As early as Act I in Baldur’s Gate 3, you might be on the search for Mayrina who has gone missing and later you will discover where she has been taken.
The thing is, you will need to venture into the Sunlit Wetlands but as you enter the area, a cutscene begins where your party gets a strange feeling.
Your characters get a feeling that they are being watched and for some reason, the land around seems a bit off as if it were an illusion, which it is.
How To Reveal Swamp?
To get rid of the illusion of the Sunlit Wetlands, there are a few ways you can expose what things really look like.
1) Perception Check
As you enter the Sunlit Wetlands, a cutscene begins where your characters stop and get hit by a strange feeling that they are being watched.
If you pass a Perception Check, your characters will see through the illusion and the whole area will turn into a swamp, which will now be called the Putrid Bog.
If you use Gale or another Wizard character, there will be special dialogue that will allow you to pass the Ability Check.
2) Speak To the Sheep
Attempting to speak to the sheep will start a cutscene where the sheep attempts to respond by bleating but something doesn’t seem right.
You can attempt to scare the sheep away, but nothing happens, and you will be left with the Animal Handling Check.
Passing the Animal Handling Check will reveal that the sheep is a Redcap and will reveal the Putrid Blog, allowing you to walk away from the Recap or attack it.
3) Attack The Sheep
The Perception Check is quite high, and you may end up failing the Ability Check, which is not something to be concerned about.
To reveal the Putrid Bog after failing the ability check, you may approach one of the roaming sheep and attack them. (This reveals that they are Redcaps)
Once you attack one of the sheep, the Redcaps will become hostile towards you, leading to a battle in the swamp.
Redcaps in The Swamp
Revealing the Putrid Bog by passing the Perception Check, speaking to or attacking the sheep will cause the Redcaps to be exposed, which shows they were masked as sheep.
These bloodthirsty creatures are vicious and deadly, making them quite a challenge but a good source for experience and loot.
If you reveal the Putrid Bog by a Perception Check, they will not be hostile towards you unless you attack them or get caught attacking Auntie Ethel.
Verdict
Being able to see the Putrid Bog for what it really is will allow you to deal with the Redcaps without getting surprised, which will give you an advantage over them.
Exposing the Putrid Bog will help avoid inconveniences such as being deceived by a well that you might have thought of drinking from as it is revealed to be disgusting later.
Whether you reveal the Putrid Bog or not, you can still progress to confronting Auntie Ethel later at the Riverside Treehouse.