How to Get Battered Lute to Wake up Art Cullagh in Baldur’s Gate 3

After interacting with the sleeping Art Cullagh who met Thaniel and has important information about them, you might be wondering how to wake him. It’s done by finding his lute in the House of Healing. Here’s how to get the Battered Lute to wake up Art Cullagh in Baldur’s Gate 3.

Baldur’s Gate 3: How to Get the Battered Lute to Wake Up Art Cullagh

After investigating Art Cullagh in his slumber and hearing that he interacted with Thaniel, the first thing you should do is go to your camp and notify Halsin. After all, Thaniel is the key to lifting the Shadow Curse as he described previously. You’ll learn that to wake Art Cullagh, you need an object to make him remember himself which is his trusty lute.

In conjunction with what the nearby NPC Jeh’lar has to say and Art’s letter which you’ll get through this interaction, Cullagh has been investigating the House of Healing. This is exactly where his Battered Lute is and where Halsin points us to go in the quest. It’s now being carried by Malus Thorm and we can get it by dealing with him in the House of Healing.

I want to point out that you can fail this quest if you progress too far into the Inflitrate Moonrise Towers main quest. Art will simply die from his affliction but you can still talk to him with the Speak With Dead spell. That aside, here’s how to get the lute and wake him up.

How to Wake Up Art Cullagh in BG3

The House will be marked on your map southwest from the Last Light Inn. Following the map, navigate south to the Masons Guild and the Grand Mausoleum portal rune. It’s in the northern point of the Mason’s Guild across a tree root bridge where you can enter the House of Healing through one of the windows. The goal here is to reach a ladder leading down into the house. I highly recommend selecting your highest Charisma and Intelligence character as Persuasion and Investigation/Religion are the most important skill checks here. Persuasion more so than others.

The encounter involves Malus Thorm and his nurses who are into horrific experiments. While this can be a tough fight, you can deal with them without combat if you convince them to experiment on each other or on Thorm. You can do this with a high enough Persuasion check. There’s a really high Persuasion check with a DC of 21 to convince Thorm to off himself. I would suggest reading the Surgery and Physiology: A Sharran’s Primer book in the nearby room to the north to make the DC lower.

Whether through high Persuasion or combat, once you deal with Malus you can take the Battered Lute from him. Now it’s all about returning to the Last Light Inn, equipping the lute, and playing it to wake up Art. Your Performance skill won’t influence the interaction. Talk to Art and then meet with Halsin to finish the quest.

This concludes my guide on how to get the Battered Lute to wake up Art Cullagh in Baldur’s Gate 3. For more BG3 tips, check out our House of Healing distressed patient guide and best Speak With Dead interactions.