Dwarves are trying to reclaim an underground site as their new home, but one of their friends has gone missing. And the living dead are rising to oppose the Dwarves as well.
The entrance to the Dwarven Digsite is at 23 on the east side of Coast Way Crossing. You'll come across a Dwarf named Daran Highhammer fighting a couple of Zombies. He'll explain that he was hired to clear out the Digsite for some Dwarven Clerics, but now considers himself in over his head on account of a substantial undead presence in the Digsite.
You start off at 1. Go east and you'll encounter two Dwarven Clerics led by Brother Deepvein fighting numerous Zombies at 2. You can help if you wish. Deepvein will explain some of the backstory for this place, including the unfortunate fate of his friend named Gurn Coldhearth.
A Hill Giant named Semahl will be locked in battle with a bunch of undead at 4, including a Wraith and a Wight that both can level-drain. You can save him by attacking the undead. He'll express regret that his "little friends" are now dead. You can tell him that some of them are still alive and are near the entrance. He'll go over to him. Return to 2 and witness the friendly reunion to receive 3,000xp.
Or you may kill him, either now or later, if you want to side with the undead against the Dwarves.
There will be plenty of monsters to fight. Carrion Crawlers and/or Mutant Crawlers will be at spots marked 7. Hordes of undead will be at spots marked 8.
You'll have to fight a few Skeleton Archers, Tattered Skeletons and Armored Skeletons at 4.
There will be another massive horde of undead to fight at 5. The Skeleton Archers in the room at 22 will shoot arrows at you if they can see you. But you can yourself return fire with missile weapons and spells of your own.
Several Burning Skeletons that can score bonus fire damage will stand guard at 7.
A portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire is at 8. It will summon a couple of creatures from the Plane whenever you come to it, such as Lesser Fire Elementals and Fire Salamanders. If you want to do the good pathway of this quest, which means clearing out the undead for good, then it is advisable to clear the pathway to this Portal free of enemies ahead of time.
There will be a horde of undead in the room at 15, including Skeleton Archers, Zombies, Greater Ghasts, Wights, Tattered Skeletons, Armored Skeletons and Shadows.
There will be Armored Skeletons and Bonebats, as well as a Boneblade and a Shadowed Soul, to fight at 17.
There will be two shelves at 18. The top one has a Failed Phylactery, which simply indicates that Coldhearth has made more than one attempt at becoming a Lich, and Notes on a Failed Experiment which provides a clue that Coldhearth's phylactery can be destroyed by bringing it to the Elemental Plane of Fire.
You'll have to fight an Imbued Wight and four Drowned in Blood in the room at 23.
There will also be four pillars in the room. Each has a symbol etched onto it. They need to be manipulated in the following order for purposes of opening the door at 28:
Snow at 26.
Cracked and Fragmenting Leaf at 24.
Sun at 27.
Leaf at 25.
Manipulating them in the wrong order will cause Mephits to appear and attack. And you'll have to do the sequence all over again if you want to open the door.
There will be a horde of Drowned in Blood, along with a couple of Bonebats and a Shadowed Soul, to fight at 29. There will be a trap a little further south.
Just clicking on the door at 30 and opening it will result in you witnessing another Lich help Gurn Coldhearth transform into a new Lich. Witnessing the event means you'll be able to speak to Brother Deepvein at 2 in the Dwarven Digsite about Coldhearth becoming a Lich for purposes of the good pathway through the Quest. But you'll need something more than just witnessing the transformation if you want to convince Brother Deepvein.
Gurn Coldhearth as a Lich will be at 31. He will make an offer to you if speak to him.
Rejecting his offer leads to a fight. But a party at the level you will likely be at will not on its own resources be anywhere near capable of defeating him. You'll need to return to Brother Deepvein to obtain a resource that enables you to overcome Coldhearth. So if want to take the good path through this Quest, it is recommended that you do not speak to Coldhearth, and instead return to the Dwarven Digsite through the exit at 1 as soon as you've opened the door at 30.
At this juncture, either pathway requires a return to the Dwarven Digsite.
You will now be at 13 in the Dwarven Digsite. The chest at 5 can only be unlocked with the Chest Key.
It has two items. One of them is a Parchment that provides some background, how Gurn Coldhearth first learned of the other Lich in the Repository.
The other is the Journal of Gurn Coldhearth. It confirms Gurn Coldhearth's intentions of becoming a Lich, and can be helpful if you need to convince Brother Deepvein of what Coldhearth has become.
Go to Brother Deepvein at 2. Either showing him the Journal of Gurn Coldhearth, or having Semahl interject on your behalf after having saved him at 4, will convince Deepvein that Coldhearth has become a Lich. If your Hero of Baldur's Gate is a Dwarf, a Cleric, or a Paladin, then you can convince him without either the Journal of Gurn Coldhearth or Semahl interjecting on your behalf. If you have none of these things in your favor and your Bhaalspawn's Charisma is less than 9, then Deepvein and his Clerics will attack you. If you have none of the aforementioned things in your favor and your Charisma is 9 of better, then he'll brush you off without attacking you. But you'll still have to find a way to convince him.
If you do convince Brother Deepvein that Coldhearth has become a Lich, he'll give you a gemstone called The Secret Revealed. It can do some damage to a Lich, and completely tear down its defenses, but it has only three charges of this power. However, you can bring it back to Deepvein and have him restore its charges if you run out.
In the off-hand very unlikely chance you succeed in killing Coldhearth on your own without The Secret Revealed and before coming back to Brother Deepvein, then Brother Deepvein's inclination will be to attack you. Your Hero of Baldur's Gate being a Dwarf or a Gnome or a Halfling, or having previously saved Semahl, are ways to avoid Deepvein attacking you.
Go through the south tunnel. Kill the undead at 8 and the Umber Hulks and Mutated Crawlers at 11 if you haven't already done so. Get the fifth Amulet of the Keeper of Secrets Under the Mountain from the body that the Umber Hulks and Mutated Crawlers had been standing over. Now return to the Repository of Undeath through the entrance at 13.
You'll now be back at 1 in the Repository of Undeath. Approach the door at 30. Make sure you've cleared out every other monster in the room before the next step. I would also recommend casting Haste on the party beforehand.
Now go ahead and speak to Gurn Coldhearth at 31. He'll put up his spell buffs and start casting Time Stop with the intention of annihilating the party. Use a charge from The Secret Revealed on him. You should be able to kill him quickly. He'll come back to life and attack again, but with a Hasted party you should be able to do what you need to before that happens.
Grab the Ancient Key from off the floor where you killed him, and use it to open the door at 32.
Go up the hallway going northeast and click twice on the phylactery at 33 to obtain the Coldhearth Phylactery.
Now run as fast as you can for the portal to the Elemental Plane of Fire at 8. You won't run into any monsters on the way there if you cleared it out beforehand like I recommended. That is, at least until you reach the portal itself. A few more fire creatures (e.g. Fire Elementals, Fire Salamanders or Fire Mephits) will have spawned by then. But you can fight them and have the character carrying the Coldhearth Phylactery click twice on the portal itself to throw the Coldhearth Phylactery into the Elemental Plane of Fire. That will destroy Coldhearth for good.
Now go back to the Dwarven Digsite and report your success to Brother Deepvein. He will reward you with the Helmet of Dumathoin and a Scroll of Greater Restoration. Ask him for help against Caelar Argent, and he will agree to come aid you against the Crusade along with several more Dwarves in the future.
If you bring him all five Amulets of the Keeper of Secrets Under the Mountain, it becomes a question of what he rewards you with. If you mention the threat of Caelar, he will send you undead allies at some point during your conflict with Caelar's Crusade but provide no other reward. Most other replies get the Dread Hammer as a reward, but not his help against Caelar.
The reply "These weren't easy to get" opens the risky possibility of getting both rewards. If the main protagonist has a Strength of less than 18 when making that reply, Gurn will attack. If the Bhaalspawn has at least 18 Strength, Gurn will again want to force a choice between his aid or the Dread Hammer. If the Bhaalspawn at this point demands both rewards with less than 18 Charisma, then Gurn will attack. Gurn will give both rewards if the Bhaalspawn has 18 Charisma.
If you choose a reply other than directly asking for his aid, or "These weren't easy to get", and Edwin is in the party, then Edwin will convince Gurn to give both rewards.
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"*JUSTICE was my cause. The FLESH... the FLESH could not remain. Yet JUSTICE needed to be SERVED. There was the DEATH of flesh, but the WILL would not let go... there were MORE to be punished. ALWAYS more. JUSTICE... JUSTICE would not have been served by my DEATH.*" -Vhailor, Planescape: Torment
