Enver Gortash was the Chosen of Bane who played a role in the Absolute crisis during the late 15th century DR. He created the Steel Watch, an army of clockwork sentinels that would "protect" the city of Baldur's Gate, while at the same time scheming to ascend as its tyrannical ruler.[1]
Personality[]
Gortash was an expert manipulator and cunning individual, having demonstrated exceptional intelligence from a young age. He was however extremely hateful, so much so that even his own mother wanted little to do with him.[1]
He viewed others only for the value they could offer him, whether as allies or pawns to be manipulated.[1]
Possessions[]
He wore a rather flamboyant suit and wielded the crossbow called the Fabricated Arabalest. Like his god Bane, Gortash wore over his right hand the powerful gauntlet of the Tyrant, within which was set one of the three nether stones.[1]
Activities[]
Lord Gortash in political office.
Prior to his involvement with the cult of the Absolute, Gortash was a weapons merchant and known slaver. He made a name for himself by selling weapons made out of infernal iron along the Chionthar Valley, ousting the black market leaders that held the market prior to Gortash – the Knights of the Shield, as well as the Zhentarim. This put Gortash on the horizon of the Guild with its bursar Uktar filing reports on his activities for the guildmaster Nine-Fingers Keene.[1]
Gortash became a self-styled strategic advisor to the lords of Baldur's Gate. Though he held a minor role and was often disregarded by those like Grand Duke Ulder Ravengard, who deemed his advice worthless, Gortash harbored grander aspirations. Eager to move beyond his advisory capacity, he aimed to take center stage in the political theater of Baldur's Gate.[1]
Relationships[]
Enver Gortash was born to Dravo and Sally Flymm, proprietors of Flymm's Cobblers in Baldur's Gate. When he was a young boy, his parents sold him to a warlock, who in turn was acting on the devil Raphael's behalf, making Raphael his adoptive father.[1]
At some point before 1482, Gortash took into his employ the tiefling Karlach as a personal bodyguard. He later betrayed the young woman, by selling her to Zariel, the archdevil ruler of Avernus, who implanted an infernal engine in place of her heart. This infernal engine would serve as a prototype for the Steel Watch, recognizable to the clockwork sentinels.[1]
In order to accomplish his goal of ruling over the Sword Coast, Gortash entered into an alliance with two of his fellow chosen, Ketheric Thorm, a follower of Myrkul, god of death, and the individual known as The Dark Urge, a killer and faithful (and progeny) of Bhaal, the god of murder[1] After he came back to the city with the establishment of the Cult of the Absolute, he placed an illithid tadpole in his parents' brains, turning them into puppets that could do little more than praise their exalted son.[1]
History[]
Enver Gortash's rise to power.
As a child, Enver was sold by his parents to an unknown warlock so that they could pay off their heavy debts. The warlock delivered the young boy to their patron, Raphael. Gortash was kept and raised in the dungeon of Raphael's lair, called the House of Hope.[1] The dungeon keeper, Nubaldin, tortured the young Gortash for entertainment from time to time. At some point, Gortash escaped the House of Hope when Nubaldin made a careless mistake.[1]
In the Year of Three Ships Sailing, 1492 DR, Lord Gortash and his closest ally―the Bhaalspawn murderer known as the Dark Urge―formulated a plot to enslave an elder brain that dwelt in the depths beneath Moonrise Towers. They stole a powerful Netherese artifact, the Crown of Karsus from the vault of the archdevil Mephistopheles, using it to enslave the elder brain. The two formed a cult dedicated to a "new god" known as the Absolute, causing the enslaved elder brain to send the cultists visions, urging them to obediently follow the commands of the god's "Chosen." This plot came to be known as the Accelerated Grand Design, or the Absolute Crisis.[1]
The Dark Urge carried out a series of murders in Baldur's Gate, creating great instability within the city and surrounding lands. Their new ally, the near-immortal Myrkulite general Ketheric Thorm raised an army of cultists, monstrous humanoids, and undead at Moonrise Towers, which then marched Shadow-cursed lands to Baldur's Gate. Gortash would be proclaimed the first Archduke of Baldur's Gate, and emerge as its savior, "defeating" the grave threat with his own valiant army. The Dark Urge, for their part, was attacked at Moonrise Towers by their erstwhile allies, implanted with an illithid tadpole that their allies hoped would be able to subdue them, and replaced in the newfangled triumvirate of the cult by Orin, the granddaughter of Bhaal.[1]
The Absolute Adversaries confronting Lord Gortash.
Gortash and his allies managed to capture Duke Ulder Ravengard as he fled the city of Elturel, and imprisoned him beneath Moonrise Towers. The loss of the Flaming Fist's leader, along with the threat posed by the cult, threw the city into chaos. Gortash provided the Baldurian people a solution to their plight: the Steel Watch, an army of automatons under his command that would protect everyone within the city; this elevated him from mere councillor to Lord. He sought to be named the city's first Archduke, who would rule in place of the Baldurian Council of Four.[1]
Appendix[]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
Video Games
External Links[]
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the following links do not necessarily represent the views of the editors of this wiki, nor does any lore presented necessarily adhere to established canon.
Enver Gortash article at the Baldur's Gate 3 Community Wiki, a community wiki for Baldur's Gate 3.
