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bardcursed · 4 months

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𝑫𝑶𝑺𝑺𝑰𝑬𝑹 .ᐟ 𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆. jaxson freesong. 𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒏𝒂𝒎𝒆. jax. 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒆𝒔. human. 𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔 & 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. bard / rogue [ thief ]. 𝒂𝒈𝒆. thirty - five [ technically he’s been around for 100+ years though ]. 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 & 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒔. cis male , he / him. 𝒔𝒆𝒙𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚. pansexual. 𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕. 5’9”. 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓. brown , usually scruffy if he’s traveling but tries to look nice and more put together when he can. 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔. hazel. 𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕. chaotic good. 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒄𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒎. jeff ward. 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒔. STR. 10 DEX. 18 [ +2 ] CON. 10 INT. 9 WIS. 10 CHA. 18 [ +2 ] 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔. deception +6. perception +3. stealth +8. persuasion +8.

𝑰𝑴𝑷𝑶𝑹𝑻𝑨𝑵𝑻 𝑰𝑵𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑴𝑨𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵 .ᐟ

✦ jaxson freesong and his partner sinclair dahra are well-known in faerûn for some classic bard songs [ some examples that i totally just ripped from spotify so you all would have something to reference : sing for me , for the dancing and the dreaming , rule #1 - magic ] , and with the rise of their popularity came their sudden disappearance. that was 90 years ago from the present day , and people still sing those songs and know their names , but no one ever knew what happened to the couple.

✦ jax was orphaned at a very young age. his family was extremely poor and fleeing a war , but his parents eventually succumbed to illness and insufficient resources and food , trying to give all the could to jax to make sure he survived long enough to find a safe place to be. after his parents died , he was 7 , but he wasn't on his own for long , when lucretious found him [ the owner of the traveling circus of the last days ]. she gave him shelter and food in exchange for his labor at her circus.

✦ he started out just cleaning mostly. but eventually , he took an interest in performing music. but he enjoyed acting as well , and just entertaining people in general. lucretious preferred him as a clown however , and called him dribbles [ the original dribbles the clown ] , and he could either perform , and perform happily , or he could be homeless and on his own. he killed it as dribbles , crowds adored him , and he grew to love the spotlight. but eventually , it got old. he wasn’t rich , he wasn’t famous , he was just dribbles the clown when he wanted to be known by more than hundreds as jaxson freesong.

✦ no one listened to him at the circus , but he was one of the only humans who stayed there permanently. he never really learned how to cope with intense emotions , because whenever he might have felt them , everyone treated him like a nuisance or disregarded him. eventually , he leaves to try and make a name for himself , much to lucretious’ dismay [ he was her headliner , after all ]. she tries to discourage him from leaving by telling him he wouldn’t make it very far without the circus and without her , because this is all he’s ever known. she reminds him that he eats and drinks nice food , sleeps in a soft , warm bed , and never once has to worry about his safety , which almost gets him to stay , because he’s terrified of being on his own.

✦ but ultimately , his dreams win out. he wants to be a traveling bard , and become famous as himself , not dribbles the clown. but life is hard for jax for years , so hard that at one point , he went back to baldur’s gate and waited outside of where the circus usually appears annually. waited with his tail tucked between his legs , waiting for lucretious to tell him ‘i knew you’d be back, darling’. but while he waited, he met a tiefling man by the name of sinclair dahra. a bard , one struggling like him , but one who hasn’t given up on his dreams just yet.

✦ the two of them hit it off immediately , and jax leaves with sinclair before the circus of the last days makes an appearance. the two of them struggle for a while , but at least jax isn’t struggling alone anymore. he becomes better at stealing , better at lying , better at defending himself , and better at performing music. falling in love with sinclair turned him into quite the poet , and he often would write songs for him that they could perform together , and these songs will eventually haunt him later. it takes about five years of traveling throughout faerûn , but they eventually start to make that name for themselves , garnishing a small popularity everywhere they went.

✦ but it’s still not enough for jax , he’s still not rich enough to not have to steal , and he’s still not adored by millions , and he’s in his mid thirties , he’s tired of just scraping by. he was becoming greedy , taking for granted everything good he had going for him. and his biggest embarrassment at the time [ which in hindsight is petty and so stupid ] would be to die before he’s famous enough for word to travel back to lucretious about it. that’s when they cross paths with none other than auntie ethel. she talks them up , fawns over them like she’s a big fan [ which might even be genuine ] , and feeds jax’s enlarged ego while liquoring them up , with alcohol and potions to lower their inhibitions.

✦ that’s when ethel starts trying to manipulate them , but sinclair feels something off about their situation rather quickly. jax , however , listens to what ethel has to say. which is , that she can make all of their dreams come true. she wants nothing more than to see her “favorite traveling bards” become successful , and continue making “wonderful music for her to enjoy”. and all they have to do is take a single bite of an apple , and their names and their songs would forever be remembered and adored by millions.

✦ sinclair has a bad gut feeling , but jax isn’t sure if he even believes it. even sort of laughs about it , like it’s a joke. and he isn’t sure what made him bite the apple more— morbid curiosity , bad impulse control , or the chance that it might be real , and it’s everything he’s ever wanted. the last thing jax hears is the word “NO!” being shouted by sinclair , before it was as if his entire life was suspended in time , in that moment , holding that apple in front of his face.

✦ immediately , sinclair attempts threatening ethel’s life if she doesn’t wake him up , but ethel reveals herself to be a hag shortly after and tells him he can eat the apple too , and maybe they would be reunited one day. but instead , he tries to kill her , which results in him dying. ethel moves jax further into her lair with the rest of her morbid collection , giving him a special spot right in the center , where he stands for 90 years , eyes wide , holding an apple that never rots. ethel leaves sinclair’s body to decompose beside him. and just like she said , soon people were singing their songs all over faerûn and people by the thousands , then hundreds of thousands , and after that millions knew their names. but no one ever knew what happened to them , and why they stopped making music and showing themselves. it became this strange mystery , wondering if they ever even really existed , but there are people who have met them , people who have watched them perform. they even became a folklore , infamously known as the ghost bards , because they are so popular but not many have ever really seen them.

✦ [ when you find him frozen in her lair and you select him , auntie ethel’s voice says: ‘here lies the jaxson freesong and sinclair dahra , the lost bard lovers of faerûn. they wished to be known and adored by millions , their songs forever to be sung until the end of time.’ on a successful history check , you’ll be able to recall the folklore about the ghost bards , and how their songs and names mysteriously spread throughout the land with no record of anyone seeing them since then. on a successful arcane check , you’ll be able to tell that jax is under a suspension curse , and a remove curse spell can cure him. otherwise , defeating auntie ethel will break his curse as well ]

✦ as soon as he wakes up , it’s like no time has passed for him. one second he’s standing with sinclair and auntie ethel in her home , and the next he’s in her lair , with strangers all gawking at him , holding a still fresh looking apple. only , the skeleton will startle him , as well as the other unsavory surroundings , i.e. the person holding their own head. he will quickly notice that the skeleton beside him on the ground is wearing the exact same thing sinclair was wearing only moments ago , and he’s going to be in such intense denial for a while. at first , he thinks ethel is playing some kind of fucked up joke , tries to laugh it off. but if you tell him what you know about him and his folklore , he is going to ask to come back to your camp. he probably won’t react right away , he just needs to eat , and to process everything , and when he’s finally alone the grief will hit him like a ton of bricks as the shock finally wears off.

✦ the next morning , jax will tell everyone he is parting ways with them so he can get to baldur’s gate. he doesn’t know how to cope with his emotions even on his own , let alone try to talk about them with anyone else. he’s been trained to perform , and act happy , even when he isn’t. he hides behind that happy-go-lucky mask. his entire life has just been going with the flow and rolling with the punches , he’s adaptable. as far as he knows , the circus still appears there annually , lucretious was as old as dirt when he met her , she’s probably still thriving. he just knows he doesn’t want to be alone , all he wants is to go home. someplace familiar. but he’s quickly discouraged from leaving on his own by halsin , who warns him of a shadow curse choking the lands to get to baldur’s gate.

✦ he’s certainly not the biggest fan of the idea of traveling with a group of people infected with alien parasites in their heads who could turn into mind flayers and eat his brains at any moment , but after seeing them fight , he knows he doesn’t stand a chance on his own without them. he has very little choice in the matter. besides , they are the only ones who actually know who he is and some of what happened to him. throughout the game , most of the time , if he tells people who he is , they don’t believe him. which really just has him so miffed , because he fucked his entire life up for the fame and the adoration , and people just think he’s a crazy person.

✦ the disbelief of his identity most places they go , and the grief , shame and regret slowly consuming him , eventually comes to a head in the shadow-cursed lands when his tension is highest. typically , when he starts considering the people around him allies , and he doesn’t know how to pretend that everything is okay anymore. he didn’t even tell people that it was all his fault , that sinclair warned him not to. he is just vague about the details and pretends like he doesn’t really remember. but there is a moment , at last light inn , when he hears someone singing a song he wrote for sinclair , and it just shatters him. like the straw that finally breaks the camels back , he lashes out against the intense emotions , causes an entire scene , flips a table just to get the music to stop.

✦ when he actually sees the circus of the last days in baldur’s gate again , he will reluctantly approach. the ghoul at the front , benji , will recognize him by his scent alone , and call him dribbles , and welcome him home. klaus recognizes him too , and the party will automatically be let inside without having to pass any checks while klaus brings jax right to lucretious , where they all actually have a moment where for a second , it seems like lucretious is genuinely happy to see jax alive and well — but it goes no further than that. she isn’t curious about what happened to him , and when he mentions that he did it— he managed to make a name for himself without her circus , she simply says , “honey , you were a glorified one hit wonder that fell off the face of the earth. dribbles is still my main attraction.” which really just solidifies his choice in staying with his new crew , and helping them save the world. because he actually feels appreciated by these people , he actually feels like he has real friends for the first time in his life. and because maybe if he can feel like a hero , he can stop feeling so utterly ashamed of himself for the choices he’s made in his life. [ also , after the “dribbles” fight , he just starts to really be thankful he left this place. that could have ended up being him , and it would be his body parts scattered all over baldur’s gate to be resurrected and used forever by lucretious ]

✦ personality wise: jax is arrogant , though it’s mostly forced. he actually doesn’t want people to know he loathes himself , especially after waking from his curse. since he was a child , he was convinced that if he simply pretends like he’s the best , then eventually it wouldn’t be pretend anymore. he’s still pretending. he also needs attention like tinkerbell needs an applause , and tries to look his best as often as he can. he tries to keep his face shaved and his hair trimmed and his clothes clean , which just isn’t always possible while traveling and fighting for your life , but he definitely complains if he feels like he isn’t looking his best. he loves playing music [ he plays the lute ] , and singing songs he’s written himself. however , his music makes him feel bitter after waking from his curse , because it reminds him of sinclair and how badly he ruined their lives , and won’t play for a while after waking. he’ll even become slightly agitated if people talk about it to him too much , he doesn’t want to think about it. but that changes after realizing that literally only people in his new group believe him about who he is because they rescued him from his situation , and when he gets out into the world again , most people don’t actually believe he’s the jaxson freesong , one of the ghost bards. this starts to really rub him the wrong way , because he feels like after everything he’s lost , it’s like rubbing salt in the wound that he doesn’t even get to reap the benefits of his sacrifice and enjoy that world renowned fame for once.

though he’s prickly and vague and cocky in the beginning , it’s simply to hide his remorse and his shame and his grief. but he warms up rather quickly , because he’s desperate to be liked. he’s also clueless about like , everything. any time he hears something new about what is happening in the world , he’s like — okay , there’s no way this could get any crazier — but then it does every time. he really just takes things as they come , and is just pleased he’s not still trapped inside of that hag’s lair. through the events of the game , he gets very good at deception , persuasion , hand crossbows / ranged weapons , buff / debuff spellcasting , stealth , and dodging attacks. once he’s warmed up to others , he gives big golden retriever energy , eager to please and entertain. he likes to socialize , he’s a social butterfly , actually.

✦ he is a romanceable character but like , he’s kinda sad and pathetic at first , lol : obviously he is heartbroken over sinclair , but he doesn’t want to talk about it. he grieves on his own , which is just him crying himself to sleep almost every night and pretending like he didn’t if anyone asked [ deny , deny , deny ]. he also is drunk almost every night as well , and the first time he tries to hook up with anyone , he’s definitely just sad and intoxicated and craving a warm body to fall asleep next to , and even that’s not usually until further into act ii. and because he latches onto people who show him the slightest bit of affection and attention , he will probably crave it further. even before sinclair , he always hated sleeping alone. hated being alone. and after him is the same , only way more painful. but it won’t be long until his guilt gets the better of him , and he lashes out at last light inn because of someone singing a song he wrote for sinclair , and he finally tells the truth about his greed. he admits that sinclair tried to warn him against eating the apple , that something didn’t feel right , but he selfishly did it anyway. and he doesn’t know what happened after that , he only assumes sinclair refused the apple and auntie ethel killed him , and left his body to rot beside him for almost a century.

✦ an ideal epilogue situation for him would obviously be to help save the world , maybe personally kill auntie ethel in act iii if / when she makes a reappearance [ because i know sometimes she doesn’t ?? ] , he finds something of a family who teaches him to appreciate what he has instead of chasing after more than he needs , but he also still gets his widespread adoration for helping save the world , and then people finally start believing he is who he is and he tells his whole story and he gets the things he’s always wanted. :’))) but that’s ideal , lol , i just want the best for this dumb baby.

#about.#this is such a sleepy ramble of an about page omg #i might try and make it more coherent if i need to xD

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