Follow the Convoy

The drider offers safe passage through the Shadow-Cursed Lands.

Follow the Convoy is a sub-quest of ⁠Infiltrate Moonrise Towers in Act Two of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started by speaking with the Goblin Brawler near the entrance to the Shadowlands from aboveground in the Mountain Pass. Alternatively, it starts automatically when entering the Shadowlands from Grymforge, if  Minthara was sided with during ⁠Raid the Grove.

Objectives

Objectives and journal entries may vary pending story decisions and outcomes.

Retrieve the instrument from the drow Minthara.

• We met a group of cultists preparing to travel to Moonrise Towers. They are waiting for a guide who must be summoned using an instrument the drow Minthara possessed.

Find the cultist camp.

• We reached the shadow-cursed lands. We can use Minthara's instrument to summon a creature to guide us to Moonrise Towers, but we need to find the right place to play it.
• We met a goblin who told us of a group of cultists up ahead. We should check out their camp.

Summon the guide.

• We met a group of cultists preparing to travel to Moonrise Towers. They are waiting for a guide. We should use Minthara's instrument to summon the guide.

Talk to the drider.

• We summoned the drider. We should speak to him.

Follow the drider.

• We need to stay close to the drider in order to reach Moonrise Towers.

Defend the convoy.

• Harpers are attacking the convoy - we must defend it.

Continue toward Moonrise Towers.

• We defeated the Harpers and should continue following the drider.

Quest Complete

• The drider can no longer aid us.
• The drider made it to Moonrise Towers.
• We turned against the drider and sided with the Harpers.
• We reached Moonrise Towers without help from the cultists.

Walkthrough

If arriving from the Rosymorn Monastery Trail route, as part of ⁠Travel through the Mountain Pass, then a goblin brawler named  Rizzle greets the party and asks if they are the True Souls the goblin is expecting. The goblin tells the party to grab a torch, stick to the light as much as possible, and go to the rendezvous point to wait for the guide to Moonrise Towers. This starts the quest.

When approaching the rendezvous point, an orc named  Kansif asks if they have what is needed to summon the guide. To summon the Drider guide, Vez explains that a special lyre is needed - the  Spider's Lyre. This lyre can be obtained by:

• Looting it off  Minthara's corpse, if she is killed or knocked out during ⁠Defeat the Goblins
• Getting it as gift from Minthara, if she is sided with during ⁠Raid the Grove
• Rescuing  Nere during ⁠Free True Soul Nere and siding with him

Once the lyre has been produced, a  DC 16 Performance check is prompted, but the result is the same whether it is passed or failed - the guide just makes a snide comment if it was played poorly. Performing using the lyre also grants the ⁠Plucking the Lyre's Web to characters with the  Entertainer background.

If not having the lyre, then the party can summon the guide using illithid powers ( DC 14 Wisdom check). Additionally, Barbarians, Sorcerers, Bards, Clerics, and Paladins all have special dialogue options to summon the guide. If killing Kansif and the cultists before summoning the guide, the guide can still be summoned through the  Play the Spider's Lyre action.

If arriving from Grymforge and  Minthara was sided with in ⁠Raid the Grove, the quest is started without the information about the camp in the journal, but the location will be marked on the map anyway. If the party makes their way towards the marker, they will encounter the guide and the convoy already on the road without having to play the lyre.

Travelling to Moonrise Towers

The guide in question is a Drider named  Kar'niss. He owns a functioning  Moonlantern and has been tasked with shuttling cultist initiates to Moonrise Towers. At this point the party can agree to travel with him, deceive him into handing over his Moonlantern and walking off without it to perish in the Shadow Curse, or attack him outright.

If he is encountered without having summoned him, it is possible to avoid him completely by choosing to remain hidden and passing a Stealth check, but this will lock the party out of being escorted. Otherwise, after the party makes themselves known he will express surprise and demands to know how the party survived. If  Nere did not tell the party about the Moonlantern, then to travel with him, the option "Never mind me, how have you survived the curse?" must be picked, followed by "Thank you - let's go". Any other option will arouse his suspicion, and at this point only forcing him to give up his own Moonlantern or attacking him remain options.

If agreeing to travel with him, Kar'niss takes off and the party must remain in the glow of his Moonlantern to stave off the shadow curse. During the trek, a group of Harpers ambush the convoy. The party can betray the convoy and help the Harpers, or fight alongside the convoy in the hopes of being more convincing at Moonrise Towers. If siding with the Harpers, they take the drider's Moonlantern and refer the party to the Last Light Inn. If not making  Jaheira hostile at the Inn, then the party can obtain the Moonlantern by speaking with  Isobel. If sticking with the convoy, then Kar'niss safely guides the party to the front entrance to Moonrise Towers.

If having visited the Last Light Inn and avoided making Jaheira hostile at the Inn before siding with the Harpers, they question the party after defeating the convoy and demand "Jaheira's godsend" explain their presence: the party can either blame the ambush for ruining their infiltration ( DC 16 Persuasion check) or lie that they were captured by the convoy ( DC 16 Deception check). Failing either turns the ambushing Harpers hostile (only them). Succeeding either results in the Harpers handing over the  Moonlantern.

If resolving  Marcus' attempt to abduct Isobel before meeting the convoy at the rendezvous point the convoy has despawned and can only be encountered by going to the house where the convoy ambush takes place. This triggers the ambush event where the party members are among the harper ambushers. ^[verify]