Search the Cellar is a quest in Baldur’s Gate 3 that can be found in the Blighted Village. If this is something that you completely missed, don’t worry you aren’t alone. It can be a tricky quest to find. But we’ll have all the answers you need here in this guide.
Baldur’s Gate 3: Search the Cellar quest guide
How to start Search the Cellar
Screenshot by PC Invasion
To begin Search the Cellar, we need to go to the Blighted Village that lies to the west of Emerald Grove. Once just enter the house that’s right beside the Blighted Village Waypoint. Check the map above for its exact location, it’s where my party is currently standing. Once you reach the location, look at the counter in the house to find the Apothecary’s Ledger. Then, after reading it, you’ll begin the quest for Search the Cellar. Afterward, we need to head through the hatch that’s just behind the counter. It can be easy to miss but you just see it in the picture below on the ground behind the Apothecary’s counter.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Search the Cellar – Look for rare plants
Since this is an apothecary’s workshop, you can find plenty of ingredients throughout the cellar. Look inside barrels, shelves and keep an eye out for any potions of healing that are sitting around. If you’re still in the early hours of Baldur’s Gate 3, you’re going to want to collect a lot of healing potions. Trust me, this game gets hard very quickly.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
After searching through the items found in the cellar, you may notice that the vibe is a bit weird down here. Cellars are usually creepy anyway, but there’s something different about this place. The northern end of the cellar has a table with some suspicious items on it. Including an Elixir of Poison Resistance, as well as a poison that’s disguised as a healing potion.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Turn your attention to the right of the desk, around the corner to the three stacked boxes. If your party succeeds in the Perception check, you’ll find a lever. And just like all good levers, pulling this one reveals a secret entrance to a further part of the cellar. As it turns out, this place isn’t just the strange basement of an alchemist.
Search the Cellar – Heading further in
Upon proceeding through the newly opened path, you’ll soon see some coffins dotted around a large chamber. Be prepared for a fight, as when you interact with them, Agile Guardians will appear from these coffins. As the fight goes on, the Agile Guardians will attempt to wake their friends from the other coffins. To make life easier, try and take care of them all before you’re dealing with too many at once. These enemies are all level 3, so if you’re coming here in the first few hours, be prepared for a tough fight. Most of these guys have bows, so prioritize in taking them out first.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Once the fight is over, head to the north side of the cave, behind a pillar of rock. On the ground, you should see a Dark Journal. Read it and we’ll discover that this area was inhabited by a necromancer named Ilyn Toth. Now head to the southwest side of the room where you’ll find an Ornate Mirror. This is actually a magic mirror, and it hides another room with even more goodies. However, to pass you need to either answer its questions correctly or pass an Intimidation check. If you want to answer its questions correctly, here are the choices you need to pick.
- Yes, an ally! I’m an ally of your master’s
- (If History succeeds) A foul lich, May he die a thousand more deaths./(If History fails) Szass Tam is a foul, wretched creature.
- I read a doctor’s journal – he used balsam to clean a wound.
- I’d look for whatever spell will rid me of this worm in my head.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
How to find the Dark Amethyst in Baldur’s Gate 3
The mirror will then allow you to pass through it to find the true laboratory of Ilyn Toth. But before we proceed any further, we actually need to go to a different area. Unfortunately, if you’re an arachnophobe I’ve got some bad news about Baldur’s Gate 3. We need to head into the Whispering Depths to find the Dark Amethyst, and this area is a spider nest. The good news is that the Dark Amethyst isn’t very hard to spot at all. But the bad news is that we have to either defeat or sneak past a giant spider to reach it.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Just head through the Whispering Depths until you reach the final area with the giant spider. Then look to the lower floor and you should see the Dark Amethyst right next to a glowing green patch of Ichourus Egg Clutch. Again, if you’re still quite early in the game this area might be tricky. But if you’ve already reached level 5 at this point, you shouldn’t have many issues.
Search the Cellar – Back to the laboratory
Once you have the Dark Amethyst we can finally interact with the real prize of the cellar. Return to the room that the Ornate Mirror opened up and go through the door on the east side. It’s locked so get ready to start lockpicking. You should also deal with the trap that’s activated by a pressure plate just in front of the door. Inside this room, you’ll find a rather disturbing book called The Necromancy of Thay. And it just so happens that the Dark Amethyst fits perfectly into its mouth.
Screenshot by PC Invasion
Now a word of warning before attempting to open this book. Once you place the Amethyst in the slot and open it up, you’ll need to pass various skill checks to keep reading. The first will have a DC of 10, the next will be 15, and finally, the last option will be a 20. If you fail any of these throws, the book will remain permanently shut. So if you want to see the outcome of successfully rolling each time, it may be best to employ that save button. After reading the book successfully, you’ll get an effect called Necromancy of Thay which lets you use Speak with Dead once a day.
Whichever choice you make with the book, that brings the Search the Cellar quest to an end in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you don’t destroy the book and end up passing all of the rolls, you’ll unlock a new quest called Unlock the Ancient Tome. But that’s a mystery for another day. If you’re still thirsting for more dungeons to explore, why not take a crack at the Arcane Tower.
Baldur’s Gate 3 is now available on PC.
