Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Mysterious Hole in Blight Village

Any significance to the hollow book with its bottle of wine or the oil lamp?

No significance at all. Why do you ask? -

I think it's there to tell a tragic story with only those two items, but let's the players connect the dots.

I'm not sure we have meet the owner of those items (and I'm not sure we will).

Whether we do or not, I actually find it interesting either way ^^

What's the story of those items? Because if it exists I have not picked up on it at all.

It might relate to an as-yet unimplemented plot, and Act 1 has got a lot of those, or it might be a world-building relic. You do need to have a few red-herrings and false leads like this to sprinkle real plots amongst.

Maybe there'll be an unlooted treasure there in future, I get the feeling i's supposed to be a stash well-hidden be someone ashamed.

I think (again, that's how I see it, nothing concrete) it could be interpreted in different ways, which I love ^^).

Edit : Or, as mentioned by FreeTheSlaves, it's something that could evolve.


To me :

- The hollow book used to hide a bottle of wine could be a sign of alcoholism.

- The oil lamp could have been a magic lamp (holding a genie) or thought to be one by the owner.

We know, from Tav's reaction to a regular non-magical oil lamp found before entering the Zhentarim Hideout, that magic lamps are a known thing in that universe. Whether they exists or not, no idea. There are mentioned in the Forgotten Realms, apparently. Genies certainly do exist. They can even be a Warlock's patron.

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Lamp_of_the_genies
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Genie
http://dnd5e.wikidot.com/warlock:the-genie


As such, I have two main interpretations where the story could be about :

1) A person, who were a drunk (a sign of a bad fortune), who finally thought they could change their life around and tried to use the lamp (making a wish). Except the lamp didn't work, or not as intended.

2) A person, who made a wish using the lamp but it didn't turn out as expected (as usual with wishes) and they couldn't undo it. As a result of their misfortune, they became depressed and a drunk. The genie could have then been freed from the lamp which could explain why we found it empty.

Maybe in both case, they tried to put that behind them, and hid those items away?


This is all speculative of course. Also, it's been a while since I came across that find, so I might have missed some details (was there a body or some bones around?)
Personally, I find it very interesting ^^ (if you couldn't tell already😅). It could be great if we were to find a journal/diary that could be linked to those two items.

Edit :
Could be!

I like this silly items that just show common stuff and there is nothing deep behind them.

I mean ...
I just found a bone in Worg pens ... would you expect some story behind that aswell?

Items are placed delibelatery so one can expect there is always some artistic vision behind them - just as you look at a frame of a film and assume that details there are intended part of the experience (happy and unhappy accidents happen of course, but that is byond the point - if something is part of the scene then it is contributing to the scene and saying something, whenever it was intended to or not).

Could be that necromancer characters end up needing bones for some magic, whereas for most players it's just a bone.