Baldur’s Gate 3: Search the Cellar Walkthrough Guide

The Cellar in Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Blighted Village isn’t immediately obvious since you have to interact with a journal before you can access it. However, once you get inside, you can explore and loot an area that belonged to an alchemist, and get an Ancient Time full of Necromancer magic. If this is enough to pique your interest, then here’s a walkthrough for Search the Cellar in Baldur’s Gate 3.

How to Start the Search the Cellar Quest in Baldur’s Gate 3

The Search the Cellar quest leads into a quest that gives you the opportunity to read the Necromancy of Thay, earning a free Necromancy spell.

You’ll start this quest in the Blighted Village in the house right next to the Waypoint for this area. There’s an Apothecary’s Ledger on the counter. Once you interact with it, you’ll be able to use the Wooden Hatch behind the counter to head into the cellar.

Once you’re in the cellar, there’s a large bookcase on the north wall. Your characters will perform Perception checks when you’re near it, and a successful check reveals a Lever on the wall (as shown below) that you’ll use to move the bookcase and open a path.

How to Pass the Ornate Mirror in BG3

Your next obstacle is the Ornate Mirror. It’s easy to choose the wrong answer, so I’ll run through the answers that every player can choose regardless of Class, Race, or successful Checks.

• Tell it your name.
• Yes, an ally! I’m an ally of your master’s!
• Szass Tam is a foul, wretched creature.
• To clean a wound?
• I’d look for whatever spells will rid me of this worm in my head.

After the last answer, the Ornate Mirror will allow you to enter the room it’s guarding. The book Necromancy of Thay is behind the locked gate immediately to the left. You can find the key by heading to the room to the right. However, the gate is fairly easy to lockpick if you have Astarion with you, which is how I opened it.

How to Get Necromancy of Thay in BG3

Once you grab the book, it activates a trap. You can either disarm the trap, or go into turn-based mode and send characters out of the book’s area before the Environmental Turn. You should have no issue getting everybody out safely this way.

While that step completes my “Search the Cellar” walkthrough in Baldur’s Gate 3, but your journey continues if you decide to open Necromancy of Thay, you’ll need to head into the Well in Blighted Village and grab the Dark Amethyst at (X:-557, Y:-357). Otherwise, you can destroy it, or give it to Astarion or Gale and officially check off the quest. Then, view our BG3 guide hub for topics like how to rescue Mayrina and how to get the Ring of Protection.