Larian Studios CEO Swen Vincke has said that Divinity: Original Sin 2 originally included a much more explicit easter egg pointing at Baldur’s Gate 3, but it had to be watered down because it was too obvious. The reason is practical rather than mysterious: in the summer Divinity: Original Sin 2 shipped, Larian had a contract with Wizards of the Coast and needed to produce the first draft of BG3 right then. Vincke’s assessment of that early draft was not kind.

The topic came up during a recent Divinity: Original Sin 2 livestream, when communications developer Aoife Wilson asked whether there were hints in the game about what Larian would do next. Vincke answered while plotting his next move in the Blackpits area’s famously flammable oil fields and said: “Originally the reference to BG3 was very explicit”. He explained it was added at the last minute because, in the same summer Divinity: Original Sin 2 shipped, the studio wrote the first draft of Baldur’s Gate 3 due to its contract with Wizards of the Coast. His verdict: “It was very bad.”

What survived in the final game is deliberately opaque. In Divinity: Original Sin 2’s epilogue, party member Fane can mention that octopuses are secretly plotting, while the necromancer Tarquin talks about “a mysterious race from another world – beings that feed on minds.” Both point toward mind flayers, but not in a way you’d catch unless you were already looking for it. In retrospect, the jars of mind maggots dotted around Divinity: Original Sin 2 also feel like nods to Baldur’s Gate 3’s tadpoles.

“Gustavchen,” Project Gustav, “Tav,” and Tarquin’s breadcrumbs inside Baldur’s Gate 3

Tarquin also mentions “Gustavchen,” the written language of those beings from another world. During development, Baldur’s Gate 3 went by Project Gustav, named after Vincke’s dog, which is why the default name for the player-character is “Tav.” The article notes the references run in both directions. In Baldur’s Gate 3, a letter from the cleric Lenore De Hurst to the wizard Lorroakan talks about a man whose name is remembered as “something with a T and Q… Tuqueen?” and says he uses strange magic. A note in the House of Grief also describes him, this time under the name “Marco Creenn,” which is an anagram of “necromancer.” After that, the trail dries up, and perhaps he returned to Rivellon – we’ll see if he shows up in Divinity.

Source: PC Gamer