The Baldur's Gate 3 Iron Flask in the Caravan Chest on Risen Road is a mysterious object that's been sent to the Zhentarim and Baldur's Gate city itself - unless you're inclined to claim it from among the bodies left after a gnoll attack. Whether you saved the caravan guards or not, North of the area where you find BG3's Karlach and the Zariel warriors sent to retrieve her, you can get the Iron Flask and Caravan Chest for yourself to keep in Baldur's Gate 3 - and here's what's inside.
Baldur's Gate 3 Caravan Strongbox guide
To get to the caravan strongbox, you'll need to venture through the cave near Waukeen's Rest. However you get into the cave you'll meet Rugan the leader of some Zhentarim mercenaries. You can make sort of friends with him and trigger the mission Missing Shipment which tasks you with finding some of his friends at drinking spot by the tavern, using the code 'little serpent, long shadow'. While he seems friendly, he won't let you near the strongbox and you can't get it open without killing everyone - if you keep trying to look at it, he'll stop you and repeated efforts will trigger a fight. Lockpicking it will also trigger a fight straight away, so make your choice as to how you'll trigger the inevitable.
What's in the caravan strongbox in Baldur's Gate 3
While there's a few things in the Baldur's Gate 3 caravan strongbox, the main thing of interest is an Iron Flask. If you examine it and pass an Arcana check you'll find out it's a 'powerful magical item capable of trapping and holding a creature'. Obviously that begs the question what creature? The answer is a level 5 Spectator:
If you just open the bottle this thing will appear and you'll instantly find yourself in a fight. It's got 95 hit points and, while it's not too hard to defeat, you'll get nothing from it. The creature doesn't drop any loot. It's better to hold onto the bottle and use it as a sort of monster grenade - if you're having a tricky fight, or want to soften up some opponents first, just throw the bottle at the problem you want to solve and let the Spectator deal with - though keep in mind that the spectator will not be friendly to you, and will attack anybody nearby.
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