The quest “Save Vanra” can be started as soon as you reach the Lower City of Baldur’s Gate 3. If you head up to the Basilisk Gate Barracks, you will find a red-haired woman confronting one of the Flaming Fist guards. Interacting with the woman will reveal that her daughter, named Vanra, went missing from the local Blushing Mermaid tavern.
However, the Flaming Fist guard has seemingly had her memory wiped, so she is of no help. As such, it’s your job to save Vanra in BG3.
In this guide, I will be detailing this quest step-by-step so you can complete it with ease. I must warn, though, that this quest has some massive twists that I was totally shocked by, so unless you’re truly stuck, I suggest trying to finish it for yourself first.
Starting the Save Vanra quest in BG3
After speaking with the woman, named Lora, at the Basilisk Gate, you will need to head to the Blushing Mermaid and speak with any possible witnesses. The Blushing Mermaid is located southwest of the Basilisk Gate and the Lower City Central Wall waypoint.
At the tavern, you can speak with the man behind the bar but he will claim that he saw nothing. After this, head down to the cellar through the metal door next to the bar and go up the stairs to the other door. This brings you to another section of the bar, and the first person you will see is named Captain Grisly, the owner of the tavern.
Talk with her and she will state that Lora actually does not have a child and that she is a danger to herself.
Meeting Auntie Ethel (again)
The captain will offer you a chance to put Lora out of her misery, but you need to deny this chance. Doing so will result in Captain Grisly transforming into the hag, Auntie Ethel. If you didn’t meet Ethel in the bog of the first area in BG3, then this will be a new experience for you. However, if you did meet Ethel in the bog, you likely killed her to save Mayrina. But she claims she can’t die, and that she ate Vanra to eventually give birth to her again, this time as a young hag.
After this revelation, Ethel leaves and forces you to deal with her crew in combat. Defeat the pirates and then head out of the Blushing Mermaid. From here, you need to head to a location called Old Garlow’s Place, which is a house to the southeast of the tavern.
Finding a way to defeat Auntie Ethel
This house has several of Ethel’s survivors in it, and you need to convince them that you are trying to look for a way to kill her. Telling them you were the one to save Mayrina will cause them to befriend you immediately. The survivors will also tell you that Mayrina is actually upstairs, but she’s not the same as you left her.
Upstairs, you can find Mayrina, who has turned into a sheep. To turn her back, look around the room, and find a green voodoo doll on the ground. Attack it, and then attack it again in the room if it moves locations. After the doll has been vanquished, Mayrina will turn back and explain that she has spent all this time trying to kill Ethel.
She has gathered a ton of information on killing her and tells you to find her journal downstairs. However, before you can do this, you need to defeat the Dragonborn that was actually a spy of Ethel’s.
The journal is located in a safe across from the desk near the stairs that lead to the upper floor. Read the journal and other book and also loot the alchemy ingredient. The book gives you the recipe for a grenade called Hag’s Bane, which will force Auntie Ethel to throw up Vanra, allowing the child to walk free.
If you kill Ethel while Vanra is still in her stomach, then Vanra will die. So it is imperative to use Hag’s Bane on Ethel before killing her.
You can craft Hag’s Bane by going into your Alchemy page, clicking on Grenades, and then selecting Hag’s Bane. You need to use the Ashes of Dried Fey Flower you found in the safe along with any Essence.
Returning to kill Ethel and save Vanra in BG3
With the Hag’s Bane grenade crafted, head back to the Blushing Mermaid and go through the metal door near the bar. Instead of going up the stairs, though, you need to jump onto the wooden platform on top of the wine barrels. Then, go into the hole in the wall to discover the wall on the left side can actually be walked through.
Go down the ladder and then through the door at the bottom to access a new area. Here, you will find a small pond along with four enemies that are all under Ethel’s control. I highly recommend killing the enemies, as if you don’t, Ethel will summon them in your fight with her later. After the enemies are dead, unlock the door on the side of the room where you entered. I suggest saving here, as your next steps will start combat with Auntie Ethel.
After a cutscene, combat will ensure. Your first step should be to get right near Ethel and throw the Hag’s Bane grenade at her. This can be done by any character and all you need to do is toss the grenade at her. Don’t worry about what the percentage says, as the grenade will have an effect regardless. You can throw the grenade by right-clicking on it in your inventory and selecting “Throw.” Then simply aim it at Ethel.
If you did it correctly, the grenade will cause Ethel to throw up Vanra, and the child will run to safety. From here, you might think that all you have to do is kill Ethel and the fight is over. However, that’s not the case. Ethel cannot die unless you destroy all three of the Pearlspore Bells, which are the blue mushrooms in the different corners of the room.
Each spore has 55 health and will have a turn in the attack order. You need to kill each spore before it has its turn in the attack order. If you don’t, the spores will fully heal themselves every single time. As long as they’re living, Ethel cannot die. For this reason, I suggest completely leaving Ethel alone and just focusing on the spores until you kill each one.
From there, you can start attacking Ethel until she is dead. Once she is, loot her body and then you can speak to Vanra. The child will run home to her house, and you need to follow her there to complete the quest. When you get to Lora’s House, which is east of the Blushing Mermaid, Lora will give you two rewards, the very rare Amulet of Windrider and the legendary Duelist’s Prerogative rapier.
Once you accept those weapons, the Save Vanra quest will be complete in BG3. You can also return to Old Garlow’s Place and tell the survivors the news that Ethel is dead. This will give you another reward from Mayrina.
