#Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernu

[shokuheshi]

Karlach hugging Lulu (Zariel's past hollyphant from the Descent campaign) need content of them

[sunsetagain]

Baldur's Gate 3: My heart's An Empty Vase Looking For Roses

Ship: Karlach + non-ascendant Astarion

based on Descent into Avernus

free talk at the end

中文版

I wrote then canceled two comics after wrapping up Byzantine Generals. For a while I thought I lost my comic making ability forever, until BG3 stormed into my life.

Cover lyrics were written by Tender Henk from Singing Lute inn, on a sheet of paper on the desk in the room where Karlach's romance scene takes place. It suits her so well yet she calls him the worst guy she ever met LOL can't blame her bc what in the hells is Jableeda?

NGL I played Karlach in my first BG3 playthrough because her engine reminded me of the thirium pump of a DBH android. Romancing Astarion with her felt like Romancing Kamski with an android to me in the first place LMAO some pretty ancient headcanon like little boy Elijah being bullied in school built a buff RT600 Chloe to be his bodyguard blablabla

Then she and Astarion became my OTP and I played both of them to romance each other, tried every possibility i could think of.

So this comic is just a small talk about a big plan between Karlach and spawn Astarion after the ending of the game. Based on Descent into Avernus. I'm no DnD player so apologize in advance in case of any mistakes. OOC belongs to me.

[annadeef]

bloody streets, some secrets and a cold coin

Opal belongs to @endlessmidnightparade , Anne belongs to @artbytesslyn and Ferus to @siobhanchiffon

[chiefpurpleimp]

DONE ... mostly. Just the border to do.

This piece has consumed whatever little free time I have. I'm sorry for the spam 🤣. I'm just so very slow at drawing 😅.

I have other pieces planned but they will have to wait until I've finished some work and other things.

Hellriders in Avernus against Zariels armies.

[drownedrow]

Cania, The Eighth Layer (Envy)

[heykayhayes]

A new DND character I'm bringing into a friend's Acquisitions Inc. game + some NPC portraits I did for my wife's Baldur's Gate campaign!

[gale-dekarios]

i just realised that if you havent played descent into avernus, you have no context as to WHY elturel was taken to avernus, or WHY the tieflings were thrown out from the city to be travelling to baldurs gate in the first place, OR that zariel has a tragic backstory of her own. thats wild to me. anyway, play descent into avernus its one of the like, three good premade campaigns.

[dutifullylazybread]

Hi Darcy!! Love your writing so much!

Since you're opening up Headcanon requests, I was curious: What do you think Rolan's nightmares contain? Same for Cal and Lia maybe?? I love how you alluded to Rolan's nightmares with how he wakes up "choking on his own panic" I always think Rolan's nightmares are either about his mother, Lorroakan, or both! I can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Thank you so much! 🥹 I had a blast reading through your fics the other day—so thank you for sharing such lovely writing with all of us.

So this was a really interesting thought exercise for me. I was a little nervous to start this headcanon list, because I wanted to do these three characters justice.

I have done my best to pull from nightmares I have had, and I have also conducted research to make sure I am not working solely from one point of view.

Content warnings: Nightmares as a result of living through some pretty terrifying experiences, parental death/finding deceased parent (mentioned at the end of all three sections) and discussions of past abuse (found in Rolan's section).

Nightmares - Cal, Lia, and Rolan

Cal

Cal dreams of falling.

To be specific, he dreams of when Elturel descended.

The reason I say this is because I came across this MtG card illustration of the Descent into Avernus, and it has stuck with me:

So when Elturel descended, would it really be too surprising if some people lost their footing and fell off the edge?

As Elturel is dragged into Avernus by these chains, cityfolk are being ripped off of the ground. If they can’t grab onto something stable enough to hold fast while the city descends, or if they aren’t flush to the side of a building, then they are likely flying off of the edge.

Cal had been running errands for the general store that he worked at when Elturel descended. Were it not for the sturdy building he found himself pressed up against, he might not have survived the Descent.

Now, he frequently dreams of falling into the River Styx. He doesn’t usually wake up when he hits the water, but he will dream of staring up at the city, and he can’t move. He can’t swim to the surface.

Cal also dreams of Moonrise Tower’s dungeons. He remembers the smell of rot and death, and he remembers the sounds of things moving around in the shadows.

When these nightmares take a turn for the worse, he manages to get out of the prison cell, and he starts searching for Lia. He knows something bad has happened, but he can’t find her.

He, like Rolan, dreams about finding their mother's body.

Lia

Lia dreams of Zariel. My personal headcanon is that, when Elturel was pulled into Avernus, Lia was likely in the city’s square (Shiarra’s market). This would be a place where there would be a lot of people, especially when the Descent occurred. So after the city was pulled into Avernus and chained above the River Styx, Zariel landed in the city square.

Zariel would have made this appearance to 1) scare everyone shitless, 2) to show off the forces under her control, and 3) to make it clear why she chose to drag Elturel into Avernus. She would make it known then and there who was at fault, because she would want to sow dissent amongst the people of Elturel.

And Lia, who had been in the midst of training, was right there. Perhaps paces away from Zariel. And she brought a detachment of her devil army with her. 

Lia dreams about fleeing the marketplace. She never looks behind her, because she fears either Zariel or her devils will be there, at her heels.

While she runs, she searches for Rolan and Cal, calling out for them but receiving no answer.

She tries to find her way home, but as she flees, the city’s streets become almost maze-like. 

And, at a certain point, she feels like she is running in place. The street stretches out in front of her, her legs are moving under her, but she simply can’t gain enough traction to push herself forward.

She will usually wake up just as she feels something grapple her from behind.

If her nightmares turn into sleep paralysis, she might dream that Zariel is in the room with her, watching from the shadows cast by her wardrobe.

When Lia dreams about their mother, she dreams about trying to run towards her but never reaching her. When having these dreams, she feels like, if she can't reach her, something very, very bad will happen.

Rolan

So I agree with you that Rolan dreams about Lorroakan. There are indeed instances where he just relives Lorroakan's abuse as a flashback.

He also dreams about getting lost in the Shadow-Cursed lands. He wanders through the forest, calling for his siblings.

If he dreams of Elturel, then he dreams of running through the house, calling out for Cal and Lia and their mother. No one answers. 

It’s like he is moving through a strange haze. He is looking everywhere, but he knows that no one is there. He can hear chaos outside of the household, and it makes him panic.

Something is banging on the front door. He cannot find his family, but he knows he needs to before whatever is outside gets in.

I do headcanon that their mother died before Elturel was returned to the material plane, but she was alive prior to the Descent. 

Rolan and Cal found her body.

In his nightmares, Rolan rushes out into the garden, thinking that he might find Cal or their mother there.

The garden wrapped around the house. And when he immediately steps outside, he is struck by this deep, sickening dread. He knows something is wrong. He wants to go back inside, but he is compelled to keep walking forward. He remembers looking for his mother out here before and finding something horrible.

He wants to go back inside, but he can’t.

Before he rounds the corner to where the flowerbeds are, he wakes up.

[eethok]

apparently avernus is lovely this time of year

[yeetmeoutthewindowdaddy]

A deep dive into Zevlor's devotion series master list:

(Part 1) Everybody hates tieflings, and how discrimination impacted a young Zevlor.

(Part 2) Elturel's history and culture, the Hellriders, and Zevlor's paladin oath.

(Part 2.5) Zevlor's paladin oath.

(Part 3) Zevlor's actions during Act 1, an analysis of a man who is barely holding on.

Notice on parts 4-7 (this link will be removed from this post after I complete/ publish parts 4-7.)

(Part 4) Zevlor's actions during Act 2, an analysis of a broken man.

(Part 5) Zevlor's actions during Act 3, an analysis of a man with his faith restored.

(Part 6) Zevlor's actions during/ after the epilogue, not all endings are happily ever after— especially not for a tiefling.

(Part 7) Zevlor in a romantic relationship.

[inaconstantstateofchange]

Hellish Landscape: Art in the Szarr Palace

The other day my friend and I were running through the Szarr palace on multi-player, and found this elaborate painting which neither of us had ever noticed before. It is in the cursed guest room where you can find the body of Victoria, on the wall directly to the right of the door as you walk through.

If you use Alt or hover your mouse over the painting, it reveals that it is titled Hellish Landscape. And that title could not be more accurate, because what it is depicting is the Descent into Avernus.

The winged figure at the top is none other than Zariel, recognizable by the flail she has in place of one hand. Behind her, that glowing circle is the Companion, the second sun that burned above Elturel for 50 years, before it turned into a portal that tore the city through into Avernus. Elturel itself can be seen below both the Companion and Zariel.

What is particularly interesting, in in-universe terms, is how quickly this painting was made, relative to Elturel's fall.

Another question it raises, based on the incredible detail of it all: who made this painting, what was their connection to Elturel or the Hells, and how did it come to be occupying a sole guest room in Szarr Palace?

Note: The lighting in Szarr palace is truly abysmal, so I took the painting to Sorcerous Sundries for a clearer reference. Here it is in its original position.

ETA: This painting can also be found in the secret vault behind the inert gem in the House of Hope.

[kirain]

Do you think Doni is nonverbal because he's autistic?

This is the second Doni ask I've received. Are you the same anon? I'm working on the other one, by the way. 😁

He certainly could be autistic, but personally I think he's traumatised. Zevlor and the other tieflings mention they're refugees and survivors from Elturel. Without going too in-depth, Elturel was a major city in the Western Heartlands of West Faerûn. Zariel, Archdutchess of Avernus, pulled the whole city into the hells, specifically into the River Styx. If Doni witnessed it while escaping, he would've seen something like this:

Terrifying. The city was sucked through a black hole, leaving nothing but a crater behind, and all the survivors were turned into devils to serve in the Blood War. This easily could have caused Doni's mustism, and if that is the case, I hope his voice recovers. It also explains why he put letters in rivers and addressed them to the Styx, hoping they would reach his father.

If anything, I'd argue he has hyperlexia, which is often (though not always) part of the autism spectrum. His writing is impeccable, especially in comparison to some of the other letters you can find. Mirkon's letter, for example, is typical for a boy his age; full of errors and small words. Though I personally think Doni's mutism is the result of trauma, he could very well be autistic, too.

[maevesweirdart]

art is so haaaaard T_T i have been working on this painting for so long. i have lost all perspective and i have no idea whether or not it looks good…

anyway here’s Karlach in Avernus with (redesigned!) Zariel looming ominously in the distance (i have no idea how tall she is so i have decided to make her a kaiju)

[chiefpurpleimp]

I just realised as I started to sketch out the sword....that all those beautiful belt details are gonna be hidden. FFS 😭🤣.

I also hate chainmail. Next pics of Zevlor won't be as detailed because fuck drawing chainmail 🤣🤣.

Sword is next then horse, then back ground elements.

[tociminna]

A Thing I am looking forward to expanding on in my WIP, something that Larian pretty much just left on the table:

Ulder Ravengard was in Elturel during the Descent. He spent months (could be less depending on campaign context) leading and defending the last citizens of the city while it was in Avernus.

Adventurers returned the city to the Material Plane, but Ravengard was the one running the show in the High Hall. It is highly likely that at least Zevlor has met him before.

His reaction to Devil Wyll is absolutely complicated by this. The Return took place only a few months(?) before the events of BG3.

I also wonder if Wyll knows this. Is there dialogue or background in the game I've missed or forgotten that would point in either direction?

[dragonagitator]

I know that trading the Crown of Karsus to Raphael is considered one of the "bad" endings, but as I read through the Descent Into Avernus D&D module (which immediately precedes the events of BG3), I keep finding myself thinking "holy shit but does Avernus need some regime change."

Like yeah Raphael is bad but Zariel is SO COMPLETELY TERRIBLE that replacing her with pretty much anybody would most likely be an improvement.

Where's the CIA when you need them, lol.