You’re standing in Sorcerous Sundries, the air smells like old parchment and ozone, and you’re looking for a book that could literally unmake the world. Typical Tuesday in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you’ve got Gale in your party, you know he’s obsessed with the Annals of Karsus. He talks about it like it’s the holy grail of wizardry, which, to be fair, it kind of is. Karsus was the only mortal to ever achieve godhood, even if it lasted for about five seconds before he broke the entire weave of magic and crashed the Netherese empire into the dirt.
Most players stumble around the magic shop in Act 3 wondering where the hell the vault is. It’s not just sitting on a shelf. You have to break in. It’s a heist, basically.
The Annals of Karsus isn't just lore filler. It’s the mechanical trigger for Gale’s endgame path. Depending on what you do with this book, Gale either becomes a god, stays a mortal hero, or blows himself up. Honestly, the stakes are pretty high for a dusty old diary written by a dead guy with an ego the size of Waterdeep.
Getting Into the Sorcerous Vault
First things first. You need to get to the second floor of Sorcerous Sundries. Talk to Tolna Tome-Monger. She’s the grumpy librarian type who will tell you the book is forbidden and kept in the vaults. You can pickpocket her for the key, or just find your own way in. My favorite way? Go into the office on the second floor, hit the button behind the desk, and enter the portal.
Once you’re in the vault, things get weird. It’s a maze of doors with names that sound like they were picked by a pretentious philosophy major. Silverhand, Evocation, Illusion. To find the Annals of Karsus, you have to navigate this specific sequence. If you mess up, you get teleported back to the start or hit with traps. It’s annoying.
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Here is the exact path:
- Enter the Silverhand door.
- Go through the Evocation door.
- Turn around and go through the Wish door.
- Flip the lever inside.
- Head back and enter the Gate door.
Behind the Gate door, you’ll find the Karsus Vault. It’s not just the book in there. There’s a lot of high-tier loot, including the Staff of Cherished Necromancy, which is arguably one of the most broken items in the game if you like casting Blight for free. But the main prize is the Annals of Karsus.
What the Annals of Karsus Actually Tells You
When Gale reads the book, he learns about the Karsite Weave. It’s a shadow-magic alternative to the standard Weave controlled by Mystra. Karsus created it to bypass her restrictions. The book explains how to reforge the Crown of Karsus—the thing currently sitting on the Elder Brain's head—using the three Netherstones you’ve been hunting all game.
This is the turning point for Gale’s character arc.
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If you encourage him, he starts getting ideas. Divine ideas. He thinks he can succeed where Karsus failed because he has the "moral compass" Karsus lacked. It’s classic hubris. Mystra, Gale’s ex-goddess-girlfriend, is obviously not thrilled about this. She wants the crown returned to her so she can neutralize the threat.
The writing here is fantastic because the game doesn't explicitly tell you Gale is being a fool. It lets you decide if you want to support your friend's ambition or ground him in reality. If you give him the Annals of Karsus and tell him to go for it, expect a very different ending than if you tell him to seek Mystra's forgiveness.
The Secret To Surviving The Vault Traps
The vaults are loaded with "Knights" and pressure plates. If you have a high-dexterity character like Astarion, just keep him in hidden mode. Use the spell See Invisibility. There are hidden levers and chests everywhere.
Don't ignore the other books in the vault either. While the Annals of Karsus is the quest objective, the Tharchiate Codex is also in there. You need that to finish the "Search the Cellar" quest from Act 1 if you still have the Necromancy of Thay. Reading the Codex gives you a nasty curse that lowers your Constitution, but if you remove the curse with a spell, you get a permanent +20 Temporary Hit Points every time you long rest. It’s arguably more useful for your daily gameplay than the Karsus book itself.
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Why Gale Obsesses Over This Specific Tome
Karsus is the ultimate "cautionary tale" in Dungeons & Dragons lore. He cast a 12th-level spell—the only one to ever exist—to replace the goddess of magic. He succeeded for a moment, but since he was a mortal, he couldn't handle the influx of divine responsibility. Magic died. Flying cities fell. Millions died.
Gale sees the Annals of Karsus as a blueprint to fix his own mistake with the Netherese Orb in his chest. He thinks the crown can stabilize him or even make him a god so he doesn't have to live in fear of exploding.
It’s a deeply personal quest. You aren't just fetching an item; you’re deciding the fate of a man’s soul. If you let him read it, be prepared for his personality to shift. He gets more arrogant. He starts talking about "true power."
Actionable Steps for Your Playthrough
If you're currently standing in the middle of Act 3 and looking for this book, here is what you should do right now to ensure you don't miss anything.
- Bring Gale. Even if he isn't in your main party, swap him in before you enter the vault. He has unique dialogue and reactions that you’ll miss otherwise.
- Check the Tharchiate Codex. It’s in a different room (the Elminster section) of the same vault. Use the doors: Silverhand -> Abjuration -> Silver. Flip the lever there too.
- The Crown of Karsus choice. After reading the Annals of Karsus, Gale will eventually want to talk to Mystra at the Stormshore Tabernacle. Do this. It gives you the chance to influence his final decision before the endgame battle.
- Loot the scrolls. There are scrolls of Artistry of War and Curriculum of Strategy in the vaults. These are unique, one-of-a-kind spells. Give them to Gale to learn permanently. Artistry of War is basically a version of Magic Missile that hits like a freight train.
The Annals of Karsus represents the peak of Netherese arrogance, and how you handle it defines Gale's legacy. Whether you use it to challenge the gods or simply as a means to save the world and then bury the past, just make sure you don't trip on the fire traps on your way out of the basement.