#excellence iathrana

[thornfield13713]

...so, it turns out 'I think a real god could kill whoever she wants' was not the right thing to say to the short-tempered gith goddess.

Okay.

Looks like Excellence is going to have a sudden, unexpected urge to not push the buttons of immensely powerful people. In the interests of getting to finish the game.

I still say it was a fair observation, though.

[thornfield13713]

I am having a lot of fun with Excellence's thoughts and feelings about the Emperor, because- The thing is, there aren't many options to express scepticism that aren't 'mind flayer bad'.

But Excellence knows and is friendly with Omeluum - as friendly as one can get, anyway, and she's pretty insistent on saving it from the Iron Throne. She knows damn well that mind flayers are people, that they can be...if not necessarily good in the DnD alignment sense (Omeluum is, after all, affiliated with the decidedly dodgy Society of Brilliance - no, I have NOT forgotten that Githyanki egg-napping plan), then at least helpful people who try to minimise the harm they do. And Omeluum is very clearly friends with its partner-in-research Blurg, so it's not that mind flayers in general are incapable of deep bonds of affection or friendship, even if they are a bit more removed from their emotions than most.

Her issue is that the Emperor deliberately chose to appear to her as someone she would be inclined to trust - not just a vaguely trustworthy appearance, but specifically the face of her ex-girlfriend who was always a better person than Excellence. And that he's keeping someone in a state of torturous imprisonment. So, mind flayers in general? Sure, she's willing to accept that some of them are decent and that they are, fundamentally, people. Most of those she's met have been, fundamentally, arseholes, but that's not the same thing. She's just not in a hurry to trust this one specifically who has already proven himself a liar.

Which- How much she likes and gets on with Omeluum really puts the lie to the 'would you have trusted a mind flayer' thing the Emperor argues. Like- You have seen her trust a mind flayer! They'd probably be besties if not for that awkward 'don't want him to find out I murdered one of his colleagues' thing.

[thornfield13713]

Decided to dabble in the options for Excellence's epilogue, and this one just jumped out at me. I love that Gale has devoted time to finding compliments for his partner now they're an illithid. In fact, I just love him in general.

[thornfield13713]

Because I have just played her epilogue and finally been inspired to make a start on the fic of her finally getting that Wish spell a few years down the line, here's a hypothetical of Excellence as she might appear post-Wish.

Slid the maturity slider up to about halfway, so I'd put her at about forty here (alas, the shade of grey I chose to streak her hair with doesn't show up very well against her natural colour), and alas I suspect her raven-skull earrings were probably lost when she no longer had ears. Getting a few extra piercings might be a 'regain control over my own body and how it looks' thing, as might cutting her hair.

[thornfield13713]

Excellence: So...is this guy flirting with me or...?

(in her defence, that happens a lot. She's already had to politely turn down Wyll and Lae'zel, and has some slight concerns that Halsin might also be interested)

[thornfield13713]

Having fun playing Excellence again, and- I swear, I am not just having a day of being soft over BG3 romances, but I keep thinking of the contrast she makes with Mystra.

Like- Excellence is a career adventurer from a pretty rough background. A former pickpocket and kind of a brawler (she's got a much higher STR score than you'd expect for a sorcerer, which is neat, as well as top-flight DEX). She's brassy, outspoken, opinionated, kind of tactless and definitely a bit tacky and flashy - the sort of vibes of one of those Renaissance mercenaries who wore all their wealth on their person. I'm headcanoning in that she's got a couple of gold teeth because a couple of them got knocked out or there were a few toothaches over the years, and probably tattoos on her knuckles and in odd spots down the rest of her body. She's scarred, and earthy - she likes a good meal and a stiff drink, is very partial to good whiskey, and delights in Gale's cooking efforts no matter how much Wyll winces at how unhealthy they are. Definitely not body shy in the least, because she's lived most of her life in close quarters with a lot of other people. And she's a wild magic sorcerer, which means that she's as likely to blow things up or turn into a sheep mid-battle as anything. Very direct, likes to give her friends shit in a playful way, but never with any inclination to harm, and always, always up to help out for no other reason than that she can.

I just- I am really enjoying this contrast, and can't wait to do more with it.

[thornfield13713]

...yes, okay, look, Mizora is so unbearably smug whenever she cites some line or other of a contract, let me have a bit of fun rubbing it in her face when we get around her.

This is also just fuelling that 'no such thing as a no-win scenario' mindset. Because, look, we got a horrible, sadistic either-or choice. And we took a third option and now Wyll has reconciled with his father and he's free of the Hells and at no risk of ending up a lemure! Win-win! We're going to rob Raphael's house and steal the Orphic Hammer and then Orpheus will be free and we won't be in hock to a devil - win/win!

...this may lead to trouble when we hit a problem we can't take a third option on, but...

Fun characterisation time, anyway.

[thornfield13713]

It took a while. But Excellence now has 'steal cozy jumper' privileges in her relationship with Gale.

[thornfield13713]

So, this is a fun image.

Yes, Excellence did end up talking and drinking the guy to death. It seemed like the sensible way to deal with the situation, and also a good opportunity to show off her sleight-of-hand skills and boast a lot for a good cause.

[thornfield13713]

She just cannot resist mouthing off to immensely powerful god-like figures, huh.

There is a reason I am assiduously avoiding fire spells with Excellence, just because if I didn't the Dresden influence would quickly become undeniable.

She is definitely the sort of person who would respond to someone telling her to stop snarking at the devil by pointing out that she'd been snarky to every other near-omnipotent being they've encountered, and she doesn't want to make anyone feel left out.

[thornfield13713]

for the clothes ask - informal for Excellence, footwear for Ned, wardrobe for Thoradin and formal for Rosie

Ooh - nice to have an ask for everyone. And...let's see.

What's your OC's lazy-day look? How do they like to dress when they're winding down?

Excellence isn't a fussy dresser unless she's got someone to impress. So, shirt and breeches, nothing fancy, something easy to pull on and comfortable, if a bit sloppy. After she gets involved with Gale, she also starts stealing his cozy velvet tunics, because they're warm, and smell of him, and comfortable. It stretches out the shoulders and chest something dreadful, but she hasn't heard any complaints yet. She hasn't historically made much of a fuss about colour, but starts doing so more after moving to Waterdeep and suddenly being in a position where she can have clothes made and dyed for her rather than just buying whatever can be made up quickly between adventures. She tends to favour brighter colours, when she can, with a particular fondness for reds and blues - though generally not worn together.

What does your OC wear on their feet?

Boots when actively adventuring, because they're practical and protecting your toes and soles is the sort of thing that matters when you're dealing with all the hazards of the adventuring life, and particularly in the Underdark, which is full of nasty oozes you don't want on your feet. Around camp, however, and when they can get away with it, Ned prefers sandals. They'd go barefoot if it was practical, but are cognisant enough of the risks of rocks, thorns and sudden hedgehogs not to do that.

What's your OC's formal look? Do they like dressing up? Do they have different looks for different occasions?

To be honest, I'm not sure this is something Rosie has ever had to think about. Because first she was a poor Lower City kid, and then she was a ward of the Temple of Ilmater, and then a squire of a paladin order, and then a cult leader living in the sewer. I'm not sure she's ever been to a formal event in her life, unless Gortash brought her along to one, and given that a number of power players in the city know Rosie as a Bhaalist cult leader, that might not be the safest idea.

That said, once introduced to the idea, I think Rosie might rather enjoy it, so long as she could get formalwear made up in her habitual head-to-toe black with subtle golden accents, and Gortash doesn't seem to have had any trouble doing so, so there's no reason Rosie should. Admittedly, her idea of formalwear is probably just a variation on what she wears anyway - long tunic, tabard with blackwork embroidery, boots, leggings - just without the mail and gambeson. Just...made of rather finer fabrics, and possibly with a bit more subtle ornamentation. I don't see her having a lot of different looks, though - clothing has never been a matter of great concern for her, and while she's experimenting with a lot of forms of self-indulgence now she's free, that one has never really caught her attention.

How big is your character's wardrobe? Do they wear things threadbare, or can they afford new clothes often? Are they any good at mending and repairing their own clothing?

This changes over the course of the game for Thoradin. Pre-game and on the road, he hasn't got very many clothes, and wears the ones he has until they wear out, repairing them as best he can as he goes, and often using embroidery and ornamentation to cover over mends and stains. He hasn't got much money, and almost all of what he does have is getting spent on Helja. As such, he has got very, very good at picking up good clothes at a bargain, making over and repairing old clothes, and adding ornamentation to enliven clothes too dull for any self-respecting bard to wear to a gig.

And then he's married to the new Grand Duke, and can have all the pretty clothes he likes. He might go a bit mad about that, once he has the chance, though he keeps up the embroidery and repair habits, just because he gets attached to favourite outfits and doesn't want to lose them, and also because he just likes adding new little details and embellishments.

[thornfield13713]

I do still love that Gale seems...slightly baffled by the idea of anyone holding Excellence's tentacles against her. Even if neither of them has yet given up on finding a Wish spell to reverse it all with. Also I am now imagining them finding weird ways to show affection with tentacles now that most of their old standbys are unavailable. (The tentacley cheek-stroke is a particular favourite.)

[thornfield13713]

...I have a lot of feelings about Excellence and tiefling solidarity. Like- it's been a major part of her characterisation since she turned up at the Grove and immediately punched the asshole adventurer who led a pack of goblins back to where tiefling refugees were hiding in the nose.

I haven't really posted much about it, but...this feels like a nice moment for that. I feel like Excellence was probably the first tiefling in her family, and that's probably contributed a lot to this sense of solidarity, and the need to reach out to fellow tieflings, and do things for them. If they don't help each other, after all, who will? And other tieflings were generally less likely to be dicks about and to her than humans. I like the idea of Excellence learning about tiefling culture from neighbours and people met by chance, cobbling it together piece by piece as she started sorting out who she was and where she was going in life.

[thornfield13713]

So, yeah, the advice about not doing a Dark Urge right off the bat was right. At least, if you're like me and need to time things just right so that you get the murders at thematically appropriate times, but still don't want to go into the goblin camp without having had a long rest.

Thus, I have created a new character, and am putting my darling druid Skye on the backburner for now. This is Excellence. She's a tiefling sorceress, and I'm probably going to romance Gale with her, because he's a cat-loving wizard and she's a disaster bi tiefling, and some things are just written in the stars.

(I cannot seem to resist the character type of 'arrogant nuisance who is, irritatingly, also a really nice person'.)

Don't know how she got the facial scars, suspect an early accident with her magic, given how much acid she uses. Tattoos are probably a reference to something deeply personal. Oh, and she comes from the Urchin background, so probably nothing very good going on there. Let's see what happens.

[thornfield13713]

Excellence is very, very done with the Absolute and their bullshit.

Also still has no respect for gods or men. This should be fun.

[thornfield13713]

So, this is neat. Though I do hope it doesn't come up if you don't use any of the Balduran dialogue choices, because I am hoping to play some people who aren't from Baldur's Gate.

Which-

Yeah, it's her hometown, but Excellence isn't that attached to it. Or rather, her feelings on it are...complicated. Her family still live there. They're up towards the Basilisk's Gate these days, rather than in the Outer City slums, but they're there. I may need to headcanon in a visit home at some point while the party is in town. But she left when she was a teenager, and she only comes back every now and again, to see her family and if it's the nearest major city to something she intends to do, and she never stays for very long, even if her mother keeps hinting that she'd quite like her second-born daughter to come for a longer visit sometime between her adventures.

Baldur's Gate is...well. It's the place that made her who she was when she started her adventuring career, but she became an adventurer, in large part, because she didn't feel that she could make a life for herself there, and even if a lot of the reasons for that have become less prevalent, the feeling still remains.