In this Walkthrough, we will explore the hidden Zhentarim base hidden beneath Waukeen’s Rest, where a group of mercenaries, who are in the region in order to transport a mysterious chest to someone in Baldur’s Gate, reside. This guide will help you resolve encounters, find loot, and explore the area.
Map
Points of Interest 1 – Secret Door / Wardrobe 2 – Checkpoint 3 – Trapped Hallway 4 – Brem and Oskar Fevras 5 – Zarys 6 – Trapped Bridge 7 – Guards and Wolves 8 – False Wall 9 – Trapped Chests 10 – Ornate Chest
In the corner of the basement, you will find a wardrobe that isn’t as it seems. By interacting with it, you will be able to reveal a secret door, leading to the complete Zhentarim hideout. In most cases, you’ll already have the key from Salazon, just upstairs, but if you do not you will be able to lockpick the door with a DC-15 Sleight of Hand check.
You will be stopped here, if seen, by Zarys, who will accost you and demand to know what you are doing in her hideout. If you rescued Rugan and Olly as part of the “Find the Missing Shipment Quest” (#7 in the Risen Road) and didn’t open the chest, they will be present to vouch for you to let you through. Otherwise, if they either perished, you haven’t met them, or you opened the chest, you will need to talk your way through with a DC-15 Persuasion or Intimidation check.
After being admitted entry (If you are), you will want to speak with Zarys (#5).
If you have not been permitted to enter the Zhentarim base itself, the 3 traps — which take the form of false granite stones — will be active. A successful passive Perception check is required to notice the traps, and it requires a DC-10 Sleight of Hand check and a Disarm Kit to deactivate.
Once you’ve entered the hideout itself, you will come across Brem and Oskar Fevras. Brem is a shopkeeper, but he is also the owner of a “pet artist”, Oskar Fevras. Speaking to him about this will begin the quest “Free the Artist”, which you can do by speaking to Brem and convincing him to let the artist go with a DC-20 Intimidation or Persuassion check (though Githyanki can perform a DC-15 Intimidation check at advantage). Otherwise, you can also purchase Oskar off of him for 1000 Gold, which can be haggled down with a successful DC-20 Intimidation or Persuasion check.
On overwatch of the entrance hallway is Zarys. Depending on your interactions with Rugan and Olly, they will also be present. If you rescued them from the Gnolls in the Risen Road (#7) and left them with the shipment, they will be in one piece, and Zarys will reward you with some gold and the unique crossbow Harold. Giving her the box directly (due to Rugan and Olly dying) will have the same effect, so long as it is unopened, though in that case you will be tasked with bringing it to Baldur’s Gate.
If Rugan and Olly were rescued, but you unlocked the shipment (either in secret or otherwise), you will come across Olly dead and Rugan being tortured, and you will need to be careful what you say — revealing that it was you that opened the chest will turn the Zhentarim hostile against you.
To get to the back portion of the Zhentarim Basement, where all the most valuable loot is, the most obvious path will take you over a bridge with Proximity Explosives, which require a DC-15 Sleight of Hand check and a Disarm Kit to disarm. These will be deactivated if you entered the basement friendly to the Zhentarim.
There are two locked cages at the rear of the Zhentarim Basement filled with valuable loot, but they are locked and guarded by Karad, Jarg, and 4 wolves. Jarg has the key to both of the cells (#9 and #10), which she can only be relieved of by looting her corpse or pickpocketing her, both of which causing hostility with the Zhentarim. As well as the key, if you cast Speak with Animals, you can speak to the wolves, who will reveal that there is something off about the False Wall (#8).
If you end up in combat with Jarg and the wolves, you should make sure to take note of the highly flammable oil lying on the ground below a wooden platform to the south of the area, which can be exploded for great effect.
Near the back of the Basement is an illusory wall, hiding an elevator down to a Zhentarim storeroom in the Underdark. You can reveal this with a passive Investigation check, via one of the wolves telling you about it using Speak with Animals, or simply by walking into the wall yourself.
In a locked cell (requiring a DC-15 Sleight of Hand check with Thieves’ Tools or the Zhentarim Key on Jarg (#7), you will find two chests. These are both trapped, requiring a passive Perception check to notice the traps and a DC-10 Sleight of Hand check with a Disarm Kit to safely unlock.
In a securely locked cell, there is an Ornate Chest and some other assorted loot. This room can be accessed with a DC-20 Sleight of Hand check, the Zhentarim Key on Jarg (#7), or via a burrow hole found to the left of the other locked room with the trapped chests (#9). The chest contains the Abyss Beckoners, a great set of gloves that gives resistance to all damage types except Psychic.
There is one Dirt Mound found in the Zhentarim Basement. It can be located by your party if any of them get a successful Survival check, allowing you to use a shovel to dig it up to receive some very valuable mundane loot.
Behind an illusory wall is an Elevator down to the Underdark. In order to use it, you will either need the Zhentarim Key off of Jarg (#7), or will need to succeed on unlocking the winch with a DC-10 Sleight of Hand check with Thieves’ Tools. Taking this elevator will lead to the Zhentarim storeroom in the Underdark.
Graves is an avid writer, web designer, and gamer, with more ideas than he could hope to achieve in a lifetime. But, armed with a mug of coffee and an overactive imagination, he'll try. When he isn't working on a creative project, he is painting miniatures, reading cheesy sci-fi novels, or making music.
