#so remember i wanted to play a city cleric

[kydrogendragon]

Dreamling fic idea I'll probably never get around to:

Dream is the highest ranking cleric in the city. His gifts are sought after by all and the cost of his services reflect it. He has treated and healed everything from Kings to Demi-Gods. But he is tired of his position. Those he cares for and treats are grateful, yes, but his services are almost expected. And the one time he fails because the bishop was too far gone, even for Dream's skills, he was berated for his failure. Whispers echoed through the kingdom that the High Cleric Dream was losing his touch, that the gods that favored him so are losing interest.

Dream begins to think that maybe they are right. Then he meets Hob - a necromancer that works out in the battlefields, mostly. Someone who he would normally never cross paths with until he does. His sister had advised him that a change of scenery could be good for him and his soul. To recharge and rest a moment and reconnect with his divine gifts.

Hob is helping carry in the wounded and sick from the most recent skirmish in the outerlands. Dream hovers, watching as this captivating handsome man, covered head to toe in grime and blood and dirt, gently guides his fellow soldiers towards the healers bay. And then he walks towards the bodies of those that had not made it.

Hob kneels by the dead, and Dream watches with curiosity. Necromancy was not viewed highly. Most necromancer positions were ones of war, raising the dead so that they might keep fighting. Dream wonders what possible reason this one might have for raising them here in the city. He freezes, thinking perhaps Hob was a traitor or spy and is planning to unleash an attack.

But no. No, as the young man's body beside him jolts to life, a wheezing, gasping noise releases from the cold dead lips. And Hob just smiles. He grabs the corpse's hands, giving it a gentle pat, and says, "Easy there. It's okay. The pain is gone, yeah?"

The corpse just nods.

"Good. Good," the Necromancer says. "You asked me, said if you died on the field-"

"That you'd bring me back, I remember." The corpse speaks, his voice rough. The sight is unsettling to Dream.

"That's right," the Necromancer says, smiling still. His voice is warm and low. Dream strains to hear it from his hiding spot. "What did you want me to say and to who?"

Dream furrows his brows in confusion. What odd game is this man playing at?

"Tell my parents... that I loved them. That I'm glad I got to serve my kingdom as I had. I... I did, right? I did good?" Dream's heart clenched at the quivering in the young soldier's voice. They remembered. They preserved their memories and thoughts and feelings. But...

Dream shook his head. No, corpses brought to life by necromancy are just reanimated. There should be no soul left within them. That is what every teaching has said before. The only exception being a corpse that is reanimated within mere minutes if dying. But this soldier died on the battlefield. He died days ago, at the least. So how?

"You fought so well," the Necromancer says. Dream sees tears fall from those warm brown eyes. "You saved many lives out there. You served king and country well."

"Good," the soldier says with a sad laugh. "Good... then. Then tell them that as well, please? And... and if you can find my brother, his name is Calrose, tell him I'm sorry for all the shit I gave him when we were young. And tell him that he was right about the ale. He'll know what I mean."

Dream feels he ought to turn away from such a seemingly private moment but he finds he cannot. He's transfixed on the sight.

"And tell my girl, sweet Alice, tell her I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise after all. Tell her I tried and that I-" And the young corpse bursts into tears. Or sounds like it, at least. There are no tears to be shed but the pained wail that is drawn forth from his throat couldn't be mistaken for anything else. The Necromancer leans toward and holds the young boy in his arms, ignorant of the rotting flesh and stale blood.

"I'll tell her. I'll tell them all. Don't you worry," the Necromancer whispers against the man's skull. There is a large gap in his head, Dream realizes now. His skull looks to have been smashed by something strong and heavy. It is most likely how he died. "You can rest easy now, lad. Be at peace. You've earned it."

And as the Necromancer lays the young man back down, Dream watches as the boy takes a final, shuttering breath in and sees the light in his eyes fade as the air is released. He is still once more but with the barest of smiles on his lips.

Dream is dumbfounded by this. By all of this. Everything he feels he knows has been turned upside down by a single man. So he follows him. He watches his movements through the city and witnesses many times his strange version of necromancy. He also witnesses the joy and sadness that it brings to the loved ones he tells each corpses last words to.

It's in a tavern, down by the ports, that Dream officially approaches the Necromancer. Hob, of course, picked up on his newest shadow that first day. It wasn't until just recently that he realized who it was that had been tailing him. And he's petrified. Hob well knows that necromancy within the walls of the kingdom is forbidden unless authorized. He thinks Dream is there to arrest him.

But no. Dream just wants to talk. And he doesn't ever mention his position as High Cleric either. And guessing by the black hooded cloak he wears, Hob is guessing Dream doesn't think he knows who he is either.

So they meet more often. Hob tells Dream of his life, of his experiences. He tells him of his experiences with Necromancy, specifically, and how he's found that more clings to a corpse than you might think. Especially if they had things they still wished to say.

Then one day the kingdom is attacked. The forces manage to breach the outer walls. Dream is darting all around, healing as best as he can, trying to help bolster their offenses. He sees Hob in the chaos of it all, rising corpses to help the fight. It is the first time he has seen this type of magic used in battle. It is the first time he sees Hob wield his skills for a fight.

Then Hob is shot at, an arrow sticks out of his chest and blood is running down his chin as it floods his lungs. The corpses he commanded fall to the ground as his focus breaks. Dream runs to him, ignorant of the continued onslaught. He holds Hob's hand as he calls forth every ounce of his drained power to breathe life back into damaged cells. But the arrow was poisoned. Death magic clings to the arrowhead and infects Hob's body from the inside out. He removes the arrow and allows his magic to flow inside, coating Hob is a warm, white light. He is healing, but it is slow. And with Dream drained as he is, he cannot overwhelm the opposing magic as he might normally. Still, he continues. And he is winning, slowly.

And then more arrows strike the pair. Dream covers Hob's body with his own but the thick cloak he wears only protects him so much. The garb he wears marks him as a Cleric and he has heard enough stories and read enough tales to know that picking off the healers early on is a prime battle stategy.

Hob tries to push him off, to cover him instead, but Dream holds him down, even as the venom embued in each strike weighs him down, Dream continues. Hob begs him to stop. That he'll kill himself if he keeps this up. And Dream knows that he is correct. He will die. But, he finds, as he summons forth the last reserve of his strength, he does not mind dying if it means Hob gets to live.

Besides, there are still words he would say to Hob. He will see him one last time before he goes for good after all.

He pushes all that is left of him into Hob and the death magic fades away. There is only light and love left in his cells. No more poison. Hob is safe.

Dream collapses. Hob scrambles up and drags them both out of the line of fire. Most of the enemy soldiers have left, continuing up through the kingdom. There is a clashing of steel and iron and the sound of magic being flung in the distance. But all Hob can see is Dream. His face lax in his lap. It makes him want to laugh and cry all at the same time because the first time Hob gets to see that beautiful face this calm is when he's dead...

Hob pulls the arrows from his body, discarding them in a pile and pulls the man's body close to his chest. He wishes, not for the first time in his life, that his gifts were of healing instead. Hob bows his head and kisses the soft skin of Dream's forehead and he whispers the words he has heard Dream speak before. Healing words. Hob feels a strange tingle within him. It responds differently than the magic he is used to. And then it is gone.

Hob frowns. And, going off of instinct, he speaks the words that he knows like breathing. His normal powers flood through him but they are also different. It twirls within him, mixing with some sort of foreign piece. But he continues, calling forth for Dream's spirit in the Ether and guides it back to his body. A soul cannot be reattached once the link between is broken. But it can reside there for a time. This is what Hob has learned over his years of study.

And today he is proven wrong. He watches as the chain that links them heals. It glows in a brilliant white light as Dream's soul is guided by golden hands that he knows are his own magic.

Hob looks down.

Dream's eyes open. And he smiles.

The best they can figure, once the kingdom is secured and the people and healed and tended to, is that Dream's own magic stuck with Hob and allowed him to perform both Cleric and Necromatic Magic simultaneously, effectively bringing Dream back from the dead.

It is something that needs further research and is happily agreed and funded by the Crown. Hob is promoted and works side by side with Dream now as they continue their research. They still go down to the healing bays on the weekend. Dream assists with the wounded and Hob still gathers the dead's last words. Life is good. Better than is has been. And Dream finally feels like he's rediscovered his sense of purpose. And Hob? Well, Hob's finally found what he thought he's never get: Love.

[wineredsea]

✨Introducing my tavs✨

because I am unable to shut up about them I will now proceed to introduce my tavs:

(warning since one of them is a dark urge character!)

that‘s skylla! skylla brightsworn. she lived in elturel when she was young but due to her father deserting from the hellriders she and her parents (carakos and zagreia) left the city and hoped to build a new life for themselves in baldurs gate. as they travelled they got ambushed by goblins. she was able to hide but her parents left their lives dying due to poisoning. skylla made it to baldur‘s gate but spent many years on the streets until a bard decided to help her out and take her to the temple of oghma, god of knowledge, binder of what is known. the following years she spent as an acolyte tending to the temple and following her curious nature in books and studies of her own. before being abducted by the nautiloid ship she was on her way to where elturel once was, looking for survivors, refugees, offering her clerical power for help.

she‘s a happy go lucky kind of girl, very optimistic until the last straw snapped. she loves hearing people‘s stories and naturally write them down. her and karlach fell in love and she would and does literally go through hell for her. I like to think that after all the events they settle down for a short time so Skylla can document all their tales for the temple but adventure soon calls them (and Wyll) out again. so they set out on new adventures as a little group.

her fatal flaw is easily trusting and never having heard the sentence „curiousity kills the cat“ (seriously, girl, get a grip some times!). also that she has to pick up anything edible she can find and being in constant worry that they might not have enough food or won‘t find food again due to her time on the street.

next up:

xerxa! oooh, boy. xerxa is my dark urge character and absolutely not out for redemption.

xerxa is a drow cleric of eilistraee, her class a reminder of a once attempted try to break from the shackles of her destiny as a bhaalspawn.

she grew up in the cult of eilistraee and had a fairly happy childhood until the urges started. one night her mother woke up to strange noises and found her daughter shaking, covered in blood and guts, her fathers body on the floor and a knife in her hand. she sent her daughter away. unknowing what would happen, easier to cover it as an unknown act than to face what evil urge had overcome her daughter that night. xerxa cried a lot that night, unable to understand the frenzy that had overtaken her and why nobody would help her. she wandered, finding out that killing was a skill she possessed, hunting small animals and not having to hunger. she saw visions in the night, visions of gore, murder, her destiny. and sceleritas who appeared and led her to the temple of bhaal, leaving a trail of death to satiate the urge she made her way to baldur‘s gate and to the temple of bhaal.

she does not feel clarity most of the time but after a while of satiating her urge she felt a sense of denial overcoming her, a feeling that she should not be like this. she left the temple, once again praying to eilistraee, praying for freedom, for forgiveness, she played a dangerous game studying the lore of eilistraee, doing services, learning clerical magic until her bloody destiny caught up to her again.

the nautiloid crash could have been a new beginning but for a new beginning with a past like that she would have needed more knowledge of herself. she mostly gave into the urge after that not even remembering her childhood or anything at first. she allied with minthara out of familiarity, hoping for her to know things, for them to be similar but also out of pure blood lust.

later on minthara and her bond in different ways, they are vulnerable around each other and become a team to take vengeance on who did them wrong and to become powerful enough to not fear anyone wanting to take control of them.

before that she has a brief relationship with gale that is not based on love at all. she has a complicated relationship with everyone in camp, not really allowing anyone to get to close, gale was pawn in her eyes but honestly she is also just a lesbian.

[alpydk]

The Circling Sky (Part 2)

New fic, a lot darker than the last one. Set post-Netherbrain. Gale x F (OC) - Written primarily as my own therapy, it seems. TW - Reference to a suicide attempt as well as the overall theme of alcoholism and neglectful parenting.

He packed a small bag of clothes and supplies, thankful for his earlier time on the road for these new skills of survival. Though he was anxious for what was to come, a part of him was excited to be moving again, to see what types of people would be awaiting him this time. He left a small letter of explanation for Tara and as the sun rose, he left for the city limits.

Ao3 Link

Lissa had run home through the rain to find her father quickly packing essentials into a trunk. This happened every so often, usually when he owed money to someone and couldn’t pay up, but since reaching Waterdeep he had promised things would be different. “What do you mean we have to leave?” The smell of alcohol permeated his clothes, and she knew exactly what had happened. He’d got drunk, gambled the last of their gold away and was now most likely in debt to someone dangerous. “You’ve not pissed it away, have you?”

He refused to answer, just throwing clothes into a bag. “Lissa, dear. It’s not how it looks, we just have to lay low for a little while, that’s all. Go grab your cloak.” She noted the swelling under his eye, not the first black eye he’d managed to get. At least that’s all it was this time.

She remembered the nights she had come home from working at sleazy bars, finding him unconscious on the floor either from having been beaten up or having just drunk himself into that state. The worst moment was when she was barely ten years old and she had found him lying under a broken rafter in their bedroom, the noose still tied around his neck and his face bruised and swollen from what he had attempted to do. She’d been young but she fully understood what had happened, choosing just to sit with him until he woke. He’d never tried anything like that again but the drinking, the gambling, the fights, they all continued. She’d thought about leaving so many times, even threatened it, but each time he would play the victim and she would feel the guilt wrap itself around her own throat, her own noose ready for the hanging.

“But what about my job, Dad? I can’t just up and leave.”

“Well, you’re going to have to. I’m sure they won’t miss you. There’re always other young girls who can serve drinks.”

She turned from him holding back her anger. He didn’t even know what she had been doing these last two months. How every single day she’d worked at the library to bring money into their home, keeping them fed and with a roof over their heads. “Can you not just use the money I’ve been putting aside? Do we really have to leave another place?”

He paused from packing, and she knew exactly what this meant. “The savings?”

“You used them too, didn’t you?”

“Well now, there were good odds on this horse…”

She wanted to shout at him. She should have known better than to have left the gold at home where he could access it. He’d promised her that this wouldn’t happen again, promised her that the drinking would stop, and he would do better by her. She couldn’t even be angry at him though, it was so much easier to feel nothing, to expect disappointment instead.  Her father, the most unreliable person she knew.

Realising she hadn’t brought her cloak home with her; she looked back over to him. “How much time do we have?”

“We’re joining the caravan to Baldur’s Gate around sunrise tomorrow. I expect us up and at the city limits just before then,” he said as he slumped to his side, leaving the bag and gripping his chest.

Hearing the thud, she ran over to him “Shit, Dad. The pain again? You spoke to the clerics, right?”

He rubbed at his shirt breathing deeply until it had passed. “Of course, they said it’s nothing.”

“So that money went on booze too, didn’t it?” She stood back up shaking her head. He couldn’t be trusted to do anything. Why did she keep letting him get away with this? “I left my cloak at the library. I’ll be back in a bit.”

***

Gale paced his study trying to figure out what to do with himself. He had no confirmation that this letter was real and no more information than what was written there. He considered a sending spell, maybe another letter to gather up information but he felt restless knowing he would need to wait for a reply. There was also the matter that if the information was correct, if Tav was truly dead then he would be left alone to grieve in Waterdeep. There was always Tara and his mother and yet they had never brought comfort in the same way his friends had. No, he wanted to be around them again; he would travel to Baldur’s Gate. 

He packed a small bag of clothes and supplies, thankful for his earlier time on the road for these new skills of survival. Though he was anxious for what was to come, a part of him was excited to be moving again, to see what types of people would be awaiting him this time. He left a small letter of explanation for Tara and as the sun rose, he left for the city limits.

***

“Is five gold mate, you can’t just come on ‘ere for free.” 

Lissa’s father, Viktor, had been trying to barter for some time with the caravan leader to get them a spot on the cart. After she’d left him, he’d done little more in the ways of packing and had instead started on a bottle of brandy he’d bought with the last gold they had. The swelling under his eye had turned a blue-black colour and he nursed his head clearly suffering the consequences of his actions. 

“Look, ‘ow ‘bout you let us ‘ave a little minute with your pretty friend there. Then we can call it even.”

Her back tensed up at the idea of it and her father’s silence brought her little comfort. Was he seriously considering this? In the end, she turned removing a small silver ring from her finger. “Here this is easily worth five gold.”

“But wasn’t that your mother’s?” her father said, his voice sounding gravelly. 

It had been, but her mother was long gone. A drow that had managed one drunken night with her father and then ditched her the moment she realised she wasn’t a full-blood. Just another tragic half-breed treated as an outsider by both races. All she had was her father; what was some trinket compared to family? Lissa handed over the necklace and as the caravan leader nodded, she took her father’s arm helping him up onto the cart. 

“Lissa?”

A voice from behind her calling her name, one she recognised. As she turned, she saw Gale approach, his arm waving to her and a smile on his face. What was he doing here? Viktor leant out from behind her. “He looks like he’d have a bit of cash on him.” 

She stepped down from the cart and approached Gale, trying to distance herself from her father lest Gale realise she was together with him. “Mr. Dekarios, a surprise to see you.”

“Yes, yes, a welcome surprise to see you too. I’m to take a rather unexpected journey. Might I assume that you are to do the same?” He signalled to the wagon. 

“Yeah, something like that. We’re going to visit family.” This had been the lie ever since she was a child, a dying grandmother, a pregnant aunt, some distant relative in need of aid, anything but the truth. She’d lost count of how many times she had covered for her father’s debts.

“Ah, exciting. Well, it will be good to have some fine company on this expedition.” He softly smiled at her, and she remembered how close she had come to kissing him the previous evening, the warmth inside her still burning for him. If she hadn’t been aware of her father’s eyes on them both she might have just given in there and then to him.

“Oi, Lis’, we need to get a move on. He wouldn’t be interested in you anyways, looks like he goes for the smart ones,” he laughed.

She closed her eyes at her father’s words that rang out over the group of travellers. She opened them again to see Gale looking at her with sympathy. His voice was quiet and caring. “Family, I take it?”

She gave a quick nod and turned to the cart. This was going to be a very long trip to Baldur’s Gate.

***

For some hours they sat as the cart rocked back and forth along the bumpy road. Viktor had thankfully fallen asleep, a flask in hand. He’d told her it just held water, but the smell had given it away quite quickly. So long as he was asleep that was fine. It meant she could collect her thoughts and prepare for setting up again in a new city. 

Gale sat across from her observing the way she tapped her fingers repetitively. Thumb to pointer, tapped twice, repeated on each finger and back again. Clearly, some sort of mindless soothing habit she had. These little things he had never had the chance to see during his visits to the library. Though he had watched her often then, it was different when she wasn’t moving around constantly. Eventually, he spoke up hoping she would engage in conversation with him. “Lissa, I delivered your cloak to the library. I can see you never found the opportunity to collect it.”

“We left in quite a hurry. Family emergency you see.” She nervously tapped her fingers together a few more times.

He leant forward, placing a hand on her knee, his voice calm and soft. “Ah, do you want to talk about it? I’m quite the good listener.”

“No, no it’s fine.” More information meant more lies, which meant more to keep track of. Best to just keep it short and simple. Besides once they reached the city, they would be parting ways for good. No reason to build any attachments.

“Well, when we travel back, maybe you can collect it. Or possibly I could purchase you a new one. It was my fault after all that you left it behind.”

She remembered the events vividly, how she had left the tower, how the rain had battered down on her bare shoulders as she ran home. She could feel the warmth of his hand on her leg, her mind becoming easily distracted; change the subject repeating internally. “Why is it you are travelling Mr. Dekarios?”

“Please, my dear. Call me Gale. We are no longer in the library.”

“That may be so but if we are to return, I don’t want to create any bad habits I can not break.” She didn’t want to build up any close relations, especially not with someone who she was already fond of. 

Gale pulled himself back, removing his hand from her. He seemed disappointed and she hated herself for dismissing him so quickly. Her father snored next to her, and she bit back the resentment she held towards him. If only that beam had held, maybe things would have been different for her. No, she shouldn’t think that, this was her father after all.

“I understand. Well, I suppose my reason for travelling is much like your own. A family emergency of sorts.” Gale didn’t want to say death until he was sure of the exact circumstances, and he didn’t want to share full details if she was to keep up the pretence of a professional relationship.

She nodded. She was curious but did not want to dig further into it, knowing it would mean sharing more of her own life as an unwritten payment for information. She grabbed at the bag between her legs puling out a small book to read.

“Tanil?”

Lissa lifted her head at the unexpected question.

Gale gestured to the book in her hands. “The book you hold there. Felaar Tanil, if I’m not mistaken.” 

“Um, yes, it is. How did you know?”

He gave a short chuckle. “My dear, I’ve been known to try my hand at poetry. Tanil is one of the ones I would often recommend over a bottle of Blingdenstone Blush.”

She smiled at him, enjoying this moment of connection but simultaneously cursing the fact that they shared something in common. Her slowly improving mood was shattered instantly at the voice of her father, his opinions needing to be vocalised for all to hear.

“Poetry is for elves, princesses, and men who-” His voice was cut off by a sudden lurch of the cart, hitting a bump in the road. Lissa was thankful as it gave her a quick moment to mouth an apology to Gale for her father’s behaviour. Only three tenday to go… 

[keldae]

Get To Know Your Tav

Tagged by the lovely @starknstarwars -- thank you! <3 Throwing a tag out to whoever has also been infected with the BG3 brainrot and wants to gush about their babies. ;)

Leeeeet's talk about Deviali Nulys, aka Devi!

What is your tav’s favorite weapon?

Devi's first weapon is her words. She's a smooth talker, and rolls decently high (most of the time) on her persuasion checks! She can usually talk her way out of trouble. Second-favourite weapons are her knives. Her brother Jehn taught her how to fight with daggers when she was eight or so, and she learned to keep a backup pair of knives in her boots/in her inventory for if she ever lost her main weapons.

style of combat?

DIRTY. Devi has no aversions to biting (unless it's a goblin... eww.), kicking, elbowing, ambushing her foes, or throwing sand/mud/warg shit/whatever at her enemies. If it gives her an edge, she'll take it! Considering she's a Smol for a half-Elf, it's easy to push her around or physically overwhelm her -- best to take down her bigger enemies quickly and decisively. She's picked up using a bow over the course of her adventure, so she can shoot with pretty good aim (and loooooves her lightning arrows), but she would rather use her knives.

most prized possession?

Remember those backup daggers Devi keeps in her boots? Those were a gift on her tenth birthday from Jehn -- and after he ran away from home, they were all she had left of him. She would rather cut her ears off than give those up! Her lockpicks have gotten her into (and out of) more than a few tight spots too. She learned how to play the violin as a teenager, but her asshole of a father destroyed her violin that Jehn had stolen for her; she picks up a new violin in Act I, and it's a prized possession now.

deepest desire?

She wants answers for what happened to her mother, who disappeared when she was about five. She has her suspicions, but nothing she can confirm. (She also wants her father and some of his friends to die slowly and painfully.)

And after the events of the game, she wants to personally murder Shar, and to punch Mystra in the face, godhood status be damned.

guilty pleasure?

Trashy bodice-ripping romance stories. She and Shadowheart compare notes regularly. ;) Even if she struggles to read easily, thanks to her childhood lack of education, she puts in the effort for those!

best-kept secret?

Pre-game: She's a SA survivor, and she's got some trauma from that. But she keeps that secret under wraps -- she won't talk about it unless she absolutely has to. (Honestly, this girl needed therapy even before the game.) Post-game: Look, she has no idea who drew a large mustache on every statue of Mystra in the Lower City, but she wishes she could kiss that person on the mouth, honest, Mister Interrogating Cleric! (It was totally her, with Astarion's help. Gale pretends he doesn't know anything about it. Mystra is not amused.)

greatest strength?

Her loyalty. She trusts very few people, but those whom she trusts and loves, she is very much the ride-or-die friend. (See also: why she wants to kill Shar and punch Mystra.)

fatal flaw?

Her temper and her insecurities. She is a wee bit fiery and will throw hands when provoked. And she's so afraid of being abandoned again that she tries to give off the impression that she's self-sufficient and doesn't need anyone's help -- she won't accept help until she either trusts someone (which, again, doesn't come easily for her) or she's desperate.

favourite smell?

Pre-game: flowers in the public parks in the Lower City, the scent of tea steeping. Post-game: Gale, the books in his library, and the flowers he frequently brings home for her since he knows she loves them.

favourite spell or cantrip?

She doesn't have access to any spells of her own (unless I up the difficulty level of my game enough to multi-class her as a bard)! But she highly appreciates a good usage of Vicious Mockery.

pet peeve?

Cracking knuckles. She haaaaaaates that sound.

bad habit?

She does not put things away correctly. She has a bad habit of leaving whatever she's reading/playing with/working on out in the open and forgetting about it until it's in the way. It drives Gale bonkers. She also swears like a pirate... and can drink like one, too.

hidden talent?

She's an excellent violin player, and can sing surprisingly well! The rest of the Tadfools figured out she can sing quite by accident after a drink-off at the tiefling party in their camp during Act I. She doesn't sing often, since she's very self-conscious about her voice, but her friends try to get her to sing something for them regularly. She also claims she hasn't yet met the lock that she can't pick. ;)

leisure activity?

Playing new tunes on her violin. She can't read music very well, but she can remember a tune like nobody's business -- if she hears a song once or twice, she'll probably remember it.

favourite drink?

She used to just get the cheap wine at the taverns that she frequented, but Gale's gotten her used to the finer tastes in life, so she's grown to appreciate the good wine in his cellar. She also likes tea in the mornings!

comfort food?

Her favourite food is pumpkin soup, from one itty-bitty tavern in the Lower City. Gale has learned to replicate it perfectly, much to her delight.

favourite person(s)?

Gale, for obvious reasons.

Her older half-brother, Jehn (and by extension, his partner, Ferrus).

Shadowheart, Wyll, Astarion, and Karlach become her best non-romantic friends over the course of their adventure.

Do Scratch and the owlbear cub (who she and Halsin name Garmus) count?

favoured display of affection (platonic and/or romantic)?

She's very touchy with the people she loves. With her platonic friends or her brother, she'll lean on them, or nudge them, or sometimes kiss their cheeks if she's feeling very touchy. With Gale, she'll almost always be in contact with him in some way, whether that's leaning against him, or playing with his hair, or kissing him -- his lips, his cheek, his neck, whatever.

fondest childhood memory?

She barely remembers her Elf mother, but she can remember one day when she was curled up on her mother's lap, Jehn sitting on the floor beside them, and listening to her mother sing a song in her native tongue. She doesn't clearly remember the lyrics anymore, but she can just remember the tune, and she remembers how comfortable and safe she felt in her mama's arms with her big brother right there.

free-response! Is there anything else about your Tav you’d like to share?

I think Devi is trying to learn magic post-game in Waterdeep! She won't enrol in the Academy, but she does try to get Gale to teach her some basic spells.

[astrals-and-pirates]

given that the cast just revealed their classes in campaign 2 (HYPE!!!!), heres me trying to predict what subclass each of them are gonna take based on player vibes and the setting hints (and also general thoughts and hopes?)

im basing this off of the assumption that were gonna be seeing a lot of gritty city characters with the freelance detective prcoedural-ish premise of s2

Red - either Oath of Redemption or Oathbreaker Paladin. i think this one's fairly obvious because Red has a clear type for Big Guys with Tragic Backstories (see: Binh from the atla two-shot and Red's love of Eliot from Leverage). i also think a backstory heavy character would be really interesting to contrast with Kyana who is very backstory-lite. Also interesting to have Red play a character with connections to a god or entity that supplies their powers and i'd love to see her play a character who is more of a schemer (given the high charisma stat) than Kyana.

Sophia - College of Whispers Bard and ??? Rogue. i'm not super familiar with rogue subclasses but i think any of them would be super cool and work well depending on the character's role. Arcane Trickster or Phantom if Sophia wants to lean towards a magical character, Inquisitive or Mastermind if she prefers a more detective/investigator character and maybe even Scout or Thief if we're getting another street rat. For the bard subclass, i remember a Q&A where Sophia mentioned enjoying that subclass and given the Rogue multiclass, Whispers seems like a good in-character pairing. Also given the Recently Divorced archetype Sophia mentioned enjoying, i think it would be very fun if she played a depressed, wet-cat-vibes older character in contrast with Dani's hyperactive youth.

Wally - Gloom Stalker Ranger. Given that the table is already established and comfortable with each other, i'm excited to see if were gonna see more of Evil Wally in this campaign, and i think the Gloom Stalker subclass works with a sort of tricksy character with questionable vibes he might enjoy playing. Wally also mentioned thinking abt sprinkling in some Cleric and i think that would be so fun, even if i have no subclass i can predict for that (i think Death, Grave or Trickery Domains would be fun tho).

Noir - College of Lore Bard? This is the one i'm the least sure about bcs theres so many fun types of bard, but Noir mentioned Lore as one of his fave bard subclasses and i think it makes sense with this version of the party i've invented. he would probably fill in the researcher/smart guy/magic user role and Lore Bard feels like a good standalone class to start with at the start of the campaign. i do feel like its the most similar to VR-LA so i am apprehensive with my prediction and do think Noir would enjoy mixing it up a bit, so i'm excited to see how he'll surprise me. (College of Eloquence maybe? so Noir can back his speeches up with dice rolls?)

so yeah, campaign 1 isn't over yet but im already so excited!! i <3 'gil

[aboxofcereales]

I won’t be able to play the game until august 8, so here’s a list of things I’d like to see and theories that I believe will be proven right at the full launch of Baldur’s Gate III.

warning: contains spoiler based on last panel from hell of July 7 and datamining + bunch of misspellings

Think it’s pretty obvious but the three chosen of the Absolute are in one way or another connected to the Dead Three: Ketheric Thorm - Myrkul, Enver Gortash - Bane, Orin the Red - Bhaal

(might be wrong but) Larian did confirm some time ago - the Mindflayers won’t be the Big Bad. To my mind undoubtedly the Dead Three will play a significant role, but I also think that Shar, Vlaakith and someone from Avernus will be involved (Zariel maybe?)

To add the last, somehow Astarion’s scar, Mizora, Rafael and Karlach are tied together

Withers’ question and our answer is some foreshadowing and is gonna bite us on the neck later on

Withers is Jergal

Seluna might be the reason why his helping us

Daisy is not what we think they are, not just personification of the parasite

* I’m not sure how much of seduction narrative has been left, but I think it would be fun to see Daisy to take a form of our LI or vise verse at some point

Raphael’s interest in the brainworms is due to netheres magic

Lorroakan, the wizard of Ramazith's tower, is Edwin Odesseiron

There’s something very dark about Gale, not in the way “don’t trust the wizards”, but in way we’ll learn that he way more sinister than he makes himself seem. But I doubt that he’ll betray (if we play our cards right) though. Let me make him my bff

To add to that, when we first meet him, he says that he’s in need of a archemage, later we learn that he also need to consume the weave… can he consume it from the living creatures?

Gale’s relationship with Halaster Blackcloak. WHY THE FUCK DID HE LEFT TARA IN HIS CARE?!

And the heartbreaking ending Crystal was talking about? That’s Gale’s one. Mark my words

Shadowheart is not her real name, duh, hope we get to know the real one

I don’t think Shadowheart is brainwashed cleric of Selune, most likely she chose freely to join the Night Church due to loss at young age, previously worshiping Selune

Her strange magic is Selune-ish, I think

Would really like to see Viconia in the Shadowheart’s hideout in the city

The Temple of Shar, Ketheric and those Shar worshipers will be key in making Shadowheart rethink her devotion (and our previous decision ofc)

Astarion was a nasty person before he become a vampire spawn, pretty sure that his abuse of his position is what got him in Cazador’s grip

There’s got to be one ending where he turns Tav into his own vampire spawn

Not sure how much the changes in Wyll character will affect this, but… even though it’s seems that Mizora is no longer captured by goblins, I hope there some specific interactions with her if we follow Wyll romance

Wyll is part of the Eltan family

WHATS WITH HIS EYE BEING A QUEST OBJECT??

Really wish we’ll learn about companies families: I want to meet Wyll’s father, to learn about Gale’s parents, to help Shadowheart remember her family, to learn about Astarion’s past, to know their last names and etc. Let me know theirs ages, Larian!

Also, Larian, my dear, give Wyll and Gale their unique armor

The artifact will cure us

I really wish there’s some reference to Honor Among Thieves, as they both take place around late 15th century

If Zevlor is Absolute’s servant, I really hope there’ll be a horrible way to make him pay

Auntie Ethel loot is cursed

[asleepinawell]

hot off the triumph of my ng+ run of dark souls 1, i decided to finally go back to try and beat ringed city which i rage quit 2 years ago (read more because i rambled a bit) (obligatory note that this is all just my opinion, other people get different things out of the game and that's fine, etc)

i didn't quit over a boss fight, but over that stretch between the inner wall bonfire and the swamp where the devs were like okay turtle clerics, ringed knights, SIX harald knights on the stairs backed up by ranged, and then a goddamn swamp in a level that should have been a cool ruined city. and all of the hard damage sponge enemies respawn. so if you die you have to go through a ton of very slow hard fights again and it's tedious

this time i looked up where the bonfire was and just made a run for it. and then after trying the next part did the same thing again. it is just frustrating. i can't play for more than twenty minutes at a time without having to turn it off and find something actually fun to do

the whole time I've been thinking about what makes a soulsborne level actually good. i've never thought it was difficulty (and would argue that being known as "so so hard" becoming the core aspect of soulsborne has been the worst thing to happen to the series)

for me, the best levels depend on patience and observation, not extremely hard enemies spawning out of nowhere. the sign of a good level is that when you finish it, when you're out of the thick of it, you think "hey that was cool and i wouldn't mind doing it again someday". and you think that regardless of any annoyance or difficulty you had along the way

when you finish an area and just think "i never want to go through that again" then something went wrong

i think about tower of latria, anor londo, darkroot garden, tomb of giants, central yarhnam, and even the valley of defilement and yeah some of those were grueling but god were they cool and i will go back to them someday. ringed city makes me think i'd rather go mop my kitchen (which i did so i guess something good came of it)

similar feeling about boss fights. artorias and manus were challenging but i ended both fights being like fuck yeah i did it! and the fights looked and felt really cool. i felt like i was fighting a duel rather than waiting for the boss to stop ping-ponging off the walls shitting status effects so i could get in one hit

the first boss fight in ringed city (I'm up to the second one now but haven't done it yet) i was like oh good now i never have to do that again (i don't even remember it very well, just that i didn't enjoy it). i actually prefer easy fights that have neat atmosphere (moonlight butterfly) to harder ones that leave me frustrated and think the best ones combine elements of challenge and atmosphere

(artorias' primal screams still get me every time, the deceptive speed he can move with despite lurching around, his dead arm dangling, the trail of abyss corruption, the way i remembered all his attacks years later...god that fight was good)

anyway i love the series a ton and I'll just end with the fact i have beaten demon's souls about 5 times (3 ng+ iterations included), and dark souls 1 about the same number of times. i've been through bloodborne twice and am almost through a third time. elden ring i beat twice and it's kind of a mixed bag. and then there's ds3 which i beat once and have 5 new characters i never got far on (i did like it but felt no desire to replay). i don't think i ever touched ds2 again after beating it. to me that says a lot

[anchirayce]

To Behold the Golden Sun Ch. 2

This takes place after the events of BG3. Basically, a smol adventure about Tav and Astarion arriving at Tav's childhood city to search for a way to have Astarion walk in the sun again! Drama ensues!

Rating: T - Sexual themes, strong language

Warnings/Tags: Tiefling racism, alcohol use (responsible, suggestion of misuse), suggestion of non-con, suggestion of child abuse, typical canon violence, slight angst, hurt/comfort, slow burn(I mean it, it's slow), Astarion might be ooc, but hopefully not!

Tav couldn't always run away from his past. He knew this from the moment he started to help Astarion find a way to walk in the sun again. He wanted to stay away, but spurred by another failure, a memory of eld came to him. A whisper of something said, something promising. Hopefully, this little spark of hope was what he and Astarion were looking for.

Chapter One: Here

“Hm, cosy.” Astarion said, observing the empty space. The room was currently being used as storage. Filled with extra barrels of grain and other preservatives left to age in jars.

I removed my armour and settled. “This was Kavek’s room.” I said to him, scooting the bed out from the desk.

“May I ask, who Kavek was?” I brushed the dust off and laid down our furs and bedrolls.

“He was my best friend. We got into so much trouble.” I laughed lightly as Astarion removed his chainmail.

“Did he force you to play hero to his wild side?” Astarion teased lightly.

“No, no.” I smiled fondly. “He was the one who got me out of trouble.”

“You? But you’re mister-goody-two-shoes.”

“Oh, I was indeed not. The Hollow caused me to get into so many fights, I had to teach myself healing magic to keep Kavek and I alive. The church eventually noticed and trained me to be a cleric.”

“The Hollow…?” Astarion’s prodding was gentle. And I nodded, leaning forward.

“I hope you don’t see it, Astarion. I pray to Selune that we can just avoid it…”

“What is it?”

I tried to gather the words, “it’s an underground cavern. Where a small village of feral tieflings are forced to breed, and be raised to be used as sacrifice. Basically a cattle farm…”

“And you were born there?” I nodded.

“I managed to get out by hiding on a supply wagon. It was by the grace of the moonmaiden that no one found me that night. I was brought to the surface and managed to run away before I was found. It was so overwhelming. I--” I swallowed back memories. “I thought I was going to die that winter. I was so cold, and hungry. I think I was in the gutter for a week before Kavek found me.”

“He saved you?” I grinned, painfully remembering how he died.

“Gods, I loved him so much, and I miss him even more." A smile managed to break through my heavy mood. "He was sweet on a girl, her name was Lin. She was pregnant with his child when the Warden discovered me. The church fought for me, kept me in sanctuary on the grounds, and Kavek stayed with me that night. So they attacked Lin instead.”

“Gods…” Astarion gasped. I nodded.

“We found her body not far from the church. I have never heard such a wail of agony before. I hope to the Gods that I never will again.” I sniffed loudly. “I turned myself over that day. And then I was forced back into The Hollow, forced to…” A rough gag emerged and I covered it. Tasting the tart wine at the back of my throat. “I was forced to be with women who would just lay there in these chairs. I was forced to share my talent for healing. On people who were basically dead.” Astarion leaned on my shoulder, placing his cold hand on my forearm.

“I was there for a whole year, then Kavek and Rowen came for me.” I laughed sardonically. “Kavek was beyond furious, I swore he was trying not to kill me himself. When we left the city all he did was scream at me. It made me feel alive again.” I closed my eyes against Astarion’s gentle touch. “Rowen stayed because she was a guard, but Kavek and I ran. For weeks, until we made it to Baldur's Gate. Then we were abducted.”

“How did he die?” I took a long inhale.

“Dragons managed to explode the part of the nautiloid where his pod was located. I couldn’t save him…” He burned to death. The fire made him claw at the tempered glass. But he just baked.

“He seemed like a good man.” His words brought me back.

I nodded and adjusted my head so I could breathe in Astarion’s scent of perfume. “You would have hated him.” I mumbled through his wispy and ticklish locks. His hair had grown but still was beautiful.

My love tutted, “I grew to like you. And that complex you took from Kavek.”

“I’m so very glad you did.” Astarion pulled me onto the bed, I sat up to remove my shirt; the fabric was too much on my skin.

"Can I hold you, love?" He asked and opened his arms. I wanted nothing more and crawled onto his chest. Trying to be mindful of my horns as I nestled against him and wrapped my tail around his ankle, taking care to not extend it too far for fear of pain. I slipped a hand past the hem and rested it on his skin. He hummed and removed his shirt entirely so I could rest against his coolness.

It took a long while for me to find my words. But when I did I spoke softly. “I think getting closure for myself is impossible. I have no memory of someone to blame, and so why focus on it?” My love was quiet, he probably searched for a reason for my rambling thought.

“I…” Astarion inhaled, “I think I understand. I suppose, I feel like you deserve the same closure I was able to obtain.”

“I don’t really need it. I’m just glad to be here with you.”

We stayed like this for hours. Astarion eventually waved a mage's hand and brought his pack and books over to him. I opened my eyes and relished his soft touch that traced my whole arm and back.

“Thank you…” I said against the easing silence of the chill.

“Hm?”

“For listening.”

He huffed a sarcastic scoff. “Don’t expect me to do it again. I have to look out for myself, you know.” I chuckled lightly and sighed as I kissed his neck.

"Read to me?" I asked. He leaned a kiss against my forehead as he adjusted and cleared his throat. The lines from his chest soothed me, his melodic voice was deep and calm. Even if the poems were lost on me, I felt comfortably safe. Slowly blinking until I fell asleep.

A knock sounded against the door. I sat up and moved Astarion from my chest. “Good morning.” I greeted.

“Likewise, Tavalin. I’m going to head out. I just wanted to let you know, you are welcome to anything in my home. My room is off limits in case you two want to get, um--”

“Astarion and I won't have sex.” I said and leaned against the doorframe. “Real quick though. Do you have any extra water? We have a shit ton of laundry to do.”

“Yes, in the back there’s a well and river not far off.”

“Thank you, Rowen.”

She nodded curtly and I returned to the room to stretch. I crawled onto the hardwood bed and brushed strands of Astarion’s hair from his beautiful face. He seemed to be asleep instead of meditating, but woke from my touch.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” I whispered, he hummed and drew close, wrapping his arms around my chest.

“It’s fine. I’ll just bite you tonight, when you’re sleeping. As revenge.”

“Please, we both know you don’t have the heart to wake me.” I remarked, “I’m going to go do laundry. Do you want me to wash anything else?”

“The clothes on my back.”

“Then strip.” I said and kissed his temple before detaching myself from his grip to gather our large pile of clothes. I tied them up and snuck a few glances of Astarion before I left.

“Darling. There’s no need to sneak. Your gaze is all I want.” He twirled.

I chuckled. “Hmm, do you now?" He grinned and pulled on my nightshirt that I hardly wore.

How lucky Rowen was to have a well spout. Even if it was shared with a back courtyard. I could hear the small river she spoke of as well. I took my time, washing the wood smoke soaked clothes and our armour. Afterwards I waded into the river to rinse myself with the new soap. I returned to the house and found Astarion sitting at the table and offering me a cup of fragrance so alluring that I could drink its scent for days.

“Thank you for making me tea, my love.” I took a long gulp of the rare cinnamon soaked warmth.

“Thank you for doing laundry.” He replied, he sat with his back to the hearth.

It was honestly nice to have such a few lazy days to ourselves. But not knowing what to do was kind of driving me insane. It was something I'm still trying to become used to. There was always something with my companions, or to do around camp. But with the two of us there was hardly anything.

"Tav. Darling, you have that look." Astarion warned glancing up from his book.

I groaned, "I know...I'm so bored!"

"Go check if my clothes are dry, dear." He offered.

"They probably won't be." I sighed and stood. I returned with most of them still damp. But threw them by the fire so Astarion didn't have to suffer the chill.

"Give me your knife." I said as I sat on the floor.

"What are you getting up to?" He asked, not denying my request. I took to carving my talons back. I struggled with my right hand and with a small tut Astarion took over.

"Why cut them back?" He asked.

"I don't want to claw you."

"You've never clawed me." He scoffed. I raised my brow.

"On purpose." He rolled his eyes and finished up by throwing the shavings into the fire. By noon his clothes were finished. And just in time for Rowen too. Who came back an hour later to a warm pot of stew.

"You made me food?" She gasped.

"You've been so helpful to us. It's the least we can do." I grinned.

"I've allowed you to spend the night?" She laughed.

"You've given us shelter from the sun. Free of charge. You've allowed us to use your fire and wood. And you're helping us obtain something that might not even exist."

"Tav doesn't know how to say you're welcome plainly. It becomes a problem." Astarion teased, continuing to fold and organise our laundry.

"I can tell." I smiled as I closed the lid. We sat at the table and I helped Astarion finish up.

"Where do we start?" I began.

"I think the church." Rowen sighed. "I know, I don't like parading you around either. But there are rumours the priest knows a back passage into the Library."

"Father Garret?" I gasped. "How?"

"I don't know. That's why we're going to ask him."

"Can we at least do it tonight?" I asked. "I want Astarion by my side."

"That should be fine. And probably easier since mostly everyone will know who you are."

"Am I really that obvious?" I scoffed.

"To me. Yes."

"Well, I guess we'll see how much trouble we can get into."

For the rest of the day I helped Rowen around the house. While Astarion repaired and tatted anything worn. Around dusk we gathered up our gear and set out. Astarion kept close to me, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

The church was quiet and smelled of soothing incense even from outside. It brought back so many good memories. We let Rowen go to the door and who answered was Father Garret, a high-elf cleric, he taught me everything I knew.

"Rowen! What brings you here tonight? Are you in need of healing?"

"No, but we need help. Can me and my friends come in? We need to talk…"

"Certainly, all are welcome in the Home of Selune." We followed Father Garret to a private room. I wanted to take my scarf and hood off to escape the heat but I rather not blatantly reveal everything either.

"Please. Everyone make yourselves comfortable." He offered and turned.

I inhaled sharply, trying to gather enough courage to speak with him. "Settle down, Tavalin. Make yourselves comfortable first and then we will discuss everything."

I slowly began to remove my winter gear. While Astarion removed only his cloak, trying to hide beneath his scarf. A cup of tea was set in front of us. I took a small sniff and found it to be laced with kluathgrass. I signalled to Astarion to not drink it.

"Tavalin, you don't have to the drink tea. I know you will speak true." Father Garret stated, taking my cup. "Why did you return?" He asked as he turned.

"I--we need help."

"With what? I will help you anyway I can, my child."

"It's complicated…but promise me you'll not harm Astarion."

"Why?"

I caught his gaze and reassuringly, he placed a hand on my thigh. "If it allows us one step closer." He added.

"Astarion is a vampire spawn. We are looking to cure him in the best case scenario. But otherwise, a way to walk in the sun is good too."

"Fascinating!" Father Garret gasped, coming to his feet. "May I study your features?"

"I suppose?" My love leaned into me.

He sat at a respectful distance, Astarion wasbunsure what to make of it as he removed his scarf. But once I sat behind him and held him, he seemed to relax, somewhat.

"I am uncomfortable not knowing what your intentions are." He cleared his throat.

"I simply wish to see a vampire up close."

"Are you going to ask me to bite you?" I prickled at the memory of that drow.

"Oh by Selune’s blessed light! No!" Father Garret laughed, embarrassed by the prospect. "And by how Tavalin is holding you, I doubt he would agree to allow you to bite an old man like me." I didn't realise I was glaring. And laughed awkwardly.

"I-I suppose there's no harm?" Astarion sat up, my hand moved to his thigh as I studied Father Garret. He instructed Astarion to open his mouth and show him his fangs.

"Tell me, how often do you feed?"

"Every day. I drink from animals."

"How often on humans?" Father Garret glanced at me.

"Look, Father Garret. We need your help, and having to re-explain every detail ever is starting to become exhausting. And we're limited on time." I interrupted.

"Very well. A cure for vampirism." He turned and settled in his seat.

"There might be such a thing in the vault. Maybe another lead in the libraries…no. Too obvious." He mumbled.

"The vault? At the Lord's mansion?" He nodded. I shook my head in disbelief. "How are we going to get in?"

"The Winter Ball."

"A ball?" Astarion gasped delightfully, I couldn't help but grin.

"We can sneak in and find the vaults and pray to Selune that nothing goes awry." Astarion snorted, muttering about my sour luck and penance for trouble.

"How do you know what we need will be there?" I asked.

"I don't, not entirely. But there is an auction for every ball. If the dice is thrown in our favour; then there might be a chance it's already there…" He paused. "Astarion, do you know how old you are?"

"I am unsure." He said.

"An amulet of darkness might be the best. If we’re lucky, we might be able to find a Wish spell."

"What does this amulet do?" The countless false leads came to my mind. Astarion laced his cold fingers through mine.

“It shrouds the user in a cloak of darkness. I don’t know the details, I know it exists. And it might be there.”

"It is worth a try, Tav." My love’s hope was less fragile than mine.

“Of course it is.” I agreed and leaned to his ear. “I’m not giving up on you Astarion.” He kissed my cheek.

"Excellent." Father Garret smiled. "I shall provide you two with something to wear. And we shall discuss plans at a later date. If you need to rest here, you may. We have plenty of space and dark rooms."

"That would be nice, I hate to leech off of Rowen."

"Company's nice. But my home isn't the safest and sometimes I have buddies over." She said through a yawn.

Father Garret stood and we followed him out. Saying our farewells to Rowen as we trailed behind him. He led us down into the basement. I knew this place, they were private rooms. Quiet, hardly used. Safe…

"Gods." I sighed, finally stripping off my armour and just melting against the soft bed. "A ball."

"Not excited darling?"

"Not entirely. It's really not my scene."

"Ah, well, maybe I can teach you?" I grinned. “Obviously I cannot cram you with decades of knowledge, but I could show you how to dance.” He returned my now smile with a clever grin.

"I would like that." He pulled me to my feet and he positioned my hands. My tail swished nervously, pain pokes through my spine as he told me what to do. I was quick to catch on and soon Astarion moved on to the more in depth turns of ballroom dancing.

I swooned with the distraction. His humming was clear and concise and I yearned to learn the tune so I could add to it. But for now I leaned against him and we stopped with a simple embrace.

"Tav, could you tell me more about this place?"

"It's ruled by one man, I have never seen him but Father Garret has told me that he takes multiple wives. None of which have been seen again. Beside the first lady, who always hosts the balls." Astarion hummed with concern. Adjusting his grip to rest on my hips.

"Apparently he hoards treasure worse than Lorroakan. But every year he throws a grand ball that people all over the Sword Coast attends and no one is seen leaving…"

"Who's allowed to attend?" I pulled away and looked at him sadly.

"Humans, Elves, Dwarves. The pure races…" I cupped his cheek and he leaned into it.

"Pure races." Astarion spat, "not inviting gnomes; that's understandable. But the other races? Why?" I shrugged.

"Tieflings are devilish in nature. And I'm guessing the other races aren't elegant enough."

"You are the most elegant man I've ever met. Aside from myself." I chuckled and suddenly dipped Astarion.

"You've rubbed off on me." He laughed as I brought him up and twirled him.

"My, my Tav! Careful now or I'll be swept off my feet again!" He was breathlessly smiling, I loved how his fangs glanced through. I kissed him and leaned my forehead against his.

"I'll try to sneak into the party with you, I won't leave you alone."

"What am I going to do without my personal butler? I perish the thought." Astarion tutted.

"My Lord and Liege, I am a humble cleric and servant of House Ancunin."

"For my frail and meek body requires attention!" He arched dramatically, raising his arms to his chest and forehead. I laughed and his own melodious voice reached my ears.

“If only you could be my consort.” He pouted and kissed me before I could respond. I picked him up as he continued to bombard me. I couldn’t deny him the pleasure as I fell back. I tried to get a word in once or twice. But he was quick to stop me. I eventually wrapped my leg around his waist and flipped him.

“Allow me to get a word in, sir!” I panted and leaned over him, he smiled at me cheekily. He leaned towards my neck, and I pulled myself away from the habit.

“Wait.” I whispered. He backed away instantly, concern etched through his eyes.

“If that is what you want. I would happily be your consort.”

“Darling, I haven’t proposed…I was just--” His expression changed, he seemed confused but also nervous.

“But I am.” I said. “Astarion, I’m terrified of what might happen in the coming week. I’m terrified of losing you. Will you marry me?” He suddenly sat up and I kneeled to the ground.

“You’re…serious?” He studied my face, my heart hurt from how fast it was beating.

“Yes. Astarion Ancunin, will you marry me?”

“I--” He gasped. His red eyes trying to blink back tears. “What makes you think something is going to happen at the mansion?” I shook my head.

“I’m hoping that we find a Wish spell. But people don’t come back from that mansion. And if we are to die there, I want to be your husband.” I grinned at him. His chest rose and fell, he didn’t need to take breaths, but he couldn’t help the action. I took his hands in mine again, kissing his elegant fingers.

"You don't have to say yes. But know that I want this, and I hope that you do too."

He inhaled sharply, taking my chin. “How could I say no?" I stood and pushed him back into the bed, he crawled back. His lips never leaving mine, I pulled away his shirt, lowering my touch to be rid of his other garments. I took a moment to stare at him and smiled as he beckoned me forward with his beautiful red eyes.

Chapter Three: Here

[verminfang]

Dnd character concept I want to play at some point (usually I have a million I just drone to friends about rather than post to tumblr but I feel like the concept is like, appealing to some of the mutuals), longish post because the concept behind it involves a lot of talking about what I feel the nature cleric class can be (as a fun opinion and deffo not prescriptive)

So often there’s a question about why play a Nature Cleric instead of a Druid (mechanics aside) and also about why the Nature Cleric gets features like Heavy Armor proficiency seemingly at odds with the whole nature vibe

My thoughts on this are to remember that rather than being representative and of channeling nature, a nature cleric is channeling the way in which humanoid civilizations (those that would be worshiping a god) interact with nature, as a resource or something to seek sanctuary from.

Mountains, Seas, Forests and Plains as seen by the miner, fisherman, woodsman, hunter or farmer who prays to their gods for safety and bounty.

If you look at the class features a Nature Cleric gets and see them as Civilization’s Taming of Nature as opposed to a Druids representation of the wild and natural it actually forms a pretty compelling argument:

As a class feature Nature Clerics have proficiency with and wear heavy armor, worked steel refined from the earth, unlike Druids who have a cultural taboo against it (there's potentially interesting stuff about fey fearing iron, there being fey themed druid subclasses and the idea of iron as a talisman as well here)

Their channel divinity is

The ability to magically charm and control plants and animals, at level 17 this is further expanded to give you the ability to command charmed creatures and notably named ‘Master of Nature’

The ability to charm and later command plants and animals through the invocation of your deity fits pretty well into the idea of domesticating and controlling nature, the humanoids dominion over it.

The other notable feature nature clerics get is

It’s the ability to protect you and your allies from the elements. It’s shelter. It’s ‘dampening’, reducing the power nature has over you. It’s civilization holding strong against whatever weather or natural disaster the natural world wants to throw at you.

So.. the ‘anti-nature nature cleric’..are they evil, some fern gully Hexxus motherfucker? I don’t think so. I truly think there’s nothing wrong with a character who venerates civilizations successes over nature. What does this character celebrate? Agriculture, domestication of animals, shelter, rebuilding from disaster, medicine saving those who’d simply die if they were left unattended in the wild, curing diseases.

The druid class and the realities of nature have been in a bit of a conversation. Disney druid who touts the harmony of nature in a very Disney way has seen some reactions in the form of the druid who is aware that nature is red in tooth and claw, accepts and celebrates it, death is all part of a glorious cycle, your spore druids and wildfire druids.

A nature cleric that goes one step further in that conversation, nature isn’t all bunnies and butterflies its disease, tidal waves and death, lets not accept it as whats natural lets actually try and do something about it. Build walls, grow food to provide for others, heal the sick and wounded. Death is natural? Clerics get revival spells I’m bringing my friend back.

So character concept:

Water Genasi Nature Cleric with this as their ethos, a cleric of Chauntea

Water Cleric as another add on to the theme of Civilization and Nature, connected to an element of the natural world that is also essential to humanoids, cities are built alongside it, the cradle of civilization etc. 

top of the head PC name is Nile for obvious reasons.

I think the place I’d most like to use this PC is Tomb of Annihilation, the survival campaign module where you deal with the jungle, disease, apex predators and a curse that hurts those risen from the dead unnaturally.

[mumms-the-word]

As requested my durge boy Amnon. Purple asmodeus tiefling, oath of devotion paladin. He hasn't started a romance yet and the options are all so tempting to me. He's trans and the memory loss seems to only be affecting the last 20 or so years of his life. He's in his forties. Remembers being a kid, running away, taking his oath. He doesn't remember that his oath was broken ages ago and many times over. Or exactly what happened to his parents, all he can remember about that night is blood and fear and rage. So far he's a very helpful nice guy. He wants to help people and stomp out evil and suffering. He's gonna have a breakdown when we hit act 3

Perfect we love a paladin

Dani is happy to have another tiefling around, even a buttoned-up (but also slightly unhinged??) paladin type. As long as he doesn't chide her for doing dubious things like picking rich people's pockets, they'd probably get along. She gets along with everyone, really. If he's stuck on who to flirt with or romance, she would be the one to go to. To flirt with, yes, but also to ask advice. She'd love sitting down with him and playing matchmaker, but all in good fun. Dani's recommendation? Astarion if he's into sharing/trading trauma experiences, Karlach if he wants a healing relationship and a good time, or Shadowheart because cleric + paladin sounds like a pairing from the most romantic of ballads. I wonder if Amnon would remind Shadowheart of Nocturne? Who knows. Dani would tell him to follow his heart and ignore her recommendations if they don't vibe with him.

Ardynn would like him a lot...as long as he can keep control of his urges for the most part. The minute she sees him kick a squirrel, though, she's avoiding him for DAYS. She would be so upset. But she would be sympathetic to his memory loss and want to help. Ardynn will also have a breakdown when they get to act 3, but only because the city is hella overwhelming. They can break down together!!

Freyr would have mixed feelings about Amnon. On the one hand, dark thoughts paladin type. On the other, Amnon seems like the type to resist the dark thoughts, while Freyr is more of an embracer of dark thoughts. And Freyr already has a paladin he'd trust with his life and her name is Minthara and she is the coolest. If Freyr is the lead Durge in the party, he'd probably ignore Amnon until Amnon's better nature leads him to leave the party or until Amnon caves to pressure and becomes dark like everyone else. It's nothing personal. Freyr just doesn't have time for do-gooders. He's got a world to conquer with/for his wifey, Minthy. If Freyr is the companion, he'd just sullenly cross his arms and silently disapprove every time Amnon made a good decision.

Invi and Amnon would get along great. His integrity as a paladin of devotion despite his dark thoughts would impress her. She doesn't have as good a handle on her dark thoughts, so I think the two of them would get pretty close, since they both understand how hard it is to resist. He certainly remembers more than she does. In truth, she'd probably befriend him faster than she befriended any of the other companions in camp. They'd have lots of long discussions about the dark urge stuff, everything they can't say to their fellow companions because they'd look at them weird.

Thanks for the second ask! I hope Amnon has fun! Playing a Durge is such a wild time for anyone who hasn't played it yet.

[elspethdekarios]

3, 8, 11, 16, and 28 😇

Eeeee thank you!! [Tav ask game]

3. What would their character quest be titled? Why?

I've come up with a list and I keep going back and forth between "The Disgraced Noble" and "A Reject's Grace." El was pretty much exiled from her (noble) family after a big scandal landed her on the front page of the Gazette. She had just started redeeming herself in their eyes when set herself back three paces by losing her cool on them, and being abducted by the nautiloid shortly after. So throughout the game she's dealing with all the tadpole/Absolute stuff AND trying to process some trauma and emotional turmoil tied to her family. She hopes that defeating the Absolute and become a hero of the city, her parents might finally see her worth as a person. (Spoiler: they don't lol)

8. After act 3, what does their life look like? What are they talking about at the reunion party?

Elspeth and Gale are married and have been living together in Waterdeep for the past six months! She's really grown to love The City of Splendors. She's found a temple dedicated to Corellon (she's a cleric) and has made great friends there. After giving herself some time to process everything that she went through and several weeks of well-deserved relaxation, she asked to join Waterdeep's Guild of Apothecaries & Physicians and work at the House of Healing. The lead physicians were surprised that someone of her renown, one of the heroes of Baldur's Gate, wanted to continue her work as a healer, but El assured them it was her life's work and the thing that has always brought her the most satisfaction. They hired her and offered her an honorary position within the guild.

11. What is your Tav's go-to comfort food?

Okay so this one and #28 have like, the same answer lol. It's Tessie's cinnamon pear pie. Details below!

16. What do they do for fun, when not adventuring? What are their hobbies?

El is classically trained in the harp and piano, though she prefers the harp. She'll often sit in Gale's study while he reads or grades student assignments playing one of the two, learning new pieces or trying to compose her own. She also really enjoys reading - mainly adventure and romance novels. Since working at the House of Healing, she's learned a lot about potions and apothecary crafts, and has taken a liking to it. Gale expanded his potion-making space in the tower so she can work there when she pleases.

28. Describe a smell that reminds your Tav of childhood.

Elspeth is from a noble family, but she's never gotten along with her parents or sister. Because of this, she spent a lot of time in the kitchen with the housekeeper, Miss Tessie. Whereas most nobles have no reason to learn how to cook, Elspeth loved watching Tessie prepare meals - the thought and love and practiced intuition of it all. Tessie's signature desert was a cinnamon pear pie. She taught El how to knead the dough while she sliced the pears, showed her how to simmer the pears and cinnamon sugar to get the filling just right, and how to make a perfect lattice over top before putting it in the oven. El's childhood wasn't great overall, but when she smells a pear (or even apple) pie, she remembers all those lovely times in the kitchen with Tessie, covered in flour and licking sticky sugar from her fingers.

[stoupax]

a character reference sheet for Tav, my chaotic neutral Baldur’s Gate 3 protag. I don’t even have a fancy first or last name for him... just the default “Tav” has felt fitting since I fell into the hellhole of Early Access. he’s a rogue with the thief subclass, but I usually choose magic initiate: druid as a feat so he can have a wee bit more magic and, most importantly, beast speech, so he can talk with Scratch the dog, and Nudge the owlbear cub (and get the hot goss from other critters). I also play Tav in an Eberron 5e campaign, in which his subclass is arcane trickster.

7/30/22 edit: I’ve given him the last name Fenway because just “Tav” was getting chaotic (which suits him but I like to be organized)

some #backstory under the cut!

(cw: domestic violence)

Tav was born and raised in Baldur’s Gate. he is his human mother Flissa’s second child, by a high elf man she either cannot or will not name. her human husband Garrick was not happy about this, but he wasn’t particularly happy when he thought the expected baby was his anyway, so this was never going to be a great family dynamic. Flissa and Garrick’s marriage has always been turbulent and mutually abusive. Tav’s older half-sister, Yora, is ten years his senior, and when she was fourteen, she left home without saying goodbye.

Garrick was a sailor, Flissa was a professional swindler. Tav had special roles in Flissa’s various street grifts, and thought of it as a game, until he was old enough to understand how destitute they actually were. he became good at pickpocketing on his own, which Flissa also took advantage of. it was very easy to pretend being a hungry little urchin, because he was. it was easy for them both to pretend they were battered, because they were. Tav’s parents were not responsible spenders; thank goodness he could go to public school for free when Flissa didn’t want to keep track of him on the street.

when Tav was twelve, there was a massive fire in the tenement building his family lived in, in Brampton of the Lower City. it happened in the middle of the night, when most were sleeping. the fire was mostly contained to the one building, but nonetheless devastating. Flissa got herself out quickly. Garrick was much slower to react to the rapidly escalating situation, and Tav was, well, a very frightened kid who was more or less abandoned. it’s hard for Tav to remember exactly, but the way he understands the course of that night is: he was navigating through smoke and flame down a corridor, when his step-father bowled him over to rush out. Tav was able to get onto his feet again, despite injuries and actively burning. he was resuming his own escape when Garrick got himself trapped under falling beams and debris. Garrick called out to him, but Tav kept running. the rest is a blur; he has vague memories of waking up in the Harborside Hospital, covered in burns, being treated by various healers, neighbors in the cots around him. an unusually charitable cleric at this hospital made it possible for Tav to leave without a hefty bill, healthy but for the scarring on his legs, which had taken the most burn damage. he was reunited with Flissa. Garrick never got out.

Tav’s relationship with Flissa was at its best after the fire, but still not good. the back and forth between “work with me today,” and “go to school or anywhere else, I don’t want to see you” was exhausting for him. he often argued to “work” with her or skipped school to do his own “work,” or else he wouldn’t see any coin or a sufficient meal that day. he started stashing his own money and thinking of taking a page from Yora’s book.

at sixteen, Tav did leave, after an emotional blowout and physical altercation with his mother. he unintentionally concussed Flissa, and while she sat dazed on the floor of their small apartment, he gathered his money, the money of hers that he could find, and simply walked out the door. Tav maintains that the short stint of homelessness that followed was entirely worth it. no more fists bearing down on him, no more yelling, independence. the same old pickpocketing, stealing, and conning (on different streets than his mother’s ‘stomping grounds’) helped him get by until a Guild member offered to recruit him for an up and coming kingpin.

at the start of Baldur’s Gate 3, Tav is 26 years old. he’s been a professional spy under the codename/psued “Locke” for several years now, working for an information broker who mostly deals with pettier nobles trying to bring down other petty nobles. it’s an easy job, people-watching and stealing information; he’s good at it, well paid for it. he doesn’t need to pick pockets or steal trinkets anymore, but old habits die hard, and he sees it almost as a fun little game to himself; he likes to see how much he can get away with before anybody suspects something. he boasts never having had guards or any Flaming Fist come after him, even without Guild protection. he has a small apartment on the third floor of a decent boarding house in the Seatower neighborhood of the Lower City, and that is where he was walking to when the mindflayers’ nautiloid swept over the city.

you can look at his generic tag here, or artwork of him here.

[resistingtheborg]

Thoughts about EXU: Calamity

PI had a thought about some of the details in Exandria Unlimited: Calamity recently. When I came upon it, I wanted to post it, and a few other thoughts asked if they could join in. So here you go!

As far as I know, Sam Riegel’s character in the current Bell’s Hells campaign, Fresh Cut Grass, is an Aeormaton. These are stated in-universe to have been constructed in the Pre-Calamity city of Aeor. And when I remembered that, I also remembered a detail about F.C.G. that saw a tiny bit of controversy after it started coming into play.

F.C.G. is a cleric, but he claims that all of his cleric abilities are built in. There aren’t any deities involved.

What brought this to mind? Well, in EXU: Calamity, we are introduced to a contemporary of Aeor: the flying city of Avalir. And in Avalir, the divine is treated with... well, if not an air of contempt, not much respect.

The first character we encounter is Zerxus Ilerez, the first knight of Avalir. Zerxus is a somewhat unorthodox paladin, in that he lacks what is mockingly referred to as an “intermediary,” instead drawing power from the people of Avalir themselves (as per the wiki. I can’t remember where this was stated in-episode). When a champion of the Raven Queen, the future legend Purvan Suul, appears, he is regarded as quaint, and people aren’t exactly impressed. Another player character, Patia Por’co, establishes her dim view of the divine within minutes of appearing onscreen.

Functionally, F.C.G. and Zerxus feel very similar, in that they are both classes commonly associated with the divine, produced in a culture and era without respect for the divine.

After this, we come around to the player characters. These people refer to themselves as the “Circle of Brass,” the people who don’t straight up run the city, but the “movers and shakers” who keep Avalir running. In the leadup to the first episode airing, Zerxus and police detective Cerrit Agrupnin were described as the “moral” members of the group. Indeed, the “greyest” action that Cerrit takes is to try and suppress investigation into something big and scary while he investigates on his own. Zerxus, for all that his relationship with his family is strained, comes across as a pretty stand-up guy.

Then we come around to the other characters.

Media magnate Loquatius Seelie turns on the charm whenever he’s on camera, but off of it he’s a bit of a political manipulator, choosing which officials to back and push towards glory--he even notes that he hopes one of them remembers “who put them” in their position. Beyond that, he’s kind of a jerk, and ditches his plus-one at a party in a situation that she has no idea how to deal with. He even makes fun of Purvan’s name!

(As an aside, I really want to see Bolo from Aeor and Aria the assistant hang out at some point)

The other really obvious bad egg is Nydas Okiro, a powerful merchant who, from the very first, is seen to be not a great person. When he needs to fill out an order for wands that he can’t yet, he draws from the school supplies that he maintains for a magic school. When people want payment for services rendered, he puts it off as long as he can. And ultimately, he’s even selling off excess aether (which appears to be illegal, though I’m not completely sure of the implications).

Remember Patia, from before? She’s in on it. When someone comes digging who it turns out shouldn’t know, she’s furious and goes looking for whoever leaked.

Even Laerryn Coramar-Seelie, Architect Arcane, is doing something behind the scenes. She’s excited for the upcoming Apogee due to what it means for a secret project of hers, and she desperately wants to get her hands on the celestial gold bow that’s a part of Cerrit’s investigation.

Zerxus is probably the only one of these people, who’s completely above-board, and even that’s in question considering how closely he works with them.

I saw someone referring to these guys as something along the lines of... “the villains of another campaign,” and it’s a very apt description.

Finally, I also saw a post talking about how everyone in the Circle of Brass is very knowledgeable about their genres, and they’re about to run into something that they straight up aren’t ready for. In particular, Cerrit is a hard-boiled noir detective, who’s going into a thriller. Except that I remember a movie my dad was watching a long time back, about a police investigation that turns up a more demonic culprit than they were expecting. Cerrit’s investigation involves a particularly dangerous wizard by the name of Vespin Chloris, who has gone missing lately... and who appears to threaten Cerrit from beyond a mirror at the tail-end of the episode.

Sounds like the setup for a horror story, if you ask me.

That’s not including Zerxus’s nightmare from the beginning of the episode--one that presents betrayer god Asmodeus (usually portrayed as a villain in Exandria) getting the snot kicked out of him by a surprisingly sinister Pelor. He’s been having these dreams for a while now, and in this latest one he sides with Asmodeus against the cruel and haughty Pelor. It seems that good and evil may be a little more complicated here than previously imagined...

... except.

We don’t know where the dreams are coming from. And we don’t know if they’re on the level.

And if it’s a portent of things to come? Who says that Zerxus will still be a hero when they do?

It’s really interesting stuff.

[imreallyuncomfortable]

Verlin

Raised on the streets of Baldur's Gate, the only things that kept him alive were his silver tongue and quick fingers. An easy mark ended up costing him more than he ever expected. Regardless if this was punishment from the gods or his first blessing, one thing became abundantly clear. Friends in low places can get you anything.

Besides, how often do you actually get to cozy up to a tanar'ri prince?

Aious

Mantras slip from the Tiefling's lips as he battles the depraved thoughts that threaten to overtake his mind. His monk training helps with resisting the urges, but memories of the past will cling to his psyche for the rest of his life. Who were they? Why doesn't he remember? Did they always know? Why didn't they run?

------

I'm finally getting around to playing Baldur's Gate 3 and I wanted to share my Tav & Durge. I tried to keep this spoiler free, but I'm only up to act 2 so filling in info about my durge was kinda hard due to lack of in-game information.

--

My Tav is an urchin half wood-elf fiend warlock. His pact with Graz'zt is mostly for the demon lord's entertainment and pleasure, but Virlen gets to live the life of luxury he always desired, and he gets to get revenge on the socialites who turned their nose up at him all those years ago. Once he gets this pesky tadpole out of his head he'll go back manipulating the elites of the city towards their own hedonistic self-demise. Or that was the plan, before he grew close to a certain cleric... after all, they could make each other so much better, or so much worse.

He has bonded the best with Shadowheart due to their similar moral compass, they have shared multiple glasses of wine.

He is good friends with Karlach because he feels a kindred spirit in her.

Recently he has been having...thoughts about a certain druid. It doesn't help that his partner and graz'zt are basically begging him to indulge.

His fiend eye only appears when he is calling on his most powerful warlock abilities or Graz'zt wants to "borrow" his eyes.

He has a cute quasit familiar

--

My Durge is a tiefling monk who is trying to resist his urges. Much of his past is blank to him, but one thing haunts his memories. The faces of his victims. He feels safest in the shadows, but when he's there he finds himself reaching for the light. A certain warlock certainly knows how to deal with a bad hand, maybe he could learn a thing or two from him.

Aious has closest affinity with Wyll. He admires the warlock's courage to do right & remain just without regards to his personal safety.

He has a rocky relationship with Astarion. They don't often agree on courses of action, but they see the hidden secrets hidden behind eachother's eyes. They have a smidge of pity for each other, despite what their bickering might entail.

He also feels a strong bond with Lae'Zel. He enjoys her pragmatism and he finds that she can help calm his over-active imagination that often gets distracted by his emotions.

[mosstrades]

how did alec get his start adventuring?? whered he get his sweet clothes? i love him

Hi!! I'm so fucking flattered and excited that you'd want to know more about my little guy. I've been playing him for only two sessions so far and I'm already so obsessed with him so I'm gonna try to... well, no, I'm probably not gonna manage to keep this short, why lie to myself hehehe.

He was raised by his grandma, a brilliant, forest-dwelling woman named Yvonne who also studied medicine in the big city - she became nomadic shortly after Alec was born (his human dad died from illness while his mother, a wood elf, wasn't confident in her ability to raise a child). She raised him on the road, so technically he began adventuring right away! Yvonne felt that it was her duty to spread out her knowledge, acquired through her time spent in druid camps and in the city's academies; they acted as a traveling doctors and educators, especially in smaller towns and communities. Alec really internalized this, as well, becoming deeply fixated on how the body operates and developing a really special connection with wild nature and people's place in it. When his grandma passed away, he continued her work for a few years, until the plot misfortune struck him and he was kidnapped and sold to a family from a town which used forced labor to maintain their gated community. He survived there for a few years, and in the midst of the abuse he made friends with a cleric of Silvanus; over time he picked up the faith as a means to maintain his dwindling hope for escape and a connection to his life's work, using his knowledge and his developing magic to act as a hidden healer for the other prisoners.

The story of the short campaign actually picks up over a decade after their revolt and escape, and we see a very isolated Alec that's become so riddled with mental-health issues that he essentially threw himself into a self imposed exile in a little cabin in the woods; he fears he's lost himself in his struggle with trauma, his own mind becoming his captor, and hating himself for not being able to cope easily. He feels weak, pathetic, with no right to the magic he was taught or the love of his god. In an effort to not lose himself entirely, Alec began to write: he wrote books and books on medicine, taking refuge in the meticulous transmission of all his knowledge, all that his loved ones taught him, and all that he learned on the roads.

He forces himself to venture into the forest more and more, to lose himself for hours in the work of drawing leaves, plants, fungi, natural phenomena, etc, as faithfully and beautifully as possible. He hopes that, despite his own perceived brokenness and helplessness, the project may one day be useful. Gradually this work becomes the closest thing Alec has to therapy, and his meticulous books of medicine and natural guides evolve into hybrids of intimate, autobiographical, philosophical writing, intertwined with transmission of knowledge. We start with an Alec who connects with life from an observer's point of view, at a safe distance, deep self-loathing and doubt making him feel utterly unable to actually help people anymore, but still stubbornly trying to find a way to worship and help.

What finally gets him out of this exile is getting a letter from a small community of ex-imprisoned comrades, asking for help to both build more stable living conditions for themselves and find one of the revolt's ex-leaders, who has gone mysteriously missing. He only takes a single book with him.

Understandably, Alec doesn't have a lot of money and most of the money he has he spends on supplies (though he makes his own paper and paints, he still buys ink. and oh yeah, food too, when he remembers, sure) so actually his cute fancy clothes are mostly all hand-made by Nayab, my partner's character, who is a tailor and his best friend:-)

He's usually adorned with various trinkets he got and made from the woods. His clothes often appear well-kept at first glance - a clear effort on his part to show himself with dignity and care, because self-image comforts him and reminds him of his freedom and autonomy. On closer inspection, however, it is impossible not to notice the dirt that still clings to his trousers; the tint of moss and ink on his fingers and under his nails; the leaves in his wind-blown up-do. All those things that give him away as an agent of inescapable nature.

Fun facts! - He has a fantasy french accent that comes out when he's nervous. He's a lesbian. He was so socially incompetent when they met that the party suspected him a traitor. He tried to ease a companion's suspicions by showing him how maps work, and it worked; the companion kept poking him about his past and Alec kept trying to keep talking about maps. He's covered in scars, which he revealed to the same companion in a symbolic gesture of vulnerability, and then almost threw up afterwards from anxiety. He has gotten more hugs in three days of adventuring than he has in years. He sleeps in tree branches. He did surgery on someone in session 2 and secretly cried for 3 hours afterwards. He got treated with so much gentleness and compassion and love that he's speedrunning his character arc. He's starting to realize that maybe community and direct action are the answer, and his self-loathing is keeping him from a world that loves him and needs him there. His journal is starting to fill up, for the first time in a decade, with the faces of friends.

Also, he has a pinterest board!

Here's a little sketch of him last session:-)

[hereforthehaunts]

For the BG3 ask, for any except your durge (only because I've not played one yet and am dancing around spoilers, so I guess if the answer wouldn't be a spoiler then go for it!)

6, 15, 23, 40

Aye aye captain! I will keep this durge spoiler-free. Thanks so much for asking! Probably going to be pretty Phoebe-centric just for time's sake.

6. What is your Tav's origin story?

Drama timeeeee.

Phoebe is the oldest daughter of Helene (elf wizard) and Silas (human bard). She has a younger sister named Arden and two younger brothers named Gilbert and Leon. Her father taught her to play the violin and love music. Though he was a bard, he never went out adventuring like he'd planned to as a young man. He met his wife and started pushing back his plans to leave. Then Pheobe came, so he never did. He got a job in town at a shop. Unfortunately, one day the shop caught fire and he was unable to escape. Pheobe had aspirations to go out and study music in Baldur's Gate, but once her father passed she wanted to stay and help take care of her siblings. In her grief, her mother could not bear the thought of her daughter having the same fate as her husband, so she studied and prepared until she was able to use magic to alter Phoebe's memories. Helene took Phoebe to the city and erased her memories of where her hometown is. As hard as she tries, Phoebe cannot remember the place where she grew up. She has all the memories of her family and her life, but where it happened she cannot recall, so she can never return there. In the city, Phoebe goes all into her studies. Eventually she starts travelling around, playing in taverns. That's basically what she's up to when she gets scooped up.

15. If your Tav could/does multiclass, what other class would they choose?

I have not multiclassed before so this is all what ifs and could very well not be good decisions lmao.

Phoebe- a couple options here. Wizard bc of her mom (and because she sorta maybe sent Gale away during act 1... don't hate me please I was young!!!) or rogue because I think the idea of couples picking up little things from each other is cute. I could also see ranger.

Lapis- Barbarian or fighter

Honeylark- Cleric maybe?

Pippa- Paladdin maybe? Really not sure for Pip. Rogue?

23. What is your Tav’s favorite moment they’ve had with their lover?

Probably any moment post-game where Phoebe and Astarion are sitting together and she realizes they are truly relaxed. No one is coming after them, there is nothing to fight. Astarion's guard is down, and they are just existing together in a moment laughing and talking.

40. What is the biggest mistake your Tav ever made?

So funny story actually... The biggest mistake my Tav has ever made was entirely my fault, but it is canon to her run so... When I played Act 2 I kind of didn't understand the fact that I needed to go to Moonrise Towers to save the tieflings before the final battle. I kind of thought I would just do it all when I got there at the end. So the tieflings in Moonrise Towers did die. And it is Phoebe's fault and totally not mine and she has to live with that not me. (IT JUST FELT LIKE SO FAR TO GO BACK!! I DIDN'T WANT TO DEAL WITH THE GAUNTLET AGAIN I'M SORRY). And also I didn't realize Zevlor was there in the mindflayer colony, so I literally walked past him and Orin did some terrible things to him. Act 2 was traumatic for Pheebs. Luckily this is not canon to the LTFU (liz and toad fanfic universe).