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Save Mayrina is a quest in Act One of Baldur's Gate 3. The quest is acquired by running into an argument between Auntie Ethel and Mayrina's brothers - Johl and Demir, south of the Blighted Village.
 | Spoiler warning: The following content contains unhidden spoilers. Read at your own risk. |
Objectives
Objectives and journal entries may vary pending player decisions and outcomes.
- Two brothers said that their sister Mayrina is being held against her will at Ethel's house - something the old woman denied.
- After Auntie Ethel vanished, two brothers set off after her - determined to find their sister Mayrina. Something isn't right here.
- We found the two brothers dead. They clearly died in pain.
- We discovered a distressed pregnant woman in the company of Auntie Ethel. What is she doing here?
- We met Mayrina and Auntie Ethel at the teahouse. There is something strange about their relationship.
- When we told Mayrina her brothers were dead, she was devastated. Ethel wasn't very pleased either.
- We saw through the illusion that hid the area, revealing a stinking, nightmarish place.
- Auntie Ethel waved her hand and Mayrina vanished. What happened to her?
- Auntie Ethel, the Green Hag, disappeared through her fireplace. If we follow her, perhaps we'll find Mayrina.
- The fireplace revealed a hidden passage under Auntie Ethel's home - leading to a dark, twisted lair.
- We found Auntie Ethel in the heart of her lair. She is furious with us. We're in for a fight.
- We persuaded Auntie Ethel to both give us the great power and release Mayrina.
- We made a deal with the hag. We let her live in exchange for Mayrina's life.
- Auntie Ethel is finally dead. We should see if Mayrina is all right.
- We saved Mayrina, but she was in a bad way. She left to say goodbye to her husband at his grave - perhaps we can help her somehow?
- We found a wand with Connor's name on it. Could this resurrect Mayrina's husband?
- With our help, Mayrina's husband was resurrected - but Connor is a broken shell of who he once was. Would it be right to keep him alive like this?
- The creature that was once Mayrina's husband is an abomination. We have no choice but to destroy it.
- We made a deal with Auntie Ethel for great power. She left - and took Mayrina with her.
- Mayrina's husband died at our hands.
- Mayrina is dead.
- We killed Mayrina.
- We decided to keep Mayrina's husband for ourselves. Distraught, Mayrina left.
- Determined to find a cure, Mayrina and Connor left for Baldur's Gate. Who knows if we'll ever see them again?
- We destroyed the wand that could bring Mayrina's husband back to life. She was distraught.
- We knocked Mayrina out.
- We left before we could save the unfortunate Marinya
Walkthrough
Meeting Ethel
Ethel can be found in two places. She can first be encountered in The Hollow within the Druid Grove (X:192, Y:544). She runs a small shop selling lotions and potions. Ethel notices that the party looks ill, and they can reveal that they were infected with a mindflayer tadpole. Ethel states that she can help, but that she doesn't have the supplies at the Grove. She invites the party to visit her at her house in the wetlands.
Ethel can also be encountered southwest of the Blighted Village, just after entering the Sunlit Wetlands (X:45, Y:313). Here, Ethel is confronted by two men, Johl and Demir, who accuse her of kidnapping their sister, Mayrina. In the initial confrontation with Auntie Ethel and the brothers, the player can choose to side with Auntie Ethel, with the brothers, or refuse to get involved. If the player sides with the brothers, Ethel reveals her true nature and departs for her teahouse. If the player sides with Ethel, the brothers attack immediately. If the player does not fight with the brothers, they walk off to their deaths in the wetlands, where the party can later discover their bodies. If the player refuses to get involved in the situation, Auntie Ethel tells them they were supposed to rush to her defense, kills the two men with a poison spell, then departs for her teahouse. In both the case where the player sides with the brothers or refuses to get involved, Auntie Ethel warns them that if they come to her teahouse, they'd best come bearing an apology. If the player sided with Auntie Ethel, she asks the player to come to her teahouse so she can thank the player properly.
Ethel's Teahouse
Ethel's house (X:-47, Y:266) is in the southwestern area of the Sunlit Wetlands/Putrid Bog. She greets the party and, regardless of if she was told or not, states she's well aware of the tadpole in their heads. In the teahouse, Ethel is berating a young woman, revealed to be Mayrina, for not finishing her pie. If Ethel isn't yet hostile, the player has the opportunity to Get Help from Auntie Ethel. Regardless of the conversation choices, Ethel eventually transports Mayrina further into her lair, done with her complaints about being full.
Most actions after this point lead to Ethel revealing her true form and retreating into her hearth. The player can pursue her through the mini-dungeon the Overgrown Tunnel. If Ethel has not become hostile, moving close to the hearth starts an Investigation check and succeeding reveals there is an illusory passage. Walk through it to proceed through the tunnels. After the tunnel is entered, if the illusion hasn't been broken already, the Sunlit Wetlands reveals its true form as the Putrid Bog.
If Ethel has not already become hostile, she appears within the first part of the tunnel to warn the party off. Regardless of the response, she disappears. The first hurdle is a door of vines. Attempting to use it causes it to telepathically share its story with the party to warn them from proceeding further. An Arcana check reveals that the door is an illusion and can simply be walked through. Otherwise, persuading the door (DC 10) causes it to share its secrets.
Through the door are four servants of Ethel's - Mask of Terror, Mask of Vengeance, Mask of Regret, and Mask of Servitude. They become hostile upon detecting the party. They cannot be spared except by avoiding them entirely before defeating Ethel - non-lethal attacks result in them never becoming conscious again.
On the table next to the door are Whispering Masks. If one party member wears it, they can all pass through the door. It also prevents the Hag Servants from becoming hostile.
Past the Hag Servants is a waterfall and a winding path filled with noxious fumes and explosive traps. The vents can be covered with any item - including the Whispering Masks on the table. Another option is to simply jump over the fumes - Enhance Leap and Feather Fall are immensely helpful. Once the party has gotten to the bottom of the path, they'll see Mayrina in a cage, and Ethel.
Facing Ethel
After making their way through the Overgrown Tunnel, the player will find Mayrina in a burning wooden cage suspended over a pit. If the cage is destroyed by fire or other means, Mayrina will die. The spell Create Water or a thrown container of water can put out the fire, as well as a simple Ray of Frost cantrip. Ethel will summon illusory copies of herself that have all of her regular spells and abilities, but are destroyed after taking any damage.
Ethel may teleport Mayrina out of the cage, then assume her form, attempting to trick the player into killing Mayrina, as there are now two seemingly identical copies. The Mayrina in the previous position of Ethel CAN be the real Mayrina, so use caution. Generally, the most obvious way to determine if the target is Mayrina is by seeing if the character model is visibly pregnant - the real Mayrina has a belly; Ethel's clones do not. Examining the stat blocks also reveals the truth, as Mayrina remains Level 1, while the clone is Level 5 like Ethel herself.
Once Auntie Ethel is reduced to below 20% of her life, and has a turn to act, she offers the player a chance to make a series of persuasion or intimidation checks. Depending on the results of the skill checks and subsequent decisions, the player can either free Mayrina; let Ethel keep Mayrina in exchange for the Auntie Ethel's Hair, a special single use item that can increase any Ability Score of any character by 1 permanently; or free Mayrina and keep the Hag's Hair both. If a deal is struck with Ethel, she disappears, but all her thralls remain hostile. If Ethel is killed, the thralls are freed, although all but the Mask of Regret are too far gone to truly be saved.
The Acrid Workshop area here has some treasure, some writings that provide more context and background information, and a Mushroom Circle that teleports the party back outside, to the back of the house. Behind the teahouse is the body of Mayrina's husband, Connor Vinderblad. The wand Bitter Divorce, found in the Workshop, can be used to raise Connor as a zombie. You can then choose whether to give the wand to Mayrina to take her ex-husband with her, or keep it for yourself. If kept, it changes to Second Marriage and can be used at any time to summon Connor as a zombie follower.
Quest Rewards
- Staff of Crones
- Auntie Ethel's Hair if a deal is made with Ethel.
- Second Marriage if you choose to keep the wand for yourself.
Notes
- Mayrina's brothers can technically be saved by knocking them out with non-lethal attacks. However, this is somewhat glitchy and part of the dialogue states that the brothers are dead.
- Using non-lethal damage on the Hag's Pawns will knock them out, but doesn't save them. The only thing that can be done to save the pawns is to run past them without killing them.
- Using non-lethal damage on the Hag will not trigger her surrender cutscene, and will instead knock her out, ending the fight.