Neera's Hidden Refuge is her companion quest in Shadows of Amn campaign, its storyline will be continued by Destroying the Order of Eight Staves quest, which doesn't require the completion of this quest to trigger.
Prerequisite[]
You'll first need to find Neera before starting her quest. Go to Bridge District, head south till you hear three peasants talking about the shadow thief bodes, travel further south, then back to the area entrance, there you'll witness Neera rescue a girl named Mereth from some Red Wizards of Thay (no comments from Edwin if he's in party). You'll encounter her again in your next travel, unlocking Wild Forest, where Neera is waiting to join near the entrance.
Edwin can't be in the same party with Neera and will either leave or prevent the questline from advancing at certain stages; Neera herself is also not necessarily needed to be brought along. Her presence will be required at some points in order to proceed with the quest, but the game does this automatically (as does in her companion quests in BG1 EE).
Wild Forest[]
This entire area is a wild surge zone, so it's probably a good idea to keep spellcasting at a minimum.
Our goal here is to make it to the north-eastern corner of the map, start out by following the road to the north-east, you'll find a gnome named Quaid (x=1620 y=2840), who turns out to be an illusion and will be launching Fireballs if you press him too much. The trapped cart behind (1650.2750) contains some goodies to loot:
Actually, you have to be careful with traps throughout the forest. There are several of them along the path.
Continue east, a few foes (Wolf, Giant Spider, Sword Spider) and a few traps to disarm (x=2060 y=2600), (x=2100 y=3000), (x=3400 y=3070), (x=4700 y=2090), (x=3270 y=1400).
Explore north along the western end of the map, keeping an eye out for traps (x=620 y=2600), (x=1800 y=2100) as you go. North of where Quaid's cart is a Speaking Snake (x=2150 y=1780), again a verbal deterrent that is trying to fend off transpassers.
Continue north to find a group of Gnolls being chased by an "Ettin", unfortunately the creator wild mage shows incompetence again and the illusion vanishes, the Gnolls, annoyed by the trick, turn on you and get themselves killed. The Gnoll Captain will drop random goodies. Trap here, be careful (x=360 y=1360).
Head over to the bridge (x=4370, y=720), which seems inaccessible at first, just walk Neera over to it and she'll expose the illusion to get through. Alternatively, find A Pile of Gravel in a ditch (x=4600 y=1100) south-east of the bridge, and with it reveal the true state of the bridge, then cross it. Exit this area and travel to the Hidden Refuge.
Beware of the Polymorph trap (x=3345, y=3132)! Approaching it from below, Neera warns you about it, then two squirrels wander in and become ogres, then attack.
Hidden Refuge[]
This entire area is a wild surge zone.
2000 xp each party member upon arriving here. Neera is near the starting point if you dismissed her earlier, and in order to get in the refuge, she must be in party. It's impossible to have both her and Edwin in the party at the same time, and Edwin will leave immediately at this stage if Neera joins.
After meeting Hayes and Telana at the gate, your next move is to find Daxus Taralom, but before that, explore a bit, people around the camp have their own affairs, it’s recommended to complete these mini quests before triggering Daxus's rescue in Delosar's Inn for more rewards there and after.
- Knocktor the Fizzled - Talisman of the Hearthfire (3500 XP)
- Mironda - A new beer for Mironda (3500 XP)
- Barad Ding - Barad Ding's eight cats
- Amanis Khal & Kirik Khal - Amanis Khal's Missing Son (3500 XP)
- Mereth - Mereth's hairband
- Zaviak - Where's Wilson?
- Reginald - Pester him with dialogue, stand your ground and don't leave him be. Reginald will eventually try to strike you with fists. Let him do so, and no need to retaliate. In a few rounds he’ll cease attacking - wait a bit for him to return to his original spot then talk to him again. This will result in some dialogue that he has learned a valuable lesson in restraint. This small scuffle will bode well for you later in the questline.
Treasures around the camp:
- (x=1240 y=758) 2 RNDTRE01.itm, RNDTRE02.itm
- (x= 1204 y=919) RNDTRE01.itm, RNDSCR01.itm
- (x=1371 y=1110) RNDMAG01.itm
- (x=1331 y=526) RNDTRE01.itm, RNDTRE02.itm, RNDSCR02.itm
Finding Daxus Taralom[]
Now on to main quest line, talk to Hayes first if you wish, then Telana, go to the Bridge District in Athkatla. Hayes will be waiting south-west of Delosar's Inn, go inside to find Daxus Taralom on the lower floor with the bar and patrons. Note that if you don't have Neera with you, then Daxus won't start the performance required for the quest to continue. If you have Talisman of the Hearthfire, tell Daxus to teleport with it so that you only have to fend off one enemy wave plus a 5000xp later, it doesn’t matter if you talk to Hayes again afterwards but his dialogue may lead to some clue... otherwise decline Daxus’s offer to aid you in battle, you don’t want an unexpected surge mid-battle in the presence of many innocent bar patrons, including a few Amnian Guardsmen. After defeating the Red Wizards and mercenaries which teleport in abruptly to prevent Daxus from leaving with you, you may elect to leave Daxus behind and then proceed outside the Inn to scout for more Red Wizards. And there are another group awaiting you. Deal with the reinforcement outside, then Hayes will take Daxus away via teleportation (if he's still around and hasn't used the Talisman earlier). Note that from an experience gaining standpoint, using the Talisman will net your party an additional 5,000 XP later on in the quest.
Back to Hidden Refuge, you'll find it in a sorry state, many are gone, Telana is here, as are Mereth and Kirik, if you completed their quests. After talking to Telana, we’re off to the Red Wizard Enclave in Waukeen's Promenade.
Red Wizard Enclave[]
- Main article: Red Wizard Enclave
Waukeen's Promenade entry door[]
Deal with the Bouncer anyway you wish, although most dialogue options will lead to a Neera wild surge of 100 crushing damage to him (which means he won’t die on LoB settings but the dialogue afterwards assumed so). You may convince him to open the door, and he will give up his post and depart, with a brief period to kill him if you wish (with no repercussions).
Merchant Area[]
Inside, Gul Dukeem has some nice items for sale such as Robe of the Neutral Archmagi, Dagger of Venom, Staff of Striking, or Tunic of Blindeye etc, so don't pick up hostile dialogue options when he starts the talk, #2, #2, #3, #2, #2 will calm everyone down, and his shop will remain open rest of the game as long as he's alive.
CAUTION: the party leader's charisma score may influence Dukeem's reaction and dialogue choices. If it is too low, then there is no chance of Gul Dukeem combined with Neera's interjections and objections - from moving towards a dialogue path that does not lead to a hostile reception. This limited outcome can be mitigated by choosing a high charisma party leader, or raising your spokespersons charisma, or removing Neera from your party (temporarily or not) before entering the Enclave.
Behaving diplomatically also let you access the three other shops here, the merchants sell scrolls, wands and potions. Consider spending your gold on items desired now as they will soon be unavaialable. The same goes for attempts to pilfer them with a rogue. However, Gul Dukeem cannot be robbed. If you succeeded in this, then your journal will update:
- "Disorder in the order Part1 - I have gained entry to the Red Wizard Enclave. I could fight through to Lanneth, but brute force may not be the best option."
When you're ready, you have two main choices:
- Speak and convince Gul Dukeem into letting you enter the back rooms. You'll fight the three merchants plus one more mage and the guards. Gul Dukeem will take no part in the fight, and his shop will remain technically open for the rest of the game. You may transact with Gul, however, after concluding the fight with Lanneth, Neera will object if you try to have any dealings with him and will leave the party (regardless of whether the player is in a romance with her or not). She also appears to be able to detect any conversation between you and Gul from anywhere on the map, so merely putting her in a room at the other end of the map does not prevent her joining the conversation - if you want to deal with Gul, you have to temporarily remove Neera from the party.
- Another way is to leave Gul Dukeem alone and don't speak with him (other than to do some trading), and preferably ensure he is behind his counter, and then set up a surprise attack on the other three Mages (the Wand, Potion, and Scroll merchants), as well as the two mercenary guards (Dukeem's Guard), making them hostile. If planned and executed correctly, you will be able to finish them off or damage them severely before the door to the inner Red Wizard Enclave briefly opens and another Red Wizard enters the fracas. When you kill all the room's inhabitants (except for Gul), you will now be able to enter the inner enclave (the Tavern area) to further your mission, and without alerting the rest of the inner enclave's inhabitants of your attack.
Tavern[]
Behind the Merchant Area turns out to be a tavern or bar area, where both hired Thayan Mercenary and Thayan Fighters as well as Red Wizards reside. You may either choose to attack them all at once or take a more subtle approach by turning the hired Thayan mercenaries against their employers. If you choose the more subtle approach, then after being pestered by Fadell Ironeye the mercenary leader, witness the cage fight in Slave Pens. The Red Wizard closest to its door has the Slave Pen Key, which you'll need to free Ghallus. The key also has two other copies, held by Gul Dukeem and Lanneth, but for now just talk to Ghallus and agree to help him out. Go to the Mercenary Quarters and loot the chest in south room for The Journal of Fadell Ironeye. Read the journal for clues as to the Mercenary morale and current employment satisfaction.
Now you have two ways of turning the mercenaries on Red Wizards. You may buy three rounds of drinks from Mironda if you completed her quests earlier, for 50 
each round - to get them drunk and riled up; this money will be returned to you later after freeing her. Alternatively, speak to Fadell again and choose "Stream-Near-The-Hollow", "Ellis and Warwick", "Alinda" (then "revolt") in the exact order, causing her to revolt.
After the hired mercenaries are either dead or have departed the enclave, pick up the Slave Pen Key while cleaning up the battlefield, talk to Mironda for 10000xp, and free Ghallus, receiving 1,500 XP for each of the 5 slaves you freed from the cages in the pen.
Red Wizard Quarters[]
Go deeper through a passageway and you'll find Lanneth, along with a pair of Thayan Fighters, and an additional two other fighters and Red Wizards lurking in the side rooms. If you got Fadell drunk & non-hostile, she'll show up ranting a bit before wandering out. If you freed Ghallus, he'll return along with 4 Amnian Legionaries to provide a bit of muscle. Lanneth, for her part, isn't really seeking a direct engagement in this round, her tactics are to go invisible by using one of her three Potions of Invisibility, then attempt to summon a pair of Mordenkainen's Swords. Prevent her castings by disrupting the spell casts, such as poisoning her, or launch a Death Spell to banish the magical swords. Lanneth can be killed here (although difficult), but she's intended by script to dimension door away.
Follow Lanneth into the laboratory, she'll try to buy herself some time (and life) by threatening to kill "King" Gramm who is in a cage in the center of the lab, but by keeping Neera in the party and sticking to the 1st option you will actually save Gramm’s life. This time, Lanneth is joined by two more Thayan Fighters plus one Red Wizard. It is now up to you to defeat them all. Afterwards, loot her corpse for the Laboratory Key, Slave Pen Key, Robe of Invocation, Bracers to the Death, The Protector, Quarterstaff +2, 40 Dart of Wounding, 3 Potions of Extra Healing, 3 Potion of Invisibility, Wand of Paralyzation and 243 . Finally, talk to "King" Gramm for 5,000 XP.
Wild Mage Cages[]
The Laboratory Key will open the southeast door. The northwest door is trap & locked, it leads to Lanneth's Personal Quarters where you'll find:
- (x=1432, y=310) Rogue Stone, Traveler's Robe, Wand of Frost, 850
- (x=1397, y=240) Mordenkainen's Sword scroll, Chain Lightning scroll, Random treasure
- (x=1533, y=231) Contract, Letter, Lanneth's Journal
- (x=1595, y-292) Potion of Invisibility, Elixir of Health, Pearl Necklace, RNDTRE04
Lanneth's Journal tells you which order to unlock the first four cages: the Letter is from her superior in the Order, and the Contract tells you who sold out the Refuge.
Wild Mages are in the cage room, although Barad Ding will kill himself if you didn't rescue his cats, Reginald will be dead if you didn't teach him rage control, Amanis dead if you didn't find her son, Daxus too If you let him walk away with Hayes instead of teleporting. Knocktor and Zaviak should survive, and there is one more unnamed female Wild Mage alive in one of the cells - and a dead one in the one next to her.
The remaining Wild Mages are held in cages as numbered slaves; you need to open each cage in the correct order by their number. The order is 55 (Amanis), 13 (unnamed female Wild Mage), 11 (Barad Ding), and 42 (Zaviak). After Zaviak, the remaining numbered captives (Reginald, Knocktor and Daxus, if still alive) may be freed in any order. Talking to a Wild mage after their cage is opened will dismiss them and they'll travel back to the Hidden Refuge; each escaping Wild Mage is worth 5,000 XP.
Back to camp[]
Returning to the Hidden Refuge after completing the Red Wizard Enclave adventure, report back to Telana, the party receives 10,000 XP. Neera will ask to come along with your party, agree and you’ll receive Mechanical Bird, which is worth either 100,000 or xp to Strange Collector in Amkethran during the Throne of Bhaal campaign (at the Zephir inn; Neera has to be in your party). Talk to Telana again to receive Robe of Goodman Hayes, speak to Reginald (if you talked and saved him previously) for The Brick +2. Now, although optional, there's one more thing to do before we wrap this quest up, let's go find the traitor in Trademeet.
The loose end[]
Enter Vyatri's Pub in Trademeet, you'll find Hayes drinking himself to death. You have a choice here. Help him to that end and bring Bloodied Tunic of Hayes back to Telana for more dialogues, she'll have mixed feelings about it, pretty anti-climatic ending, all in all. Or, if you wish, simply speak with him and leave the man to his wretched depression, showing some mercy.
See also[]
Mod content[]
- This section is about unofficial content that is only available via fan-made mods.
People involved[]
- Portraits from Portraits Portraits Everywhere
Sources[]
- Baldur's Gate II Enhanced Edition walkthrough by Haeravon
References
- ↑ In theory one could avoid the Bridge District in a run, but any practical run through will end up with this quest in its journal. See also Disable Enhanced Edition NPCs.