Orin

Overview

Combat

Orin the Red is one of the Chosen of the Absolute, the enigmatic cult taking over the Sword Coast, and serves as one of the main antagonists in Baldur's Gate 3.

“

Come to me, Father. Set my flesh to your unholy purpose.

„

— Orin the Red about Bhaal

Overview

A daughter of Bhaal and a devout practitioner in the arts of murder and pain, Orin has painted the streets red in her father's name for many years. Still to be caught thanks to her shapeshifting abilities, she now prepares to make out of Baldur's Gate the biggest bloody offering to her father yet.

Background

Orin is the Chosen of Bhaal and one of the three masterminds leading the Cult of the Absolute. As such, she is one of the main antagonists of the game and a key objective in defeating the cult and the enigmatic Absolute.

Hinted at first though notes, she is properly introduced at the end of Act 2 as one of the conspirators of the cult along with Ketheric Thorm and Enver Gortash. Through cunning and murderous devotion, she and her allies have established a solid Bhaalite foothold in the city of Baldur's Gate. Now, empowered by a netherstone and with cult's plans in motion, she intends to paint the city crimson with blood in a mighty offering to Bhaal.

Gameplay

• Orin is a level 12 Changeling boss and one of the main antagonists in the game
• First mentioned in Act 1, she is introduced in Act 2, and properly encountered and fought in Act 3
• Fighting her is required in order to obtain her Netherstone and proceed with the story
• In combat, she uses her deadly powers given by Bhaal himself to deal large amounts of damage quickly while being supported by her cultists
• Her encounter can go different ways depending on the choices made by the party and whether or not the player character is the Dark Urge.
• A cease of hostilities with her and her Bhaalites can be brokered if agreed to slay Gortash first
• She can trick the party with her disguises and will kidnap someone important to the party

Appearance

Orin has pale blue-grey skin with swirling, smoke-like plumes of red undulating across it. Her eyes are dull grey, contoured by dark eyeliner, giving her an intimidating look. Her straw-colored, braided hair falls to the backs of her knees in a fastening reminiscent of a flail. Her armour is bright blood-red, rigid and rough like chitin. She adorns her head with an ornate silver tiara with the centerpiece shaped in the form of a person supplicant, a single crimson gem giving her appearance some color.

Personality

Orin is cruel and sadistic, but artistic and creative in her own twisted way. Her demeanour is immature and almost childish; Orin easily loses her composure when things do not go her way, enacts small rebellions against the authority figures in her life, and enjoys, in a arguably playful way, toying with her victims. She derives sadistic pleasure from taunting her victims with the gory details of her deeds.

When she impersonates another character with her shapeshifting abilities, she will initially be able to convincingly mimic their personality. Her true nature tends to break through the mimicry, however, as she is often unable to contain her bloodlust, resulting in her becoming more openly violent and sadistic, invoking threats and fantasies of extreme violence and grotesque brutality before shifting back into her base appearance.

Her deranged devotion to Bhaal hides her true desire for acceptance and belonging as she is constantly looking for approval from her father Bhaal. Though uncommon, she extends her admiration to those she respects for being brutal devouts of Bhaal such as Sarevok. Her confident and vicious demeanor shatters, however, when confronted with the truth of her origins, and displays true fear when forced by Bhaal to become his tool instead of doing it willingly.

History

Bhaalite upbringing

Raised believing she was fathered by Bhaal himself, Orin was in truth born of an incestuous relationship between Sarevok Anchev and his daughter Helena Anchev, intended to be the perfect offering to the Dread Lord. Though he routinely mistreated and abused them, both Helena and Orin worshipped and loved Sarevok, enduring the hardships of growing up as a Bhaalite. Orin received the bloody teachings of Bhaal, becoming in time the youngest Unholy Assassin to follow the steps of god of Murder. Such was her gift in killing that she was anointed Bhaal's Chosen.

When Orin was still a child, Sarevok, knowing Helena desired to be Bhaal's Chosen, ordered his daughter to kill Orin as an offering to Bhaal. Helena attacked Orin but she was overcome by her child who ultimately cut her down. Bhaal deemed the young changeling exceptional, and ordered Sarevok to look after her henceforth.

Orin served Bhaal directly under The Dark Urge as their second in command, though the two were often at odds about the correct way of offering souls to Bhaal. Orin believed that the Urge mutilated their victims without consideration, and what their Father truly wanted was beauty and consideration in the kill. The Urge, on the other hand, understood that Bhaal cared only for the quantity of murder performed in his name, nothing more.

Yearning for respect and status, but dismissed and looked down on by Bhaal and Sarevok alike, Orin brooded as she waited for an opportunity to become her father's favored.

Orin's betrayal

The Urge joined forces with Bane's Chosen Enver Gortash, and together, they formulated a plan to steal the Crown of Karsus, an ancient arcane object of immense power, and subjugate an Elder Brain with it in order to create a soulless army to destroy the world with. After recruiting Ketheric Thorm, Myrkul's Chosen, Orin joined the three in the raid to plant the Crown on the brain beneath Moonrise Towers.

It was during this time that Orin saw her opportunity and struck, driving a dagger through the Urge's skull and planting an Illithid tadpole in them. With her former rival left to die and a tadpole devouring their brain, Orin took the Urge's place as Bhaal's Chosen and third member of the conspirators. Orin would prove undisciplined in her role, however, as her bloodlust could not be contained, and rapidly grew to be disliked by the other two who saw her as little more than a necessary nuisance to their plan. At some point between the betrayal and the events of the game, Ketheric and Orin tricked Minthara into a trap where she murdered her allies and captured her. She then used a tadpole to convert Minthara into a True Soul.

If the Dark Urge is not chosen as the player character, their corpse will be found in Orin's chamber during Act 3, tortured to death by their sister.

If the Dark Urge is picked as a player character, they are found by Kressa Bonedaughter instead, saved from death and held captive in the Mind Flayer Colony for some time as she experiments on them, until they are shipped away on the Nautiloid during the Prologue.

Involvement

Act One

Though Orin is not present in the first act of the game, her involvement in the plot is alluded to when the Absolute attempts to take over the party's mind and they see a vision of her Chosen shortly before being repelled by the Mysterious Artefact. The player character can also see a vision of her manipulating an enthralled Minthara when first meeting the latter in the Shattered Sanctum.

Act Two

Orin first appears alongside Ketheric Thorm and Enver Gortash in the Mind Flayer Colony beneath Moonrise Towers. An argument breaks out between Gortash and Ketheric and is stopped from becoming a fight due to her intervention. Having successfully kidnapped Ulder Ravengard, she also takes the opportunity to plant a tadpole in the duke's eye as part of their plan to take over the city. She then joins the other Chosen and uses her netherstone, the Lash of Bhaal, with them to order the Netherbrain to march the Absolute's armies on Baldur's Gate.

Act Three

Main article: Get Orin's Netherstone

After reaching Rivington, the party will encounter Orin in person for the first time. She will reveal that she is aware of their objective to gather the netherstones and confront her and Gortash, and threatens that she will be following them, watching every step they take before disappearing once more. If engaged by The Dark Urge, she will reveal their relationship as siblings mockingly and taunt them. From then on, she will begin harassing the party by using her changeling abilities to shapeshift into different characters. When speaking with these seemingly innocuous characters, the conversation will slowly turn more violent until Orin drops the disguise to goad the party into a bloody encounter with her.

Gortash may offer an alliance with the party if spoken to before confronting Orin. Tired of her theatrics and unreliability, Gortash will offer to join forces to subdue the Netherbrain for good and rule the Sword Coast together if the party slays Orin and brings her netherstone. In order to convince the party, he also reveals that their camp has been compromised by Orin who is masquerading as a party member. If agreed to, Gortash proves to be true to his word if his conditions are fulfilled.

Upon entering the Lower City, Orin will kidnap a member of the party unbeknownst to the rest of the group. Who she kidnaps, when and how it's revealed depends largely on the player character's relationships with their companions. Orin will confront the party and announce that she holds a hostage, demanding they deal with Gortash first and face her in a duel, winner takes all. This encounter initiates Rescue Orin's Victim.

In order to get Orin's netherstone, the group will need to visit the Murder Tribunal in the Undercity Ruins as the Temple of Bhaal is open only to those deemed worthy by Bhaal. At the tribunal, the party is welcomed by a familiar face, Sarevok Anchev. Sarevok will reveal how the Bhaalists survived the events of years prior, as well as his connection to Orin as her grandfather. If confronted by The Dark Urge, he further elaborates on Orin's involvement in their fall from Bhaal's grace, excited at the prospect of a Bhaalspawn duel in the ranks of the cult. He will require offer passage to the Temple of Bhaal if the party proves to be worthy by becoming an Unholy Assassin, which requires impressing the tribunal with a killing prior and then the sacrifice of a celestial being. Alternatively, the party can simply decide to fight Sarevok, a prospect he welcomes eagerly. Either given as a worthy Bhaalite or looted from Sarevok's corpse, with the Amulet of Bhaal in hand, the party can finally confront Orin.

Orin will be found at the Altar of Bhaal, deep within the temple. There, she will be toying with her kidnapping victim surrounded by Bhaalist cultists. When approached, Orin will threaten to kill her hostage, though she can be convinced otherwise through dialogue. The Dark Urge can persuade her to duel them as is bhaalist tradition, to which she will eagerly agree.

Alternatively, if the party used  Speak with Dead on Helena Anchev's corpse they can discover that she betrayed Orin on Sarevok's orders. Revealing this to Orin causes her to completely lose focus on killing her kidnapping victim. If the party then choose dialogue options without ability checks, Orin will become enraged and call on Bhaal's power to transform into the Slayer. However, the party can also choose to taunt her further by succeeding a DC 25 Deception check, DC 25 Persuasion check, or DC 25 Religion check, which cause Orin to completely break down since she is unable to cope with the truth. Bhaal will then speak to her through the giant skull in the back of the room, commanding her to fight and unnaturally twisting her body to force her into the Slayer form. Regardless of the outcome of the conversation, Orin will attack when it concludes.

Once defeated, the party is able to loot her corpse and find Orin's Netherstone.

Orin's shapeshifting

Orin will use her shapeshifting abilities to harass the party twice, using one of the disguises listed below. Following the second transformation, all further interactions with the NPCs below will be genuine.

Meeting one of Orin's impersonations for the first time as the Dark Urge earns the Personal Relations background goal.

Orin can only be at one place at a time: if a disguised Orin stays in the visual range of a party member she can't take the appearance of other NPCs elsewhere and thus is effectively pinned in place. This way it's possible to talk to the other genuine NPCs without triggering Orin's apparitions.

These NPCs, with the exception of the dying Stone Lord thug, can also be 'saved' by not speaking to them until the party reaches Gortash at Wyrm's Rock. Once Gortash informs them that Orin has compromised their camp by shapeshifting into one of their companions, she will only impersonate the dying Stone Lord thug.

Lastly, it's possible to identify when an NPC is actually Orin as they'll be level 12, though without the large amount of hit points that would be expected from that level. When examined, these NPCs can be observed to have Orin's passives, giving away their true identity. If attacked straight away, Orin will transform and disappear without her usual threats.

Disguises

• Fist Rowan, a member of the Flaming Fist standing near the back of the donation barn.
• Gyldro Angleiron, a blacksmith in the Rivington General.
• Lens, a journalist for the Baldur's Mouth Gazette.
• Stone Lord (dying) thug near the Western Beach.
• Zethino, the fey Master of Love at the Circus of the Last Days.

Combat

Main article: Orin/Combat

Orin serves as one of the main antagonists of Act 3 of the game alongside Enver Gortash. Her defeat is required before facing the final threat of the game: the Netherbrain.

Loot

• Altar Key
• Netherstone-Pommelled Bloodthirst – separates on pick-up into:
  • Bloodthirst
  • Orin's Netherstone
• Crimson Mischief
• Mutilated Carapace
• Ring of Murderous Opportunity
• Studded Leather Armour +2

Achievements

First Blood
Kill Orin while her cultists are performing their ritual chant.

Related Quests

•  Get Orin's Netherstone
  •  Impress the Murder Tribunal
  •  Investigate the Murders
  •  Rescue Orin's Victim
•  The Urge

Gallery

• 

  In-Game Model

• 

  Character portrait by Edward Vanderghote.

• 

  Cinematic shot

• 

  Orin standing over a captive Lae'zel companion.

• 

  "Come to me, Father. Set my flesh to your unholy purpose."

• 

  Orin masquerading as Fist Rowan.

• 

  Orin impersonating Gyldro Angleiron.

• 

  Orin posing as Lens the journalist.

• 

  Orin pretending to be a dying Stone Lord thug.

Related literature

• A page from Sarevok's book
• Blood-Envy for the Unworthy
• Clasped Book (Moonrise Towers)
• Concerning Orin the Red
• Experiment on Cruor
• Manifesto

Notes

• At launch, the party could temporarily obtain Blade of the First Blood, a Shortsword version of Bloodthirst wielded by Orin, by killing Orin and looting her before the end of the battle. This seems to have been fixed since.

References

External links

• Orin on the Forgotten Realms Wiki
• Bhaal on the Forgotten Realms Wiki
• Chosen on the Forgotten Realms Wiki