Mysterious Artefact

The Mysterious Artefact is a plot-critical story item in Baldur's Gate 3.

A many-sided box of blackened iron, engraved with pulsating runes. Something stirs within.

Properties

• Miscellaneous Items
• Rarity: Story Item
•  Weight: 0.5 kg / 1 lb
• Price: 1 gp

Condition: Bound

 Bound

• This relic is bound to its current owner by a powerful aura.
• Bound items cannot be removed from your inventory.

Where to find

Initially carried by Shadowheart.

If Shadowheart is dead, has not been recruited, or is not in the party when approaching the Goblin Camp for the first time, the artefact will teleport itself into a party member's inventory in order to protect them from the Absolute's influence during the triggered cutscene.

Notes

• The artefact can be interacted with and investigated, but cannot be opened (as of Early Access Patch 9).
  • It is covered in githyanki tir'su.
  • It is the only item in the game with the Bound property: 'This relic is bound to its current owner by a powerful aura.'
• The Githyanki patrol on The Risen Road is searching for this artefact, but it - or the being contained within - has a will of its own, and will make it known that it does not wish to be found by them.
• If another character manages to take possession of the artefact, attempting to interact with it while Shadowheart is in the party (and nearby) will not work.
• Swen Vincke (CEO of Larian which developped Baldur's Gate 3) has previously expressed how difficult it was to ensure the player character ends up with the artefact in their possession (Gamespot on YouTube: The Box That Broke Baldur's Gate 3).
• The artefact is shaped like an icosahedron also known as a  d20 - the main die in tabletop RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons.
• The artefact will always be acquired by the end of Act One. If the player refuses all opportunities to recruit Shadowheart, and does not take it from her, it will appear upon camping.

External links

• Astral Prism on the Forgotten Realms Wiki