House of Hope

== Entering ==
=== Haggle with Helsik ===
To access the House of Hope, the party must travel to the Devil's Fee in the northern-central part of the . From the Lower City Centre Wall waypoint, head north up the path and go inside the gate towards the large house. Inside you will talk to the proprietor, , who will provide the components to open a portal if the party meets one of the following conditions:
* Paying 20,000 gold to Helsik
* Succeeding a DC 25 Intimidation check and paying 10,000 gold,
* Warlocks can succeed a DC 25 Persuasion check with advantage to lower the price to 10,000.
* Passing a DC 20 Persuasion check to gain access in exchange for the from the House of Hope. 
Helsik will then provide the party with the , a containing required items, and instructions on how to perform the ritual itself. The grimoire provides hints to complete the ritual.
The Ritual Pouch and the Grimoire Bound in Imp Skin can also be pick-pocketed from Helsik. If the items were stolen, Helsik will comment on the party's thievery after completing the House of Hope, but won't be hostile and still happily trade. However, if the items are stolen by one party member while another party member is attempting to purchase them Helsik will kick the party out of the shop and cast on the main entrance; re-entering the shop will cause her to become immediately hostile.
The party has to head upstairs and put the items from the bag on the right places of the ritual circle. The note, , explains the steps involved. 
Duplicates of five of the ritual ingredients, but not the grimoire or the instructions, are found upstairs in Helsik's room: the skull inside the wooden casket in the middle of the room next to a row of books on the left side of the double door, incense on the small table next to the southern balcony door; infernal marble in the opulent chest beside the door to the bedroom; a diamond in the gilded chest near the desk by the window; and a Coin of Mammon in the gilded chest on the bedside cabinet.
At the top of the stairs is a Ward trap that casts a spell when stepped on. On its right is a Ward shaped as an Imp that recites; "Gravelled tongue, sanded throat. Hard to swallow... hurts to breathe...". Placing any water or wine will disarm the trap, replying "Too wet. Too cold. No fun. Begone!". If the Grimoire, the Ritual Pouch containing required items, and the instructions are bought from Helsik, the trap will be disarmed.
=== Opening the portal ===
Putting the items on the correct places and using the portal transports the party to the House of Hope. The order of placing these items does not matter as long as they are put on their correct places:
* Placing the skull on the star point near the altar
* Placing the coin of Mammon on the next point to the right (if your character is facing the altar)
* Skipping a point and placing the diamond on the next point after that
* Placing the incense on the point following the diamond
* Placing the Infernal Marble in the centre of the star
Entering the House of Hope causes Raphael to disappear from Sharess' Caress, thus becoming inaccessible until the confrontation.
== Exiting ==
The House of Hope is exited through the same portal the party used to enter. This portal remains open for the rest of the game and allows free passage between the House and Baldur's Gate except when the alarm is raised. Once the alarm has been triggered, attempting to use the portal will instead cause Raphael to appear and engage in combat with the party. During the confrontation with Raphael the portal is closed.
=== Raising the Alarm ===
The alarm is only raised when one of the following conditions is met: 
* Being spotted by someone while not disguising with 
* Attacking any of the debtors or the 
* Stealing the 
* Destroying the 
* Stealing the and triggered the pressure plate
* Stealing the and triggered the pressure plate
* Freeing 
Raising the alarm and attempting to exit while Raphael is still in the possession of the player character's Soul-Sworn Contract, results in an instant, automatic Game Over!
== Overview ==
=== Foyer ===
The portal exits into the House's foyer, which has a large door and four Pillar of Souls. Approaching the door will summon , who will introduce herself and give the party four sets of , which will disguise them from the Eternal Debtors while in the house.
=== Feast Hall ===
The next room north of the foyer is the feast hall, where Raphael transported the party during his first introduction. Gone are the lavish displays of food and ordered furniture, the party now can see the reality of Raphael's illusory temptations as they truly are; rotting food, disorder and wandering, trapped souls.
Cleaning the hall is a lone , who introduces himself as the architect who built Moonrise Towers.
=== Main Corridor ===
The semicircular Main Corridor can be accessed from the east and west exits from the Feast Hall. It connects all rooms of the House and is populated by several Eternal Debtors. In the Main Corridor various container can be found which contain a Debtor's Attire. The Prison Hatchway, which leads to Hope's prison, is located on the east end of the corridor. 
=== Chamber of Egress ===
East of the feast hall is a large room filled with portals leading different locations. The portals are closed, but can be interacted with to hear a brief line about each destination. The player character and origins each have different comments on it.
Scrubbing the floor of the room is its keeper, , who can be persuaded into revealing Hope's physical location and give additional information regarding .
=== Eastern Balcony === 
North of the Chamber of Egress is a balcony where one can go outside the House. Outside, just north of the balcony is a Passageway to Hope's prison. Also on the outside, by jumping on rock platforms one can reach the Boudoir.
=== Boudoir ===
In the centre of the Main Corridor is the entrance to the boudoir; the northernmost room in the House. Access to the boudoir requires either the from The Archivist in the archive, or traversal across the platforms from the Eastern Balcony.
In the first section of the room are some locked opulent chests, one contains a . A pool sits in the centre of the room, with some restoration faucets that restore the party's resources as if they took a long rest; this does not work during fighting or after having beaten Raphael. The faucets do not restore the party's ability to take additional short rests, but they do restore a bard's related ability. The faucets have infinite uses, including on honour mode. After defeating Raphael the restoration faucets do not function anymore.
Further back, the party can find lazing about. When approached, a conversation automatically starts. The party can convince Haarlep into giving up the password for the shield protecting the / , or fight him. A large portrait west of the bed can also be moved to reveal Raphael's Safe, and opened with a key from Haarlep or lockpicked, to find which contains the password.
=== Raphael's Vault ===
The entrance to Raphael's Vault is directly south of the entrance to the Boudoir. To enter, the party must first succeed in a DC 10 Perception check to spot the infernal gem, then interact with the infernal gem by passing a DC 10 Wisdom check, followed by a DC 20 Arcana check. Inside is the , , and if she survived Act One.
=== Western Balcony === 
The Western Balcony is located north of the Archive. Here, the Eternal Rat can be found.
=== Archive ===
The westernmost room of the Main Corridor is the Archive. Opposite the entrance is a lever which opens a shortcut back to the feast hall.
Inside the Archive are several books with information related to the House and to the . More notably, there are three pedestals with rare equipment, and the who is keeping an eye on them. 
The pedestals each have a pressure plate () that alerts the House if the item is removed. The northern pedestal holds the , the southern the , and to the west is, depending on the party's choices when dealing with Raphael in Sharess' Caress, either the or , which can only be accessed by removing the shield with a password.
If taking the Orphic Hammer, or stealing an item from a dais without disarming its trap, the Debtors throughout the House become hostile, and two Hell Spheres separately appear at various points in the main corridor if reaching them.
=== Hope's prison ===
At the eastern end of the Main Corridor near the Chamber of Egress is the Prison Hatchway, which leads down beneath the House and into Hope's prison. The prison can also be reached through the Passageway which is found outside, just north of the Eastern Balcony. Hope herself is at the centre of the room, bound by two unbreakable chains held by rocks which can be broken with the Orphic Hammer.
There are also two Spectators, one of which drops the , and five Vengeful Imps.
=== Characters ===
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
=== Creatures ===
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
=== Related locations ===
* 
=== Related quests ===
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
* 
== Notable loot ==
Notable items obtained in this location, whether looted, or obtained as a quest reward:
=== Boudoir ===
* , acquired by defeating Haarlep
* , x3: one inside a locked Opulent Chest (DC 15) in the boudoir, two more inside a locked Gilded Chest (DC 15) in the hallway between boudoir and archive.
=== Archive ===
When stealing from daises in Archive, the House will become hostile unless their pressure plate is disarmed first. This requires DC 15 Perception check to unveil followed by a DC 20 Sleight of Hand check to disarm.
* , stolen from a dais
* , stolen from a dais
* , stolen from a dais, must have the necessary words in order to turn off the shield (if no contract with Raphael was made in Sharess' Caress)
* , found on a dais, must have the necessary words in order to turn off the shield. Can not be obtained, only destroyed. (if a contract with Raphael was made in Sharess' Caress)
=== Raphael's vault ===
* (if Mol survived Act One)
* 
* 
=== Hope's prison ===
* , acquired after defeating Spectator
=== Foyer ===
* , reward from Hope after saving her
* , acquired after defeating the final encounter of the area
== Gallery ==
edward-vanderghote-houseofhope-04.webp|Top view
edward-vanderghote-houseofhope-05.webp|The portals
edward-vanderghote-houseofhope-02.webp|The hatch to Hope's prison
== Notes and references ==
Category:Locations
Category:Act Three Locations