#ch: stow that blade or i'll show you just how messy things can get

[clericofmystra]

Leaving the creepy druid grove (for now) spawned an unexpectedly civil conversation between Shadowheart and Lae'zel!

Shadowheart:

Lae'zel:

Shadowheart:

Lae'zel:

[Shadowheart: Do you think your kin search for you, Lae'zel? Lae'zel: I know they do not. It is my responsibility to cleanse myself. Shadowheart: They pursued the nautiloid. Perhaps they were trying to free you. Lae'zel: A vain notion. I am one of many and will not be a burden to my Queen.]

Aww, Lae'zel :(

[anghraine]

I'm having fun coming up with specialized tags for the sideblog, since I generally don't want to inflict my rambles on main tags.

Some of them thus far:

text posts = #t: the sacred text posts

Shadowheart = #ch: stow that blade or i'll show you just how messy things can get

Lae'zel = #ch: you may as well suggest a wyvern bow to worms

Gale = #ch: there's a mighty bargain to be made

Mystra = #ch: grace; power; wisdom

Gale/Larissa(/Mystra) = #ship: something like the anticipation of a kiss

All except the first are canon references!

[clericofmystra]

The Shadowzel ambient dialogue saga continues!

Lae'zel:

[Your sour face is tiring, Shadowheart. By all means leave, if I am so distasteful.]

Shadowheart:

[I'd rather not turn my back on you, if it's all the same.]

It's pretty fun to have Gale and Larissa cheerfully bonding over old books, magical power, being kind, and sharing an unhealthy fixation on Mystra, and meanwhile in the background, Shadowheart and Lae'zel are just *hiss* *snarl* USTUSTUSTUSTUST

[clericofmystra]

Speaking of the first nighttime conversation with Shadowheart, I love this profile shot of her at the end of it.

[clericofmystra]

Larissa's generally ethical and kind behavior towards others gets approval the most consistently from Gale and Shadowheart AND YET I suspect Gale's and Shadowheart's moralities are quite different.

At any rate, there's some intraparty tension between them, too:

Gale:

[The road to Baldur's Gate is a long one. Who knows how long it'll take these folks to get there on foot?]

Shadowheart:

[If they make it. They're slow, vulnerable. Half or more will die long before Basilisk Gate.]

Gale:

[Doesn't seem to trouble you a jot.]

Shadowheart:

[What good would it do for me to be troubled? We can't save them all.]

[clericofmystra]

It begins :D

[clericofmystra]

The party took about ten steps from this conversation between Shadowheart and Lae'zel before they were at it again:

Shadowheart:

Lae'zel:

Shadowheart:

Lae'zel:

Shadowheart:

[Shadowheart: Lae'zel, how would you punish someone who wronged you? Lae'zel: Wrong me how? Shadowheart: Oh, say, murder. Or theft. Lae'zel: Killing is good - it culls the weak. But theft would be paid for painfully, a thousand times over. Shadowheart: Hmm. Good to know.]

Just two gals having a totally normal conversation!

[clericofmystra]

I get this ship, I really do

[clericofmystra]

I took a long enough break from the dissertation to play a little more BG3, and caught up with Aradin the asshole adventurer, his surviving crew, and the bodies of those who didn't survive.

Larissa:

[(Cleric option) Before you go, I'd like to say a prayer for your crew.]

Aradin, in fairness to him, was understandably wary given the gods* of this world. He just asked what sort of prayer, and Larissa offered a prayer to her goddess, Mystra:

[(Cleric of Mystra option) May their journey onwards be filled with as many wonders as they enjoyed in life.]

And inevitably:

[Gale approves]

Wow, I'm sure this romance could never go wrong in any way.

*I know from other trial runs that the wording of the prayer can differ drastically depending on your deity—I played a bit of a Shadowheart game and her prayer to Shar is comically terrible—but the prayer to Mystra is actually pretty nice IMO.

[clericofmystra]

I think for the first time thus far, Gale and Lae'zel and Shadowheart all chatted together. The only other party-wide ambient conversation I remember is when I was carting Astarion along instead of Lae'zel and he wanted to know about everyone's love lives.

Anyway, Shadowheart was practically civil:

[What if this crèche doesn't work out, Lae'zel? What if your kin fail you?]

Lae'zel:

[If I can reach the crèche, my kin will provide - any failure will be mine alone.]

Oh, yikes. I am full of foreboding.

Shadowheart:

[If you say so. Just don't expect me to put all my eggs in the same basket.]

/sigh but also ... I mean, fair.

And then Gale interjected:

[That expression must sound curious to a githyanki ear, given the way they're birthed.]

Thanks, Gale!

(Joke's on me, I love him.)

[clericofmystra]

The party got to the dank crypt (...sounds delightful) and Larissa earnestly tried to persuade the looters to go away because it's dangerous around here (there were intimidate and deception options, but neither is really her) and succeeded, lol, so they just ... went away.

After the fight against the other looters, we got a little detail I got a kick out of—your reaction as you explore is slightly different if you're a cleric.

Larissa:

[I feel a presence here - a power. The patron god of this place?]

Shadowheart:

[Whoever that even is. No intact symbols here, no dedications - nothing.]

It's a small thing, but I enjoy the clerical talking shop moment!

[clericofmystra]

I found Zorru, the tiefling who'd seen githyanki other than Lae'zel, and ngl, I laughed at this:

[clericofmystra]

I helped a random tiefling via my fantastic wisdom score and

This was ridiculously gratifying, lol

[clericofmystra]

Meanwhile:

Okay, I definitely get the Shadowzel shippers.

[clericofmystra]

My party is absurdly unbalanced in multiple ways, but I kind of love it:

Gale: good-natured, loyal, talented, approves of kindness and generosity, says what he thinks, overflows with hubris and ambition (full spellcaster)

Shadowheart: cool-headed and pragmatic, devoted, resolute, believes in acting ethically, a fanatical cultist (full spellcaster)

Larissa: thoughtful, earnest, faithfully serves her deity, the geekiest cleric, longs for respect and power. unfortunately her deity is Mystra (full spellcaster)

Lae'zel: fearless, skilled, determined, dreams of better things, probably a war criminal (only party member who can stab worth a damn)

[clericofmystra]

Okay, more first night at camp chatting: after Astarion, Shadowheart wanted to talk, too!

Her camp gear is kind of hilarious, incidentally. Netting, a V nearly down to her waist, uncomfortable metal symbols ... but I can see Shar worshippers going for that kind of thing, lol.

(Not that Larissa knows who Shadowheart worships!)

Anyway, Shadowheart's conversation was a bit aimless, especially coming right after the wtf of Astarion's. She half-ironically called Larissa "the leader of the pack" and was wondering what Larissa is thinking, given that the search for Halsin makes their way forwards pretty clear. Yeah, it ... kind of does tbh.

I was amused that Lae'zel is going on about searching for the crèche on the following day and everyone else (except Gale, the only person who wasn't feeling chatty) is going "druid druid druid."

I think Larissa likes Shadowheart fairly well in addition to being curious about basically everything, so she asked about Shadowheart's future plans. Turns out Shadowheart is meeting someone in Baldur's Gate, though she clearly didn't want to talk more about it. A smoother character would let it pass, but it's Larissa, so she asked.

Shadowheart: "Let a girl have some secrets." I'm kind of curious if she herself knows who she's meeting. I've played a bit of a Shadowheart game, so I know she doesn't remember some things, but haven't played enough to be sure.

Larissa accepted that and asked how Shadowheart was feeling. (I keep avoiding the "You know, this could be our last night together..." option with her, lol. I'm going to romance Shadowheart in a different game, but not with Larissa, and it's literally their first night in the same camp.) Shadowheart, like the rest of us, feels fine and found it suspicious, then asked what Larissa would do if Shadowheart started to turn.

I actually had to think about that one, but I think Larissa is actually capable of grim resolve beneath her friendliness and awkwardness. She's going to do what she feels is right pretty much all the time (I'm sure this could never go awry :D) and will freely admit that she'd do it! So she actually told Shadowheart that she'd unhesitatingly kill her if she started to turn.

Shadowheart:

[Wise ... though I hope you'd miss me after I'm gone. I think I would, if the positions were reversed.]

Aww <3

The dialogue pretty consistently gives the impression that we've been travelling for awhile—not a long while, but certainly more than a day. Maybe a game mechanic to just be lalala about.

Then she's like "you're right" and told Larissa she was doing well.

Larissa: :)

This weirdly directionless conversation closed out with Shadowheart wanted to stay up to enjoy the night, which sounds much less suspect coming from her than Astarion. Though you never know with her!

Next up: she's going to try talking to Gale anyway, exclamation point or no exclamation point.