Unlock the Ancient Tome

"Ancient tome" redirects here. For the quest to destroy the tome, see Destroy the Ancient Tome.

The Necromancy of Thay is opened...

Unlock the Ancient Tome is a sub-quest of ⁠Search the Cellar in Act One of Baldur's Gate 3. It is initiated upon finding the book  Necromancy of Thay in the Blighted Village.

Objectives

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

Unlock the book.

• "This book is locked tight, and the mechanism isn't shaped for a key. Maybe some kind of stone would work?"
• "The owner of the tome mentioned a keygem. Could this be the secret to unlocking The Necromancy of Thay?"
• "The necromancer's apprentice mentioned a keygem lost in the tunnels. We need to find it."
• "We found the gem to unlock the book."

Read the book.

• "We've unlocked the book of necromancy. Should we read it?"
• "The tome is clearly powerful, but we'll need to read further to uncover all of its secrets."

Find a way to finish The Necromancy of Thay.

• "We managed to read most of the book, absorbing some of it's necromatic power, but it snapped shut before we could finish. There must be a way to read the end."
• "We made it to the final page of the tome, but it's indecipherable. We need to find a way to read it."
• "Mystic Carrion and his spirits told us that we need the Tharchiate Codex to unlock the true power of The Necromancy of Thay."

Find the Tharchiate Codex in Sorcerous Sundries.

• "Mystic Carrion and his spirits told us that we need the Tharchiate Codex to unlock the true power of The Necromancy of Thay. We can find it in the Sorcerous Sundries."
• "We spoke to Tolna, the bookseller in Sorcerous Sundries. She said that rare books, such as the Tharchiate Codex, are not for sale. Instead, they are kept in a secure vault."

Enter the vault.

• "The entrance to the vault, where we can find the Tharchaite Codex, is in Tolna's office."

Find the Tharchiate Codex.

• "We've accessed the vault, and the lower level of Sorcerous Sundries. Now to find the Tharchiate Codex."

Read the Tharchiate Codex.

• "We have the Tharchiate Codex. To decipher The Necromancy of Thay, we need to first read the codex."

Master The Necromancy of Thay.

• "We read the Tharchiate Codex, and now have the knowledge to finish The Necromancy of Thay"

Quest Completed!

• "We deciphered the final page of The Necromancy of Thay. The power to summon powerful Thayan undead is ours."

Walkthrough

Unlocking the book

The apprentice's pack holds the key to the Amethyst's location.

The  Necromancy of Thay can be obtained during Search the Cellar within the apothecary's secret laboratory past the ornate mirror. Removing the book from its trapped room starts a quest to either unlock the Necromancy of Thay's secrets or destroy it forever. Retrieving the tome from the apothecary's cellar is only one part of unlocking it - it also requires a key to open.

The Amethyst is under the spider's lair.

There are two ways to find the  Dark Amethyst needed to unlock the book.

One is to enter the blacksmith's basement north of the Blighted Village waypoint (this is also the same basement where ⁠Finish the Masterwork Weapon is completed). One of the northern walls is cracked and can be destroyed with force damage, which leads to the Whispering Depths.

The other way is to investigate the well X: 23 Y: 400 north of the waypoint. Choose "[INVESTIGATION] Peer into the well" and then climb the bucket rope ladder down into the well to arrive at the cave. Inside the cave is an Apprentice's Pack X: -494 Y: -364 which has more information on the stone's whereabouts. The Dark Amethyst is deeper in the cave, in the western area at X: -563 Y: -353, below the  Spider Matriarch's webs. Either sneak past the horde of spiders, or defeat them all. Defeating the matriarch grants the  Poisoner's Robe.

Reading the book

With both the Dark Amethyst and the Necromancy of Thay in the party's inventory, interacting with the Necromancy of Thay starts a dialogue with the interacting party member inspecting the tome. Selecting Place the amethyst in the slot on the book's cover unlocks it.

Once unlocked, there are several options for the book:

• Open and read it
• Give it to  Astarion or  Gale
• Drop it and proceed with ⁠Destroy the Ancient Tome

If opened and read, the reading party member must pass three Wisdom saving throws to avoid being cursed. See the  Necromancy of Thay for full details on this interaction. Turning at least one page of the book grants the reader the  Speak with Dead spell and the  Forbidden Knowledge buff. Once all three saving throws are passed, the book snaps shut. Choosing to give the book to Astarion grants approval points from him and a special cutscene at camp.

Reading the book also grants the ⁠Secrets of the Necromancer inspiration to party members with the  Sage background.

Fully unlocking the book's secrets

To fully unlock the secrets of the Necromancy of Thay, the party must obtain and read the  Tharchiate Codex.

There are several hints about the Necromancy of Thay and the Tharchiate Codex which can be found throughout Act Two and Act Three:

• A book on necromantic tomes on the rooftop of Moonrise Towers also makes reference to the Tharchiate Codex.
•  Mystic Carrion in the Lower City of Baldur's Gate can be paid to reveal that the Sorcerous Sundries holds the Codex in its Sorcerous Vault.
•  Gale and  Tolna Tome-Monger will also reveal that Sorcerous Sundries holds the Codex in the Sorcerous Vault.

The Tharchiate Codex is in the Elminster section of the Vault, which can be unlocked by opening doors in this order: Silverhand -> Evocation -> Wish. If the Necromancy of Thay was given to Astarion or Gale, they must be the controlled character and also hold The Tharchiate Codex in order to fully comprehend the text and unlock its secrets.

Reading The Tharchiate Codex curses the reading party member with Tharchiate Withering (see the Codex's page for full details). If reading the Necromancy of Thay once more, the reading party member receives  Danse Macabre which completes the quest. Passing the last  DC 20 Wisdom Saving Throw is not required, however not doing so will curse the reading party member with  Baleful Knowledge.

Lastly, fully unlocking the book grants the ⁠All Knowledge Is Worth Having inspiration to party members with the  Sage background.

Rewards

•  Danse Macabre
•  Speak with Dead
•  Forbidden Knowledge
• ⁠Secrets of the Necromancer ( Sage backgrounds) - reading the book for the first time
• ⁠All Knowledge Is Worth Having ( Sage backgrounds) - finish reading the book

Companion approval

• Open the Necromancy of Thay book for the first time.  -5  -1  -1
• Drop the tome, ready to destroy it  -5  -5  +1  +1  +1  +1
• Give the book to Astarion  -5  +5

Notes

• Gale can technically consume the Necromancy of Thay, which destroys it without granting any of its benefits or knowledge. He can also read it like normal.
• A character can both obtain the  Forbidden Knowledge passive and destroy the Necromancy of Thay. This method does not permit a second character to obtain the passive. The method to do so depends on which type of character intends to receive the passive:
  • Origin characters:
    • Initiate dialogue with the book and proceed until given the option "Open the book."
    • Swap to another character and move the book to their inventory.
    • Place the book in a container on the ground.
    • Return to the origin character, open the book, and proceed as normal.
    • Destroy the container and then the book without picking it up. Be warned, on uneven terrain, this can lead to the book falling through the ground and becoming inaccessible.
  • Companions:
    • Initiate dialogue with the book and proceed until given the option "Open the book."
    • Swap to another character and move the book to the camp chest.
    • Return to the companion in dialogue, open the book, and proceed as normal.
    • Dismiss the companion from the party.
    • Retrieve the book from the camp chest and destroy it.