Investigate and Destroy the Cult of the Eyeless

Investigate and Destroy the Cult of the Eyeless, is a side quest started by overhearing an Unseeing Eye priest named Gaal preaching about his "true god' in Athkatla's Temple District. 
:WARNING: Much game experience and treasure may be lost if either Gaal or his "god" are killed before obtaining the first Rift Device Part. Tad and Sassar are also essential NPCs to enter areas below The Old Tunnels. To avoid closing off those areas, see the sections on Confronting Gaal, Destroying the Cult, and To the Lair of the Unseeing Eye.
==Acquisition==
By the time you have reached the Sewers, you will have already overheard The Eyeless Prophet above in the Temple District, and his call for you to "follow him" and become "one of the faithful." After the cut-scene, a priest of one of the three nearby temples will ask the protagonist to follow along to his temple to discuss what is required. The priest's identity depends on Gorion's Ward's alignment and whether they are a Priest of either Lathander, Helm or Talos:
*Any Good or Priest of Lathander, but not a Priest of Helm/Talos: High Mornmaster Arval of Lathander (who lets you choose Helm still, if you're Lawful Good or True Neutral and not a Priest of Lathander)
*Lawful Neutral, True Neutral, Lawful Evil or Priest of Helm, but not a Priest of Lathander/Talos: High Watcher Oisig of Helm (who lets you choose Lathander still, if you're Lawful Good or True Neutral and not a Priest of Helm)
*Chaotic Neutral, Neutral Evil, Chaotic Evil or Priest of Talos: Stormherald Nallabir of Talos (no other choice given)
Keep in mind that Gorion's Ward's alignment/kit also affects whether Talon Yarryl (who can be killed for no reputation penalty and drops Ardulia's Fall) appears in the Temple of Talos. He'll appear if Gorion's Ward is Chaotic Neutral, Any Evil or a Priest of Talos and not a Priest of Lathander/Helm. So there are a few combinations that allow him to appear despite not receiving the aforementioned offer from Stormherald Nallabir (eg if Gorion's Ward is a Lawful Evil Fighter they'll be forced to work for Helm, but Yarryl still shows up).
If it is Oisig, he will insist:"This must not come to pass. The everseeing eye of Helm must be made aware of what they intend. You there. You have the look of a man/woman of faith. I would ask a service of you. If you perform well, you may gain the favor of the Temple of Helm. Follow me to the temple of Helm. I will discuss what is required of you there. Do not take too long; Helm requires you now."Whether you choose to pursue this quest or not, an entry is made in your Journal, titled A Cult of the Eyeless?"Some form of new religion or cult has been formed in the city, centered on a god called 'the Unseeing Eye'. A priest of some kind whose own eyes were missing spoke to a crowd, calling on them to shed their 'false sight' and join in the worship of this new god."In any case, you must enter the sewers to find where Gaal has taken his new acolytes.
== Walkthrough==
===Finding the Cult===
Transition through the exit in the NW sector of the sewers, nearby the location of Keldorn Firecam, which leads to the The Old Tunnels.
===Potential Companion===
While exploring the sewers, you will probably find Keldorn Firecam, a potential companion, outside of a short tunnel that branches off to the northwest, which leads to The Old Tunnels. Keldorn is figting a lowly Zombie. You may assist him, or wait until he defeats it. Either way, he greets you. You might tell him that you are investigating the Cult of the Eyeless. You may also enlist Keldorn even if your party is full. If you remove a Companion, a chance will be given for you to ask him or her to meet you later at the Copper Coronet in the Slums District.
===Confronting Gaal===
You will eventually find Gaal, flanked by two of his Elite Guard. For more details about navigating Gaal's Stronghold, see the page for The Old Tunnels. For now, however, first Note:
#If you kill Gaal before agreeing to his task, he will never drop or give you Gaal's Key which is essential to enter the Lower Reaches. Furthermore his "god" shows up, and once it is dead you won't have much of a chance to fight his witless followers, who blindly leap to their death into the "Pit of the Faithless." Further, a cultist named Tad will disappear from the game having never granted you access to to the Bottom of the Pit of the Faithless, Ghoul Town, and the Beholder Hideout.
#It is possible to kill Gaal and his god and return to the surface for your reward. However, there is more to the story, more to explore below the Old Tunnels, meaning more experience and treasure.
#Taking on his "god" now, before gaining Gaal's Key and clearing the lower levels, might be too much for a low-level party, and very challenging even for a mid-level party. Finding the rod for Gaal will make the fight much easier, and much more rewarding.
#If at any time you answer Gaal or his Guards with hostility, or attack Gaal or his followers, the whole cult will turn hostile, and their "god" will appear in the Pit of the Faithless, causing the experience-breaking consequences mentioned above. Answers to avoid:
#*"I would rather end your worthless life, priest!"
#*"So you kill them?! Outrageous! I shall end this worship of yours myself!"
#*"I...am your death! I can take no more of this!"
#If fighting does break out, causing you to kill Gaal and his God, the following Journal entry is made:
"Their machinations be damned, I have decided to take a more direct route with this cult. Brute force will earn their respect, though the violence has apparently summoned their god, the blind beholder itself."So to make the most out of the game, talk to Gaal and complete his task as requested. Given a chance, Gaal will initiate dialog."Hold, you tread on sacred ground! Only those who serve the Unseeing Eye may enter. I am Gaal, High Priest of the One God."You may ask him if there is a way to join the cult without becoming "Eyeless". He wants you to retrieve a rod for him and will give you the key to the lower levels.
Choosing the "peaceful" route, or even being rude by replying, "I'll go where I like, priest" gives you the opportunity to go and talk to his followers to learn more about the Cult, the "Lower Places," the "Holy Artifact" that the Unseeing Eye wants them to retrieve, and the "Pit of the Faithless."
If you accept Gaal's offer to retrieve the artifact, he will leave the entrance hall and can be found again in his living quarters.
====First half of the Rift Device====
If you do not have Gaal's Key, you will not be able to retrieve the rod. Otherwise, take Gaal's Key back to the entrance hallway and use it on the door with the unconventional lock.
For more on that section of Gaal's Stronghold, refer to the detailed walkthrough of The Old Tunnels. Once you pass through that section, you will find a circular stairwell that spirals down to the next level, The Lower Reaches.
=====To the Lower Reaches =====
After navigating the Lower Reaches, and defeating an Empathic Manifestation in the Temple of the Forgotten God, an avatar of a fading god named Amaunator will speak with you, and give more information on the rod, its use, and its ultimate destruction. The party may or may not also gain experience points based upon how they respond to the avatar's initial question.
For more on obtaining the rod from the avatar, refer to the detailed walkthrough in The Forgotten God Amaunator section of the page for The Lower Reaches.
When the Avatar has finished the conversation, he will give you the first half called the Rift Device Part, and your Journal will be updated. He will ask you to use it only once, and then return it to him so that he may destroy it, thereby releasing his perpetually suffering guardians.
After you have obtained the first part of the device, return to The Old Tunnels to speak again with Sassar.
====Second Rift Device Part====
After returning from the Lower Reaches, Sassar will speak to you again and tell you how to obtain the second half of the rod. For more details on his dialog and your Journal update, see Sassar's page.
=====To the Lair of the Unseeing Eye =====
Sassar says, speak to Tad with the passphrase "The Eye is Blind". Tad is stationed near the area labeled "To the Lair of the Unseeing Eye" on the player's map. See Tad's page for more detail on his dialog and another Journal update. With the first Rift Device Part in inventory, talk to Tad as directed. You can then ask him more about what to expect before going down into the Bottom of the Pit of the Faithless, Ghoul Town and the Beholder Hideout.
:WARNING: If you had already killed the Unseeing Eye, Tad will be gone, and Sassar will not direct you to him. Instead, Sassar will only say the following, after which he will disappear from the game: "You are a great and wonderful being for what you have done. May the gods smile upon you forever for doing this for that creature." Using the Console to "create" Tad (CTRAITOR) will not work either, as his dialog doesn't include "The Eye is Blind." Therefore, you cannot enter the lair, nor free the Avatar and his Diseased Ones, nor receive any experience or treasure as a reward. Likewise, if you talk to Gaal first, and give Gaal the Rift Device Part, combat will ensue and Tad will no longer be able to grant you access to the pit. You can bypass this by using the Console and directly teleporting to AR0201 area. This way you can still get all the experience and items, even if Tad is unavailable.
:NOTE: It is possible to talk to Tad first to open up access to the pit, and then talk to Gaal and give him the first half of the device. Giving the part to Gaal gives the party 75,000 XP, and then Gaal reneges on the deal and attacks you. All the other cultists likewise go hostile, and you must also fight the Unseeing Eye without the benefit of the completed Rift Device. The major consequence of this choice is that, even after killing Gaal, Gaal does NOT drop the first half of the Rift Device, meaning you can never gain the experience from joining the two halves (worth 26,250 XP), nor returning it the Amaunator's Avatar (47,250 XP). Giving it to Gaal gets you 1,500 more XP, but then you never receive the Saving Grace shield as a reward from the Avatar.
Note also, entering the pit will not allow you to return the same way. Once you are down at the bottom of the Pit of the Faithless, a status message will be all you see upon clicking the "exit" behind you. You will need to find another way out, as this way is now closed to you.The pit above is too steep to climb back up. Numerous corpses lie below that have been picked clean.When you are prepared, enter the Pit of the Faithless. Refer to that page for details. Once in the pit, fight through the various undead, which, depending on level, might include Mummies, Ghasts, Zombies, Ghouls, Ghoul Lords, Skeleton Warriors and Shadow Fiends. An optional area called Ghoul Town north of the pit has a treasure stash containing the Gauntlets of Dexterity. A suit of Leather Armor +4 called Skin of the Ghoul is also dropped by the Mayor of Ghoul Town, Theshal.
When you are through with the pit and Ghoul Town, head east to enter the Lair of the Unseeing Eye, also known as Beholder Hideout. Inside the lair are many Gauths and Beholders. The center of the lair also have a number of Blind Priests eager to fight. There are altogether four treasure stashes, one in each quadrant, in the small circular chambers. In the northeastern stash is Dragon's Bane, a Halberd +3. The second Rift Device Part is southeastern stash.
As soon as you put the Rift Device Part into inventory, the two parts of the rod combine into the Rift Device which will appear in Gorion's Ward's inventory (See Bugs). For joining the rod the party receives 26,250 XP. Have someone equip the Rift Device immediately in a Quick Item Slot, because joining the rod attracts the attention of the Unseeing Eye, who shows up to kill you and your party.
===Destroying the Cult===
Ultimately, to "Destroy the Cult" the party must kill the Unseeing Eye, preferably within the Beholder Hideout below The Old Tunnels.
:WARNING: It is possible to kill the Unseeing Eye before retrieving either of the rift device parts. However, doing so will never complete the rod which the Avatar of Amaunator needs to free his guardians from their eternally diseased torture. You may fight it now without the rod, or later by using rod to first weaken it. In either case, killing it grants 30,000 Party XP, but may lose you more XP and treasure if you kill it now without the rod.
Once the Unseeing Eye is dead, leave the Beholder Hideout by the stairs in the south. This exit takes you back to the Old Tunnels, emerging behind the secret door that was previously locked and warded against spells. From there, go west to take the staircase down to the Lower Reaches to talk again to the Avatar of Amaunator.
If you go back to Gaal, he and some of his Elite Guards will be waiting at their compound's entrance, and angry as they are because you killed their god, they will attack you. Kill them if you wish, it is not essential. If you go past them, whether you killed them or not (If you don't kill them, you can go through them with a stealthed/invisible party member, preferably capable of unlocking the chests further ahead), the rest of the cultists/guards you'll meet at their compound will just walk away and leave peacefully without a word upon seeing you. And this way you can loot all the goodies (gold, gems, arrows, spells, etc.) from their chests and containers without any trouble at all from them. You could say that they turn a blind eye...
===Rewards===
Go back to the robed Diseased One in front of the Temple of the Forgotten God. Regardless of dialog choices, you will enter the temple with the Diseased One where the Avatar of Amaunator reappears. For returning the completed rod, and giving hope again to his followers, the party is granted 45,750 XP. He takes the rift device, but for your services he gives you a Medium Shield +3 called Saving Grace.
When you emerge from the Sewers after killing the Unseeing Eye, outside of the Guarded Compound you might witness a scene in which a Shield Knight proclaims: "The false god is dead and his foul prophets will fall with him!". After that, the Shield Knight executes a nearby Cult Prophet who cries out with his last breath: "The sightless shall rise again! Aaagh!"
Return to the Temple District and the priest who hired you to receive 45,750 XP per party member and a +1 to Reputation. If Gorion's Ward is not a cleric, you will be further rewarded with the mace Ardulia's Fall. If Gorion's Ward is a cleric you will be offered a position in the temple, which, updates your Journal under "Cleric Stronghold."
== Trivia==
*If Yoshimo or Jaheira is in the party, after speaking to Gaal at the entrance of the compound, Yoshimo will mention that "if this task cannot be performed by a beholder or its minions [that] we are in for a chore indeed" - strongly suggesting that the One God is in fact a beholder. Depending on your dialogue choices with Gaal, he might or might not have revealed it at that point.
* Nalia also mentions a 'beholder' in her dialogue response.
== Bugs ==
*At least in Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition and as of version 2.5.16.6, make sure not to use the Rift Device with a character protected by Spell Shield. If you do, the used-up device will never appear in their backpack, and it won't be possible to complete the fading god's quest. This is verified by Wiki Editor playtesting.
==Mod content==
===Gallery:===
:Characters involved (in likely order of appearance)
:Some Portraits from Portraits Portraits Everywhere
GAAL.jpg|thumb|Gaal, Cult of the Eyeless priest and 'spiritual' leader.
File:BHARVAL.jpg|thumb|High Mornmaster Arval from the Temple of Lathander - may give you the questline depending on your alignment.
OISIG.jpg|thumb|High Watcher Oisig, High Priest of Helm - may give you the questline depending on your alignment.
BHNALLA.jpg|thumb|Stormherald Nallabir of the Temple of Talos - may give you the questline depending on your alignment.
Keldorn Firecam NKELDOR Portrait BG2.png|thumb|Keldorn Firecam, Paladin of the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart is already investigating the cult. 
SASSAR.jpg|thumb|Sassar, blind former member of the Cult of the Eyeless.
EXCULT1.jpg|thumb|Garuk, ex Cult of the Eyeless member.
EXCULT2.jpg|thumb|Zaelas, ex Cult of the Eyeless member.
CTRAITOR.jpg|thumb|Tad, Cult of the Eyeless, Traitor?
RIFTG01.jpg|thumb|Rift Guardian, a disembodied voice projects from the broken bridge and requires an answer to the riddle to find the path forward.
RIFTM01.jpg|thumb|Diseasd One, shrouded in mist, a hunched robed figure stands before the Forgotten Temple.
RIFTM02.jpg|thumb|Diseased man, a wrinkled and shriveled, says "Soon to sleep and wake. No sooner dead than born. Stay here too long and you may find yourself strapped to the wheel of fortune too".
RIFTW01.jpg|thumb|Diseased woman, cloaked in robes, says "Away with you, shadows. We are in darkness already".
RIFTCR04.jpg|thumb|Empathic Manifestation within the forgotten Temple of Amaunator - "Hate is here! Here is hate! Attack with anger and feed the hate! The hate!"
RIFTG03.jpg|thumb|Avatar of Amaunator address you upon the banishment of the Empathic Manifestation - "Whooo walks in the temple of I? Speak of yourself... you are almost beyond the sight of I".
THESHAL.jpg|thumb|Theshal, Mayor of Ghoul Town croaks '"Hsss! Why do you come amongst usss?
BHEYE.jpg|thumb|Unseeing Eye, bent on your destruction and willing to fight for the Rift Device - A low voice sounds within your mind "Despair, sighted, for death is thy familiar..."
Category:Bugs