During your journey in Baldur’s Gate 3, players get the quest to save the Grymforge Gnomes who are under the tyrannical control of the True Soul Nere. Interestingly, when you visit Grymforge to face True Soul Nere and where the gnomes are being held, you find that there has been a cave in, and True Soul Nere is now trapped behind the rubble. So now, to get to the other side and kill Nere or save him, you have to clear the rubble in Grymforge in Baldur’s Gate 3
How to clear the rubble in Grymforge in Baldur’s Gate 3
As you explore Grymforge in BG3 and get to the cave-in area where the Duergar are trying to excavate Nere, you can talk to the gnomes who are in miserable condition. Here, you need to talk to Lunkbug, one of the slaved gnomes. Talk to Lunkbug and get him to cooperate with you via persuasion or intimidation.
Upon cooperation, Lunkbug reveals that one of the gnomes, Philomeen, escaped and she has Rune Powder Vials on her which can be used to blow away the rubble at the site of the cave-in. These gnomes can’t go themselves to find Philomeen to get her help.
Now you have multiple ways to clear the rubble within the Grymforge area in BG3. We have mentioned all those methods below
Using your own Explosives
Before we delve into the whole process of finding Philomeen and getting Rune Powder Vials, let us make clear that the thing you need to clear out the rubble is explosives. If you already have any sort of explosive in your inventory, you can use that explosive to blow away the rubble and clear the cave-in in Baldur’s Gate 3.
As soon as you throw the explosive on the Grymforge rubble in Baldur’s Gate 3, the gnomes will run away, and the explosion will clear the rubble. Keep in mind that this rubble has HP of its own. You might need two or three explosives to clear the rubble if you are using your own explosives.
Get the Rune Powder Vials from Philomeen
After talking to Lunkbug and learning about Philomeen, players need to head back to the docks of Grymforge to find her. Start from the Underdark-Grymforge waypoint. From there, players need to head towards north, exactly west of the docks.
After crossing the docks, players can turn left, and here, they will find a slaughter site. You will find a lot of gnomes dead, and Duergar throwing their bodies off the dock into the sea. Pick the lock on the giant iron doors and enter the dining hall. We recommend that players wait until all the Duergar guards move away or intimidate them into leaving the area.
Inside the dining hall, head to the top left corner. Use your perception check to find a small button on the wall. Interact with it, and you will open a secret door that leads deeper into a cave.
Proceed down, and inside this gate, players will find another gate. Interact with this gate and use Sleight of Hand to unlock it. Inside, you will find Philomeen. Quick Save here. Trust us as things will go wrong.
Philomeen is vividly paranoid and is scared of you. She ran away from the imprisonment and is hiding here from her captives. When you talk to Philomeen, you need to be extra careful. Being paranoid, Philomeen will blow herself away with Rune Powder bombs if you rub her the wrong way.
Talk to Philomeen, and she will allow you to take only 1 Rune Powder Vial. This is the best you will get so take it and don’t push for more. If you get greedy and try to take more Rune Powder Vials, Philomeen will blow herself and you with her. That is not what we want. Take one Rune Powder Vial and be on your merry way as it is more than enough to clear the Grymforge rubble in Baldur’s Gate 3.
Head back to Grymforge and make your way to where the rubble has Nere and gnomes trapped. Throw the rune powder vial onto the rubble at the site of the cave-in. Now that the area is primed for detonation to clear the Grymforge rubble in Baldur’s Gate 3, all the gnomes will run away. Make sure you are at a safe distance, and then use a fire arrow or spell to ignite the Rune Powder vial.
This will trigger a huge explosion and destroy all the rubble blocking the path. Doing so will free True Soul Nere, and then you can decide whether you wish to kill him or side with him.
