#( story ) ansur the bronze

[iinmortales]

he was old, ancient, and so very very tired. though he had only just been woken from his slumber, it felt like he hadn't rested in a thousand years. and now he could not even determine if he was in the company of friend or foe. ' i will protect baldur's gate, as i swore to do, but not an ally of balduran. '

@learningtodie has met ansur

[neocores]

prev rb but it would be thematically so good if wyll actually was descended from ansur. his whole story started with him defeating tiamat cultists, it starts with the queen of dragons who are the 'evil' aligned group. and ansur is a bronze dragon, so from the 'good' aligned group.

wyll being ansur, the heart of the gate? as well as the blade of frontiers? it'd be thematically so perfect. an awakening to his blood, something that mizora cant claim control over. it's all his. and he's been the hero from the start.

[randomfanner]

may I just go on a rant about how much the Ansur Quests ending sucks ass and the Emperor shouldn’t have been Balduran? because it is such a stupid addition to the story.

When I first got the quest to go to Wyrm’s rock and find the dragon underneath, I was so excited. Think of how fantastic it would have been to have a Bronze Dragon flying through the sky as an ally to shoot down lightening upon the enemies. But no. He is already dead. Because the Emperor killed him so we can have a shitty but of backstory that doesn’t affect the story. my opinion of that mother fucker was already low and it dropped so much more learning he was Baldurian. It felt shoehorned in and pointless. Espcailly because he ALREADY HAS A FUCKING QUEST and his backstory of “adventurer turned mindflayer who made a name in knight of the shield.” Was fine. The addition of “oh ya he was also Balduran and low key fucked a dragon and managed to kill it” gets the point it feels like he was a shitty self insert squidsona And they added this pointless but if content to flesh out the fucking Emperor at the expense of Wyll.

like, think of how it could have went: Ansur acknowledges you have passed his trails, and demands you prove yourself by fighting him. Once he wins he congratulates you and Wyll and him have a talk, Ansur can see the shining heart behind the devil horns and lets Wyll ride him into battle.

think of how cool that would have been.

[snotsloth]

10 Characters/10 Fandoms/10 Tags

Tagged by @icehearts

Tagging, but don't feel pressured! (Also you do not have to make pretty pictures. Graphic Designer brain just took over and this happened.) @physicalvocalist, @sarenraegalpaladin, @vorpalbun, @captainqster, @leagor-majere, @sundered-souls, @ardberts, @hinganskies, @lilbittymonster, @janzoo

1. Harrowhark Nonagesimus - The Locked Tomb Trilogy

Harrow has true scrungly wet cat energy. I want to put her in one of those little backpacks with a window and carry her around in it for her enrichment. She's an absolute bitch. She is a pathetic little meow meow. She lobotomized herself to save the soul of the woman she refuses to admit she's in love with. She tried to kill a saint with soup made from her own bone marrow. She is a war crime. I like her so much!

2. Magneto - X-Men

He is the platonic ideal of my favorite trope, "Does all the wrong things for all the right reasons." Magneto has gone through the polar opposite of villain decay. The longer he exists, the longer the universe has to prove him increasingly correct on most things. All I can really say is, "Magneto was right."

3. Wei Wuxian - Mo Dao Zu Shi

Truly the most blorbo of all time. Are you also an ADHD burned out gifted and talented submissive brat with a praise kink? Boy howdy, do I have a character that you are going to imprint on like a baby goose! Wei Wuxian also has a hearty dose of, "Does all the wrong things for all the right reasons." Also like who multiclasses in wizard (specifically necromancer) and bard? This fucking guy apparently.

4. Hythlodaeus - Final Fantasy 14

I am so normal about Hythlodaeus, I made an entire AU around him. That is a reasonable thing to do about a character that you like a normal amount, right? The idealized lost love, trapped in amber, untouchable but also incorruptible by the sands of time that keep eroding the edges of your soul. And then they gave him lavender dead anime mom hair!

5. Varric Tethras - Dragon Age

I literally have a semi-viral post about how much this character has consumed my thoughts. Rule Number 1 of Dragon Age: Varric lies. He's a charming scoundrel. He's loyal to a fault. He knows everything worth knowing about Kirkwall. And he's a dirty fucking liar. The only reason Varric isn't romanceable in DA2 is that no other romantic interest would get any attention if Varric was on the table. I desire him carnally.

6. Temeraire - Temeraire

My most precious and smartest boy! I adore Temeraire so much. Swear to god, I did not read the Temeraire books before creating Orion as a character, but the parallels are so strong, you would think I had! He's a bookworm, a little awkward but full of opinions, and he has an unwavering moral compass. Temeraire will forever be one of my favorite dragon characters.

7. Jaina Solo - Star Wars Legends

I will never forget what Disney took from me. As a weird, nerdy girl who was also kind of a guy growing up, Jaina meant so much to me. She was an active participant in the stories she was in. She was an ace pilot, a skilled mechanic, and a Jedi to boot. She had her dad's sense of humor and her mom's moral certainty. I thought she was the coolest. Still do.

8. Ansur - Baldur's Gate 3

Ansur! My beloved! If you had told me that the character I would be most obsessed with from BG3 would be an undead bronze dragon who you don't even know about until the third act -- actually, no that checks out. He was so in love, and so loyal, and so bitter at Balduron for embracing his corruption! And that reveal! All the build-up, only to find his bones and then wham! the entire narrative of the Emperor gets turned on its head. I still get chills. Also, they were absolutely fucking.

9. Viktor - Arcane

Listen, as a disabled, obsessive nerd with too much to do and not enough time to do it all in, Viktor is my gender. I love just about everything about Arcane, but Viktor's storyline is my favorite part. I, for one, am very excited to watch his fall from grace and further corruption. I have already forgiven all of his atrocities. I do not care. He's babygirl.

10. Clark Kent - DC

You thought I was going to say Jason or Dick for a DC character didn't you? (Or even Roy!) Those would all have been very reasonable expectations. I am pretty obsessed with all of them. However, Clark Kent is a very special character to me, and yes I specifically am focusing on the Clark persona and not the Supes persona. Yeah, they are ultimately the same guy, but I much prefer Superman stories grounded in his Clark Kent identity. Superman is at his best when he is attached to the mundane world by things like his job, his family, and his love for Lois. (Lois/Clark is the ultimate het ship. I will not be taking questions on this. It just is.) Clark is essentially a demigod, and yet he chooses to spend his time loving people and living as one of them, and I think that's really fucking cool.

[blackjackkent]

All right. Sort of found Minsc last night, but hopefully tonight we find him for realsies!

To the sewers! Show me how excited you are about going back to the sewers, Hector.

That's what I thought.

I stole some fancy new armor for Jaheira out of the back of the secure vault from a box with a DC-30 SoH check; I savescummed it, yes, but I feel no guilt from an RP level bc it was not labeled as an item that would be considered theft. XD So I'm choosing to believe Glitterbeard gave this to us as thanks for saving his hide.

It looks pretty dope on her.

We have to be somewhat careful here because (I have been informed by @aloptext) the game actually isn't kidding about Florrick only having five days to live. So if I want to get Minsc and then save her we need to be fairly judicious with our long rests. So for now we'll go straight to Minsc and try and avoid getting caught in any other trouble in the meantime.

...

...

I wrote the above and was IMMEDIATELY accosted by a woman in the street out of nowhere. It actually startled me a little.

"You! The gods-damned disease of the Gate! Lady Mizora told me everything - how you and the Blade of Frontiers slaughtered his own father, how he craves ultimate power, how he means to make the city bow to him and him alone! First I finish you! Then I finish the duke's traitorous son!"

...Mizora, you motherfucker. >:|

I guess we should have expected this. Hector's pretty upset about it; they already had Orin doing her best to smear his reputation in the city. He doesn't need Mizora doing it too.

The woman's anger seems sincere, though; he suspects she is a decent, honorable person being misled by Mizora's lies but doing what she believes is the right thing. And-- I recognize her name!

"Cordula Eltan." Almost certainly related to Duke Eltan, founder of the Flaming Fist, who was present at Caden's adventures in BG1.

We have the option to address her with recognition, as her family has "a storied history" in the city, but Hector has a history check he can take instead, nerd boy that he is.

[HISTORY] A relevant thread of knowledge pokes at your mind. Explore it.

Narrator: You remember the stories of Elturel's fall. The city was dragged into the Hells at Zariel's behest - and Ravengard along with it.

Ooh. I actually forgot that Ravengard was apparently involved in the original fall of Elturel. It's not super clear if the implication here is supposed to be that Mizora is shooting for revenge against him for escaping Zariel's grasp, but that certainly seems to be the line Hector is trying to take.

"Zariel's stunt destroyed countless lives," he says soberly. "Mizora is her minion. You can't trust her."

Eltan hesitates... then sheathes her blades. Hector gets the distinct impression she was already thinking this in the back of her mind and he has merely forced her to confront it.

"Stand down," she mutters. "I believe you, the Battle Lord help me. What darkness has fallen upon us..." A slight pause; she looks Hector up and down consideringly, then seems to come to a decision.

"Listen. There's something Wyll should know," she says earnestly, her voice softening. "On his way from Elturel, Ravengard sent a messenger with word of the cult. He knew about the Absolute. I thought little of it at first - but he realized the danger before anyone else did. He understood that if the cult were successful in raising an army, Baldur's Gate would be doomed."

Her eyes narrow. "And he knew that to protect the city, one trained in the ways of the great champions would have to rouse the wyrm living beneath. If I'm not mistaken, that would be Wyll."

Wait.

What?

Hector blinks rapidly, thrown by this unexpected pivot in the conversation. "Do you mean there's a *dragon* living under the city?" he asks, bewildered.

"A bronze dragon, to be precise," Eltan answers gravely. "Sleeping beneath us. The wyrm goes by many names. Ansur. The Waiting Storm. The Heart of the Gate. He made Balduran a binding promise to protect the city when its need was greatest."

...Interesting. (Especially interesting that the Emperor didn't feel like bringing this up when it mentioned we need to look for allies. Seems like the sort of thing that would be valuable information.)

"The city's survived countless threats," Eltan goes on. "But Ravengard knew its walls would fall to the cult. With him gone and the city near ruin, your call is to unleash the Heart of the Gate." She hands him a curled scroll of paper; he feels the fragility of it, the age of the paper. "'The Legend of Ansur.' The bards call it a tall tale. But every last word is true. Follow its path to the wyrm." She scowls tightly. "Or do not, and let the Coast be drowned in blood."

Hector considers the woman in silence for a moment. He has heard of this story obliquely in some reading or other - but not as something seriously considered fact. But this woman seems quite lucid in all other regards so he is hesitant to call her mad in this one. And if it's true...

They need allies. And, to be honest, Wyll needs something to give him a sense of purpose in the wake of the terrible sacrifice he's had to make.

"Your faith in us is well-founded," Hector says, matching the younger woman's serious tone. "We will seek the wyrm and ask for his help."

Eltan nods crisply. "I was right to lay down my arms, Foehammer be praised. I should go, gather allies. We'll join you in your hour of need. Free the wyrm, and may his thunderous wind drive the Absolute from the Coast."

-----

Well, that was unexpected. XD Hector's days continue to get weirder.

The written tale she gave us is fun because it has notes from Wyll's dad written in the margins.

I guess we'll go look into that after we've gotten Minsc, Florrick, and potentially Ravengard himself to safety.

[astrallithid]

also for some fun references, because i know there are people who have been mentioned in a few replies ... and some who haven't been mentioned, but with the event rerun (mistified) coming up, it seems like a good a time as ever to get this out! here's some important figures of balduran's past!

can you believe balduran had a fine childhood, he was so well adjusted once upon a time!!! how did things go so wrong????

ansur, heart of the gate. balduran's literal soulmate. balduran loved ansur in a way he'd never loved anyone before- and will never love anyone like that again. ansur is the best thing that ever happened to balduran, and balduran has been torn up over the fact that ceremorphosis lost him his soulmate's love. since ansur's death, and possibly even before, there's been this void in balduran that can't be filled. it's the root of his anxieties and sorows, his trust issues. because balduran lived with ansur in the wyrmway, hidden from people who would see him and decide "illithid, kill on sight", and he thought he was safe- and he wasn't. the person he loved most couldn't see him as anything but a monster in the end. he remembers ansur both as the bronze dragon, and as the bronze dragonborn ...

belynne stelmane. the leader of the knights of the shield. balduran's thrall, but he'd like to call her his lover, which ... she was ... in a way. their relationship got messy (and horrible) when he caused her to suffer a stroke. balduran describes belynne as "the most regal of women". she always appears in her prime when balduran thinks of her.

dradeel. an elven wizard and worshipper of selune. dradeel was the only survivor of balduran's crew in his last journey. while the real dradeel became paranoid and reclusive (passing away in 1369 DR), balduran remembers a charming young elf who showed him the weave. even though dradeel follows selune, he had incredible talents that he thanked mystra for. dradeel is the reason balduran knows that he is ... not ... good at a lot of magic, but he knows healing spells and feather fall lmao.

when ansur wasn't with him, dradeel was balduran's primary bedfellow ... essentially the tldr is dradeel is balduran's gale dekarios, and balduran decided he really wanted to bed that wizard!!!

ishara of athkatla. baluran's mother, a follower of the goddess sune. she moved to the grey harbors after falling in love with a charming sailor. she raised balduran mostly as a single mother as balduran's father died at sea. she gave him the cutlery set that he kept even after his ceremorphosis, but alas he did lose a butterknife ... ishara was always protective of her son, especially after his father's death. while she knew she couldn't tame his adventurous spirit, she told him that even a ship needs to return to port. of note, ishara is a half-elf.

algernon of the grey harbor. balduran's father. a spirited sailor (and appropriately, a worshipper of valkur), balduran takes after algernon not only in looks, but in interests. algernon died at sea when balduran was ten, but the memories he has of his father are fond. algernon taught balduran how to sail and how to use a bow and arrow, and encouraged him to never stop exploring the world. algernon is also responsible for balduran's desire to visit anchorome, which obviously his father had never been to, but he at least told balduran stories about a distant land ...

the nursemaid. the illithid that infected balduran, and the one that watched over him through his ceremorphosis. he only ever knew it as 'the nursemaid' and the human remnants of him resent it for what it did to him, but the illithid part of him understands that it allowed him power that he could never achieve as a human. it suggested voyager of the astral sea as a name to the elder brain for its newest member of the colony. balduran assumes the nursemaid either returned to the astral plane, or passed away from remaining away, as illithids only live 130 years or so outside the astral plane...

[iinmortales]

he was, no matter his current appearance, he was a dragon. it was simpler to move about the city in the guise of humanity. baldur's gate was as much his city as it was balduran's, and he was not about to let an elder brain turn all of the citizens into mind flayers. he wasn't about to let the dead three use baldur's gate as a jumping off point for world domination. over his dead scaley body.

lips curled into a smile. ' i will help you throw off his yoke if that is your goal. ' bronze dragon's were known for their sense for justice, for being intolerant of cruelty and injustice. ansur was no different in this regard. was not this sort of blackmail an injustice? balduran was holding ceremorphosis over the heads of these adventurers to force their compliance. ' what sort of plan have you formed? '

briar was quick to nod, to offer a bit of a bow. he didn't even want to ask in the first place, he thought that it was better to save this particular favor for a worse enemy. but then he wasn't even sure that they'd live through this, and then who would wake ansur? how could he save a city that didn't exist?

"i understand. i would not side with him either if we had a choice. he's the reason that we're here at all and not-- - mindflayers already." briar frowned. he wondered if he should even care that bladuran was likely listening. did it matter? "i am... trying to figure out a way to do this without him if at all possible. would you consider working with us if i can do that?"