#ESPECIALLY the dark urge one

[jackalhadrurusluvr]

i need to speedrun finishing bg3 so i can be over it but i just had the Big Romance Scene with astarion and i have to log off to combat the nausea (/pos)

[chronurgy]

i gotta say playing as durge and finding the Prayer for Forgiveness in the mind flayer colony has genuinely made me unwell. Durge and gortash..... I'm rotating them. gnawing on them. absolutely freak4freak. help.

[quess-art]

Durge head :')

[blackjackkent]

As Rakha reaches the highest point in High Hall, everything inside her head seems to explode.

"YOU. ARE. PERSISTENT."

This close, the brain's voice in her head is like a thunderclap, like a bomb detonating with every syllable. It knocks her to her knees, her body spasming with agony.

"YOU. HAVE. FUNCTION."

The pain eases minutely. She struggles to rise, to think coherently through the barrage of psionic energy. Function?

"LEAVE THEM. JOIN US. WITNESS PERFECTION."

"WITNESS THE GRAND DESIGN."

The contact fades. Rakha draws a shaky, struggling breath, trying to focus. Join us. The brain wants her to betray her friends, to turn her back on the fight. To let the brain consume everything.

No.

She is so tired of voices in her head, of the powers around her trying to control her and use her. She is tired of fighting, tired of destruction, tired of every step forward being a desperate struggle.

She is tired. She cannot submit to another puppetmaster, not again. Not anymore. She is done with that.

It ends here.

She struggles to her feet, and remembers the night before the Bhaalist tribunal, the night the Emperor's mask finally came off. She remembers how it tried to flatter her and tell her what she wanted to hear - because it knew its control over her was slipping.

Does the brain see something to fear here? Is that why it offers an alliance?

She clenches her fists, looking behind her to see if the others are ready. They all stand ranged behind her, eyes, grim, hands gripping their weapons white-knuckled. Gale steps up to her side, meets her gaze squarely.

"Can you feel it?" he says gravely. "We're almost there. Once we ascend the Netherbrain's stem, we'll be in touching distance of the crown. Of reclaiming the powers of Karsus himself." He gives her a sharp nod. "I'm ready. Are you?"

There was a time when Rakha wholeheartedly supported Gale in his quest to claim the power of Karsus from the Crown. But... she is so tired now, so desperate for this all to be over. Gale spoke once of bringing gods down to a level plane with mortals, but lately he has acted as if it is only truly about raising one single mortal, himself, up to godhood.

And she no longer has Bhaal clawing inside her skull, and the other gods can rot for all she cares. She just wants this finished. She just wants it all gone, and peace to follow - for herself and her friends.

"Are you sure you want this crown?" she asks hoarsely. "Look at the damage it's caused."

Gale flinches. "You urged me to this point, and now you falter? What would you have me do, sacrifice myself and hope that Mystra eulogizes my ashes?"

(A/N: Some of the more detailed reactivity in Act 3 has been a little sketchy, so I'm glad that we do get to have Gale call out the fact that Rakha is doing a bit of an about-face on this particular subject.)

No, she thinks wearily. She does not want him to use the orb. They are here to finish this fight with the Netherstones; Karlach has already sacrificed herself for this purpose. They do not need to lose Gale too. But the matter of the crown afterwards...

[PERSUASION] "No. But I see now... the crown is dangerous,"(*) she mutters. "We must make sure it's destroyed."

(A/N: DC30, holy shit. Luckily Rakha's speech scores are insane at this point, but damn. Gale was dug in on this subject.)

Gale scowls. "If you're wrong, we'll have squandered the chance for a better world. You understand that, don't you?" he says coolly.

Rakha doesn't answer, just looks at him steadily. A better world. That was what Bhaal wanted to - only his was soaked in blood. She cannot see so clearly what Gale's would look like - and she finds, abruptly, that she does not much care. She just wants wants this to be finished, she wants her friends to be safe. She wants the voices out of her head.

Gale holds her gaze for a moment, and then smiles wryly, his expression softening. "But... perhaps saving the day will suffice for now. A better world can always follow, so long as we survive."

He hesitates, then nods, glancing past her to the others, then towards the brainstem, the fleshy path leading upward. "So be it. Lead on."

Rakha turns away without speaking, steps toward the stem, reaches out to rest a hand on it.

Pain lashes through her head for a moment, stunning her in place.

It takes every bit of effort she has, all the mental strength honed in holding the beast back day after day after day, to shove the brain's influence away from her. But she manages it, and the pain recedes, her vision clearing.

She sinks her fingers into the soft flesh and begins to climb.

-----

(*) Changed the line here a little from in-game: "No. But surely you see now how dangerous the crown is?"

[cidnangarlond]

GLORY THE TIEFLING BARD -> Emerald Grove, The Ruins, Camp, & Raphael's House of Hope

But where, oh where could that monster have come from? If only you knew yourself better.

[merrunzs]

did you guys know that you can just make your ocs kiss your friends' ocs. and everything is beautiful. huge if true

damnon belongs to @junkertown :)

[loderlied]

​going a little insane tonight over gort kicking some of zeke’s teeth out and zeke completely not understanding why he (zeke) is doing this but instinctively grabbing the teeth and clutching them so tightly to his chest as gortash goes to pick them off the ground

(the kick was for zeke looking up angry at him while writhing in pain on the ground. he still has fight in him. the ferocity of the wild and all… and gort’s just like ‘delicious’ and brutally kicks his skull in. creation through destruction. consumption…)

[popiellart]

Woe, The Elder Brain/The Dark Urge fanfic be upon ye!

'OP do you take constructive cri -' i do not. enjoy it or perish.

[jojea]

GIVE IT UP FOR A NEW DAY OF THE WEEK!!!!! durge duesday……. 👁️👁️

[goldenwaves]

i loveeeee that if u pick the great old one warlock in baldurs gate the game just makes it canon that ur patron is the netherbrain like yes! we love character choices that benefit the story

[midnightdemonhunter]

this is a hi-5 from me to you as a fellow Jeff appreciater!

FUCK YEAH highfiving you back!!!!! Alexa play You First by Paramore!!!!!! (Jeff song)

[multi-lefaiye]

[cut to me lying facedown in a puddle of tears]

[blackjackkent]

OK, the Underdark bit I've been most worried about for Rakha...

"Ah! A visitor! You're a welcome sight!"

Rakha is on guard immediately meeting this man. The only other such person she's met before - Wyll identified them as hobgoblins - was Ragzlin, one of the three leaders of the goblin camp aboveground. This fellow, though, smiles brightly at her and turns away from the large stack of books he has been examining, with no trace of hostility or malice in his manner.

"But," he goes on cheerfully, "let us observe the customs of the locals."

Narrator: The scholar's brow tenses. His voice spills into your skull, the spores connecting mind to mind.

Rakha squeezes her own eyes shut as her brain seems to vibrate with the man's voice. Blurg, proud member of the Society of Brilliance, at your service.

Then he flinches back and groans, rubbing his temple. "Hgn--nzzt. Or perhaps not. Your mind is far more complex than that of the fungi."

Rakha opens her eyes slowly. Society of Brilliance. She recognizes that name, too - the trader on the road to the creche mentioned working for them. The trader Rakha killed for being an ass to Lae'zel and threatening to steal a githyanki egg.

The man seems harmless, but she does not trust him. "Were you here when the duergar attacked?" she asks carefully.

Blurg smiles ruefully. "I observed the fight from a distance," he says. "Combat is not my field of expertise, but the myconids handled themselves well enough." He gestures around him. "My colleagues and I are working to improve conditions in the Underdark. This need not be such a dire, hostile place."

Rakha considers this, then relaxes slightly. Whatever this Society might be, Blurg does not grate on her the way Esther did; the beast urge remains at its low-level hum in the back of her mind.

Blurg, on the other hand, is looking at her with sincere interest. "It's curious to find a surface dweller here. What has brought you down so deep?"

(A/N: As usual - Rakha's primary resemblance to Hector is that her inclination is to be completely honest roughly 100% of the time. However, the only honest answer here goes straight to the tadpole; I think Rakha would have been more likely to talk about Moonrise Towers and their destination.

I know why they did it this way - bc they're setting up Omeluum's arrival - but it's always a bit annoying when the exact conversational tack I want to use isn't an option. Cos realistically it's already been established that telling a stranger who knows about such things that you have a tadpole is a recipe for being treated like a ticking time bomb. But we work with what we've got. XD )

"A mind flayer infected me with a tadpole," Rakha says with a slight shrug. She doubts this man will know anything about what that means, of course - and if he does, his reaction will probably be only fear. But there's no more point in sugarcoating the situation here than there has been anywhere else.

To her surprise, though, he perks up curiously. "Truly remarkable! But why come to the Underdark where they hold so much power?"

Rakha blinks. Curiosity is not the reaction she expected. And she can't help wondering if there are answers to be had here.

Explain the whole story.

Blurg listens with intent interest as Rakha, in quick clipped sentences, lays out the state of their adventure so far. He clicks his tongue thoughtfully when she's finished. "You were infected by an illithid tadpole? It's a miracle you're still intact. You must be worried sick - but have no fear! I have a friend who may be able to assist!"

Before she can ask him what she means by that, her head rings as the hobgoblin gives a shout through the connecting network of spores around them. Omeluum!

A pause - and then another ringing mental voice, this one lower and more resonant than Blurg's. I hope this is important, Blurg. My zurkhwood samples need constant attention.

"It is!" Blurg says excitedly, abandoning the mental communication and calling down the pathway behind him. "This adventurer has an illithid tadpole inside her head. But she hasn't turned!"

"No ceremorphosis?" says the deeper voice, now aloud as well. Rakha turns in time to see the new arrival--

"That's impossible," the mind flayer says placidly. "But intriguing. Are you looking to have it extracted?"

All of them go completely still, staring wide-eyed - for a moment too astonished to react.

Lae'zel finds her voice first, and her tone has gone ice-cold with trembling rage. "Ghaik!" she snaps. "Your head will make a fine trophy for my queen!"

"Please - hold," says the illithid; its tone has a muted urgency that might be a panicked shout in any other race. "I understand your rage against my kin. One of my brethren forced a tadpole into your eye - or ear, perhaps? But I assure you, I stand with the Society of Brilliance, not the colonies of my people."

Rakha barely hears him. Her heartbeat feels suddenly very loud in her ears, rage suddenly consuming everything else. Her vision pales out and the beast roars in her head. ENEMY. KILL.

She trembles with the urge to leap forward as she did back on the nautiloid, to hurl itself at this creature that is like those who captured her and destroy it, rip the tentacles from its head and shove a knife through that gaping maw of teeth beneath.

But--

She looks past Lae'zel's seething expression to Wyll behind her. He knows the hunting of monsters, but he has gone still with an expression of wary curiosity. He hears the same thing she does - there is something different about this illithid. Something strange, a mystery that tugs at the rational part of her mind.

And if she fights here, it might turn the myconids against them. And she does not wish them dead; she wants to bring them Nere's head and purchase another moment of peace.

"The myconids wouldn't appreciate us fighting here," she rasps out, her voice strained with the effort of resisting the blood urge. "I'll listen."

"Fool!" Lae'zel snarls. "They infest your head and invade your dreams, and still you would parley?"

Rakha ignores her. This isn't about the illithid, not really-- it's about the strangeness of this moment, and her need for answers, and her own inward struggle. It's another moment where the beast has wanted to kill and she has held it back, which is a sort of victory.

She half-expects Lae'zel to attack regardless, and hasn't quite decided whether to stop her. But Lae'zel remains still; her eyes are burning like coals with frustration... but she follows Rakha's lead and waits, a hand on her sword but leaving it undrawn.

The illithid seems to relax slightly. "I ask only that you refrain from violence," it says gravely. "I respect that your opinion of my kind may be... charged." It takes a slow, careful step forward. "If that settles matters for the time being - would you like a diagnosis? Open your mind to me. Let us see what lurks within?"

Rakha's jaw sets tightly at once. She has many invaders already in her head; she does not need another. Certainly not an illithid. "Never mind," she says curtly. "I'm done with mind flayers touching me."

The illithid tilts its head to the side. "I see," it says. It does not seem bothered by her attitude - but there is an odd air of regret in its monotone voice. "I will remain here... if you change your mind..."

[catthattalks]

Gale: Very good. Now I want you to picture in your mind the concept of harmony. As true as you can. Armas: [BARD] Harmony comes easily to you. Allow it to wash over your mind and magic.

I have no idea if that is TAV option but I LOVE how bard Durge can find sense of harmony easily with their bardic skills.

[rinzdets]

it kinda makes me sad how i was really hyperfixated with bg3 almost from the first days it came out in early access, but after it finally released i did a couple of unfinished playthroughs and now i find this game repellent and even the thought of it makes me exhausted

like, brain, what the fuck??? i remember when i couldn’t do anything for weeks because i couldn’t stop thinking about this game

[jollyfang]

Well as of last night I’ve finished my first dark urge run…. And I already miss my tav. 🥺

Like, I know I can just head canon and write fanfic about post campaign stuff but I’m still sad that their game is finished. (I mean, yes, I could start their game over but I’m trying not to do that. Maybe a while down the line I’ll do a replay but not for while). It was so much fun and they’re probably one of my favorite ocs I’ve ever made. So I might be ranting about them for a few days lol

Thinking about posting a few pics of them as they’ve grown throughout the story but I’m undecided. Honestly I could talk about my Tavs till the cows come home so I’ve been trying to stop myself from just going off about them whenever I have the chance cuz I don’t wanna be annoying 😅