Punish the Wicked

He Who Was and his Raven

Punish the Wicked is a quest in Act Two of Baldur's Gate 3. It can be started by speaking with He Who Was in the Ruined Battlefield.

Objectives

Objectives and journal entries may vary pending player decisions and outcomes.

Find the ledger.

• He Who Was wants to bring justice to the victims of a murderer - to do so, he needs a ledger belonging to the killer. It is hidden in The Waning Moon.

Give the ledger to He Who Was.

• We found the ledger. We should give it to He Who Was.

Quest Complete

• We gave the ledger to He Who Was and punished the killer for her crimes. He was pleased.
• We refused to give the ledger to He Who Was, and do not know what became of him.
• He Who Was is no more.
• He Who Was wanted Madeline punished - we forgave her instead. He was furious.
• We forced He Who Was to stab himself over and over again during the ritual. He was furious.
• We left the shadowlands and may never know what became of He Who Was.

Walkthrough

A loose plank holds the ledger.

He Who Was (X:126, Y:105) can be found in the Ruined Battlefield east of the Last Light Inn. He has a ritual circle set up and is using Speak with Dead on a corpse. He Who Was initially tells the party to clear off, but his white raven suggests they might be able to help. He explains that the woman is Madeline and she is a murderer. She worked at The Waning Moon and kept logs on all her patrons, betraying their secrets. He asks the party to find Madeline's Ledger at the tavern and bring it back.

He Who Was

The Waning Moon is in Reithwin Town, east of the Tollhouse and west of the Road to Baldur's Gate Waypoint. When the party enters, a cutscene is initiated with the bartender, Thisobald Thorm. The party must either fight the bartender, or pass several checks. There are three Constitution or Sleight of Hand checks, and three Performance checks.

The ledger is behind the bar, under a loose plank (X:-223, Y:-78) that is detected with a Perception check. Open it and take the ledger, then return to the Ruined Battlefield to speak with He Who Was.

If the party gives the ledger over to He Who Was, he is able to channel the spirit of Madeline in his body. The party can ask Madeline about the details of what happened. She claims that he logged her two friends saying things drunkenly insulting the Thorms. The Dark Justiciar told her that they wouldn't be killed and she'd just have a chat with them. Instead, she gave them knives and told them to keep stabbing until she said to stop - but she never said to stop. Madeline regrets it deeply. The party can either tell her to stab herself like what happened to her friends (DC 14), call her a coward (DC 10), or tell her she is forgiven for her crimes (DC 10).

If Madeline is made to stab herself once, or is shamed as a coward, He Who Was is satisfied. If you attempt to forgive her, or make her stab herself a second time, he becomes enraged and attacks the party. Each stabbing inflicts 5 damage which persists into combat.

Companion Approval

• When first speaking to He Who Was:

• Tell him "I doubt you're here out of the goodness of your heart."

 +1  +1

• Agree to help him, without specifying that you want to be paid.

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• When judging Madeline:

• ( DC 14 Persuasion check) Tell her to stab herself.

 -1  +1  +1  -1  -1  +1  +1  -1

• Tell her to "start stabbing, and don't stop until I say so," or to "prove you're sorry. Do it for Ben and Marc."

 -1  +2  +1  -1  -1  +1  +1  -1

• Tell her to stop.

 +1  -2  -1  +1  +1  -1  -1  +1

• ( DC 10 Persuasion check) Call her a coward.

 +1  -1  -1  +1  +1  -1  -1  +1

• ( DC 10 Persuasion check) Forgive her.

 +1  -1  -1  +1  +1  -1  -1  +1

Quest Reward

• Raven Gloves - If Madeline is stabbed or called a coward
• Loot from He Who Was' body - If Madeline is forgiven

External Links

• He Who Was belongs to a Shadowfell subset of elf known as the Shadar-kai