Infiltrate Moonrise Towers

Infiltrate Moonrise Towers is a Quest in Act Two of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started in various ways after entering the Shadow-Cursed Lands.
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==Objectives==
Objectives and journal entries may vary pending story decisions and outcomes.
== Walkthrough ==
The order of this walkthrough can vary greatly based on the party's choices. Using the sections to navigate the guide is heavily encouraged.
=== Meeting The Harpers ===
If the party used the elevator in Grymforge as part of , the party arrives at a Sharran worship site. Directly ahead is an Absolutist Expedition Trunk with torches and various potions, which can be lockpicked (DC 10). Move west to find an exit to the Shadow-Cursed Lands (and a Weary Traveler for if he wasn't encountered already). The party arrives at the Ruined Battlefield. Right by the exit are two braziers - the party can light them and take the torches, as they are useful for avoiding the shadow curse. In order to avoid succumbing to the shadow curse, a party member must be holding a lit torch, or otherwise be illuminated (such as by the cantrip, or the passive effect of the ). Continue exploring westward to encounter some Harper Scouts, led by . The harpers are suspicious and order the party forward, when a harper named is taken by a Shadow and transformed by the shadow curse. A fight breaks out between the newly transformed Yonas and seven Shadows against the remaining Harpers.
After the Shadows are defeated, Lassandra thanks the party and urges them to carry a torch, as it's enough for the edges of the Shadow-Cursed Land. She tells them there is one place safe from the curse, the Last Light Inn, and marks it on the map.
=== Meeting The Absolutists ===
If the party used the Mountain Pass route, as part of , then a goblin greets them and asks if they are the True Soul the goblin is expecting. The goblin tells the party to grab a torch, stick to the light as much as possible, and go to the rendezvous point to wait for the guide to Moonrise Towers. This starts .
If approaching the rendezvous point, an orc named asks if the party have what is needed to summon the guide. To summon the Drider guide, Vez explains that a special lyre is needed - the . This lyre can be looted off corpse if she was killed or knocked out during , gifted by Minthara if she was sided with during , or by rescuing in and siding with him. Once the lyre has been produced, a Performance check (DC 16) is prompted, but the result is the same whether it's passed or failed - the guide just makes a snide comment if it was played poorly. If the party does not have the lyre, then they can summon the guide using illithid powers (Wisdom DC 14). Additionally, Barbarians, Sorcerers, Bards, Clerics, and Paladins all have special dialogue to summon the guide.
The guide in question is a Drider named . He owns a functioning and has been tasked with shuttling cultist initiates to Moonrise Towers. He'll ferry the party to Moonrise. Once the party agrees, Kar'niss takes off and the party must remain in the glow of his Moonlantern to stave off the shadow curse.
During the trek, a group of Harpers ambush the convoy. The party can to betray the convoy and help the Harpers, or fight alongside the convoy in the hopes of being more convincing at Moonrise. If siding with the Harpers, they take the drider's Moonlantern and refer the party to Last Light Inn. If sticking with the convoy, then Kar'niss safely guides the party to the front entrance to Moonrise Towers.
=== The Last Light Inn ===
Once arriving at Last Light Inn, there is a Harper, who summons . Jaheira is instantly wary of the party and summons vines to stop them. She produces a and explains that the mind flayer tadpoles react to those infected. She brings the specimen up to the party and it reacts, causing Jaheira to believe the party are True Souls. If the tieflings were saved during , then appears to vouch for the party, explaining that they protected the Druid Grove.
If the party did not save the tieflings, either by ignoring the Grove or by raiding it, then Flaming Fist Marcus comes to their aid. Although he clearly does not recognize the party, he communes with them telepathically. He tells Jaheira that the party helped him fight off cultists, so they can be trusted.
Jaheira is shocked at how that's possible. She demands answers. Jaheira insists on knowing the whole truth not accepting any vague answers. The gets Jaheira to back down, to which she invites the party in for a drink. If the wine is smelled first (Medicine DC 10, or DC 6 for rogues and druids), a hint of Klauthgrass is detected - a truth serum. Jaheira's trust can be earned regardless of if the serum is drunk and the question she asks is the same - is the parasite changing the party? Jaheira refuses to believe an assertion that the parasite isn't doing anything, but she will believe an assertion that the party is resisting the urge to change.
Once Jaheira trusts the party, she explains the situation. The leader of Moonrise Towers is a man named . He's immensely powerful and gifted with immortality. The Harpers have come to find a way to stop the cult and kill Thorm once and for all. The Harpers have had little luck, but Jaheira believes that the party can make a difference by infiltrating Moonrise as a True Soul. She tells the party to go upstairs and meet a cleric of who is the one responsible for keeping Last Light Inn shielded.
=== The Abduction ===
After Jaheira starts to trust the party, she refers them upstairs to gain a blessing from Isobel. Isobel is on the balcony, finishing a prayer to Selûne in order to strengthen the wards around the Inn. If the party speaks to her, Isobel strengthens the party's resistance to the curse with a Blessing of Selûne, and if the Harpers took Kar'niss' Moonlantern, she gives it to them. After the party is done talking with Isobel, chaos breaks out in the Inn. A Flaming Fist named reveals himself to be a True Soul tasked with kidnapping Isobel and bringing her back to Moonrise Towers. Sensing the tadpoles in the party, he tells them to aid him. This starts . The party can either turn on the Harpers or choose to fight off Marcus. Additionally, a winged horror swoops in and kidnaps Mol, if she is alive.
If the tieflings were not spared, the events play out slightly differently. After Jaheira backs down, Marcus can be spoken to in Isobel's room upstairs, where he reveals that he was sent on a mission to kidnap the cleric. The party can either attack him, or go down and report it to Jaheira with a high enough persuasion or deception roll. If Jaheira is convinced of his betrayal, she tells the party to go to Isobel to protect her while she gathers her most trusted Harpers. However, the choices to fight Marcus or aid him are still the same.
Several things can happen:
* The party can avoid talking to Isobel, and hence never trigger the abduction.
* Marcus can be fought off, saving the Inn and its inhabitants.
* Marcus can knock out Isobel and kidnap her, with or without the party's help.
* Isobel can die.
If Isobel is kidnapped or dies, the protection around the Inn vanishes. All of the inhabitants inside succumb to the shadow curse. Some of them die instantly, while others become hostile and must be killed.
=== Moonrise Towers ===
After entering Moonrise Towers, the party is urged to go to the audience chamber. Enter it, and Ketheric is on a throne while one of his minions, Disciple Z'rell, will be seen interrogating a group of characters about what happened at the Goblin Camp during Act One. Depending on several things the party did during Act One, some variations are possible.
Thes variations include:
* begging for mercy, which will lead to the quest being added to the journal.
* acting as the primary "speaking" goblin character, with or without Minthara present.
* beeing part of the goblin group if she was freed from the Grove and spared in the Shattered Sanctum. She can also act as the primary "speaking" goblin character if Fezzerk is not present.
* A goblin named may take on the speaking role usually occupied by Fezzerk if he was neither encountered during Act One nor killed prior to this scene and if Sazza is also not there. Darra has been observed to be accompanied by a second goblin named .
* A specific goblin named always appears to be present in this scene, for specific reasons.
During this scene, the party is allowed to select dialogue options that "insert" them into the interrogation, or they can remain silent until other outcomes prompt them to respond.
With their selected dialogue choices, the party can attempt to "plead" the case of the character that Ketheric is judging, but Ketheric will eventually refuse to believe the judged characters have any worth and orders the new True Souls -- the party -- to handle it. Ketheric leaves for his quarters and Z'rell tells the party to do whatever they want with them. The goblins can be killed, or set free. The party also has the option to try attacking Thorm, but he just walks away and tells Z'rell to deal with it, and the whole area becomes hostile.
===Speaking to Z'rell===
After dealing with the goblins, Z'rell must be reported to. She's up the stairs behind the throne in the audience chamber. Speak to her, and she telepathically connects with the party to see how the goblins died, and then connects again to search for "proof of their faith" or loyalty to the Absolute.
The Party has different options to "prove" their faith to Z'rell. These options include:
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If the party successfully convinces Z'rell of their faith, they will receive an inspiration if they are of the background and Z'rell gives them a new task - track down , a servant of Thorm's whom the cult has lost contact with. He was last seen at the Thorm Mausoleum. If the player character passes an automatic dice roll, they may be given the option to press Z'rell for further details about the mission and/or Z'rell's personal thoughts about it.
Z'rell gives the party a key to Balthazar's room and instructs them to take a Moonlantern and touch nothing else. However, the party can access a secret area in his room in order to start .
=== The Relic ===
Pursuing Balthazar on the path of leads the party to Grand Mausoleum, north of the House of Healing. After solving a small puzzle in the Mausoleum, the party enters the Gauntlet of Shar, where they must overcome each of Shar's trials and collect the to gain access to the Shadowfell. Then they have to decide the fate.
=== Confronting Ketheric ===
The final meeting with Ketheric can go very differently depending on if the party aided him or sabotaged him. However, it always results in the subsequent quest .
==== Assaulting Moonrise Towers ====
If the party sabotaged Ketheric by either freeing or killing the Nightsong, Ketheric loses his immortality. If Last Light Inn is still intact, the party can join , the Harpers, and the Flaming Fist in a frontal assault on Moonrise Towers, against a large number of cultists. If and the other gnolls were freed, they will also join the fight on the party's side. Once the main floor has been taken, Jaheira can be persuaded to come with the party to the rooftop, where Thorm awaits.
There is an entirely optional battle in the Moonrise Towers Prison, where the party can fight alongside several Fists against a group of undead led by a Death Shepherd and Myrkulite cultists.
On the rooftop, the party has a brief moment to speak with Thorm. They can try to convince him that he can still redeem himself and stop the madness. Even if he is convinced, he must still be fought, but convincing him here will give the option to convince him later. If Aylin was freed alive, she joins the party in the battle. Once Thorm is defeated, a tentacle appears to whisk him away deeper into Moonrise.
==== An Audience with the Absolute ====
If the party lets Balthazar take the Nightsong to Moonrise Towers, then he tells them to meet them there to receive Ketheric Thorm's favour. Once the party arrives and speaks to Disciple Z'rell, she only lets them proceed if is completed. The party must kidnap Isobel from the Last Light Inn to be allowed to see Thorm. If Isobel is already dead, then Z'rell lets the party up to face judgement.
If Isobel is kidnapped, Thorm thanks the party and tells them to pray at the altar as a reward. If Isobel died, then he tells them to pray for the Absolute's justice. Either way, a tentacle appears behind the party as they pray at the altar and detects their Astral Prism. Thorm, who knows that the party possess the relic and that it cannot be taken for some reason, commands the tentacle to take the party down to Balthazar's lab, where he will find a way to sever the connection.
In the lab the party members find themselves trapped in Profane Wombs. After escaping the wombs, Balthazar must be defeated. He is joined by several undead servants. If the party killed and , then their undead corpses are be among them.
== Related Quests ==
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Category:Quests
Category:Main Quest