Escaping the asylum

Escaping the Asylum is a Main Quest in Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and its Enhanced Edition. It takes place during Chapter 4, and begins once the player enters the main floor of Spellhold for the first time.

Entering Spellhold results in the party being taken captive by Jon Irenicus. If Yoshimo is present in the party, he also turns on the party, revealing that he has been a Geas-bound spy of Irenicus' all along. Once the party is captive, Irenicus performs an experiment on Gorion's Ward that casts them into a strange dream world, akin to a shattered copy of Candlekeep floating in a void.

To proceed in the quest, Gorion's Ward must enter the false Candlekeep - but this will require the permanent sacrifice of an Ability Score (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma) to the fiend guarding the gate. Inside, the player will find a strange version of Imoen, who will tell them that they must lure the Essence of Bhaal to her so they can defeat it, otherwise Gorion's Ward will never leave this place.

The Essence of Bhaal appears as a ghostly version of Sarevok Anchev from his end-game encounter in the first game. Located to the west of where Gorion's Ward entered the dream world on a strip of land outside of the false Candlekeep's walls, it is completely invulnerable to all attacks until Gorion's Ward lures it back into the library. It will talk as it both engages and is defeated; when it falls, the false Imoen will scream that something is wrong, and Gorion's Ward will be transported back to Irenicus' lab in Spellhold.

Irenicus will reveal that he stole some fundamental part of Gorion's Ward's soul, using it to heal himself of some unknown affliction. After some banter, he will leave the lab, giving Gorion's Ward and the rest of the party over to Bodhi to do with as she pleases.

She will transport to the Asylum Dungeon's first floor, declaring that she wants the party to try and solve their way through this labyrinth of monsters, traps and trials, whilst she will intermittently hunt them down. She then departs, but not before reuniting Gorion's Ward with Imoen at long last. If the party lost Yoshimo, she will immediately join the party to fill the slot. If the party did not include Yoshimo, she tells the player to go on without her; she will follow along behind them as they clear the way.

The party must make their way through all three levels of the Asylum Dungeon, until they finally return to the main floor of Spellhold. Thanks to Irenicus stealing their soul, Gorion's Ward has lost their original Bhaalspawn abilities - but, on the third level of the dungeon, in a scripted encounter, they will gain a replacement power; Slayer Form.

Once the party has escaped the dungeon, they must deal with Lonk in order to acquire the keys to the inmates' cells; as Imoen explains, Irenicus is too powerful and too well protected to be defeated by a conventional assault, but an onslaught of insane spellcasters would be something else entirely.

The newly expanded party must then fight a battle against Irenicus. When he is reduced to Near Death status, he will teleport away, but the asylum inmates will be killed in a scripted event. This then activates the second phase of the battle, against a number of unhinged enemy thieves, whose ability to hide in shadows and then backstab is a threat not to be underestimated. At the same time, if Yoshimo was brought to Spellhold, he will also appear and fight the party to the death, asking that if he dies, Gorion's Ward will take his heart to the Temple of Ilmater in Athkatla so his soul can be freed.

Once the last of the thieves are killed, the party is free to explore Spellhold. In the entry hall, the party will re-encounter Saemon Havarian, who tells them that they have two ways to leave Brynnlaw; there is a portal to the Underdark in the Director's Chambers, available via a door nearby, or the party can sail back to Athkatla with him. If the party tries to attack Saemon, then they are forced to take the portal.

Entering the Director's Chambers requires slaying a Stone Golem left behind to guard them. The party can find two of Irenicus' journals in these chambers, which provide some clue as to what he was doing, as well as a Staff of Thunder and Lightning, a Rogue Stone and a Horn of Silence. If they take Jon's Key, they can open the portal to the Underdark, gaining 20,000 Quest EXP and completing Chapter 4 by immediately beginning Chapter 5.

If the party chooses to accept Saemon's offer of help, they must instead complete a miniature quest; Getting A Ship. This will result in them receiving the Silver Blade, as well as 20,000 Quest EXP, and being taken to the Underwater City, where they must End the Sahuagin Civil War before they can reach the Underdark and begin Chapter 5.