Baldur's Gate III (2)

[Calemyr]

So far my sensation is that the tadpole doesnt transform people at all, but does something else to them. I havent found any sort of "illithid meter" yet, but i know that leaning on the tadpole's powers is supposed to, at least theoretically, allow it to influence you more in some way. Right now my assumption is that means increasing the DCs of checks to resist when the tadpole tries to control you. I ran into somebody else who had a tadpole, but they were dying. When they died, the tadpole came out and i tried to crush it, but i failed the check to assert my will and had to let it go.

The "Illithid Meter" and "Affinity Meters" are still hidden, yes. We'll see if that changes in time, but...

As for the nature of the tadpoles, I found something interesting with Auntie Ethel.

Spoiler: Auntie Ethel

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You first find can this eccentric old alchemist at the druid circle, selling potions and whatnot. You can try to rattle her with your current situation, where she'll admit she can't help you with what she has on hand, but her home to the north might have just the thing and she can meet you there. (Right now her animations are really awkward in this scene, but now I can't tell if this is just early access hijinks or intentional clues something's... off.

North of the Blighted Village you'll encounter her again, being accosted by a pair of young farmers trying to force her to give them their sister back. Side with them and Ethel will drop the act and teleport away, promising you'll find no help in her home. Side with her and the farmers will freak and try to kill you. I used the knockout option to take them down non-lethally, but Ethel still reacted like I killed them.

North of this encounter is a beautiful garden region filled with vibrant green grass, hummingbirds, and sheep. That is, unless you pass a DC 15 check (I saw Arcana, Nature, or Investigation, probably other skills can be used as well). Pass it and you realize this isn't a garden but a fetid swamp filled with brambles, mosquitos, and murderous redcaps who say "Baaa" if you try to talk to them (it's horrific and hilarious at the same time). If you call the redcaps out on this, they'll attack. There's half a dozen of them, they're level 4, and they're very aggressive, so you probably won't survive this option. The water is also filled with traps that do a lot of damage and confer nasty status ailments like "open wound", "diseased", and "rotting". So quicksave before you go too offroad.

Inside her hut, Ethel will be cordial and friendly, as long as you keep the conversation on the tadpoles and nothing else. She'll offer to get rid of them for you. Her price is simple: one of your eyes - she'll give it back and you probably won't even notice a difference in its effectiveness. If you agree, she'll start by taking her natural form: a hag - the big, green sharp-clawed kind... If you let her, she'll pluck your eye out, cast something on it, and put it back in your skull (granting you the "Hag Eyed" tag"), then try to get get to work on the tadpole, only to fail. This freaks Ethel out, and she claims your tadpole is corrupted and she won't touch the the "Netherese" crap you've got swimming in your grey matter. She hastily calls you a dead <noun> walking, hands you a long, thin bone in case you want to fish it out yourself, and hastily leaves (with the farmer's sister in tow).

So... yeah. Apparently the tadpoles you have are "corrupted", even by the standards of the Illithid. Lucky you. This explains why you're not halfway through ceremorphosis already, but the outcome is probably not particularly happy nonetheless.

This is one of three of the things I've found that seemed worth sharing. The other two are the Shrine of Jergal and the Book of the Dead.