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Save the Gondians is a quest in Act Three of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started by speaking with Zanner Toobin in the Steel Watch Foundry.
Objectives
Walkthrough
Investigating the Steel Watch Foundry
The Foundry is in the southwestern corner of the Lower City, near the Grey Harbour waypoint. There are multiple ways into the Foundry - including lockpicking (DC 20) the iron gates (X:-234, Y:-181), entering a vent in form (X:-246, Y:-126), or flying onto the roof and jumping down from an open hatch (X:-295, Y:-135).
There are two Steel Watchers guarding the front entrance - one which patrols the front and western side of the building, and another which stays on the western side near the loading dock. The Steel Watcher patrolling the front can easily be avoided by lockpicking the front gate and enter the front door while the Watcher is on the western side.
The Gondian's plight
Once the Foundry has been entered, a cutscene plays, revealing that the Gondians are being forced to work by Banite cultists, under threat of explosive collars and their families being murdered. If the party approaches, the Banites move to attack the party and bid the Gondians to aid them. It is possible to convince the Gondians to help fight back:
- [DECEPTION] Forgive the interruption Dread Sister. I've just arrived for duty. (DC 15) (If a Religion check was passed)
- [INTIMIDATION] I wish to bathe in the blood of these worthless Banites. You can help Gondians - or you can die. (DC 15 ) (If a religion check was passed)
- [INTIMIDATION] Gondians! Fight back! Do not let these people torment you. (DC 18)
- [PERSUASION] I am here to help, Gondians. Together, we can free you all. (DC 18)
- [PALADIN] [PERSUASION] I am here to help, Gondians. Together, we can free you all. (DC 18 )
- [BERSERKER] [INTIMIDATION] Cowardly Gondians - do not let these people torment you! Fight. (DC 18 )
- [BARBARIAN] [INTIMIDATION] COWARDLY GONDIANS - FIGHT BACK! FIGHT WITH ME! (DC 18 )
- [ROGUE] [PERSUASION] A proposal, Gondians. You hold these arseholes, and I stab them all to death? (DC 18 )
- [BARD] [PERSUASION] I've heard many a tale of Gondian genius and courage. Let us write another today - and take down your captors. (DC 18 )
- Touch these people, and I'll kill you.
If the Deception option was chosen, Tamia Holzt will give the party the Motivator and will not become hostile.
If either the Intimidation of Persuasion options are chosen and passed, the Gondians help the party. Otherwise, they are too scared to fight against the Banites and remain hostile until Black Gauntlet Tamia Holzt is defeated. Upon her death, the Motivator she carries begins to activate and can be deactivated with an Intellect roll (DC 5). After the battle, the Gondians begin to panic and state that their families are being kept hostage.
In order to gain more information, the party must go into the Security Office. The key can be looted off of Tamia Holzt's body, or lockpicked (DC 15). Only one Gondian is inside - Zanner Toobin, who immediately recognizes the party as intruders. He explains more about the Gondian's families being held hostage and beg the party to rescue his daughter. If the party agrees, he will help shut the place down. Unfortunately, Zanner is not sure where the family members are being held and suggests going deeper into the Foundry to find more information.
If the party rescued the Iron Throne prisoners before visiting the Foundry, Zanner Toobin is present for the cutscene and the Gondians automatically help the party, skipping the dialogue check.
The party can find more information via a note about vessels (X:-1966, Y:459). This area is heavily guarded and Banites and Gondians alike become hostile to any intruders. However, finding the note isn't necessary to find the prison. This information can also be found by undertaking Mizora to gain the location, or simply by stumbling upon the location. Regardless, the prisoners are being held in an underwater prison which is accessed via a submersible under Flymm Cargo.
, making a deal withFlymm Cargo
Flymm Cargo is further along the docks. The double metal doors (X:-169, Y:-150) can be lockpicked (DC 20), and cause several Worgs within to attack. After defeating them, there is little else in the building to indicate what is going on there. However, there is a basement entrance (X:-164, Y:-141). The entrance is covered by various trunks and crates.
Dealing with Redhammer
Deep within the basement of Flymm Cargo and past the machine parts storage room, there is an area with a single Dwarf, near a submersible. This man is Redhammer, the man in charge of transporting prisoners. If he is approached, he asks the party what they are doing there.
Passing an ability check reveals that the submersible is used to ship off prisoners to the Iron Throne. After this, the party can implore him to take them to the throne through a number of options, but will get the following option if they are aware of the Iron Throne:
- You're going to take me to the Iron Throne - I'm getting the prisoners out.
He can also be killed and the submersible piloted by the party.
- You're as guilty as the people who imprisoned the Gondians.
Once the party has piloted the submersible, Enver Gortash appears on a screen to warn the party that he will blow up the whole place if they proceed. He gives them one chance to turn back, otherwise he goes through with his threat, flooding the prison and filling it with Sahuagin. This will end the party's alliance with Gortash.
The Iron Throne
There are thirteen Gondian hostages in the Iron Throne, who must be allowed to run to the submersible, by opening their cells and protecting them from the Sahuagin. Not all of them must actually be saved in order to ally with the Gondians. Ulder Ravengard and Omeluum may also be found here as part of their respective quests.
Liberating the Gondian workers
If she survived, then Obelia Toobin thanks the party for saving her and the other Gondians. She urges the party to go and save the workers at the Steel Watch Foundry. If the party did not visit the Foundry before saving the Gondians at the Iron Throne, then the Gondians on the ground floor immediately begin attacking the Banite cultists who are keeping them subjugated. The party needs to be mindful of the Motivators, which kill the collared Gondians if they aren't deactivated.
After defeating the Banites on the production floor, the party can talk to Zanner. He asks the party if his daughter is alright, which the party can either tell him she is alive or lie about it if she died during the escape. If he believes Obelia is alive and well, then he volunteers to help take the Foundry down and destroy the Steel Watch. The party can agree, to which he becomes a controllable companion, or state that they already have a Runepowder Bomb, if they were given the bomb by Wulbren as part of .
On the lab floor, the Gondians aid the party in taking down their oppressors. There is a Hellfire Watcher, several Black Gauntlet wardens, and other Banite cultists surrounding the Gondians. The ultimate goal is to get Zanner to the Control Centre Antechamber on the western side of the floor, although liberating the Gondians can provide valuable potential allies. If all of the Gondians perish, then Zanner can lose his will and need to be persuaded or intimidated into continuing onward. If that fails, he simply tells the party the control code needed to destroy the Foundry.
The titan
In order to get to the console to disable the Steel Watch and destroy the Foundry, the party must defeat the Steel Watch Titan, a level 12 enemy, and three level 11 Hellfire Watchers. If Zanner is with the party, then he warns them after entering the Control Centre Antechamber that something horrible is ahead. He recommends that when the Titan raises its shields, to hit it with every scrap of magic and might available. With that advice, he remains in the antechamber during the battle and reappears once the Titan is dealt with.
After the battle, Zanner appears and asks if the party is ready to proceed. If Zanner was left behind or was not asked to join the party, then the console at the west end of the room can be approached and either the Runepowder Bomb placed or the code used.
Alternatively, the party can skip the fight with the titan by using the console without being detected.
The Ironhands arrive
The Ironhand Gnomes appear once the Foundry explodes to confront any surviving Gondians and congratulate the party. Wulbren states that any Gondians must be killed, as they are a threat to Baldur's Gate. If Barcus is alive, he interjects that the Gondians are no threat and that Wulbren has been a negative influence on the Ironhands.
Choosing these options causes Barcus to step up as the new leader of the Ironhand Gnomes, and both the Gondians and the Ironhand Gnomes to become allies to the party:
- [GOOD CLERIC] [PERSUASION] You carry the light and love of all that is good, Barcus. I think you would make an excellent leader of the Ironhands, don't you? (DC 10)
- [DEEP GNOME] [PERSUASION] By all that glitters, perhaps the Ironhand Gnomes need a new leader. What say you, Barcus? (DC 10)
- [ROGUE] [PERSUASION] There's no honour among thieves, Barcus - and same goes for the Ironhands. Take Wulbren's place, lead them yourself! (DC 10)
- [BARD] [PERSUASION] If this was an epic of old, Barcus here would summon his courage - and lead the Ironhand Gnomes. (DC 10)
- [PERSUASION] Perhaps the Ironhand Gnomes need a new leader. What say you, Barcus? (DC 15)
Threatening Wulbren causes him to walk away if successful, promising death on both the party and the Gondians:
- [BERSERKER] [BARBARIAN] [INTIMIDATION] Leave, Wulbren - or I'll cleave that thick skull of yours in two. (DC 18)
- [BARBARIAN] [INTIMIDATION] LEAVE, LITTLE WULBREN. OR DIE. (DC 18)
- [ROGUE] [INTIMIDATION] I know a hundred ways to kill you, Wulbren. So I'm only going to say this once - walk away (DC 18)
- [FIGHTER] [INTIMIDATION] You are outnumbered and outmatched, Wulbren. Retreat - now. (DC 18)
- [INTIMIDATION] Walk away Wulbren - I won't ask twice. (DC 18)
- [WILD MAGIC] [SORCERER] [INTIMIDATION] Wulbren, I could burn you alive - and possibly myself. But that's a chance I'm willing to take - walk away. (DC 18)
- [SORCERER] [INTIMIDATION] Wulbren, don't make me burn you to a crisp. Walk away. (DC 18)
- [OATH OF VENGEANCE] [INTIMIDATION] Leave now, little Wulbren, or I'll split you from head to navel - and that's a promise. (DC 18)
Otherwise, the party can choose to side with the Gondians and a fight ensues:
- I won't let you hurt the Gondians.
- Toobin has suffered enough - I won't let you hurt him.
...or the Ironhand Gnomes:
- Wulbren makes a good point - you must die for the city, Gondians.
- Sorry Toobin - I guess this is it for you.
If none of the hostages were saved from the Iron Throne, or if Obelia did not survive - even if some other Godians survived, Wulbren points out the dead bodies floating in the harbor. If the party had previously told Zanner that they survived, he and the Gondians become hostile and attack the party automatically.
Quest rewards
- Gontr Mael - a legendary weapon dropped by the Steel Watch Titan
- A new ally for - potentially both the Ironhand Gnomes and the Gondians, or one or the other.
Related literature
Notes
- Once the Iron Throne is reached, will automatically complete, and Gortash becomes hostile to the party.
- It is technically possible to complete this quest before attending Gortash's coronation. If this happens, then Duke Ravengard does not appear in the Iron Throne and is in the audience chamber with Gortash. If that happens, he becomes hostile to the party, even after Gortash is defeated.
- If the Runepowder Bomb is in the inventory of a different character than the one interacting with the control console, it is not actually removed even when the "place the bomb" option is chosen and the Foundry is destroyed.
- If Gortash is killed before completing the quests Save the Gondians and Avenge the Ironhands, then those quests will fail and the Foundry will be destroyed and can no longer be accessed.
Bugs
- If Iron Consul Chadd and Fist of Bane Gasper Throaks (who are located in the entrance room of the Steel Watcher Foundry) are killed before the Gondians are saved from the Iron Throne and also Tamia Holzt and her Banites have not been attacked, then when returning from Iron Throne after saving the Gondians, the two aforementioned Banites will be located where the confrontation between Black Gauntlet Ifran and Toobin is taking place, but will remain as corpses.