| “ | My spiderssss! Kill them. Kill them all! | ” |
Centeol is a woman under a severe curse in Baldur's Gate who is encountered inside the spider nest in the area appropriately referred to as Cloakwood Nest. She has formed a significant bond with the spiders inside the nest who feed her and keep her alive.
Background[]
Centeol will claim that she was once a sorceress, and was cursed by the arch-mage Jon Irenicus for murdering his wife, Lady Tanova. Centeol was obsessed with Irenicus and she wanted him to love her, but he loved only Tanova. So Centeol devised and executed a plan to kill her. When Irenicus discovered his wife's death, he animated her corpse (noted only in the original Baldur's Gate) and discovered the identity of her killer. Then he went to Centeol's tower and cursed her with obesity and put her in the nest with spiders to guard and feed her so she would live in misery.
Related Quests[]
- Spiders in the Cloakwood – Tiber and his brother, Chelak, came to the Cloakwood to find and destroy the source of its spider infestation. However, things went awry, and the brothers became separated, with Chelak missing for a week. Tiber asks Gorion's Ward and party to search for him.
Gameplay[]
Her lair must be entered by at least one member of the party in order to complete the side-quest, though killing her is not required. While she does turn hostile despite whatever dialogue choices are made, and is responsible for even more spiders joining the fight, her guardians are the real threat while she is practically harmless; she has no spells at her disposal despite a magic-intensive past, she can't move due to the curse she suffers from, and she has a very weak and slow melee attack.
Since the nest does not require the entire party to enter, a viable tactic is to first bring in a hidden thief to chart the location of the Sword Spiders. Then move the thief back out and bring in your tank. This will initiate the dialogue after which the tank leads one of the sword spiders outside and then just finish it off with the group. Rinse and repeat for the second sword spider. You can do the same for the Giant Spiders and Ettercaps or just finish them inside. The two (hasted) sword spiders are the real threat here and because there's very little room to maneuver and they're likely to agro your weakest characters and possibly kill them before you can get the tank in melee range.
Rewards[]
Killing all creatures, including Centeol herself, yields 8100 XP. Her lair also includes a treasure trove containing a Fire Opal Ring, a Wand of Frost with 12 charges, the cursed ring Discipliner, the unique two-handed sword Spider's Bane and Chelak's Body.
Dialogue[]
Every dialogue option ends with her hostility and the spawning of the two giant spiders.
"Kill the meat, my pets."
- 1: Send those spiders to their deaths, there aren't any arachnophobes here.
"Shut up and die!"
- 2: Please let us live! We've done nothing to you.
Same as above
- 3: Hey, wait! We've come here... to... to benefit from your divine wisdom. Let us speak.
"You've come here to learn from my infinite wissssdom. Sssspeak quickly!"
- 3.3: What's your name?
"My name isss... isss... Centeol, yesss, that is my name."
- 3.3.1: So why are you so fat? Not to pry or anything...
"Your humor doesn't amuse me. Die!"
- 3.3.2: Do you know anything about the Iron Throne?
"I know nothing of this 'Iron Throne'. You sshall now all die!"
- 3.3.3: How is it that you came to live in this place?
"I am cursssed. The archmage, Jon Irenicus, cursed me for indignities done to him and his wife by me. I loved Jon, but now I hate him, as I hate you and everything. Spiderssss... kill them all."
There is an additional line, though without anything to trigger it, presumably from after the end of the fight against all of her pets:
"You have defeated my ssspidersss, there is nothing I can do. Kill me! Kill me!"
Charmed Dialogue[]
| “ | I can tell you of my curse, for that is all I remember any more. I used to be beautiful and powerful. An exotic sorceress, with many powers at my command, and suitors at my door. But I only had eyes for one man, Jon Irenicus. He was a great and powerful wizard, the only man worthy of my affections, or so I thought. Though I lusted for Jon, he cared little for me, for he had another to whom he was married, Lady Tanova. So I plotted and schemed, and finally came up with a plan to rid the world of Tanova. When the deed was done, and Tanova lay dead I was exultant, but not for long. Jon went mad with fury, and using his powerful magics, (raised his wife into undeath and) BG divined the identity of his wife's murderer. He arrived at my tower, and I allowed him entry, desirous to finally consummate our love. Jon disabled me with his spells, then he cursed me to this body, and set spiders to feed me and keep me alive. So you see, if you were my friend, you would kill me. | ” |
Journal[]
Centeol's Sad Story[]
- Note: Appears only if Centeol was charmed.
| “ | When we charmed the huge bloated creature that called herself Centeol, we were told an interesting story. It seems she was cursed to her current shape by a powerful mage named Jon Irenicus. Hah! Only a fool would run afoul of a mage like that. | ” |
— Enhanced Edition | ||
| “ | When we charmed the huge bloated creature that called herself Centeol, we were told an interesting story. It seems she was cursed to her current shape by a powerful mage called Jon Icarus. We don't know what any of this has to do with the adventure we're on right now, but you never can know. Perhaps it will come in useful in a sequel. | ” |
— Original Baldur's Gate | ||
Trivia[]
- In the Journal entry for the original Baldur's Gate, she mentions a "Jon Icarus" rather than "Irenicus" and the entry hints at a potential sequel. This Icarus name was changed to Irenicus during the making of Shadows of Amn.
- Centeol also has an appearance in the files of Shadows of Amn (as
CENTEO01.cre), but not in the game. - Tanova does appear in Shadows of Amn but there is no mention of any past relationship with Irenicus or of her death by Centeol.