Kar'niss

Kar'niss is a Drider in service of the Absolute, whom he serves after being cast out by Lolth, the Queen of Spiders.

Can be spoken to in death with the  Speak with Dead spell.

Overview

Kar'niss is a key character involved in the questline Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse, since he carries a Moonlantern that traps the pixie Dolly Dolly Dolly. He believes that anyone who perishes to the  Shadow Curse makes it stronger.

Involvement

Kar'niss may be first encountered in two different ways. While entering the Shadow-Cursed Lands from Rosymorn Monastery Trail, a group of Absolute followers will be waiting for Minthara to arrive and summon the guide. The party can use the Spider's Lyre to summon Kar'niss, then follow the convoy to Moonrise Towers.

Otherwise, if the party reaches the Shadow-Cursed Lands through Grymforge, they may encounter Kar'niss' caravan mid-transit - either alongside a group of Harpers to ambush them and claim the lantern as part of a quest given by Jaheira at Last Light Inn, or alone if they explore the Shadow-Cursed Lands and come across the checkpoint without interacting with the Harpers first. The Harper ambush will also be encountered if the party followed the caravan from the start. In each of these scenarios, the party may choose to follow the convoy to Moonrise, kill Kar'niss and his followers to take his lantern, or convince him through dialogue to relinquish it and walk away to his death. Disarming Kar'niss will cause him to drop the Moonlantern.

If the party talks to the Harpers conducting the ambush first, they can hatch a plan to have the party talk to Kar'niss first, using the tadpole to keep him off his guard. When Kar'niss arrives, he will ask how they have survived:

• The Absolute protected me.
• [BERSERKER] ROAR.
• [BARBARIAN] ROAR.
• [FIGHTER] Takes more than shadows to put someone like me down.
• [MONK] I have tested my mind and body beyond to its absolute limits - I do not fear the darkness.
• [WIZARD] With the aid of my mind and my magic, for I am a master of both.
• [PALADIN] I swore an oath - a powerful one. It will take more than darkness to end me.
• [BARD] You know what they say - a ballad a day, keeps the darkness away!
• [OATHBREAKER] No higher forces protect me - I survived by my own tenacity.
• [DRUID] I am a guardian of nature - and in return nature protects me.
• [RANGER] Navigating dangerous terrain is second nature to me.

He can then be convinced to handover the Moonlantern:

• [DROW] [DECEPTION] The Absolute guided me here. She said a mere drider was not worthy - that I must take your lantern. (DC 10 )
• [BARD] [DECEPTION] Our wondrous Queen dropped me a message - she said you need to give me that lantern. It's very important. (DC 10 )
• [ROGUE] [DECEPTION] You're holding my lantern. The Absolute said you had to give it to me. (DC 10 )
• [DECEPTION] The Absolute guided me to you. She said I was to take yours. (DC 10)

If Kar'niss demands the party follow him, the party member can insist further:

• [BARBARIAN] [INTIMIDATION] No - that lantern is mine, by order of the Absolute. Give it - now. (DC 14 )
• [MONK] [INTIMIDATION] That lantern is mine - by order of the Absolute. Drop it, or I'll shatter your spine as the wind breaks a twig. (DC 14 )
• [WIZARD] [SORCERER] [INTIMIDATION] That lantern is mine - by order of the Absolute. Drop it, or I'll boil your brain inside your skull. (DC 14 )
• [INTIMIDATION] The Absolute has asked me to carry the lantern. Hand it over. (DC 14)

If Kar'niss and his convoy are convinced to leave without the Moonlantern during the ambush in Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse, they can later be encountered as  Shadow-Cursed Undead in Reithwin Town, south of the statue of Ketheric Thorm outside the Sharran Sanctuary and north of the bridge to Moonrise Towers. They are automatically hostile to the party in this form and cannot be interacted with other than by attacking, but Kar'niss will still appear as  Temporarily Hostile if attacked. He will be joined by several Shadows, undead Harpers, undead prisoners, etc. thus making the fight unnecessarily difficult.

If Kar'niss survives the road to Moonrise, he will run up the tower to seek the Absolute's blessing on the rooftop, where he can be encountered one final time as he fights alongside Ketheric when the party storms the tower at the end of Act 2.

Combat

Attacks and abilities

 Multiattack ()

Normal weapon damage + Normal weapon damage + Normal weapon damage Target must be below its maximum hit points.

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5  ft

Recharge: per turn

 Sanctuary ()

You or an ally cannot be targeted until you attack or harm a creature. You can still take damage from area spells.

Until the affected entity attacks or harms another creature, it cannot be targeted by enemy attacks. However, it can still take damage from spells that influence a larger area.

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

 Venom Claws ()

3d6 (3~18) + Strength modifier Piercing

+

2d8 (2~16) Poison

Lash out with venomous claws..

 Melee: 1.5 m / 5  ft

Tactician and Honour Mode

 Spindleweb Sanctuary ()

Protect yourself from attackers in the Absolute's gaze. If you attack or harm another creature, the sanctuary shatters, dealing 3d8Psychic to nearby creatures. Until the affected entity attacks or harms another creature, it cannot be targeted by enemy attacks. However, it can still take damage from spells that influence a larger area.

 Range: Self

Honour Mode

 Fanatic Retaliation

6d10 (6~60) Psychic

Avenge a fallen  Spindleweb Fanatic with a psionic barrage that can  Silence its killer.

INT Save

 Range: 18 m / 60 ft

Allies

• Bedi
• Brawler Vez
• Kansif
• Sharp-Eye Lora
• Warrior Gronag

Notable loot

• Cruel Sting
• Moonlantern

Related quests

•  Follow the Convoy
•  Infiltrate Moonrise Towers
•  Seek Protection from the Shadow Curse

Speak with Dead

Kar'niss can be spoken to with Speak with Dead.

Party member: Who are you?

• Kar'niss: Erased... forgotten... we are... drider...

Party member: What happened to you?

• Kar'niss: Lolth... cast out... Absolute... saved...

Party member: Who killed you?

• Kar'niss: Traitor... heretic...

Party member: Where are you from?

• Kar'niss: Moonrise...

Party member: What were you doing?

• Kar'niss: Shepherding... the faithful... carrying... our Lady's light...

Party member: You walk the shadows safely. How?

• Kar'niss: Lantern... our Lady's light...

Party member: How did you trap that pixie in the lantern?

• Kar'niss: Always... many voices... her... the LOUDEST...

Party member: How did the shadow curse come to be?

• Narrator: *The corpse remains silent. It does not know.*

Gallery

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External links

Kar'niss on the Forgotten Realms Wiki