Speaking in Forked Tongues is a Quest in Divinity: Original Sin II. Speak to the burning chest in Stonegarden cemetary and find a way to open it.
Important NPCs
Speaking in Forked Tongues Objectives
- Move the chest from the fire.
- Speak to the chest.
- Find the password.
- Open the chest.
Speaking in Forked Tongues Walkthrough
In Stonegarden, you can find a lizard chest in between two fire-breathing statues. Move it out the flame so you can speak to it.
Let a lizard speak to it (the Red Prince will do), and you will learn it requires a password to open. The password can be learned from the salamander at Ryker's mansion, but it has to be a lizard character with both the Pet Pal talent and the "Scholar" tag. Fane's Mask of the Shapeshifter can NOT be used in this case (this has been patched out). You need the Red Prince specifically. With enough persuasion ability, you can also pass a speech check to make the chest open for you. Finding the password from the salamander gives 9650XP though.
Alternatively, Fane's mask can be used by a character with high enough persuasion to turn into a lizard, try to reason with the chest and convince it to open. 3875XP.
Alternatively, use an Elf or Mask of the Shapeshifter to turn into an Elf and eat the disembodied leg of Consul Zur to learn her memories of the song/password. It is located in Ryker's basement underneath a pile of body parts. Opening the chest will grant 3875XP and complete the quest.
Alternatively you can destroy the chest by attacking it. This will grant less experience but will close the quest with the remark "we opened the chest".
Warning: If you lockpicked the chest before getting the quest, you can no longer talk to the chest and finish the quest normally, however you can then destroy the chest to force the quest to close.
Tips & Tricks
- Teleport the chest out from the flames
- A Lizard Scholar can persuade the chest to open. Fane and Sebille can do it while wearing the face of a Lizard. Persuasion check: 3.
- Smashing it gets the loot but does not solve the quest, noble lizard with petpal does not qualify to get the password.
- A Scholar elf may learn a song from gravekeeper, which can open the chest (?)
- Consul Zur's leg can be found at Ryker's basement, eat it will taught you the song/password. The leg can be found on the table on X:596 Y:787, make sure you use alt to see if it's the right body part and if it's rotten or not. (to be verified for me its was under the table on X:585 Y:782)
Anonymous
- Anonymous
I lockpicked it but then found out you get more xp for using the password
- Anonymous
Ate the leg with sybille, didn't get the option to sing the password, wtf?
- Anonymous
Fane or I assume any character with the scholar tag can just use the mask of the shapeshifter to turn into a lizard, this has not been patched out like it says above. Unless somehow one of my mods... unpatched it? Which I doubt.
- Anonymous
I ate the disembodied leg on the table opposite the big bone pile in Rykard’s basement chambers. This was Consul Zara’s leg and she uttered the password. I ate it with Sibelle and using her I spoke to the chest and the option was available to use Zara’s words to open the chest and compete the quest. No need for Red Prince at all! Just and elf and you just use them to speak to the chest on the follow up.
- Anonymous
alternative... use face shifter mask ,turn lizard with good enough speech skills+int as its owner rather see its treasure in any lizzard claws... then risk it ending up in an apes hands.
advice from Amoth oth ras Fane ^^
- Anonymous
with a lizard character speak to the salamander in Ryker's mansion and he will give you the password
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
you can complete the quest with sebille in party and equp the shapshifter mask to turn into a lizard and with +4 persuasion pick the option that her master is long dead and that will complete the quest and allow you to keep the loot
- Anonymous
Remember you can always change your talent using the mirror in the lady vengeance. The first option is easier provided that you had the red prince in your party
PC: Definitive Edition: Completed with Fane [Scholar] tag and Lizard face, Persuasion 3. (Chose reincarnated persuasion option)
- Anonymous
i just straight up smashed the chest, got the unique loot and completed the quest? Seems like they made this quest less tedious
- Anonymous
I managed to complete this without talking to anyone but the chest itself. Red Prince + Memory Persuasion does the trick and the chest makes an exeption and opens. Nice loot inside.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
some update needed since both quests were refer to different dismembered legs.. the chest refer to conzul zur’s leg while the lizard spirit on his leg..so yeah both quests can be closed without effecting each other...on side note, use the same character that ate the leg and in elf transformation to talk to the chest if not the dialog options will not trigger.
- Anonymous
In DE, used teleport to pull the chest out of the fire. Used Red Prince to talk to the chest and tried all the chat options and got to a persuasion check (Intelligence, Memory, Wits). Had 5 Persuasion and 15 Wits and passed check, unlocking the chest. This does not give max XP but will finish the quest (need to get song for additional 7725 XP).
- Anonymous
In DE, if you give Sebille Fane's mask and transform into a Lizard, she understands the chest.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
In DE, only the Red Prince or a Custom Lizard with Scholar Tag can get the song from Xiuh (also requires Pet Pal). Total max XP for this quest if you can obtain the song is 11600 XP (7725 XP is awarded for getting song from Xiuh + 3875 XP for opening the chest). Otherwise, the max XP for this quest is 3875 XP.
- Anonymous
The salamander won't teach my Red Prince the song, I have no idea why. "You feel like it's trying to tell you something, but you've no idea what..."
- Anonymous
I teleported the chest to a safer place not knowing it will break after. Guess that is one way to finish the quest
- Anonymous
if you already picked the lock on the chest, which is super easy to do, without ever realizing you can "talk" to a treasure chest...wtf..the quest marker will stay incomplete and the lizard will refuse to talk to you even if you use fane's mask... however, as someone below suggested, throwing the chest back into the fire and then bashing it with a weapon, will complete the quest, but it's worth 3875 xp, not 20,000
- Anonymous
if you have a party going for you it mathers who tryed picklocking it i pickloed with loshe "she is my rouge type character" and i can still talk to it with others in the party everyone has thier own new dialog with most npc's that isnt tied into main quests that being said even some mainquest npc's are included if you didnt fisnish thier quests yet he/she will still say oh hi! like its the first time again when you start conversation with another character just so you know
- Anonymous
Easy approach: Teleport the chest out of the flame, have the lizard prince talk to it (4 persuasions needed), and tell the chest that you have the authority to open the chest (because you are the prince). It'll open for you and you loot the chest. No other quests needed.
- Anonymous
To clarify. The point isn't to have A lizard to talk to Xiuh (red salamander at Ryker's mansion). It's to have THE Red Lizard. A royalty. It working with Fane mask was a "bug" and "fixed" on Definitive Edition. To be able to talk to the fancy salamander and it share its secret, it need to acknowledge you as a majesty. If you don't have Red Prince in your group, you can either 1) eat the disembodied lizard leg from Stranger in a Strange Land or 2) get your way into Ryker's basement by accepting his quest to retrieve a tablet from Blackpits (after this and after leaving and coming back, the basement hatch will be uncovered and a servant will give you a note telling Ryker is waiting for you down there). At the north part of the basement, among other body parts, there'll be a disembodied leg that will teach you the song. The female lizard spirit near the chest tells you "an elf" didn't left empty handed. Luckly "an elf" left a leg...
- Anonymous
The salamander wouldn’t tell me the password, even though I talked to it with the Red Prince that has pet pal...
- Anonymous
If you picked the chest, and lost 20,000 xp doing so, you can still finish the mission by talking to the lizard thing as a lizard with pet pal, then go back to the chest and destroy it while its in the flames. You will achieve full xp for the quest as well as remove it from your quest logs
- Anonymous
Okay so i talked to the gravekeeper and talked about the song but that option was not given on the chest.
As said below, using Fane's mask does not give you the password in the definitive edition
- Anonymous
If you lockpicked the chest before you got the quest and you can no longer talk to the chest, the way to close the quest is to move the chest out of the fire, rightlick Attack it and destroy it. the quest closes then
- Anonymous
I wouldn't mind getting Pet Pal if the points weren't so few and far between. Of course, I'd prefer mnemonics, or attribute/talent points, or leech, or comeback kid, or extra vitality for my tank (lizard character with the scholar tag) via warfare, or... ...I still have a squirrel chasing after me in spirit form but I've yet to talk to him because he's too snooty to speak with Ifan and I've wanted things other than Pet Pal on my main. Like loremaster, this should be a one party member and done thing. I'm not putting it on Ifan, Red Prince, and my main.
- Anonymous
If you wanted to talk to the salamander, as a lizard with pet pal, do it before you kill Ryker, bc after I did that the salamander didn't give me the password
If you don't have Red Prince in your party, bashing it open still gives 3875XP.
- Anonymous
I wonder if the name of the chest, Thrice Bound, is inspired buy the Kingkiller Chronicles which features a similarly named and just as complexly sealed Thrice Locked chest
- Anonymous
In the Definitive Edition, using Fane´s mask doesn´t work, I used it with Sebille for the Scholar tag. I needed to respec the Red Prince in order to get the password.
- Anonymous
You HAVE to talk to Xiuh before killing Ryker. after you kill Ryker Xiuh will refuse to talk to you. Then your only option will be to lockpick it witch atm don't close the quest
- Anonymous
I am not sure if there is really leg of Consul Zur is not at Ryker's basement. It may have been looted outside in Stone Garden and got mixed up with all the body parts in Ryker's Private Chamber.
Just respec any lizard (or undead as lizard) with Pet Pal and speak to Xiuh will be a better way of getting the password to the chest and close the quest.
- Anonymous
I should have done something wrong. I was not aware it was a quest (the close chest) so i teleported out of flames, and when i couldn't open it i left for later. I did the Ryker's quest, killing him, got the source point, collected anything from his house, killed xiuh (as he refused to speak with me aka Fane with pet pal talent), then i get back to the chest. I opened without any password (it didn't ask), but i can't close the mission. So my advice: do not follow my path, do not kill Xiuh it's worthless. :)
- Anonymous
You can play as Fane, transform into a Lizard and it will count as being a Lizard for the quest steps.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
Don't break it like I did. Then you can't complete the quest.
- Anonymous
You can it it without schoolar tag, but if you use shapeshifting when you must eat and speak with chest in elf form.
- Anonymous
I can confirm what another post said. There's a Disembodied Leg on a table down in Ryker's basement that, when eaten by my Scholar elf, granted the password for the chest. This is not the same leg you dig up for the "Stranger in a Strange Land" quest, and the quest won't update after you eat the leg. But when you next speak to the chest, the option will be there. I don't know if you need to eat the leg after speaking to the chest for the first time, nor do I know if a non-Scholar elf can do it.
- Anonymous
This is a silly quest, I have Fane in my party and I just lockpicked the chest. No password necessary. But the quest didn't close after I looted the chest.
- Anonymous
The silly thing about this quest is that lizard characters need "Pet Pal" to speak to the salamander, Xiuh. If he's speaking ancient tongue, a language which you know. But I suppose Larian gonna Larian
- Anonymous
Inside the chest, I got an unidentified legendary wand, about 500 gold and a random potion
- Anonymous
When you speak to Xiuh the salamander, one of the dialogue options is "Visitors? Ask who comes to see Ryker." That doesn't follow from the previous statements as there was no mention of visitors. Very weird.
- Anonymous
Even if you talk to the chest first with a non-lizard, you will write in your quest journal that it requires a password. Hmm, how did you know? Weird.
- Anonymous
I found Consul Zur's leg in Ryker's basement. That leg taught me a song and finally I could open it.
You should open the chest in elf form, not lizard form (If you use Shapeshifter)
- Anonymous
You can convince the chest to open up (as lizard) If you got high enough persuation
- Anonymous
Simply said, as the red Prince, that I was her mistress' incarnation. Chest said she wishes I was more female or some such but opened up fine.
- Anonymous
i talked to the gravekeeper as a scholar elf and she was singing a melody when i first talked to her. when i went back to the chest, a new dialogue option popped up about hearing a lizard sing a song and the chest opened. this would be the easiest way to open it i think.
do not eat the lizard limb as it is required for another quest. (you're supposed to throw the limb into the fire)
- Anonymous
Just opened the chest on 10/02/2017 and I only received 3,725 exp...
- Anonymous
Just edited the page with a new way to complete this quest that does not require any tag, only that you have an elf in your party. Eat a lizard limb that you can find in the graveyard and you'll learn the password from his memories.
- Anonymous
such a joy to reload saves after clearing most of the bastard graveyard
- Anonymous
thrice bound***** wish i had just checked a stupid guide as lockpicking ther damn thing loses you 20k exp as it does not talk! if you lock pick the stupid thing
- Anonymous
If you have high persuasion you can just convince the chest to open up for you
- Anonymous
Just to make clear, you NEED to move the chest out of the flames in order to speak the password, since you can't while it's burning, even if you already got the pass.
- Anonymous
If you have taken fane in your party you will have a mask that can transform anyone into a lizzard. As long as you have someone with pet pal, use the mask, make him a lizzard, and the salamander will speak to you.
- Anonymous
- Anonymous
I managed to open this chest without a lizard in my party at all... I don't quite remember how I did it, but I must've spoken to the salamander with my elf (pet pal) and then teleported the chest out and chose the right option. I opened the chest without a lizard AT ALL
- Anonymous
For talk with lizard you need a lizard scolar in party. If you dont have one Fain can turn to with his mask.
- Anonymous
Ok i got it , i took the Red Prince and take the Pet Pal Ability for him and he could understand the lizard
If you don't have the Red Prince in your party , try a lizard with pet pal and scholar.
- Anonymous
Just being a lizard with pet pal apparently doesn't qualify for this "Ancient Language." There seems to be some other pre-requisite.
From all pieces of meat on the basement, I have just decided to feed the leg to the spider. Nicely done lol
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