Help the Cursed Monk in Baldur’s Gate 3 (Spirit Amulet Quest)

In Grimforge, you can find a unique ornament, which triggers the quest “Help the Spirit of the Amulet” in Baldur’s Gate 3 with very good rewards at the end.

Quest Start

The easiest way to start the quest is to find the amulet itself, which lies near the “Adamantine Forge” in Grimforge. To the left of the forge, there is a small area with bubbling lava, where the game’s only lava elemental roams.

Slip past it using stealth when the creature is far from you, or kill it. Ahead, you will see a rocky island surrounded by lava with a staircase. On a small stone table stands a small adamantine chest. This is what you need to open to get the sentient amulet.

You can also reach the island by jumping from the cliff above. Be sure to use “Misty Step,” “Feather Fall,” or “Fly” to avoid taking damage when descending.

Ways to unlock the adamantine chest and start the quest “Help the Spirit of the Amulet”:

• Pick the lock (difficulty — 25).
• Find the adamantine key — located on a skeleton lying on the platform to the right of the island with the chest.

After you take the amulet from the chest, a cutscene will start in which the character gets an obsessive urge to laugh. To avoid consequences, choose the action:
[Wisdom] Resist the urge. (Difficulty — 10).

But be prepared for the following:

• If you fail the check, you will start laughing uncontrollably and may become the victim of a curse. For each use of the amulet’s abilities, the hero will receive a penalty of up to -2 Wisdom.
• With a successful religion and perception check, you will learn that the imprisoned spirit worships Lathander.
• Shadowheart will advise to throw away the cursed ornament.

Regardless of your actions, the spirit of the cursed monk will appear to talk. It turns out he doesn’t want to harm anyone; on the contrary, he needs help.

In the end, we will get the amulet at our disposal, which gives not only useful spells and class abilities but also the ability to chat with it:

How to Help

The spirit will ask you to take the amulet to his granddaughter Shirra Clarwen, who lives in the Temple of the Open Hand at Dragon’s Crossroad. You can only reach the location in Act 3.

From the “Rivington” portal, head north. The Temple of the Open Hand is adjacent to the Last Days Circus:

After talking with Sister Janis, you will learn that Shirra died a year ago and is buried in a crypt under the temple. In the kitchen, you will find a hatch with a blood trail, which you need to descend. Incidentally, in this basement, you can also find one of the clown parts for one of the quests.

Below, behind one of the double doors, is the crypt where Shirra is buried. To help the cursed monk, first inspect the plaques on the sarcophagi to identify the right one. The correct choice is the upper left.

Wear the amulet and open Shirra’s sarcophagus. After this, the spirit will automatically appear at the final resting place of the granddaughter and possess her corpse. Since for understandable reasons Shirra can’t take on the curse now, the monk offers our candidacy.

Accepting the Curse or Not

Accept the Curse

To help the amulet’s spirit, you need to accept its curse, and for that, choose the option in dialogue with the monk: “If it will bring you peace, I will take on the madness.” After this, you will have to pass two checks. Failing each roll will permanently reduce your Wisdom by -1.

Successfully passing both checks completely removes these negative effects.

You will have several options:

• [Wisdom] Gather your thoughts and protect the most vulnerable parts of your mind. (Difficulty — 15).
• [Endurance] Gather your strength and direct your senses elsewhere. (Difficulty — 15).
• [Illithid] [Wisdom] Summon the parasite to absorb the blow. (Difficulty — 2).

You can alternate checks in any order until the cursed monk is freed from the curse.

Upon success, as a reward you will receive:

• Permanent spell “Tasha’s Hideous Laughter” — causes the target to laugh, making them fall prone.
• Sentient amulet (without abilities) — sell it for extra gold.

Refuse

To refuse, choose the option: “Oh gods, no. I don’t want to catch your curse.”

If you refuse, you will fight four corpses, one of them being the spirit in Shirra’s body.

After defeating the zombies, the monk’s spirit will say he is now cursed forever. He will then disappear, and the quest “Help the Spirit of the Amulet” will conclude.

Reward:

Sentient amulet (very rare) — grants the spell “Shatter” and “Ki Restoration” (Monk only).