sonofbhaal

[sonofbhaal]

November Hiatus

Due to vacation reasons I am putting my blogs on hiatus until November 20th. I'll be available on discord (though less regularly than usual) and possibly DMs. You might see some activity or you might not, I will probably be busy most of the time but we'll see :)

[sonofbhaal]

[sonofbhaal]

Halsin, the babe, the husband, the love of my life, forever

// explicit

[sonofbhaal]

First set of portraits - done ✔️

[sonofbhaal]

[sonofbhaal]

Meeting Gale | Slapping the disembodied hand

[sonofbhaal]

which core aesthetic are you?

spacecore. i'd be genuinely surprised if you didn't have a "i want to believe" poster in your room. you find a weird sense of comfort in knowing how small humanity really is, and despite your somewhat nihilistic beliefs, you think it's more empowering than anything. you're definitely a night owl, and you love to gaze at the sky while having deep, philosophical discussions with a close friend. you don't have much of a dream other than living life at its fullest, and you're already working on that.

tagged by: @avernusfuries <3 tagging: i don't know anybody who hasn't been tagged.. unless?! @immobiliter ?!

[sonofbhaal]

me: *attacks Mizora in camp at every given opportunity to be free of her for 3 seconds* Mizora: "smile if you want me"

??? or as I like to call it:

Baldur's Gate 1: Who The F Is Eating All The Iron Baldur's Gate 2: Who The F Is Stealing All The Mages Baldur's Gate 3: Who Will Hit On Me Next

[sonofbhaal]

"You're perceptive for an old man. You know why I'm here. Hand over your ward and no one will be hurt."

NAME: Sarevok Anchev RACE: human / Bhaalspawn CLASS: fighter ALIGNMENT: chaotic evil (pre-story) | chaotic good (post SoA) AFFILIATION: none | Gorion's Ward (in the Lord of Murder verse)

GENERAL TAG | HEADCANONS

NOTEWORTHY: My portrayal of Sarevok is true to BG 1 & 2. BG 3 lore is contradicting and undoing integral parts of his original story and character and will be disregarded entirely. Helena/Orin do not exist in my portrayal, at least not as relatives of Sarevok.

VERSES

Lord of Murder: Gorion's Ward has taken the throne of their father and become the new lord (lady) of murder. Due to Sarevok only being alive because she (I default to a female ward but I'm happy to switch!) shared part of her soul with him, he is now bound to her until eternity. [BG3 compatible]

More verses to be added.

RELATIONSHIPS

To be added.

ROMANCEABLE: yes (m/f, no gnomes, halflings or dwarves), but if you want your muse to not hate it, you need to unlock ally level 15, friendship level 35 and romance level 483 first, so good luck.

[sonofbhaal]

"Well, bless me for bein' an idiot if I haven't gone and forgotten me manners!"

NAME: Gaelan Bayle RACE: human CLASS: thief ALIGNMENT: chaotic neutral AFFILIATION: Shadow Thieves Guild

GENERAL TAG | HEADCANONS

Noteworthy: Unless you directly go against the Shadow Thieves it takes quite a lot to turn Gaelan against you. He's near impossible to rile up or provoke, he lets all sorts of actions and comments fly and he's always seemingly on top of his game. He's loyal to the Shadow Thieves and Aran Linvail but he has all kinds of connections and friends all over Athkatla (or Baldur's Gate). In short: he's a great ally to have and with the right amount of coin he's not hard to acquire as such. He's fun, easy-going and willing to help (for a good trade). That said, if you find yourself his enemy/try to kill him you will regret it. He is quite literally invincible in the game (for gameplay reasons) but I like to copy that over into RP for story reasons that can be unlocked at friendship level 50 or with very good ability rolls :)

VERSES

Canon Verse: Set during the events of Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn.

Baldur's Gate 3 verse: I'll relocate the Shadow Thieves to Baldur's Gate for the sake of this verse. The structure of them more or less remains the same. They're a big player in the competing guilds of the city and if you're not with them you should at least make sure you're not against them. Word in the street is, if you want to get in contact with the Shadow Thieves: seek out Gaelan Bayle - or rather, proclaim your interest and see if he'll come find you.

RELATIONSHIPS

To be added.

ROMANCEABLE: default aka BG2 verse no; Gaelan is happily taken. However in a BG3 verse I could be persuaded since his lover will never be RPed anyway 😅 Restrictions: m, humanoid, and for story reasons he has a strong aversion against vampires but never say never.

[sonofbhaal]

"I have not sunk so low as to ally myself with you."

NAME: Anomen Delryn RACE: human CLASS: fighter/cleric ALIGNMENT: lawful neutral (main verse, default) | chaotic neutral (failed trial) or lawful good (passed trial) and here's my favorite quote from r/ to describe how that affects his character:

AFFILIATION: Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart™ | Gorion's Ward | none

GENERAL TAG | HEADCANONS

VERSES

Canon Verse: Aka his main storyline during the events of BG2: Shadows of Amn. Default is that he travels with the ward (at least temporarily) and eventually fails his trial. Alternatives possible!

Baldur's Gate 3 verse: House Delryn is a noble family from Waterdeep and Anomen's story remains more or less the same. He is estranged from his father and aspires to become a knight with the Order of the Radiant Heart (which canonically had a seat in Waterdeep). He has left Waterdeep behind and now travels Faerûn to gain wisdom and skills until the day his trial comes. Possible companion.

RELATIONSHIPS

To be added.

ROMANCEABLE: yes (f/(m), humans, elves, half-elves, (drow)).

[sonofbhaal]

At this point dare I say Gale won't shave because for one, he likes how it looks, but also because Tara and his mother agree that he looks better without a beard. A sure-fire way to decide which choises not to make in terms of fashion.

[sonofbhaal]

Sarevok by Silvenger

What a great drawing of Sarevok in the game prologue.

[sonofbhaal]

headcanon - gale: mystra the bwitch and the folly of men

Hello, I've arrived in the fandom and immediately choose violence. Just kidding, I choose research and talking too much, as does my muse. I'll start this off by saying I disagree with the fandom take of Mystra "gro/oming" Gale due to various reasons, and it's important for my portrayal of Gale so thank you for coming to my TED talk. There's plenty wrong with their relationship, but that's a story for another day.

Here's what I've gathered so far that makes people think in this direction: a) they had a love affair when Gale was younger; b) she is the reason he had his little netherese magic mishap & folklore has it that Mystra likes to snatch little wizard boys for ambiguous reasons.

Okay, let's get into it. (And yes, I am using wikipedia as a source among other things, sue me. This is not an academic paper. Even if it kinda looks like one.)

Here's the literally TLDR (I don't want to call it an abstract): wizards are arrogant and at high risk to overestimate their abilities and importance in a grander scheme of things, so Mystra, as falling into the kind of feminism-inspired archetype of a witch, lays out the possibilty of greatness as a trap to test them and they tend to fail. Gale brought about his own doom and though Mystra had a hand in it, he chose it of his own volition and was not coerced into it. He was also 23/30 years old when he started sleeping with Mystra so I don't understand the collective desire to infantilize him.

a) Gale and Mystra's carnal relationship

Let's start with Gale's age. Gale was born in 1457 DR.

Now, there are two separate sources stating different years for Mystra's return but the core argument for Gale's age does not really change.

This is taken from the Magical Histories: The Spellplague and it suggests that Mystra was restored in 1480 DR, which would put Gale at 23 years old.

Alternatively, the Forgotten Realms Wiki states that Mystra was not restored to power until 1487 DR. Which puts Gale at 30 years minimum when he and Mystra had their relationship.

He wasn't a child, he wasn't a teenager, he was 30 years old. (Or 23. Either way, an adult by all laws and standards.) I suppose one could argue that Mystra (or rather Mystryl at that point) had reached out to him prior to her return, as she did with Elminster, but in my opinion that's not what Gale's story suggests. This also means that Gale's time with Mystra may have been pretty short, because in 1492 DR the events of BG3 start, which was only 5 years after Mystra's return/reincarnation (if we go by the wiki). This is the bit I am undecided about at present and I'm almost leaning toward making him 23 when she started mentoring him, simply because the nature of their relationship makes it sound like more than 5 years have passed. 12 years is not much for a goddess but it would leave a notable influence on Gale's life - and give him actual time to learn and grow enough to impress Mystra into paying attention to him in the first place. It also sounds like he's been without her but with the orb in his chest for a while, so maybe their affair lasted 5ish years and then he was alone for 2 prior to the game storyline.

With that said, a 5-12 year relationship with a grown and consenting adult is not behavior that I would describe as gro/oming. Even if there's a power imbalance (due to god - mortal) and even if there are elements of not-so-kosher intentions involved. Which leads me to..

b) Mystra the WITCH - a somewhat feminist reading

Here's what Minsc said about Mystra that has a lot of people's alarm bells going off:

Weave-touched boys were hidden away, trained to work their craft in silence and secrecy. It is an old custom, not well-observed. In truth I thought it born of caution after some catstrophe wrought by wizardly (?) menfolk of old. Now I wonder if it was not done to hide them from Mystra and the snares she sets for young and prideful boys, hm? Oh, this suggests that Mystra has never tempted a witch into foolishness. Not that I would blaspheme by suggesting otherwise.

Okay. I understand why this sounds wrong as hell when you're already thinking in that direction. But let me offer you a different interpretation for Mystra and what she symbolizes in this case specifically, and please note that I could write a whole paper about Mystra's symbolism but this will be a one-sided reading because I am focusing on her in constrast to Gale, not her as a character by herself.

[Preface: I am not claiming that Mystra represents female liberation, it's just an aspect necessarily tied to the point I'm about to make about her connection to male wizards.]

Mystra - or Mystryl - is an inherently female character, in my opinion, as understood in literary history (not in a modern philosophical way), and more specifically she is inspired by the archetype of the witch; however, trapped between the old archetype - the evil temptress witch who corrupts and attacks good pious men and the (good) "patriarchy" - and the modernized version - the untamed free woman who opposes and threatens the (bad) "patriarchy". This could be in part because DnD was created in the 70s and the sources speaking of Mystryl that I found are from the 90s as well, so her character is bound to have changed up to the creation of BG3 in 2023. And because our narrator in this specific story is a man.

Some quotes that I find useful for this discussion from a thesis:

"The figure of the witch mirrors—albeit sometimes in distorted form—the many images and selfimages of feminism itself." (Source, page 12)

and about the "witch" as a character type in literary history in general:

In other words, the feminists that participated in the creation and dissemination of the myth did so because of its significance as a story that offered an alternative to male-centred history. Purkiss (2003) sustains that the reason why it is significant is that it allows the readers to distinguish the roles of the characters very easily. The myth outlines a story with a clear opposition between men —the oppressors, the bad ones— and women —the victims, the good ones.

Make of that what you will. I am not here to make a point for or against feminism in literature - the idea of it as a basis for Mystra's archetype is simply necessary to get to my point of what she represents in Gale's story. Look at how Mystryl's character is described in the FR wiki:

This is very reminiscent of how authors and philosophers have written about women in the past - fickle nature, capricious, irrational, but also innocent, dedicated and emotional. Going in to that would reach too far here, but historically women used to represent emotion and impulse whereas men represented logic and reason. This description of Mystryl sounds like it was written in the 18th century by a man who is confused by femininity.

Normally I would say Mystra is inspired by Hecate but this point is a little tricky to make considering DnD lore has its own version of Hecate. However I'll still dump it here, because DnD Hecate is a very negative reading of her myth, as she is a chaotic evil goddess not native to Faerûn. That said, a quote about a modern interpretation of Hecate:

In women's eyes, Hecate holds positive intent, though to men she can be destructive. Hecate is the Goddess invoked by women who desired freedom from male tyranny. The goddess Hecate is presented as a resistor of the male and patriarchal. [...] Within mythology, Hecate is deemed too fearful (to men) to be provided with a husband, and thus represents female sovereignty and freedom. Moreover, Hecate shares gifts of magic, inspiration and understanding and governs the creative, unconscious mind; she offered women the power of awakening or dampening male desire and can curse conquerors or unjust rulers. (Source)

Two things I find important here: 1) she is not evil but she can be destructive to men, which is my main point in this entire ramble and 2) she shares magic and understanding with both men and women, but does not tolerate when they overreach - which I'd argue targets male wizards, such as, in our case, Gale. I think she can be destructive because in addition to the witch, Mystryl/Mystra holds elements of the archetype of the temptress.

Here's one take on that archetype from an article on literary devices:

Although allurement is the key element of a temptress archetype, some of her character traits are unique for such a lady. She has her beauty to add to her allurement with seduction, intelligence, and wit to help her in her beauty. [...] However, it is interesting to note that the negativity with her title does not match her real character, as she could have positive character traits despite being a temptress. [...] It seems that she lures characters to her, causing them to be blind to the danger lurking in her. [...] This allurement lies in her femininity and sexuality.

Another inspiration for my take on this is a fun source for a change, one of my favorite songs from Karliene, titled "Witch". Aside from being a banger, this song has lyrics that describe a very specific aspect of men's relationship towards "witches" and how they're seen and treated as evil and deranged and yet desirable (implied) for reasons so extensive they'd blow up the scope of this already too long post.

You’re a foul heathen A demon of malevolence Venomous bitch, old witch You’re the reason for all our sins[...] Vile succubus How you beguiled And defiled my innocence You’re a bitch, you’re a witch You’re the reason for all my sins

The man accusing the witch in this story/song is not even hiding his own transgression: "succubus", "defiled my innocence" and "you're the reason for all our sins" implies that he sinned but instead of taking accountability for his actions, he blames it entirely on her as the archetypical temptress. This is the type of man that Mystra's temptation targets, the type of man her "snares" are created for. (Though not all of them are necessarily vile enough to want to execute her/the temptress for it. It's a concept of male self-importance, not a defined character trait.)

And this is what I think Mystra represents in the context of Gale's story. She showed him a path to greatness, great knowledge and power but she didn't force him to walk it. She even denied him when he asked to gain more access. Yet he chose to do it anyway and it led to his downfall and her punishment. So is Mystra entirely innocent in Gale's fall? No. I believe she has tempted him - and other men before him - to seek more knowledge and more power and eventually fall to their doom, because it was never meant for them; but instead of recognizing that and accepting their place, they all fell victim to their own hubris and self-importance. As did Gale. Even if he says he did it to impress her, he first and foremost thought of himself. He wanted the knowledge and the magic and the proof that he can walk on spheres meant for gods alone. And he had a rude awakening.

If anything, this is what I think Mystra does to "young wizard boys" and what her danger really is. It's not about her seducing young wizards for her own sexual interests - though in some cases her relationship to them may take on this nature because temptation and seduction historically looks a specific way in art and literature - but about luring and seducing them into revealing their own arrogance and hubris and falling victim to it. Which is a not a nice thing to do, but it's a very different thing from what the fandom makes her out to be. They could also resist, but within their inability to resist lies the reason for Mystra's justification for doing it in the first place.

*In addition and to place some more responsibility on Mystra: she might also like to see if they can rise to a certain power, but if they do she loses interest. And if they can't then it proves a point. None of what I wrote is meant to present Mystra as a nice goddess - I just find the way she is spoken about kind of misses the mark. She has obvious flaws but I see them in other places.

I'm so sorry, what a nightmare to read. If you made it this far, have some chocolate: 🍫

[sonofbhaal]

Day #2 of being disappointed to the bone that "Gortash" did not turn out to be a majestic half-orc general.

[sonofbhaal]

Haven't had much energy for posting lately but here is more Gale ✨

[sonofbhaal]

Trying to make Anomen in BG3 character creator and he lowkey looks like human!Shrek..

..and Rory looks like Tarabas. *puts face in hands*