Gain the services of Sir Sarles for the temple

Gain the Services of Sir Sarles for the Temple is a side-quest for Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn. It can be located in the Temple District of Athkatla. Once the player has started the Cult of the Eyeless quest, they can speak to the sub-priest of the temple that has hired them to receive this quest.

Outline
The Temple wishes to commission the services of the famed sculptor, Sir Sarles, to create a statue to glorify their temple, and sends the party to the Jysstev Estate in the Government District to persuade him. The arrogant sculptor refuses unless he is provided the medium of his choice: two hundred pounds of pure Illithium Ore. In pursuit of this, he sends them to Jerlia the Ore Merchant, who runs a stall in Waukeen's Promenade.

Upon approaching her, Jerlia explains that illithium is very rare and she only deals out 50 pounds of the substance each month herself. She offers to craft them Illithium Alloy instead, which she can do in a day. If the party is diplomatic, and sweetens the pot with 1000 gold pieces, she reveals she also buys her illithium from a duergar trader, Ungar Hilldark, who operates out of the Copper Coronet.

There are three routes to take for this quest's completion.

The Fake Illithium
Telling Jerlia to create the Illithium Alloy prompts her to tell the party to return in a day. However, when they do, she explains that demand from other temples means she must increase the price she originally set, from the original 200 to a new 500. She must be paid this amount to hand over the Alloy.

Upon returning to Sir Sarles, however, it is unsatisfactory; Keldorn will admit the Alloy is fake if he is in the party, but even if he is not, Sir Sarles still recognizes the Alloy is fake because it holds smears, something pure illithium cannot do. Outraged, he leaves Athkatla, forcing the party to return to their Temple and report the failure. However, the Temple's superior sees the Illithium Alloy and mistakes it as Sir Sarles' work, accepting it happily. The party is rewarded with 10000 EXP for this route.

Retrieving the Real Ore
Speaking to Ungar Hilldark has him reveal that he can't give you any illithium, as it was stolen from him by an evil demihuman named Neb. If you have the Unfinished Business (Baldur's Gate II) mod installed, you must first rescue his brother from the Temple Ruins in the Umar Hills to find this information. Still, if you can kill Neb, you can take the ore for yourself.

As Hilldark reveals, Neb is hidden in the Bridge District. Upon finding him, he reveals himself as the child murderer from Baldur's Gate. An Evil Gorion's Ward can bargain with him to just give them the ore, but Minsc or Jaheira will force a confrontation. Neb's death rewards the party with experience points, with the party also gaining 2500 EXP for each Child Spirit that survives the battle. On his corpse is the Illithium Ore the party seeks, as well as Neb's Nasty Cutter and Neb's Head. Taking Neb's Head to Chief Inspector Brega in the Government District will reward the party with experience points, 2500 gold pieces, and +1 Reputation.

Upon being given the Illithium Ore, Sir Sarles rewards the party with 21750 EXP. When the sculpture is completed, the Temple rewards the party with another 20000 EXP.

Double-Bluff
To take this third route, the party must both commission the Illithium Alloy, and retrieve the Illithium Ore from Neb. By removing the Ore from the party's inventory - simply dropping it on the floor inside the Jysstev Estate and picking it up afterwards suffices - and speaking to Sir Sarles with only the Alloy, the party may give the Alloy to the Temple, and keep the Ore to use to upgrade the Mace of Disruption by taking them both to Cromwell. The only drawback to this route is that it means forfeiting some of the experience points that simply giving the ore to Sir Sarles would provide.