#Drizzt read through

[darkseldarine]

ALSO THE DESCRIPTION OF DRIZZT SWINGING AROUND A POLEARM TWICE HIS HEIGHT. HE'S MY LITTLE GUY AND I LOVE HIM.

[theladyregret]

I finally watched the D&D movie and I don’t know if knowing Xenk was originally supposed to be Drizzt benefited me watching it or not lol

Like the movie is good, don’t get me wrong, I like it fine how it is but...knowing as a fan what we got robbed of and seeing the parts of the character where clearly Drizzt was meant to fit *long suffering sigh*

[swordmaid]

WAIT. hold on. so drow pets are controlled via their house insignia. and I’m assuming that said pets are wearing a collar with the house’s symbol on it as well. shri’iia wears a collar with the faen tlabbar symbol on the pendant - a gift from her matriarch.

[solvicrafts]

On a related note, I love how people sometimes think Kimmuriel is just really serious and professional all the time and assume he’s above pettiness when:

------

Calico Grimm ranted and yelled, even shoved the drow, who fell over limply to the deck -- which only made the captain grow more incensed, to the point where he drew out his saber.

“Do not!” Wulfgar yelled, at the same time another crewman called out for everyone to take cover.

Indeed, across the way, the wizard went into the last moments of his spellcasting, creating another fiery bomb. He moved to throw it across the water to ignite Joen’s Heirloom, but then he suddenly froze in place and simply held the pose.

He was still holding his fireball when it exploded, engulfing his own ship in biting flames.

Wulfgar laughed.

Kimmuriel stood back up and straightened his clothing.

“Well now,” Calico Grimm said, as much of an apology as the man would ever give.

“You should have some faith,” Kimmuriel told him, to which the captain snorted. “And you should repent your actions.”

“What’re ye meanin’ by that?” asked Bonnie Charlee.

Kimmuriel stared hard at Calico Grimm.

“Well?” the first mate demanded.

“Repent,” Kimmuriel ordered.

Calico Grimm snorted, but then his face contorted weirdly, a look of utter surprise, a combination of shock and terror. The look of a man who was not alone in his own mind and body.

Calico Grimm spun about and sprinted away, past his surprised companion, running face-first into Joen’s Heirloom’s mainmast. He dropped to the deck hard, blood flying from his nose, a pair of teeth falling out onto the boards.

- “Boundless”

[steamclouds]

The Spine of the World...

[sewermageboy]

Gotta take a break from the drizzt posting to read some queer books again, cleanse the palate u know. Like smelling coffee grinds in between sampling different perfumes.

[tiny-huts]

Whenever Jarlaxle is absent in these books logically I get it because when you have a massive revolving cast different people need their time in the sun. Emotionally however I am shaking a treat bag begging my shitty little guy to come home because I miss him

[andromedasummer]

having a bit of a shit day. going to read dnd books abt it.

[meanbossart]

I was reading Drizzt books, and I think I just found an AU of DU Drow:

"Uthegebtal Armgo, the patron and weapons master of Barrison del'Armgo, Second House of Menzoberranzan, was not Jarlaxe's favourite drow. In fact, Jarlaxe wasn't certain thus one was truly a drow at all. Standing near six feet, with a muscled torso that weighed close to two hundred pounds, Uthegental was the largest dark elf in Menzoberranzan... Uthegental was simply frightening. He cropped his white hair short and spiked it with the thick, gelatinous exact gained by boiling rothè udders. A mithral ring was stuck through Uthegental's angular nose, and a golden pin protruded through each cheek."

It made me immediately imagine him as DU Drow.

If I ever concoct a joke in the fiction here where someone mocks DU Drow by comparing him to this purple Guts and he proceeds to get very quietly offended, know that it's all thanks to you.

[finecole]

Counterweight

Summary: “One night, he tells you that these last six months of happy memories are the counterweight to two hundred years of misery.”

Pairing: Spawn!Astarion x gn!Tav Reader 

Word count: 700

Warnings: mention of sex (18+), FLUFF, 1d20 psychic damage to my emotional well-being

---

“Well, as you know, I am an avid admirer of the freedom of nature’s gifts’’ Astarion taunts, laying next to you, chest puffed up and voice rumbling as he shoots you a smirk.

A grin spreads on your face, and you swat teasingly at his chest, “oh stop it - will you let it go?” 

You both laugh as you share a look, letting the laughter wane into a shared smile.

You roll over onto his chest, reaching out a hand to tuck back a stray silver curl. Your hand traces his cheek as it retreats, thumb tracing his cheekbone. The warmth that had gathered in his face a mere moment ago as he came undone, panting in the crook of your neck, had started to give in to his usual icy coldness again. As your hand reaches his chin, he captures it swiftly before its escape, placing soft kisses along your knuckles. 

You nuzzle into his chest, closing your eyes, basking in his tender caress. 

The two of you had spent many afternoons laying around like this on a bedroll or bed, whatever option would present itself on the road; limbs entangled and lips peppering kisses as you caught your breaths, or Astarion, head resting against the headboard with you curled up to his side, reading out passages from some trashy Drizzt Do’Urden novel you had found in the shops. 

You would be quite content, you think, to spend many more afternoons like this. 

“My love,” he whispers, tilting his head to the side, sharing the most tender of looks as you meet his gaze. He places your hand that he had been kissing on his chest, where his heart would be, and cups your cheek with the other. He mirrors your own affections, brushing your cheek with his thumb. 

“Hm?’’ a soft smile tugs at your lips, as you consider how the piercing rubies that were his eyes could melt into something so soft and gentle when he was with you. 

He covers your hand that still lays on his chest with his own, giving it a squeeze. “These last six months with you,” he says softly, carefully selecting his words. “These six months that we have shared, have been the counterweight to two hundred years of misery.”

A silence passes.

“Astarion…” your voice is barely a whisper, as the gravity of his words settles in. How all the words, laughter and touches you had shared, the pushing and pulling of figuring out how to be together, how the cumulation of it all could make up for the unimaginable pain that he had had to suffer. You think that right then and there, you could simply melt into his very being, wanting to envelop him whole.

Tears prick at the corners of your eyes as you fear that you could never gather the right words and arrange them in a way that would express how much love for him burned within you at this very moment - not in the way he had just done. So, instead, you pull yourself up to his face, bury a hand in his hair at the back of his neck, and kiss him. Once, twice, until you lose count. A kiss for every word you could not find, some soft and gentle and others desperate between furtive glances through half-lidded eyes. His hands travel across your back and waist, and for a moment you feel like you don't know where the boundaries of your beings lie. 

You pull back at last, though you do not go far, your noses still touching.

“Do you remember my promise?”, you whisper. 

He smiles and nods, “you will kiss me under the sun again.” 

His hand returns to cup your cheek, swiping away the tear that had threatened to spill before.

You lean into his touch, making a pledge with a smile, “I’ll fight the gods for that if I have to, you know.”

You know he does not lie when he speaks, “I’ll be right there with you, my love.”

---

Note: I've just had this in my head ever since the epilogue launched because OH MY GOD i do not even have the words Tav is quite literally just me in this because what do you say to that??? Its just such a poignant declaration; for Tav to represent so much love and joy to him i just esahjfajksdhjfkah. I haven't written anything in years but here I am, the elf has drawn me out of my slumber. It's also 5 am so apologies for mistakes I may or may not correct them

[phexart]

I just started reading my first Drizzt book ever and I'm about halfway through and I'm having a great time ngl

[darkseldarine]

Malice kind of rules

[imagineitdearies]

~ A Flawed Eternity ~

(AKA drabbles set in the Perfect Slaughter universe)

In which Tyrus and Astarion enjoy modern literature.

-

“Not interrupting I hope, darling?”

If not for immediate recognition of the voice, Tyrus may have dropped his book and cast Fire Bolt first, asked questions later.

Two days outside of the palace and he still felt—well, only a bit more safe, amongst a thousand other emotions. Luckily the person to thank for the majority of that safety now stood just past the door that had somehow opened without Tyrus hearing, who was grinning and holding a larger bag than he’d returned with the previous evening.

Tyrus relaxed and laid the book on his lap, gesturing at its pages as he answered, “Oh, just judging your choice in literature for me.”

Astarion brightened further at that—he’d brought Tyrus an impressive pile after his first shopping spree yesterday—and was quick to shut the door and hurry into their heavily curtained room above the Elfsong Tavern, leaning over Tyrus at the side of the bed to see what exactly he was reading.

Tyrus sighed and flipped it to show the cover, though he watched with a small smirk at how ecstatic Astarion was to see its title, The One that Got A Thay.

Astarion put on a playful pout right after, throwing a hand out in dramatic gesture as he spoke with playful shock, “You read most of it without me! I expected this to be the last book you picked from my selection, love.”

There were three arcane books that looked useful, even could teach Tyrus a new variety of spells now that he wasn’t confined to Cazador’s purposes. And besides a few general adventure books Tyrus had spied two more volumes of the Drizzt legends, though he wouldn’t dream of reading those without Astarion. Last, he’d noted the smut book, read its description and scoffed a bit—and ended up devouring it over the last three hours.

“I suppose I wanted a break from studying important things, after . . . so long,” he shrugged, smoothing a finger down the crisp pages.

Astarion’s face gentled. He discarded his cloak and bag and sat more properly next to Tyrus, pulling him in with an arm around his shoulder. “You’ll just have to catch me up, then,” he replied with a quick kiss to Tyrus’s ear. “I want to hear all about this dark, brooding necromancer and the pure-hearted, muscled beserker who changed his life.“

Tyrus was happy to oblige over the next few minutes: “Well, the two wasted half the book arguing with each other, the necromancer doesn’t know how to talk about feelings—no, much worse than you’ve ever been, Astarion—and the author kept describing the berserker’s size over and over again during the first sex scene, why does that even matter? But otherwise, it’s a rather interesting story and the plot entails a lot of history . . .”

They spent the next few hours reading the last third of the book aloud, laughing at the wrong parts, critiquing every unrealistic aspect of the sex scenes, and having such a lovely, relaxed evening together that Tyrus felt nothing but pleased to find a book titled A Pleasurable Deal added to the pile after the next shopping trip.

Maybe it was a strange thing to enjoy, given everything they’d both been through . . . but maybe a little escapism was healthy, every now and then.

[nabexis]

The D&D promo was a gift omg Thank you Larian, thank you voice actors, thank you High Rollers.

A short, hilarious Bloodweave moment from part 2.

Bonus doodles that are more spoilery and image description in alt text and longer descrption under the read more as it might be too long if you're looking at it on desktop:

Bonus doodles:

First image description: A five-panel comic of a scene from the High Rollers Baldur's Gate 3 Dungeons and Dragons game part 2. Gale Dekarios, disguised as a teifling, though his face looks the same, for plot reasons, half-shaved for spa reasons, walks briskly next to Astarion, who doesn't recognize him through the disguise and half-shave. Panel one: Gale is on the left, Astarion on the right. You can see them from the bust up. Astarion says "Ooo~ Who's this?" Gale responds through clenched teeth "Hello." An arrow with the text "Still half-shaved" points to Gale. Panel 2: Gale is on the left, Astarion is on the right, from further away so you can see both of their whole bodies. They are both walking quickly next to each other. Astarion is staring at Gale's boots, which are embroidered with gold. There is a red dotted line from Astarion's eyes to the boots to make this clear. Gale is overthinking what Astarion's words mean. His text is partially obscured within the thought bubble. His thoughts read: "Did Astarion just flirt with me? What the fuck what the fuck how am I supposed to respond? Does he find this disguise hot? He winked at me earlier I thought it was just because he wanted my boots but now I'm not sure anymore. Gods he asked me for money is he just using me as a sugar daddy? I don't know what's going on anymore. Would I even like it if he finds me attractive?" There is an arrow pointing to Gale labeled "Blushing incredibly hard, but no one can tell through the disguise" There is a speech bubble pointing off-panel, presumably Karlach who is saying "Wait, that sounds like Gale--" Astarion has a speech bubble which reads "Gale's… Boots…?" Panel 4: A close up of Astarion still looking down at Gale's boots, lost in thought, looking slightly concerned with a thought bubble of an elipsis. Panel 5: The same close up of Astarion looking markedly more concerned now with sweat drops on his face and his eyes have moved to being a thousand yard stare. His thought bubble reads "Oh shit. Oh shit." The second "shit" is italicized and underlined for emphasis. End description of image 1

Bonus image description:

several bonus doodles featuring Gale getting his spa day while Wyll realizes he's about to get arrested for using magic in the city, Astarion lapping up blood like a cat, Astarion being a dork over Drizzt Do'Urden, Gale and Astarion squabbling over Drizzt Do'Urden's panther and sword, and Astarion after said squabble looking reverently and making high-pitched squeaking sounds/fanboying over said items.

[solvicrafts]

I... I don't know how I feel about Lolth's Warrior, tbh.

[novarex]

Thoughts on Nere

Ugh, look at his pretty white eyelashes. I just want to smoosh his face.

I have a lot of thoughts regarding Nere and how he could have gotten where he is by the time we see him. @lysblack has started a really excellent conversation I would like to expand on. For science.

So may I present a somewhat lengthy analysis (rambling thoughts) of Nere, based on comments of other characters, what we know, and my reading of the Drizzt Do'Urdon books that go deeply into Menzoberranzan and life there.

Warning - this is long

Let's start with when we meet Nere.

Before we meet him, we meet the duergar, who have some things to say - Morgal is the one asking if you and the other duergar are "plowing", and from Corsair Greymon asking if "the Sargent has choked on True Soul Nere's prick". I do think that the duergar here are just generally vulgar and probably don't have much respect for anyone, but they are definitely getting to the end of their patience with Nere. They are mostly hired mercenaries with at least one believer in the Absolute among them (Sargent Thrinn). Something to note here is that duergar are a race of dwarves that were experimented on an changed by Mind Flayers and later escaped, that is why they have psionic powers, you can connect to them without them having a tadpole, and they have a special nose for True Souls because they can literally smell the parasite in you.

When you move down to the cave in area where Nere is trapped and Thrinn and her crew are trying to dig him out, you can talk to Nere through the rubble. He is literally suffocating to death on the poison that is filling the room, and obviously panicking - he thinks he is going to die in that room and I don't blame him. In his eyes (and any Lolthsworn drow), the people that are supposed to be rescuing him are just about the worst case scenario - they are inferior, disloyal, stupid, and unlikely to succeed. Like Minthara, I am sure he would MUCH rather have drow coming to rescue him than mercenary duergar and slave deep gnomes. On that note, he even is quick to tell you, another True Soul, not to trust the duergar mercenaries.

I also want to take a moment to say that no matter what we think of his behavior, Nere has to be under an absolute unbearably high amounts of pressure at this point - he is failing in his mission, he is stuck in the rubble that is quickly filling with gas, with wildly unreliable help. Like this is peak desperation. He is lashing out in anger and fear in any way he can. I think our Tav showing up is probably the only thread of hope he has to cling on to. Even Gale recognizes how bad of a situation Nere is in.

When you push into Nere's mind at the rubble and see through his eyes while he is suffocating to death in the cave in, the narrator makes a point to say that he had killed a gnome with powerful magic. He probably went to Sorcere (school for magic) in Menzoberranzan (although it is possible he isn't from Menzo).

Most noble drow have a natural talent for magic (breeding throughout the centuries), but sometimes commoners have the talent for it too. Sorcere is almost exclusively men because women with any talent for magic go to Arach-Tinilith, the school for drow priestesses. Male drow can also go to the school for fighting, Melee-Magthere (Drizzt went here), and they do spend one year at the end of their training in Sorcere learning some magic.

The reason I don't think Nere is a noble is that he would have certainly let us know if he were, especially if you are playing as a drow (I play as a drow female). This could just be an oversight in the writing, but I don't think so. When you fight the spectator over where the petrified drow are, if you manage not to get Dhourn the wizard killed and talk to him (disguise yourself as a female drow if you don't play as one and you can bully him into giving you his research and not have to kill him), he immediately lets you know he is the third boy of house Ba'Tol. In everything else I have experienced, drow are quick to name drop their house. It is extremely important in Lolthsworn society.

Nere is probably a commoner with enough magic talent to go to the school. All drow have a little magic to some degree, but to really learn it you have to go to Sorcere. There are few things you can do as a male in Memzoberranzan that give you any sort of status besides "useless male", and wizard/sorcerer is one. I suppose it is possible he is of noble birth, but I really think he would have let us know.

In Sorcere he would have spent most of his time around other males, as Sorcere is a 30 year long school (unlike Melee-Magthere which is 10), and exclusively male, which could explain why a female hadn't absolutely killed the shit out of him yet. The occasional priestesses from Arach-Tinilith would be around, but I think he could manage to be fine.

Nere certainly has an attitude to match with having gone to Sorcere. Some of his reactions, like blaming others for failures, are actually VERY cultural and expected among Lolthsworn drow. It just tracks. It would be strange if he didn't. He would have, however, faced constant criticism, bullying, sabotage, and crappy backstabbing politics within his time there, so it makes sense that he would have some emotional baggage regarding failure. Pretty much all male drow do to some extent. Even if he didn't have to deal too much with daily subjugation by female drow, he would still have faced a lot of scrutiny from other males in Sorcere. Failure of any kind is extremely dangerous in Lolthsworn society, especially for men.

I don't think his failure necessarily comes from him being bad at things. He has really good stats, so he isn't weak at all. He is also physically very strong. He is taller than both Gale and Astarion. The top of my female drow's head comes up to his chin (as opposed to Astarion and Gale where the top of her head is about dead center on theirs). He is also clearly intended to be intimidating. He has the Muscular feature as well as High Spellcasting - so he is big, strong, and good with magic. Wisdom is his lowest stat, and that could be the source of his problems in life. Strangely, he has really high charisma... but I will get to that shortly.

Anyway, back to the Grymforge. Before you bust him out of the rubble, talk to Thrinn, then go talk to the two drow who want to betray Nere, go back and talk to Thrinn and let her know they are planning to betray him. She doesn't seem particularly concerned with Nere's ability to handle them.

I think it is reasonable to assume that Nere is not a total fuckup. I think he has a lot of talent and strengths, but is either unlucky or unwise, or some combination of both. He has enough intelligence and strength to be powerful, and enough charisma to persuade people, but not enough wisdom and insight to know when to shut up or walk away... or when he is in over his head.

I do think he is unwise... there are some indications that he constantly underestimates what he is up against. This could be from lack of experience or this is just a character flaw.

Baby boy, what about any of this is simple? Please. You should have known better.

He is trying so hard here to convince himself that things are going to work out, but you can here it in his voice that he is trying to believe it. He must think that we are surely powerful enough to speak to Ketheric and convince him that Nere is still worthy. He is lacking the appropriate wisdom and insight to really accept what has happened.

We know from talking to Minthara that the influence of the Absolute is extremely overpowering and overrides any of your own common sense. It turns you into a fanatic and forces you to do things you would never ever do if you had control of yourself. This would also be true of Nere. He has this wild fanaticism and desperation to please Ketheric and the Absolute, but he drops it IMMEDIATELY when you fill him in on what is really going on. Once he is free of the brain's power and sees the bigger puncture, there is a very strong shift in his attitude.

He becomes very reasonable and quickly puts two and two together. This is probably the first time ever in his life where he is free of cult influence - if you convince him to run from the Absolute (and also I assume Lolth, because dear god he CAN NOT go back there without being tortured to death for information and then killed or worse, turned into a drider for his sins against Lolth)... and it does seem like he has a lot to process.

He is actually very calm and grateful for what you have done for him. It is such a shame you can't drag him around with you.

I am also not sure if it is an oversight in writing, or if Nere loses control of his mind again once we leave the area, or if he is just so pissed off at Balthazar and Ketheric and the whole ordeal that he goes after Balthazar to try and mess everything up for the Absolute by sabotaging the Nightsong plot.... but it is just such a shame that he dies anyway. I would like to think it is just a gap in writing because the game is SO HUGE.

If he is wiling to potentially die for a cause, what better cause than getting revenge on the people who did this to him? What better hook to get him to join our party and quest to destroy the Absolute and rid ourselves of the parasite? I think this is a huge missed opportunity.

LET ME DO IT, LARIAN. AGHHHH. LET ME SAVE HIM.

As far as how he became an exile/rogue, because I really do think he was.... (previous post on this)... I think there are a few possibilities, and we have absolute no indication as to what they could have been.

So this is pure speculation with nothing to back it up on my part. Here are a list of reasons he could have resulted in him being separated from Lolthite society.

Was out on some kind of mission and failed, couldn't go back without risk of severe punishment or death.

Separated from expedition to the surface (for slaves, or supplies, or whatever) either through no fault of his own or because he was unwise.

Attempted to kill someone and failed, fled. Probably while they were away from the city.

There was an attempt on his life that failed and he fled. Probably also while they were away from the city.

Was scouting or part of an expedition for a noble house that was annihilated while they were away. Nothing to return to without risking being killed.

I don't think he was some matriarch's special pet, because there is a certain level of obedience a reverence for female drow he would need to have to not be killed. His attitude is way off to have been some matron or priestess's favorite. Sure he is hot, but most drow are hot, so the standards for "too hot to be killed" are way too high for that to have been it. There are plenty of dead hot drow men.

I think it is likely that he made some mistakes that led to him not being able to go back for fear of death. I also think that when he mentions going to the Order of Soul Spiders, that is just him being unwise and not thinking the whole thing thorough. Like baby boy, you are going to be destroyed once the hear what you have to say. Sure, they will want to know it, but you are NOT going to escape punishment for abandoning Lolth. That isn't a possibility. Think it through.

Ok wow this post got too long and way out of hand. Nere is my current hyperfixation, and I hope that at least two of you share this hyperfixation with me and found this worth reading.

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.