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=== Escape aboard the nautiloid ===
=== Escape aboard the nautiloid ===
After ten years in the Hells, the sudden appearance of a [[Nautiloid]] presented itself as a chance for escape, and Karlach made good on the opportunity. Cleaving the devils around her, she made her way towards the hurtling ship before running into Wyll, brought to Avernus to hunt her.{{note|It's never made clear when exactly Wyll arrives to Avernus or who really sent him. Though shortly before the events of the Prologue, Wyll couldn't have been hunting Karlach for long, as the time the nautiloid spent there before teleporting away is brief and Karlach's escape was an opportunistic decision. It's possible Zariel sent Wyll after Karlach via Mizora, but as Karlach herself says, she's largely inconsequential in Zariel's grand design. On the other hand, it's possible Mizora took the opportunity to remove Karlach as they both were in Zariel's inner circle and Mizora likely saw her as a rival.}} The two battled briefly, Wyll giving chase as Karlach desperately reached for the ship, until they made it to the nautiloid before being separated during the siege. Captured by the mind flayers as the ship escaped Avernus, Karlach was tadpoled just as all other uninvited guests, and awaited a slow transformation via [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ceremorphosis Ceremorphosis].
After ten years in the Hells, the sudden appearance of a [[Nautiloid]] presented itself as a chance for escape, and Karlach made good on the opportunity. Cleaving the devils around her, she made her way towards the hurtling ship before running into Wyll, brought to Avernus to hunt her.{{note|It's never made clear when exactly Wyll arrives to Avernus or who really sent him. Though shortly before the events of the Prologue, Wyll couldn't have been hunting Karlach for long, as the time the nautiloid spent there before teleporting away is brief and Karlach's escape was an opportunistic decision. It's possible Zariel sent Wyll after Karlach via Mizora, but as Karlach herself says, she's largely inconsequential in Zariel's grand design. On the other hand, it's possible Mizora took the opportunity to remove Karlach as they both were in Zariel's inner circle and Mizora likely saw her as a rival.}} The two battled briefly, Wyll giving chase as Karlach desperately reached for the ship, until they made it to the nautiloid before being separated during the siege. Captured by the mind flayers as the ship escaped Avernus, Karlach was tadpoled just as all other uninvited guests, and awaited a slow transformation via [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Ceremorphosis Ceremorphosis].
== Involvement ==
=== Our Fiery Friend ===
[[File:Karlach Icon.png|right|125px]]
{{Hatnote|See main article: [[Our Fiery Friend]]}}
''Our Fiery Friend'' is Karlach's personal quest. It is added to the journal upon recruiting her and spans all three acts of the game.
==== Act One ====
After the crash of the nautiloid, Karlach can be found at the [[The Risen Road]], near the Toll House occupied by [[Paladin|paladins]] of [[Tyr]]. If {{CharLink|Wyll}} was recruited to the party, his quest, [[The Blade of Frontiers]], will add a map marker that pinpoints Karlach's location, otherwise the party will have a vague idea of where to find her. {CharLink|Anders}}, leader of the paladins, reveals they are hunting a dangerous devil who has been hurting refugees, and that they must bring it to justice.
When found, Karlach explains that she too was on the nautiloid and was infected with a tadpole, but that she's not the monster she seems, and that her current priority is to get rid of the paladins hounding her and spreading lies. At odds with what the paladins, or Wyll, told the party about her, the group can press her further. Karlach explains that she escaped [[Avernus]] and the archdevil [[Zariel]], and that the paladins in the toll-house are nothing more than bloodhounds sent to bring her back to the [[Nine Hells|Hells]]. If Wyll was brought along, he confirms she's indeed his target and attempts to convince the party to aid him in slaying her. Karlach pleads that she's no agent of Zariel but rather her victim, and that she took the first opportunity she had to escape Avernus and return home. The tadpoles infecting the group will react to this, prompting Karlach to share her memories of recents events, seemingly confirming her story. Regardless, the party can decide to side with Wyll, and indirectly with the paladins, and kill Karlach claiming her head, or take her for her word and agree to spare her. Though initially intent on killing her, Wyll can be convinced to spare her after the visions were shared, and he will direct his anger at his patron for deceiving him.
Karlach offers to join the party, and taking her to the paladins leads to a confrontation where Anders eventually drops the act and confirms Karlach's words as true: the paladins are servants of Zariel, and the archdevil wants her favorite attack dog back. After slaying them, a frenzied Karlach rages around the toll-house, setting it ablaze. When talking to her after she cools off, she confesses that she has an infernal engine for a heart that allows her to burn as hot as the Hells, though it's been running overdrive since leaving Avernus. She wants to find someone who has experience with infernal machines, and that she heard one of the paladins let slip that one is in the area. This begins {{Quest|The Hellion's Heart}}.
This infernal mechanic turns out to be {{CharLink|Dammon}}, a tiefling from [[Elturel]] that learned his trade when the city was taken to Avernus by Zariel and was forced to work on infernal engines for her army. Dammon explains that in order to stabilize her heart, the party needs to find some {{SmRarityItem|Infernal Iron}} for him as it's the only material able to withstand the heat of the mechanical heart. When delivered, Dammon upgrades Karlach's heart, stabilizing it while still providing a boost to her abilities. He warns, however, that the solution is not perfect, and that he needs more time to research and prepare a more permanent repair. Should they cross paths again, he promises to have a solution by then.
==== Act Two ====
Should Dammon have survived the events of [[Act 1]], he will be found at [[Last Light Inn]] in the [[Shadow-Cursed Lands]], aiding the [[Harpers]] in their stand against [[Moonrise Towers]]. Karlach can speak to him, and he explains that after further tinkering, he can give her heart another upgrade if the party has some more infernal iron to spare. Dammon will tweak Karlach's heart for a second time, adding an insulation chamber to cool it to the point that she can touch others once more, something poignant for Karlach who hasn't been able to achieve physical contact with others for the last ten years. He also bears unfortunate news: her heart can't keep going outside the Hells. Too hot to exist in the material plane, the heart will burn her from the inside and consume her if she doesn't return to Avernus soon. Karlach dismisses the idea of ever returning to the Hells, content to celebrate her newfound ability to touch others for now.{{note|In the end, despite having access to Dammon, a surplus of infernal metal, Gortash's schematics and the help of the [[Church of Gond|Gondian]] and/or [[Clan Ironhand|Ironhand]] gnomes, there's currently no way of permanently fixing Karlach's mechanical heart.}}
When the party finally confronts {{CharLink|Ketheric Thorm}}, the battle eventually takes them down to the hidden [[Mind Flayer Colony]] beneath Moonrise. There, they spy Thorm consorting with {{CharLink|Enver Gortash}} and {{CharLink|Orin the Red}}, with the latter two leaving for [[Baldur's Gate]] to continue with their plans. After dealing with Ketheric, Karlach confesses that she has history with Gortash, letting out that it was due to him that she was sent to the Hells and had her heart replaced with a mechanical heart. Hell-bent on revenge, Karlach urges the group to hurry to Baldur's Gate and chase after her previous employer.
==== Act Three ====
After reaching the [[Wyrm's Rock Fortress]] outside Baldur's Gate, the party will be notified of Gortash's grand ascension as Archduke of the city taking place soon. When approached, Gortash will briefly interrupt the ceremony in order to parlay with the party, and greets Karlach nonchalantly. Karlach immediately wants to get back at him, and if not stopped, will be seized by [[Steel Watcher|Steel Watchers]] and thrown into the [[Wyrm's Rock Prison|dungeon]]. If convinced to stay cool, the party can listen to Gortash's proposition to an alliance. Karlach will be against it, but can be persuaded to check her hatred for the good of the city.
If the partnership with Gortash is mantained up until the first encounter with the [[Netherbrain]], he will be killed as the party attempts to control the brain. Karlach will let out a celebratory laugh and mock his ignominious end, but the threat of the Elder Brain forces her to focus once more.
Should the party antagonize Gortash, ally with Orin instead or simply wish to help Karlach get revenge, it will have to face the Archduke and his minions. When confronted with Karlach, Gortash will coldly dismiss any of her grievances with him further incensing Karlach, until the quakes caused by the Netherbrain's attempt at freeing itself force Gortash to attack the party for their netherstones in order to subdue it. After the battle, Karlach will come down from the excitement and be visibly upset. Though she finally managed to kill the person who betrayed her and caused her so much pain, she doesn't feel any better: Gortash isn't any more sorry dead than he was alive, and her mechanical heart was still set to combust at any time. Her impending doom and difficulty in coping with a feeling of senselessness will drive her to rage at the circumstances, and she will leave for camp.
Back at camp, some time alone allows Karlach to better come to grips with her situation, and though still very desperate, she's positive and decides to focus on the present and the time she has available instead, poised to save the city she loves.
After the initial confrontation with the Elder Brain, it is made clear that the only path to success is to harness the true power of the netherstones, which only an illithid can do. Though it's possible for the {{CharLink|The Emperor|Emperor}} to do so, the player character or {{CharLink|Orpheus}} can sacrifice themselves and undergo ceremorphosis to become illithid instead. If Karlach is present during the discussion, she will volunteer, arguing that she is on borrowed time either way, and that this way her death would have meaning. If agreed, she transforms into a mind flayer and aids the party in the final battle against the Netherbrain.
=== Endings ===
==== A Blazing End ====
After defeating the Netherbrain, Karlach's infernal engine will finally begin to overheat, signaling her end. With the setting sun on the background, Karlach thanks the player for being there with her, and mourns not being able to join them in the celebrations and further adventures. If her wishes not to return to Avernus are respected, they can stay with her until the engine finally combusts, leaving nothing but ashes where she once stood. At the [[Epilogue]] party Withers reveals that her soul in the Fugue Plane burns so brightly, it pains gods to look upon it.
==== Return to Avernus ====
When Karlach's heart begins to enter its final stages after defeating the Netherbrain, players can attempt to convince Karlach to return to Avernus before it's too late. Though initially against it, she can be persuaded if the player offers to go with her, so that she may not be alone again. Likewise, if Wyll has completed his personal quest and became The Blade of Avernus, he too will offer to go Avernus with her.
Back on the first plane of the Hells, Karlach and company prepare themselves to face the servants of Zariel. No longer alone, Karlach welcomes the challenge and readies her weapon in preparation of advancing imps.
During {{CharLink|Withers|Withers'}} gathering six months after the events of the game, Karlach mentions she and Wyll recently felled a high ranking [[Cambion]] who carried blueprints for what could be a possible solution to Karlach's mechanical heart. Though the forge they intend to raid is likely well-guarded by Zariel's forces, she has an old contact, a guard named Flo, that might be able to help them. Regardless, she expresses joy at being able to see her companions once more, happy to receive the opportunity of a night's rest without the danger of being ambushed by devils. She also comments how after spending months together in the Hells, she and Wyll have grown closer.{{ref|[[Epilogue]], lines spoken by Karlach during Withers' gathering when both she and Wyll ended up in Avernus by the end of the game.<br>''"Wish Wyll and I had more time to reminisce, but surviving Avernus is just non-stop. Still, having him there has been incredible. You really can get through anything with someone you love at your side."''}}{{note|Karlach's quote about Wyll isn't elaborated further, and can be interpreted as platonic or romantic love.}}
==== Life as a Mind Flayer ====
If Karlach sacrificed herself and became illithid in order to defeat the Netherbrain, she will remain at Baldur's Gate, hidden and feeding from the dying patients of a local healer who wish to die with dignity instead of suffering. When spoken to at Withers' gathering, she explains that she still remembers parts of her, even using some of the expressions she once used in her tiefling form, but with every brain she feeds, she gains all the memories from it, slowly erasing her original identity. Still, she expresses gratitude and happiness at seeing many of her former companions, and bids the player a good evening.




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