#i need to decide on a name for my tav at some point....later

[remington-zero]

my tav and my d2 cryptarch warlock...same ingredience (unintended), diff sizing

[honeydippedwaffles]

Smallest Drop

Summary: Tav overhears Astarion complaining about their situation and decides to do what she can to make it a little better for him and she ends up surprising him in the process.

Tav isn't referred to by name. There might be a part 2 if this is well-received.

Content Warnings: She/Her Tav

Word Count: 1.8k words

╔═══*.·:·.☽✧    ✦    ✧☾.·:·.*═══╗

It started when she overheard a passing comment from behind her, grumbled in response to something Lae’zel said.

From the earliest parts of the day, they’d been making their way through difficult terrain; surrounded by thousands of bugs and mud up to their ankles. She’d tried not to complain about it though Astarion never shared her focus on quiet suffering and he had a fair point.

Though they’d managed to set up a fairly comfortable camp outside the grove – not wanting to impose nor deal with the druids for too long – they hadn’t really found any chance to properly bathe since their abduction.

The late afternoon glinted into her eyes as an idea presented itself.

She slipped away from the group almost excitedly to find the abandoned house where she’d spied it not long ago. After making sure it contained no nasty surprises, she’d left. It didn’t really have a roof and the majority of it had been burned down by some form of magical fire but most importantly, it had a tub.

One night together shouldn’t have made her so weak for the elf but despite all his sweetened words and falsities, he captivated her attention. She knew he meant little by it but sometimes those words made her days brighter regardless.

And she wanted to return the favour given how the muddy path came from her badly thought-out route.

The river running close by provided her with clean and cool water, not the easiest to move in large amounts but still able to fill the tub. It didn’t leak (a minor miracle) and she managed to use a little more of her already-exhausted magic to get a few charms warming the water up.

She smiled at her work proudly and left the charms to do her work while she made her way back to the grove to get some soaps.

Her shoulders shook a little as she eyed her small surprise. Proud and excited, she now faced the greatest of tasks.

Encouraging Astarion to actually step away from camp.

“No, thank you,” he said, dismissed her with the casual wave of a hand. “I’ve had quite enough traipsing through the forest for one day. If you want to continue finding every possible swamp insect to attack you, you’re welcome to be my guest.”

She sighed. “But I have something to show you. It’s a surprise.”

He smiled, strained. “My, aren’t you a desperate little thing. Maybe I’ll join you a little later in the night but for now, I’m afraid I don’t have the energy or the interest.”

“No, it’s not…” she groaned. “It’s just a bath, alright? I overheard you complaining about being dirty earlier so I found one for you.”

“Did you now?”

“Yes. Come along. Those runes aren’t going to last forever and I know you’re going to fuss about the water temperature.”

Astarion chuckled and she immediately knew he didn’t believe her. “I appreciate the creativity, darling. Really, I do, but you’ll find direct offers are far more effective on me.” He leaned closer and she became suddenly aware of how many eyes watched them from around the camp. “But if you’re really going to such lengths, I’m not going to deny you forever.”

Flushed, she stepped away and ducked her head. “Fine. I’ll use it myself but you better not complain once more about it.”

She ignored the slightly concerned expressions of her friends as she stormed back into the tree line by herself. Why she even thought he’d appreciate it… she shouldn’t have even bothered offering it to him. She really needed to be more selfish if she wanted to not get turned down by the vampire spawn again.

It stung more than she expected it to, even if she wasn’t offering anything more than an actual bath.

She brushed her fingers over the surface of the still-warm water when she got there and sighed. It still felt like a waste, even if she used it. Amazing how homesick she’d grown for her house when stuck out in the wild with nothing more of comfort than a single bedroll.

Maybe she should have stolen one of those beds from the goblin den they cleared.

The floor creaked and her hand flew to her weapon, spun around only to find a very arrogant elf who appeared annoyingly surprised.

“My, so it wasn’t even a ploy alone,” he said. “You genuinely managed to find a bath. I respect your dedication if nothing else. There are certainly easier ways of seeing me undressed.”

She rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the water. “I was trying to do something nice for you but as you’re not interested, feel free to return back to camp.”

He stepped close enough to brush his fingers against her cheek. “Whoever said I wasn’t interested?”

“You did. In very direct words.”

“Well, things change. I’ve decided you’re quite right. It’s been far too long since I got to wash and you’ve been so sweet, setting it all up for me. I couldn’t be rude and turn you down right now, could I?”

Cursing the elf beneath her breath for his indecisiveness, she moved to walk past him. “Enjoy.”

Once again, she surprised him and Astarion took a second to respond, calling to her as she reached the edge of the charred flooring.

“You’re not joining me?”

She looked back at him. “Am I meant to be?”

“Why, yes. I can hardly be expected to do things like washing my hair all by myself. What if I get lonely or attacked?”

She frowned at him but he kept smiling at her in the same insistent way he did when he wanted something. The corner of his lips pulled up as though he knew a joke and didn’t want to share it. She couldn’t help herself but relent under his burning gaze; he’d done the same thing when she’d agreed to let him drink blood from her throat. Perhaps she should be concerned with where her willpower went when it came to this man.

“Alright,” she said. “I’ll help with your hair if you really need.”

“How fun.”

He insisted on being as distracting as possible when he got undressed. His constant glances at her met nothing in return but she couldn’t help glancing at the scars as he lowered himself into the tub.

Their ridges made her uncomfortable. Not knowing what it said frightened her for Astarion’s safety rather than her own.

Nothing good ever came from runes carved into flesh.

“There’s no need to act so shy, beautiful. You’ve seen me in far more compromising situations than this.”

She wouldn’t call their night together compromising but she ignored the comment regardless. His soft sigh of relaxation as he settled into the water worked wonders for clearing up her irritation.

How he managed to be so magnetic astounded her. She found a spot to sit behind him and slowly, gingerly, began to help him with his hair. Despite being ridiculously soft considering how long they adventured in the wilderness, it needed some careful care and attention.

She took care to stay gentle when she found where tangles turned into knots and worked them free without pulling. He gave a small hum when she had to give a soft tug and she took it as an okay to use a little more force.

“We don’t have much to work with but I did manage to get some things from the grove,” she said. “It won’t be up to your standards but I don’t think anything really is.”

Cagey about his past, all she knew surrounded the small snippets he gave her when upset or ranting. She doubted he’d ever had much time to fuss over which hair products he used, too busy watching over his shoulder for a constant threat. He still did so now when he thought nobody could see. His meditation never held him deeply as sleep took her.

“Regardless of whether or not it’s professional, I won’t complain about your skills with this.”

“Skills at detangling your hair?”

“At winning my favour.”

She frowned a little and focused on the white locks where they curled between her fingers. “I’m not only doing this because I want to impress you.”

“I’m sure you have other motivations,” he hummed, teasing. “But you know you’re more than welcome to join me whenever you’re ready. You chose a good-sized tub for both of us.”

She ignored him again, instead focusing on working out a tight knot. Once done, she encouraged him to lean back a little so she could massage the soap gently into his hair, rubbing soft circles against his scalp until his eyes fluttered closed and the smallest hint of relaxation showed in his expression.

Good. He carried far too much tension and she stopped herself from continuing the slight massage down to where she could see the stress in his neck and shoulders. How uncomfortable it must be but she didn’t want to encourage whatever strange idea he had about this situation.

Still, even if she hadn’t planned anything, she couldn’t deny her attraction.

She wanted to press her lips to the pale skin of his neck and trace the path of the water droplets as they pooled against his collar bone. She wanted to trail her hands over his sides and pull him close.

She coughed to stop her thoughts before they ran too far.

If the parasite in her skull didn’t kill her soon, she may just die from the way this elf made her heart pulse unnaturally fast.

“Everything alright?”

He sounded… well, still as flirtatious as ever but more concerned than she thought he would. She snapped her attention back to him and almost lost herself in those stunning eyes.

If she wanted to, she could so easily fall prey to his sweetened words and he really wouldn’t mind. He would encourage it even.

She finished washing the last of the soap from his hair and stood up somewhat uneasily. Pride still shone in her chest as he sat up properly, appearing far cuter than she anticipated with his hair falling flat against his skin.

She saw the invite on his lips before he even said it. Watched him flick whatever switch he had to draw her in and she hurried to leave.

“I’ll see you back in camp, alright?”

His confused expression followed her as she stepped away from the building but he didn’t call her back. She found her way back to camp with a slight heave to her chest and a desperate need for a distraction.

Though she really should have thought it through before she asked Lae-zel to spar with her. The bruise kept her up for the entire night – long enough to realise he didn’t come past for a taste of her blood in the evening.

[sinizade]

Pam, The Necromancer Druid

Class: Druid (Necromancer subclass)

Normal Tav (evil ending)

Romance: Minthara

Besties: Midnight/ Scratch/ Owl bear

Pam used to live with her parents in the middle of nature, as druids they always taught her the way of Sylvanus and his ways so that nature always remained in balance, but since then the girl has demonstrated a spirit that is indifferent to life beyond animals, people have always been the source of her main contempt no matter what race they are. The girl always used to stay away from even her own parents, preferring to stay among animals and, no matter how hard her parents tried, they could never make her comfortable in her own home.

Her adolescence was lonely as she decided that the best way to please herself and her parents would be to leave home, she started to live in small huts that she used to set up in the middle of the forest and honestly, she lived well without being forced to. to live with all the stress that I experienced when I was forced to live with other people. Most of her time she spent in her wolf form, hunting, helping them, being part of a pack. Talking to some wolves she managed to be convinced that her place was with the people, as much as they loved her and she loved them, she should go back to her people and try to have a good life beyond the forest. Baldur's gate wasn't pretty, it wasn't pleasant, the smell of that place made her want to vomit and there were a lot of people who looked at her as if she were some kind of monstrosity, of course, she was dirty, half-naked and aggressive, but it wasn't a reason to treat her. her as a monstrosity, but the real monstrosities emerged when she saw a ship in the sky.

Pam is now forced to live with this bunch of chatty misfits, the only one who doesn't lose her patience in that environment is Lae'zel who only says what is necessary so that everyone there can at least get out of this situation alive and without becoming Illith, but that sanctuary, those refugees... That made her furious, how dare those hellish creatures? How dare a druid tarnish the sanctuary like that? She needed to get them out of there, she needed to end Khaga's existence and at first allying with that drow seemed like a good option... She was charming Pam needed to admit that, but she would never forgive herself if she killed those hellish creatures for no reason at all. Your best option was to eliminate Khaga in the bud, killing her and the shadow druids who were on her side, as for Minthara? She wouldn't be a problem if all that goblin scum were dead so Pam just knocked her out so she wouldn't cause any more problems. Her conscience didn't weigh as much as she thought it would, she actually felt relieved and after that massacre in the Grove she received even more relief from Minthara who seemed to develop an interest in her.

Minthara was right, what would be the point of going so far and not taking something in compensation? What's the point of almost dying so many times in exchange for nothing? Pam understood that that choice would weigh later, but she couldn't- She shouldn't allow people to destroy anymore... Being the Absolute would give her the power to improve things in her vision, improve life, improve the forest, with her beloved Minthara by her side, Pam would now have the power to take it all and finally bring true balance to nature.

Some extra information about Pam

Pam's grandmother was a Nymph

Pam can use her blood to create any type of plant and managed to improve this by studying necromancy, starting to use the blood and bodies of other people.

Pam's first time was with Minthara

Pam has a pet crow named Midnight

I also made a small time lapse of this art and posted it on my Twitter in case anyone wants to see it!

[spacebarbarianweird]

After such beautiful headcanons about Noble!Tav I now must ask about Noble High elf!Tav x Astarion

Did I indulge into reading about noble elven families? I absolutely did.

The Isle of Evermeet - the last true elven Kingdom in Faerun created  −17,600 DR during the First Sundering. In the XIV century DR the island dissapared from Toril and many believed it was destroyed. However, the island was just moved to Feywild. In 1480 DR it returned back during the Second Sundering but it dwells in a state of coexistence between Faerun, the Feywild, and Arvandor MORE INFO

Astarion x Noble Elf!Tav

Masterlist

Headcanons

You are one of Amlaruil Moonflower's many children.

Not too close to the throne, but still the member of the highest nobility.

The wanderlust, so common for young elves, forced you to leave to see the world.

You witnessed the Spellplague and, like many others, thought the Isle was gone along with everything you knew and held dear.

None of the magic portals worked. You were a princess with no kingdom and an elf with no home.

You kept leaving, forgetting everything but your name.

You meet elves like you here and there. But you don't like talking about your royal origin.

No need and no point.

Once you meet Astarion, you can't get rid of the thought you somehow know him.

You are the same age, and there are a few million elves on the Isle but you are sure he isn't from the Isle.

But his face, his surname, and some of his mannerisms are vaguely familiar.

The thing he doesn't remember anything about his past doesn't help.

In your reverie, you search for answers in your long 250 years of life.

Having to see your cruel mother and survive the court intrigues over and over again.

Astarion is bothered by it. He feels like you breach his privacy and you promise not to try it ever again.

But you aren't self-disciplined, and intrusive thoughts drag you through your memories.

Why did Astarion's face look familiar? Who did you think he was?

In the meantime, you travel. You are two elves, you have nowhere to rush.

You help Astarion to reclaim his identity.

He isn't a vampire, he is an elf!

You help him to remember his mother tongue, the True Tongue.

You tell him about the Isle, your royal family and ancestors.

He often mocks you calling you a runaway princess.

"Well, I should be grateful to be turned into a vampire. Otherwise, I would have no chance to approach you, my dear."

"Don't be stupid, we are thiramins. No one would dare to separate us."

That brings him comfort.

Should you die earlier than him, you will reincarnate like all elven souls do.

You will return and you will remember.

You eventually realize that the Isle was returned from the Feywild but what happened to its inhabitants is unclear.

Astarion doesn't want to know anything about it - the one last true kingdom of elves? Where you are a princess? With him, a vampire?

No, absolutely not. He isn't going there.

One day, you enter the reverie and get one of the earliest memories of your life in Faerun,

An elf with long silver curls. A ranger of the deep woods.

Emerald green eyes, pale skin, a grin.

"Dalar Ancunin, at your service, princess," he says in your memories, his voice echoing through the decade.

You remember him. You finally remember him. An elf born from two-half elves, who was blessed and cursed by inheriting his ancestors' features.

"It's funny to be born like that. No one knew what to do with us. So we decided to explore the world on our own and went to Baldur's Gate."

"Us?"

At that moment, Dalar's face darkened.

"We were twins, Astarion and I. He wanted to become a magistrate so he wouldn't have to live in the poverty. And I was too bored with books and studies. We… had an argument. A really bad one. And I left. Twenty years later I decided to reconcile but when I got back I only found his grave."

"I am sorry."

"The grave was empty. My brother wasn't there. And I am still looking for him. I don't know, it's been so long… But I just can't give up on him. Again."

Dalar.

You weren't close friends but you'd been in each other's life for a decade before parting ways. Members of the same adventure guild You suddenly remember his songs and his stories and how he called himself "a bastard elf". How he could literally foster any animals or beast they met on the way.

And he had a pet drake he called Nikym. "Dagger" in Elven.

You return from the reverie and look at Astarion with shocked eyes.

Astarion doesn't want to remember. Too much pain, too much sorrow- it seems like his brain just locked memories of his youth not to let Cazador learn of Dalar.

And you start talking. You try to remember every minute you spend with your old friend. What he liked, what he hated. How you sometimes woke up because Nikym was trying to eat your hair or how Dalar could shoot arrows with a blindfold.

You need to find him. If he is alive, if didn't leave Toril to try to live among the elves.

He must be there. Maybe he settled down somewhere, maybe he started a family.

How many decades will you need to catch his track though?

And Astarion doesn't have anyone else. Dalar said they were all half-elves (except for some long-forgotten ancestors). His family is long-dead.

Once you reached for your old friends they immediately pointed out where to look for Dalar.

"Always adventurer, always a traveler."

Astarion still hesitates, but, before he manages to say "no", you find what you wanted.

"The princess Moonflower in all her runaway glory! What does a royalty do in that wild place in the deep the night?"

You try to find the right words. To explain, to prepare. But Astarion has already stepped forward, staring into his mortal copy in disbelief.

You give them time.

Before Astarion manages to say anything or run away, Dalar Ancunin grabs him and hugs him.

They are different. A mortal and undead, a ranger and a rogue.

But similar at the same time.

You are a bit jealous because you got used to having Astarion all for yourself and now you have to share him with his brother.

But you get used to it. Besides, Dalar is your old friend,though forgotten for many decades.

And the drake, Nykim, accepts you both.

"I remember" Astarion once tells you. "I finally remember everything. My childhood, my youth, my death. My brother was searching for me and I just forgot about his existence."

A decade later, you three find yourself on the seacoast of the Trackless Sea.

Time to go home.

Whatever future you hold, it's there, in the distant Isle of Evermeet.

You notice both brothers are equally anxious. It will be difficult to lie about their origin and one of them is a literal vampire.

But you are adamant - you are in your own right to bring anyone along with you.

Astarion is your true love, your thiramin.

And his brother is his only family.

Both Ancunin brothers are coming with you.

For better or for worse.

--

Tag list

@tugoslovenka @marcynomercy @wintersire @vixstarria @not-so-lost-after-all @ashiro20 @theearthsfinalconfession @herstxrgirl @starlight-ipomoea @micropoe10 @astarion-imagine-archive @veillsar @elora-the-slutty-songstress @fayeriess @lumienyx @tallymonster @caitlincat-95 @tragedybunny @valeprati @lynnlovesthestars @marina-and-the-memes @waking-electric @ayselluna @connorsui @asterordinary @darkarchangel96

[samsalami66]

Never done this before, but have some rambles about a recent Sandman/Baldur's Gate 3 crossover idea of mine!

Naturally, there are some minor bg3 spoilers following, proceed with caution!

Currently my idea is that as the nautiloid crashes through realms, it also crashes through Earth and snatches up a few people . It's not many, they're gone almost as soon as they appear, and Hob is between one of those very few, probably on his way back from a medieval re-enactment. He gets tadpoled and crashes with the rest of the group in Faerûn. Decides to tag along, not necessarily because he's worried, his husband is an Endless after all, and even if their connection seems to have been temporarily cut off by the tadpole, Dream will find him sooner or later and fix this, somehow. He has a lot of faith in his husband.

Anyway, having a fighter in the group who can't die and has been on the battlefield more times than he could count might be helpful to these people.... and they all seem to need an open ear, someone with a bit more experience to talk to. It's also nice to talk to some Immortal and near Immortal people for once!

Anyway, when the dream guardian comes, Hob can't help but snort. Trying to disguise himself as a dream? In front of the King Consort of the Dreaming? Hob was a Good Consort, he prided himself with knowing all currently active Dreams.

This was not one of them.

A real dream would also recognise him as their ruler. So, who is this person who looks just a bit too much like his husband....? (What a terrible disguise anyway, no dream would dare to take on their creators form, not in front of HIM)

He's mighty distrustful of the Dream Guardian and his intentions, tries to find out just what sort of war is being fought in this other plane.

And when he finds Orpheus (and he's just a bit taken aback by the name, by the fact that he could save someone with this name, even if it isn't the Orpheus he wants to save) he swears to free him, fuck the Dream Guardian and his talk about doom and gloom.

In the end, Hob takes care of his new friends, be it in fights or whenever they need someone to listen.

He bumps shoulders with Mizora and Elminster, later Mystra, holds up Cazador so Astarion has a better angle with his dagger, points out Vlaakith's and Shar's bullshit and pisses off the Dead three (hopefully Death won't be too cross with him for that, but he can't imagine his sister in law is particularly fond of these guys.)

Aware of his connection to the Endless Gods cower before him, much to the surprise of his companions. Even their relentless friend and resident undead Withers seems to take a step back whenever Hob approaches.

And when Hob and the others finally slay their final foe and are freed of the tadpole, it only takes moment for Dream to follow their bond and start fussing over Hob, who he had believed to have been captured.

And as I am a weird person in general and my first thought at 3am was to start a new Baldur's Gate run with Hob as my Tav and Dream as my Dream Guardian...

Hob is a Fighter and due to his extensive knowledge with the blade I have decided to make him a Battlemaster Fighter. His background is quite obviously that of a soldier, his skills as a mercenary being what he uses in battle here. Some details are the moon-earrings, which were a gift from Dream, and a fading neck tattoo of a rose that he got shortly after the flopped 1989 meeting.

Dream on the other hand is just your resident edgy twink, earrings also a gift from Hob!

[illithussy]

tav q's! 1, 3, 4, 5, and 14!

thank you for asking!! i'm gonna do this for nedwyss since she's the one i'm playing as rn

1. Tell us about your Tav! Name, class and subclass, race, pronouns. Do you have a headcanon for where they're from? Their family? Are they a Dark Urge? Or did you choose an Origin Character? Was it an easy decision?

nedwyss is a cleric of lathander, light domain. she's a seldarine drow and goes by she/her. she was raised in the underdark, as most drow, but later left to join the clergy. i think her family were the stereotypical drow™, praising cruelty, ambition and competition. nedwyss was decent at playing pretend for that role for a while, but eventually decided she couldn't go on, and that's why she became a cleric of the morninglord. she's not a dark urge because i wanted to save that storyline for someone who wasn't made with the goal of being a tentacle enjoyer. nothing wrong with enjoying some tentacles, but y'know.

3. Has your Character been using their illithid powers?

in lore/headcanon? yes, she starts using them because she believes it's a way to go good. the source of the powers may suck, but she has them regardless, might as well use them to protect innocents. but i haven't really been using them in-game, mostly bc i haven't unlocked any truly fun ones yet.

4. Do you remember in which order you recruited your companions? Which companion introduction would have felt the most familiar / like home to your Tav / Character?

i don't recall the exact order, but it was probably something like shadowheart, gale, astarion, lae'zel, wyll, karlach. wyll is probably the companion she feels is most like her, they share the kindness and the desire to protect innocents, but lae'zel (and perhaps later shadowheart) reminded her of her childhood, the cruel and unforgiving society she was raised in. so wyll was "home" in a way that home is where your heart is, but lae'zel was home in a way her literal home was like.

5. Do you remember the first humanoid enemy your Character killed? Was it the first person they've ever killed, in your opinion? Would they have been bothered by it?

the forgotten realms wiki says goblins are humanoid, so the first one she killed was the bunch that attacked the grove when you first visit it. i don't think it was her first kill, but she definitely doesn't have a high count of souls she took at that point. killing that particular bunch didn't really upset her -- they attacked first, after all -- but she was bothered by having to slaughter the goblin camp, including the children. in nedwyss' mind, there is a difference between defending innocents from an attacker and going into someone's territory and becoming the attacker herself. so for her, it was no different from what the goblins attacking the grove did, and she felt awful, no matter how illogical that was.

14. Do you have another NPC you loved from a faction not mentioned above? What about your Character?

i mean we both know the answer don't we. of course it's the emperor/guardian. brainrot maximized. he's so friend shaped. i loved him because on my first playthrough i was playing as a clone of my character from another game and made the guardian look like her LI from that game. brainrot carryover y'know. he is incredibly fun on his own too, but i think it's that blorbo familiarity that led to me loving the guardian (and afterwards the emperor) so much. as for nedwyss, she shares my adoration because she was literally tailor made for empy romance shenanigans because the first time she saw the guardian was just after clearing out the goblin camp, and as i said, having to do that really upset her. his presence was comforting, reassuring, he was protecting her from turning into a mind flayer and generally was a kind, supportive person, he was exactly what she needed in that moment of distress. so she had a silly little crush that is going to turn into a corruption arc <3 i haven't decided yet whether i'll make a happy ending (or something as close to it as possible, considering the fucked upness of it all) for these two, partially because i'm not sure if that's a pussy move, partially because i actually don't know what happens in the "control the netherbrain, become the absolute" ending. we'll see.

[kdmerchant]

This is chapter 2 of my >ahem< garbage. I still have yet to name this thing and hope to have a name for it by the end of the day.

It's still unedited so I'm sure there are problems. It's going leading up to be spicy in the next few chapters. This is fun trash, so I'm not going to be worried about errors

I apologize for more owl bears. I'm thinking it's now going to be a thing. An owlbear for every chapter of this ridiculous bit.

I hope you enjoy it, thank you for reading!

Astarion ×Tav (Paradigm blue tiefling) × Halsin

CW: kissing, daddy issues

Two

The sun was out and caused dappled light to trickle through the shadows and over the roots of trees as they made their way back to The Hallow. Birds sang over the sound of their quiet footsteps and Paradigm couldn’t help but take notice of Astarion’s attention towards the smallest things. She first picked up on it when they took a break on a path with fewer trees and the others stood directly in the sun, but he stuck to the shade.

What was more she watched as he carefully touched where the sun broke through the tree’s canopy. Gentle fingers almost petting his own delicate skin where it glowed. She wondered how good the sun must feel after having to hide away from it for so long. Winters were dark and cold where Paradigm had first lived, she remembered how it felt to step out into spring after being cooped up and what relief it brought.

She couldn’t imagine two hundred years of nothing but moonlight. How alien the world must feel. How heartbreaking it would be for him if he had to return to that and more.

He caught her glance and gave her a grin. Paradigm knew intuitively from his conversations that he would be as sweet as he needed to be to get that freedom. She to a much lesser degree could understand that hell. He was nice enough to fill her in with his background, she still had revealed very little about hers, not that she wasn’t comfortable sharing. No one had asked until Halsin last night.

She watched the grin dissolve into pointed curiosity as his eyes narrowed and an eyebrow scrunched towards his hairline.

“I wonder, how is it you know your father was more interested in than substances than you?” He said it with care. “When you were talking with Halsin last night, I couldn’t help but overhear part of your conversation. I don’t mean to overstep but you were yelling about it, and it made me want to know more.”

She considered him for a moment, eyes darting from the top of his curls down to his well-polished shoes. He licked his lips and pouted.

“I figured that because I shared, you would too.” Astarion playfully huffed.

“Oh, no.” Paradigm responded, while grabbing her bag. Shadowheart had decided to lead the group and they were all filing after her in a loose group. Halsin was behind her, they were having some heated chat, Lae’zel was in the middle tittering back and forth with Wyll on the use of detergents from the cities water run off that was killing the local amphibians. Gale was just ahead of Paradigm and Astarion took the rear.

“I just didn’t anticipate that you would actually care enough to ask.” Paradigm said with a chuckle.

“Come on now, I’m not heartless.” He crossed his arms in mock defense, and grinned. “Anyways, I hoped your stories would distract a bit from my own narrative.”

She knew that was more the truth than his general want of her. Not for her. Paradigm understood his perspective.

“Did you know I can count?” Paradigm said, sharing his deluded smile.

“I would genuinely hope so, but sometimes I do fear you might be more daft than you let on. Not that I mind.” He joked. “I find it to be quite charming.”

Charming she noted that compliment and tucked it to process those emotions later. She noticed that Gale was sticking close and was clearly listening to what they were saying to one another.

“Well, when I was around eleven I had some fun discussions with my mother.” Paradigm’s face sinched in mock disgust. “I was running in the road and was hit by a cart that went by, now when I say I should say I was tapped and fell over. There was a miscommunication by the driver of the wagon and myself at a stop so yes, I was hit, but no, I was not injured more than maybe a light concussion from hitting my head.”

“Head injuries seem to be a trend.” Astarion said.

“Unfortunately.” She shrugged. “But, this is when my mother got in communication with my biological father. She knew that if she didn’t tell him that there would be some big to do because the man is the second biggest slop of shit I’ve ever had the misfortune to meet.” She shuddered.

“Who’s the first?” Gale asked, now totally engrossed and forgetting that he wasn’t the intended audience.

“My brother. Let me specify, older cause there are technically two other brothers.” Paradigm made a gagging noise for humor’s sake.

“What’s wrong with your family.” Gale shook his head in reply.

“We’ll get there.” Paradigm laughed. The men glanced at each other equally intrigued and worried. “So, my dad sends a letter back, saying that we should sue for all the money that person owed. That was about all that was in the message.” She paused.

“That doesn’t mean¬¬-”Astarion tried but was cut off by Paradigm.

“That he didn’t love me? No? Wait a moment. I know my story is hectic but I assure you, I’m building to it.” She said. “So, I look at my mom and say, ‘he just want’s the money’.”

“To which she said?” Gale asked, as they all watched a large hare jump by their path.

“She sighed and said it seemed so. She asked if I wanted to pursue it and I said no. Then I told her what I told you. ‘You do know I can count.’”

At that moment Scratch ran ahead of the whole crew, barking like mad. A tree fell before them and two massive owl bears came tumbling through the woods to the road, grappled to each other. Feathers in bloody clumps rained from the raging bodies which uncoupled, each letting out a horrific screech. The one nearest the group had its back turned and as it took a few steps back it nearly trampled Shadowheart.

The group tried to file back, the animals so entangled in their fight that they could care less about others around them. The owlbear furthest from them lunged itself onto its foe they watched as it went for the ear and Shadowheart launched herself out of the way again almost getting flattened. The creatures grappled once again and rolled off the slope, back into the woods landing with tremendous thuds and continuing their scuttle into the forest.

The group looked at each other and laughed. Halsin tried to help Shadowheart up, but she refused. Paradigm picked up a few handfuls of feathers. She thought the hues were so pretty she could find a way to put them to use. Scratch came to give the feathers a sniff, and Paradigm and Astarion gave him a good pet and a treat.

“Everyone ready to continue?” Gale asked. Wyll nodded for the first part of the group and they all started again, up the dusty road. Gale stayed behind and asked, “So, you can count?”

“I CAN COUNT!” Paradigm yelled in jest. “And that’s exactly what I told my mom when my dad said all he was interested in was money. I had figured years before that it was the case and seeing that letter confirmed my feelings. I told her that I believe I was conceived on a bad day and not by choice. Two months after the winter solstice, on that special day set aside for merchant’s who play to hopeless romantics.”

“Heart’s day?” Gale asked. Paradigm nodded.

“Divorce was already on their list. The 14th of Alturiak they went on for a last hurrah and I came out of it.” She thrust her hips to really let thrust hit home.

“The irony.” Astarion supplemented.

“No, the irony was her following up with telling me that when she told him she was pregnant his first response was ‘I understand if you want to get rid of it’.” There was a moment of quiet as they all watched their footing while crossing the bridge next to the blighted village.

“They finally separated when I was six and I still thank my mother for that kindness.” She added once they were to the middle of the bridge. They decided to stop again and take in the view. The sun was brilliant and despite the dead troop they passed beauty surrounded them.

Astarion noticed Paradigm’s absolute all around good attitude despite what she spoke about, it amazed him, but he noticed all her movements became more rigid. If they had met for the first time he wouldn’t have noticed the change, but after having traveled together for close to a week he could tell she was tense even though she tried to pass herself off as at ease.

“Still, asking that question could seem like the right thing to do?” Astarion asked. “I mean, it doesn’t make him a monster when they were already on the outs. Right?”

“I’ve considered that. I think I was built out of spite, malice and a shit ton of self-loathing.” Paradigm rolled her eyes and scratch placed himself between her legs. Her fingers combed through his fur leaving

“There are worse things than spite though, right?” Gale chipped in. “I mean, you wouldn’t be here if not for those things.” He jabbed paradigm playfully in the side with his elbow.

“Do you know how many times I just wished she had taken that advice. I swear, it would have saved so much heartache. It’s hard to grow up in a place where you know your nothing but a burden.” She realized how dark that sounded, put her hands out in front of her and waved at the general scenery. “But look at all the pretty around us.”

“Well, I’m glad for spite.” Astarion purred. “Without it you would not be here, right?” He put an arm around her and gave her a small hug from the side.

“I guess there’s that.” Paradigm said. She noticed Astarion was not looking her in the eyes but where he marked her neck. And there’s that, she thought.

“You should never be ashamed of your origin’s.” Gale said, as if he thought it was helpful.

“I never said I was.” Paradigm insisted. Gale laughed nervously and started moving onward with the rest of the group as they decided it was time, yet again to get moving.

Astarion held her back, he twirled her towards him once the group was out of sight. He locked eyes with her and moved a hand towards her cheek.

“I’m also well aware of the daddy issues.” Paradigm said, knowing how easily her heart got caught up in others. His moves were so smooth she would have to watch herself. Not that she hated the attention but for the sake of not adding to baggage she was precariously dragging around.

He leaned in, his lips fitting snuggly with hers. Paradigm yielded, just for a moment, his tongue dancing with hers. She pulled back and bit her lip, her tail twitched as she tried to rewire her brain towards a different topic. Any other topic.

Astarion let her go, a look of disappointment in his eyes.

“It’s not a no.” Paradigm tried to express thoughtfully. “It’s just, there’s a lot to process.” He could tell by her expression, and the way she tugged on her ear, that there was another.

“Affections for another?” she winced as he said it.

“Yes and no.” She pointed at her head. “Yes, in terms of I have a husband. No in terms of we have an open relationship and no because of this tadpole.” She turned around and started following the group.

“An open relationship?” She could not see his face but the sound in his voice wavered between curiosity and disregard.

“There are rules obviously, but I also don’t want to go home and turn into an Illithid.” Paradigm managed to sound casual, but she also wouldn’t look at Astarion.

“Are you interested in Halsin at all?” His voice sounded a little strained.

“I’m not sure.” She replied. “I just met him.” Her blue and pink ponytail whipped as she turned to look at him. “I’ve only just met you too. Parasite or no, we need time because you need to be sure you can handle this.” She gestured to herself as she walked ahead of him.

“I’ll be surprised if we live another week, but sure darling. Take the time you need.” He wondered what she meant by handling her and now wondered how it was that she accepted him so easily.

She was wondering when he would realize she was just as bat shit him.

[sporadicspores]

well despite having 10 other tavs and two durges i still need to play, i ended up caving and completely making a new file/save for Vrisryn since their main campaign is just... corrupted as hell at this point lmao. it was funny at first with little glitches like the whole Astarion-confessing-to-being-a-vampire-on-the-first-long-rest thing (which works since Vrisryn def noticed he was a vampire right away anyways) and minor stuff like the companions just forgetting that they had a high approval rate together. but by the time i got to Act 3, it was like... painfully bugged, to the point of their entire romance with Halsin being skewed/glitched, and major parts of companion quests weren't executing properly. with the whole point of restarting it being to 1-to get a fresher grasp on their character/make more in-character choices and 2-to be able to play the epilogue properly without glitches, it felt like i had to restart again. (thank god i love them so much and would replay their run 1290823980482394 times)

that being said, i was able to fully take the time to flesh out their Act 1 clothing, stats, armor etc! and i realized i never made any real proper post or introduction for them before posting the first chapter of their backstory/fic, so... behold! the refreshed Vrisryn (or Vrysryn as they're named in my game to avoid save issues lmao)

i decided to go for a more civilian looking outfit since they would have been in Baldur's Gate, not the wilderness they considered home when abducted. they were traveling to bring research findings and samples from the Underdark to the Lodge of the Society of Brilliance on behalf of their circle, as well as to fulfil some personal curiosities and make a bit of coin by selling/trading herbs and tinctures in the city. routine stuff mostly, that landed them unfortunately in the illithids capture. and ofc i had to use the autumnal druid dye from astralsprout on nexusmods bc i mean. look at them. that dye was made for them. typically though, when traveling they would roam in druidic armor or their camp clothes, which consist of a long overcoat and simple garments:

in my canon/work, they also don't really take their headpiece off like... at all, not until like Act 2.5 at least and even then, it's only around Astarion, Karlach, Wyll and Shadowheart. it isn't until Act 3 when they've finally reached the Elfsong that they let their guard down fully about their Spellscar, and their headpiece is used to help cover it since it takes the shape of antlers and stems from around the same area that their headpiece lay. The Spellscar appears in a similar fashion to the spores that typically surround their person and effects during travel/battle, so as long as their headpiece is attached, it's rather difficult for anyone who isn't familiar with Spellscars to notice that that's what's going on with them when it appears.

also the foreshadowing of this shot given the weird temporary triangle of angst they fall into with Gale and Astarion cracks me up but we'll get to that in many future fic chapters lmao

anyways this was really just for me to be able to dump some pics and keep a timeline of stuff as it develops in this playthrough. i'll do a more proper introduction post later and i'm gonna try to remember to reblog this whenever i get around to finishing my own character sheet of them in my style so i can show the differences between how they appear in bg3/how i see them and how they actually appear! stuff like them having top surgery, their Spellscar/it's effects, and other little details that bg3 simply can't convey. even if it's just for my own sake i'm excited to share more about their character on here :3 it's crazy to me how they started as simply an over-glorified self insert and then within 10 hours developed into a whole different, realized character with a HUGE backstory. that bg3-inspiration pipeline goes crazy when you're on hiatus in your own dnd campaign i suppose lol (also gonna try to post my next chapter of spores & stars later next week! just gotta push through finals and the end of this semester, then i plan on letting the oc brainworms consume me during the entirety of my break before summer classes begin oTL)

[queen-scribbles]

Hidden Talents

For @pillarspromptsweekly #7, finally get to do something with Tavi and Edér’s friendship. :3

She really should have seen it coming.

Months of fighting alongside someone, she really should’ve been more familiar with his fighting style. But whether due to the pounding adrenaline or simply being out of practice, Tavi missed the body language cues. And the wooden shield made hard enough contact to land her on her ass, then flat on her back, looking up at a sunny blue sky and the beard-framed grin of one of her best friends.

“Sorry,”  Edér chuckled as he offered her a hand up. “Thought you were gonna block that.”

“I should’ve,” Tavi groused, taking his hand and letting him pull her to her feet. “I fuckin’ missed somethin’. Must be out of practice.”

He clapped her on the back, grin widening at the puff of dust that rose from her shirt. “You’ve been busy runnin’ Caed Nua and chasin’ off suitors. Guess there ain’t much time in there for fightin’, even to practice.”

She raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Hasn’t stopped you, Mayor Teylecg.”

Edér snorted. “I ain’t chasin’ off suitors who wanna marry me for my title. An’ one village is a sight more manageable than everywhere you’re in charge of.”

Tavi grinned. “You mean the ladies of Dyrford aren’t after you like fampyrs after fresh blood? I think I might be offended on your behalf.”

“Don’t be,” he said wryly. “‘Specially not with that analogy.”

“Oh, come on, Teylecg,” she needled as she bent down to retrieve her swords. “I know you’re jealous of my good looks.”

“An’ I know you’re only visitin’ Dyrford to distract yourself from the fact Aloth’s been gone a month,”  Edér shot back as they stowed the practice weapons in the small shed by the training ground.

“No!” Tavi protested, pretending wounded outrage. She rocked up on the balls of her feet and bit her lip. “‘M also hidin’ from a-fuckin’-nother wave of gods-damned suitors.”

Edér chuckled. “Gotta hand it to Dyrwoodans, we’re a stubborn lot. You’re gonna have to do somethin’ big if you wanna scare ‘em off for good.”

“How big’re we talkin’?” Tavi pushed the door of the shed closed. “‘Cause I already tried claimin’ Aloth was my consort. He didn’t like that much, and it didn’t discourage Thayn Whatsisname in the slightest.”

“I dunno,”  Edér shrugged as they started walking back to his house. “I’ve only been mayor a couple months, Tav. Haven’t had time t’ brush up on all the nobility’s tricks yet.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, you’re no help.”

He grinned. “I have a private stash of really good ale an’ I’ll listen to ya vent.”

“I take it back, you’re a huge help.”

>|<

Edér’s house looked exactly as you’d expect if you knew the man--simple and cozy--and much the same as it had on Tavi’s last visit. With one exception.

“Didn’t have you figured for a flowers guy,  Edér,” Tavi needled, brushing her fingers against the fringes of the arrangement that sat in the middle of the table.

He shrugged. “’M not. Those were a gift. Woulda been rude to just pitch ‘em.”

“From who? An’ for what?” Tavi asked, grinning as she slouched in one of the comfortable chairs by the fireplace. The fact she was having to probe for more details instead of the usually-chatty blond just offering them made her think there was a story there.

“One of the new settlers we got thanks t’ the offer of free land. We got to talkin’ and it came out she’s also Eothasian. Priest, even. Seein’ as we’re just about the only two for a day’s walk any direction, I helped her set up a spot on her land, just a little place for us to pray away from pryin’ eyes.” He shrugged again and lit his pipe as he dropped into the chair across from Tavi. “I don’t much care who knows what god I follow, and they’re welcome to keep movin’ if they don’t like it, but it’s nice to have someone who believes the same.”

“I’ll bet,” Tavi said, picking dirt from under her nails and fighting a smile as she studied the flowers. “Does this Eothasian priest who gives flowers as a thank you have a name?”

“Charity,”  Edér replied around a puff of smoke. “And I gotta ask; what’s so funny?”

“Just wonderin’ how much Charity knows about flower language,” Tavi replied innocently. She wasn’t hiding the smile anymore. “Or if she just picked things that look pretty and got really lucky.”

“Flower what?”  Edér shot her a skeptical look.

“Flowers have meanings,” Tavi explained. “Like a language. You can use ‘em to send messages an’ stand for shit an- what?”

Edér grinned and blew out more smoke. “That just seems like a very not-you thing for you to know,” he laughed.

She rolled her eyes. “It is probably the most cultured and least fuckin’ useful thing I know. Blame my mother. She was a florist. Livin’ with that for almost thirty fuckin’ years... I couldn’t avoid learnin’ it. The only plant knowledge that’s useful is what’ll kill ya versus cure ya. A lot of the plants in the Dyrwood are different from Old Vailia, but some things are hardy enough to be universal.”

Edér  was still grinning. “All that time travelin’ together and we never knew. Got any more hidden talents?”

“Does singin’ like a fuckin’ rusty hinge count?” Tavi asked snarkily, deliberately steering away from the rest of the list.

“Depends on how drunk your audience is,” he returned.

“Touche,” she laughed, then nodded toward the flowers. “You wanna know what they mean? If she wasn’t just going for pretty?”

Edér slouched further into his seat. “Sure. You’ve piqued my curiosity.”

Tavi pushed out of her chair and walked back over to the flowers rubbing petals gently between her fingers. “Well, first of all, the part that made me laugh is the moss. You don’t need moss on somethin’ that’s gonna be fuckin’ indoors. But moss signifies charity, so that’s her havin’ a damn good sense of humor an’ essentially signin’ her name. You better stay friends with her.”

“Aye, aye,”  Edér laughed, running a hand through his hair, eyes twinkling with amusement as he watched her.

“The cattails are what tipped me off,” she explained, tracing along one with her index finger. “You don’t often use them you’re aimin’ for pretty, but they symbolize prosperity, so they’re perfect for an arrangement put together for, say, the mayor of your new hometown. Same with the white heather; that’s for... protection, I’m pretty sure.” She shot him a playful smile as she stroked deep blue-ish purple petals. “Iris stands for friendship. So you haven’t scared her off.”

Edér made a face at her. “Hey, I was a perfect gentleman. Y’know, as suits a mayor.”

“Good for you,” Tavi said teasingly, even as she frowned at the last of the flowers; a round white bloom, with overlapping layers of petals circling a cheery yellow center. “I... don’t know this one...” she finally admitted.

“Well, you’re no help,”  Edér teased, mirroring her ribbing.

“Fuck you,” Tavi retorted, but the smile she couldn’t hide took all the venom from the words. “So I’m out of practice, or this is one of your stupid Dyrwoodan flowers I don’t know. You get the fuckin’ point; she appreciates your friendship and wishes for protection and prosperity for you and presumably the village. So there.”

“I take it back, you’re a huge help.”

She rolled her eyes. “You-”

Someone knocked on the door.

Tavi let her burgeoning exasperation out in a huff. “I’ll get it. I’m closer.”

Edér just grinned and didn’t argue. Tavi opened the door to reveal an athletically built woman with dark red hair tied back in a ponytail, her hands curled under a small black pot.

She blinked at the sight of Tavi. “Oh, hello.”

Tavi grinned. “Hello yourself. I’m-”

“Tavi,” the redhead finished for her. “Edér’s talked about you.” She shifted her grip on the cast iron pot so she could shake hands. “I’m Charity.”

“Ah, you’re the priest.” Tavi’s grin widened. “Here, that looks heavy, come on in.”

“Thanks.” Charity stepped past her and set the pot on the table. “Hey, Edér. Just wanted to bring this back. Wasn’t sure when you’d need it again.”

Edér chuckled as he pushed to his feet. “That didn’t last long.”

Charity shrugged. “What can I say; workin’ hard builds a good appetite, and you’re a much better cook than me.” She gave a self-deprecating snort. “Which isn’t saying much.”

“Well, if you liked it that much, I’ll hafta make ya some more,” Edér said, setting down his pipe and reaching for the pot. “Maybe teach ya the recipe. It ain’t that hard.”

Charity laughed. “ Edér, I can and have burned water. But if you think I ave a chance...”

“’Course. No one’s a completely lost cause,” he smiled. “Might take a little work, but I’m sure you could learn. If you wanna.” 

“Why not?” She returned his smile. “I’ll stop by later so we can work out a time. Right now I need to get to Hendyna’s. She got a really big potion order and I told her I’d help whip ‘em up.”

“Oh, are you good with plants?” Tavi interject, barely holding back a laugh when  Edér and Charity started as if they’d forgotten she was there.

“Um, yeah, I am,” Chairty said, playing with the end of her ponytail.

“Can you tell me what this flower is?” Tavi pointed to the white blossom she’d been unable to identify. “It’s the only one in here I don’t know, and it’s drivin’ me crazy.”

“That’s a camellia,” Charity enlightened her. “They’re not very common in the Dyrwood, but I’m determined to keep the ones in my garden alive.”

“Thanks, that would’ve bugged me forever,” Tavi said, raking her fingers through her hair. “We’ll let you go now.”

“Oh, thank you.” Charity started toward the door. “It was nice to meet you, Tavi. And, Edér, I’ll stop by later to chat?”

“Sure thing,” he drawled. “See ya then.”

Tavi barely waited for the door to close behind Charity before breaking out in an ear to ear grin. “Wow.”

“Wow, what?”  Edér asked as he picked up the pot. 

“You an’ Charity. Hylea’s motherfuckin’ tits,  Edér. Were me an’ Aloth that bad before we, y’know, caved?”

“I dunno what you’re talkin’ about.” From his grin, he was either dead serious or fucking with her.

Either way, Tavi growled in frustration and decided to drop it. “Never mind. What’s this about you bein’ a good cook? I didn’t know you could fuckin’ cook.”

Edér shrugged. “‘S ‘cause I didn’t tell ya. You ain’t the only one with hidden talents.”

She whacked his arm. “No shit, bazzo. Why?”

“Was afraid you’d make me share cookin’ duties,” he needled. The grin was back, and Tavi smacked him again. “Hey, now. You’re a good cook, too, Tavi. Why would I deprive everyone of that?”

She wrinkled her nose. “You’re still an asshole.”

“Guilty.”

“I think you owe me dinner for that,” she groused, fighting a smile.

“Sure,”  Edér nodded. “Sounds fair.”

“An’ if you ever want help puttin’ together flowers for Charity, just say the word,” Tavi hinted.

“Dunno when I’d need that, but good to know. Y’wanna help cut up vegetables?” He turned to head for the kitchen, taking the pot with him.

Tavi huffed an exasperated breath through her nose, hands curling in a strangling motion behind his back. “Sure, why not?” She pitched her voice lower as she followed. ”Swear to Hylea, if we were half that blind...”

“You were worse,”  Edér called over his shoulder.

Tavi skidded to a halt, knees briefly locking. “What?”

“Much worse,” he elaborated cheerfully, before resuming course.

She was left staring at his back, eyes narrowing as she conceded, Okay, I should have seen that coming.

Now if she could just get him to be honest about Charity... Tavi grinned as she glanced at the flowers. She was fairly confident she could make it happen. Despite her earlier deflection, she was a woman of many hidden talents. 

--------------------------------------------------------------

(white camellia is for affection, btw, so Charity’s not being subtle at all--if you know what she’s ‘saying’)

[samsalami66]

Never done this before, but have some rambles about a recent Sandman/Baldur's Gate 3 crossover idea of mine!

Naturally, there are some minor bg3 spoilers following, proceed with caution!

Currently my idea is that as the nautiloid crashes through realms, it also crashes through Earth and snatches up a few people . It's not many, they're gone almost as soon as they appear, and Hob is between one of those very few, probably on his way back from a medieval re-enactment. He gets tadpoled and crashes with the rest of the group in Faerûn. Decides to tag along, not necessarily because he's worried, his husband is an Endless after all, and even if their connection seems to have been temporarily cut off by the tadpole, Dream will find him sooner or later and fix this, somehow. He has a lot of faith in his husband.

Anyway, having a fighter in the group who can't die and has been on the battlefield more times than he could count might be helpful to these people.... and they all seem to need an open ear, someone with a bit more experience to talk to. It's also nice to talk to some Immortal and near Immortal people for once!

Anyway, when the dream guardian comes, Hob can't help but snort. Trying to disguise himself as a dream? In front of the King Consort of the Dreaming? Hob was a Good Consort, he prided himself with knowing all currently active Dreams.

This was not one of them.

A real dream would also recognise him as their ruler. So, who is this person who looks just a bit too much like his husband....? (What a terrible disguise anyway, no dream would dare to take on their creators form, not in front of HIM)

He's mighty distrustful of the Dream Guardian and his intentions, tries to find out just what sort of war is being fought in this other plane.

And when he finds Orpheus (and he's just a bit taken aback by the name, by the fact that he could save someone with this name, even if it isn't the Orpheus he wants to save) he swears to free him, fuck the Dream Guardian and his talk about doom and gloom.

In the end, Hob takes care of his new friends, be it in fights or whenever they need someone to listen.

He bumps shoulders with Mizora and Elminster, later Mystra, holds up Cazador so Astarion has a better angle with his dagger, points out Vlaakith's and Shar's bullshit and pisses off the Dead three (hopefully Death won't be too cross with him for that, but he can't imagine his sister in law is particularly fond of these guys.)

Aware of his connection to the Endless Gods cower before him, much to the surprise of his companions. Even their relentless friend and resident undead Withers seems to take a step back whenever Hob approaches.

And when Hob and the others finally slay their final foe and are freed of the tadpole, it only takes moment for Dream to follow their bond and start fussing over Hob, who he had believed to have been captured.

And as I am a weird person in general and my first thought at 3am was to start a new Baldur's Gate run with Hob as my Tav and Dream as my Dream Guardian...

Hob is a Fighter and due to his extensive knowledge with the blade I have decided to make him a Battlemaster Fighter. His background is quite obviously that of a soldier, his skills as a mercenary being what he uses in battle here. Some details are the moon-earrings, which were a gift from Dream, and a fading neck tattoo of a rose that he got shortly after the flopped 1989 meeting.

Dream on the other hand is just your resident edgy twink, earrings also a gift from Hob!