Free True Soul Nere

Nere is trapped in a poisonous room.

Free True Soul Nere is a Quest in Act One of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started when the party arrives at Grymforge and talks to Sergeant Thrinn or after making a deal with Elder Brithvar.

Objectives

Objectives and journal entries may vary pending story decisions and outcomes.

Clear the cave-in.

• Sergeant Thrinn said the True-Soul leading them is trapped behind the cave-in. She wants us to clear it.
• The deep gnomes are worried about Beldron. He's trapped with True Soul Nere behind the cave-in.
• We discovered several duergar who are plotting against Nere. They asked us to free him, and offered a cut of the prize if we help.
• We found some explosives. Let's see if it's enough to clear the cave-in.
• We found some rubble and were able to clear it. We should do the same for the cave-in.
• We managed to clear some but not all of the rubble.
• We used other methods to clear the rubble. Perhaps this could come in handy again.
• True Soul Nere warned us about the poisonous gas behind the cave-in. He'll die soon - we can't afford to rest.

Speak to Nere.

• We managed to clear the cave-in. Let's see what Nere has to say for himself.

Defeat the mutinous duergar.

• The duergar turned on Nere. We need to protect him.

Speak to Nere.

• The duergar were defeated. We should check on Nere.

Quest Complete

• The cave-in was cleared without our help.
• Nere mentioned that he's planning to go to the temple where he'll pick up the trail of Balthazar, the General's advisor.
• We revealed the truth to Nere - that the Absolute is a front for mind flayers. He gave us a token of his thanks.
• We turned on Nere.
• Nere is dead.
• We left Grymforge without clearing the cave-in.
• We left Grymforge - leaving Nere to his fate.

Walkthrough

This quest is on a "timer", tracked by long rests and / or fast travels. The timer starts when speaking with Sergeant Thrinn, making a deal with Elder Brithvar or interacting with the rubble. Then a warning in the form of a cutscene with Nere is triggered upon arriving in camp the first time after entering Grymforge. The quest can fail if long resting or fast travelling after the quest is started. The party can also let the timer run out and have Nere die prior to freeing him as an alternative way to solve the quest  Deliver Nere's Head.

Arriving at Grymforge

The quest to free Nere is initiated the first time the party take the boat in the Decrepit Village to Grymforge. During the trip over, a group of Duergar on another boat led by Corsair Greymon questions the party on what they are doing on Gekh Coal's boat:

• [DECEPTION] I saw a body left by the myconids - your 'Gekh' must be dead. (DC 10) (if Gekh Coal unmet)
• [DECEPTION] I'm afraid Gekh is dead - he fell fighting the myconids (DC 10) (if Gekh Coal was met)
• [BRANDED] [PERSUASION] Just let me cross - I have the brand, see? (DC 5)
• I work on Gekh's behalf. I'm after his sergeant's stolen boots.
• I seek the sergeant - I believe she's keen to get these boots back.
• [BARBARIAN] [INTIMIDATION] MOVE YOUR BOAT, OR SINK. MAKE THE CHOICE. (DC 10 )
• [INTIMIDATION] In the name of the Absolute - you will let me pass. (DC 10)
• [ATHLETICS] Push the duergar into the water. (DC 15)

Succeeding the check lets Corsair stands down, telling the party to speak with Sergeant Thrinn. If he is pushed into the water a fight breaks out, which Lae'zel and Astarion approve. The corpses of any characters killed by being shoved off of the boats can be found washed up on the beach at the Decrepit Village afterward.

Once docked, another duergar, Morghal, tries to extort money from the party. Telling her "I’m not giving you a single coin" results in her backing off immediately. The party must follow the path south to come across a cave-in, where a group of enslaved gnomes are being forced to chip away at the rocks at X: -635 Y: 311. Speaking to Sergeant Thrinn reveals that a Nere, a drow and True Soul, is trapped by a cave-in.

Communicating with Nere

If interacting with the cave-in, Nere telepathically connects with the party and shows them what he sees. If passing a DC 10 Perception check to try to focus on what he can see, the party can see two gnomes on his side of the cave-in who are trying to remove rocks, as well as two dead gnomes who were killed by a magical trap. The party sense Nere's frustration and rage before the connection fades.

The cave-in

The cave-in at Grymforge trapping Nere.

The primary objective of this quest is to destroy the "cave-in" trapping Nere at Grymforge. The cave-in is an interactable object that has 44 Hit Points and is immune to all types of damage except for force (vulnerable), piercing (resistant) and bludgeoning. It also has the  Medium Toughness condition - a hit must deal 22 or more damage in order to damage it.

There several ways to destroy the cave-in. Due to its vulnerability to force, explosives such as Smokepowder Satchel or Smokepowder Bomb are efficient solutions. However, sufficient force, or bludgeoning damage from abilities can also work - such as high rolls on a Warlock's  Eldritch Blast combined with the cave-in's force vulnerability, or melee attacks with high strength, Great Weapon Master: All In using a Maul. Finally,  Tavern Brawlers can use thrown weapons to destroy the cave in.

Placing any explosive object onto the floor (i.e. dropping it) should make all the digging gnomes scramble away, saving them from friendly fire.

The party can obtain enough explosives to complete this quest by solving the  Find the Explosives quest, also located at Grymforge.

Successfully removing the "cave-in" initiates a cutscene/conversation with Nere, which directly affects the quest  Save the Grymforge Gnomes.

The mutiny

After Nere is freed, he is furious at being trapped and immediately takes it out on Meerna who he throws into the lava.

If the party choose to say nothing or "Finish the slaves, True Soul. For the Absolute", then Nere massacres all the gnomes. If the party tell Nere not to kill innocents, he tells Thrinn to rip out their hearts and feed them to the Deep Rothé. At this point, if the party made a deal with Brithvar to kill Nere, he interjects and says that Nere owes the duergar money and that he is going to get it from his corpse. Nere then says that he has changed his mind - he will spare the party if they defeat Brithvar and the other mutineers.

If siding with Nere, the party must fight against:

• Brithvar
• Kur
• Morghal
• Orgarth
• Mirthis
• Danna
• Thudd

If siding with Brithvar, the party must fight against:

• Nere
• Elenna Thrinn
• Dalthar
• Drar
• Greymon
• Fonmara
• Dunnol

Siding with Nere

Nere is freed from the cave-in.

If Nere is sided with, there are two distinct paths that can be followed. One is that Nere tells the party to travel to Ketheric Thorm at Moonrise Towers. The other is that Nere is informed by the party that the Cult of the Absolute is a front for mind flayers and he abandons the cult entirely.

After the battle, Nere says that the Absolute's business is unfinished. If selecting either "Unfortunate - but how does this concern me?" or "And what business is that, exactly?", then bids the party to tell the General that he did what he could, but that the route through Grymforge is impassable. If selecting "I'll do it. Where can I find the General?", then Nere explains that the party must travel through the Shadow-Cursed Lands. He had a Moonlantern that could ward off the shadow curse, but it was destroyed in the cave-in. If asking "If that's the case, how do I reach it safely?", then Nere says that there is a guide, which will appear when playing the Spider's Lyre he provides.

The divergence occurs based on what the party say next. If saying "I'd rather make my own way than rely on your help." then Nere says that the Absolute should be demanding that he takes the party members' heads for such an insolence, but he cannot hear her voice. Choosing the dialogue option "Explain that the Absolute is a front for mind flayers - you're protected from them." starts Nere on the pathway to faltering from the Absolute:

• [DECEPTION] It's true - it's a shadowy conspiracy headed by mind flayers and... tax collectors. (DC 10)
• [PERSUASION] I was abducted by mind flayers. That was when I began to hear the Absolute. (DC 10)

Nere needs one more push to abandon the cult:

• [LOLTH-SWORN] Your faith in Lolth faltered. It is not too late to reclaim it.
• [PERSUASION] You don't have to. Run - abandon the Absolute. (DC 10)
• [HISTORY] People have followed cults for a long time. You're just another victim. (DC 10)
• [WISDOM] Cast Detect Thoughts
• Your faith in Lolth faltered. It is not too late to reclaim it. (if mind was read)

If Nere is convinced, he says dying for mind flayer filth is not worth it. He thanks the party for saving him from something worse than the duergar. After rewarding the party, he leaves and prays that he does not meet the party again.

Related quests

•  Blind the Absolute
•  Deliver Nere's Head
•  Find Explosives
•  Rescue Wulbren
•  Save the Grymforge Gnomes

Quest rewards

If Nere is sided with and abandons the cult:

• Dagger +1

If Nere is sided with and remains in the cult:

• Gift from the Absolute

If Brithvar is sided with:

• 400 gold
•  Perfect Cut for party members with the  Criminal background

Loot from Nere if he is killed:

• 1000 gold
• Broken Moonlantern
• Disintegrating Night Walkers
• Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen
• Nere's Head
• Sword of Screams

It is possible to get both Gift from the Absolute and Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen by first completing the quest then killing Nere later.

Companion approval

• Standing up for the deep gnome slaves after Nere is freed  -1  +1  +1  +1
• After rescuing Nere, tell him to finish the slaves, or saying nothing  +1  +1
• Siding with Brithvar when confronting Nere  -1  +1
• Siding with Nere against Brithvar  -5  -1
• Letting Brithvar take the deep gnomes  -1

Bugs

• When siding with Nere, just after the fight against Elder Brithvar, a conversation is supposed to begin automatically with Nere. However, a bug can occur during the fight, which causes the conversation to not trigger. You can confirm that the bug is happening if the quest asks you to talk with Nere, but in doing so, his response is "Leave me be. You've done enough." and nothing happens. As of patch 6, the bug is still present in the game. There is no solution other than loading a save before the fight and redo the fight.