House of Grief – a location you will be able to access through the quest "Investigate the House of Grief." This is the final task in the personal quest chain of Shadowheart, called "Daughter of Darkness." You will delve deeper into your companion's past and learn about her parents.

How to Get to the House of Grief

To start the quest, head to Rivington. Shadowheart will ask you to find a Sharran spy named Ferg Drogher and interrogate him. You can find the man to the south of Rivington near the Requisitioned Barn. He will be standing on the road next to a tent with a green canopy.

Ferg will tell you about the Sharran monastery located in the House of Grief in the Lower City district. This will be your next destination.

Completing the House of Grief

Undergo the Heartwarding

Head to the Lower City and find the House of Grief on the map. It is approximately in the upper-left corner of the map, near Lady Jannath's Estate. Go inside the house and talk to Miri. She will tell you that "first, you must undergo the heartwarding." You can proceed further only if Shadowheart is in your party. It is recommended to have her with you in advance since she is an important character for this quest.

You can bypass the ritual only if you deceive the guard watching the entrance to the adjacent room and manage to sneak past him. Lockpick the door and proceed inside.

Alternatively, follow Miri. Choose Shadowheart as your in-game character and sit on the granite bench. You can refuse Shadowheart's involvement in the ritual and participate in it yourself, but she won't appreciate it, and you will lose trust points. After the ritual, Shadowheart will receive a temporary debuff or "Inspiration," depending on the character's origin.

Descend into the Cloister of Sombre Embrace

After the ritual, descend into the basement, which will lead you to the Cloister of Sombre Embrace. As you walk through the corridors, you will enter a large domed hall where you will encounter Viconia DeVir, a character who has appeared in the series before. Viconia is the Mother Abbess of the Shar.

Next, you will have to make a choice: betray Shadowheart or refuse Viconia's request.

Deal with Viconia

The Abbess will offer you a deal: the hero hands over Shadowheart, and in return, you receive support in the fight against the Absolute. The choice you make largely depends on your relationship with Shadowheart. If you want to maintain friendly relations and even enter the romantic path, do not betray her under any circumstances. However, cooperation with Viconia will not yield significant results.

What follows each of the choices:

• Agree with Viconia and hand over Shadowheart. She will react poorly to your betrayal and immediately leave the group. Even if you agree with Viconia, she will become aggressive towards the hero when you try to examine Shadowheart's parents in the mirror.
• Refuse Viconia and fight her. The battle will start by default if you respond with a refusal. You will be able to continue exploring the location and complete Shadowheart's storyline quest.

Fight Viconia

Refusing Viconia is the most logical choice, even if you don't plan to get closer to Shadowheart. It provides more narrative opportunities, grants access to the entire location, and keeps the companion in your team.

The battle with Viconia will be quite challenging. Follow these basic rules:

• In addition to Viconia, there will be other Sharrans in the hall. You can pre-conspire with them to make the fight easier, or you can simply ignore them. Once you lower Viconia's health to a minimum, the battle will end. Killing the Sharrans won't affect anything.
• To have the opportunity to position your characters in advance, talk to Viconia when Shadowheart is not in your party. She will ask you to bring your companion, giving you time to plan your battle tactics.
• At the beginning of the battle, Viconia will be invulnerable to direct attacks. She will only take damage from AoE abilities.
• Shadowheart will receive the status of "Lost Heart" and will receive constant critical damage from Viconia.
• Try to deal with Abbess Viconia as quickly as possible. If the battle drags on, she will use the ability "Divine Intervention" with significant AoE damage.
• Viconia can turn invisible and regenerate some health. To interrupt her healing, attack her.
• The Abbess is immune to radiant damage, and the Sharrans are immune to blinding.

Kill or Spare Viconia

After defeating Viconia, you will have the opportunity to determine her fate: kill her or spare her life. The latter option is unremarkable and doesn't bring anything useful, except for the approval of Halsin and Jaheira. Killing Viconia will be approved by Astarion, and you can loot her corpse for valuable equipment.

• Rare "Viconia's Priestess Robe" - provides a bonus to stealth checks.
• Very rare "Handmaiden's Mace" - increases the hero's strength, deals bludgeoning and poison damage.
• Legendary "Viconia's Walking Fortress" - allows you to make a retaliatory attack when receiving melee damage and can knock down an enemy.

Talk to Nocturne

From this point, you can freely explore the monastery and loot all useful items and chests.

Explore the monastery's rooms until you come across Nocturne. Before talking to her, add Shadowheart to your party so that the tiefling can tell her more about her forgotten past. Keep in mind that Nocturne will disappear the day after Viconia's death, so don't delay the conversation with her.

In the conversation with Nocturne, you will learn a few sweet things about Shadowheart's childhood: her pet mouse, the reason for the scar on her elbow, her unusual hairstyle, and the secret place she used to escape for solitude.

Find Shadowheart's Parents

In addition to notes that shed light on your companion's past, you will be able to meet her parents by entering the Chamber of Loss. The entrance will be closed with a door stating that only those who have lost a father can enter.

You can open the door in several ways:

• Place items worth 1,000 gold (or simply all your money) on the altar.
• Pass a Dexterity check and lockpick the door with tools.
• Open it with the Silver Key, which you can loot from a Sharran's corpse. It will be in the hall after the battle with Viconia.

Inside, you will discover Shadowheart's parents, Arnell and Emmeline. Talk to them and decide their fate:

• Kill Shadowheart's parents. Their death will lift the curse from Shadowheart, and it's the only reasonable reason to do so. She will be free, but she will regret her decision later. She will also kill her parents if you offer her the choice.
• Persuade Shadowheart not to kill her parents. After this, they will be in your camp and able to talk to their daughter. After defeating the Absolute, they will settle in a quiet village and continue their peaceful life.

The parents themselves will insist that Shadowheart should kill them. If you leave them alive, the girl's mark won't disappear. If her parents die, Shadowheart's fate will depend on the deity she follows:

• Shar. Shadowheart will lose all memories of her parents and will take charge of the temple. After defeating the Absolute, she will remain with the temple and serve it to the end.
• Selûne. The girl's parents will turn into shining fireflies that will always fly beside her.

Alternative outcome: Kill Shadow heart's parents outside of dialogue on your own. You will immediately lose all relations with her, and upon returning to camp, she will announce her departure from the party.

Mirror of Loss

Shadowheart's parents were tied to the Mirror of Loss, which is now free. Interact with it to gain two attribute points. This is a nice bonus for completing Shadowheart's quests.