In Baldur’s Gate 3, heading west from Druid Cove, you’ll come upon a location called Owlbear Nest. This cave, of course, is home to an owlbear and her cub. The duo is part of a quest later on in the game which provides you with the option of recruiting the owlbear cub as a companion. So, it is best to slip past them at this point to refrain from affecting that quest.
Once you’ve sneaked past the owlbears you can head down the cave. There is a pool at the far side of the cave which is well-lit. As you approach the pool, you’ll find a chest with a bluish glow. This is Selûne’s Gilded Chest which as the glow suggests has undoubtedly been rigged with some form of mystical trap.
Trying to test this theory will end badly for whichever character you choose to deal with the chest. There is however a much healthier way to unlock the chest.
Selûne’s Prayer Sheet
On the other side of the pool, you’ll find the statue of a maiden wielding a staff. Based on context (if you haven’t found the idol already in the goblin’s camp), we can only assume that this is the statue of the fabled Selûne. You can jump towards the alcove with the statue which is gleaming under bright rays of sunshine. As you explore, you’ll find a small part of the alcove that is not that well-lit. This will immediately trigger a perception check.
Using any character with a decent perception skill or someone with high wisdom ability score will make this check easy. Once you’ve passed the passive check, a small piece of paper is unveiled. This is a Selûnite Prayer Sheet.
Opening the Gilded Chest
This is where a quintessentially annoying element of Baldur Gate 3 kicks in. To read the prayer, you need to have a character with a high religion skill. If you decided to recruit Shadowheart for this, you’ll find that it was a huge mistake. While Shadowheart has a high proficiency in religion, she is a disciple of Shar. So asking her to read the prayer sheet will send her on a tirade where she’ll tell you how Selûne is the moon witch and how Shar is the greatest and whatnot.
Bypassing her and having any other companion read the prayer will yield the same result and not heading the warning will result in a -15 attitude and disapproval from Shadowheart which could also affect romance options. So, if you want to be spared from the whole Shar vs. Selûne history lesson and the wrath of Shadowheart, it is best to ungroup and have her stand elsewhere in the cave or avoid recruiting her altogether for this mission.
You can expect the same result with any cleric character that is loyal to Shar. However, they wouldn’t go on an endless tirade.
The loot inside Selûne’s Gilded Chest
Once a character has read the Selûnite Prayer Sheet, it grants them immunity from the ward protecting the chest and grants access to treasures within. The loot from the chest includes an ironic ‘bloodstone’, an idol of Selûne, and a silver necklace among other possible assorted items. Only two of these idols have been found so far in the game and their purpose is yet to be uncovered as players across the globe try to beat the game.
