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itwasabeautifulwebbing · 6 days ago

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how i would re-write wyll's storyline

if i had it in me to do another canon re-write i would do this as a fic but this has been plaguing me for like a year now

wotc hit me up for the novelisation ok i'll do the man justice

anyway uh this is super long

ACT 1: We meet the Blade of Frontiers defending the druid grove as before, but he doesn't hang around. Importantly, he is not obviously a warlock: he's Pact of the Blade, and uses his sword, not spells. Zevlor and the tieflings, druids, and adventurers alike all mention him. Aradin says he tried to recruit him, but was turned down-- "Gobbos wouldn't've stood a chance if we'd had him." Zevlor says he has already offered to escort the tieflings safely to Baldur's Gate-- "If anyone can do it, it's him"-- but Zevlor has turned him down for now. Other tieflings mention that they've heard of him, and some of them have stories they've heard about him rescuing people. Volo asks if they got a chance to speak to him. Shadowheart says she's dimly heard of him, and Baldurian Tavs have the option to say they have, too.

At the Blighted Village, the goblin sentries attack no matter what (you can still get the chance to use the brand at the windmill, it's fine), and Wyll joins in on the party's side (once again, coming across as some kind of eldritch knight perhaps, but not clearly a warlock). This time, you talk after and he explains that he intends to help the tieflings, but he has a mission to complete first: find a war-devil named Karlach. You can express your surprise that he isn't more concerned about the tadpole, and he shrugs it off: if he's running out of time, then stopping a devil from ravaging the Sword Coast would be a great last act. He says that after he deals with Karlach, he'll come find you. You can either offer to help him (whereupon he'll join the party) or let him go.

If you let him go, you find him again with the fake paladins of Tyr. If you get the paladins to reveal themselves as servants of Zariel, he's immediately horrified and joins the fight on your side, then turns on Karlach after, at which point you can either dissuade him or fight him. If you don't get the paladins to reveal themselves before you attack, he steps in before the fight starts and you do the convincing then.

During the initial conversation, he's a little harder to persuade, but when you follow up afterwards, he's angry. He explains that he was given bad information, and he intends to get to the bottom of it. If you press him, he explains that as the Blade of Frontiers, it's not his habit to doubt people when they say they're in danger: an Elturan who encountered Karlach in Avernus said she planned to come wreak havoc on the Sword Coast, and he promised to find her. It takes a very high passive insight check to tell that he's lying, and a very high persuasion check to make him admit it. Reluctantly, he confesses that he's sworn to secrecy about his source, but now suspects they have something to do with Zariel. He promises he is not going to let them get away with deceiving him.

Mizora wants to make Wyll sweat, so she doesn't show up right away.

Instead, we keep getting people who have heard of him, and we see him actively pressing the PC to help others at any opportunity. He also see his impatience with pretense and hypocrisy: he complains about making nice at the goblin camp rather than just immediately attacking it, and is extremely opposed to having any dealings with the Zhentarim. On the other hand, he has a pragmatic streak about the tadpoles that foreshadows his dynamic with Mizora: yes, the illithids and this cult are certainly nefarious, but there's nothing wrong with turning the power of evil towards good. We will use these powers responsibly.

At Waukeen's Rest, Florrick obviously recognises him, but is extremely cold, and doesn't reveal who he is. She very pointedly orders the Fist to begin to prepare to rescue Ravengard right in front of the party, but not including them. If the PC offers to help, she expresses surprise that they are interested. If you ask why that would be the case, she makes a vague but pointed comment about knowing some of their number have no fondness for Baldur's Gate or its fate. Wyll says nothing to her directly, but talks to you after.

Either way, the dialogue begins with a narration noting that he looks frustrated and uncertain about your decision about Ravengard. He then argues against whichever choice you made--helping to save him or not--and talks himself in circles about what the right thing to do is. The Council of Four and Flaming Fist are corrupt, he says--but the people of Baldur's Gate believe in them, and Duke Ravengard is much too powerful a hostage for these Absolutists to be allowed to keep. Finally, he talks himself to a breaking point and confesses: he doesn't know what to do, because Duke Ravengard is his father.

He explains that he and his father never saw eye to eye. He was impatient with his father's politicking, and how the 'necessary compromises' of government always seemed to come at the expense of the common people. He left the city after an argument seven years ago, he says, and hasn't spoken to his father or set foot in Baldur's Gate since. Ultimately, he concedes that whatever their differences, he won't be able to live with himself if he doesn't try to help-- "Though I imagine he'll be about as thrilled to be rescued by me as he was to be captured in the first place."

Mizora shows up when you go to long rest at the celebratory party with the tieflings-- because, she explains, everyone deserves to know the truth about their precious Blade. The scene is more or less the same, but she doesn't say the change is permanent, rather implying that maybe she could undo it if Wyll is very, very good. When Wyll is transformed, the tieflings flee in terror. Up to this point, Wyll has been the life of the party, moving through the party and having banter with the guests, unlike the other companions. If you initiate his romance, he promises you a dance: "But later. I want dancing with you to be the grand finale of the night."

Afterwards, he expresses his shame, but explains what he can: that he made a pact with Mizora, can't share the details, but doesn't regret it. If you ask if this has anything to do with why he left Baldur's Gate, he says yes, but can't say more. He insists that it's possible to use the power of a devil to do good, but his certainty falters. He admits that he has never believed that less than he does right now, but if he doesn't keep trying, then he lost his soul for nothing. He has to believe he can do good, even if he's damned. If you try to rekindle the romance and offer a dance, he ruefully refuses: he's too ashamed to dance, or keep talking. He asks to be left alone, and then insists upon it if the PC resists.

The other companions are less snide and more shocked that Wyll's powers were infernal in nature all along. Karlach in particular reels between gratitude to Wyll and her certainty that he's good, and her instinctive disgust for anyone who would make a pact with any devil-- and especially Mizora.

Things quiet down after that and Wyll spends a lot of the rest of Act 1 adjusting to his new reality. We get a lot more open, shocked reactions to his appearance, and sincere fear that he's an actual devil (imo he should also get some new powers, or at least fire resistance and darkvision).

ACT 2: Wyll is as much of an open Jaheira fan as Karlach is, though he tries harder to play it cool. He's excited to see Harpers: he says he always wanted to be one, but given the Mizora of it all, decided it was safer to go it alone.

Seeing his new appearance, Florrick is utterly scornful: "Now you have the looks to match your soul." If you ask, she's happy to share that Wyll was exiled after making a pact with a devil to take over the city. Wyll protests, but we see him physically prevented from giving his side of the story. However, Florrick is also deeply pragmatic, and says that if Wyll is willing to help try to rescue his father, she'll certainly make use of him.

Mizora shows up midway through the act with her rescue mission, strongly hinting that she can turn Wyll back into a human if he succeeds. This is a lie, of course, but it's the leverage Wyll needs upon rescuing her (or when she shows up at camp later, if you don't bring him to Moonrise) to insist that she break his contract as the reward for the rescue he was promised. The PC can try to talk him out of trying to do this, but by default he makes a new bargain: that Mizora will let him out of his contract once he helps stop the Absolute.

ACT 3: The encounter with Ravengard at Wyrm's Rock goes similarly, except afterwards, Wyll points out the remark that Ravengard made-- that the Absolute apparently promised Ravengard that he would return Wyll to him. "Is that actually what he asked for? It can't be." It has Wyll unsettled going in to the second conversation with Mizora, where she tries to force him to bargain for his father's life. Wyll's default choice depends on your approval level: (it would be fun to come up with a whole Nightsong points type system but uhhh that'll be another post) if he doesn't strongly approve, he decides he needs the powers Mizora offers to keep making a difference in the world, and makes the deal. If your approval is high, he refuses: he believes in who he is, and who he can be without her. "If my father loves me, he wouldn't want me to sell my soul for him. And if he doesn't... then he won't want to owe me his life." The PC can try to persuade him either way, but those are the defaults.

Cordula Eltan (canon back-up for if Florrick isn't around, but she's the first choice now) shows up at camp one night with some allies. She and Wyll were childhood friends: she is shocked at the sight of him, and said she was told he sold his soul for power back when they were teenagers, but she'd always refused to believe it. She says that clearly the rumours are true, so did he sacrifice his father, too? Wyll and the PC can talk her down, leading either to a fight or a longer conversation. In the latter case, she explains again that she and Wyll were childhood friends, and she'd always admired his independence while she felt strangled by the weight of her family name. She asks, half-joking, if he remembers the time they decided to try and wake the dragon Ansur, and got in trouble for sneaking into Wyrm's Rock prison. She says she has sometimes imagined trying to find it now, and see if it could save the city. "But fairy tales won't save us, I suppose."

The Ravengard rescue happens basically the same way (including Ravengard being a huge dick to Wyll) except this is the first time we also learn what actually happened with the pact. Free of Mizora's restrictions at last, Wyll explains the incident with the Cult of the Dragon. Ravengard is stunned, and begins to ask questions, but Wyll cuts him off: he realises for the first time that he doesn't care what his father thinks of what he did. He knows, and has always known, that he did what was right. It doesn't matter to him if Ravengard sees that, too. He won't be ashamed anymore.

As in the game now, things can go in whatever order so either Volo or Ravengard can be the push to insist that Ansur is real, and that Wyll has the power to wake him. Wyll is resistant and skeptical, and if Ravengard is the one to suggest it, Wyll is openly derisive: was that the point of all those stories, all those lessons? An old superstition? But with the PC's encouragement, he agrees to try, and acknowledges that if it is real, they could certainly use a big old dragon on their side.

The steps of the trial are trickier puzzles, but Wyll remembers how to find the answers. He's resistant throughout, and when the time comes to enter the final chamber, he finally baulks: he doesn't believe in the version of heroism his father taught him, and doesn't want to uphold those values. He doesn't want to be the emblem of the city that rejected him. The PC can persuade him to press on, but they can also just agree with him, and turn back there. If so, he tells his father they don't need a dragon: he is going to save Baldur's Gate, just like he did when he was seventeen. (They have roughly the same conversation if Ansur is already defeated when you rescue Ravengard.)

If Wyll kept his pact, the PC can remind him of what he's always said: you can make good from evil. He doesn't have to like this power to embrace it.

We still get the Ansur and Emperor reveal and fight if the crew presses on, and afterwards, Wyll finds himself strangely bereft. Wryly, he says it's fitting: the thing he feared and despised for so long was nothing more than old bones, an old story, after all. He hates that for a moment, he let himself want it-- and hates that part of him is sad that it's gone. But he rallies: if he kept his pact, he points out that he has more than enough power without this dragon. He was never going to be good enough for his father, for the city, anyway. They'll never accept that power is only what you make of it. He'll use what he's become to save first the city, then the whole Sword Coast.

If not: he's free of Mizora, free of his father's expectations-- free of his shame at being a warlock, an exile. He's glad you persuaded him to face this. Now, at last, he can brave the world purely as himself, hiding nothing, and discover if his convictions are strong enough to help make it a better place. "There's just the small matter of a city to save first."

Pacted Wyll has a similarly harsh conversation with his father as above, but free Wyll attempts to explain: he doesn't want to be the man his father hoped he'd become. He isn't ever going to be. He knows he and his friends can save the city just as themselves. He hopes his father can love him anyway.

And that would be the end of his arc! This has already gotten so long and I feel like there are a thousand more things I want to add and clarify (I am undecided about his romance beyond what I said here, and his epilogue) but there you go. Thank u if you actually read this for allowing me to exorcise this demon.

#my god. you did it you fixed wyll’s arc #bg3 #wyll ravengard

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