#durge lore

[luinen-bluewater]

"Mama?" Valentyn's voice calling out to her, after Sceleritas had left, brought Shael back from her musings. "Yes, little one?" "What was Sarevok doing here?" Shael caressed Valentyn's hair, brushing some blood out of it, though that was far from the worst of his current state. A mother's duty was, sometimes, to assess the questions her child didn't really want to know the answer to. This was one of them. "Nothing I wouldn't let him, Tino, don't you worry about that."

from Liars and Fools, chapter 2, on AO3 (written by the lovely @headraline who has my unending gratitude)

For context: Shael is a half-drow bard, whose killing skills impressed Bhaal enough to bargain with her: he'd free her from the crippling sickness that made her suffer and in return she'd give birth to his spawn.

[void-drawz]

(LONG AHHH RAMBLE ABOUT MY OC AND HER XCANON RELATIONSHIP)

I wanna talk about Nemesis and her relationship with Gortash because she's not your average durge, and they're not your average durgetash ship. No, because I gotta complicate things and add unnecessary lore. SO, Nemesis is more connected to Bhaal, as in she'll hear his voice directly commanding her, not just the Urges.

This used to leave her practically unable to speak for herself because his voice overrided her thoughts, and she would speak in his thoughts instead (kill, death, murder over and over again).

The Bhaal cult saw her as a seer for this and locked her up to keep her "safe". She wasn’t able to sate her Urges for four years, driving her even more mad

She eventually overcame that stage of the-voices-ruining-her-life-TM and was able to function as a proper Bhaalspawn. She could speak coherently and was finally allowed to kill on her own. She was thriving.

Since she was doing so well in her bloody duties, Bhaal wasn't too worried about her making more Bhaalspawn (just yet), but Seravok wanted her to. Unfortunately for him, they learned in her time locked up that forcing her into anything she didn't want to meant losing limbs. Now, she wasn't against having children. In fact, she wanted to for Father, but she refused to procreate with any so and so that dear grandfather/brother presented. She wanted an equal, someone worthy of her demigod self, someone who would make her child even grander.

She didn't find that someone. Until Enver Gortash, that is.

A wildly intelligent man. A mastermind of manipulation. A man willing to do all that it takes for what he wants. A Chosen.

He was perfect.

She wanted him.

But he wasn't just any Chosen. He was the Chosen of Bane. And Father would not have it.

And since she has Bhaal thoughts directly beamed into her head, it made it impossible for her to go behind his back and have Gortash anyways.

If she tried getting too close, Bhaal would take over and make her kill Enver.

She did not want that.

For the first time, she didn't want to kill someone. She wanted him part of her legacy. And yet, she could not have him. Lest she murder him.

So, she kept her distance when around him. To keep him safe. Despite her rapidly falling for him and being so close yet so far being maddening. She kept her hands to herself.

Gortash didn't help the situation much. Yes, he kept his distance but didn't understand just how powerful a hold Bhaal could have on Nemesis. And so, he would continue to charm and please her in other ways, making her even more obsessed with him while forced to social distance.

That all being said, Nemesis would would find work arounds like killing important Banites or people that resembled Gortash to please Father so that she could get closer to him for a day or so.

But it never lasted, and they could never do more than passing touches and honeyed words (aka batsht crazy flirting).

It's quite literally "But Daddy, I love him" and I'm feral for it.

...if you made it this far, good for you. Have a sticker: 🌟

Thanks for coming to my TedTalk. :D

[ticcitavvi]

will not be finishing this lmao but here’s some Acheron lore! Sort of

those are mirrors btw

[justsierrasart]

ORIN IS THE DARK URGE’S DAUGHTER - HEADCANON

Lycoris and Orin

Alright guys. This one’s going to be a woosy. I do not like the Orin incest plot line. I hate it, in fact. And I also do not like the lack of proper connection between Orin and The Dark Urge. The Dark Urge lore itself is a bit plot-holey (I highly recommend reading this reddit thread by u/TheLaughingWolf to understand the rest of this rant, and supplementary, this one by u/Thelmageworks to become an Orin sympathizer.)

My point is - I love the Dark Urge’s grim past and uncontrollable urges. I don’t love the final version of their lore. So I fucking rewrote it for myself, and wanna share my hyper fixated art within this headcanon of mine, so I’m going to explain it. This headcanon is specifically written for my drow Durge - Lycoris, but I’m fine with people using it for their Durges with modification. It doesn’t make sense for the original Durge (Dragonborn). To reiterate - the incest made me uncomfortable and the lore felt incomplete so I rewrote it for myself — not trying to step on any toes. This somehow still contains incest because I made it up before finishing my Durge run and didn’t realize he was actually related to Bhaal, literally and not figuratively. But it’s less than what we have in canon. Let’s go.

I’m assuming you know the canon Durge lore and have read the reddit thread above.

1. The Durge (my Lycoris) is a Bhaalspawn born like other Bhaalspawns, in 1357 (a year before Bhaal’s death in 1358). Genetically, he is half his biological mother’s genes and half Bhaal’s genes (not a half drow because Bhaal’s race doesn’t change his spawn’s race because he’s a deity, not a human). However Bhaal’s essence duplicated itself in him, instead of splitting like it did with the other Bhaalspawn. This was part of Bhaal’s plan - he intended one of his spawns to be superior (like in canon - the Durge is made of his flesh). This also makes it so bhaal’s revival makes sense despite Lycoris being alive — he’s not holding any of his divinity as he has his own. He is raised outside the cult like canon Durge and joins later on.

Young Lycoris, pre-cult

2. When he joins the cult, later than his siblings, he quickly rises up in ranks and is revealed to be the superior Bhaalspawn. Lycoris is, like in canon, Bhaal’s favorite, and is also Bhaal’s stallion as said. But he does this “breeding” (which still sounds gross) outside of the cult, to further spread Bhaalspawn into the world. Sarevok sees this and because he thinks very highly of himself, wants his blood to mix with Lycoris’. He’s somewhat infatuated with his absolute vile sadism, and being the weirdo he is, wants to breed with him. Obviously can’t do that because they’re both male, so decides to breed his daughter, Helena with him. Here’s where I accidentally did incest again - Helena is technically Lycoris’ half-niece (Sarevok is his half-brother through Bhaal). This is in the 1450s-60s.

3. 1465 Orin is born out of Lycoris and Helena. Lycoris has always had somewhat of a soft spot for kids (as ritualistically murderous as he is, he doesn’t enjoy murdering kids for no reason like he does adults). He also had never stuck around and seen his spawn be born and exist. The second he sees her, he’s absolutely in love. She becomes the center of his universe. Classic evil evil father daughter where he’s a vile maniac and has no morals, except for loving his daughter to the moon and back. Helena, on the other hand, is quite cold to Orin from the get go. She loves her, but in a distant way. She knows loving a bhaalspawn child is useless, Lycoris does too, but doesn’t really care. Additionally, he loves her so deeply that his urges cannot get to her.

4. As per canon, Helena attacks Orin when she’s 7, causing her to make her first kill. Lycoris, though generally a very loving father, is also a murder cult leader, so he’s quite proud of her for this. From there on, he teaches Orin his ways, and watches her bloom into the absolute erratic maniac we know and love. He’s amused by her artistic approach to murder like a dad is amused at his child’s art - something Bhaal doesn’t necessarily approve of but tolerates (as Lycoris is his favorite).

Orin, Lycoris, and Helena. Orin is 14, Lycoris 98 (when Orin is born), Helena 35 (when she is killed by Orin).

5. Orin, as a child, loved her father very much, much more than her mother or grandfather, whom she respected more than loved. Their bond was beyond that of any bond seen within the cult. Sarevok, who was the reason she existed, thought this was completely unjust. Because he can’t let people be happy, he starts planting the seeds of envy and hatred in teenage Orin. That, combined with the competitive nature of the cult and the sheer amount of spoiling Lycoris subjected her to (he was a loving father but not necessarily a good parent with healthy boundaries - he never punished her, never said a mean word to her, never set any boundaries - she grew up thinking the world is her oyster.) resulted in her wanting all of his power for herself. She didn’t really want to kill him — she did love him deeply, but she was also very envious and her only coping mechanism with anything, ever, had always been murder. Lycoris welcomed this enthusiasm, and did not feel concerned about her threats of violence. He encouraged her to hunt him and murder him if she thought she could. He knew she couldn’t.

6. She couldn’t. Many, many times, she tried her hand at assassinating him, only getting slightly condescending constructive criticism in response. However finally, in 1492, she gained the upper hand on her father, almost killing him, but hesitating, and leaving him in his tadpole-amnesiac state we seem him as in the nautiloid. She deemed his love for her a weakness, and raised a bet that he would, as an amnesiac, resist his urges and become a weakling (be a decent person). She believed her existence had already been enough to debase his authority — he was not the Dark Urge that came to rise up the ranks and hold power that he was before. She was as powerful as him, if not more. Her oversight, of course, was that she was also as weak as him. She loved her father and could never kill him.

7. He remembers her now after getting his memories back, and he’s desperately searching for her (wants to turn her to redemption too). Because I made sure he’s nice to every single kid he meets (being a papa bear deep inside all along), Yenna is at camp and Orin kidnaps her. Because how dare you take my dad. Also to be extra mean to a Lycoris - you think you can replace me? Nope. I’ll steal that one too.

So that’s where that’s at. I haven’t gotten to the Orin boss fight in this run yet and so haven’t decided if I should give her a, potentially cheesy, redemption arc or if I should be absolutely vile to Lycoris and make him murder his baby girl. Haven’t decided yet 🤭

If you don’t like my silly angst headcanon please just scroll by, don’t be mean! <3 Thanks for reading this nerd shit if you did!

Credits : Lycoris’ face design is a custom preset by the incredible Toarie on NexusMods, specifically Petric Body Type 4.

[expealidocious]

sketches of ayla’s momma <///3

ft durge lore below (cw for death/mention of birth)

[durgetavoc]

The Dark Urge (during act 1)

The Haunted One

The Dark Urge was created as a half-drow with dragon attributes (a few scales scattered here and there on her skin, sharp fangs) because Bhaal fucking can.

When she was a baby, Sceleritas placed her on the landing of a Selunite human couple's house. She had a happy and somewhat normal childhood before The Urge first awakened. They named her Lornaal.

The Urge awakens when she is 11, murdering her adoptive parents.

After that she had to wander the streets for several days because Deathstalker Mantle sometimes made her invisible until Sceleritas found her and took her to the temple of Bhaal where she would confined until she turned 18.

Tried to run away at 16 and be good but The Urge brought her back in her footsteps.

She was taught Infernal and has basics in Draconic.

She’s 42 during the events of the game and wants redemption!! Freedom!! A second chance!!

She has a sweet tooth. She loves pastries and she feels like there used to be someone who was always there to fill her with pastries but she doesn't remember who anymore.

Durge loves to read and write; she keeps a diary during the journey. With her amnesia, she absolutely insists on keeping written records and collecting things that might remind her of something, from afar or not. After all, who knows, maybe that little pendant she just took is the key? Oh! Maybe that letter?!

She especially loves shiny things. Sometimes she gathers them together to make a little pile of treasure.

DURGE LOVES GNOLLS. Even though they are very fierce and disgusting. Sometimes she even feels uncomfortable in their presence, but she doesn't know why. However, she tells herself gnolls are the creatures that are closest to her; they are doomed to be controlled by the Hunger eternally, just like her with The Urge.

Waltz. She loves waltz. And night sky. And music box make her emotional.

On the other hand, she hates closed spaces. If she could avoid being cramped that would be GREAT.

[lets-go-hurt-someone]

This is great! I’d only ever gotten the vivisection and baby’s first kill memories. Didn’t even know the others existed! The rejecting Bhaal heal memory is going to live rent free inside me for awhile. It’s exactly what I’d envisioned for Durge.

exploring all of Durge's repressed memories

Did you know you could see some of Durge's repressed memories? Well, you can, and I'm going to show you how in this video. Enjoy!

[hellothisisangle]

Contrary to all the bodily adornments I think he’d have a simple tent draped in embroidered fabrics. The bulk of his belongings would include a few different instruments, plus tools to make them, and the dragon’s horde of rings, necklaces, circlets, bracelets, anklets, etc. He does all his own piercings and also carries a tiny sterilization kit inside an inner pocket. Although he noticed that his skin already had existing holes not-healed over from before the memory loss

When alone, he could be seen whittling a new flute and practicing progressions, polishing jewelry, sharpening knives, or absentmindedly getting lost in a tedious task while his mind mulls over. Like pulling a veiny leaf apart by every thread and placing the plucked pieces in a strange pattern. Other than that, he’d try to copy or integrate himself into whatever the others are doing, hoping to pass the time with something fun

[artist-rat]

return of the shenanigang! 🎪 no feature to let karlach win plushies at arcade games? shh it's canon anyways 💯🧸🧸 (wyll is being told bad puns to distract him from dribbles' fate. astarion has stolen back the entirety of their coin which they lost spinning the wheel too many times)

[ennissg]

"Telling myself I won't go there Oh, but I know that I won't care Tryna wash away all the blood I've spilt This lust is a burden that we both share Two sinners can't atone from a lone prayer Souls tied, intertwined by our pride and guilt"

(Daylight - David Kushner) Gale "With you I forget my goddess" Dekarios and Dr. "We could be gods. But would you really want to?" Vrach, two wizards lost in eachother. The birth of the God of Ambition and a new God of Death.

I'm never ascending Gale in this playthrough BUT That doesn't stop me from wondering what kind of ending they would've gotten if he did ascend. Which works as a corruption ark with Dr. Vrach's story of embracing humanity and rejecting his divinity as a bhaalspawn. Godhood was pretty much his life goal pre tadpole, though, maybe less of a corruption and more of a return to the original plan. Also I finally figured out his outfit, only 2 more redesigns left, yeehaw

[halichor]

Scourge of the Seas

Just started another save with durge Jehan since I missed that last time, and I'm /still/ not done with Karythos and Vesna's saves aaaaaa 🫠

[kawareo]

Thinking about all the sexual abuse that has no doubt happened in the temple of Bhaal, and just how bad it must've been for Durge... Imagine you're worshipped as a halfgod, you get everything you think you could ever want, you're Father's favorite - but if you fuck up, you become his breeding machine. I wonder if Durge knew about that threat; personally, I think he would've.

But anyway my Durge and Astarion are a fun vibe because they were both sexually abused but at least Astarion knows that he was, ykno? Meanwhile my boy is just there describing the most horrific shit, mostly unaware of just how fucked up what he's saying is, and Astarion there not sure if he should tell him "hey pal that is really fucking messed up actually" because he knows sometimes people need their delusions to be able to take the shit the world throws at them.

Aaaaand there's Gortash, who hears about all the horrific stuff, and who I think knows logically that's messed up to happen (especially to someone as young as Durge was when it started) but who would totally just go around dropping hints about how fucked up that was and how he would never do something like this. Did you know that in the church of Bane we'd kill someone for doing that?

And then he'd plan on how to break it to Durge in a way that breaks Durge down the most without Gortash coming off as the bad guy so that when the poor guy's world shatters around him, he can come to lick his wounds at the one safe place he has left - in Gortash's arms.

[some0weirdo]

So… how old is Durge?

(part 1)

part 2

part 3

I have seen many theories about their age, but I also want to share my thoughts. It will be much easier than guessing other characters' age simply because of Bhaal. To make this analysis, I’ll assume that everything in previous games and in DnD lore is canonical. 

So, let’s start with the fact that BG3 happens in 1492 DR. 

Here’s a DnD age chart, I have done a research and it’s definitely canonical. Based on the fact Durge don’t have a canonical race, we have to assume they’re at least 14. They couldn’t be born later than 1478DR because Sceleritas Fel confirms Durge is an adult. 

The most important thing here is the fact that Bhaal was dead from 1358 DR (Time of Troubles) 

to 1482 DR 

So there’s no chance Durge could be created before Bhaal came back to life. There’s also no way they could be created while Bhaal was dead. I remember that once someone said that they could have been created while The God of Murder was absent, but I have MANY reasons to doubt that. Bhaal predicted his death and decided to create as many children as possible, and when he couldn’t “naturally” make them, he decided to create one out himself. 

While Bhaal was gone, his followers’ most important goal was to bring him back, not to create more kids, in fact, it was the opposite. Bhaalspawns were slaying each other to take his essence out of them, so he could be alive again. 

The Dark Urge was created BY Bhaal FROM Bhaal so it would be impossible to achieve that while he was dead. 

Sceleritas Fel couldn’t been created by Bhaal after he died. Although he creates Butlers only for spawns he has use of, Durge was special, They were Bhaal themselves after all (in a way)! Moreover, Bhaal knew he will be gone for a while, so he needed someone who will keep an eye on Durge, they were the most valuable and they needed a special assistance. 

[nesvann]

Bhaal shepherding his lost lamb 💀🩸

Original painting: The return of the prodigal son by Leonello Spada

I tried to draw Bhaal as a humanoid figure but honeslty it was looking so wrong ahah soooo him as decaying skeleton it is

I have not a single clue about how tumblr works, but oh well... Here take this painting redraw of my Durge, Maeth and Bhaal

[taygra5shaon]

CHILDREN OF BHAAL🫀🫀

there is a lot of red...

[oathbreakerapologist]

ssssssoooooomebody (@treevore) finally convinced me that Niro and Orin end up with offspring in the long-term future of his return to her. Everyone say hi to the twins: Aroen (left, he/him) and Neora (right, she/her).

More (a lot more, probably) coming soon on these two. For now:

Years after the events of BG3, an isolated cult forms around a man in whose form is manifest the divine might of slaughter incarnate, a cult dedicated first to this angel of blood-drenched hedonism, but secondly to his beloved consort and their intertwined twins, all of whom carry his sacred lineage richly in their veins.