Larian Studios loves to hide Easter eggs to reference their previous games, and Baldur's Gate 3 is no exception. Though some references in BG3 – like Tav's mortal fear of Krakens or a book on Death and Divinity – are likely just fantasy world coincidences, there are more direct connections to the Divinity series in the game. Here's all the connections between Divinity: Original Sin 2 and Baldur's Gate 3 hidden in both games.

DOS2 Origin Character Portraits

Divinity: Original Sin 2 has six origin characters:

• Beast, an exiled sailor who is on a mission to take down his cousin, the Queen, and end her tyrannical reign;
• Fane, the sole Undead survivor of a forgotten civilization who is seeking answers about what happened to his people;
• Ifan, a mercenary who formerly pledged allegiance to Lucian the Divine and now seeks revenge by hunting Lucian's son;
• Lohse, a bard trapped with a dark voice inside her head that sometimes controls her actions in very violent ways. The Dark Urge (Durges) know this struggle all too well;
• Sebille, an escaped slave marked by a living scar that was used to shape her thoughts… she also eats body parts to access memories of the deceased; and
• Red Prince, an exiled noble who is on the run from assassins after falling from grace. His primary goal is to reclaim his throne to become the next emperor.

Each of these heroes has a dedicated portrait that can be found in Act 1 of Baldur's Gate 3.

Beast (Marcus Miles)

Beast's Portrait is located in the Underdark's Arcane Tower. You'll be directed to this area during the main quest called Help Omeluum Investigate the Parasite. From the Underdark Beach waypoint, look east for Rope Netting to climb. Head southeast to follow the path up an incline and jump across the gap. Turn right, avoiding the explosive mushrooms, and head up the stairs. Watch out for deadly Arcane Turrets as you make your way to the tower.

You'll need to first activate the generator to use the Arcane Elevator. Parkour down the Underdark flora on the south side of the tower. Grab a Susser Bloom near the courtyard tree, and put it in the generator to power the elevator. This will also deactivate those pesky turrets to make navigating the tower much easier.

Go up the stairs to use the elevator. Ascend three times to the bedroom. Above the bed, find the Portrait of Marcus Miles, also known as Beast.

Fane

Fane's Portrait is located in the Overgrown Ruins Chapel Refectory. There are multiple ways to find this room, but I'd recommend starting at the Roadside Cliffs waypoint, sneaking up on unsuspecting enemies outside the chapel, then forcing your way into the Chapel Entrance. There will either be a lone guard or a trap immediately inside, but it'll be fairly easy to pop in, grab what you need, then leave without much combat. Fane is proudly hanging on the south wall in the dining area.

Ifan ben-Mezd

Ifan's Portrait is located in the Blighted Village. Southwest of the well, there are three ogres convening in an abandoned building, but don't worry, you won't need to interact with them to find this Easter egg. Climb the ladder on the side of this building to get to the roof, and head to the windowed room on the other side to find the portrait.

Lohse

Lohse's Portrait is located in the Emerald Grove Druids' Chambers. Behind the table where Nettie is healing the bird, you'll find a portrait of Lohse propped up next to a statue. Fair warning, I had trouble looting this portrait on an old save file because the item was clipped into the stone surface, so I couldn't actually reach it, even when I stacked boxes to get closer. But when I loaded up the game on a new save file, it was in the right position.

Sebille Kaleran

Sebille's Portrait is located in the Putrid Bog Gnarled Teahouse. If you met Auntie Ethel in the Druid Grove, she probably invited you over to her house to help rid you of the Mind Flayer parasite. Of course, she's a lying hag, but her house holds the hardest to spot DOS2 portrait.

Head to the southwest area of the Wilderness map to find Auntie Ethel's lair. To the right of her fireplace, a portrait of Sebille is well-hidden behind tangled vines on the wall. If you have trouble finding it, hold down Left-Alt on PC or long press A on Xbox or the cross button on PS5 to highlight items in the area.

Red Prince

Red Prince's Portrait is located inside Waukeen's Rest in the northwest part of the Wilderness map. You'll need to access a southeastern room on the second floor to find it.

As you approach the burning building for the first time, break your way into the main entrance and head straight to the staircase in the back. Follow the hallway around to the east rooms, clearing any rubble in your way. Turn south and lockpick the oak door – or just have Lae'zel break it down. Follow the breezeway to the room with a portrait of the noble lizard.

DOS2 Weapons and Armor

There are five Divinity: Original Sin 2-themed items in the Digital Deluxe DLC that you can pick up at the start of your adventures in the Wilderness. After landing on the beach, simply head to camp and access your Traveller's Chest.

Inside the chest is Mask of the Shapeshifter, along with a Peculiar Clothing Chest that contains the Cape of the Red Prince, Lute of the Merryweather Bard, Bicorne of the Sea Beast, and Needle of the Outlaw Rogue.

The Red Prince and Beast clothing items are purely cosmetic. Sebille's Needle is a fun Dagger to wield during early battles, but you'll get better weapons along the way. Though specially named, Lohse's Lute works like any other instrument in the game. However, Fane's Mask of the Shapeshifter is one of the most useful items for deception.

Similar to its function in DOS2, this mask allows you to change your appearance. Because this is D&D, that means casting Disguise Self at will and using it to your advantage when you don't want to be recognized or as a way to turn yourself into a halfling to crawl into small spaces.

What about Ifan? Only five of the six origin characters have a special item, but there is a wolf named "Silver" in the Druid's Grove if you want to pretend the Silver Claw is with you in the Forgotten Realms.

Bard Songs of Rivellon

The Digital Deluxe edition has three special songs from the world of Rivellon:

• Sing for Me, also known as Lohse's theme;
• The Queen's High Seas, which is Beast's theme; and
• Of Divinity and Sin, the main theme from Divinity: Original Sin 2.

Just know that if you are not proficient with musical instruments, your performance will not be pleasant to listen to.

Prize Pig Lulabelle

There's one missable Divinity Easter egg in Act 3 when you visit Rivington. This dialogue option is only visible if you sneak into the Requisitioned Barn first, then get caught by one of the Flaming Fists who will escort you to Manip Nestor at the front door.

If you walked up to the barn without sneaking, Nestor would have stopped you and you could attempt to persuade or bribe him for access. However, getting caught inside without permission has a Deception roll option where you explain that you're searching for your client's prize pig Lulabelle. This is a reference to Micheil Ros's pig of the same name in Divinity: Original Sin 2.

On a successful roll, Nestor will let you in. Luckily, there is a pig in the barn, so it's not that implausible of a lie, but this pig is not as high maintenance as Lulabelle.

Tarquin the Necromancer

The biggest reference to Divinity: Original Sin 2 is Tarquin the Necromancer who studied teleport pyramids and other powerful magic. You first meet him in Dallis' Stateroom on the ship, and if you decide to keep him alive, there's a series of interactions and quests he gives you throughout DOS2.

Though you cannot directly interact with Tarquin in Baldur's Gate 3, there is evidence of his presence in Faerûn. The clues start with Lenore DeHurst.

Lenore DeHurst, Cleric of Mystra

As a cleric of Mystra, Lenore DeHurst lived in the Arcane Tower with her partner Yrre. Here, she studied magical properties of Sussur tree flowers in the Underdark and wrote a book detailing her research findings that you can find near the generator on the lower floor. You'll find glimpses of Lenore's life from other texts in the tower, including a diary entry that says she is headed to Baldur's Gate for a conference with other clerics of Mystra. As evidenced by the abandoned tower, Lenore never returned back to the Underdark to finish her research.

Evidence of Tarquin's Visit to the Forgotten Realms

When you get to Baldur's Gate in Act 3, there is a key correspondence in the Sorcerous Vault that explains Lenore's disappearance. To find it, take a portal in Sorcerous Sundries to Ramazith's Tower. Jump down the floating furniture and activate the southeastern Weave button.

Proceed south through three doorways, then face west to enter a hidden library behind the stone wall. On the table is A Query from DeHurst, which describes a fellow whose name had a T and a Q. Lenore misremembers it as Tuqueen, but this is likely Tarquin causing a ruckus in Baldur's Gate, creating an anomaly that temporarily trapped Lenore in a liminal space.

This isn't the only evidence of Tarquin's activity in Baldur's Gate. In the House of Grief, there is a client list behind the front desk that includes Marco Creenn noted as a possible fake name. Marco's entry matches a description of Tarquin – a "curious sort," having black hair and a pale complexion, and not being local due to his accent and unknown gold currency. The notes talk about his obsession with a sword and end with an update that he seemed to vanish completely from Baldur's Gate.

In DOS2, Tarquin was obsessed with a sword called Anathema. His epilogue also stated that he wanted to explore other planes of existence and vanished from Rivellon, so it would work for Tarquin story-wise to pass through Faerûn and quickly move on to another world. Plus, Marco Creenn is an anagram for Necromancer, making this a perfect Easter egg for Divinity fans.

Baldur's Gate 3 References in DOS2

Now, if you're replaying Divinity: Original Sin 2 or checking it out for the first time, there are a few Baldur's Gate 3 references to look out for. Larian games are pretty expansive worlds, so there certainly could be more to find!

Gustavchen

Going back to Tarquin's presence in both worlds, there is a line he has at the end of Divinity: Original Sin 2 that mentions Gustavchen, a written language that comes from a mysterious mind-feeding race from another world.

Gustavchen is a reference to "Project Gustav," the internal project name of Baldur's Gate 3 during development. 'Gustav' is named after CEO Swen Vincke's dog. The suffix '-chen' marks a German diminutive, typically used as a form of endearment and affection. Baldur's Gate 3 was hiding in plain sight with a destination for Tarquin's next travels.

Mind Maggots

After meeting Tarquin for the first time in Dallis' Stateroom, you can discover a hidden hatch that contains his notes and a workspace with a Jar of Mind Maggots that resemble the tadpole parasites we see in Baldur's Gate 3. Mind Maggots are common items scattered around DOS2 and can be used in recipes like a grenade that charms everyone in an 8m radius.

Remove Parasite From an Infected Brain

A more active parallel with the tadpole parasite can be found in A Danger to Herself and Others side quest. Find Gregorius Swann outside of a home in Reaper's Coast northeast of Stonegarden Graveyard. Approach him with a Scholar character like Fane to easily gain access to the cellar where a young woman named Natalie is in his care. You'll notice a wound that suggests someone opened and put something in her head.

Weaken her in combat without being lethal, and ask Swann to keep her steady as you perform an operation. As long as you are delicate and slow in your actions, you'll be successful in extracting the maggot. This scene is similar to your many tadpole removal attempts in Baldur's Gate 3 – most of all, Volo's surgery in camp. However, the failure condition is cooler in BG3 and gives you a useful benefit.

Sourcerous Sundries Gift Bag

You can meet four sisters of the Sourcerous Sundries trading company, which shares the same name (with a slight spelling difference) as the Lower City magic shop in Baldur's Gate. Larian added free updates and expansions to Divinity: Original Sin 2 in the form of Gift Bag features, which operate as togglable mods. As with most mods, trophies and achievements will be disabled with Gift Bag features activated.

From the main menu, select 'Gift Bag Features' and scroll down to toggle Sourcerous Sundries. In each major area, you'll find a vendor who sells unique items that can upgrade gear to your current level. This is good if you want to keep a specific item and have its damage scale to match your level, rather than tossing it.

The Grand Design

"The Grand Design" is not the sole trademark of Enver Gortash; it's also the guiding plan of the White Magisters in DOS2. In Arx, you'll get a quest called The Last Stand of the Magisters. As you explore the barracks and magister vault, find Magister Reimond's journal either on his corpse or on the table that was guarded by three gheist. He refers to "the GRAND Design" over and over.

Just like the ambitious Mind Flayer plan to take over the world, the White Magisters feel a duty to carry out an imposing plan to inconvenience everyone.

For more on Baldur's Gate 3, check out our complete Walkthrough and Side Quests, or take a dive into our Advanced Tips and Tricks!