Viconia DeVir

Mother Superior of Shar
Viconia DeVir
Stats
Level 11
STR 14 (+2) DEX 19 (+4) CON 10 INT 17 (+3) WIS 18 (+4) CHA 16 (+3)
Race	[[Lolth-Sworn Drow|Lolth-Sworn Drow]]
Type	Humanoid
HP	124; 161TTactician
AC	20
Movement Speed	9m / 30ft
Size	Medium
Weight	150 lbs
Initiative	4
Passive features
Born into Darkness  Darkvision  Fey Ancestry  Magic Resistance  Opportunity Attack  Shadow Ambush  Sunlight Sensitivity  ProtectionTTactician  Sentinel: Opportunity AdvantageTTactician  Sentinel: SnareTTactician  Sentinel: VengeanceTTactician  TenacityTTactician
Character information
Location	Cloister of Sombre Embrace
Allies	Shar
In-game model

“	L'il Alurl! For Shar!	„
	— Viconia's Battle Cry

Viconia DeVir is a drow cleric of Shar. She is a returning character from Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn where she was a companion.

Background

For a more detailed background see Viconia DeVir on Forgotten Realms Wiki.

Viconia was born to House DeVir in the drow capital city of Menzoberranzan in Underdark. She was a priestess of Lolth for many years. To prove her faith she was tasked with killing an infant in a ritual sacrifice to the Spider Queen. Viconia refused and her house fell out of Lolth's favour. It seemed that the only way for House DeVir to regain their goddess' favour was for Viconia to prostrate herself before the Spider Queen. Viconia was fed up with Lolth's ways and believed she could survive without her.

House DeVir was left vulrenable to other Houses' attacks and in desperation Matron DeVir tried to sacrifice Viconia, but her wizard brother intervened and killed their mother. For this action Lolth turned him into a drider. Viconia lost her clerical powers and fled to the surface. Some time later she found herself a new goddess - Shar.

Being a possible companion in previous games, specifically Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn, she canonically, if not traveled with, at the very least met Gorion's Ward (the protagonist of previous games) and their group as Jaheira and Minsc remember meeting her. Depending on player's actions and if Viconia was their companion, she could've also met Sarevok.

Present days

In the century that passed since Baldur's Gate II Viconia DeVir became the Mother Superior of the Shar enclave in Baldur's Gate. She previously had a grander enclave in Waterdeep, but Lady Shar commanded her to raze it and kill all her loyal followers. Viconia's new mission was to take a child of Selûne and turn them over to Lady Shar.

She and her group ambushed a Selûnite family that was in the process of a coming-of-age ritual of their half-elven girl Jenevelle Hallowleaf. Her parents were captured and imprisoned while the girl was raised a cleric of Shar under a new name - Shadowheart.

Shadowheart always dreamed of becoming a Dark Justiciar, but Viconia thwarted any attempts at doing so.

Recently she tasked Shadowheart with retrieving the Mysterious Artefact that will help them against the Absolute.

The House of Grief

See also Daughter of Darkness quest.

Viconia DeVir resides in the Cloister of Sombre Embrace which is located in Sharran Ruins under the House of Grief. She provides the Mapping of the Heart for those in need of Sharran guidance.

If the player or Shadowheart undergoes the Mapping, Viconia will remove her hood revealing her identity and invite the party to the Cloister. She explains that she knows the party has the artefact in their possession and that she needs it to destroy the Absolute. If the Intimidation or Persuasion checks are passed, then Viconia will relent. However, she demands to hand over Shadowheart to her. The party can either agree, starting Surrender Shadowheart to Viconia quest, or refuse, which starts a fight. If Shadowheart is a Dark Justiciar, then she can convince some of the cultists to fight along with the party, taking over the cloister after Viconia's defeat.

If the meeting results in combat, Viconia will manifest the fears she learned from the players (she will turn into a wolf to scare shadowheart, or she will temporarily turn the player into a mind flayer if the player told her their fear of becoming one).

If Shadowheart was handed over Viconia, Viconia can become an ally in the final battle providing Nightbringer's Shadow Adepts support, alternatively, if Shadowheart replaced her as the Mother Superior the same support will be provided by her instead.

Tactics

If fought, Viconia is one of the more difficult opponents in the game. She is continuously affected by the conditions  Nightbringer's Beloved and  Radiant Retort and begins the battle under the effect of  Sanctuary. She gains unique spells depending on your answers during the Mapping of the Heart and the "Heartform" (False Heart, Craven Heart, etc) she determines you have.

• e.g. saying you're afraid of turning into a Mind Flayer gives her the spell Mapped Terror: Ceremorphosis to make that character believe they have undergone ceremorphosis, preventing them from moving or taking actions for a turn. Viconia also gains the spell Castigate Heartform which allows her to put the relevant Heartform debuff on you, e.g. False Heart which lasts until the next long rest or until you get silenced and which makes you have disadvantage on Wisdom saving throws and makes Viconia's attacks against you automatically crit.
  • As the beastly Heartform Terrors are illusions, Dominate Beast doesn't work on them.

She is supported by approximately twenty allies including two powerful Justiciar Crusaders and four Sharran Fidelian mages. All of her allies are capable of controlling the arena with  Darkness and casting synergistic spells like  Overwhelming Grief. All possess the  Shadow Ambush passive, allowing them to deal massive Necrotic damage to the party; they also liberally use  Bone Chill to prevent healing.

Attacks and Abilities

•  Castigate Heartform
  • Against a Wayward Heart: Mapped Terror: Wolves
    •  Bite (Mapped Terror: Wolves)
    •  Sinister Howl

Notable Loot

• Viconia's Priestess Robe
• Viconia's Walking Fortress
• Handmaiden's Mace

Notes

• Her actual Strength is 14 but because of her Handmaiden's Mace it is set to 18 until she is disarmed.
• She gains unique spells depending on your answers during the Mapping of the Heart and the "Heartform" (False Heart, Craven Heart, etc) she determines you have,
• She is voiced by Jess Nesling, replacing Grey DeLisle/Griffin from the previous games.
• Her final line before combat (L'il Alurl! For Shar!) is a direct reference to her battle cry from the previous games.
• Viconia's state in Baldur's Gate 3 is partially reflective of her default epilogue in Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, wherein she found a Sharite cult in Waterdeep. However major changes were made: in the original epilogue Viconia killed all cult members due to their betrayal, shrugging off the chastisement of her goddess, which mirrors her early rebellious actions against Lolth. She then stopped several crises with the help of Drizzt Do'Urden, including saving the elven city of Suldanessalar, for which she received honor from Queen Ellesime, and then had an unknown fate. In Baldur's Gate 3, Viconia's motive behind the Waterdeep slaughter was changed to obeying Shar's order, and she became a faithful tool of her goddess since then.
  • According to Larian, this version of Viconia follows the Wizards of the Coast canon^{[Needs Verification]}, with her character background and personality changed to integrate into the narrative of Baldurs Gate 3. For more details of the original Viconia in classic Baldurs' Gate games, see Viconia DeVir on Baldur's Gate Wiki.

Gallery

• 

  Character portrait by Edward Vanderghote

• 

  Preparing for Battle

See also

Viconia DeVir on the Forgotten Realms Wiki