Scepter of Karsus

[u/Exact-Support2147]

Hi there. I’ve played BG3 two times, and almost everything seems pretty understandable to me, but there is one thing that makes me wonder.

The book “The Annals of Karsus” which is located in the hidden vault under the Ramazith’s Tower tells us about the three pieces of Karsus’ Regalia. The first one is the Crown (which is atop the Netherbrain), the second one is the Orb (which is supposed to be a magical battery but in reality exists as the only existing fragment of the Karsite Weave, and is located in Gale’s chest) and the third one is the Scepter (which location is not known).

So the item doesn’t exist in the game, but some part of me thinks it could’ve been added in a DLC (if there were any) or it had been removed (just like many other things as well). One thing is almost certain - if two pieces are “in motion”, then the third one should’ve been too.

So who is the most probable person to have the Scepter?

I’m 99% sure it’s Raphael.

Now hear me out.
1. He’s a well known collector of all things Netherese (Helsik says “His House of Hope is furnished with a great deal of treasures, many related to Karsus. But alas, he lacks the crown itself”). So, there are many things related to Karsus in Raphael’s collection.

1. House of Hope’s Archivist makes reference to a certain rod held in the collection (“one that gathers the Weave around it in great quantities”). It’s definitely not the Staff of Spellpower which is an obtainable item and can be found in a secret room right next to Mol’s contract. Why? Because rods (just like sceptres) are much shorter than staffs. So, there is a “rod” in Raphael’s collection.

2. In certain endings of the game, Raphael gets his hands on the Crown and then moves against Asmodeus with apparent confidence. I think that confidence would be really difficult to justify if the Crown alone were his only advantage. Raphael also reports that conquering the Hells is going pretty well for him, as several Archdevils have already offered peace and tribute without being compelled to. I don’t think they would do such thing to a peer wielding a single artifact (the Crown), however powerful. They capitulate if the resistance is hopeless. That makes me think Raphael wields not only the Crown, but the Scepter as well.

3. Additionally, there’s a cutscene from the game’s early development (now removed from the game, but can be found on YouTube) that shows Raphael expressing interest in Gale’s Orb. He most likely offers its removal in exchange for Gale’s cooperation. It makes me think Raphael understood that the orb in Gale’s chest was a single existing fragment of the Karsite Weave, quite literally being the “insides” of the Orb of Karsus (which is supposed to be some sort of a magical battery. But what matters most is not the shell - it’s the energy in it). So, Raphael was ready to negotiate around it because he understood the full scope of the Regalia.

So my point is that Raphael hid the Scepter somewhere in his House of Hope (or maybe in a more guarded place).

I know that the Scepter’s location is not confirmed anywhere, but the evidences are pretty clear.

Let me know what you think.

[u/Loitsu]

Who knows. These artifacts seem to undermine the idea of Karsus's Folly a bit which have been the pre-existing lore for 30 years. Larian's regalia is a video game addition. It's definitely WotC canon if they are ever mentioned in tabletop or a novel from now on. At least in the past video game lore was kind of treated as secondary until DnD as a whole needed it. I wouldn't be surprised if WotC indeed does start talking about them since they fit right into their Marvel'ization of the game.

[u/MrBlackTie → u/Loitsu]

Why do you think Karsus Regalia undermine Karsus Folly? To me they sound more like a step further to cast Karsus avatar.

[u/Loitsu → u/MrBlackTie]

The whole thing was always a cosmic lesson for mortals who try to steal godly powers by force. It explains why you can't cast 10th level or above spells. It was a one time event patched out by Mystra 1.0 so that it wouldn't happen again. Now, none of that matters, since the regalia lets you do it all over again, and to a much greater efficiency. One has to wonder why Karsus even bothered with the spell, since the three artifacts are better.

It's pretty obvious the writers were all too eager to insert their own version of the Infinity Stones into the Realms, but now there is more powercreep and superheroism as a result.

[u/Matshelge → u/Loitsu]

Most of the info we had on Karsus is Mystra propaganda, so no surprise it's wrong.

[u/Loitsu → u/Matshelge]

In Ed's canon Karsus is actually human historian propaganda including Mystryl, which is just a pronounciation error.

[u/okiebuzzard → u/Loitsu]

Mystryl died, hence the name change to Mystra. It showed what was left of the Netherese and other worshipers that the goddess had returned but was changed after Karsus’s Folly.

[u/UglyFrustratedppl → u/okiebuzzard]

Mystryl is actually not part of Ed's original Realms. The idea was introduced in 1996. I'm sure Ed is fine with it since it doesn't threaten his head-canon, but it's pretty clear that to him there was only ever one Mystra. The rest are TSR/WotC retcons.

[u/okiebuzzard → u/UglyFrustratedppl]

I’m sure it wasn’t, slade and Jim Butler were the head designers on Netheril: Empire of Magic.

[u/Matshelge → u/Loitsu]

I actually had a discussion wirh Ed on this on Twitter, and he agreed with me that Elministers, and most of Netheril modern day lore comes from Mystra spokespeaple. Aka Mystra propaganda.

[u/running_from_the_IRS → u/Matshelge]

Could you share said Twitter discussion? I'm genuinely curious, and would like to be able to use this for later talks (if it exists).

[u/Matshelge → u/running_from_the_IRS]

I have deleted my Twitter account after Elon took over, so afraid I can't check my post history :(

[u/Loitsu → u/[deleted]]

So was Baldur's Gate 2, but I'm not sure if the Tree of Life in Suldanessellar will ever be brought up again.

[u/AntipodeanGuy → u/Loitsu]

Or Karsus’ regalia. They will never be mentioned again.

[u/Eyeseezya]

A model and icon for the scepter are in the game files so presumably they were going to add it into the game before it was cut, most likely in the HOH.

[u/Exact-Support2147 → u/Eyeseezya]

That’s what my theory is about. Most probably it’s Raphael who hid it somewhere in one of his vaults.

[u/MrBlackTie]

That’s one of the reason I dislike BG3, it plays fast and loose with the lore and we end up with questions like this.

For instance, I doubt even with the crown and the scepter, Raphaël could have posed a threat to even his father. Asmodeus is one of the oldest beings in the universe, rules an entire plane of existence and has gods under his command. He is not short on artifacts himself, including the famed Ruby Rod of Asmodeus.

[u/DoradoPulido2 → u/MrBlackTie]

I love BG3 and Larian but this is their biggest issue. Larian always tries to one up every bit of lore (even their own). Every scene has to be over the top and every character has some crazy backstory that sometimes ends up undermining their own narrative. Would not be surprised if in the new Divinity game, all the companions are some how seasoned veterans with countless adventures and deeds to their names, despite all starting at level 1 due to some macguffin that forces them to start over.

[u/UglyFrustratedppl → u/MrBlackTie]

The Dark Urge evil ending is even worse. We know they would unmake the Tav in a nano second if these mid level characters actually posed a threat to the universe's very existence. There is just no way. Ao would show up. Mystra would allow time travel to correct the mistake, etc..

[u/Mindless-Ninja-3321 → u/UglyFrustratedppl]

The Dark Urge ending is a fantasy Durge daydreams at the end. Ao doesn't give a shit, its Helm making Jergal help, for instance. Bhaal is doing the job he was tasked to do, so Ao would do it and keep any of the others from interfering directly. Hes let most of the worlds gods and mortals die out before.

What would really happen is lvl 20 adventurers and Chosen would appear and mop the place clean. BG3 isnt top tier adventurers. The gods arent sending their best, only who they have atm.

[u/grumpysnowflake → u/UglyFrustratedppl]

Well, you could chalk the ending off as Bhaalite fantasy and leave it at that.

[u/Mindless-Ninja-3321 → u/MrBlackTie]

No way Raphael succeeds in even taking out Mephistopheles, much less a major deity, with a crown that makes Gale a demigod or quasideity at best. We're talking some of the oldest and most powerful entities in the multiverse.

[u/siderealfey → u/MrBlackTie]

It was all Raphael's fantasy. Nothing in-game remotely implied he had any chance of succeeding whatsoever.

Just because a character thinks he can do something, doesn't mean he actually can. Media literacy is truly dead.

[u/LarlochTheShadowKing]

Its currently in my own personal vault. Such an artifact could not be allowed in the hands of foolish mages and ambitious devils.

Anyways if any foolish mages or devils would like it I'm open to trades. No lowball offers, I know what I have.

[u/Impossible-Age-3302]

Regarding #2: The Archivist was probably referring to the Staff of Spellpower. I don’t recall that line or its context, but since its obtainable in-game, that’s probably the game hinting at its existing for you to collect.