate.
