Free True Soul Nere: Difference between revisions

{{ up to date | 2023-09-12 }} <!-- Date format is YEAR-MONTH-DAY, like 2023-08-07. -->

This quest is on a "timer", tracked by long-rests and/or fast travels. The player receives a warning in the form of a cutscene with [[Nere]] the first time they arrive in camp after entering Grymforge, and can fail if they fast travel or long-rests twice after the quest originally started.   

Free True Soul Nere is initiated the first time the party takes the boat in the [[Decrepit Village]] to Grymforge. During the trip over, a group of duergars on another boat led by [[Corsair Greymon]] questions the party on what they're doing on Coal's boat:

Succeed the check and Corsair stands down, telling the party to speak with the sergeant. If he was pushed into the water a fight will break out (Astorian approves). Once docked, another duergar, [[Morghul]] tries to extort money from the party. Tell her "I’m not giving you a single coin" and she backs off immediately. Follow the path south to come across a cave-in, where a group of enslaved gnomes are being forced to chip away at the rocks (X:-635, Y:311). Speak to Sergeant Thrinn who explains that a [[True Soul]] drow named Nere is trapped by a cave-in.

=== The Cave-In ===

* The cave-in is an interactable object that has 44 [[Hit Points]] and is immune to all types of [[Damage Types|damage]] except for force (vulnerable) and piercing (resistant).  

* It also has the {{SmIconLink|Medium Toughness Condition Icon.webp|Medium Toughness (Condition)|Medium Toughness}} condition - a hit must deal 22 or more damage in order to damage it.

* Due to its vulnerability to force, explosives such as [[Smokepowder Satchel]] or [[Smokepowder Bomb|Bombs]] are the player's best bet. However, sufficient force or piercing damage from player abilities can also work - such as high rolls on a [[Warlock|Warlock's]] [[Eldritch Blast]] combining with the cave-in's force vulnerability.

=== The Mutiny ===     

If the party choose to say nothing or "Finish the slaves, True Soul. For the Absolute," then Nere massacres all the gnomes. If the party tells Nere not to kill innocents, Nere tells Thrinn to rip out their hearts and feed it to the rothe. At this point, if the party made a deal with Brithvar to kill Nere, he interjects and says Nere owes the duergar money and he's going to get it from his corpse. Nere says he's changed his mind - he'll spare the party if the defeat Brithvar and the other mutineers.  

After the battle, Nere says the Absolute's business is unfinished. Select either "And what business is that, exactly?" or "And what business is that, exactly?" He bids the party to tell the General that he did what he could, but that the route through Grymforge is impassable. Select "I'll do it. Where can I find the General?" and Nere explains they must go through the [[Shadow-Cursed Lands]]. He had a Moonlantern that could ward off the shadow curse, but it was destroyed in the cave-in. Ask "If that's the case, how do I reach it safely?" and Nere says there is a guide. Play the [[Spider's Lyre]] he provides, and a guide will appear.

* Your faith in Lolth faltered. It is not too late to reclaim it.

== Related Quests ==

== Quest Rewards ==

* [[Gift from the Absolute]] - If Nere is sided with and remains in the cult.

* {{SmallIcon|Dagger PlusOne Icon.png}} [[Dagger +1]] - If Nere is sided with and abandons the cult.

* {{SmallIcon|Rapier PlusOne Icon.png}} [[Sword of Screams]], {{SmallIcon|Neres Head Icon.png}} [[Nere's Head]], {{SmallIcon|Broken Moonlantern Icon.png}} [[Broken Moonlantern]], {{SmallIcon|Disintegrating Nightwalkers Icon.png}} [[Disintegrating Night Walkers]], {{SmallIcon|Dagger PlusOne Icon.png}} [[Dagger +1]] - Looted from Nere's corpse