#and everyone talks about Wyll becoming duke much more

[5mcsinatrenchcoat]

I gotta say, Wyll's quest this time is going kinda differently to the way it went last time I played it. It's making me concerned but also excited. Oooh new stuff.

[limpfisted]

Wyll ravengard is a very funny character because he literally just. Has no idea the terrible things wrong with baldurs gate

Hes like BALDURS GATE IS A JEWEL. It WOULD HAVE WELCOMED REFUGEES 10 YEARS AGO!

Maybe thats true. Ten years ago. I doubt it. But maybe. TEN YEARS AGO. (Tbh I hope it isn't bc that means ulder made the city actively worse LOL)

But descent to avernus is a canon and it takes place the same year as bg3

There were HUNDREDS of refugees from elturel. Even more than are outside the gate now from the absolute

And they ALSO were not allowed in. In fact, some of them are beaten in the streets by the very flaming fist that wyll's dad is in charge of. For the crime of being refugees, I guess.

If u read the 5e stuff about baldurs gate its clear that baldurs gate is a truly terrible and unsafe place to live if ur poor. Even if ur rich its unsafe, but then at least u can stay in the upper city and gamble all day long away from The Poors.

Its a place defined by inequality and crime but also culture and magic and pride

Wyll sees the best in it, he sees the pride and the people and the magic. He was privileged enough to see only the best in it

As much as I love the idea of wyll as a fairy tale prince returning home and everyone loves him---ulder being from the lower city and going versus the nobles is HARD and he has had to fight to keep his power and fight to keep the lower city safe from the guild and make bad deals and lbr to work with the flaming fist, to work with the evil ass patriars, he had to let some things slide

Wyll has his work cut out for him! Just as his father did!

And I think being grand Duke would present an interesting challenge for him as a character, in that he would not be able to solve problems by fighting monsters or killing devils. He has to deal with evils of injustice, even within the people who work for him who protect him and who he may have at one point looked up to

And that's extremely difficult

There is political intrigue and frustrations and tragedy to be had

Wyll genuinely has the compassion and empathy and charm to help baldurs gate.

BUT.

The point of wylls narrative and the stuff with balduran and ansur is very much a wake up call that the fairy tale of his fathers hero balduran is built on lies and there is no one great man that can save baldurs gate. Just like there wasn't one great man that built it

Gortash himself is like, a foil to this because he believes he's the one great man who can fix every problem with literal mind control

It is MUCH easier for wyll to just step away from baldurs gate after all this. And if u let HIM choose, that's what he does

If he becomes grand Duke and his fathers heart of the gate, he becomes responsible and beholden to things we can't imagine

And tbh? Wyll doesn't have that many of his own allies like his Father had. He has to rely on people like florrick, people like the flaming fist. People who respected his father, people who will talk over and take advantage of the 26 year old who stopped his education at 17

His story doesn't really end here, u know? It's really just beginning

In fact with an evil arch Duke everyone genuinely seemed to believe in dead, so many patriars dead, Duke Stephane dead, who knows what happened to vanthampur, the flaming fist had sided with gortash, who knows what happened to the actual upper city watch.

Literally and truly. The story of the absolute, and BALDURAN is finally over. But the story of baldurs gate? Baby thats just beginning

[ithinkthiswasabadidea]

Extremely niche post catering to approximately six of my mutuals and/or followers about how I think the GreedFall characters (in an idealised, good ending where a cure is possible and everyone is happy) would react/interact with the BG3 companions and Tav (well. my original tav, at least)

Vasco is hard to warm up to new people, but then he hears Wyll and Karlach hyping each other up and talking about their adventures, and especially with the way Wyll romanticises things so much, he's now listening SO intently. In return the two of them are enraptured when Vasco describes his life as a Naut, and the range of things he experienced on the seas at such a young age. He has an almost pained sort of reaction when he hears about Wyll growing up as nobility, and circumstances ripping him away from it, but is inspired to know how Wyll grows from that experience to be so much more than just the Duke's son. He really loves how much Karlach loves her people

Siora is also a little stressed about how she would be received but Jaheira and Halsin are super easy to gravitate towards and there is very quickly an understanding as they discuss their deep connections to the land and their people. Siora describes the Nádaig with such reverence and fear and awe and the two druids are positively spellbound. Halsin talks about Thaniel, and then both he and Jaheira take turns describing their wildshaping and giving some demonstrations, much to Siora's delight. I think she would also be quietly in awe of the other women in the group too, and their prowess and experiences

Kurt is pretty standoffish and just wants to keep an eye on De Sardet and Constantin, but at some point he strikes up a conversation with Shadowheart and Astarion. It's tense and cagey for a long while, and I'm not sure how it would even come up, but he learns of the Dark Justiciar training and Astarion's past under Cazador's heel, and then he's gently sharing his own traumatic experiences to show how much he understands. The camp, and the things they were made to do.... Nobody makes mention of the quick, but fiercely protective hugs between the three of them (I headcanon Kurt is a hugger. The man WILL crush someone in a hug). There is a wordless bond of strength and healing through action (and no small amount of revenge)

Aphra and Gale are warily eyeing each other up, but man. You can fit so many 'intense special interest in my chosen field of study' into these bad boys. If you can get one of them to shut up for long enough, the other will just as easily keep the conversation going. They don't quite understand much of what the other is talking about but there is mutual acceptance and respect from a scholarly point of view. Gale mentions the view from his tower in Waterdeep, and Aphra's resolve will crumble as she describes the observatories where she grew up

Petrus is stuck between Lae'zel and Minthara who are both ranting about power struggles and God/s in the Fanatics Corner™️. He quickly learns to keep his mouth shut unless he's asked for an opinion, but there is a great deal of intelligent theological debate, and about how to deal with hierarchy and control of a people, when what they have been told is the truth, simply. Is not.

De Sardet and Tav are passing a bottle of something STRONGLY alcoholic back and forth, lamenting the staggering amount of work that a 'Chosen Leader' has to do to bring people together and broker some sort of peace or alliance, OR make the hard choice and cut ties before things become unsalvageable. The conversation starts off pretty unhappy and painful, but ends with a lot of hope and love

Finally, Constantin has been utterly charmed by Minsc and Boo. So neither the Stone Lord nor our dear, darling ball of curiosity, Constantin, are causing any trouble right now. Boo is pulling every string and eldritch(?) favour he can to keep this duo contained

[ab121500]

Okay, this is purely just cause i had feelingstm about a potential choice in the game with Wyll and what it would mean for my tav in particular. And THEN i saw a post about how Wyll might not have had many romances before because he thought it was selfish and that just encouraged me to like actually post this dumb thing i wrote. (And tumblr needs more Wyll content anyway)

Spoilers for Act 3/The end of Wyll's questline

"I can make you into the grand duke." His father's voice was firm, proud even.

Wyll felt his words get stuck in his chest. Him? The grand duke of Baldur's Gate? Was his father mad? His mouth opened to reply, only for Dove to cut in. "We need to talk." Her hand was shaking as she dragged him to a private clearing.

"I can't believe this madness. Me? Grand Duke? I look like a monster! I would be more likely to scare everyone than inspire them." He paced back and forth in front of his love, standing while she sat on the soft grass of the clearing. "Not to mention, the Sword Coast needs me, it needs the Blade. Plus, turning it down means we can be free and happy-"

"I wouldn't be happy." Dove's words were soft, and yet the sharpness of them dropped his excitement to the bottom of Avernus.

"W-what?" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. She stood and took his hands.

"Wyll." Her voice was strained. "I am not an adventurer. I'm not someone who finds joy fighting goblins and killing demons. I've done that now because I had to." Her hands were shaking again. "For fucks sake, I'm a noblewoman. I was raised to perform little shows in the upper city and schmooze the dukes. Not… to do what you need to do as the Blade." She took a deep breath. "I want that life back, Wyll. My life back. You being the grand duke would do that."

He was stunned, never even considering that Dove was completely out of her element. His enjoyment of his lifestyle blocked the idea that anyone, especially the love of his life, would hate it. Now he was conflicted; he needed to be the Blade, that's who he was, but being the blade meant his partner would be miserable. Being the grand duke meant he'd be miserable, but she'd be happy. There was no winning scenario. After all they'd been through, freeing himself from Mizora and stopping the dead three's chozen, he never even considered the possibility of not continuing his adventures.

Dove knew of his hesitation, she always did. She could tell the slightest of emotion changes with the twitch of an eyebrow, and he was clearly concerned. Her hands gave his own a firm squeeze, bringing him back to her. "Wyll, I know that becoming the Duke would be your worst nightmare. Maybe something for you to do when you're old and done adventuring, but not now especially not when there still is so much to be done. You know that I would resent you if I was forced to participate in that life." She swallowed, and he waited. While being a warlock meant he was good with words, bards were even better and Dove was the best of the best. "So, I purpose that we get married tonight."

He did a double take. "What? Not that I wouldn't want to, but.."

"If we get married tonight, I will become a Ravengard. I can assume the title of the grand duke whilst you're away. You can stay the Blade, visiting the city often to see me. And once you're done with your adventures, I can pass the title to you. Not to mention, getting married now instead of later means all our friends can attend. We both know Karlach's engine is bound to blow any day now, and I promised her she'd be apart of our wedding." One of her hands moved to his cheek, brushing a half circle under his good eye with her thumb. "Besides, I love you. Getting married now means that even if we fail tomorrow, I can still call you mine and I yours."

His heart swelled with love, hearing her little speech, feeling like the luckiest man in the world to be able to call her his. "I can't deny that logic." Her little smile made him get butterflies in his stomach, and he never wanted that to stop. "Lets tell everyone, we're going to need their help to get this going." He was about to pull away from her, but he stopped a moment before adding. "But first." He placed a hand on her cheek, tugging her face upward and into a loving kiss.

This is so dumb lmaooo there is more to it but i think i'll save more of my embarrassment for later lmao

[blackjackkent]

Annoyingly, despite the fact that Hector is BIG TIME UPSET by what Gortash said about there being a traitor in the camp, I appear to have ZERO option to follow up on this by talking to anyone. Everyone has lots to say about the business between Wyll and Mizora, obviously, but no one wants to speculate on Gortash's threats? Nobody? Really?

I guess the intention is that we just assume he was fucking with us? But really this is a bit frustrating because Hector is VERY afraid of the idea of one of his friends being replaced by a shapeshifter, using his trust of them (or, worse, his love for Karlach) to further Orin's agenda.

I was struck last night by the sudden theory that perhaps the kid, Yenna, and/or her cat are the shapeshifter interlopers in camp. XD That would be quite a twist.

Had a quick chat in camp with Mizora, though, who is busy being exactly as much of a dick as we would expect her to be.

Highlights:

She's apparently only a half-devil, not a devil? Not sure how relevant this is but it surprised me.

She claimed that the offer to trade a single soul for a hero of Baldur's Gate was "uncommonly reasonable," and was very sarcastic about Wyll not being "valorous" by giving up his father in exchange for freedom from the pact. Hector gave her VERY angry eyebrows.

He tried to demand she leave the camp but, unsurprisingly, she just laughed and made it clear that if he tries to attack her she'll just "slip away for a breather" and then come back.

He also asked her why she is no longer trying to kill Karlach, and she said, rather ominously, "I'd think you'd figured it out by now - Zariel found a new use for an old battleaxe. The Dead Three and that bulging brain of theirs are a threat to more than this trifling city, you know. Savor her company - who's to say when Zariel might change her mind? My mistress can be so capricious." >:|

As always, Jaheira's response to the ongoing Wyll situation was the most interesting:

"I did not know Duke Ravengard that well - but I'm sure he would not want his son to become slave to Zariel for his sake. I am sure Wyll knows that - but we would do well to remind him, when his days grow dark."

"You sound like you speak from experience."

"No one truly understands the weight of loss until they've worn it a while. There is no shame in sharing the load, when you need to."

:( Oblique Khalid reference! (And Rasaad, in my particular headcanon.) *hugs Jaheira*

[sampirism]

Hmm sorry the more I think about the events of my ending in BG3 the more mildly annoyed I get and I'm not sure how much of it was bugs or writing. Spoiler warning obvs

Lae'zel: There was really no scene with Lae'zel and Orpheus discussing ending Vlaakith's reign, his goal continuing on even without him? Potential bug?? I understand he died or wanted to die now that he's ghaik but it feels like they were definitely supposed to have a moment before he kicked the bucket. I thought she was going to be the one to kill him. It's not like Voss and the rest of the honor guard are totally gone for good, right? Did they die off screen??? All I got was a "TSK'VA, because of you I will be on the run forever. I will thank you, but I will not stay." I can't even... encourage her to stay inspired in her fight against Vlaakith? Wish her well? Apologize?

Gale: I think I convinced him not to go slurp up the crown of karsus for himself? Unclear. I saw a comment from someone who romanced him who was thoroughly upset, because she thought she had convinced him otherwise from a previous scene, he told her he was doing it anyways. Ouch

Astarion: I can accept the bittersweetness of him reacting to the sun, as I strongly dislike ascension ending, but the fact that my game specifically bugged so that I didn't even get to tell him I wanted to look for a vampirism/sunlight cure together? sad :(

Wyll: Man, I feel like my Wyll bugged out forever ago. There was never any dialogue to discuss how Myzora was still hellbent on killing his dad because I saved him from the iron throne (and told Wyll to drop his pact) All I got with him was him saying how he appreciated my sacrifice? (I didn't... do anything... Orpheus became the brain sucker, not me) And him inviting Karlach back to Avernus, which is sweet... but WRT my feelings on

Karlach: How... utterly depressing for the most chaotic good, positive companion's endings be to die, go back to hell, or become a mindflayer. I love a tragedy, but when there seems to be so many scattered clues of fixing her only to never be able to go down any route? Her... final quest ending is... just killing Gortash? She barely even got to speak with him. The fact that I have so much infernal iron, the Gondians, Ironhands, Dammon, the steel watch implying her engine is similar to theirs-- but none of these avenues are further explored than a mild engine stabilization? Pls

Shadowheart: Her only contribution to the ending scene was saying "ah. poor astarion. no more sun for him" I don't know what this bitch (complimentary) is up to next. Same with Halsin.

Honestly, why was there no go around and talk to everyone I've allied with like the Duke, etc., in a place like Elfsong Tavern or the Wyrm Fortress or whatever? It was very abrupt and strange.

[wyrmscockfortress]

gonna talk a bit about wylls story under the cut

just finished wyll's companion line, havent finished the game yet tho. Damn I found ansur dead and everything and fighting him was a cool twist, but that felt more like it was about balduran himself than it did about wyll. He didnt even have much to really say about it! He said something about how he failed his father and that the dragon was dead. idk for being the ending to wyll's companion line it didn't seem like it was about him very much at all.

After i got back to camp and talked to the duke I let wyll pick his own fate. I actually did expect him to choose to become duke but he chose blade of avernus for himself, cool with it hes his own man. but the dialogue felt really rushed/cobbled together and he didnt even get a cutscene :/ I didnt romance him this playthrough but i feel like he should have gotten more regardless. he mentions wanting to have a party and stuff and i think it would be really nice if we got a cute little scene at camp with everyone celebrating his decision. idk the decision really didn't feel meaningful or impactful at all. I see what people mean when they say wyll has an abysmal amount of content in game.

[absolxguardian]

On the topic of me being disappointed by the ending of BG3, I got the ending I didn't want for two separate companion quests because there weren't any dialogue options to convince the companions for the ending I wanted with reasoning I agreed with.

For Wyll, since I already read something about one of his endings being him becoming a Duke of Baldur's Gate I created a scenario in my head where he basically becomes Lord Vetinari from Discworld (Baldur's Gate is super similar to a pre-Vetinari and Vimes Ankh-Morpork, probably because it parodies tropes the city plays straight as well as taking inspiration in later editions). Wyll has to go from lawful good to, well another manifestation of lawful good. But he becomes much more of a pragmatist and has to play up being a scary devil touched tyrant to the point people think the Blade of the Frontiers was a different person. Now obviously I wasn't expecting the game to do something so specific, but I was disappointed that when he was offered Dukehood, you could only encourage him by talking about how much power he could have that way instead of the good he could do for the city.

For Gale, the only dialogue options to encourage him to not go for the Crown of Karsus were to impugn his moral character specifically or be pro-Mystra. When I wanted to grab him by the shoulders and explain to him that becoming a god morally corrupts everyone. Every god you have problems with in the game except for Shar used to be mortal!