Visit the Emperor's Old Hideout

Visit the Emperor's Old Hideout is a quest in Act Three of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started by approaching the Elfsong Tavern.

Objectives

Continue exploring the Elfsong Tavern Basement.

• The Emperor asked us to check its old hideout in the Elfsong Tavern - some of its old items may be of use to us.
• We cleared the Elfsong Basement of pests - and were told of a secret door nearby. If we find it, we can enter the Emperor's old hideout.

Delve further into the Elfsong Tavern Basement.

• We found the secret door in the Elfsong Basement and can explore further.
• A githyanki hunting party are using a hidden area under the Elfsong Tavern as a base of operations - to explore further we need to clear them out.

Explore the hideout.

• With the githyanki hunting party dispatched, we can explore the hideout further - perhaps even claiming some useful items.
• While exploring the Lower City Sewers, the Emperor asked us to explore an old hideout. Some valuable items may await us as a reward.

Quest Complete

• We claimed a valuable weapon from the Emperor's old hideout - but there may even be more to explore.

Walkthrough

This quest starts automatically after walking close to Elfsong Tavern X: 78 Y: 1 in the Lower City. The Emperor's voice calls out that it was the location of its old hideout and that there may be useful supplies there that the party could take.

The button to the entrance

The entrance to the hideout is on the ground floor of the tavern, in the kitchen. There is a set of wooden stairs that lead to a storeroom X: 52 Y: 8. Upon entering, if Roveer's Storehouse has not been completed, then a large group of rats instantly attack the party. After defeating the rats, enter the westernmost door. Near a crack in the wall, a button X: -868 Y: 544 can be spotted with a successful perception check. Hitting the button opens up a wine cask in the room next door X: -861 Y: 547. Going through this cask leads to the door to the hideout.

An ambush

Ch'r'ai lies waiting...

A group of githyanki soldiers are lying in wait in the hideout, led by Ch'r'ai Har'rak. The Ch'r'ai asks questions of the party and what the Emperor offered them in exchange for their servitude, but most of the options lead to combat. The githyanki warriors need to be defeated to further explore the hideout. This encounter contains a paladin and two gatemasters, who are capable of summoning more githyanki to the fight. A successful intimidation check (DC18) can make the githyanki leave peacefully.

The Emperor's special items

The button to the storeroom

Behind the statue to the north, on the right side of an indent is a hidden button X: -734 Y: 577 (Perception DC 13, must be very close). This leads to the area where the Emperor kept many precious mementos, some of which can be uncovered by passing additional perception checks. These items include:

• Unique Shell X: -726 Y: 586
• Emperor's Wardrobe X: -727 Y: 590
• Butter Fork X: -731 Y: 596
• Stelmane's Portrait X: -732 Y: 597
• Sword of the Emperor X: -734 Y: 589
• Chains X: -739 Y: 594
• Empty Brain Jar X: -745 Y: 593
• Recipe for Fiddlehead Soup X: -744 Y: 587
• Dog Collar X: -742 Y: 584

Item commentary

The Emperor will have ambient commentary on each of the items, if interacted with.

Spoiler warning! This section reveals details about the story of Baldur's Gate 3.

• Unique Shell: "A shell - a keepsake from my final voyage. Pinched in a moment of sentimentality."
• Emperor's Wardrobe: "My old wardrobe - the home of all my disguises. We are what we appear to be, and so appearances matter."
• Butter Fork: "My cutlery set - a gift from my mother. The butter knife is missing, but otherwise it looks to be complete. I don't need it anymore, but the memory stirs something in me still."
  • Note: Yes, the name of the item is "Butter Fork", implicitly because of the "missing" butter knife.
• Stelmane's Portrait: "There she is in all her glory - Duke Belynne Stelmane. My old partner."
  • Note: The game asset used for the portrait item is a renamed version of the painting item "Portrait Of A Woman." Dialogue with Wyll implies that this portrait is still accurate to what she looked like, albeit at a younger age.
• Chains - "The chains I used to bind my meals - villains and lawbreakers. You see I tried to exercise morality, where I could."
• Empty Brain Jar: "An old container for brains. Empty - shame. It would have been nice to find one to sustain me now."
• Recipe for Fiddlehead Soup: "A recipe for fiddlehead soup - a favourite meal of mine, when I had need of meals like that."
  • Note: Player may need to pick up the item to trigger this commentary, rather than just interacting.
• Dog Collar: "Rascal's collar...My poor four-legged friend. Their lives are so brief, so simple, and yet - full."
  • Note: Interacting with this item will often equip the collar to the necklace slot of the controlled character. It is not known if this behaviour is a bug.
• Sword of the Emperor: "My old sword - my first purchase as an adventurer. No use to me anymore. It's yours, if you want it."
  • Note: Interacting with this item will sometimes automatically equip it to the player's melee weapon slot.

Beyond the area with the chains, there is a secondary room with a hatch, which leads to the sewers.

Interacting with the Emperor's sword successfully completes the quest, even if there are some more memorable active items left in the room. Completing the quest does not make these inactive, and the party can still learn about them.

Quest rewards

• Sword of the Emperor
• Cerebral Citadel Armour, inside the Emperor's Wardrobe
• Cerebral Citadel Gloves, inside the Emperor's Wardrobe
• If the player has an overall "positive" relationship with the Emperor, then completing this quest allows certain scenes to trigger on the next available Long Rest.