Kar'niss

Kar'niss is a Drider in service of the Absolute, whom he serves after being cast out by Lolth, the Queen of Spiders. He's a key character involved in the questline Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse, since he carries a Moonlantern that traps the pixie Dolly Dolly Dolly. He believes that anyone who perishes to the  Shadow Curse makes it stronger.

Can be spoken to in death with the  Speak with Dead spell.

Encounters

Kar'niss may be first encountered in two different ways. While entering the Shadow-Cursed Lands from Rosymorn Monastery Trail, a group of Absolute followers will be waiting for Minthara to arrive and summon the guide. The party can use the Spider's Lyre to summon Kar'niss, then follow the convoy to Moonrise Towers.

Otherwise, if the party reaches the Shadow-Cursed Lands through Grymforge, they may encounter Kar'niss' caravan mid-transit - either alongside a group of Harpers to ambush them and claim the lantern as part of a quest given by Jaheira at Last Light Inn, or alone if they explore the Shadow-Cursed Lands and come across the checkpoint without interacting with the Harpers first. The Harper ambush will also be encountered if the party followed the caravan from the start. In each of these scenarios, the party may choose to follow the convoy to Moonrise, kill Kar'niss and his followers to take his lantern, or convince him through dialogue to relinquish it and walk away to his death.

If Kar'niss and his convoy are convinced to leave without the Moonlantern during the ambush in Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse, they can later be encountered as  Shadow-Cursed Undead in Reithwin Town, south of the statue of Ketheric Thorm outside the Sharran Sanctuary and north of the bridge to Moonrise Towers. They are automatically hostile to the party in this form and cannot be interacted with other than by attacking, but Kar'niss will still appear as  Temporarily Hostile if attacked. He will be joined by several Shadows, undead Harpers, undead prisoners, etc. thus making the fight unnecessarily difficult.

If Kar'niss survives the road to Moonrise, he will run up the tower to seek the Absolute's blessing on the rooftop, where he can be encountered one final time as he fights alongside Ketheric when the party storms the tower at the end of Act 2.

Attacks and abilities

Spells Known

 Sanctuary ()

You or an ally cannot be targeted until you attack or harm a creature. You can still take damage from area spells.

Until the affected entity attacks or harms another creature, it cannot be targeted by enemy attacks. However, it can still take damage from spells that influence a larger area.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Tactician Only

 Spindleweb Sanctuary ()

Protect yourself from attackers in the Absolute's gaze. If you attack or harm another creature, the sanctuary shatters, dealing 3d8Psychic to nearby creatures. Until the affected entity attacks or harms another creature, it cannot be targeted by enemy attacks. However, it can still take damage from spells that influence a larger area.

 Range: Self

Related quests

• Follow the Convoy
• Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse

Notable loot

• Cruel Sting
• Moonlantern

Speak with Dead

Kar'niss can be spoken to with Speak with Dead.

Party member: Who are you?

• Kar'niss: Erased... forgotten... we are... drider...

Party member: What happened to you?

• Kar'niss: Lolth... cast out... Absolute... saved...

Party member: Who killed you?

• Kar'niss: Traitor... heretic...

Party member: Where are you from?

• Kar'niss: Moonrise...

Party member: What were you doing?

• Kar'niss: Shepherding... the faithful... carrying... our Lady's light...

Party member: You walk the shadows safely. How?

• Kar'niss: Lantern... our Lady's light...

Party member: How did you trap that pixie in the lantern?

• Kar'niss: Always... many voices... her... the LOUDEST...

Party member: How did the shadow curse come to be?

• Narrator: *The corpse remains silent. It does not know.*

Gallery

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External links

Kar'niss on the Forgotten Realms Wiki