Hi! Regarding Gale's last will and testament and his mention of his "collection of Netherese artefacts and tomes" (in this post), do you have any thoughts on how he acquired them, which artefacts he might have had, why he collected them, and if he was always drawn to godhood and Karsus or if he was just fascinated by Netherese magic? Do you think Gale always wanted to become a god? Do you think he knew what the Orb was? also, do you think Mystra knew about them? I think it's curious he bequeaths them to Elminster, the chief of her Chosen, given their volatile nature, and seems to think Elminster will be unsurprised by this. Lol sorry this ask is very rambly and multifaceted.
Pretty adventure Gale Picture Tax
Thank you so much for the ask!
Let’s start with the basics.
The Watchful Order of Magists and Protectors serves as Waterdeep’s “magic police.” Every spellcaster entering the city must register within a tenday or risk arrest and heavy fines (see City of Splendors: Waterdeep).
Netherese artifacts are treated with deep suspicion—near heresies in the eyes of the faithful to Mystra. Only Candlekeep, Blackstaff Tower, and the Watchful Order are considered competent (or foolhardy) enough to handle them (mentioned throughout Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and Candlekeep Mysteries).
Netheril fell in –339 DR, roughly 1,800 years before the events of Baldur’s Gate 3—for us, an in-world parallel might be relics of the late Roman Empire (see Lost Empires of Faerûn) ~ and Netherese relics would be of no value to non casters (mostly) so it’s not at all improbable that there are a non insignificant number of them almost anywhere one of Netheril’s cities crashed.
Gale himself says: “In the course of my studies of Netherese magic…” —the moment that set his tragedy in motion. So, at minimum, Gale has been studying Netheril; in truth, he’s been chasing it. Whether he sought godhood, or just insatiably pursued the secrets of the mages who came came before is a worthwhile discussion, and I think there is room for many interpretations. In Realms lore, when it comes to dangerous, world-shaping magic, Netheril and Myth Drannor are the twin pillars of human and elven mastery—the inevitable lodestones for any mage hungry enough to touch the divine (see Cormanthyr: Empire of the Elves and Netheril: Empire of Magic).
Now, on to my personal read.
Waterdeep quite literally sits on the bones of Netheril; Skullport, just beneath it, was built in the ruins of the Sargauth Enclave, whose mages became the infamous Skulls (see Skullport 2e). Netherese artifacts still surface there—traded, stolen, or found in the deep layers of Undermountain. For an ambitious young scholar, it would be like having a lost empire’s museum in his backyard.
So it isn’t difficult to picture a younger Gale being dispatched from Blackstaff Tower to retrieve one such item. He dislikes teaching, prefers solitude, and bristles at oversight—exactly the sort of mage who would leap at an assignment that promised fieldwork, danger, and the chance to return with a story no one else could tell. He could also have been tasked with securing the corrupt magic as Mystra’s chosen. Elminster was frequently dispatched to deal with errant powerful magics.
He just seemed to collect a few more than anyone knew. Notably, Gale never turned to his collection in his efforts to quell the Orb. Not a single trinket, relic, or tome from his trove was sacrificed to feed its hunger. He tells us his tower is free of magical clutter now—and yet he kept those artifacts (BG3, tower dialogue). That choice says everything: for all his hunger for power, he still saw those relics as something apart from utility.
Lily’s Gale, perhaps a little more prone to swagger than the broader fandom’s scholar, could easily be imagined as Waterdeep’s answer to Indiana Jones—all quick wit and unrepentant brilliance, with the occasional mage duel standing in for whip and Mauser pistol. The difference, of course, is that every artifact he unearths brings him a step closer to his own undoing.
**Gale’s possession of a small stash of Netherese trinkets—much like his casual acquaintance with Halaster Blackcloak—**is one of those spicy little details that hint he was never quite as devout as he lets on in Act I. Both are, after all, in quiet defiance of Mystra’s dogma. To the Lady of Mysteries, Netherese relics are an open wound and Halaster a walking blasphemy (see Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide 4e and Dungeon of the Mad Mage). Yet Gale keeps company with both, at least in spirit. It suggests that beneath the reverence lies a streak of dangerous curiosity—a man who believes he can love the goddess and still rewrite her commandments when they grow inconvenient.
And of course, Mystra must have known. As the goddess of the Weave, every spell and relic touched by her power thrums within her awareness. The hum of Netherese magic in Gale’s study could no more be hidden from her than a spark in the dark. That she allowed it to remain speaks volumes—perhaps she wished to see how far her Chosen would wander before he realized he’d left her light behind. (Mystra’s “portfolio sense,” or her ability to perceive all workings of the Weave, is referenced throughout Faiths & Avatars and Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3e, and expanded upon in Mystra’s Dogma section: “Nothing transpires in the Weave beyond her knowing.”)
As to why he’d leave them to Elminster—since you only see this if Gale has used the Orb to stop the Absolute—it makes sense that he would surrender them to Mystra’s trusted seneschal, having ended his life in obeisance to his goddess (BG3 epilogue). It’s a final act of order from a man built of defiance, tidying away his sins before stepping into her light.
If you didn’t see Gale’s will..here it is.
