#Attracting Drow Exiles

[karniss-bg3]

Now this is just a pure theory but I'm wondering what you think of it. It was actually what you wrote that helped me think about this. There is a book in General Thorm's room called Attractive Drow Exiles. And it talks about the plan used to drag in unwilling Drow members by using a man (presumably a Drow) called Xilvre (sounds like Silver) to go down and stir up some trouble. He was described as very loyal but annoyingly enthusiastic. If this was Kar'niss before he was changed, it does answer a lot of questions. The book says he was probably killed, but the book was written before the event took place. It would make more sense that the Drow would punish Xilvre by changing him into a Drider for going against his kind and Lolth. And it shattered his mind in the process. And when he came back, they gave him the task with the lantern.

This is an interesting point you bring up. I was first alerted to the existence of that book by an anonymous ask and @novarex who made a post about it here. After I read it I asked myself "Who was Xilvre?". I didn't delve into it deeper than that at the time but this could be a lead.

The first thing to note is this book lists Xilvre as "True Soul 113". The definition of a True Soul according to the wiki is as follows:

True Souls are Followers of the Absolute who have been infected with an Illithid tadpole that grants them psionic powers similar to the player. They serve as commanding members of the Absolute's army. True Souls almost always have a Mind Flayer Parasite Specimen that can be looted from their bodies if killed.

When Kar'niss dies he doesn't have a parasite on his body that can be looted, nor is there evidence that he is in charge of any army within Moonrise. He acts as a guide but beyond that he follows commands more than I'd say he gives them. On the list of True Souls in Act 2, Kar'niss isn't listed as being one. When he first meets the player he does acknowledge that they are a True Soul, but he never suggests that he is one also, or that they have common ground in that regard.

The counter argument I'd make is the definition of True Soul says "almost always" when it comes to mind flayer parasites that can be looted. This leaves room for doubt that even though he doesn't have a parasite the player can take, it doesn't mean he is without one as a whole. Furthermore, certain dialogue trees and failed DC checks insinuate that Kar'niss can tap into and read the players mind, suggesting some sort of psionic link; Thus, a tadpole being present.

This leaves his status a bit open ended. If Kar'niss is Xilvre, perhaps he was titled as a True Soul to start. The drow captured him for being a heretic and turned him into a drider. When he slinked back to Moonrise he was demoted as a True Soul and given the job as a guide as his transformation made his mind too broken to be useful. He or someone else changed his name and he started life anew.

The one glaring issue I see is that if the drow, or Lolth, discovered that one of their own was planning to not only turn against the spider queen but also sabotage their very way of life, I don't think he would've gotten off as easy as he did. Betrayal of that magnitude would be a death sentence and it's likely why Ketheric foresaw Xilvre's demise. I can't imagine if Lolth saw a threat to her domain she wouldn't lash out to the fullest against any who supported the notion. Driders are made as a result of failure, weakness or displeasure. What Xilvre was tasked to do dwarfs all three. Xilvre would make an excellent example to those who turned against Lolth and no doubt his end would've been a messy one. There is a chance he could've been spared but it'd be an unusual mercy.

What I think could be more likely is that Kar'niss was part of the warband lured out by Xilvre's antics. Driders are known to work with and fight alongside other drow despite how thin the trust can be. He was ambushed alongside the others and dragged in to become part of the Absolute's forces. Either that or he overheard what Xilvre had done or said and curiosity led him out of the Underdark in search of a new Goddess to follow, perhaps a cure for his affliction.

It's all good theorycrafting fun. There is some overlap between Kar'niss and Xilvre. Even the name sounds like something that could fit Kar'niss with the pronunciation of "silver". That and the description of being a "tedious enthusiast" does describe Kar'niss fairly well, at least how we know him now. It'd be quite the plot twist if true!

Thanks for the ask!

[novarex]

Attracting Drow Exiles - book found in Ketheric Thorm's room

I am playing through Moonrise Towers again and found this book in Ketheric's quarters.

Based on Minthara's attitude toward Nere, I strongly suspect he was not a part of house Baenre. There is absolutely no way he would have survived being a part of the ruling house in Memzoberranzan. One of the priestesses or the matron would have had him killed for sure. He also shows none of the reverence for female drow that the other male drow do (playing as a female drow now). Even Dhourn has enough common sense to adhere to decorum if you manage to un petrify and talk to him. Minthata would absolutely not have selected him as part of her warband.

My best guess is that Nere is one of the drow exiles Ketheric targeted earlier on that highlighted the need to pursue better targets. It makes the most sense that he was brought on earlier than Minthara, and that upon meeting Nere, Minthara was immediately annoyed by his attitude.

Nere, Z'Rell, and Minthara seem to have been peers in the ranks (possibly alongside Balthazar, but his skills and relationship with Ketheric are obviously superior). When you go to the Thorm mosleum, the Balthazar's talking skull specifically tells Nere, Z'Rell, and Minthara to fuck off. My guess is those are the three with enough rank to be a problem for Balthazar.

Nere must have been on thin ice for a while, and I think that is why he is extra desperate and insecure by the time Tav and Co. dig him out of the rubble. He is under a tremendous amount of stress even before he is trapped in a gas filled room and possibly dying.

Anyway, I thought this book was enlightening.

[lutethebodies]

Incoming: Tumblr Tav Tuesdays

Ok, preview of coming LTB attractions, thanks to helpful feedback and tips from some kind folks to this post. What I'm gonna do is post somewhat substantial entries for each of my eight Tavs that have made the most progress in the game.

They'll happen for the next eight Tuesdays (because Tav Tuesday of course) beginnning April 23. I previously did this on a fun Discord that I'm part of but Discord stuff tends to scroll away and get lost, so maybe this will be a better venue for it.

Content will be a combo of 5e/BG3 backstory (in-game and out), builds/gear (because crunch is fun), BG3 playthrough highlights (romances, unique events, etc.), and selected screenshot dumps (ideally beyond "standard stoic Tav" poses). The cast will star:

4/23: Cannor Coth, the Lost Singer (human swords bard). You've heard of heroic anti-heroes, but anti-bard bards? This guy is that guy, a little bit of everything without being Too Much.

4/30: Zafraia Zital, the Banished Bandit (human thief rogue). A cynical con artist who's seen everything and found it sorely lacking. No Guildie is good enough, no Zhent is safe.

5/7: Drem Sion, the Relentless Defender (human shadow monk). Bare-knuckle brawler with a heart of gold, this one—but since things are never that simple, neither is he.

5/14: Olinitza Cuel, the Silent Sentinel (half-drow gloom stalker ranger). A righteous rebel out to afflict the powerfully corrupt, avenge the downtrodden, and clear her name in the process.

5/21: Farago Heli, the Elven Exile (wood elf hunter ranger). Strong silent types have nothing on this ex-soldier, who's pining for a place to settle down once this adventuring stuff is all over.

5/28: Qiranna Jasti, the Raven's Right Hand (seldarine drow archfey warlock). The merely curious and ambitious have nothing on this moxie-fuelled mage. She wants the world and wants it now.

6/4: Ruy Acavés, the Realm's Reckoner (human knowledge cleric). What's a nice nerd like him doing in a nightmare like this? Why, collecting all the maps, arcana, and lore he possibly can, of course.

6/11: Sianed Arie, the Silver Stargazer (wood half-elf land druid). A shrewd sage who'd rather scan the night sky than shapeshift or strive for balance, she's at home in both wild frontiers and urban jungles.

There may be a few more after that, but these folks are my Elite Eight who've seen the most playing time, so they come first. Stay tuned!

[fiachrastudios]

Mermay really has god me thinking about a Mermaid!AU for the Tadfools… It’s still very vague in my mind, really I just have a couple of ideas for pieces but I have a hard time stringing it all together. These are my thoughts so far:

- Karlach was turned into a Merrow when Gortash sold her to Demogorgon

- Shadowheart is a cleric of Tharzidun or Umberlee instead of Shar

- Tharzidun as the BBEG instead of the Absolute - SH might play more of a Minthara-y role if she worships him.

- Wyll is pursuing Shadowheart instead of Karlach ( or maybe in addition to?). I don’t know who he’s working for yet - I saw a post on here that I really liked (drop a link if you know it) where they wished that Larian had made Mizora more of a motherly figure, and preying on Wyll by pretending to be the mother he never had, which I really loved and is something I’d want to explore. I’d probably have to make a whole new OC though, since she’d be so different, and I don’t know if I still wanna her as a devil or explore a GOO-lock/Fathomless pact for him instead. His pact weapons definitely a pact weapon though bc that’s sick as hell.

- Astarion gets captured by Cazador, who is still an elf. This is one that I have the most logistical issues with, since he would be separated physically from the others. Best solution IMO is to have him in one of those aquarium attractions that section off a natural body of water and have it break somehow. I’m also toying with him being a dhampir insteaad, as the result of Cazador experimenting on him - give them a bit of Frankenstein/Adam dynamic ;). Cazador could be a part of Tharzidun’s cult too, since fishpeople are so Lovecraftian…

- Aelar still comes from the Underdark, from a cult very similar to Lolth Drow but without all the weird racist and misogynistic etc. shit bc this my original society do not steal : ). His arc would be pretty similar to what I’m planning in my Durge run with him, but with a slight change - he got exiled for some reason, and ends up washed up nearly dead on the shores by a hut that Jaheira keeps after his fellow cultists attack him. He comes across Astarion and his siblings’ enclosure one day - the harbor in Baldurs Gate is too polluted for most merfolk to live, so it’s the first time they’ve had contact with outsiders in a long time.

Biggest hurdles right now are figuring out Gale and Lae’zels stuff, and of course, how they actually meet and what the BBEG’s plan actually is. Do y’all have any suggestions?

[enfenimx]

@fxllenpythia location: Necromanteion notes: he said: you're looking even hotter than usual

The destruction was admirable, truly it was. In a matter of time the Allied Senate Forces would breach the walls and begin to pour into the City, that’s when things would truly get interesting. Fighting from the walls had its perks, but after nine days it was stale, Enfenim generally preferred to manipulate from behind the scenes, contrary to Arakhor who was all merciless killing all the time. He’d projected a portion of his consciousness into the mortal realm and watched how so many of his people had started to fall, their pathetic desperation was going to get them all killed. A waste, a hateful waste, if nothing else the exile preferred to be at their side: killing drow and making sure that the fey of significance lived and the fey that were insignificant… Well, died for something at least. 

An empowered greater demon had no option but to be radiant, malevolence and power rolled off of the fallen angel that Enfenim had always known as Leviathan. The liar with many names and faces, the serpent that could find her way through any defence, any plot. Enfenim found Leviathan in her chambers, overlooking the city, his cold hands brushed against her shoulders as he approached from behind. Beautiful and indomitable, winning was her most attractive quality. “How does it feel to be on the cusp of getting everything you ever wanted?” Enfenim asked against her ear before he moved to stand at her side. Loyal to himself first and Arakhor second, he had his own reasons for standing among the Asphodel. All this death was just a plus.

[mahiiimahiiii]

"while our bhaalist allies sort out their leadership problems" -attracting drow exiles, scribe janus to ketherick.

ME!!!! ME MENTIONED 🗣️🗣️🗣️

[silksworn]

thinking about how different current Irae is from her First iteration (and I made her specifically to romance Minthara whoopsies). her backstory was more of a vague idea than the level of fleshed-out it is now.

first of all she was much younger, by about 200 years or so. a noble from an incredibly minor house, she was an opportunistic ladder-climber eager to get any footholds in the other drow houses that she could.

of course she recognized the crest of House Baenre on Minthara's neck, and immediately went along with her plans to try and Impress her. first Irae was very much whipped for her, and pathetically so. mostly because of Minthara's name, but there was a measure of genuine attraction as well. I ultimately wound up romancing Ast with her in my first playthrough because of how buggy Minthara's lines & romance were, but I remember vividly thinking "This is ooc of her because she would NEVER turn the offer to share Minthara's bed. From a political positioning standpoint and just....wohman...."

I didn't actually pick an official house for Irae until I began to write her on this blog, and major changes came with it. Oblodra interested me so greatly due to it's connection to illithids and how I could weave that narratively into the game.

Irae became significantly older and more experienced. she became a jaded exile of the Underdark, and a psionic. Oblodra was of significant importance, being 3rd house in Menzo, unlike the original minor house I had imagined for Irae. I rethought a lot of her personality, though she had always been cruel & self-serving in both her backstories.

one of the most significant changes of all, though, was her relationship with Minthara. Baenre's destruction of the house meant I would take Irae's recognition of Minthara at the gobbo camp in a wildly different direction -- so far in the other direction, in fact, that a Tav Irae would have only sided with Minthara to get the chance to figure out why she was there & get close enough to exact revenge.

I know for a fact that current Irae would have absolutely zero interest in romancing Ast lmfaoooo. especially since I ascended him in my first playthrough; she would have wanted to become a full vampire and would have kicked his ass for talking to her like that dshfdhssadh.

I think it also provides for a much more interesting dynamic with Minthara, though it's not one the game actually gives me any avenue to express. an adversary and intellectual equal would be much more interesting than just a simpering ass-kisser who is so obviously trying to climb her way up by any means.

long rant that's ultimately meaningless, but! anyway 1st Irae vs. Current (who I am doing a run for now and need to continue doing, actually)

[toaarcan]

Kallista Romazi, the Honest

Another of my characters, a comrade of Freya’s, and the de-facto second in-command of the party.

Name: Kallista Romazi Age: 27 years Species: Tiefling (Stygian) Gender: Female Sexuality: Lesbian Class: Cleric (Grave) Alignment: Lawful Good Primary Attributes: Wisdom and Strength

- Kallista was born and raised in Shaland, a backwards and regressive theocracy, mostly ruled by the Ophidian Guard. The Ophidians serve Dovetail, the cruel Goddess of Manipulation and Control, and have a deep, long-standing rivalry with the denizens of the Nine Hells. Being a Tiefling, Kallista was a second-class citizen at best, and would eventually be worn down by the callous cruelty she saw all around her, giving up on changing the world for the better.

- In time, her nihilism would draw her toward the faith of the Raven Queen, the Goddess of Death. She made her way to the Winterlands, the frozen wasteland at Arturium’s south pole, where the Order of the Grave took her in and properly introduced her to the tenets of the Raven Queen’s faith. Ironically, this gave her the first feeling of hope she’d had in a long time, as she was taught that it doesn’t matter who or what you are, all are equal in the eyes of death.

- While there, she was personally tutored by the Order’s ancient leader, an incredibly powerful Shadar-Kai named Vasyana the Survivor, like most of the Order’s Clerics. However, her primary tutor was a rather pompous Gith named Vedoran.

- She was also introduced to a young and angry Drow exile named Aisling Neamhní. Kallista was assigned to be Aisling’s battle partner, and they quickly became firm friends. The elf’s mysterious and menacing aura, and her contrasting irreverent personality and surprisingly kind disposition made her quite attractive to the Tiefling, and over time their relationship grew closer and closer.

- Still, neither knew how to act on their feelings, and almost didn’t get an opportunity to do so, as Aisling would attempt to sacrifice herself to allow the rest of their comrades to escape from a powerful Devil. She was struck through the heart with an energy bolt, and almost died. Fortunately, however, Kallista was able to bring her back, and the pair finally confessed their feelings for each other.

- However, over time, the Order of the Grave had itself become regressive and cold, and the use of any Necromancy, including benign spells such as Revivify, was now considered a most grievous sin. Both were excommunicated, and became fugitives, joining the rest of the party full-time as they tried to piece together how it had all gone so off-the-rails.

- Kallista herself would eventually realise that she had spontaneously learned the spell on the spot, and gradually came to realise that this was all part of the Raven Queen’s plan. Faith in herself restored, Kallista renewed her efforts to keep herself and her loved ones safe, and help them all fulfill their destinies.

- Kallista is probably the calmest and most level-headed of the party. She can act rashly at times, but normally only when her girlfriend is doing something especially reckless. She has realised that she is in the unfortunate position of being the impulse control of the entire group.

- She is also, however, one of the physically strongest members of the party. It’s hidden beneath her armour, but her muscles are almost as large and mighty as Freya’s own. This enables her to easily wield her weapon Mournstar, a huge staff with a five-pointed morningstar at one head, and a club at the other, designed for crushing the bones of undead. Nominally a two-handed weapon, Kallista is strong enough to carry it in one hand and leave the other arm free to equip her similarly-heavy shield, Iron Wing. The shield depicts the stylised shape of a raven in front of an eclipsed moon.

- Kallista’s wings are not natural. She undertook the Rite of the Valkyrie alongside Aisling, and grew a pair of black-feathered wings as a result. It also gave her deep black voids with glowing blue pupils for eyes.

- Her magic aura burns an icy blue, outlined in deep black.

- As a divine caster, her magic comes directly from her deity, the Raven Queen. This is a key piece of her figuring out what’s going on, as she realises that Revivify could only have been given to her by the Goddess of Death herself.

- Kallista embodies peaceful, natural death, only using her formidable strength and weapons to defend her loved ones and her faith. It’s her partner, Aisling, who is more of a fighter.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Villain:  Glycon the Ruinous, Naga overlord. (Prospective Claims adventure arc)

 (I’m doing something unusual with this arc, creating multiple adventure prompts that can be used in any order rather than following one particular story. If you’re interested in completing the adventure, click HERE or on the “ Prospective Claims ” tag below) 

Setup: deep in the underdark, the naga known as Glycon slithers from one scheme to the next, terrible in power but not so terrible that he is able to challenge the true lords of that cavernous realm:  the mindflayers or the drow spider - clerics. Instead he must content himself with small, forgotten dominions, using his abilities to tyrannize isolated bands of humanoids into doing his bidding. 

Most recently Glycon insinuated himself into a band of orcish zealots, defeating their shaman in a test of magical skill and inspiring them with tales of glory and conquest against those that shunned them to this dark and lonely place. 

Now he sets his sights on a nearby dwarven mining settlement, hoping to use his new minions to besiege it and take it’s vast wealth for himself. 

Adventure Hooks: 

Prospectors and laborers traveling to this particular dwarven freeclaim have been attacked on the winding subterranean road, and the fortune seekers are looking to hire on more help to defend from unprovoked orcish attacks. 

A party exploring underdark caverns can come across the ruins of an ambushed caravan, stripped for valuable sand weapons and bodies left to rot, attracting cave scavengers. A wounded survivor concealed in the wreckage pleads with them for safe escort to the freeclaim, as well as vengeance on those that killed their loved ones. 

While exploring the area around the freeclaim, the party is approached by the exiled shaman under a banner of peace, They want the party’s help to reclaim their control over the clan, hopefully steering their kin away from this disastrous course of action. 

Goals and Schemes: 

Control: Insecure over always being ousted by other, more powerful baddies, Glycon is obsessed with maintaining a stranglehold on his power base. In this instance, that means whipping his orcish zealots into a religious frenzy, plying them with ritual drugs and mindwarping magic to break their wills and make them unquestioning tools. 

Pillage:  Currently the naga has his minions attacking passages leading in and out of the freeclaim, hoping to harry, isolate, and weaken it in preparation for an attack. While doing so, he has the orcs explore offshoots of the caverns, looking for resources or lesser creatures that could be pressganged into the fight. 

Power:  Through his ability to scry, Glycon has discovered that the freeclaim’s true wealth is not simply in the prosperity of it’s people, but in the massive vein of magically infused crystal that runs under the settlement, ready to be quarried and shaped into the basis for an arsenal of enchanted weapons. With the conquered freeclaim as his stronghold and such deadly implements in the hands of his zealous followers, the ruinous naga hopes to establish a kingdom that cannot be wrested from him by any horror of the underdark.  

Bonus bestiary

When I was conceiving of this prompt, I envisioned Glycon as a Banelar, a type of poisonous naga fond of using magic items from 3rd edition. There are a few different conversions around, but the one here is available for free, along with all the other critters from it’s bestiary.

[ravel-puzzlewell]

for the asks 1, 4, 5, 8, 13

1 Listens to music too loud - Erica Hawke, no contest. when he was a teen Carver tried to out-do her by blasting music louder, but it only ended in him being deafened and Erica didn’t even notice the attempt.

4 Feels like an outsider - Ari, of course, the half-drow that she is. tho when she grows up and comes to power, the dynamic changes a bit. not that she blends in with the others, but on the opposite, at lvl 20 with charisma 25+ she is weather front, if faerun had meteorologists, they’d be informing of her moving into areas. when she enters the room, everything now revolves around her. and places that she claimed as hers, as the Keep, turn into enchanted kingdoms where all lives and dies by the word of it’s queen. it’d be really hard for her to feel truly ostracized at this point. 

i feel like it suits better Asa the Exile, who grew up in Jedi Order feeling like she doesn’t fit and is bad at being a Jedi because she gets attached too strongly and too emotionally (esp to Revan, Atris), and then she followed Revan to the war and had all these desperate soldiers look at her like she’s a messiah that came to save them with miracles. And even after she was exiled, everyone she met immediately assumed she’s a Jedi, despite of her not wearing robes and denying being a Jedi at every turn. the Order cast her out, yet she could never be one of “normal” people too. it’s way she attracted a crew of rejects and wash ups, of people who kept chafing in the places where they tried to fit.

5 - Loves their family - Erica Hawke, Ravyl Amell. Ari has complicated feeling about her dad, she’s devoted and would die for him, but knows he’s a shitty father.

8 Has good motivational speeches - Ravyl Amell. You can wake him up at 4 am and he’ll give u Aragorn-esque speech for the ages

 13 Lopsided grin - Jack Chae, the Courier. 

OC asks

[mer-birdman]

correct me if i'm wrong, but the newer OCs you posted to your art blog come from 3 different stories? Could you tell us more about them, if you don't mind? (I'm really intrigued- they all look so cool and sweet and i'd love to hear more about their stories! and heck yeah Representation™!)

Yup! There’s more stories to be added since there are more OCs to add to the series, but yeah so far the ones I’ve finished are from three different stories. Funny enough, none of them are particularly new, although the art is fairly recent (I finished most of those maybe two months ago?)... 

Mana (the story that Ari and the twins are from) is the newest incarnation of a story and characters that I originally created all the way back in 6th grade, and this incarnation was put together sometime around freshman year of high school (I’ve had a lot of trouble with creator’s block, in case you can’t tell >_

Ari is one of Issa’s two best friends in her normal human life (the story is set just after they’ve graduated high school), and ends up as one of the main crew’s allies in the human world (since one plot point in a later book — I’ve planned it for five books, don’t know what will happen but it’ll happen :P — involves some of the main cast from the ‘Mana’ side having to take refuge in the human world/’Gaia’ for a while). Nihmis and Nihillir are twinned spirits who have been estranged for millennia due to Nihillir (the spirit of misfortune) being trapped in a sort of in-between netherworld called ‘Ourous’. They’re sort of one of the bad guys, but of course things get patched up eventually and I hope the story will end with the twins making up and being happy. I’m not sure. It’s been a while since I’ve tried to conceptualize the plot of Mana, haha!

Revel and Axylis (who I may rename to Asia tbh) are from Wild World, which I started piecing together about two and a half years ago for NaNoWriMo 2014 (I didn’t finish it, haha). It started out as ‘I want to write a story about all my D&D characters in the same universe doing stuff’, and then turned into ‘I want to write about social issues and sexuality and mental health in a post-apocalyptic D&D-esque setting with magic and monsters and polyamory’. Again, the plot in this one is a little shaky since I’ve mostly scrapped the original plot I had planned and am revising from the ground up. Asia (the drow, or in this universe Nzikley - lit. ‘dark elf’, haha) is a character concept I actually came up with about a year before this story was created, as a drow exile slowly dying because drow are sick motherfuckers and stuck a bunch of spiders in him that are eating him from the inside out. In the WW verse, it’s a similar issue, but it was punishment from the king he served (as a slave — see, I told you social issues were coming into it) and they would have been removed if he hadn’t happened to RUN AWAY. Revel, on the other hand, is a vampire who’s been around for millions of years — since before the ‘apocalypse’ happened, in fact — and has just been chilling in the woods for most of that, learning about medicine and woodcraft and letting his social anxiety get far too out of hand. Revel and Asia are actually 2/3 of a poly trio, with the third being my bby girl Raven who is the main character of the story and the newest incarnation of my very first-ever D&D character (from when I was in 2nd grade!) and who starts the story as an trained assassin with amnesia. A big part of her story is going to be recovering her memory and piecing together just what happened to her life (which includes realizing that the sort-of zombie they’re traveling with is her older sister that she accidentally brought back to life, and the half-elf prone to berserker murder sprees is her cousin) as well as a bunch of other stuff. Basically I have a lot of feelings for this story and these characters, but not much planned.

And Zero... is from a story based on a dream I had, honestly, called Fortuna Infection. It’s another sort-of zombie apocalypse, but the zombies aren’t so much undead as infected/possessed by various spirits that are linked to the major arcana of the tarot. Zero and a few other young humans are surviving by hanging out in a stolen boat at the mouth of a river, since most of the spirits and infected can’t cross water but they need to be able to do supply runs and search for other survivors. What eventually is discovered is that Zero is one of the spirits — #0, the Fool — and his job is to appear when the rest of the spirits do and subdue or seal them away again, and in order to do this he was reincarnated in the body of a recently deceased. Who happens to have been one of the other’s girlfriend, Alice. Who then becomes the current incarnation of the spirit that killed her. (Meanwhile, Zero is getting far too attracted to the other survivor, Ace, who may or may not have some very complicated feelings about the fact that his new lover is technically possessing his dead girlfriend’s body but hey, at least he knows what to do on the physical side of things...)

It’s intended to be a graphic novel series (if I ever manage to draw it), but so far I don’t really have anything but some of the main concepts and those four main characters — Zero, Ace, Alice, and a little girl named Star — as well as their respective arcana (the Fool, the Hanged Man, the Lovers, and the Star, respectively). I drew a four-page oneshot sort of ‘bad end’ AU for a summer class that I could post here, which was titled ‘Fortuna Kill’, but that’s about all I’ve done for the series so far, sadly.

Thank you for asking, though!! I’m so glad you want to hear more about my concepts and OCs, oh my gosh :D If you want to ask anything else about the stories or characters or other characters or anything, feel free! In case you can’t tell, I love talking about this stuff :3

[lutethebodies]

Tav Deep Dives: Olini/Wyll Friendship

On my Olini "Tav Tuesday" post, @n1ghtmeri asked:

"I was like, 'I like her,' then I saw Evangeline Navarro mentioned and went 'I LIKE HER.' I wonder what is her relationship with Wyll like?"

Good question! I think it's important to answer because it's a relationship that should be obvious based on Olini's backstory, but it's one that I hadn't considered enough when integrating her into the overall BG3 plot (I am not a Wyll expert). Mechanically, the answer is simple: Olini's approval with Wyll maxed at an exceptional 100 in early Act 3 of her solo run (he's an infrequent party member but they talk a lot) but sits at a neutral 14 in my multiplayer-Tav run (where I divided play between four Tavs so approval came at a premium, with romances taking priority, and hers is with Shadowheart).

The mechanical stuff can be fascinating, but it often feels bloodless and easy to metagame, so the less-quantifiable ways to measure relationships can often be more compelling. That's not news to most people who've played this game, but as someone who literally got back into video games after a 30-year layoff thanks to BG3's character relationships, it’s been a fun revelation for me. That goes double for those I haven't considered yet, like this one. The TL;DR is "their relationship is very good, like one of close siblings." Maybe the best way to go about this is addressing each of their overlapping connections.

Ulder Ravengard

Olini and Wyll are connected via his father the Grand Duke, and Ulder's background as the Flaming Fist's leader. Olini's 5e backstory involves investigating her own unit for war crimes against frontier nomads; in BG3 I translated that to her being an ex-Fist who's back in the city to expose her unit commander's war crimes in Chult. She tends to be annoyed by the unwritten rules of social hierarchy (she grew up mid-to-low class), and she has no patience for the subtleties of political power and how it works. Her misadventures with the Flaming Fist destroyed any respect she might have had for military rank, because she's seen how it can be abused.

So she'd soured on the Fist's general corruption anyway, but is perhaps naively convinced that Ulder (who was not born rich and powerful) would quickly right that ship if he hadn't been waylaid in Elturel. Learning about Wyll's complicated relationship with his father might disabuse that notion, but it would definitely strengthen an Olini-Wyll bond. She has a similar rocky past with her drow exile mother (a mage who became incapacitated by her own Weave experiments) and hyper-idealized memories of her long-lost human father (also a ranger).

Mizora

Olini is ambivalent about Wyll's warlock powers. As a ranger she's only a half-caster, and understands the Weave can be dangerously volatile. She's sympathetic to Wyll's situation—protecting the city from a dragon cult's abuse would have been an easy choice for her as well—but surely there were better options than a literal devil's deal. Though maybe not more successful options, which Wyll persuaded her to understand (here's where mechanics come in, i.e. Wyll's high CHA and Olini's high WIS/low INT).

As for Mizora herself, Olini despises her. The cambion's smarmy legalism reeks of hierarchy's sneaky tools of leverage and abuse, which flusters and frustrates Olini. The mental lanceboard of trying to outwit Mizora is utterly beyond Olini's ability, even if she were interested in doing so. She's an experienced ranger, but she's yet to fully appreciate the natures of other planes (though only in BG3; in 5e she's a Horizon Walker), so the fact that Wyll's survived Avernus' fine print to this point is certainly something admirable and worth emulating.

Shadowheart

Our favorite faux-goth princess is the most important reason why Olini and Wyll aren't going to be more than friends. Olini prefers women anyway, so if it's a contest between two attractive people who could help her understand the finer points of subtlety and tact, Wyll's always gonna lose out to Shadowheart. For all that Wyll and Olini have in common, the ranger and cleric have more (and more to learn from each other). That goes beyond whatever a shadow priestess and gloom stalker could talk shop about, too. I mean, two half-elves with nebulous parental issues, plus a shared thing for frontier fauna and urban wildlife? Sorry, Wyll.

Strong Siblings

An Olini-Wyll romance was always gonna be off the table for umpteen reasons. They really are like siblings from different parents. I don't care how clichéd that sounds; clichés exist for a reason, because their truth can be so frequent and common. Meeting and recruiting Wyll at the Grove would have been a relief for Olini well before he revealed whose son he was, because by even that early date the other companions had all rubbed her the wrong way. Sure, Wyll's a bit of a pompous dork at first, but she respected his ideals and the way he behaved when teaching the refugee kids how to defend themselves.

She also handwaved his "hunt the devil" quest as the cost of doing business, especially since he was relatively forthcoming about motivation compared to everyone else (except maybe Lae'zel). However, once Karlach was recruited and that truth unraveled, Olini backed Karlach immediately (another good reason to hate Mizora) and, as awkwardly as she and the tiefling could do so, conspired to set up Wyll and Karlach. The fact that this worked out well for Karlach in the end was an unintented bonus—but who do you think might have inspired Wyll to be a ranger-in-hell Blade of Avernus anyway? Perhaps his ranger sister from another mister.

That's all I've got for now. I hope that answered the question! Thanks again for asking and as always I'm open to more similar Tav-deep-dive prompts.

Whiny Side Note

Would it kill Larian to clean up the way gear clips on itself? I get that it might be a frustrating whack-a-mole task to do every piece, but so is slapdash-photoshopping Olini's scale mail scarf to match the Hood of the Weave every time I want to post a screen shot.