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tabitha42 · 3 days ago

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The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 75

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

Saff woke with a gasp.

The nightmares still plagued her, but she at least didn’t wake up screaming anymore. She was glad for this, not only for Gale’s sake, but for everyone else’s. She wasn’t sure they’d all be happy with her sleeping in the same room if she woke them with screams every night.

Gale slept soundly next to her, his arm loosely draped over her waist, Tara curled up between them. She tried cuddling up closer to them, but found herself restless, haunted by lingering unease.

Eventually she gave up on sleep and quietly got up, being careful not to wake anyone. Maybe a breath of fresh air would help clear her head.

Cool night air greeted her as she emerged out onto the roof of the Elfsong. The usually bustling streets were quiet now, just the odd figure making their way down the empty alleyways, the sounds of footsteps echoing into the still of the night.

She found a spot near the edge of the roof where the stone fence had crumbled and sat down. The plants that lined the roof bought her a sense of peace as she looked up at the cloudless sky, a thousand stars twinkling around a full moon. With a deep breath she closed her eyes, feeling the cool air against her skin, hearing the gentle rustle of the plants in the breeze, willing the serenity of the night to swallow the anxiety that gripped her heart.

“My my darling, you’re up late.”

She was so surprised by the unexpected voice that she nearly fell off the roof.

She looked round to see Astarion standing behind her, a curious smirk on his lips.

“Astarion! What are you doing here?” She gasped, a little annoyed that he’d interrupted her.

“Brooding, what else?” He answered casually as he sat down next to her. “I’ve still got a bit of time before I need to trance, but you should be fast asleep by now.”

She sighed slightly as she pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged her legs.

“I… can’t sleep. Nightmares,” she muttered quietly, looking away.

“Ahh, nightmares of the mind flayer variety, or did you step on a butterfly once as a child and have been haunted by the guilt ever since?”

She couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Neither… I think.”

“You think?” He asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah. I… I get these nightmares every night, but I don’t remember them when I wake up.”

“Ohh, how juicy,” he enthused, grinning curiously.

“Astarion! This is serious,” she objected, looking over at him.

“And I’m taking this very seriously, darling!” He gasped, scandalised, putting his hand on his chest. “Do you have any idea at all what the nightmares are?”

“Yes… Gale used a spell to enter my dreams while I was asleep. He saw me hanging from chains, dripping with blood, while a male figure stood nearby holding a knife.”

“Oh, now that is interesting. Any idea who the figure is?”

She narrowed her eyes slightly and how excited he was by this.

“I don’t know for sure, but… there’s one person that fits that description…”

She trailed off, unsure how much she wanted to talk about this. Perhaps she could just say she was tired and wanted to head back to bed… but somehow the thought of talking about it didn’t weigh as heavily over her as it once had.

“An ex-boyfriend… who once attacked me with a kitchen knife,” she said quietly, lightly touching the fringe that covered her scar.

A look of realisation crossed Astarion’s face.

“Where does he live? I’m still up for that revenge I promised you. I’ll have him drained before sunrise.”

Saff had to smile to herself at how eagerly Astarion wanted revenge on her behalf, even if part of his motivation was likely selfish.

“I don’t want revenge on him, but I appreciate the sentiment,” she said, looking over at him.

“Are you sure you don’t want revenge? Maybe that’ll help stop the nightmares.”

“Yes, I’m sure. I just want to never have to see him again.”

“You wouldn’t have to. I could send your regards,” he offered, then backed down when he saw the disapproving look on her face. “Alright, alright, but do let me know if you change your mind. Blood tastes all the sweeter with a side of vengeance.”

“Listen to you,” she chuckled, “you’re just as eager for this as you are for revenge against Cazador. Anyone would think you were the one Aryn had hurt.”

“Revenge for a friend is just as sweet as revenge for oneself,” he said, a sincerity behind his usually flippant manner. “So Aryn is his name? I will bear that in mind.”

“Please don’t start drawing your daggers against every Aryn you come across,” she requested with a small chuckle.

“I’ll try to resist the urge. But, jokes aside - I’m not going to say you have to go after him. As much as I want revenge on Cazador, I can also see the appeal of simply never returning to that place again, if I believed he wouldn’t hunt me down. I am just saying… I know how it feels, to be left scarred by someone like him. I know how much it hurts. He shouldn’t be allowed to get away with that.”

She went quiet, touched by his words. It wasn’t often she saw Astarion speak so sincerely or empathetically, and it meant a lot to her to hear it now.

“Thank you,” she said softly. “I appreciate it. Really, I do. And if it helps, he didn’t get away with it, not entirely. I… exploded a Firebolt in his face. Apparently he was left with pretty bad burns.”

A smile came to Astarion’s lips.

“That’s my girl,” he said proudly. Again, she couldn’t help but laugh at his phrasing.

There was a noise behind them, and they both turned to see Gale emerging onto the roof, his eyes falling on them.

“Ah, seems it’s time for me to tag out,” Astarion said, rising to his feet. “I’ll see you both in the morning, bright and early. ”

Gale watched in slight confusion as Astarion walked past him and climbed back down the ladder into the building. He then turned to Saff, headed over and sat next to her.

“Nightmares?” He asked, and she nodded.

“Yeah. Sorry, I hope I didn’t worry you, not being there when you woke up.”

“Don’t apologise,” he said softly, taking her hand in his. “You… spoke to Astarion about it?” He asked, and the slight disbelief in his voice at her choice of confidant was clear to her. And maybe there was a hint of jealousy there too that she chose to ignore.

“Yeah. I didn’t really intend to, I came out to get some fresh air and he was already up here. I told him who Aryn was, what he did… he offered revenge, of course,” she said with a small chuckle. “I told him I didn’t want that, but I know that’s his way of supporting me, so I appreciate it.”

“Yes, that sounds like him,” Gale murmured. “How are you feeling now?”

“A bit better,” she answered, leaning her head against his shoulder. “I’ll come back down soon. I wanna stay here just a bit longer, if you’ll stay with me?”

“Of course, my love.”

In the morning it seemed the conversation had given Astarion an extra drive for revenge as he argued for the group to face Cazador today, and to his delight, they agreed.

The castle was everything one might expect a vampire lair to be, yet that didn’t help the feeling of unease Saff felt as they wandered its halls. Her heart ached for Astarion every time they saw evidence of the life he’d lived, the tortures he’d endured, the horrors he’d faced over the last two centuries… and her heart broke completely when they found the spawn.

Watching Astarion’s reunion with Sebastion, learning that the spawn had been locked in these cells for decades, seeing even children in there too… she almost couldn’t comprehend the level of evil required for such things, and as they descended the stairs and listened to Cazador boast of his ascension, she was only too eager to draw her staff and dive into battle with the others.

In the end, for all his boasting, Cazador still suffered the same weakness as all vampires, and there was little he could do against the multiple Sunbeams of the group’s mages.

They watched as Astarion ripped Cazador from his coffin and threw him to the ground, then turned to them - specifically, to Shadowheart.

“I can do this, but I need your help,” he said to her. Her eyes widened in shock, and slowly she shook her head and stepped back.

“No, Astarion. I said I’d do anything to help you defeat Cazador, but I won’t help you with this. Not at the cost of so many lives. It’s not worth it.”

A flash of anger - or, was that pain? - crossed his face, then he turned to the others.

“Then someone else! Help me!”

“Seven thousand people…” Saff whispered, shaking her head, shocked that he would consider such a thing. The others voiced their agreement, until Astarion snapped at them all.

“These people died years ago, trust me on that! All that’s left are feral spawn, desperate for blood. If we release them, how many will they kill? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? But if they die and I ascend, I won’t have to rely on the parasite to walk in the sun. I’ll be free - truly, completely free!”

“If you won’t think of the spawn then think of yourself,” Malitas argued. “You’ll replace those scars on your back with a target. How many adventurers, how many monster hunters and mercenaries will come after you, wanting to kill the world’s first vampire ascendant? You won’t be free - you’ll be more hunted than ever.”

“Let them come,” Astarion replied confidently, a darkness in his voice. “I’ll kill them all.”

“So the spawn will just be the start?” Saff objected. “You’d kill 7000 people, then how many thousands more over the centuries? Don’t you see, Astarion? You’d become just like Cazador. You said it yourself - you’re so much more than what he made you. So be more than what he made you. He made you scared and hurt and afraid, but don’t give into that fear. Don’t let it control you. Only then will you be free.”

Tension hung in the air as the group held their breaths, watching Astarion close his eyes, a wince of pain crossing his face… before he finally sighed deeply, like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

“You-... you’re right. I can be better than him.”

Saff let go of her breath and smiled widely, feeling relief was over her. Astarion then turned to Cazador, the smile back on his lips.

“But I’m not above enjoying this.”

Astarion had spoken many times in the past about how getting revenge against Cazador would be the greatest moment of his life. How it would be everything he’d looked forward to for decades, everything he’d planned for, everything he’d hoped for, a final moment of justice, freedom and vindication. But when the time finally came, after he let out all his rage and all his anger, it was only pain that he was left with.

The night was quiet once more as Saff stepped out onto the roof. Tonight, though, it wasn’t for her own sake.

She saw him before he saw her this time, sat on the floor, staring up at the stars.

He looked up at her as she approached and sat down next to him.

“Brooding again?” She asked with a warm smile.

“Always, darling,” he replied with a smooth smile of his own, though she knew there was more behind it.

“How are you feeling?” She asked softly. His smile fell and he looked away with a scoff.

“It feels ridiculous to still be thinking about Cazador. He’s gone, I’m here - I won. But I still keep reliving everything that happened. Playing it over and over in my mind,” he explained, bitterness in his tone.

“After all that happened to you for so long, no wonder you’re still thinking about how it all ended. All those feelings, all that pain… it’s not gonna suddenly go away, just cause he’s dead,” she said sympathetically.

“Yes, I suppose you’re right. I’m still trying to understand it, really. I’d thought that moment of revenge would be everything I needed, but…”

He trailed off and went silent, looking out at the stars.

“I guess revenge isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” Saff offered. Such a suggestion would once have been balked at by Astarion, but now, he sighed in agreement.

“I hate to say it, but… seems you’re right,” he admitted reluctantly. “That’s not to say I would change it,” he added quickly, turning to look at her. “I’m glad the bastard’s dead. I suppose I just… expected more.”

He looked forward again, a moment of comfortable quiet between them, until Saff spoke again.

“By the way, I wanted to say how proud of you I am, for not going ahead with the ritual. I think if you had done, it would have changed you.”

He looked at her with a smile.

“I should be thanking you for that. You saved me back there. I may not have appreciated it at the time, but I do now. Thank you,” he said gratefully.

“Don’t just thank me, we were all trying to talk you down!” She objected with a small chuckle.

“That might be true… but it was you that truly made me realise how much of a fool I’d have been to go through with it. And not just that, the whole thing was only possible because of you,” he said with a sincerity she rarely heard from him. “Back when I first bit you, you could have cast me out or killed me. The others would have been only too happy to go along with it. But you didn’t. You saw something in me, and now because of that, I’m finally free. Truely, honestly, free.” His smile turned more playful now, though there was still a deep sincerity behind it. “This is a gift, you know. Thank you - I won’t forget it.”

His familiar words, first spoken the morning after he’d first fed on her, and the emotion with which he spoke them, were enough to bring a tear to her eye. She pulled him into a hug, one that he gladly returned.

---

The Flora and Fauna of Icewind Dale was an interesting enough book, yet she found her gaze being drawn back out to the setting sun every few sentences. Eventually she gave up on the book and set it aside, deciding instead to lay back against the pillows of the bed and stare out the window.

She stayed like this until Malitas returned that evening, long after the sun had set.

“How was your day?” She asked, sitting up to give him a hug.

“Productive. We are no closer to defeating the Elder Brain, but we did kill a vampire lord,” he replied, returning the hug.

“A vampire lord? Is that Astarion’s master? You said he wanted revenge, right?”

“It is indeed,” he confirmed, parting from her and heading across the room. “Now if you’ll excuse me for a moment, I have my own revenge to plan.”

He looked up at the hatch in the ceiling leading to the attic, waved a hand, and the hatch opened. A ladder slid down into place and he began to climb up.

“You do?” She asked curiously, sitting up and shifting forward slightly on the bed as she watched him disappear up into the attic. “Against who?”

“Against one Gale Dekarios,” came his muffled voice in response, accompanied by the sound of shifting crates and boxes.

“What’s Gale done?” She asked nervously, trying to get a look up the stairs to see what he was doing. Last time she’d seen the attic it was while he was collecting furniture for the annex. That felt like so long ago now…

He didn’t answer for a moment, then finally appeared at the hatch again and began descending the steps, holding an ornate box under his arm. Once back on the ground he held the box out and blew a layer of dust off it.

“What’s that?” She asked, getting up from the bed and walking over next to him to look at it.

“The instrument of my revenge,” he answered unhelpfully, brushing the dust off the top.

“Is that… a lanceboard set?” She laughed when she finally realised what it was.

“It is indeed. Saff and Gale teamed up on me, hardly fair. I intend to rematch Gale alone,” he explained, closing the hatch with another wave of his hand.

“It’s so fancy… I’m surprised you let it sit up there, gathering dust for so long,” she commented, her eyes wandering over the elegant engravings across the case.

“I haven’t had anyone to play against for some time,” he explained, a hint of sadness in his tone as he looked down at the case in his hands.

“You never asked me to play!” She objected, and he looked at her with slight surprise.

“Would you like to play?”

It had been years since she’d last played lanceboard, yet it all came back to her like she’d played yesterday as they set up the pieces. She didn’t really think she stood a chance against him, though the truth of the matter became clear when she toppled his Cyric.

“Checkmate,” she declared, leaning back in her chair.

“Bravo,” Malitas congratulated, lifting his wine glass in a toast to her.

“Oh please, give me a break. I know you let me win,” she scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

“Heh… insightful as always,” he conceded, before putting his glass down and leaning forward to collect the pieces. She watched him for a moment, contemplating.

“Why?” She asked eventually. He paused and looked at her. “Why let me win?”

“Seeing you happy will bring me more joy than any lanceboard victory.”

She laughed and picked up his fallen Cyric.

“I’d rather lose in a real game than win because you let me,” she said, looking down at the intricate engraving across the piece.

“I shall bear that in mind for next time,” he replied, returning to collecting the pieces. She was quiet as she turned the Cyric over in her hands, then a smile came to her lips when she realised something.

“Is that why you want to rematch Gale alone? Why you can’t beat him if he’s playing with Saff?” She asked with a teasing smile. “You know Saff would prefer to lose a real game, too.”

“...I know,” he murmured after a long pause, a hint of guilt in his voice. She wondered if there was more behind that guilt than just the lanceboard game.

He said nothing more as he continued gathering the pieces, placing them carefully into the case.

“Well I hope your revenge against Gale is as sweet as Astarion’s against his master,” she commented, still looking at the Cyric in her hands as she ran her fingers over the engravings.

“Actually, I think Astarion’s revenge was not everything he was hoping for,” he replied, and she looked over at him in surprise. “The pain of all he’d endured overshadowed the catharsis of his vengeance. He is happy overall for it, knowing he will no longer be hunted down, but it was not the moment he’d been imagining.”

“Oh…” she murmured, glancing back down again at the piece in her hands. “That’s a shame. He deserved that moment. Anyone who’s been hurt does.”

“You surprise me.”

She glanced up and saw him looking at her with a frown.

“Do you disagree, then? You think people shouldn’t seek revenge?”

“Not at all,” he replied, picking up the last piece from the table and putting it in the box, leaving only his Cyric remaining. “I just didn’t expect it from you.”

She paused, then gave him a smile.

“I’m just full of surprises,” she said playfully, leaning forward and placing the Cyric down in front of him on its side.

#gale #bg3 gale #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale x tav

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tabitha42 · 8 days ago

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The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 74

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

Saff watched as Wyll stood by the blackboard at the end of the table they were all sat at and added to the group’s ever-growing to-do list.

“I gotta find a way to fix my engine!”

“We must find a way into the devil’s home and take the Orphic Hammer!”

“I need to go to my old cloister and find my parents!”

“Cazador has to die!”

“Cazador?”

Malitas interrupted the flow somewhat with his question, and Saff realised he’d not been there when Astarion had told the others about this.

“Yes - my master. He is planning some sort of profane ascension. I intend to kill him and perform the ascension myself.”

Saff always felt deeply uncomfortable when Astarion spoke of ascending, though that clearly wasn’t what was on Malitas’s mind.

“Cazador Szarr? The high elf?”

“Yes. Don’t tell me you know him?” Astarion asked, grimacing at the thought that Malitas and Cazador might be friends.

“I’ve met him once or twice over the years, though like me he doesn’t often go to the Upper City’s social gatherings. I never realised he was a vampire lord… though it seems obvious in hindsight. He even invited me to some of his soirees. I am very glad I didn’t go now.”

“Small world,” Astarion commented. “So you’ll be happy to help me kill him, then?”

“With pleasure, if you will help us in return. We need to break into the vaults of Sorcerous Sundries and find a book called the Annals of Karsus to help us understand the crown. The vaults will be filled with traps. We need you to disarm them.”

“Leave it to me, darling,” Astarion agreed with a smooth smile.

“I think we should do that after we’ve taken out the Steel Watch factory,” Saff suggested, to Malitas’s confusion.

“Why?”

“Because the Steel Watchers are all over the city. There were two in the basement of the Baldur’s Mouth! Astarion barely escaped with his life. What if Sorcerous Sundries has them for security, too?”

“Then we shall destroy them,” he said simply, and she found herself bristling at his confidence against such an enemy, which he clearly noticed. “We cannot wait until the factory is dealt with. We don’t even have any leads on where the hostages’ families are being held, and we can’t afford to wait until we do. The crown should be our focus. We need that book as soon as possible.”

“I agree,” Gale added. “I understand your concern Saff, but that book could be the key to everything!”

“That book could get us all killed!” She objected, her voice rising in frustration.

“I will get it myself if you’re this worried,” Malitas offered, “I know the security, it will take only a few minutes.”

“You can’t go on your own! And you don’t know what’s changed since you installed the security!”

“I know what I’m capable of and I know how important that book is for us!”

“That book won’t be any good to us if you’re cut in half while trying to get it!”

“Enough!”

They went silent as Jaheira’s voice cut through the argument.

“The benefits of finding the book are theoretical. The benefits of shutting down the Steel Watch are definite. We focus on taking out the Steel Watch first,” she said firmly.

“Fine,” Malitas muttered through gritted teeth, shaking his head in disapproval.

Arguments always left Saff on edge, but the tension that hung between them quickly disappeared later that day when they descended with the others into the House of Grief and found themselves once again fighting for their lives.

Watching Shadowheart reunite with her parents only to realise the price she must pay to stay with them was a heartbreaking moment, yet despite Shar’s cruel words, Shadowheart still chose to suffer the pain of the curse if it meant having her parents back. As Saff watched the family finally embrace each other, she wondered if she’d be lucky enough to get such a reunion with her own parents one day.

Thoughts of meeting her parents lingered in her mind as Shadowheart showed her parents around their suite as the Elfsong upon their return, though Gale had quite a different take on the events.

“Shar’s cruelty knows no bounds,” he said to Malitas as the two wizards rested on the sofas near the fireplace sharing a bottle of wine, watching Saff celebrate with Shadowheart and the others. “How the gods toy with us all, seeing us as nothing more than pawns in their celestial wars.”

“Be careful saying that too loud, I’m sure the Selûnite family over there would disagree,” Malitas said with a small chuckle, though Gale didn’t share his amusement.

“Selûne is not much better. She allowed this to happen to Shadowheart’s family. She allowed Aylin to be captured. She allowed Isobel to die. Her indifference drove Ketheric to Shar and Myrkul. She may not actively seek to harm mortals, but she does little to protect her most devout followers. If that is the bar we are setting for treating one’s followers well, then I think that tells us all we need to know about the morality of the gods.” He folded his arms and shook his head. “Perhaps Karsus was onto something after all.”

“Bold words,” Malitas commented, glancing sideways at him.

“Do you disagree?”

“No, but be careful how far you let that train of thought take you. I’d hate to see you repeat Karsus’s mistake.”

“Perhaps Karsus’s mistake was not in his ambition, but in his spell. Perhaps, with the right knowledge, that could be rectified.”

Malitas turned to Gale with a look of warning. “Even at the crown’s full power, Karsus was not able to take the power of a god for himself. The chances of the crown still retaining that much power are slim to none, and even if it did, you are no Karsus, and neither am I. Trying to replicate his spell would be suicide.”

“That might be the most humble thing I’ve ever heard to say,” Gale commented with an amused smile. Malitas chuckled and leant back in his chair.

“I am not being humble, I am being realistic. Karsus was one of - if not the - greatest wizards of all time. I’ve lived this long because I know to pick my battles. Karsus didn’t, and gods and mortals alike have suffered for his folly ever since. I don’t wish to witness first-hand a second fall of Netheril. Don’t let your thirst for vengeance cloud your judgement.”

“I am not saying I would definitely want to do this. It is simply… hypothetical.”

“Then I hypothetically suggest you discard it. There are many things the crown can do for us that don’t involve almost certain death.”

“Such as?” Gale prompted, looking at him curiously. “What would you use it for?”

“I would use it for whatever benefits it may bring us that don’t lead to a strong likelihood of getting us all killed. Though we will only know what those benefits may be once we have more information on it. It has likely lost much of its power since Karsus wore it, so until we know what it is still capable of, it’s impossible to say what I’d use it for.”

“Impossible to say for sure, perhaps, but we can still speak in hypotheticals,” Gale reasoned. “Should we find it at its full power, what would you do? I know you don’t wish to usurp the gods, but there may be other paths to divinity.”

“Divinity? Is that what you would do, then? Seek godhood?” Malitas asked curiously, watching Gale as he contemplated his answer.

“I may not be able to stop the gods from doing as they wish, but perhaps I could be something better. A god that will help mortals, rather than use and discard them.”

“A tempting prospect indeed,” Malitas considered, “if you can become a god without angering the existing gods then you’ll receive no objection from me. But remember - Karsus’s spell was designed to ascend one to godhood by stealing the power of another god, not to create an entirely new god.”

“That’s what history tells us, but those that wrote history did not have direct access to the crown, nor the book Karsus himself wrote on the subject. Perhaps there is more to it.”

“Perhaps,” Malitas echoed, “yet, even if it were possible, would you truly leave Saff to become a god?”

“Not at all! I would take her with me,” Gale answered quickly, turning to him and seeing the look of suspicion on his face. “I would never leave her. But with something like this… I could be so much more for her,” he explained, almost pleadingly, trying to make him understand. “You once said that she deserved the world and asked me if I could give it to her. I told you that I could give her the world, and so much more. Now I see just how true that could be.”

“So now you want to create not one new god, but two?” He challenged with an amused smile, then shook his head. “It is easy to say such things when it’s nothing more than hypotheticals and speculation, but I think you should adjust your expectations to something more realistic. Even if it’s possible for the crown to ascend a mortal without stealing another god’s powers, it won’t be able to ascend two mortals. So if ascension is possible, perhaps leave it for someone who won’t leave a heartbroken lover behind?”

“Ah, I wonder who you’ve got in mind for that,” Gale chuckled as he looked pointedly at Malitas. “And what would you become the god of?”

Malitas hummed in thought as he drummed his fingers on his wine glass.

“Patience, perhaps? I’ve needed a lot of patience dealing with you all throughout this,” he suggested, eliciting a chuckle from Gale as he swirled his wine in his glass. “Hmm… knowledge? Learning? Teaching?” He leant back in his chair and sighed. “Alas, all these domains are taken.”

“Indeed… and if you’re going to try to take an existing god’s domain, you might as well become the god of magic,” Gale suggested. It was meant mostly as a joke, but Malitas was clearly not amused by Gale bringing up the subject of usurping Mystra again.

“I have decided,” Malitas declared. “I will become the elven god of being endlessly frustrated by humans and their infinite capacity for self-destruction. You could be one of my Chosen.”

Gale barked a laugh.

“That’s a very niche portfolio you’d have.”

“And yet, I’m sure I’d get a lot of followers.”

Gale chuckled and took a sip of his wine.

“Very well, I take your point. But I implore you not to rule anything out,” he said, looking at him with a more serious look. Malitas sighed deeply when he saw the look in Gale’s eyes.

“I understand your desire for revenge, Gale. Truly I do. I have always respected Saff’s ability to simply move on from those that have wronged her, but it is not a philosophy I share with her. I cannot tell you how much self-restraint it took to stay my hand when I heard what Aryn had done to her. I have gone to great lengths to exact revenge in the past… but only against those I know I can succeed against. Trying to fight a god would bring only ruin. But… at your request, I will not rule anything out. It is a pity it will be so long before we get the chance to know what is truly possible,” he murmured, a slight hint of disapproval in his voice as he glanced at Saff.

“You call me self-destructive, yet you criticise her for being the opposite?” Gale questioned.

“Yes. You are too reckless and she is too cautious. Though I suppose that means you work well together,” he commented in thought as he took a sip of his drink.

“And you have perfect judgement, I assume?” Gale asked with a hint of sarcasm.

“Indeed. I’m glad you understand.”

Gale laughed as he leant back in his chair.

“Well forgive me for doubting you.”

“All is forgiven.”

“What a kind and forgiving god you would make.”

Malitas chuckled, a smile on his lips as he took a sip of wine.

“You should be careful how much you try to convince me of godhood, you know. Only one of us would be able to ascend on the off-chance such a thing is even possible. I doubt you’d want competition.”

“We could settle it over a game of lanceboard,” Gale suggested, and Malitas immediately perked up at the idea.

“We do still need to finish our game. Very well, next time we’re at my tower, I’ll find my lanceboard set and the future of the Faerunian pantheon will be decided.”

The two of them clinked their glasses together and sealed the deal.

---

Careful, slowly, slowly…

She held her breath as she gently tipped the bottle, trying to steady her shaking hand, watching as the liquid made its way to the rim. Just a drop… a single drop…

Last time she’d tried this, she’d hadn’t been gentle enough and had poured too much, same as every time she’d tried before that. Then Malitas had burst in looking for basilisk oil to depetrify Saff. She could only hope neither of these things happened again this time.

A single drop fell from the bottle into the mortar below and the concoction fizzed and bubbled. With an excited gasp she quickly moved the bottle away, staring for a moment in disbelief before a wide grin spread across her face.

“Yes! Yes!!” She cheered in excited delirium, jumping up and down on the spot. How long had it taken to get this right? Months and months, over a year now in fact, yet it still felt like beginner’s luck.

The fizzing died down as the potion stabilised, until it was left with only the gentle glow of magic infused into liquid. She prepared a fresh bottle, inserted a funnel and carefully poured the contents of the mortar into it, making sure not to spill a drop. With the funnel removed and replaced with a cork, she was left with the completed potion, which she held like a delicate treasure in her hands. All she could do now was hope it worked when the time came.

She heard noises in the distance, the familiar sound of the front door closing that heralded Malitas’s return. Quickly she headed to the back of the room, pulled aside the old crates piled up in the corner and carefully pried a familiar loose brick from the wall. With a quick incantation she summoned a Mage Hand and held the potion out for it. At her command, the hand took the potion and floated into the crevice behind the wall, lowered down and placed the bottle on the ground. With a wave she dismissed it, then replaced the brick and pulled the crates back into place.

After clearing everything away and wiping down the table, she headed out to find Malitas. As usual she found him in his study, though rather than sitting at his desk engrossed in his work, today he was rifling through a bookshelf.

“What are you looking for?” She asked after he gave her a rather distracted greeting.

“An old notebook of mine,” he replied, pulling out a book, taking a quick glance through, then putting it back and resuming his search.

“Can I help?” She offered, but he shook his head.

“I can’t remember well enough what it looks like to describe it to you, I need to find it myself,” he answered, looking at another book, frowning slightly as he moved the bookmark a few pages along, then replacing the book.

“Right… what’s in the book that you’re looking for?”

“Notes on something I worked on some time ago that I’m going to need if we’re to have any hope of stopping this crisis.” He checked another book, frowned again, moved the bookmark and replaced the book on the shelf.

“What is it? Something that can remove their tadpoles? Or fight mind flayers?” She asked, but he shook his head.

“Nothing like that. A security system that I…” he trailed off, his frown deepening as he took the bookmark out of his latest book, flicked back and forth through the pages, then placed the bookmark back in with a shake of his head and returned the book to the shelf. “That I designed some time ago,” he finished as he took another book.

“Why do you need notes on a security system?” She asked, watching as he once again took out a bookmark and looked at it in confusion.

“I’m sure that wasn’t…” he muttered to himself, then shook his head and ignored it as he continued his search. “Because there’s something secured by it that we need. And while I’m at it, I can improve the security on this tower. Aradin and his mercenaries should never have broken in as easily as they did. Evidently the wards I’ve set up in the past have worn off, I should rectify that. Ah!”

He grinned triumphantly as he pulled a new book from the shelf and began flipping through it.

“Finally, I-” he stopped, looking at the bookmark he’d just taken out of the book, then back at the book, then at the bookshelf, then finally over at her.

“Have you been messing with my bookmarks??”

#gale #bg3 gale #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale x tav

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tabitha42 · 11 days ago

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WIP Wednesday

Tagged by both @parkouringrabbit and @chaoswritesthemultiverse! A little snippet from the next chapter I'm writing for The Wizard's Apprentice (well, next chapter on AO3, still a few chapters away on here cause I keep forgetting to post chapters on Tumblr 😅). You know what they say about mortal lives...

(And yes I know it's Thursday, I don't care ❤️)

I tag @itinerantginger-blog @hi-jinkx @thelittlesorceressbg3!

#bg3 fanfiction #fanfiction wip #bg3 #bg3 gale #gale of waterdeep #baldurs gate 3

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tabitha42 · 12 days ago

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I've been so excited about the BG3 photo mode, and of course this was the first thing I did when I got it 😂

#bg3 gale #gale #gale x tav #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 #bg3 screenshots #gale screenshots #galemance #my tav #FlutterWeave #bg3 photomode

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tabitha42 · 18 days ago

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I wanted to recreate this dance scene in my fic, so did a little in-game photoshoot!

#gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale x tav #bg3 #bg3 screenshots #gale #bg3 gale #galemance #gale screenshots #my tav #FlutterWeave

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tabitha42 · 19 days ago

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I've made lots of posts about Saff, thought I'd also post some pictures of Malitas, for anyone reading my fic who wants to know what he looks like in-game!

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tabitha42 · 23 days ago

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Describe your Tav/Durge’s personality w/ a character(s) you associate them with.

Tagged by @thelittlesorceressbg3! Thank you for the tag!

Sansa Stark: Sansa was a big inspiration, young girl who believes in true love and fairy tales, but has to learn the world is not like that and grow strong enough to survive in it. Though luckily for Saff, she actually did get her fairy tale romance. This inspiration is referenced in the fic - Saff's favourite food is lemon cakes, in reference to Sansa'a favourite food being lemon cakes!

Cinderella: Saff's whole story is a bit of a Cinderlla story, except instead of a fairy god mother giving her a ball gown, it's a mind flayer giving her a tadpole.

As a little bonus, a character I associate her with not for personality, but for appearance:

The moment I saw these pictures of Daphne I thought "that is EXACTLY how I imagine Saff would look in real life!" then watched Bridgerton just to see more of her 😂 Daphne is definitely much more cunning than Saff, but they both want their fairy tale ending!

I tag @deerancha @chaoswritesthemultiverse!

#bg3 #my tav #FlutterWeave

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tabitha42 · 24 days ago

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The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 73

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

It was hard to say which out of Saff and Karlach were more excited as they entered the Circus of Last Days.

The buzzing atmosphere, the delighted shouts and laughter, the music, the spectacle… Saff loved it all. The free entry meant it was a popular day trip for the orphanage she grew up in, and she had many fond memories of the hours spent there with her friends. As children they’d never received any money to spend and could only enjoy the free attractions, but today that was no longer the case.

“What are you going to do with a disguise kit?” Gale questioned as she walked away from the mummy, proudly holding her latest purchase.

“Disguise myself, obviously,” she joked, putting it into her bag. “I haven’t decided who I’m going to disguise myself as yet, but I’m sure I’ll find a use for it! Now, what’s next?”

“A djinni with a spin-to-win game. The odds are significantly against the player, it would be a waste of money to-” “Ooh I wanna play!” She gasped, running over. Gale sighed deeply, and followed.

Karlach was already there, watching the wheel spin, fists balled in excitement. Wyll and Malitas were with her, Wyll watching in good faith while Malitas eyed the wheel with a suspicion Saff didn’t notice at all as she ran up to them.

“Come on, come on!” Karlach was chanting, til the wheel finally stopped, just past the jackpot.

“ALAS - NO JACKPOT FOR YOU, UGLY ONE. BUT YOU MAY HAVE THIS!” The djinni declared, presenting her with an old pair of boots that pulsed dimly with a hint of Weave.

“Aww…” she murmured, but quickly chased away her disappointment as she turned to Saff. “Are you gonna try?”

“Of course!” She announced excitedly, running up and handing her money over.

Gale decided to try to forget his scepticism about such games, and instead focused on the excitement it gave her, despite knowing it was almost impossible to win.

He was rather surprised when the wheel landed on the jackpot.

“Yes!!” Saff gasped in delight, unable to believe her luck. “I got it! I can’t believe it!” “CHEATER!”

She almost stumbled back in surprise as the djinni suddenly roared over them.

“YOU THIEF! YOU CHEATED!”

“Wha… what? I didn’t cheat!” She objected, looking quite nervous as she stepped backwards. Gale took a step forward protectively.

“Is that really how you treat your winners? Immediately assume they’ve cheated?” He snapped accusingly, narrowing his eyes at the djinni.

“LIAR!” He shouted at her, even louder than before. “ENJOY THE JACKPOT, MEWLING CURD!”

He raised his hands and in a poof, Saff was gone.

Immediately, they prepared for a fight.

“What have you done with her?!” Gale shouted, and Malitas was at his side in an instant, irate with anger.

“Bring her back, now!” He demanded, but the djinni was unphased.

“SHE GOT HER PRIZE, TAKE YOUR TURN OR MOVE ALONG,” he said dismissively, waving them away.

“Bring her back or I will incinerate you!” Gale roared, flames flaring at his fingertips. It wasn’t very often he got so angry, but it also wasn’t very often the love of his life disappeared into thin air.

“I SAID, MOVE ALONG!” The djinni insisted, his voice growing with anger.

“If you do not bring her back,” Malitas began, “I will drag your soul through the depths of Avernus then eradicate it from existence!”

The argument grew louder and louder as Karlach and Wyll joined with threats of their own, and soon they had a small audience gathering around them. Before long the whole group were with them, shouting angry threats until there was nothing but pandemonium… until a voice cut through the noise.

“HEY!!!” They all went silent and turned to see Saff, who looked like she’d been dragged through a hedge backwards.

“YOU SENT ME TO CHULT!!” She cried angrily as she glared at the djinni. “I nearly got eaten by a dinosaur!! What the hells?!”

Gale’s anger dissipated immediately to relief, which then quickly turned back to anger once more when he realised how much danger she’d been in. Furious, he turned back to the djinni, who still looked unphased.

“HAH! HOW DID THE DESPICABLE CHEATER ENJOY HER VACATION?” The djinni taunted smugly.

“I didn’t cheat!!”

“YES YOU DID!” “No she didn’t! I did!” Malitas shouted, looking exasperated as he glared at the djinni. “I saw what you were doing, changing the result with a Mage Hand. So I did the same.”

“YOU ARE THE CHEATER!?” The djinni announced in a mixture of surprise and anger. “THEN YOU WILL HAVE YOUR JACKPOT!”

“If you even think of sending me to Chult-” Malitas began, before disappearing in a puff of magic.

The djinni barely even had time to open his mouth to speak before there was the woosh of a portal, and Malitas was back.

“I’m afraid that isn’t quite so effective on me,” he said to the djinni through gritted teeth. “You’ll have to try harder than that.”

“THEN BEHOLD MY FURY!” The djinni declared, raising his hands.

“Whatever you’re planning-”

Malitas was cut off once more by another puff of magic. There was a brief moment where the others didn’t quite know what had happened, til they all saw the cheese wheel on the ground where he’d been standing.

“NOW, WHO’S NEXT? 500 GOLD A SPIN!” The djinni announced to the crowd.

Saff decided she wasn’t going to waste any more time arguing with this djinni, so picked up the cheese wheel and led the group away.

They found a secluded table and she placed the cheese wheel on it, then stepped back next to Gale as they both pondered what to do.

“It’s just a Polymorph spell, right?” She asked, watching the cheese intensely. “So it should wear off soon?”

“Theoretically, yes. But djinn are powerful creatures. Who knows what the exact nature of this spell is,” Gale said, stroking his chin in thought.

“Can we just cast Dispel Magic if it doesn’t wear off? Or Polymorph him into an elf?” Saff wondered, looking over at Gale.

“I think I like him better this way,” Astarion said from behind her, only half-jokingly.

“We are not leaving him like this!” She said firmly, and luckily they didn’t need to spend any more time wondering what to do as there was a sudden puff of magic and Malitas was back, sitting on the table with a surprised look on his face that quickly turned to anger.

“That damnable djinni…” he muttered angrily as he stood up and began to storm back towards the djinni, until Saff quickly moved in front of him and pressed her hands against his chest to stop him.

“No no no! We don’t need to start another fight with him!” She insisted, trying to push him back. “Look, the whole argument has spread through the circus and now no one will play his game cause they all either know they can’t win, or don’t want to be turned to cheese,” she said, gesturing behind them towards the djinni, who was desperately and unsuccessfully trying to get anyone to come to his stall.

“Hmm…” Malitas murmured as he watched. “I suppose that is revenge enough.” He then looked down at Saff. “Are you ok? That jungle did not look very hospitable from the brief glimpse I saw of it.”

“I’m fine. I only nearly got eaten by a dinosaur,” she joked. He chuckled, then shook his head slightly.

“I suppose we’d best move on to whatever awaits us next in this gods-forsaken circus then,” he said, glancing around.

“That’ll be the dryad over there!” Karlach announced, immediately running over. Malitas headed off with the others and Saff went to follow, til she felt Gale’s hand on her shoulder.

“Are you sure you’re ok?” He asked softly. “Even nearly getting eaten by a dinosaur can be quite the ordeal.”

She smiled warmly, leaning into him in a hug to show her gratitude for his concern.

“Yes, I’m ok. Luckily I was able to find a portal back. For some reason it came out in one of the outhouses,” she said, gesturing to the wood outhouse she’d materialised in on the outskirts of the circus.

“That… is a curious place for the portal to be,” he agreed with a chuckle. He looked back at her, then raised his hand and gently plucked a leaf from her hair.

“Never a day without an adventure, huh?” She joked, taking his hand and going ahead with the others towards the dryad.

They found Wyll and Karlach with her, seemingly under some sort of spell as they both stood in front of her, eyes closed and a shimmer of purple magic surrounding them.

“Looks like an illusion spell,” Gale commented, eagerly inspecting the magic in front of him. “I’d wager they’re both seeing something quite different right now.”

“Apparently it’s some sort of love test,” Astarion explained with a roll of his eyes. “Honestly, sounds like a waste of-”

“OHMYGODGALECANWEDOIT?!” Saff gasped in excitement, almost reaching a pitch hitherto unknown to man.

“Sounds most magical,” Gale said with an enthusiastic nod. “Let’s have at it!”

Unfortunately for them, fate had other plans in store.

Watching the dryad’s limbs twist and her bones break until finally she snapped her neck back into place left everyone stumbling back in shock.

The revelation that Orin was a shapeshifter hung over the group, leaving a nervous tension among them as they looked at the crowd that surrounded them, suddenly aware that she could be anyone at any point. This nervousness was reinforced when Dribbles and his assistants also turned out to be doppelgangers.

Saff sat on a nearby bench, numbly watching as the remaining circus workers hurriedly cleared away the bodies left after the fight. Gale took her hand as he sat down next to her, looking at her in concern.

“I remember the circus being more fun than this when I was a kid…” she murmured, sighing as she rested her head against his shoulder.

“We’ll have to come back sometime, when the threat of the Absolute doesn’t hang over us,” he decided, putting his arm around her.

“Mmm…” she murmured despondently. “I can’t believe Dribbles is dead…”

“Ah, ahem, yes… a terrible loss.”

She almost had to laugh at his attempt at sympathy.

“I know he wasn’t exactly riveting entertainment for adults, but as a kid, I loved seeing him. He was the highlight of the circus, one of the few things we didn’t have to pay for. And I know the kids in the orphanage today are gonna be distraught to hear about this,” she said sadly, hanging her head.

“Well, let us hope another performer can take his place,” Gale offered, biting back the temptation to add ‘perhaps a better one’.

“Mmm…” she hummed in agreement, glancing round the circus as the performers and vendors gradually tried to get back to their usual activities. “Maybe I’ll make myself feel better by buying a naked statue of you,” she teased with a playful smile as she looked up at him.

“I’d really rather you didn’t,” he warned, mostly sure that she was joking. She chuckled as she sat up and glanced towards the exit.

“Looks like the others are ready to go. Guess you’re saved from the naked statue… for today.”

The group headed off from the circus and towards Sharess’s Caress, though Astarion would not miss an opportunity for some light teasing before they arrived.

“I’m surprised you let that djinni off scot-free,” he said to Malitas, a smirk spreading across his lips. “I would have been rather cheesed off if I were you.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Gale added. “It wasn’t very mature of him.”

“I couldn’t brie-lieve it,” Saff teased, trying to stifle her laughter, and soon the whole group were in on it.

“It must have been pretty grating.”

“I’d have been wheely pissed off.”

“He’d cheddar not do that again.”

Eventually Malitas stopped and turned to them all.

“Do any of you have any idea how unpleasant it is to be turned into a wheel of cheese?” He asked. The group shook their heads. “Would you like to find out?”

The threat did its job and they managed to reach Sharess’s Caress without another cheese pun.

Lae’zel hastily led the group off to find Voss and took charge of the ensuing conversation with Raphael, until the crown was mentioned.

Hearing that the crown was, in fact, the Crown of Karsus, came as no small shock to them, shock that quickly turned to anger when Raphael revealed his intentions with the crown.

“Handing that crown to you would be like feeding gunpowder to a lava worm! We agree to nothing!” Gale spat, glaring at Raphael with rising anger.

“Kaincha! You would refuse the devil’s deal?” Lae’zel objected, turning her fury to Gale. “I need that hammer to free my prince, and I will not let you stand in the way!”

“And I will not let you give a devil the means to become a god!” Gale retorted, prompting Saff to quickly step between them and try to de-escalate the situation.

“Stop, both of you! Lae’zel, we want to rescue Orpheus too, but this is too high a price. We’ll find another way.”

A chill went down her spine as Raphael began to chuckle at her words.

“Another way? Oh, my sweet little mouse - there is no other way. Either you agree to my terms, or Orpheus rots in his prison for eternity.”

“There is always another way,” Malitas said calmly, “and I assure you, devil, we will find it. This does not end with the crown in your hands.”

“My, my, such confidence!” Raphael laughed, his lips curling up in amusement. “And coming from one who is not even infected. One might wager you wish to use the crown for yourself, for your own ends… why else would you go to such lengths to fight for a cure you do not even need?”

Saff narrowed her eyes at Raphael, recognising his attempt at sewing mistrust within the group, but Malitas wasn’t phased.

“I see the concept of having friends is a foreign one to you,” he retorted, turning Raphael’s smirk into a flash of annoyance at the insult.

“Go ahead - try to find another way. Waste your time desperately searching until you realise you have no other option but to use the hammer, which lies secured in my House of Hope. I am the only chance you have to free Prince Orpheus.”

“Is that so? Secured in your vaults, is it?” Malitas questioned, a smile playing on his lips. “Just as secure as the crown was when it was taken by mortals, I’m sure…”

His implication was obvious, and drew a laugh from Raphael.

“Ha! How amusing it would be to see you try. But be warned - the fires of the hells burn hot, and I would hate to see you burned.”

“That is very true,” Malitas agreed as he headed to the door to leave. “But know this, devil…”

He paused as he reached the door, turning back to face him.

“You are not the only one here with fire in their veins.”

Convincing Lae’zel to be content with the plan of stealing the hammer was a conversation that lasted all the way back to the Elfsong, but by the time they arrived, she was finally on board with it.

It was late in the evening when Saff plopped herself down on the bed in front of Gale, smiling at him over the book he was reading.

“Something’s got you excited,” he commented as he closed the book and put it aside.

“I don’t know about you, but I was gutted not to be able to do the love test. So…”

She produced a small, folded piece of paper from her pocket.

“I got Karlach and Wyll to write down the questions they had so that we could ask them of each other!”

“Ah, an inspired idea!” He complimented as he sat forward, curious to know what sort of questions awaited them.

“I haven’t read them yet, so they’ll be new to both of us. I think it was three questions each, but we both might as well answer all of them. So… ready?”

Gale gave her an eager nod, and she opened the page and looked at the first question.

“What, on their darkest day, would make them smile?”

Her eyes flicked up and met his, the two of them looking at each other with a knowing look.

“Would it be too cheesy just to say each other?” she asked with a chuckle.

“Cheesy perhaps, but also true. The thought of you always brings a smile to my lips,” he said softly, bringing a blush to her cheeks.

“The same is true for me,” she said sincerely. “Though if all the questions are gonna be like this, shall we say we can’t answer with ourselves? Otherwise this’ll get pretty old pretty fast.”

“Heh, agreed,” he said with a nod.

She looked down at the next question, and sure enough, it was a question made much more interesting when they couldn’t answer with themselves.

“Who do they most admire?”

They looked at each other, each contemplating their answer for the other.

“I think… Elminster,” Saff answered after a moment.

“Indeed, yes. A mentor when I was a child, and a good friend as an adult. I do hope you’ll get to meet him at some point, hopefully under better circumstances than the last time I saw him.”

“I hope so too,” she agreed, though as exciting as the prospect was, she couldn’t deny the thought of meeting the most famous wizard in the realms also made her, in some ways, more nervous than the thought of taking on the elder brain.

“And for you…” Gale considered, stroking his chin, “I could answer the famed Jaheira or the great Blade of Frontiers, given how excited you were when we first met them both. But I don’t think it’s fame you admire most, nor stories of great heroism. I think it’s something a bit closer to home, someone who helped you personally. I think it’s Malitas.”

She smiled to herself and nodded.

“Yeah, you’re right. He gave me a chance when no one else did… saw something in me when most people just saw a struggling waitress in a lower city tavern. Like you said with Elminster - a mentor, and a friend.”

She paused for a moment as she reflected on each of their answers and the similarities between them, before looking down at the next question.

“What is their greatest regret?”

“My, what a change in tone,” Gale murmured as they both looked at each other, an answer immediately coming to their minds.

“The orb?” Saff asked softly, looking at him in sympathy.

“It is the obvious answer I suppose, isn’t it? Certainly it’s the first thing that came to mind for myself, as well. And yet, I am well aware that had I never found the orb, I would likely never have been taken by that Nautiloid, would still be Mystra’s lover… and would never have met you,” he said emotionally, looking at her with a loving smile. “So can I truly regret something that, despite the pain, has bought me so much joy?”

She chuckled softly, the blush returning to her cheeks once more.

“Well, if that isn’t your answer, then… I’m afraid I don’t know,” she said honestly. He hummed as he thought about it.

“I like to look back on my life with some sense of pride for most of what I’ve done, though perhaps one thing does stand out for me,” he said, lightly placing his hand on hers. “I regret not telling you the truth about the orb, and myself, sooner. Seeing the pain in your eyes when Malitas told you the truth of my folly… when you realised I was not the man I’d led you to believe I was… oh, how I wish I could change that. It may have all worked out in the end, but perhaps certain confrontations could have been avoided, had I been honest from the beginning.”

She looked down slightly, placing her other hand on his.

“Perhaps… or perhaps, as you’d said at the time, the others would have forced you to leave the group. I don’t blame you for doing what you did,” she said, bringing a smile to his lips.

“I am glad to hear that,” he said, before his expression shifted to one of sympathy. “And, as for you…”

She sighed and looked away slightly.

“I suppose there’s an obvious answer for me too, though mine doesn’t come with a silver lining,” she murmured.

“Aryn,” he said, and she nodded.

“I wish I’d never met him. Wish I’d never got together with him, wish I’d broken up with him sooner… but the past is the past, and I have someone better to think about now,” she said with a smile, wanting to get back to happier subjects.

The questions seemed to have other ideas in mind though.

“Oh, uh…” she murmured, wincing as she read the next question. “Who do they loathe the most?”

Gale winced too, seeing that this subject wasn’t one they could move on from just yet.

“Dare I suggest the same answer as the previous question?”

Saff paused, her eyes lingering on the question as she contemplated her answer.

“I… I don’t know. I don’t know if I’d say I loathe him, I just… want nothing to do with him ever again. There’s gotta be people more worthy of loathing. Ketheric, Orin, Gortash…”

Her tone darkened and a look Gale hadn’t seen before came to her face as she realised what the answer truly was.

“Mystra…”

The revelation took him by surprise.

“Mystra? Truly? I… did not realise you felt so strongly about her.”

“How can I not?” She asked, finally looking up at him. “After everything she did to you, everything she demanded of you, everything she still demands of you. After how much she hurt you… and to know that she’ll never face any consequences, any comeuppance, because she’s a goddess. It’s so… unfair! What justice is there in the world if gods can treat their followers like this?”

“Justice enough to lead me away from her arms and into yours,” he said softly, looking at her in a way that instantly dissipated the anger.

“I suppose that’s justice enough,” she said softly, managing to find a smile, though his smile soon faded.

“I think, once again, our answers are mirrored.”

She frowned slightly, unsure what he meant.

“Your answer is also Mystra?” She asked, but he shook his head.

“No. My answer is Aryn.”

That came as a shock to her.

“Aryn? Really?”

“Yes, for all the same reasons you listed. I’ve seen what he did to you, how much he hurt you. I’ve felt it myself, in your memories. And I’ve seen the pain in your eyes when you talk about him. So as you said - how can I not?”

She had to agree with his logic - if she could hate Mystra on his behalf, then he could hate Aryn on hers.

“Next question’s a bit happier,” she said, a hint of relief in her tone. She hadn’t really expected this to lead to such a deep conversation. “What is their idea of a perfect day?”

The smirk on Gale’s face mirrored her own as she looked back up at him.

“Hmm, I dare say your perfect day would start with a stroll through the park, perhaps with a picnic for lunch…” he started, leaning in slightly as he took her hands in his.

“Hmm, and yours might be the same?” She suggested, leaning in with him. “Maybe with a ball in the evening, a lavish banquet…”

He moved in until his mouth was at her ear, his breath hot against her neck as his hands found her waist.

“Followed by making love under the stars…” he whispered, a yearning in his voice that sent a shiver of excitement down her spine.

“Mmm… that does sound like a perfect day,” she agreed as he pulled back and met her eyes once more. He remained close as his eyes flicked down slightly.

“What’s the last question?”

She looked down too, and smiled once more as she read it.

“A decade from now, where will they be?”

Her eyes flicked up again and saw the warm, loving expression he gazed at her with.

“Well, now I cannot answer with any certainty, but I would hope that ten years from now, another ball might be graced with the presence of Lady Saffron Dekarios…”

His implication was clear - not a full proposal, but a hope. A hope she shared.

“As long as she has Sir Gale Dekarios on her arm,” she whispered, her gaze full of affection as she closed the gap and their lips met with a kiss.

---

She tilted her head from side to side, smiling as she watched the pearlescent gleam of the enchanted emerald within the display case she was cleaning.

The room was filled with all the most powerful, most valuable and most interesting artefacts Malitas had found in his centuries of adventuring, all sealed away in glass cabinets and display cases. Though the cabinets lay somewhat more empty now after Malitas had given the others a selection of weapons to aid them, and more recently she’d noticed a Staff of Power go missing, only to later be told he’d given it to Saff as a graduation gift. How incredible it must be, she thought, to be able to wield a weapon like that…

The door opened and snapped her out of her daydream.

“Ah, there you are,” Malitas greeted as he entered the room.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t hear you return,” she said, walking over to him and giving him a hug. “So what adventures did today bring?”

“Revelations more than adventures,” he said, the corners of his lips curling into a smile. “I scarcely dared to believe it could be true, but our suspicions have been confirmed - the crown atop the Elder Brain is the Crown of Karsus.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“The Crown of Karsus… but how?? I didn’t think that even existed anymore!”

“Neither did I, yet here we are. One of the most powerful artefacts in existence, so close to our grasp. The possibilities are… endless. But we can do nothing with this knowledge until we learn more about it. I intend to discuss this further with the others tomorrow.”

She nodded slowly, possibilities running through her mind.

“Any other revelations?” She asked after a moment.

“Orin is a shape-shifter. A foreboding revelation to say the least. She plays her parts well - she took the face of a dryad at the circus, and we were none the wiser till she revealed herself.”

“Circus?”

It perhaps wasn’t the part of that sentence that should have stuck out most to her, yet it did.

“You went to the circus? The Circus of the Last Days?”

“We did, yes.”

Memories flooded back to her. Laughter and dancing with her friends… it left a deep ache in her heart.

“How was it?” She asked, trying to hide how much she longed to go again someday.

“Infuriating,” Malitas answered, to her surprise.

“Why??”

There was a pause as he seemed to contemplate his response.

“...Doesn’t matter,” he answered eventually.

She raised an eyebrow and narrowed her eyes, but knew better than to question it.

“Now, I have much work to do, I’d best get to it,” he decided quickly, heading back to the door.

“Actually…” She started, running over to him before he left. “I had a favour to ask you.” He gave her a nod to continue. “Well, I’ve cleaned all these cabinets and cases more times than I can count, but I’ve never really known what’s inside them. I wondered if you could tell me what everything is?”

A look of surprise crossed his face.

“Everything? We’ll be here all night. Why do you want to know?”

“Cause I’m curious… and I’m bored. There’s only so many stories you can make up in your head about an emerald while you clean its case for the hundredth time. I’d much rather know the truth.”

He gave her a sympathetic look, and nodded.

“I supposed I cannot begrudge you your curiosity,” he said, then put his arm around her waist and began to lead her through the room.

“The emerald is in fact an elemental gem, if you were to break it, it would summon a water elemental…”

She went quiet as she listened to his explanations, carefully committing each and every one to memory.

#gale #bg3 gale #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale x tav

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tabitha42 · 1 month ago

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OC Tag Game ✨

I wasn't tagged but saw @skelvron-keiman do it and decided to join!

Tagging @deerancha @chaoswritesthemultiverse @miradelletarot @itinerantginger-blog @hi-jinkx @parkouringrabbit

🦋 Saff ��

This is Saff, from my longfic The Wizard's Apprentice: https://archiveofourown.org/works/54266689/chapters/137427991

General:

Name: Saffron Alias: Saff Gender: Female Age: 26 Spoken Language: Common Sexual Orientation: Straight Occupation: Apprentice wizard

Favorite:

Colour: pink & purple Entertainment: reading, dancing, spending time in nature Pastime: learning magic, tending to her plants Food: lemon cakes Drink: sweet, fruity cocktails

Have They…

Passed University: No, she never had the chance to go, but she did graduate from her apprenticeship during the events of BG3 Had Sex: Yes, with Gale and some partners before him Had Sex in Public: Yes, Gale's mischievous side rubbed off on her Gotten Tattoos: Nope Gotten Piercings: Pierced ears Gotten Scarred: Yes, a scar on her forehead after being attacked by an abusive ex Had a Broken Heart: Yes, by that same ex

Are They…

A Cuddler: absolutely, everyone gets hugs! Scared Easily: Yes, though progressively less so over the events of the game Jealous Easily: Not particularly, more likely to be sad that she might lose something Trustworthy: Yes, when offered a cure to her tadpole if she left the others, she refused to abandon them.

Family

Sibling(s): She grew up in an orphanage with no knowledge of her family, but considers the other kids in the orphanage to be her siblings. Parents: She doesn't know her parents, but thinks of the matrons in the orphanage as mother figures. Children: I haven't got any firm headcanons, but she would like to adopt, as she knows what it's like to be a child left behind without a family. Pets: None, though she might insist her plants are pets!

#tav #my tav #bg3 #galemancer #FlutterWeave

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tabitha42 · 1 month ago

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The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 72

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

“A teleportation circle?” Saff asked as Malitas proudly showed her his latest creation.

“Indeed. It will take us to the temple of Shar, which will provide ample space for our training.”

“Ugh… you couldn’t have found anywhere a bit nicer?” She asked, shivering at the thought of returning to that place.

“We need somewhere with a large, open space, where no one else is likely to interfere, and it won’t matter if we destroy anything. The temple seemed ideal.”

She supposed she couldn’t argue with that logic.

“Why make a teleportation circle? Why not just use a portal like you usually do?”

“Those portals use a lot of magic, a permanent teleportation circle uses none. If we are to train, I would like to have all of my magic at my disposal.” “Permanent?” She asked, looking at him in surprise. “How is it permanent? Doesn’t it take a year to make a permanent teleportation circle?”

“Usually, yes. But with the correct infusion of metamagic, it took only a night,” he said, his lips curling up into a smug smile.

“Very clever, well done,” she said, almost a bit teasingly, like a teacher praising a student. After spending so long with Gale, seeing a wizard proudly boast about his work didn’t stun her into silence in the way it once had. He seemed to notice the difference too, and glanced at her with an amused smile, before turning back to the circle.

With a wave of his hand the runes glowed, and after stepping onto it, she found herself in Balthazar’s old chambers.

The smell of undeath still hung in the room, though she got the distinct feeling Malitas had done all he could to try to purge the stench from the air. The shelves that were once filled with necrotic specimens now held books and other arcane curiosities, while the body parts that had once graced the table had been replaced with neatly piled pages of notes.

“Wow, you’ve practically moved in,” Saff commented as she glanced around.

“There’s a lot of useful information to be found down here,” he replied as he walked forward and opened the large stone door with a wave of his hand. “I don’t intend to let that information go to waste. Now, if you follow me, I have an area in mind for our training.”

She felt something of a sense of déjà vu as he led her through the dark, empty corridors, and she was glad that this time she had a sunny city and comfortable bed to return to once they were done here.

They came out to a large open area, the ceiling stretching up so high she could barely see it. Along one side of the room crumbling statues of Shar lined the ancient walls, while along the other side the floor gave way to a deep crevasse that looked almost bottomless. The remains of the furniture that had once filled the room had been pushed (or more likely levitated) to the side to create a clear training area.

“Now,” Malitas began as he stepped in front of her. “Are you ready?”

She grinned and drew her staff from her back, keen to finally get some practice with it, then listened as he explained the plan.

“Your task is to bring me to the ground using whatever means you can, be it spells from the staff, your own magic, or anything else you can think of. Don’t worry about hurting me, my shields will absorb the damage. When I can fly no more - or, perhaps, when you’ve brought me to the ground, depending on how you do it - will be your opportunity to practice your healing.”

“Alright, let’s go!” She said with an eager nod.

He smiled, summoned his wings, and with a gust of wind he was in the air.

She studied him carefully as he soared above her, watching his flight pattern as he circled the area. Lifting her hand she prepared the spell she had in mind, and when he neared one of the walls, she threw her arm up and shouted an incantation.

Vines burst from the stone, lashing around his legs and torso. He struggled against the thorns, trying to pull away from them, until they wrapped around his wings and pinned him in place. For a moment she felt victorious, believing she needed only to summon more vines to bring him to the ground, before he burst free in a blaze of fire, burning the vines to ashes and taking to the air once more.

Again vines burst from the wall at her command, but by now he knew what to expect and soon was able to dodge the vines the second they appeared, and the one time she managed to catch him again, the attempt was thwarted by a Misty Step back out into the open air.

Telekinesis was her next attempt, inspired by Malitas’s own attempt to bring Balthazar down. The spell landed and she found herself in a mental battle against the strength of his wings as he fought to break free from her spell. She almost screamed in exertion as she tried desperately to pull him down, until he finally broke free of her grasp and soared unrestrained once more.

Her mind raced as she watched him, trying to think of another way. She had no other spells that would help… but, she realised, the staff did. She wasn’t sure if her idea would work, but it was worth a try.

She raised the staff, feeling its power pulsing as she called upon it and cast Wall of Force. She could feel Weave gathering to create an invisible wall where she focused a few feet in front of Malitas as he swooped through the air.

The idea worked almost too well as he slammed face first into the wall at full speed, shattering an abjuration shield that saved him perhaps from a broken neck but not from the full force of the impact, which left him dazed and plummeting from the air. Another of his shields shattered as he hit the ground in a puff of dust.

She gasped in shock and cried out his name as she ran towards him, fearing the worst, but breathed a deep sigh of relief when the dust cleared and she found him sat up, holding his head, a surprised look on his face.

“Effective,” was the only word he managed in that moment.

She helped him over to one of the stone benches, where he sat hunched over, holding a handkerchief to his bleeding nose as she tried to heal him.

“I’m so sorry,” she gushed as she attempted to heal what she suspected was a broken arm. “I didn’t think it would be so bad, I mean, I… I don’t really know what else I thought would happen, but I-”

“Saff,” he interrupted, looking over at her. “Don’t apologise. Not only did you succeed at your task, I now know to be more careful of such threats. I certainly do not intend to fall for such a ploy again.”

“Well… good, I guess. It certainly didn’t look very pleasant…” she murmured, still feeling bad about it despite his encouragement.

“It wasn’t. But it was also a lesson well learnt. So thank you.”

She managed a smile, before sending one final pulse of healing through him, knitting the broken bone back together.

“Ahh, that’s better,” he said with a sigh of relief, stretching his arm out and flexing his fingers.

“Right, now let’s see what else I can do for you,” she said, closing her eyes and trying to focus on the arcane malaise she could feel radiating from him.

It was a strange sort of condition, one she’d never seen or felt before, but as she spent time focusing on it, she slowly began to get an idea of how to heal it. It wasn’t perfect, but by the time she was done, his nose wasn’t bleeding anymore.

“I think that’s all I can do for now,” she said, lowering her arms. “How are you feeling?”

“I still have something of a headache, but I feel a lot better than before. Thank you.”

He rolled his shoulders and stretched out his wings, and only now that she sat so close to him did she realise how big they truly were. The scales shimmered even in the dim light of the temple and she found herself almost subconsciously reaching out to touch them, til she realised how rude that would be and quickly lowered her hand again.

“You can touch them, if you like,” he offered, having clearly noticed how curious she was. A flush of embarrassment struck her, though he didn’t seem bothered, so she decided not to fret about it. Carefully she reached out and lightly ran her fingers over the scales. They were warm to the touch and unexpectedly smooth, thicker on the outer parts of the wings. She wondered how it must feel to be able to grow different limbs like that, then realised that one day, hopefully she’d know herself, if she ever learnt to wild shape.

When she lowered her hand he folded his wings behind his back and held his head for a moment, wincing slightly from the pain of his headache.

“Malitas, can I… ask you something?” She said, somewhat hesitantly.

“Of course,” he replied, looking at her with a small smile.

“Well… please don’t answer if it’s too personal, but… why do you want to use your wings if it hurts this much? Why don’t you just use Fly?”

“Ah, a pertinent question,” he said, sitting up slightly. “A few reasons. We can only cast so many spells per day, and a draconic sorcerer’s wings do not use up a spell like Fly does. Using Fly requires concentrating on the spell, preventing you from using other spells that need concentration, and leaving you vulnerable to an unhappy meeting with the ground should your concentration be broken. Fly can also be dispelled, my wings can’t. And…”

He trailed off slightly, a slightly distant look in his eyes as he sighed.

“Using Fly instead of my wings… feels like an admission of failure. Like I am giving up not only on my wings, but on myself. It would mean accepting that I will never succeed at this. And perhaps I should accept that - it has been centuries, after all. Yet I can’t. So I suppose the answer to your question is stubbornness,” he said with a small chuckle.

She smiled, but didn’t quite laugh along with him.

“I wouldn’t reduce it to stubbornness,” she said softly. “You’re determined to achieve something, something you’ve wanted your whole life. It’s important to stick with things, otherwise we’d never achieve anything.”

“Hmm, perhaps… though we must also know when to let things go,” he said softly, staring into the distance for a moment, before he got to his feet.

“I’m ready for another round, if you are?”

By the end of the day, they’d made some real progress. Saff was now able to heal him mid-flight and ward off the effects of his sickness a while longer, to the point where they only stopped when she finally ran out of magic.

It was almost evening by the time they returned, and she couldn’t overstate how relieved she was to be able to return home and not have to sleep in that temple. The welcome sight of sunlight through the window filled her with happiness, a joy that was only rivalled when Gale came to the door.

“How are the murder investigations going?” Saff asked him as the three of them sat down in the library.

“Slow and gruesome,” he answered wearily. “The Elfsong was just the start - a priest was murdered in Rivington and the blame laid at the feet of a refugee, then while investigating that we found more murders beneath the temple. There have been others in the city, too. It is grim, to say the least.”

“And yet, nothing new,” Malitas said with a sigh. “Even before you were both taken by the nautiloid, increasing murders had plagued the city for some time, though I think no one wanted to believe it was a resurgence of Bhaalists. The name Sarevok still haunts the city, whether as a story, or a memory.”

The name of Sarevok Anchev, the Bhaalist that had terrorised the city, had filled so many of the stories Saff read as a child. She realised now that, while to her it had always been nothing more than a story, Malitas had actually lived through it.

“You were there during the Bhaalspawn Crisis…” she whispered, and he nodded solemnly.

“I was. The city lived in a state of dread, most people afraid to even leave their houses. Fear and mistrust ran deep. I was one of the lucky ones, I knew I’d be able to defend myself, should I be attacked. But I knew so many who didn’t have that privilege. So many that were claimed by the cult…”

He trailed off, a look of sadness crossing his face, before he looked back at them once more.

“As of yet, Orin and her Bhaalists have not reached the heights of the Crisis. Let us hope it remains that way until we’re able to put an end to it.”

Saff’s heart went out to him. How terrifying it must have been, to live through something like that. How terrifying it must now be to see it happening again.

“We’ll keep investigating,” Gale assured him. “It’s going slow, but we have leads. We won’t let this get any further.”

“I will join you tomorrow,” Malitas decided, then looked at Saff, “though I do hope we’ll find some more time to continue our training.”

“Yes!” She said eagerly, then turned to Gale with a proud smile. “I can cure his sickness now! Or at least, mostly cure it. A bit more training and we’ll get there.”

“Ah, wonderful news!” Gale celebrated. “I would like to join you too, if there’s room for one more. I’m very interested to see your learning process.”

“Of course!” Saff agreed happily. “Oh, that reminds me - Malitas, we were going to ask you something. I was talking to Gale about how different it feels to learn druidic magic to wizardry. How, as a wizard, we have to learn the somatic and verbal components and practice until we get them right. With druidic magic, it’s more instinctive - a spell will come to me in a certain moment, and I have to remember how I felt in that moment to cast it again. We were wondering, how does sorcery compare?”

He leant back in his chair and stroked his chin for a moment as he considered how to answer.

“There are similarities to wizardry, for sure. We must practice our craft, as much as any wizard. But it isn’t about fine-tuning gestures and incantations. It is more… hmm… it is as if you have a raging power inside you, that you must learn to control, lest it break free. It isn’t about drawing forth magic as wizardry is. It is about taming the magic that is already there.”

Saff nodded curiously, but Gale looked sceptical.

“That doesn’t sound so different to wizardry,” he commented, then was rather surprised when the two of them both looked at him in shock. “Come now, you must have felt that way before, Saff?”

She simply shook her head.

There was a moment of quiet between them, an unspoken conclusion being drawn, until Malitas finally spoke.

“Gale-”

“No.”

“Have you ever considered-”

“No.”

“Gale, there’s nothing wrong with being a-”

“I know there is nothing wrong with being a sorcerer, but I am not one,” he said firmly, a look of anger flickering across his face at the very suggestion.

“And how are you so sure?” Malitas challenged. “Have you ever had a sorcerer teach you before? Or have you only ever been taught by wizards?”

Gale went very quiet, his eye twitching slightly.

“One more lesson today then, I think,” Malitas said, rising to his feet. “I have wanted for some time to also see if you’re capable of using metamagic, Saff, given the curious nature in which you are learning druidic magic, perhaps there is some sorcery involved.”

Gale wasn’t happy about it, but soon found himself sat in a small circle with the other two on the floor of the library.

“First, summon a flame,” Malitas instructed, raising his hand and summoning a small flame within it. With matched incantations, the two of them did the same. “Now, focus on the flame, and the feeling of the Weave that brought it into being, that continues to keep it lit. Feel how it channels through you, feel the heat against your palm, the spark of magic at your fingertips. Embrace that feeling, empty your mind of all else until all that exists is the flame.”

They sat for a long moment in silence, almost like a meditation. It reminded Saff of Halsin’s teachings, feeling the four elements of nature and learning to be one with them. She focused now on the Weave behind it, the feeling of it at her fingers, holding the flame in place.

“When you are ready, extinguish the flame,” Malitas instructed, letting the flame burn to nothing in his hand. Again, Gale and Saff followed suit. “Now, try to remember that feeling and reach out to it once more. The Weave at your fingertips, the heat in your palm, the magic in your veins. Draw on it, embrace it, and let the flame burn once more.”

With a flicker of magic a flame ignited in his palm again, and he looked up to them both to try for themselves.

Saff’s brow furrowed in concentration as she looked at her hand and tried again to tap into the magic that had been there just moments ago. It was a strange feeling, trying to call upon magic with no incantations or gestures. And not just strange, but frustrating. No matter how hard she focused, nothing seemed to happen. Not even the slightest hint of magic would stir at her fingertips, and eventually with a sigh, she gave up.

She glanced over at Gale, who was still focusing intently on his hand. For someone who was so convinced he wasn’t a sorcerer, he really was putting a lot of effort into this. She supposed he wanted to be able to say with confidence that it wasn’t true, and if he didn’t actually try, how could he be confident of that? Despite all his effort though, he seemed to be having as much success as her, as his hand remained firmly empty.

Then, a flicker of flame.

Gale gasped and yanked his hand back in shock, but they’d all seen it. An undeniable mote of fire, just for a second, that challenged everything Gale knew about himself.

“Gale…” Saff whispered, looking up at him to see the look of complete shock and disbelief in his eyes.

“I…” he stuttered, barely able to form words, his jaw opening and closing. “Excuse me,” he said finally, jumping to his feet and running from the room. “Gale!” She called after him, but he was gone. Her mind raced, and she could only imagine how he was feeling at the revelations.

“Oh my god…” she whispered, covering her mouth with her hand. “I can’t believe it… he’s actually a sorcerer! He-...”

She paused as she looked at Malitas, and saw him stifling a laugh. Slowly, the penny dropped.

“...That was you, wasn’t it?” She asked.

“I couldn’t resist,” he admitted with a shrug.

“I can’t believe you! I thought you were more mature than this,” she criticised, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I simply wished to challenge his prejudices.”

“I don’t believe that for a moment,” she said with a hint of a chuckle, and got to her feet. “I’d better go find him and stop the identity crisis I’m sure he’s having.”

She headed for the door, til Malitas called after her.

“He could still be a sorcerer, Saff. As could you. One failed attempt is not sufficient evidence either way.”

“I know. I doubt you’ll have an easy time convincing him to try again after that, though,” she said, glancing back at him briefly before heading out of the room.

She found Gale out in the garden, pacing back and forth across the grass. He paused and looked over at her when he saw her out of the corner of his eye, and had to compose himself for a moment before speaking.

“Saff… my apologies for leaving so abruptly. I… well, I…” he stuttered, struggling to find the words. “It is… a lot to take in. A lot to come to terms with. So much to… reassess. Rethink. And I am not sure where to start…”

Saff was about to tell him the truth of the matter when the thought occurred to her that, maybe, it might be a good thing to challenge his prejudices. Just for a moment.

“What bothers you most about it?” She asked, trying to figure out what the best angle was to approach this. He paused for a moment, contemplating the answer.

“Magic is… my life. It is everything I have worked for, it is all my greatest accomplishments. Perhaps my only accomplishments. What am I if I don’t have that?” He asked, looking lost.

“Do you truly believe that?”

He went quiet, challenged by her question.

“What have I achieved that isn’t magic?” He asked quietly, weakly.

She met his look of desperation with a loving smile as she walked up to him and took his hand.

“Now where do I start?” She said softly, echoing his own words. “I am where I am today because of you. Not because of the magic lessons, but because of your belief in me. You were there for me, when no one else was. When I broke down in battle, you didn’t just see a weakling like the others did. You comforted me, you took the time to help me. You didn’t need to, but you did, because that’s who you are. Every single time I’ve ever struggled, you’ve been there. You’ve wiped my tears and brought a smile back to my lips. On the worst day of my life, you made me laugh. You gave me hope. Not because of your magic, but because of you. So please, don’t ever believe that magic is all you are.”

Tears welled in his eyes, and wordlessly he pulled her into a hug.

“Thank you,” he whispered, holding her tightly as she hugged him back. “I love you, Saff.”

“I love you too, Gale,” she whispered, burying her face in his neck. When they parted she reached up and gently wiped the tear that rolled down his cheek, gently placing a kiss there instead.

“So no more thinking magic is all you have, ok?” She said firmly, lowering her hands to rest them against his chest as he gave her a nod. “And besides, even if you were a sorcerer, it still wouldn’t mean your achievements with magic mean nothing. Sorcerers have to learn, too.”

“Even if? You saw the flame, didn’t you? There can be no doubt,” he said with a resigned sigh.

“I saw the flame… and I know who put it there.”

There was a pause as the frown of confusion on his face slowly turned to shock, then to anger.

“Malitas?!” He gasped indignantly, and his anger only rose when she nodded. “Why, that… charlatan! How dare he make a joke of something so important!”

“He said he wanted to challenge your prejudices,” Saff reasoned, though she still wasn’t sure that was his main motivation.

“I-... alright, yes, I may have said one or two less-than-respectful things about sorcerers in the past. But I hardly think that justifies toying with me like that,” he decided, folding his arms.

“Perhaps not… but I hope something good may have come from it, at least,” she said softly, putting her hand on his shoulder. His anger slowly melted, until he could not help but look at her with a smile.

“Yes… I suppose it did. Nonetheless, I shall have my revenge on him, in due time.”

“Revenge?” Saff laughed. “Oh no, what are you going to do, move all his bookmarks around?” “That, my love, is a fantastic idea.”

#gale #bg3 gale #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale x tav

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tabitha42 · 1 month ago

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Tagged by @chaoswritesthemultiverse!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

4, going up to 6 if you include 2 group-written fics that I wrote a chapter for!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

260,298

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. The Wizard's Apprentice

My longfic, my baby, my hyperfixation, following Saff through the game, exploring her relationship with Gale and her 'personal quest' to find out who she is.

2. Stars

A short one-shot inspired by the Mage Hand interaction between Gale and Karlach, in which Gale helps Karlach write a poem for Wyll.

3. There Once Was A Party Infected

A collection of limericks about the companions.

4. Fur and Feathers

AU horror one-shot about little Gale summoning Tara, because he wanted a friend.

4. What fandoms do you write for?

Just Baldur's Gate at the moment. Used to write a lot of Doctor Who fanfic back when I was a teenager, many centuries ago.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I didn't when I first started using AO3, but then started replying when I realised how much I love receiving replies to comments I've written.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Definitely Fur and Feathers, the whole premise is a horror tragedy.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I guess Stars since it's the only other fic I've written that actually has an ending 😂

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not yet... will see if that changes when The Wizard's Apprentice reaches certain plot points.

9. Do you write smut?

Yes, there's several smutty scenes in The Wizard's Apprentice, and I've written a few pieces of smut that never made it to AO3.

10. Do you write crossovers?

Never have done before, but wouldn't be opposed to it!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

I'm doing two fic trains with some other authors from the Magic Man discord, have really enjoyed them!

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Currently I'd say FlutterWeave, the ship between Saff and Gale, but I have had many favourite ships over the years - the Doctor & Rose, Jessie & James, Genji & Mercy, Genji & Lucio, the list goes on.

15. What’s the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

Uuhh I suppose technically the Doctor Who fanfic that I was writing as a teenager and haven't touched for 20 years might qualify for this... I don't want to finish it, but I do feel bad for abandoning it. Other than that, I haven't got any WIP fics that I'm not currently working on.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I'd like to think I'm not bad a building up a mystery and dropping hints, some subtle enough that you don't notice them unless you go back and read it after you know what's going on. Though maybe making hints so subtle that no one notices them is a weakness 😂

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Reusing the same phrases and sentence structure over and over and over. If I had a penny for every time I wrote some variation of "he met her gaze" I'd be rich.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I've done it quite a lot in my long fic - some Welsh, a lot of Latin for spell incantations, and a little bit of Draconic. A lot of relying on Google Translate and translating back and forth to make sure that if someone translates it back to English it says what I want it say. If I were writing a full conversation I'd want to try to find someone that speaks the language to check it, but since it's mostly just been a few words or a sentence at most, I haven't done that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

It was either Recess or Kim Possible, though Doctor Who was the first one I wrote seriously for.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Definitely The Wizard's Apprentice, it is my baby and lives rent free in my head. I don't know what I'm going to do with myself once it's finished, but luckily that's ages away 😂

Once again I think everyone I know on Tumblr has already done this or been tagged... so if you're reading this and want to do it, I tag you!

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tabitha42 · 1 month ago

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Back to back against the world ❤️

#gale #bg3 gale #gale screenshots #bg3 screenshots #gale x tav #galemance #FlutterWeave

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tabitha42 · 1 month ago

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Comforting Gale after he receives the news from Elminster ❤️

#gale #bg3 gale #gale screenshots #bg3 screenshots #gale x tav #galemance #FlutterWeave

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tabitha42 · 1 month ago

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The Wizard's Apprentice - Chapter 71

Saffron is just a lowly apprentice with barely a successful firebolt to her name. So what chance does she have with the arch mage she's slowly falling in love with?

Gale x Tav, slow burn, eventual smut

Chapter 1 Previous chapter Next chapter

When they returned to the Elfsong the next day Saff was delighted to see Shadowheart’s new hairstyle, and she wasn’t the only white-haired Selûnite waiting for them.

Upon being told about Lorroakan’s plans, Aylin wasted no time in flying straight for Ramazith’s tower, despite Isobel’s objections. After assuring her they’d protect Aylin and sending a quick message to Malitas to meet them there, the four of them were ready to face him down.

“What have we here?” Aylin taunted as she strode up to him. “A magician in a tower, hiding away from the frightening world!”

The three tower-dwelling mages behind her decided to not take offence at the comment.

“What are you so scared of, magus? Not the Nightsong, surely - why, she’s nothing but a relic to be purchased and pursued!”

“My gods! The Nightsong is a person?” Rolan gasped, looking at her in shock.

“She is,” Saff said to him, then turned forward to glare at Lorroakan. “And he would imprison her for eternity!”

Lorroakan turned to her with a sharp look.

“May I remind you of the very generous rewards you will reap should you gain my favour?” He said firmly, but Saff was having none of it.

“We don’t care how much gold you’re offering. We’re not letting you do this!”

Lorroakan sighed deeply and shook his head.

“Malitas, speak some sense into your apprentice, would you?” He said in irritation.

“Former apprentice,” Malitas reminded him, “and I assure you, the only one that needs sense spoken into them here is you.”

“Come now Malitas, you must see the potential here? Help me, and perhaps I’ll even share my gift with you.”

“Hah! I’d rather die now than share an eternity with you,” he spat, and Lorroakan’s smile fell.

“That can be arranged,” he said darkly, then turned to Rolan. “Boy! At the ready. Once I’ve taken control of the aasimar, she must go directly into the caging runes.”

“No, Master Lorroakan!” Rolan objected, bringing a proud smile to Saff’s lips as she turned to watch him. “I would never have assisted you if I knew you planned such horrors. You lied to get the Nightsong here. Made us all believe she was nothing but a relic. I have seen what true leadership can accomplish - but never under your tutelage.”

“Watch your tongue, you child!” Lorroakan snapped in anger. “I could make it so that no wizard in the realm will touch you!”

“Would you like an apprenticeship?” Malitas offered casually, to Lorroakan’s immense annoyance.

“How satisfying it will be to wipe that smug smile off your face,” he threatened, narrowing his eyes at Malitas.

“Give it up, Lorroakan,” he said, shaking his head. “You are vastly outmatched. You cannot possibly win this.”

“Malitas, Malitas… you think you know everything. But I have a few tricks up my sleeve,” he threatened, grinning as he held his arms out and Weave gathered in his hands.

Around them, myrmidons and enchanted armour flashed into being, roaring as they summoned their weapons and prepared to fight.

“Impressive,” Malitas commented, unphased as he stepped forward. “But I, too, have a few tricks up my sleeve.”

His staff shimmered into his hand, and a pulse of heat washed over them as his wings appeared at his back in a flash of flame, the illusion on his face disappearing, revealing the dragon scales beneath.

Lorroakan’s expression turned to shock, then to anger.

“Sorcerer! Lying, talentless fraud!” He shouted, fury rising in his voice.

“Ho! Face us charlatan, we who detest you so!” Aylin declared, venom dripping from her words.

“Myrmidons, imperatum!” Lorroakan shouted, drawing his staff.

With a beat of their wings, Malitas and Aylin took to the air, and the fight began.

Saff could feel the arcane charge of her new staff in her hands as she channeled its power towards their enemies. Fireballs, Lightning Bolts and Magic Missiles came easily to her, without the slightest drain on her own magic. Combined with Gale’s spells, the myrmidons soon fell and they turned their attention to Lorroakan, who was struggling against the barrage of attacks from Aylin and Malitas. He’d managed to stay alive so far through a combination of illusory duplicates, panicked Misty Steps and hurriedly cast Counterspells, but as Rolan’s Magic Missiles weaved their way through the room and destroyed his duplicates as fast as he was able to create them, he was soon finding himself increasingly unable to dodge their attacks. With a Fireball from Gale another wave of duplicates were wiped out, and in the second Saff caught sight of the real Lorroakan, she threw up her hands and sent lashing vines wrapping around him, pulling down his arms as he tried to cast another spell. As he looked up he was met by a barrage of Scorching Rays from where Malitas flew above him, before Aylin swooped down to land the finishing blow, bringing her sword down on him in a strike that tore him from the vines and sent him flying across the room.

Lorroakan was left clinging to life, sprawled on the ground as he choked and gasped, barely able to register Aylin as she landed and approached him with an air of vengeance.

“Lorroakan: you who would see me caged - you who would purchase my submission with profane gold!”

Malitas landed with the others as they watched Aylin kneel down next to him.

“Let every wicked magus, every vile murtherer, each slaver and misery-merchant see…”

She lifted him up above her, fury in her eyes as she looked up at him.

“Dame Aylin is watching. She is indomitable. And when her face lights the shadows of your wrongdoing, you are broken by its beauty!”

Saff gasped as she dropped Lorroakan onto her knee, the snap of his back echoing through the tower. When she pushed him off, he finally lay silent.

There was a hushed silence that hung over them as she stood back up and turned to face them.

“The fire-haired fool is dead. Yet as I stare upon his corpse I feel… sadness. Why?”

They were quiet, until Saff stepped forward to speak.

“Perhaps… you’re sad we couldn’t find another way. That we had to kill him, instead of being able to turn him to a better path,” she suggested, but Aylin looked unconvinced.

“Fanaticists like him rarely see the error in their ways. Should he claim remorse, I would sooner expect it to be a ploy to seize Dame Aylin while her guard is down, than a genuine show of regret. Yet, I wonder if perhaps there is some truth to your words…” she pondered, then shook her head.

“A paladin’s fatigue, no doubt,” she decided. “You were excellent in battle, as is your way. I am proud to fight at your side. And you, tiefling! You did not embarrass yourself. I will catch my breath, then to camp I will bring my bones. Moonmaiden be with you.”

She stepped back, her gaze falling to Lorroakan’s body, deep in thought.

Saff’s heart went out to her, but her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of coughing behind her. She turned to see Malitas holding a handkerchief to his nose as he leant back against the railing, his wings disappearing in a shimmer of flame. Quickly she walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder as she incanted a healing spell, though even as the healing magic took effect, she could still feel the magical malaise that hung over him.

“My friend,” Aylin said in concern, turning her attention to them. “What ails you? Are you injured?”

“Nothing to concern yourself with,” he said quickly, waving away her worries. “Just… a sorcerer’s fatigue, if you will. I’ll be fine. And for what it’s worth, I agree with your assessment of Lorroakan - I have known him for some time, he has always been this way. We would not have been able to convince him otherwise.”

She nodded her thanks, before stepping away to her own thoughts again.

“Thank you,” Malitas said to Saff, lowering the handkerchief from his nose.

“I daresay you didn’t need your wings for that fight,” Gale suggested, raising an eyebrow slightly at Malitas’s decision to summon them. “Oh, I most certainly didn’t. But it was worth it to see the look on his face,” Malitas replied with a satisfied smirk. Gale chuckled, finding himself agreeing with that reasoning. “Fortunate for me that it was such a short fight, it won’t take me long to recover.”

“I can’t believe he really tried to fight us all,” Saff murmured, glancing over at Lorroakan’s body. “Did he really think he could beat so many people on his own?”

“They say madness and genius are separated by but a hair's breadth. Perhaps the same is true of madness and stupidity,” Gale commented.

“Lorroakan had plenty of both,” Malitas said, standing up from the railing. “He also had plenty of magical artefacts and hidden knowledge. Shall we?” He asked, gesturing down to the area beneath them, eager to see what treasures the tower had waiting for them.

“You both go,” Saff decided, “I’m going to speak to Rolan.”

The two men nodded, then with a quick cast of Featherfall, jumped down to the levels below.

Rolan was looking at Lorroakan’s body, deep in thought as she approached.

“Rolan? Are you ok?” She asked, and was surprised to see him smiling when he looked at her.

“I am, now that the bastard’s in bits,” he answered, then noticed the look of shock at that answer. “Lorroakan was a cruel and vicious man. By day, I’d tend the shop, but at night - he’d fire the most nonsensical questions at me. And for every one I answered ‘wrong’, he’d beat me. I could have killed him with my own two hands, but I kept thinking it was all a test. It had to be. I thought it was the price I had to pay to become a true wizard. I realise now he was just a sick, sick man.”

Hearing him describe what had happened gripped her heart with a deep, pained empathy.

“Rolan, I… I’m so sorry that happened to you. Malitas and Gale both said Lorroakan was incompetent, but neither of them knew he was cruel, too. I… once…”

The word caught in her throat for a moment, before she took a deep breath to steady her heart.

“I once had a similar experience, with a previous partner. I know how much it can get into your head, how much it can convince you that you shouldn’t leave, that it will all be worth it. I also know that, even once you’re out of that situation, it can stay with you. So, if you ever need someone to talk to about it… let me know, ok?” She said softly, giving him a caring smile. For a moment he looked surprised by her offer, until he returned her smile with one of his own.

“Thank you. Sincerely. The same goes for you, should you need it,” he offered earnestly. She nodded gratefully, before deciding to get back to the subject at hand.

“What’s next, then?” She asked, and it seemed Rolan had already decided on the answer to that.

“I see things clearly now. If I wish to master the Weave, I must do it myself. I hope Malitas will not take offence if I don’t take him up on his offer of an apprenticeship, but I won’t entrust my fate to another - not again.”

“He won’t, don’t worry,” she assured him. “In fact, I suspect he would tell you you don’t need a master.”

He smiled at the compliment.

“I still have much to learn, but thankfully I have everything I need right here. I’ll move Cal and Lia in immediately. Lorroakan refused to let them stay here. They are going to love the tower.”

She grinned, thrilled to see the family finally find a safe place to live.

“I’m so happy for you! You all deserve it, after all you’ve been through.”

His expression softened slightly into a grateful smile.

“I wouldn’t have this - the tower, my family - without you. What can I do to thank you?”

She almost instinctively said he didn’t need to do anything, til she realised there was actually something he could do.

“We defeated Ketheric Thorm, but the cult is still out there. We need allies. Can you help us?”

“Absolutely. I’ll learn everything I can about the tower, even if I have to rip this place apart. But know this - Ramazith’s Tower, and its master, are now your friends. And when the time comes, we will stand by you as allies.”

She grinned once more, and finally pulled him into a tight hug.

Below, Gale and Malitas were pooling their finds. There was no shortage of magical artefacts and ancient tomes that were of interest, but it was a particular staff that drew their attention.

“Imbued by Kereska herself,” Malitas whispered in reverence as he lightly ran his fingers over runes engraved into its surface, recognising the familiar symbols of the dragon goddess.

“Such beautiful artistry,” Gale praised as he admired the elaborately carved head of the staff. “And powerful - I can feel the Weave it commands even without touching it.”

There was a pause as they both looked at each other, acknowledging the unspoken question of who would be the one to keep it.

“I can only imagine what extra benefits this staff would have in the hands of a draconic sorcerer,” Malitas pondered, glancing down at it.

“Is your current staff not more powerful than this one?” Gale questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Perhaps not… I would need to see exactly what this staff is capable of,” Malitas countered.

“Hmm, Kereska favours chromatic dragons, does she not? As a red dragon sorcerer, that favour may not extend to you.”

“Let me see if I can find out,” he said, then closed his eyes and held a hand over the runes, before beginning to mutter an incantation.

“Kereska, drex ve dout irthosi…”

Gale recognised the language - Draconic, a plea to Kereska to show him her secrets. The runes began to glow, accompanied by a pulse of Weave from the staff…

Suddenly Malitas gasped and the staff clattered to the floor as it fell from his hands. He stumbled back, coughing as he held his head, swaying as if he might collapse at any moment.

Gale quickly jumped forward and held his shoulders, steadying him, before leading him over to the railing and helping him sit down and lean against the fence. Blood ran from his nose as he winced in pain, until gradually his coughs slowed down and he opened his eyes once more, taking deep, pained breaths.

“You can keep the staff,” Gale decided, bringing a weak smile to Malitas’s lips.

“That… was not the staff,” he murmured, his voice hoarse. “Reaching out with my powers like that, after having just used my wings, is clearly not a good idea.”

“It took you hours to recover last time. Stands to reason it would be similar this time, even if the fight was shorter.”

Malitas had a distant look in his eyes as he stared out ahead of him for a moment before he spoke.

“In the past, it did not take me so long to recover, nor did it have such a drastic effect after such a short time. But it has been years since I regularly used my wings, perhaps I am out of practice… or perhaps I am simply getting old,” he said with a resigned sigh.

“You still have more years left to you than most humans have from the day they are born,” Gale pointed out.

“I know. But that doesn’t make me immune to the ravages of age,” he murmured. “While I would never condone Lorroakan’s actions, when nature sees fit to remind you of your own mortality, it does make it easier to see why one might resort to such fanaticism. Though I can think of several paths to immortality that would be easier than enslaving an aasimar.”

Gale chuckled and nodded.

“Indeed, especially once such as Aylin. Her fury is not to be trifled with.”

Malitas nodded in agreement, then looked up as Saff descended to them in a flurry of ethereal feathers.

“Malitas!” She gasped when she saw him, a healing spell already on her fingertips as she ran over to him.

“Saff, it’s quite alright-” he started, but she wasn’t listening as she placed her hand on his shoulder and cast her spell.

“Did that help?” She asked hopefully.

“A bit, but I’m not sure this is something that can be healed. Don’t put yourself out.”

“It’s ok! Please, let me keep trying. Different types of healing are better at healing different types of ailments. I’ve mostly just healed for injuries, but I haven’t had much practice with other types of healing, and I need to get better at that. I just need to figure out what kind of healing you need,” she explained, focussing as she tried adjusting her spell for him.

Malitas watched her for a long moment as she worked.

“You need practice with different types of healing, and I need practice with my wings. It seems to me there is an opportunity here.”

---

She’d entered Malitas’s study intending to ask him what he wanted for dinner, but when she saw him focused on a glowing rune on the floor in the corner of the room, she found herself intrigued.

“What’s that?” She asked, walking up to him.

“A teleportation circle,” he answered, his hands moving between semantic gestures that magically engraved new lines into the rune. “At least, it will be when I’m done.”

“A teleportation circle to where?” She asked curiously, trying to make out the runes that adorned the circle, but not recognising them. “A temple of Shar. The one that housed the Nightsong those mercenaries were looking for,” he answered, not taking his eyes off his work.

“Why?”

“Because I am out of practice when it comes to combat. I need somewhere to train, and this tower is not big enough.”

“Out of practice??” She gasped in disbelief. “You killed a room full of people in an instant, is that not powerful enough for you?”

“I can assure you, it was not as easy as I made it look, nor as easy as it should have been,” he answered, wincing slightly with a hint of disappointment in himself. “Three centuries of domesticity has dulled my abilities. Balthazar knew as much, and fighting him was a stark reminder of the truth of it. But I hope, with some training, I might rectify that.”

“Balthazar?”

“An old friend. He turned out to be working for Ketheric Thorm. How small the world can be sometimes.”

She frowned slightly, trying to piece it all together in her head.

“Right. So, what is it you want to practice that you need so much space for? Are you planning on dropping some meteor swarms?” She asked. He chuckled and finally lowered his hands, the glow fading from the runes as he did so.

“No. Something else. Let me show you.”

Her eyes widened at the shimmer of flame and magic that spread out behind him and coalesced into a pair of dragon wings at his back.

“You... you can…” she whispered, barely able to believe what she was seeing. “I knew some draconic sorcerers could summon wings, but I didn’t know you could…”

“It isn’t something I make a habit of doing often,” he explained as she stepped closer, almost unable to stop herself from reaching out and lightly running her fingers along the shimmering red scales. They were hot to the touch - more so than she expected - and were thicker than the scales on his chest and back. As she ran her hands higher, she looked up at the large talons that protruded out of the scales at the top of each wing. She realised these wings were not only for flight - they were weapons in themselves.

It was only when she finally pried her eyes off the wings and turned back to him once more did she notice the scales that now covered his cheeks and forehead.

“Your face…” she whispered, stepping towards him and gently brushing her fingers across his cheek. These scales were not rough like those on his wings, instead they were so thin and smooth they felt almost like a snake’s scales. “Do these scales only appear when you summon your wings?”

“Yes, the rest of the time I keep them hidden behind an illusion.”

She lowered her hand and gave him a firm look.

“I’ve told you, you don’t need to hide anything from me,” she said, a hint of disapproval in her otherwise soft tone.

“I know. It’s a habit I’ve had most of my life. Forgive me,” he said, lifting a hand to caress her cheek, just as she had. She smiled and closed her eyes as she leant into his touch.

“I feel like I’m learning something new about you every day…” she murmured, opening her eyes again. “Any other secret powers you want to share?”

“Heh, perhaps another time,” he answered, then leant forward and placed a soft kiss to her forehead. When he pulled back, there was another shimmer of magic and the wings were gone as he turned back to the half-finished teleportation circle. “For now, I must focus on this. I wish to make it permanent, but doing so usually requires casting the spell in the same spot every day for a year. I’m hoping that with the correct infusion of metamagic, I may be able to create a permanent teleportation circle much faster.”

She watched as he raised his hands again the glow returned, etching the runes into the floor.

“Can I help?” She asked.

“I’m afraid this magic is quite beyond your abilities,” he said, glancing at her with a sympathetic look.

“Can I at least watch? Maybe you could explain it to me,” she asked, and this time he nodded.

“Very well, pull up a chair.”

Quickly she found a chair, sat down and watched intently as he explained.

He wasn’t wrong - the magic was well beyond her abilities. But she didn’t need to be able to cast it. Perhaps just understanding it would be enough.

#gale #bg3 gale #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #gale x tav

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