Source
r/BaldursGate3•
Cenode

[Theory, possible spoilers] About Shadowheart's mysterious artifact.

Spoiler

This is a theory a friend and I came up while playing as Githyanki and finding out the following.

We know from Shadowheart's backstory, she undertook a suicide mission with a group of Shar's worshipers.

From BG3's official page: A loyal cleric of Shar, Shadowheart is the sole survivor of a holy mission undertaken on the Mistress of the Night’s behest. She alone must deliver a relic of immense power to her coven in Baldur’s Gate, while threatened by a strange new magic that is burgeoning from within.

Shadowheart has in her possesion a mysterious at the start of the game, if you examine it you can see that it is engraved with Githyanki scripture. After succeeding on a DC10 investigation check you "sense" something inside the box.

There are multiple mentions that the Absolute is looking a "weapon" in the wreckage of the nautiloid, and if you meet the Githyanki group they too are looking for such weapon, they provide a description of the item which matches with the box, you can even give it to them.

Now, what's inside this box that the Githyanki and the Absolute are so desperate to get their hands on? We believe this item is an Infernal puzzle box, its purpose would be to store a contract between a devil and a mortal creature. We strongly believe this to be Vlaakith's contract with Tiamat, which provided the Githyanki with red dragons, that would explain why this could be a powerful weapon in the right hands.

The box is impossible to open with the means available in Early Access, and there are still many unknowns, such as who or what the absolute are or why the cult of Shar wants this artifact. Also the Githyanki group has a strange disc-shaped item (If you kill them) which I've yet to investigate.

I'd love to hear more opinions about this, as it might be one of the biggest plot points of the game.

Posted Oct 11, 2020, 8:09 PM UTC · edited

5332
Asdamor•

!I just found out that there is actually confirmation for this in the game currently! If you 'Disguise Self' Shadowheart into a Githyanki and walk up the the Githyanki group and win one of the deception/persuasion rolls, the Githyanki leader will ask if you've seen the weapon. It shows a dialog option to give him the box, after which he reacts something along the lines of 'You found the weapon!'. He then casts detect thoughts on you and figures out you've been 'infected' by the Illithid and then tells his sidekick to fight you. Strangely after the fight the box is still in your posession eventho you give it to the Githyanki leader. None of the dialog options on shadowheart herself have changed either, so i'm guessing it only implemented halfway.!<

<duh, just realized you did something similar>

22
[deleted]•

Woah

1
Aqman7•

Damn. I wished I knew that. Thx btw

1
WinterCatharsis•

I don't have anything in the form of additional input but I love the idea - I can totally see you guys being correct and if not, maybe Larian will change their minds on what is in the box after reading this ;)

15
Zelian820•

https://youtu.be/lHpHxLZReiI

1
GarrettLK•

The disc shaped item is a map with the location of the creche. Lae'zel can activate it.

15
CenodeOP•

You're right, I checked it out later on a previous savegame, you have to use it with a Githyanki I think.

8
GishBo•

Oh, wow, thank goodness that wasn't what I thought it was. I totally thought it was the Annulus

1
Anon873127366•

I feel pretty confident that the Netherese are behind the cult of the Absolute in a big way, given that when you try to let the Hag cure you, she changes her mind because she senses Netherese magic on it, as well as how intertwined they are with Gale's backstory. I also feel like the hint we're looking for in that regard can probably be found in Rime of the Frostmaiden, since much of that adventure (especially late game) is connected to the Netherese and one of their encalves.

11
TheUnNaturalist•

Specifically the enclave of the Shadovar, who worship Shar.

There's something really suspicious going on.

2
startography•

You're very likely correct.

Datamining spoilers:

!A character from Descent into Avernus, who is an expert on infernal puzzle boxes, is a planned camp follower/companion.!<

8
[deleted]•

My guess on who that is: >!I bet it's the pain worshipper randomly found in the goblin camp.!<

hes basically a cenobite so puzzle boxes would clearly be his thing.

6
sunflame1337•

omg that would be so cool

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
sir__kiiwi•

Sorry, few days late!

Where's all the datamined info being compiled?

1
startography•

Hey, no worries. It was kinda just thrown together in a small thread on some forum and the link got passed around.

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/baldurs-gate-3-by-larian-studios-now-available-on-early-access.135311/page-83

scroll down for a post by Rusty_Shackleford w/ three spoiler tags, ignore...basically everything else there.

2
JLthekingOwlbear•

I love the idea and I think your theory is awesome! Sounds incredibly similar to the plot of Descent into Avernus, where you also have to go on a quest to find the puzzle box to do spoilers. Maybe we'll see something similar here.

5
Kogan_Urufu•

My best guess is that the contract within the box details a deal where Vlaakith betrays Gith to Tiamat and of discovered, would seriously ruin the current (different) Vlaakith’s hold over the Githyanki people.

5
kadda1212•

I also thought it could be something like an infernal puzzle box. But it has gith runes on it.

3
BasileusBasil•

The poor quasit isn't quite pleased by her destroying its infernal rubik cube.

3
LordRevan1997•

I'm definitely thinking you're right. Makes a total sense. And I really want to know the deal with Gith and Tiamat, I've been making it up for my home game so I'd love to see what's canon! The gith runes could be explained by the fact that it is a gith contract. Really awesome idea.

I must say that the conversation about the weapon blindsided me, because I killed shadowheart in our first meeting.

Given that Vlaakith relies on Gith staying away to maintain her power, it would certainly explain why she'd be willing to sacrifice a few faithful to keep the secret. Maybe it's possible she'll come back, and Vlaakith wants her to stay away.

3
TheUnNaturalist•

I also used this contract in my home game, so now the pressure is on to finish the campaign before the canonical contract is released!

My own version (in Rise of Tiamat) is that the contract involved a debt. Vlaakith agreed that the Githyanki would serve her if the chains of her eternal prison were ever broken, and bound the deal with Gith's soul. So there are renegade Githyanki whom the heroes can persuade to help them in stopping Tiamat from returning - so that they don't lose their freedom.

My issue with this game is that I'm trying to figure out how the heck an illithid nautiloid fits into this plot. Very impressed by the writing team.

1
LordRevan1997•

Well we can say with a degree of certainty that the absolute is a group of illithids who are trying to control the masses through their magically upgraded parasites, and are bringing together all of the "evil" races who the big forces of good wont notice.

Now I know literally nothing about shadowheart, she was mouthy to me twice, and therefore twice my evil (you're welcome Swen) characters called her bluff and put her in the ground. But I guess that either Shadowheart was targetted because they want to keep gith where she is, because she is a literal nightmare for them. Having the contract would probably set them in good stead for doing that. Or it was completely random that when they were picking up new test subjects/true souls, they happened to get her. For me, the attack on baldurs gate represents a stepping up of the absolute plans. Looks like the plan was for them to start infiltrating more "civilised" groups with a new round of true souls, its obvious that the ones we've already met are of a crop before us so we may represent phase 2.

So I theorise that the mindflayers from our nautiloid are members of the circle of the absolute, the mindflayers behind all this. When the Githyanki started fucking their plan, emergency hyperspace jump went even more awry and they had to deal with devil airspace patrol blah blah blah. I guess the nautiloid was one of their bases/labs. Mobile facility with a fair amount of defensive capability isn't a bad base of operations id say.

1
TheUnNaturalist•

I’m on board with this theory. That’s what I thought this all was.

Until I met Minthara, who is a Cleric of the Absolute. That means the Absolute is a deity, or at the very least a demigod.

I have gotten most of Shadowheart’s background at this point, and her beliefs are very telling.

1
LordRevan1997•

So in the lore, do cleric powers work as direct gifts from god? I know in my world it is the power of belief that brings these powers into existence, but I'm not sure on the official line. I'm pretty sure vlaakith is mentioned as a dcleric patron because of the githyanki worship, but she's just a particularly powerful lich right?

An amusing thought I just had: you know the meme about the bard who tries to make people worship him so he gets the powers of a god/ finding a group of kuotoa to turn you into a god? Maybe this is the illithids plan? Mind control some true souls into founding a religion and creating some super zealous followers, it may follow that divinity is spawned?

1
GishBo•

I practically shat my pants when I realized they were talking about >!what Shadowheart had been fiddling with.!< I was wide-eyed, thinking, "We are dead as fuck"

​

EDIT: DISK? I hope to god that isn't what I think it is. >!The Annulus?!<

EDIT Part 2: Electric Boogaloo: Disk is a map, I guess.

3
Frozen_Bart•

I have no clue what you are talking about and would like to know more. What item does she have? The only time i've even gotten a cutscene with her was looting the boxes in the town where the goblins had raided and found a helmet, she went all awkward.

2
CenodeOP•

I am referring to This item. It's in her inventory at the start of the game.

2
Frozen_Bart•

I swear I have not noticed this in every game, so I'm wondering if mine is bugged.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

2
1varangian•

This artifact better not be the purifier that extracts the tadpole.

"ha ha, you had it all along"

1
ashcrash3•

A little late, but Shadowheart has a scene showing up to the camp with murder eyes after constantly hearing "Whispers" telling her to go there. If you probe her mind to see if it's the tadpole, it says it's not. She mentions having had them since...before (I assume the mission),artifact, and they do quiet down if she stays. Could it be related to the artefact? or something similar to the Necromancy book?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvZ1fM5YasQ

1