Get Past the Rubble

The deep rothé are tired of being abused.

Get Past the Rubble is a sub-quest of The Adamantine Forge in Act One of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started by speaking with Herdmaster Skarjall at Grymforge or using  Speak with Animals to speak to the deep rothé.

Objectives

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

Clear the rubble.

• We found a passage buried in rubble that leads to the Adamantine Forge. We should clear it.

Quest Complete

• If the player destroys the rubble: We destroyed the rubble.
• If the deep rothe were used to destroy the rubble: We got past the rubble.
• If the player failed to get to the Adamantine Forge: We left Grymforge without reaching the Adamantine Forge.

Walkthrough

After entering Grymforge, climb the stairs and move north to encounter Herdmaster Skarjall X: -658 Y: 443. Skarjall orders the party to whip the Deep Rothé that are clearing out some rubble. If asked why, Skarjall can be persuaded (DC 15) to tell the party there is adamantine nearby and shows them a piece of Adamantine Slag as evidence. He says he'll pay the party in gold if they help clear the rubble, but that the Adamantine Forge is clan property.

How the party handles the deep rothé can impact how the rubble is cleared:

• If the party baits Skarjall into whipping the beasts again, by telling him the rothé deserve the whip and asking why he can't crack his whip one more time, then both Skarjall and the rothé become hostile.
• If the party passes an DC 15 Animal Handling check, the rothé can be convinced to either continue working or to turn on their duergar masters.
• If the party uses Speak with Animals to speak with the rothé, they can also be convinced to clear out the rubble or turn on the duergar.
• The party can whip the rothé themselves, which turns the rothé hostile.

If the rothé are convinced to keep working, Skarjall turns on the party, saying he wants all the spoils for himself. However, the rothé aid the party in defeating him. If the party simply told the rothé to turn on their masters, then they can be asked to clear out the rubble afterwards. The rubble can also be destroyed using bludgeoning or force damage (ie spells like Eldritch Blast or smokepowder bombs).

In the battle, Skarjall is joined by Grundril and Morgya. The rest of the fortress remains neutral to the party during and after the battle.

The party can push enemies over the cliff edge as they have no special loot.

The party earns 80 xp at the start of the fight if the rothé was convinced to turn on their masters. Then each duergar rewards 75 xp. Finally, asking the rothé to destroy the rubble will reward another 80 xp to the group.

Notes

• This quest is entirely optional - the Adamantine Forge can be accessed in other ways, such as using Misty Step or Fly (see the Adamantine Forge quest for more details).

Companion Approval/Disapproval

• Convince the Deep Rothé to clear the path (Persuasion "Breathe. Focus...")  -1
• Convince the Deep Rothé to attack the duergar (Persuasion "Give in to your rage...")  +1  +1  +1  +1