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Find a Cure
Find a Cure is the main quest in Act One of Baldur's Gate 3, and contains multiple related sub-quest within it. It is automatically added to the journal after completing the Prologue.
 | 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.
- We've escaped the Hells on the nautiloid and crashed somewhere back in the Material Plane. We need to explore the area and find a healer.
- There could be several ways to get rid of the parasite. Lae'zel, the githyanki who helped us escape the nautiloid, thinks finding a Githyanki Crèche is our best solution.
- Lae'zel is now gone and she couldn't lead us to the githyanki cure.
- We used the purifier Lae'zel told us about, but it didn't work - the parasite is still in our heads.
- We found people taking refuge in a grove. We should explore it - there might be a healer inside.
- We learned that there is a healer named Nettie in the grove. Maybe she can help us.
- Nettie died before she could cure us of our parasites.
- We learned that the leader of the druids is a powerful healer named Halsin. He might be able to help us remove the parasite.
- Nettie couldn't help us. Instead, she poisoned us with deadly venom - hoping to kill us before we turned into mind flayers.
- The druid Halsin believed that the parasites originated from a place called Moonrise Towers. We should investigate.
- Halsin's magic is powerless against the parasite, but the druid said we might have a chance at a dark place called Moonrise Towers.
- Halsin was defeated before he could help us find a cure for the parasite.
- An old woman told us she could help us with our tadpole problem. We should follow up on this.
- Auntie Ethel tried to cure us but failed. She told us the parasite had been empowered with Netherese magic.
- Auntie Ethel died before she could help us with the parasite.
- We met some cultists who worship a deity called the Absolute. One of them could telepathically communicate with us - which means they were infected too.
- A goblin priestess apparently possesses some powerful healing spells. She might be able to help.
- Instead of healing us, Priestess Gut imprisoned us - to watch us while we transform.
- Priestess Gut died before she had a chance to help us.
- A friendly mind flayer might know a way to remove the parasite.
- Omeluum died before it could examine the parasite.
- The mind flayer's potion didn't help us - it strengthened our parasite instead.
- Our chance of finding a cure seems to be diminishing as we continue our journey - but we must press on.
- It is clear that the parasites are coming from Moonrise Towers. Infiltrating the Towers and finding the source of this evil may be our only chance of finding a cure.
- This is a far greater plot than we had imagined - one spearheaded by the Chosen of the Dead Three and involving an elder brain. We must overcome this greater evil if we wish to heal ourselves once and for all.
Walkthrough
As the overarching main-quest, this questline is progressed by completing the various sub quests associated with it. Several of these sub-quests can be progressed in any order, except for Find the Githyanki Creche.
Get Help from Healer Nettie
- For detailed information on Nettie's help, see Get Help from Healer Nettie.
The party can learn about Nettie by speaking with Nymessa and Damays as part of Free Lae'zel, or by speaking to Zevlor after entering the Druid Grove for the first time. Upon entering the Grove, the party learns that the First Druid, Halsin, was kidnapped by goblins after a failed expedition, led by Aradin. The only remaining healer is his apprentice, Nettie, who can handle basic wounds. As one of the earliest healers the party can encounter, they can seek her out.
Nettie is within the Inner Sanctum of the Druid Grove, where she is healing an injured bird. If the player investigates the room, they can notice a dead victim with a tadpole. Telling Nettie that the party is infected, she asks them to move to a more private room. She explains that she has seen victims with tadpoles and that she and Master Halsin were researching them. Unfortunately, she doesn't have the ability to cure the tadpoles, but she believes Halsin would be the best possible option.
Depending on how the player treats Nettie, she can attempt to poison them and may have to be killed to exit the room. If the party is honest with her, she simply hands them Wyvern Poison and has them promise to drink it if they transform. The party can only leave peacefully if they agree.
Ask the Goblin Priestess for Help
- For detailed information on the Goblin Priestess' aid, see Ask the Goblin Priestess for Help.
Priestess Gut can be learned about by speaking to the goblin Sazza in the Makeshift Prison of the Druid Grove or by speaking with the guards at the entrance to the Shattered Sanctum in the Goblin Camp. The goblins all emphasize the power of Gut and how she can heal anything. As another option, the party can seek out her skills.
Speaking to Gut, the player can allow her to commune with their tadpole, using her own. She is surprised and asks them to follow her to her private room. Gut realizes the player was kidnapped aboard a mind flayer ship and infected, by searching through their memories. She claims that she can cure them, but actually offers a sleeping potion. If the player isn't resistant to sleeping potions and drinks it, they are chained up in the Defiled Temple's prison cell. Gut arrives and says that she plans to make them her 'squiddy pet.' If the player fails to break free, they are rescued by Korrilla, who kills Gut and her ogre servant, Polma.
Get Help from Auntie Ethel
- For detailed information on Ethel's deal, see Get Help from Auntie Ethel.
Auntie Ethel can first be found in The Hollow where she sells lotions and potions. If the player speaks to her, she says they don't look well and asks what's the matter. The player can be honest about their tadpole infection, to which she says she can help, but she doesn't have the tools in the Grove. She tells the player to meet her at her teahouse in the Sunlit Wetlands and she'll help them out. Ethel can also be met on the path to the Sunlit Wetlands, south of the Blighted Village, where she is arguing with two men.
Once at Ethel's Riverside Teahouse, she reveals herself to be a hag. She says she's removed tadpoles before and can do it again for one of the player's 'pretty little peepers.' If the bargain is taken, the permanent debuff 
Paid the Price is added to the player in question. Ethel is not able to fulfill her part of the bargain because the tadpoles are enchanted by Netherese magic. If the player attempts to argue with her, she says that they never told her about the magic and she held up her part of the bargain.
Rescue the Druid Halsin
- For detailed information on Halsin's knowledge, see Rescue the Druid Halsin.
Halsin can be found in the Worg Pens of the Goblin Camp, where he is wild-shaped as a Cave Bear. A group of goblin children are throwing rocks at him. The player can intervene, which causes a fight. After this, Halsin can be spoken to and explains what he knows about the tadpoles. He doesn't have the power to cure them, but he has been extensively researching them and knows they are tied to the cult of The Absolute. He's been tracking the cult's movements and knows they are headed towards Moonrise Towers, which he advises as the group's next destination.
If the party completes Defeat the Goblins and sides with the Grove against the goblins, then Halsin offers to join the party on their journey to Moonrise Towers.
Help Omeluum investigate the parasite
- For detailed information on Omeluum's plan, see Help Omeluum Investigate the Parasite.
The party can come across a friendly mind flayer named Omeluum by speaking with his partner, Blurg at Ebonlake Grotto. If the party tells Blurg that they're infected with a tadpole, he contacts Omeluum as someone with expertise on the subject. Omeluum is surprised that the party has yet to transform and suggests the possibility that he might commune with their tadpoles. He tells them he can make a concoction of Tongues of Madness and Timmask Spores to connect to them. These rare ingredients can be found in the Arcane Tower to the south. If the party brings back the ingredients and performs the procedure, the tadpole only gets stronger. Still seeking to aid the party, he offers to trade them for a rare Ring of Mind-Shielding, which he and others of his kind had been using to evade the Elder Brain.
Find the Githyanki Crèche
- For detailed information on finding the crèche, see Find the Githyanki Crèche.
If Lae'zel is recruited, she insists that a githyanki crèche will have a cure. She refers to the process as purification and states that the zaith'isk is a sacred device that can cure the infected of their tadpoles. The party can find a crèche at the Mountain Pass, inside Rosymorn Monastery. Within the infirmary of Crèche Y'llek is Ghustil Stornugoss, who claims she can purify the party if they tell her they are infected. Unfortunately, through the process of 'purification,' it is revealed that the zaith'isk is not a device of healing. Instead, it is a device that extracts the memories of the infected and then kills them.
Whoever steps in the zaith'isk must pass three saving throws to prevent persistent -2 debuffs to Wisdom, Intellect, and Constitution, respectively. Passing all three saving throws awards the permanent 
buff. Any debuffs acquired can be cured by consuming a 
Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen.
Moonrise Towers and Beyond
The group ultimately decides to Travel to Moonrise Towers - either through the Underdark or through the Mountain Pass, to learn more about the cult in hopes of curing the tadpoles. This leads to the conclusion that the cult must be defeated in order to have any hope of destroying the tadpoles - not just for the party, but for all of the infected.