10 Hidden Baldur’s Gate 3 Letters That Add More Context To The Story

Baldur’s Gate 3 likes to hide content in the nooks and crannies of its levels, leaving plenty of small details left unnoticed by Tav and their companions. Not even exploring every location is enough to reveal the wealth of secrets hidden in Faerûn. Since there are so many letters, books, and notes scattered throughout all three acts, it’s easy to miss rare hidden letters that add more context to the story.

[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3.]

There’s an overwhelming amount of items that can be read in BG3, from letters and notes to books and journals. And since a lot of these items tend to contain information that’s not necessarily useful for quests or giving additional background for main characters, it’s easy to stop reading them or start skimming through the text. However, that results in Tav and their group missing out on context, which adds more depth to the story of certain characters, or the narrative as a whole.

10

The Epilogue Letter From Alfira To The Dark Urge

Alfira’s Farewell: A Letter to the Dark Urge

This letter wasn’t available when BG3 came out of Early Access, so a Dark Urge that hasn’t gone through to the end of the game since the epilogue and its chest of letters has been added wouldn’t have seen it. The requirements for this letter to appear in the chest at all also means that the party needs to plan ahead in order to see it. Specifically, the Dark Urge needs to save Alfira instead of killing her in Act 1.

To do this, the Dark Urge has to knock out Alfira in the Grove before she arrives at the party’s campsite. Then, in her letter, she mentions that she saw the murderous intent in the Dark Urge’s eyes when they first met and that she heard what they overcame. She thanks the Dark Urge for sparing her life, and she promises to make the most of their mercy.

9

The Epilogue Letter From Auntie Ethel After Working With Her

Auntie Ethel’s Appraisal: Working with the Protagonist

Like Alfira’s letter mentioned above, it’s possible to receive a letter from Auntie Ethel in the epilogue. However, this letter isn’t unique to the Dark Urge. It simply depends on the choices Tav makes throughout the game regarding Auntie Ethel, such as letting her continue doing hag business instead of fighting her in Act 1 and later helping her in Act 3 by killing the mother of the child she’s turning into a new hag.

Because the choices required to receive this letter are rather unpopular options, it’s rare to find it in the chest during the epilogue. While this route leads to Auntie Ethel helping the party during the final battle as part of the “Gather Your Allies” quest, it requires the party to give up their chance to grab the legendary BG3 weapon, Duellist’s Prerogative. As for the letter’s content, it reveals that Auntie Ethel greatly regrets not getting closer to Tav in an intimate sense.

8

The Dark Urge’s Letter Concerning Orin The Red

The Dark Urge’s Missive: Orin the Red’s Fate

This letter is found in the bedroom at the back of Bhaal’s temple, which Orin uses after ambushing her sibling Bhaalspawn and taking their place as Bhaal’s Chosen. It was written by the Dark Urge before they were attacked by Orin and ended up losing their memories. Its contents, true to the item’s name, are about the Dark Urge’s concern regarding Orin’s style of killing, specifically about her tendency to be overly dramatic by arranging the bodies and murders into what she considers to be beautiful.

The context added to the relationship between the Dark Urge and Orin through this letter is interesting because it seems that the Dark Urge saw Orin as a sibling in need of guidance. Meanwhile, Orin saw the Dark Urge as an obstacle and somebody who was occupying the position that she believed rightfully belonged to her. In the end, it looks like the relationships between Bhaalspawn are more complex than one would expect when it comes to children of the God of Murder.

7

Raphael Kept Tabs On The Nautiloid Adventurers

Tracking the Nautiloid’s Passengers

In the House of Hope in Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s possible to learn a lot about Raphael. Perhaps even too much about him depending on the choices the party makes while they’re exploring the area. In the Archives, there’s a note posted on a board written by Korilla as she reports to Raphael about the movements of Tav and their party.

The note itself isn’t elaborate. Korilla simply includes a map marked with the places that the party visited, then says that they’ve killed Ketheric and are headed Raphael’s way. It’s not surprising that Raphael has been tracking the party given how many times he pops up in front of them, but it’s interesting that he seems to have been paying attention to the Nautiloids even before the one with the party on board crashed.

6

Kressa’s Notes Detail The Dark Urge’s Willpower

Gauging the Dark Urge’s Control

When playing as the Dark Urge, Kressa in the Mind Flayer Colony at the end of Act 2 has a lot of interesting information to give the party about the Dark Urge and their life before they ended up on the Nautiloid. She seems to have a lot of fond memories of the Dark Urge, and the notes and journals that the party can find in the barracks near her locations reinforce this. The Dark Urge is often referred to as her pet, and she expresses disappointment that more subjects didn’t have the same level of willpower or docile behavior.

Once the Dark Urge is out of Kressa’s reach, she notes that she wants to find another pet like them. However, she wants to keep them a secret from Balthazar so that she doesn’t have to give them up again. So, while Orin was the one who initiated the attack, it seems like Kressa and Balthazar controlled the Dark Urge’s life after that point until the Nautiloid crashed.

5

Shadowheart’s Hastily Written Note From Her Childhood

A Glimpse from a Child’s Scribbles

By the time the party reaches Act 3, they have a decent idea about what happened to Shadowheart as a child if they convinced her to save the Nightsong instead of killing her. So, when exploring the Cloister of Sombre Embrace beneath the House of Grief, there are plenty of books and notes that add context to why Shadowheart was taken by the Sharrans. One note was even written by her as a child.

Tucked away in a cave section that’s out of the way when the party explores the Cloister of Sombre Embrace is a note that Shadowheart wrote to herself as a child in a desperate attempt to keep her memories. Not only was she aware of what the Mirror of Loss was taking from her, she was terrified of losing herself. While the note didn’t help her keep her memories, it shows how scared she must have been in the beginning months she spent with the Sharrans.

4

Gortash Detailed His Plan In Writing

Gortash’s Scheme Exposed

Gortash’s office is, of course, home to important documents for his plans. And one note located on the long table he hovers around details the next steps for his plan to rule over Baldur’s Gate. It also mentions how he plans to deal with the fact that he simply doesn’t have enough tadpoles to infect the entire population of the city.

Considering the scale of the city and how many people live there, along with refugees arriving from Elturel, it’s not surprising that Gortash mentions that it’s simply not feasible to infect the entire population. To handle this, he instead plans on infecting people who control municipal functions in the city. And after that, he’ll target other key figures until all the city’s power centers listen to him.

3

Learning The Dark Origins Of The Zhentarim

Secrets from the Past

There’s a book called On the Origins of the Zhentarim that the party has a chance of coming across in three different locations: the Secluded Chamber, Arfur’s Mansion, and in Baldur’s Mouth. While interactions with the Zhentarim in-game are fairly harmless, their image has changed a lot over the years. They weren’t always a slightly unsavory mercenary group. Instead, they started as a cult that followed one of the Dark Three.

The Zhentarim started as a cult that worshiped Bane, the God of Tyranny, and not as a group of mercenaries at all. Originally, they worked to bring people under the rule of his creed of tyranny. The Zhentarim the party meets no longer follow Bane, but it’s impressive that they’ve managed to erase their origins so thoroughly that people hire them as mercenaries without fear of Bane.

2

The Dark Urge Prays For Forgiveness

A Plea for Redemption

In the Necrotic Laboratory, a party with the Dark Urge taking Tav’s place can find a letter that the Dark Urge wrote before they lost their memory. When the Chosen of the Dark Three were just beginning their plans with the Absolute, the Dark Urge apologizes to Bhaal for admiring the Chosen of his enemy, Bane. They talk about how they see the brilliance of his plan and that the Dark Three’s Chosen will become friends and allies.

This is another letter that shows how different Orin and the Dark Urge are, even while under Bhaal’s influence. Orin didn’t care about the plan regarding the Absolute; she just wanted to take over control of the Brain and use that to kill the population in Bhaal’s name. The Dark Urge had the same end goal, but they also understood the importance of going along with the plan first instead of rushing to achieve their own goals.

1

A Crumbling Journal Reveals Withers’ Identity

Withers’ Unmasked

In Baldur’s Gate 3, Withers’ real identity was a big question that felt like it had hints towards an answer, but not a full answer. However, there’s actually an answer hidden in a book found in Act 3. In the graveyard of Baldur’s Gate, there’s an Ancient Mausoleum with a Crumbling Journal inside that reveals Withers’ identity with a single line that asks what the worth of a mortal soul is.

As it turns out, Withers is the former God of Death, Jergal, who split his power between Bane, Bhaal, and Myrkul as the result of a bargain with unknown details. However, this revelation can be easy to miss without playing as the Dark Urge or without exploring the mausoleums in the graveyard. Since there’s not a reason to explore the Ancient Mausoleum, the books and information inside it end up being overlooked.

Faerûn is packed full of extra lore information if the party is willing to explore each area and do some light reading. And yet, even then, it seems difficult to find every piece of additional context that’s hidden in the corners of each level. Although there won’t be any DLC or expansions being made, there’s no shortage of content already available in Baldur’s Gate 3.