Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse | Baldurs Gate 3 Wiki

Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse is a Quest in Baldur's Gate 3. Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse can be acquired during ACT II and it is a branching subquest for the main questline Infiltrate Moonrise Towers. Completing Quests allows players to learn more about the world and characters in Baldur's Gate 3 and earn more loot and experience to become more powerful.

Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse Objectives

Find a way to protect yourself from the curse.

• The shadow curse is even stronger in certain areas. We need to find a way to fend it off.
• A deadly curse plagues this land. One wrong step could kill us.
• A deadly curse plagues this land. One wrong step could kill us.
• A deadly shadow curse plagues this land. Nere had a Moonlantern to protect himself from it. We may need to find something similar if we want to survive.
• We met a drider who carries a Moonlantern that protects him from the shadow curse. If we get one for ourselves, we will be able to travel the deepest parts of the curse unharmed.
• One of our companions transformed into a cursed shadow-creature.
• We found a Moonlantern, a device that can protect us from the shadow curse. Unfortunately, it is broken beyond repair.
• A deadly shadow curse shrouds this land. Light is needed to protect us from the darkness.
• We found a note about cultists travelling through the deepest parts of the curse - unharmed. They must have some way to protect themselves. The owner of the note came from somewhere called Last Light.

Defeat the cultists.

• While travelling with cultists, they were attacked by the Harpers. We decided to help the Harpers, and fought against the cultists.
• The drider dropped his Moonlantern during the fight. It's ours now.

Speak to the Harpers.

• We helped the Harpers defeat the cultists.

Reach Last Light Inn.

• We helped a group of Harpers who were attacked by shadows. They told us about a place nearby that is protected from the shadow curse.
• We learned of a safe haven in the shadow-cursed lands - Last Light Inn. We should pay it a visit.
• The Harpers took the Moonlantern, and asked us to meet them at Last Light. They want to introduce us to their leader.

Talk to Jaheira.

• We reached Last Light Inn and met Jaheira, the leader of the Harpers. We should see what we can learn about traversing the shadow curse safely.

Get help from the cleric Isobel.

• Jaheira told us to speak to a cleric called Isobel for help traversing the shadow curse. Isobel protects Last Light from the shadow curse.

Find stronger protection from the shadow curse.

• Isobel granted us Selûne's divine blessing, which can protect us from all but the strongest areas of the shadow curse.

Speak to the Harpers outside Last Light.

• Isobel said the cultists can traverse the shadow curse safely - even the deepest parts. Some Harpers are looking into it. We should meet them at the bridge outside Last Light.

Find protection from the shadow curse.

• With Isobel gone, Last Light Inn is no longer protected from the shadow curse.

Go to the ambush site.

• The cultists have a lantern that protects them from the shadow curse. The Harpers can help us seize it in an ambush. We should meet them at the ambush site.

Talk to the Harpers at the ambush site.

We reached the ambush site. The cultists should be here soon.

Ambush the convoy.

• We found cultists bearing a powerful lantern. If we want the lantern, we need to handle the cultists first.
• The Harpers were defeated, but we might still find the cultists and the lantern at the ambush site.
• We found a note on one of the Harpers. It was orders from Jaheira to take out a group of cultists. We should investigate the ambush site.

Defeat the convoy.

• We attacked the convoy of Absolute cultists.

Take the drider's Moonlantern.

• We met a drider who carries a Moonlantern that protects him from the shadow curse. If we get one for ourselves, we will be able to travel the deepest parts of the curse unharmed.

Defend the cultists.

• We betrayed the Harpers, and allied ourselves with the drider.

Find a Moonlantern.

• We decided to join the cultists heading to Moonrise Towers. If we wish to travel without them, we will need to find a way to protect ourselves from the curse.
• We reached Moonrise Towers. However, if we wish to travel the shadow-cursed lands ourselves, we will need to find protection from the curse.

Find Balthazar's Moonlantern.

• Disciple Z'rell told us that Ketheric's advisor, a man called Balthazar, has a Moonlantern in his chambers. It will protect us from the deepest parts of shadow curse.

Take the Moonlantern.

• The drider dropped the Moonlantern. Now's our chance to take it.
• We tricked the drider into giving us the Moonlantern and forced him into the darkness. The lantern is ours - as is its protection from the shadow curse.
• The Harpers died. We should retrieve the Moonlantern from them.
• We defeated the drider. We can take the Moonlantern and use it to traverse the deepest parts of the shadow curse.

Quest Complete Descriptions

• We claimed the drider's Moonlantern. We should now be protected from the shadow curse.
• We reached Last Light Inn and met the cleric Isobel. She gave us the Moonlantern from the drider we defeated. We should now be protected from even the deepest parts of shadow curse.
• We travelled through the shadow-cursed lands without finding our own Moonlantern.
• We found a Moonlantern. This will protect us from even the deepest parts of the curse.
• We found a Moonlantern. This will protect us from even the deepest parts of the curse.

Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse Walkthorugh in BG3

The Shadow Curse

Upon entering the Shadow-Cursed Lands, your party is quickly made aware of the danger. A Harper—or, depending on your path, a goblin—insists you take a torch. They’re not wrong.

Exposure to the shadows causes 2d4 necrotic damage per turn, doubling if left unchecked. If a party member drops to 0 HP while cursed, they gain the Umbral Influx condition, rise as undead, and attack the group unless brought back and revived.

Journey to Moonrise Towers

Convoy Route via Mountain Pass

If you arrived via the Rosymorn Monastery Trail, you’ll be met by a goblin expecting "True Souls." They urge you to take a torch and wait at a rendezvous point—this begins the Follow the Convoy quest.

At the meeting point, an orc named Kansif will ask if you possess what's needed to summon the guide: the Spider’s Lyre. It can be obtained in one of several ways:

• Loot Minthara’s body (if she was killed in Defeat the Goblins).
• Receive it from Minthara if you sided with her in Raid the Grove.
• Save Nere in Free True Soul Nere and align with him.

With the lyre in hand, a DC 16 Performance check is triggered, though success or failure only changes the guide’s reaction. Lacking the lyre, you may still summon the guide using illithid powers (DC 14 Wisdom). Certain classes—Barbarians, Sorcerers, Clerics, Bards, Paladins—have unique summoning dialogue.

The summoned guide is Kar’niss, a drider carrying a working Moonlantern. He escorts you through the cursed lands—but stay within the lantern’s light or suffer the consequences.

Convoy Ambush: Choosing a Side

During the escort, Harpers ambush the convoy. You can:

• Fight with the Harpers.
• Stay loyal to the convoy to boost your infiltration at Moonrise Towers.

Siding with the Harpers allows them to seize the Moonlantern and guide you to the Last Light Inn. If Jaheira remains friendly, you can get the lantern from Isobel instead.

If you already reached the Inn, sided with the Harpers, and then intercepted the convoy, the Harpers will confront you post-battle. To avoid conflict:

• Persuade them with a DC 16 Persuasion ("the ambush ruined our cover"), or
• Deceive them with a DC 16 Deception ("we were taken prisoner").

Failure causes only the ambushing Harpers to become hostile.

Inside Moonrise Towers

If you stick with Kar’niss, he safely brings you to Moonrise Towers, though he keeps the Moonlantern. Characters with the Noble background receive the Odd Entourage inspiration.

To get the Moonlantern here, you’ll need to please Disciple Z’rell. After a cutscene with her and Ketheric Thorm, she asks you to kill some goblins. Later, she connects telepathically to inspect how they died and probe your loyalty.

You can:

• Distract her with romantic thoughts (DC 14 Persuasion),
• Pretend love for the Absolute (DC 14 Deception),
• Use class-specific options (Monks, Rogues, Fighters), or
• Express hunger for power.

Success leads to a new task: locate Balthazar, last seen at the Thorm Mausoleum. She gives you a key and instructs you to retrieve a Moonlantern from his room (past the library, near a desk south of the telescope).

Gale can also craft a special lantern during Balthazar’s Experiment, but it lacks the protective aura of a true Moonlantern.

Convoy Route via Underdark

If traveling through Grymforge, the party encounters Harper Lassandra and her scouts. Suspicion is high until one of their own, Yonas, succumbs to the curse and turns. After the battle, Lassandra directs you to the Last Light Inn.

If Jaheira is not hostile, Isobel can grant the Blessing of Selûne, offering shadow protection. Completing Resolve the Abduction causes Branthos and a group of Harpers to begin preparing an ambush on a cultist convoy. You can join immediately or catch up later via a map marker.

Ambush Mechanics

Once the convoy nears the ambush site, you can:

• Attack immediately.
• Hide and observe (triggers the drider killing goblin Vez).
• Signal the Harpers.
• Speak to Kar’niss.

If Hiding:

You’ll be given options:

• Clear your throat (reveals you).
• [STEALTH] Fade into the background (DC 14).
• [ROGUE] [STEALTH] Blend into shadows (DC 14, Advantage).

Success means the Harpers initiate the ambush. After the fight, loot Kar’niss for the Moonlantern.

If Speaking:

Kar’niss will recognize you and ask how you survived. Class-based responses are available:

• Barbarian: ROAR.
• Fighter: “Takes more than shadows to stop me.”
• Wizard: “I survived with my magic.”
• Paladin: “My oath protects me.”

You can try to convince him to give up the Moonlantern:

• [DECEPTION] The Absolute told me to take it. (DC 10; Drow, Rogue, Bard variants available).
• [INTIMIDATION] Intimidate him to surrender it (DC 14; class-based variants exist).

If successful, Kar’niss obeys and walks into the dark with the convoy—now unprotected. They perish, and the Harpers commend you. The convoy later appears as undead near Reithwin Town.

Moonlantern vs. Pixie Blessing

If Kar’niss' Moonlantern is acquired, you can inspect it to find a trapped pixie named Dolly Thrice. Freeing her grants the Filigreed Feywild Bell, bestowing a Pixie Blessing on the entire party—constant protection from the shadow curse with no item slot required.

Other Moonlanterns don’t contain pixies and only protect in a limited radius.

How to unlock Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse in BG3

Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse can be unlocked as follows:

• Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse is a subquest for the primary Main Quest: Infiltrate Moonrise Towers

Baldur's Gate 3 Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse Rewards

Completing Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse grants the following rewards:

• Filigreed Feywild Bell
• Moonlantern

Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse Notes & Tips

• Notes & tips go here