Quick Links
Arcane Tower is one of the most notable locations in Act 1 ofBaldur’s Gate 3. Players visit this location in the Underdark tocomplete Omeluum’s quest, find powerful build-defining loot, and collect scrolls and alchemical ingredients. An area with multiple activities, we could say.
While the Arcane Tower’s sole denizens are the construct known as Bernard and a few other automatons guarding the tower’s top floor, we find many books and letters from the previous owner, Lenore, and her partner Yrre. There’s actually a fleshed-out background for the former owner of the tower, and we will explore it in this article.
Who Is Lenore?
Lenore De Hurst is a cleric of Mystra who was studying the magical properties of the Underdark alongside her partner, Yrre, a gnomish inventor. The Arcane Towers could travel around in the Underdark, so they stayed in the tower while exploring the strange and mysterious landscape.
Blurg, the hobgoblin we meet in the myconid colony, is the one who sends us to the Arcane Tower. He mentioned that Lenore’s tower usually moved around the Underdark, but it’s been in the same place for a while now.
After a falling out, Yrre left to pursue their passion, storm magic, leaving Lenore alone in the tower, with only her dog, Myrna, her construct, Bernard, and her garden for company. During this time, Myrna passed away, and Lenore started to tame a bullette that she spotted near her dog’s grave. She also started herresearch on sussur tree flowers and their properties.
Lenore finally left the Underdark and headed to Baldur’s Gate about 10 years before the events of the game. She was called on to confer with other Mystra clerics in the city. She left a note for Yrre, explaining where she had gone and asking them to wait for her, so they could reunite, but she never returned.
What Happened To Lenore?
Lenore’s last known location was the conference in Baldur’s Gate, and the game doesn’t disclose her fate. But some clues and signs can hint at what might have happened to Lenore.
One of the most common speculations is that Lenore had been slain by her bulette. We find a letter from a person called Amarith who warns Lenore about the dangers of taming a bullette. This fate was very likely during the early access of the game, as back then you could loot the Slippery Chain Shirt from the bullette, an armor very suitable for a cleric such as Lenore. But this item was moved to another location since the full launch of Baldur’s Gate 3.
Another speculation is that given Lenore’s experience with constructs, she was recruited by Gortash to create the Steel Watchers. We findequipment and contraptions in the Steel Watch Foundrysimilar to those that we see in the Arcane Tower, giving more credit to this theory. Knowing Gortash’s methods, it’s likely that Lenore’s involvement was involuntary and her fate is unclear once he was done with her.
Lenore also had a brief correspondence with Lorroakan, but we don’t find any further evidence of them meeting while she was in Baldur’s Gate.
Neither theory is provable, and neither spells a happy ending for the sad story of this NPC. Lenore’s life took a depressing turn when Yrre left and her dog passed away, to the point where she programmed a command for Bernard that when he was told a certain line from one of her favorite poems, Bernard would attack and kill her. Knowing that Yrre returned and waited for her, and she never came back, makes her unclear fate even more heartbreaking.
