#durge dies in all tav playthroughs

[vinff7]

I have Drugetash AU brain worms, but they won’t fully form enough to make fics so I’m dumping them here.

Idea 1: Durge through Bhalspawn magic or normal sex could have children with Gortash and both were planning to do this. They were not going to get married, Gortash would marry someone else for political empire expansion reasons latter down the line, but Durge and Gortash had both plotted that as part of their take over the world plan they would have children together and those would be their heirs that Gortash would legitimize and just not have children with his actual wife / essentially political puppet.

This idea is courtesy of Dune, I just love the idea of Durge being a consort and Gortash promising to never touch his actual wife and only having kids with Durge.

“I swear to you now that you’ll need no title. That woman over there will be my wife and you but a concubine because this is a political thing. Yet she shall have no more of me then my name. no child of mine, nor touch, nor softness of glance, nor instant of desire.” - quote from Dune that I died thinking of Gortash saying to Durge.

Idea 2: the above is still true but this is a Tav play through so Durge fucking dies. And in this play through Durge and Gortash have known each other for a Loong time, like 10+ years and then Durge dies. Bonus angst points if Durge is pregnant and that is part of why Orin tortures them to death.

Fortunately in idea 2 land it is a Tav/Gortash fix it world so somehow Gortash doesn’t die at the end of the game and Tav has a crush on Gortash, but it’s complicated by the fact that Gortash is still getting over his recently murdered long term lover but has 0 coping skills except insisting that ‘it’s in the past, it doesn’t matter!’ And trying to plow on not even mentioning Durge to Tav if it can be helped.

Triple angst points if it follows many Tav/Gortash things I’ve seen where post Brain the two get married to maintain political stability which brings up angst from the promise Gortash made in Idea 1 about not caring about his marriage partner cuz he would have Durge, but Durge is super dead and Tav is left trying to pick up and puzzle the pieces together.

[fabledteeth]

shes my little pookie bear. the specialest pretty princess in the world

[ghost-proofbaby]

Not to indulge the BG3 " brain rot " but.... can we see what your tav looks like? Maybe hear a little bit about them? Sorry I'm just also on a BG3 kick right now

sure! don't apologize for that <3

this is my first tav, for my only currently completed playthrough. named her seraphina, she was a wild magic sorcerer elf and she romanced astarion, and she was 100% a goody two shoes. not to flex or anything. always gonna hold a special place in my heart. kinda sad i don't have more screenshots of her. also, i went through this playthrough without any mods!

and then my current playthrough is actually my first durge! i've made a couple so far (my bad), but this is going to be a redeemed/resisting the urges playthrough. her name is aruna, and she's also romancing astarion (what a shocker). she's a storm sorcerer elf you can tell i have a preferred class and race huh. i also caught the wonderful lil sideye exchanged during the gur encounter between her and astarion which i laughed at for a good five minutes. so far, this playthrough has been 100x more chaotic, and is definitely giving her and astarion sharing a brain cell (the blood of lathander quest is still a sensitive topic for our dear pale elf womp womp). she's simply bhaal's god's favorite princess with her crew of scary dog privilege while she fights the voices. (and yes, this playthrough i am using mods. sue me.)

i also have two bard durge playthroughs (one as a tiefling, one as a half-elf), and one of them in a multiplayer campaign with my friend in which uh.... we're gonna do full on evil ! wish me luck !

[oops-all-concrete]

BG3 fandom! I have more headcanons- but first!!

I must issue a very loud

⚠️SPOILER WARNING⚠️

For The Dark Urge playthrough of Baldurs Gate 3! There is no further warning below the cut, so if you care not to be spoiled, do not continue to read!

For those of you interested- ahead lies: Angst, hurt/comfort, canon-typical violence, blood, mentions of death, no MCD or any perma-death anyway, and lots of love. Greif and pain and emotional hurt are heavy themes as well!

Last warning! ⚠️Spoilers ahead⚠️

I've just gotten to this point in the Dark Urge run (where you reject Bhaal and fucking) DIE, and DUDE- I am stunned companions say NOTHING to your LITERAL DEATH after rejecting Bhaals gift or whatever. (Not in the scenes anyway) So, I'm writing how I think they'd respond cinematically, because your lively Durges deserve to be mourned and loved.

(Of course in-game this would be limited to the dialogue, but I've describes how they would be animated anyhow)

Lae'zel -

She's running to Durge the moment they start lifting from the ground, but pauses once their eyes start rolling back and blackening. There's something beyond her control happening, and she needs it to stop- and it does. With Tav hitting the floor eyes black, soul gone. She's immediately yelling at the others to do something, hand her a scroll, something- but nothing is working. Her shoulder slump after a good few minutes. And finally her voice breaks. She holds a hand to her chest as she wails in agony, holding her Tavs body like it's the last time- because to her- it is. "My angel, my moon. My great protector. I have failed you" She hisses, eyes scrunched shut.

Shadowheart -

She's been afraid her whole life. But even in the face of Bhaal, she will not be afraid if it means Tav will be safer. She immediately casts warding bond, if they're in danger, she'll halve it. If you're going to get hurt, so shall she- and she's okay with that. "Hang on-!" And then it all goes black, she falls without a word or scream, but she's content. If she dies protecting Durge, she cannot ask for better.

(After cutscene convo) Once Durge has been revived by Withers, it's up to them to get a scroll and revive her from the bloodied mess on the floor. She's stunned and confused, but the moment she sees Tav okay she couldn't care less. Why did you do that? "It might sound silly, but I was scared that you would be alone through whatever was about to happen. I don't regret it, if you're wondering"

Wyll -

"Gods- NO!" He shouts, a hand reaching out for them as they hit the ground. He's over them in a flash, holding their head in his arms, trying desperately to wake them, find a pulse, wake up himself and have this all be some sick nightmare. But of course, no such thing happens. The Tav he knows and loves just ceased living before his eyes. There's blood soaking into his every apparel and he's crying his eye out. It crosses his mind. Mizora is powerful- even if she can't fix this, she will know someone or something that can. He'd give anything- his whole life, he'd gladly be a lemure if it gave Tav back. He almost calls for her- until Withers starts his speech. (During the 'your rejection of Bhaal has earned you a place among heroes' section of his dialogue, he'll turn to Wyll and add: 'No devil's, demons or feinds required, I assure you')

Karlach -

If she wasn't raging before, she is now. A tomb-rocking scream echoes around the chamber, eyes wide with horror, body shaking and burning all over, engine out of control but she couldn't care less. One of the others will tell her to calm down. "FUCK THAT! FUCK EVERYTHING! FUCK THE GODS ABOVE AND THE HELLS BELOW." She roars. It goes on, swearing, screaming, swinging- and then, finally- collapse. She drops to her knees and punches the hard ground next to Tavs body, sobbing and exhausted. Withers walks in the the most gut-wrenching agonised scream of why

Gale -

He's frozen as it happens. His hands crackle with weave but he can't move. He needs to do something- anything, but time moves without him. All he knows is he can't breathe, all he can smell is blood and he thinks he's going to be sick. He can hear invisible bones cracking, distant blood dripping and their last choke. The wizard stumbles forward, barely making it to their body before collapsing beside them, on his knees and positively glowing from the mark on his chest. The orb can sense his distress and buzzes within him, as though it can smell the death. He pulls and hand to his mouth, kissing it gently- unable to comprehend a kiss goodbye. "Oh- Gods. Oh my love" he sobs, brows furrowed in what looks like physical pain. "I'm so sorry... I'm so, so sorry..." He wheezes out, scarcely finding breath.

Astarion -

He doesn't let their head hit the ground. He's swift as he catches them, but frantic as he sets their head on his thighs as a pillow. He pulls open their eyelids only to find a blackened core beneath, animalistic and distinctly unfamiliar. "Wake up, damn you...not after all this! You don't get to go!" He yells sounding genuinely furious- like he was going to get violent. If any of the others approach he doesn't notice. "We still have a cult to cull, we have a brain to control- I need you!" He yells, voice raw and eyes wet, the anger melting into greif. He makes a sheild of himself over Durge when Withers walks in, dagger/shortsword in hand, teeth bared, despite his damp face.

(Withers greets Astarion: 'Cry no more Spawn of sanguine- the universe is finally in your favour')

(Only Halsin is romanced for obvious reasons, but closeness is still implied for Minsc and Jaheira)

Halsin -

He catches Durge on the way down, their head on his chest as he lays them down over himself. "My heart? Can you hear me? Please say something" He begs hands glowing with healing magic, eyes aglow as well. He tries for a little, but then his breathing changes entirely, a small hushed gasp sounds from him, his he starts shaking his head, eyes wide. "Oh- oh Gods- Silvannus, please- I cannot bear to lose- oh Gods" He gasps, breath becoming harsher- finally letting tears fall. "Oak Father- please, wherever they go- keep them safe" he prays, teeth gritted in agony.

Jaheira -

She looks away as Tavs life is sapped away, unable to watch another Bhaalspawn friend suffer. When all falls still and silent, she looks among the other companions, shocked and frozen. "They're at peace now. Take comfort in knowing they chose to keep you all safe." She says with a proud nod- but her eyes are wet and her nose scrunched a little with a sniff.

Minsc -

There's small squeaking in the berserkers ear, before he sighs, almost a sob and speaks with a tired voice. "Wise words, Boo. I only wish our friend could hear you" Before he turns away, unable to look at them on the floor. "I am proud to have called them our friend. We should make them proud in return"

Hope you enjoyed! To the lovely people who have made requests, I will get to them as soon as I can!! Thank you for the requests, and please feel free to send me more!

[onceuponalightyear]

I'm running around Act 2 as my human Durge wild magic sorcerer, (wild magic is so much fun. I take tides of chaos ANY chance I get!) Astrid, AND I FORGOT HOW MUCH I LOVE THE SHADOWLANDS.

So dark. So mysterious. I don't want to leave. ALSO I found a new area I had never been to in my past 2 runs. I almost died because I was not prepared for the TWO fights I ran into.

ALSO WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THAT TELLING ASTARION HE NEEDS A FRIEND AND NOT A LOVER IS SO TEAR INDUCING?!!?!

I'm romancing Gale for the first time but couldn't say no to Astarion. I knew there was a friend option later on, but had never seen it. It is so heartwarming and beautiful and now I want to make another character for him just to love and hold and cuddle and all the things he needs.

I fear I'll have to make a Tav/Durge for Astarion for every Tav/Durge I make for the other origin characters. Not to mention that I also want to play every origin character. I haven't even gotten Minthara on any playthrough so far (not for lack of trying on this one, I knocked her out, but aggro'd the goblin camp before I did that. WHOOPS), so I'm definitely doing a really dark embrace Durge with my sights set on her. Soo that means I need to have at LEAST 14 runs just to romance everyone and play the origin characters ONCE.

I will never be done with BG3.. aaaaand I don't see that as a bad thing.

[j-l-kepler]

I Turned My BG3 Tavs into Fake Origin Characters

CUZ NOBODY'S STOPPED ME YET

So here I was, scrolling through the BG3 tag when I come across a fantastic BG3 Template made by the extraordinary @dvgsart! Couldn't mcfreakin' help myself, I tell you.

So I took my 5 active non-Durge playthroughs (3 of which are 2-Tav saves) and slapped them in! Had a blast doing this, I tell you. All the beautiful Tavs I keep seeing just make me wanna gush about my own silly Tavs. Life's too short to not have fun.

[Putting the ART and everything below the cut because this is gonna be loooooong and y'all should get to opt out]

Yeah okay maybe I've written Companion Guides for 6/7 of these guys. I've had a lot of time at work lately, okay.

I call these guys the Stacked Seven because all of them have massive badonkadonks and I'm in desperate need of a new hobby. I can't help the fact drawing tits is very fun and I am horrendously bisexual.

ANYWAY lil bit of preamble you can skip -- I based their stats and weapons on what they'd be as Companions or Origin runs, not what their actual in-game stats are. Romantic Partners / Besties / Weapons are who and what they'd probably default to if they were just in ya party. I also put them in their Companion fits, not their in-game fits. AIGHT LET'S KICK IT OFF, IN ORDER

Eckhart Markolac

The Infernal Twins

Ayyy it's my guy, you might've seen my guy before! We're starting off in familiar territory. Also he's the only twunk here. RIP.

Eckhart is one roguish half of the whole known as the infamous Markolac Twins. He and his sister Emerleigh have spent years of their lives dedicated to paying off a debt they owe to the Undercellar through smuggling, cons and other life-threatening crimes. Now that the Nautiloid has picked them up and dumped them a long ways away from the Gate, he's faced with the consequences of his actions and the kind of freedom he never expected to grasp in his lifetime.

Eckhart shares a companion quest with Emerleigh - get these tadpoles outta their skulls and get back to Baldur's Gate! But will he return to face his debtor, go on the run for the rest of his life, or forsake a future he doesn't think he's good enough for?

For those who haven't met my angst machine of a rogue, Eckhart is a sarcastic, witty and vaguely sleazy guy who's basically your classic rogue. He comes complete with a detached attitude, lower (but not too low) moral standards, and a heart of gold under layers and layers of self sabotage and emotional dysfunction. He's just bad at hiding it.

Eck and Em would be recruited at the exact same time, and their tadpoles would make it so they cannot live for very long without the other. How? Why? Because I don't wanna write a whole freaking branch where one of the twins dies and the other just has to deal with that. Game branch logic is HARD TO WRITE, DAMN YOU.

Emerleigh Markolac

The Infernal Twins

Heyyy girl, it's Em, it's my girl!

Emerleigh is one bardic half of the whole known as the infamous Markolac Twins. She and her brother Eckhart have spent years of their lives dedicated to paying off a debt they owe to the Undercellar through smuggling, cons and other life-threatening crimes. Now that the Nautiloid has picked them up and dumped them a long ways away from the Gate, she's more determined than ever to hold onto this newfound freedom... more terrified of returning than she ever thought she could be.

Emerleigh shares a companion quest with Eckhart - get these tadpoles outta their skulls and get back to Baldur's Gate! But will she return to face her debtor, go on the run for the rest of her life, or deny herself the future she so desperately wants for her and her brother?

If you haven't met Em, she's your classic dramatic bard who speaks in poetry, prose and academia! She's friendly, mischievous, and has so so so many things she hasn't given herself the space to contend with emotionally. She's a pretty lady used to having a perfect mask demanded of her, craving a chance to speak bluntly and openly instead of wrapping herself up in layers upon layers of what other people want from her.

I've already written plenty about Em and Eck. The twins' stories are very interconnected, with the quest playing out the same beats from the perspective of whichever twin the player is playing/romancing/keeping in their party.

Canary Highfall

Child of Light

My other major 2-Tav playthrough I have yet to mention, and the first modded class I've played!

Canary's life has been dedicated to the pursuit of truth -- consequences be damned. Reuniting with her possessive estranged father has caused a lot of roadblocks for her, but her divine heritage won't stop her from her latest fascination: Mind Flayers. Specifically, the strange tadpole specimen she intercepted in her father's study. Her pursuits, assisted by her bodyguard and trusted friend Leryk, have resulted in the two of them playing host to those very same tadpoles! The questions are piling up, with one weighing heaviest on her mind: why did her father of all people have this specimen to begin with? And what does that mean for her and Leryk?

Canary's quest is separate from Leryk, as the first part of her companion quest is finding him. If the player completes the grove or tries to move to the next region without him while keeping Canary in the party or at camp, he'll just show up at their camp. They're a package deal from Act 2 onwards, so the player can either dismiss them both or keep them both. She's not going anywhere without her closest friend!

Canary is a feverously academic person with a focus on abnormal biology. Her noble position and all the restrictions that come with it are a recent development in her life, and one she only engages with for the resources it affords her when possible. She's extremely distrustful of authority and how nobility has a chokehold on academia, so finding out her estranged father is a hyper-paranoid aasimar descended from Lathander himself doesn't exactly help her faith in higher powers -- be they the divine or the political. She's a bit of a smartass and gets wrapped up in what she's doing so completely that she often doesn't consider the consequences. Despite her outward confidence, it's very easy to get her to start rambling or turn her into an absolute mess. Though she hates when Leryk treats her like a princess, she trusts him with her life and would do just about anything for him.

With Canary, I liked the idea of a Companion with a specific interest in Mind Flayers and a personal stake in the conspiracy much like Wyll does. She wouldn't be able to tell the player anything Halsin can't already say in much more detail since she hasn't made a lot of headway in her tadpole-specific research, though.

Leryk Coppperlot

Knight of the Dawn

He's the only one of my active saves that has a skin tone other than "human". Good job, Keps.

Leryk's life hasn't been very long so far, but very little of it has been uneventful until recently. Saved from his life as a ruthless mercenary at the age of 19, he's devoted himself to the Son of Lathander. When his savior's recently-discovered estranged daughter was placed in his care, Leryk then devoted his life to her. Duty blossomed into friendship, but Leryk's blind faith in Canary's father persists despite what Canary has to say about it. Now that they've both been tadpoled and whisked far away from the safety of the Gate, Leryk is determined to get Canary home no matter the cost. But can he face the horrific truth Canary is on the cusp of uncovering...? And what about the truths she's been hiding from him?

Leryk has that frantic "rookie soldier" energy. He's extremely combat-experienced, but he's terrible at wrangling in Canary since he's very easy to sway through enthusiasm alone. He's blindly devoted to Canary and even moreso to her father, but otherwise can be quite shrewd and cautious of others. Misjudging one's character used to mean death for him, and he learned that when his old mentor tried to turn him in for a bounty on his head. Leryk, despite this, has learned a lot from the kindness afforded to him and does his best to repay it. "Caution, but not discourtesy" is his motto.

Leryk's quest is separate from Canary, as the first part of his companion quest is finding her. If the player completes the grove or tries to move to the next region without her, she'll just show up at their camp. Since they're a package deal Act 2 onwards, the player can either dismiss them both or keep them both. Canary's his best friend and he is literally her bodyguard, after all.

I love devoted bodyguards. I love him so much. I like the idea of some Companions knowing each other or having pre-existing relationships. You know he's having a panic attack and is going to find her just chilling in the Goblin Camp like it's no big deal.

Briar Lockren

The Weary Ranger

okay so Briar was actually a fan companion BEFORE she was a Tav. I recently restarted her run in a 2-Tav where the other Tav is actually Default Dark Urge because this girl's perception proficiency is worthless if she hasn't slept enough. And she never sleeps enough.

After three years of wandering the Sword Coast, Briar has settled in Cloak Wood in hopes of outrunning her terrible luck. Her past involvement with one of Cyric's cults has left her branded with supernatural-levels of misfortune and nightmares plaguing her every time she falls asleep. She's basically a walking-talking tempest. Having fallen in and out of the Feywild and caused towns to burn without her say, Briar thought being picked up by the Nautiloid was simply another instance of her shit luck. So imagine her surprise when she got the first nightmare-free rest in three years. Free from the eyes of the one who cursed her, Briar's luck has suddenly changed.

Briar is a somewhat ditsy individual prone to taking inopportune naps just about anywhere. Originally from Luskan, Briar's time wandering and falling into ridiculously terrible situations has made her a pretty difficult person to rattle. She's kind and gentle despite all she's suffered, but blames herself for wandering around the way she does and causing trouble (settling down with her luck is impossible). Her passivity is what led to her situation, however, as the one who cursed her was her childhood friend-turned cult leader-turned Chosen of Cyric-turned ex-boyfriend. It's messy. Briar's very used to messy life situations.

Briar's probably my most developed Tav in terms of a Companion story since she was originally written to be one. I also will acknowledge her being half-drow but not LOOKING half-drow is partly due to my own personal cowardice, but it's also the result of her complicated heritage. Lotta drow in Luskan. The fact she doesn't look like her full-drow father should tip you off as to why he might not have especially liked his child, therefore neglecting her and giving her very few chances to adopt the cult's teachings for herself. Kinda hard to teach a child to become a religious narcissist when you keep telling her she's just inherently inferior.

Scarlet

The Scarlet Scourge

My longest-lived Tav... heeeey girl, hiiii~ I'm probably gonna play her in a campaign one of these days. Siiigh.

The Scarlet Scourge strikes fear into the hearts of the greedy aristocrats that call Baldur's Gate home. A street urchin whose life was ruined time and time again by those who have far too much money, Scarlet's dedicated her life to taking from those who won't miss it and giving to those who need it. But Scarlet's been stopping the plans of the corrupt for a long time, and it all began with some dangerous blueprints. Blueprints she quite literally carries within her soul. Now that she's crashed far beyond the anonymity the Gates afford her, the one she stole the plans from has a chance to find her all over again.

Scarlet is a highly confident and highly competent master thief. She takes great pride in her ingenuity and artificing skill, and won't let you forget it. She's fiercely independent and keeps people at a distance, even hiding her real name from those she gets close to. However, like every Robin Hood figure, she revels in her legend and genuinely adores the people she does it for. Scarlet may act arrogant, but she has the skill to back up her confidence and risks her life for altruism. Get her in front of a gadget, however, and her brain goes a mile a minute. (She's going to be fucking pissed when she sees how cool the Steel Defenders are and the awful ways they're being utilized)

Who doesn't love a Phantom Thief? I think she and Wyll would absolutely be besties if they didn't already know each other before the events of the game - they both love the people of Baldur's Gate, have super hero names, and are archetypes of a class they don't belong to (Wyll is a Paladin in a Warlock's body while Scarlet is a Rogue in an Artificer's body).

Rohku Eddervyn

The Oathbroken

My OTHER longest-lived Tav, and the oldest character of my active Tavs. He's the oldest of them as well in terms of character age.

Rohku has been given many titles over the years, but none of which he's found suit him. After awakening to his Oath in the wake of a Sharran attack during his time as an Acolyte, Rohku was once known as The Sun of the Seventh Dawn for reasons he'll spare you for now. But years of tracking down and slaughtering Dark Justiciars began to take their toll. When grief and rage gave way to emptiness, he understood the pull of Shar. Unable to hunt down those he now saw as victims, his Oath shattered. But his devotion remains. Now, as he searches for new meaning under the Moonmaiden's gaze, he tracks down an artifact said to have fallen into Sharran hands...

Rohku is a mature and quiet man, jaded by the world around him. He's tired of battles between good and evil, and now lives for what is kind -- in any form that takes. He's patient with people and thinks very little of what others think of him. His wisdom and experiences make him an excellent leader, and an even better listener. He often chooses to resolve conflict through his words rather than his blade, but his deadpan demeanor makes that difficult. But he can handle that when it's his own ass on the line. But Zweihanders aren't shields.

Rohku was the first masculine character I played in BG3 and I fell in love. He's so tired and sweet. He's kind of Halsin-esque in that he was thrust into leadership without his say and acts as a calming presence for those he makes camp with. And big. He's a big boy.

~~

Hee hee hee self call-out time! Yes I have noticed 3 of them have black hair, 3 of them are tieflings, 5 have a different hair color streaked in there (with 2 of them specifically graying at a young age), and only 1 of them is above the age of 30. Because I Am A Coward. Pobody's Nerfect.

Hope you kinda enjoyed my little Tav sound-off! If you have questions about them or wanna see more of them or, heck, even draw or write about them yourself, go craaaazy! I don't know how much of these ideas are, like, solidified. IDK I'm still playing around with them.

God I put too much work into these. I can't believe I do fan fiction now. Wild.

[jojoma]

Some time ago I wrote out points why I ship Astarion with Karlach (them remains my favorite and headcanonical ship in the entire game). But I understand how conflicting and possibly traumatic the relationship is. I wanted to write a lil bit about this. But it'll be a long post 😁

The game is currently bugged in such a way that the couple doesn't have a happy end (in my opinion, cuz Karlach return to Avernus only with AA), but there is an absolutely sad ending (when spawn Astarion runs away from the sun and Karlach die alone). I, like many other hellspawn enjoyers (snezhjeyka, decembersiris), thought about how much it would be better if they died together on the pier. At least it's better than what is happening in the spawn Astarion playthrough by now (described above). They both are deprived of a normal life, both refuse to live without what is valuable to them (Faerûn, sun) and without each other, and both turn to dust. It's very poetic, tragic and etc. But I'm more interested in angst before this.

I mean only the player knows all the variations of events. For example, that Karlach can be fixed or that Karlach cannot be turned into a vampire. The relationship has no prospects from their points of view, and the options that they have cannot completely satisfy both.

Karlach dies quite quickly. She can die in her beloved world or try to survive in the hells. And we all know what Karlach think about it — she would rather die now and here. But as soon as Karlach start relationship with someone, it becomes also her lover’s problem. It would be strange if her partner accepted that Karlach would die so soon without even trying to convince her. Now put Astarion into this place: he is just beginning to heal and feel alive. Even before he defeat Cazador, loving relationship with a patient and gentle partner (such as Karlach) can influence him in a good way. So Astarion is afraid to lose his lover and Karlach is afraid to return to Zariel’s place.

On the other hand, Astarion needs to decide what he'll do with the ritual and soon enough. And unlike Karlach, he doesn't know what to do. In my opinion, if Astarion could make the choice on his own, based on background he would be choose ascension. The decisive factor in the other direction can only be his love interest. My strong headcanon is this: as Astarion will not agree with her early death, as Karlach will never agree to become his spawn (10 years of slavery to Zariel was enough for my babygirl). And any of other companions or Tav/Durge as Astarion's lover can offer to stay with him, help him full recover and adapt to a new life (anyway spawn Astarion will be alone in the future). Karlach doesn't have such opportunity at the moment, and her condition lead into the hell with no guarantee of survival or return to Faerûn. It requires some sacrifices from Astarion, which due to his condition, he may not be ready for.

I can imagine such dialogues before bedtime, turning into heated disputes:

— I'm worried about your condition, Karlach. — I don't want to talk about it. — There's other options. I think you should return to Avernus with me. — Well, and I think you shouldn't get involved to the ascension ritual. I know you want to take Cazador's place. — It's not up to you to decide. This way I can protect you and may even save you by turning you into a vampire. — I'll never become yours or anyone else's spawn, thank you!

I need to stop making myself sad 😢 They deserve a very very happy end.

[animentality]

I've wanted to do this for a while, but was held back by shyness for a while. (By a while, I mean I haven't even experienced Patch 6 yet. I *believe* this entire experience was in 5.)

I played Dark Urge as my first complete run of Baldur's Gate III, and it was beautiful in a way I don't feel is captured in the normal Tav playthrough, but I only intend to partially unpack that to keep things on topic for Durgetash.

From the very beginning, who you are and what you've lost *burns* as a question in your head. You meet the violation with rage and the promise of bloody consequences, but — it fades. You have people to care for, with varying degrees of suddenness, who understand you and the circumstances that may have shaped you.

And violence and potential death meets them at every turn. I, not the Durge, grew murderously protective of everyone in my party. Astarion. Karlach. Shadowheart.

I killed Alfira and never regretted it, save for wondering if the party would reject me for the barbarity of it all. The butler was delighted, and Astarion wore the reward for my first slip of control for the rest of the game.

If you can't tell, I was already thoroughly invested in feeling this story so much I purposely blurred the lines between myself and the Durge I had for the sake of acting as they would, fighting like I felt best suited them (they were a Storm Sorcery Sorcerer).

By Last Light, I wasn't fond of this unknown observer and their wants. I had no interest in killing Shadowheart, or the town of unknown innocents to "make up" for serving her in what I get in hindsight looked like —to Fel, Orin, and Bhaal alike — another unacceptable fit of perverse sentimentality.

Isabel still died, because I had taken on the fight not yet quite strong enough to save her. Dammon died, as well, and the party and I had to move on. Fel visited that night, and bestowed the form of the Slayer upon me. I was Murder Incarnate, he joyfully proclaimed, and I killed him in the hopes of removing him from my sight. From the camp.

There were letters in rooms I fumbled through in Moonrise, and Gortash started becoming relevant, both in those signatures and through Karlach's sharing of her history.

The vague negativity I felt towards this largely faceless, seemingly largely political threat shattered when infiltrating his palace on the day of the ascension to Archduke of Baldur's Gate turned into an occasion my Durge was *invited to*.

How was I? Did I remember? Would I like to rejoin forces? I can't imagine now how many questions were going through his head, seeing me alive and on my feet after all the time that had passed.

And where Ketheric had acted with rage when I inevitably betrayed him at the top and bottom of Moonrise Towers, or Orin had seethed that my Durge had dared to return and threaten every bit of goodwill she had painstakingly clawed together from the Bhaalists, Enver simply shrugged it off, offering me the first of two chances to ultimately just get their stones and return to rule together with him.

For Karlach's sake, I considered it impossible. I wasn't whoever had orchestrated the plan to enslave the brain.

Somewhere along the way during this campaign, I had seen your posts, but didn't really delve into them or read them too thoroughly since I was trying to not spoil myself by accident. Was that bit of fondness in the throne room that had stayed his hand it? I wasn't going to judge, by any means, because I've certainly shipped things ferociously for much less meaningful gestures, but I didn't understand why it would prompt the intensity with which you fawned over it.

And then I reached the underwater prison. I got lost in the sewers and somehow found the submarine, and the destination was where I had seen Wyll's father rumored to be kept. I had already made the pact with Mizora on his behalf, and didn't really expect to find more than his corpse in the prison after the bombs went off.

But more importantly — I finally understood, in the conversation with Gortash where he demanded I turn back, and looked incredibly unsurprised when I didn't. Somehow, despite my Durge tearing one of his most secure advantages from between his fingers and forcing him to dash it against the ground rather than risking it falling intact into their hands... he seemed *amused. Delighted.*

And so I set to proving myself, somehow wanting to find myself worthy of his approval of my strength, while also wanting to spite Mizora.

I got everybody out, and by happenstance, only Karlach died. His foil, I discovered in hindsight, since she is ready to leap into the House of Hope itself for my Durge the same way they did for Enver once upon a time.

Most of the remaining relevant crumbs dry out here, as Enver didn't even comment on the prison specifically regardless of the outcome for me.

But between "I always liked you better" and the warmth with which he says anything to you, the delight he shamelessly expresses when you simply are being the you that he knows, that is viciously carved into your bones so deeply it will always return no matter how you heal after being broken?

If you look at it as a story of breaking cycles, what Durgetash was should be objectively regarded as the hardest thing to lose in becoming a better person.

It's the intoxication of being known when you are amongst those that know nothing but the use you can offer them. The twisted fun that makes you question, again and again, whether you really *need* to be better than you were. The painful sorrow, of looking on someone you've grown past, and knowing you can't fit yourself in the spaces belonging to who you were then, even with how you still long for that aching, bloody warmth that their harmful presence would make you feel that you'll never forget.

I found myself happy I had had my Durge embrace the title of Murder Incarnate after the process of beating Orin and rejecting Bhaal.

All this to celebrate being able to play the game again after a long move, and that I'm looking forward to Patch 6, where I can hopefully be moved like that again. Made worse? Who knows.

What a delightful journey culminating into the descent into madness that is...Durgetash.

I'm glad you have seen this light...this dark....

You also got me with the line, "If you look at it as a story of breaking cycles, what Durgetash was should be objectively regarded as the hardest thing to lose in becoming a better person."

:D stab stab stab stab stab

[lanaevyssmoved]

i dont think ive seen any of ur pcs other than afhiri (who i adore) basically i am here to say if u want share pics and some facts abt ur other pcs!! :D

this is rue she is my durge and her playthrough got murdered by durge related bugs that i didnt wanna deal with and would rather wait for them to fix the cutscenes <3 also known as rue the impaler shes a wild magic sorcerer who got fed up of being one shot and became a tank with a barbarian multiclass <3 afhiri is a resist durge who i can explain best as those uncomfortable and uneasy to be around strange emo girls who stare into ur soul with lifeless eyes. shes pretty... but shes weird

my oc dru kind of got cannibalised by rue but still exists.. cuz dru's intended path literally doesn't work because i made her before i finished the game and the ending doesn't allow her to exist and it would have to be rewritten by me so much that i just don't have the energy so dru just lives in my lil au "what i wish the ending allowed" space in my brain <3 i'm not gonna share a picture because this also allows me to have her exist outside of the games limitations so no picture <3 she's so much cooler than the cc allows <3 dru is a high elf who is delusional and thinks shes actually a fey eladrin and is very uncomfortable to be around because shes just insane. completely isolated from society and the world and would have the hermit background if they didnt remove it .. larian literally didnt want her to exist.

unfortunately due to my pc death i no longer have asuras cc stuff so she will need to be remade but... this is asura shes literally terrible. shes my unfortunately extremely power hungry character who will accept every single option to make her stronger. she fucks mindflayers. and minthara. and she and minthara will rule the entire world together as tyrant wives and maybe they ascend. true love stuff. asura won't live until i'm confident minthara isn't a broken fucking mess . i think playing asura will make me worse. shes like how people play bhaalist durges who love their daddy but shes not the durge. shes just a bad person

THIS IS TAV. yeah his name is tav. they're just a tav man idk. this is my first character from full release tav is an ancients paladin whose entire vibe is "you don't quite suite your oath" and that's fun. they are the most lawful good boring ass motherfucker you ever met and literally my favourite type of character. he's all about Justice and Order and Goodness and Sacrificing Your Happiness For The Greater Good. that kind of annoying paladin! <3 tav never got to finish the game because my pc died and killed them. oh and tav has a twin who dedicated their life to annoying tav because .. like. lawful good paladin? DESERVES to be annoyed

which is really funny because the twin is my EA character! also tav! see the thing is. paladin tav is actually tav. but this monster? tav isn't their name. but they go by tav. just so they can hopefully fuck with their twins reputation. doing terrible things in their lawful good twins name!!! i still can't decide if i want twin tav to work with the guide and kiss nine-fingers keenne or work with the zhentharim and kiss rugan. or maybe they're a double agent and kiss both. idk!!! twin tav has literally no moral compass and just does shit for money mostly. and to make their twins life hell <3

and lastly i have this dude who doesn't have a place on my oc page because he doesn't have a name or nothing like. he's completely blank beyond i KNOW he's something to do with afhiri. so fun fact afhiri's lore was leading towards this dude being some sort of outer planes entity, either a god (dead star) or the herald of such, and baited afhiri through a portal as part of her destiny. this is how she gains her wild magic. BUT this was scrapped for what ended up happening (afhiri befriends a chwinga. cuteness ensues). HE STILL EXISTS IN AFHIRIS LORE SOMEWHERE - HE IS LITERALLY A COMPANION IN HER PARTY - when my pc stops crashing every time i play bg3 he's going to be on my blog a lot because im gonna use fancy editing to make him a companion and shove him in cutscenes. afhiri and he will kiss btw. i definitely don't want him to be actually a tiefling though this is just a form he uses to walk faerun and not to cause any ruckus... and to make afhiri feel ease around him <3 ALSO HES NOT ACTUALLY AFHIRIS GUARDIAN... u will see who is when my pc stops dying <3

[wakacreations]

Hi. Are Deacon and Luther in the same party? I mean, at the same time in your run? Do you have screenshots? I would like to see them, if it is possible.

Luther

I finished my first bg3 playthrough with Luther.

Deacon

I haven't finished Act 1 with Deacon as of yet for my second playthrough. I've been making a lot of fanart and started to write consistently again.

To answer your question, they are not in the same party. Maybe in another playthrough I'll have them together. If you are wondering why they look so similar is because Luther killed the hollyphant... So, when Luther died he was reborn as a Unholy Assassin of Bhaal (Deacon).

I got the god Gale ending on my first playthrough. When Luther died Gale made a bet with Ao (God of Dnd) that Luther could be redeemed for the chaotic acts he had done in his next life. If Luther were to redo his journey all over again would he still fall for the temptations of Bhaal? If Gale wins then Luther will be free to enter Elysium in his next afterlife. Luther now reborn as Deacon is stuck wondering who am I as he journey through Faerun. Anyways that is my durge and my Tav for ya.

[bg3-brainwormed]

Making a proper pinned. For once.

Ryuu, they/them, 24. Will likely not have any explicit or adult content besides the occasional joke. Overall blog rating ranges from General - Mature due to violence/gore (Durge). If I am following you and/or follow you back, it’s from a sideblog. And may take a couple days. I am both easily distracted and slow to interact.

Fav Characters: All the companions + Minthara + Karniss + Mol and her Kids + Gortash (Unfortunately) + Raphael (even more unfortunately). Complicated feelings about Haarlep.

Current Origin playthroughs: Lusca/Durge (Done - Balanced), Gale (Act 2 - Balanced), Astarion (Act 1 - Balanced), Kyre/Durge (Act 1 - Tactician), Tav/Durge (Act1 - Explorer)

Total Hours: 342

Fav Ships: Bloodweave, Durgetash, Halsin/Anyone, Astarion/Karlach, Karlach/Wyll, Shadowzel, Camp = Polycule, and Raphael/Haarlep. What do we call that. They technically share a name already. Oh well - the “old man yaoi” tag on this blog is reserved for Haarlep x Raphael.

Crack ships I will go down with: Halsin/Raphael & GaleDurgeTash

Things to know: I call the baby owlbear, “Bite.” I make a lot of jokes. Don’t take these posts too seriously.

Durge/Tav time~

My first ever main, now immortalized. Lusca - nonbinary Durge raised in Menzoberranzan before running away after the sacrifice of their younger “brother” to Lolth… and killing the entire House in response. Eventually taken in by the Bhaalists. Moral compass is a spinning wheel but they’re doing their best. Warlock/Bard

Kyre, raised by bandits who were later slaughtered by Fist while he watched on, hidden. Huge grudge against the powers of Baldur’s Gate and joined the Bhaalists for vengeance. Rogue/Warlock

Fanfics:

Fav Playthrough Stuff, Headcanons, and Memes

My 4 hour descent into madness as I try to kidnap Haarlep from the House of Hope

Ruining Cazador’s Day

Why Zanner Toobin is blind

Why Raphael Made the Orphic Hammer

THE Haarlep x Raphael fanart ever

Mocking Bhaal pt. 1

Oh really Gale

Pretty privilege Bane

Trying to Knock Gortash Out

Ketheric, from durgetash-third wheel to dating amnesiac Durge (rip Gortash)

Netherstones, the Crown of Karsus, and Raphael’s Deal

Mocking Mystra pt. 1

Why Ketheric dies if you win a charisma check against him

[okthatsgreat]

if i could ask for any changes for the bg3 dark urge playthrough in patch 7 i would ask larian studios for bigger reactions to the redeemed durge scene in act 3. and of course i am strange about bg3 and my ocs so i WILL be expanding on what could possibly happen because it truly felt so underwhelming :(( DARK URGE SPOILERS DOWN BELOW

okay SO the redeemed durge getting killed by bhaal in act 3 if you choose not to follow bhaal anymore. i am always of the opinion that a dark urge playthrough is THE way to play bg3 if you want to make an original character because you are truly involved in the story, integrated into the lore, and get to have great story moments like your fellow party members do!! the weight of your decisions is SO heavy, and you are given fantastic motive/underlying intentions to each decision, with this huge dilemma of "good versus evil" being far more important to the dark urge (in my opinion ofc). it's a huge buildup all the way up to the end, ESPECIALLY for me who played a redeemed dark urge character that was fighting with itself for the entire playthrough. and then it just sort of falls flat bgfhdgbsjfg

as mentioned before, the dark urge gets a lot more special cutscenes than a regular tav does, which makes it feel as if the durge is more strongly integrated into the narrative. and with these cutscenes comes the expectation that there will be some kind of resolution to their own personal journey (as the dark urge gets a much more specific one than simply "get rid of that tadpole and defeat the absolute"). most of the other party members get resolutions-- think astarions final battle with cazador, shadowheart resolving the situation with her parents, gales decision about whether he should blow up or not, etc. for the dark urge, this "final resolution" is the battle with orin and the decision they make concerning if they become bhaals chosen one or not. off the bat this is pretty damn cool already!! your oc gets their own special battle with their blood-sibling, they get special perks depending on if they succumbed to their urges or not, and it is truly the culmination of their personal journey. which is why its so INFURIATING that nobody CARESS

i played a dark urge cleric of "lathander" that was teetering back and forth between her worship. it was fun!! they were a redeemed dark urge, which meant they fought through the orin battle without any special perks, and afterwards didnt accept bhaals powers. the battle was cool. the talk with bhaal was admittedly pretty cool. but then, when it finally came down to her refusing to be bhaals chosen, she just kind of Dies. and so much of why the scene falls flat comes down to how LITTLE the companions react LMAO.

like that death is HORRIFYING!! they didnt just get killed normally, because that would mean they could be revivified. the dark urge gets UNMADE right in front of their party. a god of death contorts them in the middle of a bhaal temple, revokes the blood that had created them, and unmakes them entirely right then and there. thats SCARY! but there is SO LITTLE REACTION. they just look a LITTLE unnerved all of the sudden as the dark urge unravels right in front of them, and then we dont see the rest of their reactions. like this is somebody who has been travelling with them this entire time, in most cases has helped them with their own personal journeys, has made deep connections with them, and then when all of this happens theyre just kind like 😧

AND THEN WHEN YOU GET REVIVED THEY ARENT THAT FUSSED EITHER? most you get is a pat on the back and a good job. i really think they need bigger reactions all around

here are some beautiful suggestions from me because i have a lot of opinions. number 1 give the companions dialogue when the dark urge dies. right now where its at the companions are more devastated when you go down in battle than they are when you are UNMADE BY A GOD IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES lmao. edit the cutscene just a little bit so that characters are running up to your durge trying desperately to do something and it isnt working. have an overhead shot showing the people youve befriended running over with PANIC in their eyes because truly what can they even do here. and then when the dark urge falls suddenly limp and life has left their eyes, have an unbelievably tense moment of silence before the companion you are closest with (love interest if you have one) give one final "NO!!!!!" or something before the screen cuts to black

number 2 establish the durge's death as FAR MORE PERMANENT. because its dnd when a character dies there is always this safety net of "oh i can just revivify them". shadowheart is likely in the party and with how they react before/after the durge's unmaking it really does feel like all of your companions knew you could be easily revivified lmao. UP THE STAKES!! i mean fuck while youre at it have every character in your camp in this cutscene, so that when they are all panicking in that hypothetical scene i illustrated above shadowheart can give a worried line about how "revivify is impossible because this isnt death, this is an unmaking. a god has reclaimed them and i cant bring them back". when bhaal kills the dark urge, it should feel like they are truly GONE and characters should react accordingly

number 3 make it so the day has changed before the durge gets revived by withers. you wake up entirely alone in that temple, hell maybe you even wake up in a GRAVE, and the implication is that your companions truly tried everything they could but eventually realised they couldnt do anything. this gives withers' intervention FAR more weight, as it has now been established that he is one of the only people capable of reviving somebody who has been unmade by a god. not only that, but this second chance of life has now ALSO been given far more weight, because this was truly, TRULY a miracle. it is a MIRACLE you are alive right now. have the conversation with withers, and then have a small cutscene of everybody at camp looking forlorn and sad or whatever before you come stumbling in with withers behind you. everybody is surprised and happy, and your partner might even run up and say a few emotional lines and give you a hug or something. and then when you speak with all of them after the cutscene is over they all have stuff to say about how it is INSANE you survived, so not only are they patting you on the back for defeating your dark urges but they are also just so happy youre still there!! HAPPY ENDING!!!!! a lot more payoff!!!!!

anyways.

[jerichoes]

i think my durge playthrough is rolling towards an astarion romance. i've tried to see if others would fit but i think the way ar is shaping up... yeah. and i've been thinking that i didn't want to just make all characters romance the same guy cause it just feels weird to me. and the other two won't. so i'm thinking mae and ar become sort of a quantum pair. if he dies to orin, she's the one to get a tadpole from the emperor. if he survives orin, she dies in the chaos of the initial attack. never even sets foot on the nautiloid. like tav and durge already exist in the world at the same time so might as well actually pair the two up.

[lunarreverb]

Tonight in Durge adventures

I took one last long rest after telling little butler gremlin ass Sceleritas Fel that I wasn’t gonna kill Isobel, but before heading up to polish off Ketheric Thorm. So of course, Scoobity Doo Fellow stopped by my camp to telegraph very plainly that I was gonna try to kill Gale. It occurs to me now to wonder if it’s actually possible to kill your SO or if they always catch you and stop you? Would it have been a game over to successfully kill Gale due to orb reasons, or does the cantrip-ification of the orb prevent that from being an automatic big boom?

Anyway not important because of COURSE I woke Gale and confessed everything up and got cutely hogtied for the night. I love that I got the bonus for my saving rolls from an elixir of heroism. My girl is putting in heroic effort not to be not a force of malevolence!

Without too many specific spoilers, I think I have the basic idea of what Durge’s deal is now - Durge is a bhaalspawn. I don’t know specifically what a bhaalspawn is - is it a construct? Descendant? Very cursed acololyte? Of the murder god? But whatever, Durge is made for murders and for serving Bhaal, and I guess got sent to the nautiloid to get the artifact, and something went haywire? I don’t know what went awry, but I’m laughing because I’ve been playing my Durge as perfectly moral and as sweet as I can. So, she’s really the opposite of the ‘died and came back wrong’ trope. My Durge died(?) and came back… not as bad as she could have!

I understand that Durge was originally the only custom character option. And goddamn, am I glad we have Tav as a unmurdery alternative, but I’m also glad that the Durge route isn’t ALL Alfiras and inescapable compulsory atrocities, all the time. While the setup and the quest line for Durge sure give you wink and nudge reasons to just give in and make them your ~evil~ playthrough, I have honestly not felt seriously penalized or pressured for playing it good. Which is surprising, and nice!

The other other OTHER interesting thing about being a Gale-mancing Durge is that, in the Weave lovemaking scene, it looks like she has a relatively normal kind of soul? I’m pretty sure Durge gets a slayer form, like the kind Orin has, but I take it that’s not what she IS. If I’m not reading too much into the abstract symbolism of Durge and Gale magically bonking each other in inner outer space, anyway.

Anyway it should be fun to get to Act 3. I keep hearing that Gortash is a HUGE Durge simp and it sounds funny as hell.

[microwavedautism]

Saw some of those relationship charts going around so I'm joining in with two tavs and a durge

Link to the original: https://www.tumblr.com/raysoffrost/727662102917021696/made-a-little-relationship-chart-for-your-bg3?source=share

Or just find @/raysoffrost (I hope thats right)

First up Harmony, my bard boy and so far only one who's finished the game

Karlach and Astarion are like his little siblings (Astarion is very much older than him but it doesn't matter), Lae'zel and Shadowheart got ignored for the playthrough so.. the only reason Lae'zel gets neutral and not complicated is because Shadowheart fucking died 😭

Gale. Hm. He left Harmony at the end to become a god but I like to pretend they got the happy ending and got married instead.

Wyll is like a nephew to Harmony, he's a good lad.

Halsin is there, Hes cool. And Jaheria and Harmony didn't speak like.. at all.

Next on the list is Arkus! The cleric of Lathander

He is very friendly. Lae'zel is his bestie, they have autistic swag. Karlach is his big girlfriend, shes so cool. The others are also there I guess.

(same thing happened to Jaheria again oops)

Finally Enrel. The bastard.

She killed half of them, spoke to Minthara at camp once, the next day Orin took her.

Gale hates her but Enrel likes making him worse and encouraging his power hungry episodes. (He commands a small army of undead)

Astarion is a vampire ascendant. He likes to talk shit with Enrel, they will probably rule the world together until she kills everyone or Astarion gets bored.

Shadowheart is her girlfriend. She runs a cult now. It's complicated because of Shar. I think that explains it.

[alteredsilicone]

The Dark Urge : Act I

A long ramble about my Dark Urge playthrough, split up between acts since this game gets meaty.

This is my third playthrough so more or less I knew what I was getting into (had some durge story bits spoiled too).

When I set out to play durge I also wanted to do an "evil" playthrough, so I set some goals: embrace the "big" durge decisions, be evil when possible without going full murder-hobo. Ally with Gortash, dominate the Brain. Make SH a Dark Justiciar, ascend Astarion, romance Minthara, push Gale towards Godhood and help Lae'zel stay loyal to Vlaakith. The results were... varied.

Recruiting Minthara meant the tieflings had to die, so I indulged the durge by watching Arabella die. Surprisingly this way the game guilt trips you less about doing bad things. (The guilt tripping aspect I will bring up at the very end, after my Act III retrospective)

I quickly learned why durge x Astarion is a popular ship - he really jumps on you from the very beginning, a total 180 to how he treats Tav. Anyways, he wasn't my romance goal so I let him be. For a while.

Alfira is one of my favorites, but she had to go. Sorry. I know there is an alternative by making a different NPC appear but I wanted an authentic(tm) durge experience. Besides, Alfira would die in the grove massacre anyways, two birds with one stone and all.

Dream Guardian interlude - I made her look like my first version of Viri, so it's a Viriception.

Since I'm collecting all the "evil" choices, I also decided to indulge the tadpoles. Partly for achievements, partly to see how it works. Truth be told I didn't use the tadpole skills too much, so if I replay durge (I might do for certain different story outcomes), I will ignore the tadpoles altogether.

Sceleritas Fel was an excellent addition, obviously I humored and indulged him since I wanted to be papa's most specialest murderer.

As I was allying with the goblins I explored some stuff I didn't previously - got shackled up by Gut. Escaping her was quite easy, just had to avoid her afterwards. Then I rushed to Minthara.

I love Minthara's character a lot - she stayed in my party throughout the whole game. Needless to say, but I killed Karlach for Wyll (and stupidly didn't get his armor because I forgot to put him in my party, oh well), Wyll left me when I attacked the Grove (I assume he died offscreen or I killed him without noticing) and I never even met Halsin so he also just died offscreen.

I could also rant about the whole "evil playthrough cuts you from 20% of the content" aspect, but that is a tired rant. I don't mind the grove massacre being the price you pay for Minthara joining your party (she IS an evil character, she straight up agrees with all evil actions together with Astarion and is totally on board with dominating the Absolute and becoming rulers yourself), I just wish there was some alternative with playing on the more evil side.

Maybe befriend goblins? More drow? Anything, really? Then again, BG3 is already a massive game... Oh well, you can't have everything.

Anyways, now that I have done the first big quest, I went to the Underdark to try out one specific thing:

What happens if you sacrifice Gale to the fish people before Elminster stabilizes the orb?

He aggros, you kill him and then after two in-game days this happens:

Needless to say, I reloaded a save and just humored the fish people without killing Gale. Besides, for a corruption arc he needs to live. This is also why I only indulged the "big" durge reactions...

My personal philosophy is that being a murder-hobo is a boring way to be evil (death is not the worst thing that can happen y'know), I much rather would corrupt characters.

However, another part of me got curious about one thing: if you bite off Gale's hand when you find him in the portal, can you present it at the murder tribunal in Act 3?

Anyways.

Remember I said Astarion really gets the hots for durge? So, Minthara leaves for Moonrise so she isn't in my party at the moment this happens... durge decided to have some "fun".

This sequence was very corny, but I know it's all part of Astarion's play-pretend so I just let it play out. Spoiler alert - I will friendzone him later (for his own good).

I decided to feed durge the Noblestalk to get some memories/lore. I hoped for more but probably getting everything back in Act I would be anti-climatic, so this was a nice tidbit all the same. Also the environment bugged out, I should be in a dark dank cave, not outside.

Gale also decided he likes me. I promptly friendzoned him. Trust me, Galey, you do not want a romantic adventure with this tiefling (also he is soulbound to Nila, my other Tav, can't have him cheating on his wife...).

Anyways, Gale is a funny case because Larian keeps mucking up his romance flags, I couldn't replay his romance scene with my actual Galemancer Tav, but the romance does trigger later in Act I when you farm some approval (so either in the Underdark or Creche, depending which path you go on). But it also bugs out (I had to long rest twice with my Tav as the first time it triggered tiefling party dialogue before promptly cutting out, probably a bug because it was an old save where the romance SHOULD have triggered during the party).

Anyways, moving on. I am jumping over some zones/quests because nothing particularly interesting happened (I helped the Myconids but I do that always so that's that, though I let Glut die while fighting the Duergar, not on purpose he just got felted, sorry big guy).

Siding with this guy has exactly zero payoff (Act II spoiler - Balthazar turns him into a zombie and that's that), which is another evil run gripe. He is like Minthara where you can convince him to go against the Absolute, but instead it just goes nowhere apparently.

I just sided with him and suffered through killing a bunch of gnomes and Duergar. Well, at least I got some new scenes.

Astarion flirting interlude:

I put this here because the durge evil face is just so funny. These two would make a disaster pair, but, alas, we in this house are women-loving-women.

So, remember me setting out to push Lae'zel towards loyalty to Vlaakith?

I went as far as to stab the Dream Guardian...

Obviously I should have known better, because the Guardian has plot-armor for obvious reasons. This game kinda sorta railroads you to go against Vlaakith/side with the Guardian. Otherwise the game would just end for obvious reasons... So I decided that I might just shelve Lae'zel along the way.

Maybe I should have made some other decisions in later acts (like killing Voss), but I had my companion-squad already with me, so I decided to let it go.

And that concludes a "brief" overview of durge Act I: