Shadowheart

	Loyal Warrior
Shadowheart
	Stats
	Level 1
Race	High Half-Elf
Type	Humanoid
HP	10
AC	15
Movement Speed	9m / 30ft
Size	Medium
Weight	75kg / 150lbs
Proficiency Bonus	+2
Initiative	+1
	Passive features
	Darkvision Fey Ancestry Fear of Wolves
Character information
Class	Trickery Domain
Background	Acolyte
Location	Nautiloid, Ravaged Beach, Emerald Grove
Faction	Sharran
Family	Arnell Hallowleaf (father); Emmeline Hallowleaf (mother)
Allies	Shar
Enemies	Selûne
Additional information
Voice actor	Jennifer English
Models

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Shadowheart is an Origin character and Companion with the Acolyte background. She is a Half-Elf and a Trickery Domain Cleric. Shadowheart can be romanced by characters of either gender.

As a loyal servant of the goddess Shar, Shadowheart can be cold and calculating, willing to do whatever is necessary to serve the Dark Lady with devotion. She can be first found on the Nautiloid during the prologue where she serves as a temporary companion, and properly recruited at the start of Act 1.

“	We're in this together, but I'll happily go it alone. My faith will keep me company.	„
	— Shadowheart's strong devotion.

Overview

Background

A devout follower of Shar, Shadowheart is the sole survivor of a holy mission undertaken on the Mistress of the Night's behest. She alone must deliver a relic of immense power to her coven in Baldur's Gate, while threatened by a strange new magic that is burgeoning from within. Her faith plays an important part in her story throughout the game, and she can be steered to or away from it.

Description

With raven black hair and attire, Shadowheart makes as strong of an impression as her personality. Zealously devoted, independent and headstrong, she prefers pragmatic solutions to issues, decisive action and staying uninvolved in the problems of others. While she initially seems guarded and reserved – hesitant to reveal information about herself – she is in fact amnesiac, with little memory of her own past. Over time, however, she will show more depth, with a sarcastic wit to match Astarion, a fondness for animals and flowers, and an aversion to indiscriminate violence, despite her Sharran background.

Personal quest

Shadowheart's personal quest is Daughter of Darkness, spanning all acts of the game. Throughout it, Shadowheart will uncover fragments of her nebulous past, re-examine her relationship with her goddess Shar and decide her own future: remaining in the dark embrace of the Lady of Loss or free from the past.

Two further subquests are available that tie into her personal quest: The Chosen of Shar, in which Shadowheart's faith will be tested, and A Familiar Face, where parts of her past will come to light.

Recruitment

Shadowheart can be recruited as a temporary companion during the Prologue on the Nautiloid by freeing her from the Mind Flayer pod. She can then become a permanent companion during Act 1.

Prologue

Shadowheart is first encountered on the Nautiloid during the Prologue, trapped inside a Mind Flayer pod. She can be freed by interacting with the nearby console or using certain class-restricted dialogue options on the pod. If she is freed, she will join the party as a temporary companion. Upon escaping the Nautiloid, she leaves the party.

Act One

Shadowheart can be found a second time at the Ravaged Beach inside the Wilderness. If she was freed from the pod during the Prologue, she will be unconscious on the ground and wake up when interacted with. If she was not freed, she will instead be found attempting to gain entry to the nearby Dank Crypt. Either way, she can be invited to join the party after speaking with her.
If Shadowheart is not interacted with at the Ravaged Beach, she will move to the Druid Grove on her own in search of a healer. She can be spoken with there and invited to join the party.
If the player enters the Goblin Camp without having recruited Shadowheart, she will show up and save the party from the Voice of the Absolute using the Mysterious Artefact. If not recruited, she may be convinced to wait here, or fought to the death.
If the player ignores the Goblin Camp and walks towards the Mountain Pass, she will similarly appear to save the party members from the Voice, as the party members attempt to cross the bridge into the main area.
If the player ignores the Goblin Camp and the Mountain Pass, and manages to enter the Underdark, she will appear to save the party from the Voice of the Absolute, as the party members enter the elevator to the Shadow-Cursed Lands.

Approval

Shadowheart likes finding pragmatic and efficient solutions to problems. She appreciates discretion, privacy, and open-mindedness. Shadowheart generally responds well to acts of heroism.

Shadowheart dislikes those that disapprove of her worship or people pressing her for answers or details. She does not like needless cruelty or violence and can respond unfavorably to being too open with untrustworthy or unknown individuals. While she is afraid of wolves, Shadowheart loves animals and will always react favourably to positive interactions with them and negatively to cruelty towards animals. As a devout Sharran, she also approves of acts against Selûne and selûnites in general.

Romance

Shadowheart can be romanced by characters of either gender, and is one of the few characters willing to have a casual relationship. Throughout it, she will have to deal with the topic of her identity and how the idea of love fits the Sharran concept of self-sacrifice for their goddess.

History

Early life

Born to parents Arnell and Emmeline Hallowleaf, Jenevelle, as she was named, was raised in a Selûnite household in the forests near Baldur's Gate. Devout followers of the Moonmaiden, they worshiped her in quiet seclusion away from the city, raising young Jenevelle in the ways of Selûne. In time, she would take part of an ancient Selûnite inititation rite: abandoned in the wilds, she would have to rely on her skills and faith to fend for herself, proving herself as a devout believer once she returned.

Yet Shar, Selûne's dark sister, had other plans for the child, and commanded Viconia DeVir and a cadre of Sharrans to kidnap the child. They slayed Jenevelle's parents and took young Hallowleaf to a secret cloister of the Dark Lady in Baldur's Gate.

Life as a Sharran

Jenevelle would be brought to the Cloister of Sombre Embrace, a Sharran temple in Baldur's Gate set up and ran by Mother Superior Viconia DeVir after her previous endeavours in Waterdeep had failed. Viconia's mission, given to her directly by Shar, was to mould young Jenevelle into a champion of the Dark Lady, an effort that would ultimately take almost half a century. Jenevelle resisted the indoctrination at first, but the brutal training she would be put through, as well as repeated forced use of the temple's Mirror of Loss, would slowly erase her past and in time forge a new identity: Shadowheart.

Though the Mother Superior was especially cruel with Shadowheart, forcing her to use the Mirror of Loss more than with any other acolyte, Shadowheart was able to retain a few memories from her past thanks to Rennald, a young Tiefling acolyte. Any time she would undergo mirror training, Rennald would do his best to remind Shadowheart who she was afterwards. Thanks to him, and whatever scattered notes she was able to jot down between mirror trainings,^[1] Shadowheart was able to retain some parts of her identity, such as her fondness for flowers and animals. The two became good friends, and one of the few blessings during her time in the cloister.

Hunting after the mysterious artefact

At some point during Shadowheart's last stages of training, whispers of the rise of a mysterious cult would reach the Mother Superior's ears. This Cult of the Absolute as it was being called, was quickly gaining traction among the populace and threatened the Sharran influence over the city. As luck would have it, the Sharrans would capture a Githyanki scout who, after being subjected to merciless torture, revealed the existence of a githyanki artifact of immense power that the cult were desperate to find.^[2] Such an artifact could prove an asset for the Sharrans in thwarting the absolutist presence in the city, and so the Mother Superior quickly formed a party of elite devouts, tasking them with its retrieval. Though deemed a suicide mission, Shadowheart and four other companions set out to fulfill what they believed were Shar's commands.

The group was able to locate the Mysterious Artefact though at great cost: Shadowheart was the only survivor. Disaster wouldn't stop there, however, as she soon found herself captive at the hands of Mind Flayers. How and where she was captured is never explored, however, at some point during her capture she became tadpoled and kept imprisoned in a pod awaiting ceremorphosis.

Daughter of Darkness

Quest rewards

Shar's Spear of Evening — reward for slaying the Nightsong as part of the quest The Chosen of Shar
Dark Justiciar Half-Plate — reward for slaying the Nightsong as part of the quest The Chosen of Shar
Moonlight Glaive — reward for sparing the Nightsong as part of the quest Find the Nightsong
Selûne's Spear of Night — reward for sparing the Nightsong and defeating Ketheric Thorm as part of the quest Infiltrate Moonrise Towers

Interactions

Prologue

Act One

Act Two

Act Three

Loot

Killing Shadowheart allows the player to loot her.

Starting equipment

Related items

In Service of the Night

Notes

According to Larian Studios, until Patch 3, Shadowheart was the most romanced female companion and the second most romanced companion overall.
At the time of the events of Baldur's Gate 3, Shadowheart is over 40 years old.^[3].
Shadowheart appears to have grown up in Moonhaven, which is featured in the game as Blighted Village.^[4]

Achievements

To Bloom in Darkest Night
Gift Shadowheart a night orchid - her favourite flower. Always knew she was a softie.

Gallery

Shadowheart's appearance pre-release
Shadowheart's Early Access promotional art
Shadowheart during Early Access
Early Access model

References

↑ Hastily Written Note (Night Orchid Cave)
↑ Subject Mapping Results: Githyanki No. 7
↑ Cloister of Sombre Embrace, ambient line spoken by Shadowheart upon reading No Price Too High in the dormitory.
"These are all about me... forty years of my life, documented like I was some sort of specimen."
↑ Dialogue and events triggered by bringing Shadowheart to the Blighted Village.

External links

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[1] Hastily Written Note (Night Orchid Cave)

[2] Subject Mapping Results: Githyanki No. 7

[3] Cloister of Sombre Embrace, ambient line spoken by Shadowheart upon reading No Price Too High in the dormitory.
"These are all about me... forty years of my life, documented like I was some sort of specimen."

[4] Dialogue and events triggered by bringing Shadowheart to the Blighted Village.

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