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** The interrogated Gith could have been from before the heist was even attempted. There's a book somewhere where Gortash plans to steal the Astral Prism from the Githyanki by sending a nautiloid piloted by the Emperor. We know that the Emperor took the opportunity to flee into the Prism, but other than that, the outcome isn't entirely clear. Vicona says that the Sharran way is to let two sides fight while they get what they want in the confusion, so it's possible that the Absolute did steal the Prism from the Githyanki, but didn't have it for very long before the Sharrans stole it from them. You may be right, and the Absolute didn't know about the Sharran mission to steal the Prism beforehand, but they at least know ''someone'' stole it from them.
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** The interrogated Gith could have been from before the heist was even attempted. There's a book somewhere where Gortash plans to steal the Astral Prism from the Githyanki by sending a nautiloid piloted by the Emperor. We know that the Emperor took the opportunity to flee into the Prism, but other than that, the outcome isn't entirely clear. Vicona Viconia says that the Sharran way is to let two sides fight while they get what they want in the confusion, so it's possible that the Absolute did steal the Prism from the Githyanki, but didn't have it for very long before the Sharrans stole it from them. You may be right, and the Absolute didn't know about the Sharran mission to steal the Prism beforehand, but they at least know ''someone'' stole it from them.
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** The fact that their "birth", for want of a better term, had complications could be what kept them from connecting to the mind flayer hive mind. (One slate near where you first meet Us talks about "An anomaly. One like ourselves, unconnected from the whole.") So instead of being loyal to the Elder Brain, Us imprinted on you (and possibly your tadpole, since Lae'zel claims that they'll remain tame as long as they think you're a thrall) after you rescued them.
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* True Resurrection doesn't even need a corpse to be able to restore someone to life, let alone a full corpse; anything missing is regenerated in the process. So once we get a Scroll of True Resurrection from Gale's Resurrection Protocol (which you don't need to revive Gale; a normal Revivify Scroll or talking to Withers works just as well), what's stopping us from having Karlach remove her infernal engine, and then using that Scroll to revive her with a new heart?
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*** Wasn't the Astral Prism stolen from the Githyanki, not from the Cult? I don't think anything in the game suggests the Cult ever had it in its possession, and in the Sharran temple you can find a dead Githyanki who was tortured and interrogated to reveal the location of the Prism, after which Shadowheart's team was sent to steal it. If the Cult had already stolen the Prism from Vlaakith before that, why would some random Githyanki know its location? It remains unclear how the Cult found out about Shadowheart's mission to steal the Prism. Maybe the tadpoled some high-standing Sharran who knew about the mission, even though there doesn't seem to be any evidence for that in the game?
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** The interrogated Gith could have been from before the heist was even attempted. There's a book somewhere where Gortash plans to steal the Astral Prism from the Githyanki by sending a nautiloid piloted by the Emperor. We know that the Emperor took the opportunity to flee into the Prism, but other than that, the outcome isn't entirely clear. Vicona says that the Sharran way is to let two sides fight while they get what they want in the confusion, so it's possible that the Absolute did steal the Prism from the Githyanki, but didn't have it for very long before the Sharrans stole it from them. You may be right, and the Absolute didn't know about the Sharran mission to steal the Prism beforehand, but they at least know ''someone'' stole it from them.
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*** Wasn't the Astral Prism stolen from the Githyanki, not from the Cult? I don't think anything in the game suggests the Cult ever had it in its possession, and in the Sharran temple you can find a dead Githyanki who was tortured and interrogated to reveal the location of the Prism, after which Shadowheart's team was sent to steal it. If the Cult had already stolen the Prism from Vlaakith before that, why would some random Githyanki know its location? It remains unclear how the Cult found out about Shadowheart's mission to steal the Prism. Maybe the tadpoled some high-standing Sharran who knew about the mission, even though there doesn't seem to be any evidence for that in the game?
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** To answer your questions in order:
*** The illithids didn't have time to search all the recent captives one by one, with the Githyanki raid and the side trip in Avernus. The nautiloid tentacles instantly teleport victims straight into the pods; they didn't have a chance to frisk her beforehand.
*** While the Absolute would rather remain relatively secret, this was a ''desperate'' gamble; their artifact was stolen by Sharrans, who are infamous for their skill in subterfuge. They also probably don't know what Shadowheart or her cohort look like, especially since she has Disguise Self, so they [[CuttingTheKnot cut the knot]] by kidnapping everyone in sight. Letting the nautiloid attack the distant city of Yartar might risk suspicion, but letting the Astral Prism slip would destroy their entire plan.
*** I was thinking that the nautiloid didn't ''stop'' to capture people in Baldur's Gate at night; it was just that the nautiloid they sent still happened to be full of people from Baldur's Gate (as well as Lae'zel's team). The nautiloid attacked Baldur's Gate at night, hung around on standby in a secret location for a few hours, then got sent to Yartar (the city in the prologue) during the daytime.
*** The illithids didn't have time to search all the recent captives one by one, with the Githyanki raid and the side trip in Avernus. The nautiloid tentacles instantly teleport victims straight into the pods; they didn't have a chance to frisk her beforehand.
*** While the Absolute would rather remain relatively secret, this was a ''desperate'' gamble; their artifact was stolen by Sharrans, who are infamous for their skill in subterfuge. They also probably don't know what Shadowheart or her cohort look like, especially since she has Disguise Self, so they [[CuttingTheKnot cut the knot]] by kidnapping everyone in sight. Letting the nautiloid attack the distant city of Yartar might risk suspicion, but letting the Astral Prism slip would destroy their entire plan.
*** I was thinking that the nautiloid didn't ''stop'' to capture people in Baldur's Gate at night; it was just that the nautiloid they sent still happened to be full of people from Baldur's Gate (as well as Lae'zel's team). The nautiloid attacked Baldur's Gate at night, hung around on standby in a secret location for a few hours, then got sent to Yartar (the city in the prologue) during the daytime.
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** If the nautiloid was specifically after the Astral Prism, why didn't they take it away from her as soon as they caught Shadowheart? Instead they put her in the Illithid tank with the Prism and all. Also, the leaders of the Cult seem to prefer secrecy; all the other times people have been kidnapped and infected with their tadpoles, it's been done without anyone else knowing, so that the truth behind the Cult remains a secret until they're ready to start their war. It remains unclear why in this case they would send the huge, extremely noticeable nautiloid to capture people indisriminately. If the mission was to catch Shadowheart, there doesn't seem to be any reason to kidnap some random Baldur's Gate citizens while on the way?
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** If the nautiloid was specifically after the Astral Prism, why didn't they take it away from her as soon as they caught Shadowheart? Instead they put her in the Illithid tank with the Prism and all. Also, the leaders of the Cult seem to prefer secrecy; all the other times people have been kidnapped and infected with their tadpoles, it's been done without anyone else knowing, so that the truth behind the Cult remains a secret until they're ready to start their war. It remains unclear why in this case they would send the huge, extremely noticeable nautiloid to capture people indisriminately.indiscriminately. If the mission was to catch Shadowheart, there doesn't seem to be any reason to kidnap some random Baldur's Gate citizens while on the way?
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** If the nautiloid was specifically after the Astral Prism, why didn't they take it away from her as soon as they caught Shadowheart? Instead they put her in the Illithid tank with the Prism and all. Also, the leaders of the Cult seem to prefer secrecy; all the other times people have been kidnapped and infected with their tadpoles, it's been done without anyone else knowing, so that the truth behind the Cult remains a secret until they're ready to act. It remains unclear why in this case they would send the huge, extremely noticeable nautiloid to capture people indisriminately. If the mission was to catch Shadowheart, there doesn't seem to be any reason to kidnap some random Baldur's Gate citizens while on the way?
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** If the nautiloid was specifically after the Astral Prism, why didn't they take it away from her as soon as they caught Shadowheart? Instead they put her in the Illithid tank with the Prism and all. Also, the leaders of the Cult seem to prefer secrecy; all the other times people have been kidnapped and infected with their tadpoles, it's been done without anyone else knowing, so that the truth behind the Cult remains a secret until they're ready to act.start their war. It remains unclear why in this case they would send the huge, extremely noticeable nautiloid to capture people indisriminately. If the mission was to catch Shadowheart, there doesn't seem to be any reason to kidnap some random Baldur's Gate citizens while on the way?
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** If the nautiloid was specifically after the Astral Prism, why didn't they take it away from her as soon as they caught Shadowheart? Instead they put her in the Illithid tank with the Prism and all.
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** If the nautiloid was specifically after the Astral Prism, why didn't they take it away from her as soon as they caught Shadowheart? Instead they put her in the Illithid tank with the Prism and all. Also, the leaders of the Cult seem to prefer secrecy; all the other times people have been kidnapped and infected with their tadpoles, it's been done without anyone else knowing, so that the truth behind the Cult remains a secret until they're ready to act. It remains unclear why in this case they would send the huge, extremely noticeable nautiloid to capture people indisriminately. If the mission was to catch Shadowheart, there doesn't seem to be any reason to kidnap some random Baldur's Gate citizens while on the way?
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** If the nautiloid was specifically after the Astral Prism, why didn't they take it away from her as soon as they caught Shadowheart? Instead they put her in the Illithid tank with the Prism and all.
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** I have a theory about this! I think that prologue was the Nautiloid's desperate attempt to retrieve the Astral Prism by abducting everyone in sight. It was looking specifically for Shadowheart. While everyone else was mostly abducted by coincidence, I think it all happened something like:
*** Lae'zel and her team attacked the nautiloid or an illithid outpost in the Astral Plane, but were defeated and captured.
*** Astarion could only have been in Baldur's Gate at night, and we know from Jaheira's Harper notes that a nautiloid was floating in the city abducting people and then returning them. It ''might'' be possible that he was deliberately captured to sabotage Cazador's ritual, but only if the Absolute knows about the ritual in the first place.
*** Shadowheart stole the Astral Prism, and then the Absolute sent the closest available nautiloid to abduct her, which happened to be the one still holding Lae'zel and Astarion.
*** Gale was traveling to find the most remote place on the planet to explode, and he got caught in the nautiloid's indiscriminate raid.
*** Karlach and Wyll say they jumped onto the ship when it was in Avernus.
*** Lae'zel and her team attacked the nautiloid or an illithid outpost in the Astral Plane, but were defeated and captured.
*** Astarion could only have been in Baldur's Gate at night, and we know from Jaheira's Harper notes that a nautiloid was floating in the city abducting people and then returning them. It ''might'' be possible that he was deliberately captured to sabotage Cazador's ritual, but only if the Absolute knows about the ritual in the first place.
*** Shadowheart stole the Astral Prism, and then the Absolute sent the closest available nautiloid to abduct her, which happened to be the one still holding Lae'zel and Astarion.
*** Gale was traveling to find the most remote place on the planet to explode, and he got caught in the nautiloid's indiscriminate raid.
*** Karlach and Wyll say they jumped onto the ship when it was in Avernus.
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* What exactly was the mission of the nautiloid in the game's prologue, the one that captured all the protagonists? At first it may seem like the Illithids had launched some kind of counteroffensive against the Cult of the Absolute, since nautiloid captured people with important connections to the Cult, such as the person carrying the Astral Prism, the son of Duke Ravengard, the former bodyguard of Lord Gortash, etc. But we never learn whether the nautiloid had any such mission, nor do we even find out whether the other Elder Brains consider the Absolute to be an enemy or an ally. So was the nautiloid just randomly kidnapping people to be turned into Illithids, and it just happened to capture all these people with connections to the Cult and/or its enemies?
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** That makes sense, but why did he name the hammer the Orphic Hammer then? First of all, the fact that Orpheus was alive and imprisoned with infernal chains was supposed to be a big secret, so how did Raphael find out about it? And even if he knew the secret, freeing Orpheus wouldn't have been of any interest to him until very recently, when he realised he could trade the hammer for the Crown of Karsus. So Raphael wouldn't have any reason to name the hammer after Orpheus if it was made ages ago. Did he originally name the hammer something else, and then rename it when the Crown and Cult of the Absolute appeared on the scene? Was the aforementioned book also written just a few weeks ago?
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** Because it's faster to swing a weapon (or hit someone with your bare hands) twice than cast a spell twice.
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* Why do only the warrior classes (fighter, barbarian, monk, ranger) get Extra Attack?
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** There is a book in the House of Hope that explains the history of the Orphic Hammer and why it was made. Namely it was an insurance policy to enable Raphael to break any chain forged by infernal hands. The book mentions he could, if needed, use it to free prisoners in the City of Dis, break open the vault of Nargus, or even free the child of Gith. Basically he made it probably long ago to be CrazyPrepared in case he needed it.
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** But Raphael's goal with Hope is not to imprison her forever, he wants to break her with torture so that she will willingly join her. So if Raphael ultimately wants Hope to join her like her sister did, why would he put her in chains even he can't unlock?
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*** Okay, but stupidity doesn't necessarily make you harmless. Just look at Minsc. Someone like Volo ''should'' be able to shove entire crowds of people aside with a thought.
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** Why should he? It's not like every wizard '''has''' to learn and prepare battle spells. According to the [[https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Volothamp_Geddarm Forgotten Realms wiki]], around this time Volo had "prepared only ''comprehend languages'', ''detect magic'', ''disguise self'', ''friends'', ''mending'', and ''prestidigitation''", none of which can shove crowds around. He seems to be way more interested in travelling the world and gathering material for his books than in fighting. Also, based on the first encounter with him, Volo apparently thinks he can talk himself out of any situation: he is intent on going to the goblins' camp to ask them questions, and if the player character warns him that it might get dangerous, he says his knowledge of the goblin language should be enough to get him through.
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** He could have meant strong ''mentally'', rather than physically; Lae'zel's been dreading becoming a mindflayer, the thing her people hate the most, this entire time. Even if she did volunteer, there's no guarantee that her psyche would survive the transformation, and her breaking like that could jeopardize the whole mission.
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** After Mizora transforms Wyll for sparing Karlach, she says that there are some magics that even she can't undo. The magic behind the chains could be in the same category.
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** Githyanki have plenty of innate psionic abilities. The ones fought in the Astral Plane - and Orpheus - are Four Elements Monks, where Lae'zel starts out as a Fighter.
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* Why is every githyanki who isn't Lae'zel some kind of wizard?
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*** Okay, but stupidity doesn't necessarily make you harmless. Just look at Minsc.
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*** Okay, but stupidity doesn't necessarily make you harmless. Just look at Minsc.
Minsc. Someone like Volo ''should'' be able to shove entire crowds of people aside with a thought.
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*** Okay, but stupidity doesn't necessarily make you harmless. Just look at Minsc.
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** And even outside the 'joke character' justification: when you meet him, he's trying to talk to a bear, apparently under the impression it's a wild-shaped druid. He then asks about the pack of goblins before disregarding everything you say, thinks he can just waltz into a goblin camp to document their behavior and then, in probably his most defining moment, he tries to remove an illithid tadpole with an ice pick and botches it so badly he takes out your eye. And you're surprised that THIS man is easily incapacitated?
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** Because he's a joke character, and the joke is that he's totally incompetent despite his claims otherwise.
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* How is Volo, a wizard, so easily incapacitated?
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** Why would he need to commission a special hammer to break the chains he himself made? Surely he could just undo/unlock the chains if he wanted to?
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** But Mephistopheles is also described as a power-hungry devil who's always plotting to become the supreme ruler of the Nine Hells. So why didn't he try to use the Crown for that purpose, like his son does in the bad ending?
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** Some of Korilla's dialog imply that Raphael is being a bit of a {{Yandere}}; it's not said outright, but she says that he tried to win over Hope but she kept rejecting him, and eventually he just got fed up and trapped her.
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** The name might poke a hole in this (unless he recently changed it to make it applicable to the protagonists' mission), but it's possible it wasn't initially for Orpheus, but for ''Hope'', who he was hoping would eventually break and submit to him. He might have had it made to have a way to break her out once that day came.
