#Can't wait until he meets Mol at the Last Light :)))

[morelikebaldursgay]

I made another BG3 character. I needed to get to know Minthara so that I could better write her in my playthrough fic, The Weeping Dawn (I have a whole explanation for how she survives the ambush at the grove and joins Dirge's party). I really wanted to get the whole party, though, and also I would feel bad, so I definitely couldn't raid the grove. Thus, I needed to come up with a character who was selfish and survival-focused enough to go to the Mountain Pass without taking a side in the goblin-grove conflict.

And thus, Tavin (birth name Tsab'erin, meaning "advisor/counselor to the abyss/empty/void" (i.e. advisor to no-one/listened to by no-one) in Drow) was born.

(He was supposed to be a cis guy but all of the elf body 2 and 4 faces look godawful, so I guess he has tits now. We'll see what's canon as I get to know him better.)

One thing about Lolth-sworn Drow/Udadrow is that they fucking hate sorcerers, especially wild magic sorcerers, for cultural reasons, and drow with them--especially men--are often killed once their abilities are discovered. So, when Tavin discovered his abilities in puberty, he ran into the wilds of the Underdark (hence his Outlander background) to have a better chance at survival (which he did, although not unscathed--his facial scar is from a torchstalk explosion, and he also has a lot of trauma).

Tavin is absolutely obsessed with survival, and would do literally anything to stay alive. He has a very "put your air mask on before others" mentality, which is fine except his trauma has made him unable to feel like his mask is secure. He literally would never have saved Shadowheart from her pod if a) he didn't love magic and doing shit with it so goddamn much, and it turns out sorcerers can just use magic to unlock the pod and b) it wasn't as quick and easy as it was.

My current idea with him is that he'll recruit all the core Companions, do the Risen Road quests because they're on the way, do some shit in the Blighted Village because I love that fucked up book, go with Sazza to the Goblin Camp, leave for the Mountain Pass after realizing they can't help him, and eventually have a lot of guilt, trauma recovery, and bonding with his party members that enables him to care about other people and actually become a good person...oh and rescue and recruit Minthara at Moonrise!

Also his Dream Guardian is his mom, who he has a. Complicated relationship with (they have not spoken in decades). If any drow lore knowers have suggestions for what house he might be from I'm all ears!