#I collect Githyanki tav's in BG3

[piccogirl]

[xthescarletbitch]

Hey there... I'm terribly angry about something big and outside of my control at the moment. Could you let me know what you'd think the BG3 companions do if Tav started self destructing? Like Tav passing harsher judgments, snapping at neutral NPCs, or fighting more dangerously and recklessly with bad guys?

hiii! i am sorry for the delay, but here is how i think it will go for the bg3 ladies and a tav who is self-destructing. i hope it can bring you a little comfort during this rough time. sending you all the love!

bg3 ladies helping a self-destructing tav (x reader)

sfw, but i still prefer no minors

cw: self-destructing behavior, some tough love, fluff!!

word count: 2000+ (each is roughly 450-550)

tav, who is usually calm and collected, is showing signs of self-destruction. they are speaking differently than usual, taking a riskier approach to confrontations, snapping at innocent bystanders, and fighting more recklessly when in danger. the following baldur’s gate 3 ladies take note of this and decide on how to proceed.

lae'zel

at first, lae’zel doesn’t notice anything wrong. she does notice the change in behavior and attitude but doesn’t necessarily see it as a bad thing. the action that ticks it off for her, however, is witnessing you fighting a bit more recklessly than usual. she admires your tenacity and can sense your anger, but she also senses something more. for her, her anger is not a weakness, but a strength, which is why it takes her a moment. she is not used to seeing that side of you, so she grows a bit concerned.  her first intervention is trying to get between you and your target. it’s not that she doesn’t think you can handle it; she just cannot risk seeing you hurt yourself any more than you already are. she doesn’t even care if you get angry with her, either. she’ll snap back and remind you to stop being so careless. it’s just her way of protecting you. she notices something is really wrong when she sees more out-of-character occurrences from you. she watches you closely with her hand on her blade, just in case you find yourself in trouble. she wonders if staying back and silent is the best course of action when you are going through this, but she ultimately decides to approach you about it. she lets the rest of the party get a bit ahead of you while staying back and walking by your side.  “zhak vo'n'ash duj,” she says softly. ��what is the matter?” she’s not versed in any sort of means of comfort, but she does try what she has seen from you and the others. if it were any other githyanki, you may be told to suck it up and carry on… but lae’zel can see you’re hurting, and she wants so badly to protect you from yourself.  as she waits for an answer, she will look around to ensure that the others don’t see before she runs her hand up your back slowly. she understands if you choose not to tell her at that moment, but she still tries to be soft with you about it, especially after trying the tough love approach earlier. she doesn't leave your side until after she sees your expression soften, to which she looks around again and plants a kiss on your forehead. she shares a small smile with you as you continue on your journey.  later, when you’re able to get a moment alone, lae’zel offers to let you fight her to get all your feelings out. battle helps her express how she’s feeling, so she swears that it’ll help you. she’ll go a bit easy on you, letting you get all the hits you need in. she won’t stop until after you’ve called it quits. and afterward, when you’re ready, she’ll take you to a nearby water source to wash up and just talk under the moonlight.  lae’zel won’t be able to rest that night until you’re feeling better. in bed, she’ll offer you some wise githyanki words as she runs her hands up your arms, fully embracing the cuddling session you find yourselves in. she’s come to enjoy it quite a lot, and she hopes that this instance will bring you the comfort she struggles with bringing herself. 

minthara

minthara, with all of her astuteness, notices rather quickly that something is the matter with you. if it’s not by your body language while communicating, it’s by your tone and vocabulary. she takes great pride in knowing you so well that she can pick apart the tiny details about your mannerisms. even with this, she’ll let your actions go on for a little bit because she doesn’t quite see anything wrong in how you’re acting. in fact, she kind of likes it, but also reminds herself it’s temporary and that you will be okay. after all, when she’s feeling overwhelmed, she doesn’t want to be approached about it. so she leaves you alone. however, there comes a point when she knows that you’re getting yourself into a deeper hole, and she just cannot let that happen to you. she’s been there before–at a low point where she’s felt trapped inside her head. minthara can confidently say that it’s a torturous experience, and it’s the last thing she wants for the one she loves. she wants you to feel safe and loved, not miserable and careless. that’s when she’ll start to consider ways to approach you about it and figure out an effective way to care for you. after much consideration, she decides that the best time to question you about your behavior is later that night after everybody has retired to their tents.  you go back to your shared tent, a frustrated look plastered across your face as you enter. the first thing you notice is a few candles placed around your bedroll and minthara sitting on top with some bottles beside her. she opens her legs and pats the floor between them, motioning for you to sit in front of her. you’re puzzled for a moment but comply. if you’re being honest, you’re exhausted from how you’ve been feeling. whatever minthara has planned should be nice, right?  as you sit in front of her, minthara wraps her arms around your front and squeezes your waist. she places kisses behind your neck as she slowly lifts your shirt off of you. once the top is thrown to the side, her hands come off you and you notice she slathers them in some oil. the next thing you feel is her hands squeezing your tense shoulders, rubbing her fingers into your sore muscles at a slow pace. she also places more kisses upon the spots where she feels the most tension. no words are said, just minthara giving you a sensual massage to try and make you feel better. she’s never been good with comforting words, but she will do all she can to help you otherwise. she spends the rest of the night making sure that all the anguish has left your body. this is her way of telling you that she is there for you in mind, body, and spirit. you are hers, and she will take care of you if you let her. 

shadowheart

shadowheart has a lot of experience with self-destruction, but she doesn’t notice your behavior as quickly as she’d have liked. she only notices when you lead the party down a riskier path during a mission rather than taking the safe-and-sure route. she’ll question you about your decision, to which you may or may not snap back at her. no matter what, though, shadowheart will just step back and be quiet based on your response. she doesn’t exactly appreciate your attitude, but she’s been there before, so she tries her best to be understanding of your feelings. it’s not worth making either of you upset over making it a big deal. the thing is, shadowheart won’t just stand back for long. she starts to really dislike where you’re going and decides that enough is enough. she knows the signs and knows the inevitable, and if she can prevent all of the bad, she will. she’ll try to mend what’s hurting. she spares some extra heals for you during fights, ensuring that your condition is okay–that you’re not cursed or afflicted by something she can actually cure. she’ll try to make things easier for you, such as using a cantrip to light up an area that you may not be able to see as well. she’ll even try to ground you at the moment, pointing out beautiful sights during your journey that she hopes may distract you for long enough to get your mind off things.  and she will ask you about what’s going on. when she gets a moment alone with you, she takes you to the side and brings it up. she holds your face in her hands and makes you look her in the eyes. “my love, what is afflicting you?” she very much wants you to spill all the details, but she knows she can’t force them out of you. she understands how much one’s secrets are sacred to them. she only hopes you trust her enough to tell her what’s wrong so that she can help. whether or not you choose to tell, shadowheart will continue her tactics. for the rest of the journey, she keeps her eyes right on you the entire time, eager to keep you out of trouble. whenever you look her way, she’ll flash you a smile and a small wave to remind you that she’s not stopping. and hopefully, later that night, when you’re both ready to slumber, you’ll allow her to hold you close and help chase those inner demons away. having your company has certainly helped her with her own struggles, and she wants to do the same for you.

karlach

the precious karlach knows you all too well and notices almost immediately when something is wrong. witnessing you snap at a neutral npc leaves her puzzled because it is just so unlike you. it is at this point that she vows to try and make things better for you before they get worse (she couldn’t stand to see it get worse, anyway). so she’ll place a hand on your shoulder when witnessing the odd behavior, waiting for you to turn around and face her.  “you alright, soldier?” she asks, with those puppy dog eyes.  you can see that she’s worried about you, but you just feel too far gone. you nod and smile, hiding your pain–you don’t feel like dragging her down with you, let alone risking going off on her, too. it’s better that you keep your distance, and that’s something she senses. she takes her hand off of you and backs up, paying close attention to you as you continue your journey. karlach continues to think of ways to help you, and especially ways that you’ll let her help you.  every time you meet her gaze, karlach sends you loving glances despite your snapping. she just wants to show you that you are still loved despite these low points and that she is here to help you. if you stare at her long enough, she’ll even blow you a kiss. you’d be lying if you said her persistence wasn’t helping you, but you were still hurting. at some point, everybody in the party is talking about taking a short rest. you don’t want to, but you can’t stand to hear them ask about it anymore, or you’ll be snapping at them, too. thankfully, you’re not too far from a decent spot to allow some relaxation.  once you get there, you notice karlach is a bit giddier than usual. your other companions take their belongings and sit themselves around a fire while karlach grabs hold of your hand and lifts it to her lips to kiss it. you’re surprised that your behavior hasn’t scared her off yet but also touched that she’s so dedicated. “let’s go for a walk,” she suggests, leading you toward a trail surrounded by trees. you have no choice but to oblige. karlach continues to hold your hand as you walk through the wooded area, being sure not to speed too far ahead of you. she turns to you every so often and smiles at you when she makes eye contact. she’s really trying to make it better.  you finally stop at a spot where the trees line up in a way that allows light to pass through a single spot, highlighting the path in front of you. karlach goes ahead a bit to set up a little picnic, ushering you over. she shows you some berries that she’s managed to pick when you weren’t looking, offering to feed them to you herself. she spends the rest of the time showering you in love, not quite wanting to initiate a conversation about what’s been going on, but makes it known that she’s there regardless, whenever you’re ready to talk about it. 

[punderdome]

Infernal Jurisprudence: Chapter 1

Summary: It had been centuries since a specific soul captured Raphael’s attention so completely. The devil coveted her body and soul and sought to ensnare her in a contract at any cost. It wouldn’t be long before her desperation set in, and a cat would capture a Little Mouse within his claws. And that, love, was that.

Notes: This is a relatively short prequel to the Fine Print, where Raphael schemes to ensnare Tav. Should be readable without reading the Fine Print first. Note that this fic is going to contain a ton of BG3 spoilers - so you know, don’t read it if you don’t want to be spoiled. Or do. I don’t control you.

[AO3]

Chapter 1: The Mouse

Raphael had closed thousands upon thousands of contracts for boons in exchange for mortal souls.  Mortals were so often fragile and desperate, and it was such a delectable combination that always leads to a favorable negotiation.  He savored the smell of nervous sweat and the motions of trembling.  Other times, the mortals viewed the deal for their soul like a joke.  Raphael would sit across from them in his human guise, with a smile that even reached his eyes as he watched the signatures dance upon the scrolls.

The devil would feed on their sins as they fell deeper into his traps.  Greed was a standard flavor of sin, occurring so often that the souls that bore it felt more like a commodity.  Some souls were envious and left a void in their wake, leaving one hungrier after the meal.  Lust was heady and sweet with an underlying bitterness and shame.  Wrath was the spice of pepper that led to deep burning consequences like blood and gallows.  Pride was Raphael’s favorite sin to sup.  Pride was complex and often unique with underlying flavors of other dishes that were unique to each mortal.

So many mortal souls.  So simple.  So easy.

Raphael sought Faerun for desperate souls.  A powerful soul would command a higher price point.  Along the Chionthar, he found the type of souls that he favored.  There was an entire collection of desperate fools needing a savior.

He was a savior.  That was for certain.

Raphael grinned as he surveyed his prey.  A sorceress with scales.  A dominating Gith.  A discarded wizard.  A cleric absent memory.  A masquerading vampling.  A warlock pacted to one of Zariel’s assets.  A burning Tiefling.

He watched them silently, delighted by the haul that he could soon collect.  They were all desperate and infected.  Beyond existing as mere currency for his Infernal machinations, all of the band of infected had power.  Power enough to collect a Crown that Raphael had been coveting for millennia.

Raphael was a patient devil.  He would show himself when the time was right and true fear had taken root within their addled minds.  

He happily watched through the scrying mirror as the Gith argued with the sorceress of the need to find a creche.  The poorly-concealed Sharran cleric held the only power keeping them from their Illithid fates.  The runed dodecahedron hummed and glowed and kept their souls intact while tucked tightly within her supplies.

It was oh, so convenient that he, the great Raphael, held the very weapon that could free the captive Githyanki inside the Astral Prism.  So very convenient, indeed.

His wrists with Infernal chains were bound

Mother Gith’s son, equipped to destroy the Illithid

Trapped within an Astral Prism now found

That Vlaakith once she herself hid.

Raphael could sense the rising anxiety amongst the band of adventurers, as the Druid grove proved to be a hindrance rather than a help.  The sorceress was poisoned by an overeager apprentice healer, but all managed to survive the encounter.  He could taste the rising desperation as the options started to disappear.

It was time to make his entrance from stage right.

Little mice and rats and squirrels (and one unruly frog) had few places to run on a nearby broken bridge.  Raphael straightened his doublet and snapped, appearing before his adventurers in a flurry of embers with the scent of cherries following him.

The sorceress eyed him curiously.  She was pale with patches of silvery white dragon scales adorning her upper forehead and cheekbones.  Brunette curls were pinned back behind her head and trailing down her back.  Her green eyes gleamed at him, and her pleasant mouth twisted into a light smile.

“Hello, pleased to make your acquaintance,” she said calmly, offering her hand in greeting.  Raphael found the deviation from his script displeasing.

The cambion cleared his throat.  “Pleased to make your acquaintance,” he lifted her hand and kissed the back of it gently, trying to regain control of the scene.

He gave her a gentle smile before beginning his lines.  “My, my, what manner of place is this?” Raphael offered smoothly.

The sorceress laughed.  “Somewhere in Faerun between Baldur’s Gate and Elturel,” she offered easily.  Raphael’s eyes narrowed.  This was his scene.

“Is it a path to redemption, or a road to damnation?” Raphael gave a grand gesture of uncertainty in their path forward.  “Hard to say, for your journey is just beginning.”  Raphael gave his characteristic grin.

The sorceress smirked at him.  “The mindflayer tadpoles would suggest a path to redemption,” she laughed sarcastically.  Raphael bristled at the way she was mocking him.

He absolutely should flay her.  He should take her back to the House of Hope, strip her down and-

Raphael pushed down his feelings, though he was aware how beautiful the silver-scaled sorceress was.  “What would suit the occasion?  The words to a lullaby perhaps?  The mouse smiled brightly: it outfoxed the cat!  Then down came the claw-” he was rudely interrupted by a sorceress.

“And that, love, was that,” she finished easily.

“They do know how to write them in Cormyr don’t they?” Raphael waited for her agreement.

“I prefer the lullabies from the dales,” the sorceress responded.  “They have a wider variety of animals in their verse.  More chickens and cattle and pigs.”

He absolutely could not let this beautiful sorceress continue to disrupt his scene.

Raphael dramatically bowed.  “I am Raphael, very much at your service, my dear.”

“Tav,” she responded quickly.  He raised an eyebrow.  ‘Tav’ was so undignified, it had to be shortened for a much more appropriate name.  

“This quaint little scene is decidedly much too middle-of-nowhere for my tastes.  Come.” Raphael invited with a snap of embers.

His adventurers had arrived at the House of Hope, a grand feast awaiting them.  The Warlock and the burning Tiefling responded with panic.  The Sharran and the Gith were thoroughly confused.  The vampling and wizard stood concerned.

The sorceress, Tav, was unimpressed.  She went to the feast table and immediately started to load a plate.  Raphael’s eyes narrowed.  What was she doing?

He cleared his throat.  “There, middle-of-somewhere,” he recited.  Tav was buttering a piece of bread before putting it onto her plate with other fruits and vegetables from Toril.  The sorceress seemed entirely uninterested in the conversation as she sat down at the table and started to eat.

Raphael addressed the discarded wizard.  “The House of Hope, where the tired come to rest, and the famished come to feast - lavishly,” he glared at the adventurer blatantly ignoring him.  She was cutting a piece of Durinbold cheese from a wheel on the table.

Raphael motioned to the table where the sorceress sat, indulging her appetites.  “Go on.  Partake. Enjoy your supper,” he invited with a broad grin.  “After all, it might just be your last.”

The devil grinned, waiting to see what most of the adventurers would do.  Most of the adventurers stood still, except for Tav,  who seemed to be feasting without concern, unlike the shock and fear from her companions.

The sorceress placed her fork on her plate with a light tink.  “You may as well show them what you truly are,” she challenged, lightly dabbing at her beautiful mouth with the napkin she had grabbed from her lap.

Raphael tried not to sneer at the gluttonous creature before him.  “Well, far be it from me to disappoint.”  He shed his human guise, appearing before the adventurers in his cambion form.  The sorceress Tav only smirked at him as he shook off the lingering flames from the transformation.

Raphael stared at Tav where she sat at his table.  “What’s better than a devil you don’t know?”  He chuckled lightly to himself, “a devil you do.”  The sorceress sat unmoved by his speech.

There was growing concern within the adventuring group.  “Shit, a cambion,” the fiery Tiefling spit angrily.  All of them were filled with unease.  All but one.  The sorceress.

Their visages were set in fear quite alight,

Contracts should not be too hard to press.

All of them destined to a horrible plight.

All afraid except for one sorceress.

Tav.

She cocked her head and watched him continue his speech.  “Am I a friend?  Potentially.  An adversary?  Conceivably.  But a savior?  That’s for certain,” he delivered with a smug grin, just as he rehearsed.  She continued to watch him silently with a slight smile on her face, no longer interrupting his performance with her off script lines.

“What makes you think we need saving?” the wizard challenged.  Raphael raised his hands and motioned easily towards their heads.

“You’re in deep over your tadpooled heads,” Raphael challenged, once again looking at where the sorceress sat.  She had taken up eating her meal again, observing the conversation but not contributing to it.

“One skull, two tenants and-” Raphael started, motioning to the wizard.

“You are the only solution to our problem,” the sorceress, Tav, blurted out in perfect Infernal.  “Obviously.”

Raphael had to swallow down his surprise that a human with draconic heritage spoke the language of the Hells.  Tav took a swallow from a goblet of wine, looking down at her plate again, as if she was debating whether to pick up her fork and continue eating.

Her companions all turned towards her after she finished her quip in the Devil’s tongue.  Raphael cracked a smile, gathering crucial information that none of them had realized of her linguistic prowess.

“You realize I could fix it all like that?” Raphael snapped and a lick of flame sputtered from his claws.

“Of course you could,” Tav answered.  She placed her napkin on her plate and stood, brushing out her robes.  “Though I doubt you would do it for free.”

She gazed above him at his portrait - one of Raphael’s finest, showing his command over Hellfire and the horizons of Avernus.

Tav walked in front of her companions and stood before him.  His jaw clenched at her continued acts of defiance.

“Go ahead, exhaust every possibility until none are left.”  He had practiced the last section several times and was frustrated at her continued insistence on going off script.  “I will be waiting,” he growled menacingly.

He snapped and returned the sorceress’s companions to Prime Material.

Tav smiled at him.  “Thank you for your hospitality, Raphael,” she continued in Infernal.  He snapped again and sent that foul creature back to whence she had come.

He took a deep breath.  Tav lingered in his mind.  She was quite beautiful, especially for a mortal.  She had known what he was as soon as they met while her companions remained unaware.

Who was she?

Raphael sighed in frustration.  He would need to learn more about this Little Mouse.

[sm0lprism]

Bite-Sized (5) - A BG3 G/t fanfic

This contains g/t (giant/tiny content) so if that isn't your thing, then I suggest you stop reading. Thank you!

Read on ao3

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

Summary: Ria begins her training with Lae'zel and quickly learns that gith combat is by no means an easy feat, but she won't give up that easily. Especially when she wants to prove to a certain vampire spawn that she won't tolerate his antics.

Pairing: Astarion x borrower!oc (Tav) (slow-burn, Astarion is a complete ass but eventually comes round in future chapters)

Warnings: V*re mention, gore, mouthplay, fearplay, blood, swearing/course language, blood drinking, Astarion is a real asshole to little people/borrowers and doesn’t see them as people so be prepared for him being awful. Word count: 3.4k

I thought I might add that "pa'vrylk" means 'stop' and "sa'varsh" means 'teacher' in gith, as Lae'zel uses these words in this chapter. Enjoy! And please feel free to leave a comment and reblog if you liked it. :) The next few days passed in a blink of an eye. Ria still couldn’t believe that she had agreed to travel with a group of giants, but ultimately it was her best chance of survival until she found a proper home…if she found one, that is. Not only that, but she was determined to not let Astarion get to her. She had revelled in watching Astarion’s shocked expression when she had agreed to join the party and a part of her wanted to prove that she wasn’t just some measly snack to him. Learning how to fight with Lae’zel was going to help her achieve that. The githyanki had kept true to her word and had promised to teach her how to fight, although having a githyanki teach a borrower certainly came with some challenges due to the size differences. For one, Ria had no weapon to call her own as all the weapons in the camp were catered for people of a much taller stature than herself. It wasn’t until Karlach suggested Dammon, a tiefling blacksmith from Emerald Grove, could make a borrower-sized dagger for her to use did it change things. Ria wasn’t sure if a giant could even forge such a tiny weapon to begin with, but Dammon proved that he had immense skill and an eye for detail when he made her a tiny dagger that was identical to its giant counterpart in every way. To say that she was impressed was an understatement – she had showered Dammon in gratitude and the tiefling shrugged it off as if it was no big deal. Now, with her newly acquired dagger, she could properly start her training with Lae’zel.

In the heat of the afternoon, Ria wiped the collective beads of sweat that were beginning to form on her forehead as she readied her blade at a loose potato on the dusty ground. Finding practice dummies when she was so small had proven to be rather interesting – Gale had agreed that she could use a potato from their rations to practice providing it was still edible after her training session with Lae’zel. She had been training for just over an hour now with the gith and her body was quickly becoming bruised and sore. Gripping firmly on the handle of the blade, she charged forward and thrust the dagger into the vegetable with everything that she had. The blade pierced through the skin of the potato like a knife through butter and she grinned with triumph.

Lae’zel, who was standing not far from where Ria was, had her arms folded over her chest as she stared down at the tiny borrower on the dusty ground.

“Not bad for a little istik,” Lae’zel commented, a small smile tugged ever so slightly on her lips. “Your form needs improving, but it isn’t a bad start.”

Ria couldn’t help but to smile at the githyanki woman towering above her. Normally, any giant looming over her ominously would strike fear in her chest, but over the past few days she had grown somewhat used to Lae’zel’s blunt and rather harsh demeanour. The fact that the githyanki was praising her for her attempt certainly meant a lot as she didn’t dish out compliments lightly.  

“Again.” Lae’zel waved her hand to the side, her yellow gaze firmly on Ria.

Nodding, Ria began to pull on the handle of her tiny dagger, but the weapon barely budged. Frowning, she pulled harder, but the blade refused to release itself from the root vegetable.

“J-Just give me one moment.” Ria exhaled deeply, her body quickly becoming drenched in sweat as she struggled to remove the dagger.

“Pa'vrylk! Slow down, little istik. You will hurt yourself.” Lae’zel crouched down so that she was a bit more eye-level with the borrower, or at least as close as she could be.

“I-I can’t remove it.” Heat burned across her face as she grunted in frustration. This wasn’t exactly how she had imagined her first training lesson to carry out. She frantically glanced around the camp, hoping that Astarion wasn’t secretly watching her fail miserably. Sure enough, much to her dismay, the vampire spawn was standing off to the side watching her with great interest. A shit-eating grin spread across his sharp features as if he was a cat who had stolen the cream.

Fuck off, massive prick!

Ria’s entire body tensed up as she glared a burning look at Astarion. If he wasn’t careful, she was going to test her dagger out on him next.

“Take a break for a moment,” Lae’zel instructed, her voice rumbling from above. “Collect yourself and then try again.”

Puffing rather angrily in defeat, Ria wiped the sweat that was glistening on her forehead and steadied her breathing, pushing Astarion out of her thoughts. She glanced over at Lae’zel, who was still crouching in front of her, the gith’s piercing gaze unwavering.

“I’m sorry, that wasn’t very good,” she breathed, nervous that Lae’zel was going to be angry with her. She still wasn’t sure why the githyanki had agreed to train her given her small stature. Borrowers weren’t exactly known well for their fighting skills.

“No need to worry, little istik, you are still learning,” Lae’zel replied. “You have the fire of a true githyanki warrior in your heart. A good sa’varsh does not give up on their students so easily. You have much to learn.”

Ria ran her tongue over her chapped lips as she pondered Lae’zel’s words. She still wanted to know just exactly why Lae’zel had offered to train her in the first place, considering her sharp personality that radiated from her, it seemed very strange that Lae’zel would even consider the idea to begin with.

“Why did you really offer to train me?” she asked, craning her neck slightly to look the githyanki in the eyes.

A small grin crept along Lae’zel’s lips as she gazed down at the little borrower standing before her.

“Your defiance towards Astarion impressed me greatly,” Lae’zel answered, her voice genuine. “The fact that you, a small and puny borrower, stood up to someone so much larger than yourself is truly admirable. Not many things catch my eye like that, but your actions did. You have the spark of a true warrior in your heart, and I want to help you realise that.”

Ria was at a loss for words. Never would she ever expect a giant – least of all a githyanki – to say something like that to her. Clearly Lae’zel saw something in her that she wasn’t aware of herself. Either way, she was grateful to the gith for offering to train her. Fighting wasn’t exactly in a borrower’s nature – keeping to the shadows and staying out of sight was what she was used to, and all she had been expected to do her whole life. She swallowed thickly, shaking her head lightly, and cracked a smile at Lae’zel.

“Thank you. That’s…that’s probably the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.” She cleared her throat. “Well, apart from being called puny.”

Lae’zel returned her smile, although the gith’s was a lot pointier than Ria’s. “The fact that you are small makes your actions even more admirable, istik.”

The gith suddenly stood to her full height once more, now casting a long shadow over Ria’s tiny frame.

“Watch closely. I will show you what years of gith training can do.”

Lae’zel drew her own longsword, the rays of the afternoon sun glinting off the gleaming metal as she unsheathed the weapon. A training dummy stood not far away from where Lae’zel was standing, and the gith inhaled a deep breath, gripping tightly onto the leather handle. In what could’ve only been a matter of seconds, Lae’zel rushed towards the training dummy, completely eating up the ground beneath her feet. Small earthquakes rattled the ground as Lae’zel charged forwards and Ria had to steady herself to not lose her balance from the tremors. As if it were nothing, Lae’zel swung the sword effortlessly at the training dummy, slicing its head clean off. The training dummy’s head rolled onto the ground until it stopped right in front of where Ria was standing.

Ria’s eyes bugged wide and she gulped nervously at witnessing Lae’zel’s immense power. She wasn’t sure what Lae’zel was expecting her to do, but there was no way she could ever hope to do anything like that.

“I had spilled my cousin’s blood at a much younger age than you, little istik.” Lae’zel sheathed her sword, her yellow gaze piercingly sharp as she stared down at the borrower. “Keep on practicing. I will ensure that you will draw your first blood.”

“I-I appreciate the confidence you have in me,” Ria stammered, blinking the dust out of her eyes. “But, uh, I don’t see how I’ll ever hope to slice someone’s head clean off when I’m this size.”

Lae’zel nodded. “I don’t expect you to copy me. Use your stature to your advantage and hit your enemies where it hurts.” Large footsteps rattled the earth as Lae’zel approached Ria. The gith leaned down and picked up the training dummy’s head in her clawed hands.

“Imagine you are in the face of an enemy,” Lae’zel said, her eyes cold and calculating. “Your tiny dagger could easily blind someone if you thrust it into their eyes.” The sound of ripping fabric punctured through the air as Lae’zel jabbed her sword into the training dummy’s head, pieces of stuffed hay scattering onto the dusty ground below as the contents of the dummy’s head was emptied.

“O-oh.” Ria stared at the pieces of hay that now littered the ground around her and then she glanced at the tiny dagger that was still stuck in the potato. Perhaps Lae’zel was right – if she was ever in a scenario where she was in the face of a giant, jabbing a dagger into their eyeballs would certainly be effective. Although, when would she ever be in that kind of scenario? It seemed highly unlikely.

But then again, I never imagined I’d be travelling with a bunch of parasite infected giants, so…

Steeling herself, Ria inhaled a deep breath before gripping the handle of her dagger once more. She began to pull, her breathing quickened as she struggled to loosen the blade. In the back of her mind, she was aware that Astarion was still watching her, and that only fuelled her even more to release the dagger.

No way am I letting him watch me fail!

With an almighty tug, the blade finally came free from its potato prison. Ria held up her dagger in triumph, a wide smile painted across her face as she gazed up at Lae’zel.

“Hm. That will do for now, little istik.” Lae’zel nodded firmly. “We’ll train again tomorrow.”

Ria swiped the sweat off her brow as Lae’zel stalked away to the centre of the camp. Everyone was now gathered around the campfire with Gale once again showing off his culinary skills. A long sigh escaped past her lips as the past hour of training with the gith suddenly caught up to her. Her entire body ached and she was certain there would be many new bruises blossoming on her pale skin very soon.

Gods…what will tomorrow’s training be like?

She grimaced at the mere thought of more relentless gith training. Why had she agreed to Lae’zel’s offer again?

At least I might be able to defend myself better once this is over. And shove a blade in Astarion’s sorry ass.

Large tremors soon rattled her out of her thoughts and she snapped her neck upwards in panic to see what was causing the small earthquakes. Or, rather, who was causing them. Her stomach dropped as she watched Astarion waltz towards her with a punch-worthy grin smeared across his angelic face.

Wait- angelic? What in the hells am I thinking?

Giant leather boots stomped ever closer to her trembling, tiny frame, shaking her out of her clouded thoughts. Instinctively her grip on her dagger tightened as her gaze followed Astarion with caution. The dust settled around Astarion’s large boots, now only mere inches from where Ria stood. Her mouth suddenly grew very dry as Astarion’s red eyes leered down at her like she was a mere scrap of food.

“What in the hells is your problem?” Ria snapped, despite her growing fear, she managed to hold her ground. “Don’t you have anything else better to do?”

“Not really,” Astarion mused, glancing at his perfect nails in the dwindling light of the afternoon. “Is it so wrong that I just want to simply engage in conversation with you?”

The tension in Ria’s body eased just ever so slightly. “Why…why would you want to do that?”

Astarion raised one eyebrow at her. “Well, I should say, I want to apologise for how I treated you from a few nights ago. You know, attempting to eat you and all.”

Ria narrowed her eyes and studied his facial expression intensely. There was the slightest detection of dishonesty on his face – he clearly didn’t mean this half-assed apology at all.

“And what brought on this sudden apology?” Ria questioned him, squeezing the handle of her dagger.

“Seeing as we’re going to be travelling together, I thought I should clear the air,” Astarion smirked. “It’s for the best, anyways. No hard feelings?”

The temptation to stab Astarion’s boot with her new dagger was becoming harder to resist.

“Apology not accepted,” she said through gritted teeth. “You’ll have to try a lot harder than that, pretty boy. Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to find more pleasant company.”

Without so much as glancing at him, Ria walked around his feet towards the campfire where everyone else was gathering as the sky began to grow dark. She didn’t need to see his face to tell what his expression was – she could feel his blood-boiling smirk burn into her back as she stormed away from him.

“Oh, the borrower’s got bite! I like that.” Astarion’s voice rumbled from above.

Ria rolled her eyes and wondered what she had done to deserve any of this. ***

“No meat, please.”

Gale paused, a ladle in hand, and Ria quickly watched the wizard’s expression change from confusion to realisation as he scooped a small portion of vegetable stew for the borrower. Karlach, Shadowheart, and Wyll were sitting at the opposite end of the camp enjoying their dinner of roasted elk and stewed vegetables. Wyll seemed to be telling tales of his monster hunter days, Karlach listening to him the most eagerly. Lae’zel had already eaten her fill and had resumed her blade sharpening for the evening.

“Apologies. Vegetable stew for the borrower.”

With the utmost care, Gale poured a tiny amount of vegetable stew into the small thimble that Wyll had found when Ria had first arrived. The thimble had proven to be incredibly useful for Ria’s day-to-day life with the group of giants.

“Thank you.” Ria gripped the thimble firmly in both hands, sitting on her usual spot on the log around the flickering campfire. She was relieved that Gale had begun cooking the meat and the vegetables separate from one another after Wyll’s request at incorporating more vegetables into the evening dinners, which happened to be just to her liking.

“I’ve noticed you don’t eat any meat, Ria,” Gale commented, carving some roasted elk for himself. “Are you vegetarian by any chance?”

Ria took a tentative sip of vegetable stew, the liquid hot on her tongue and she breathed to cool it down. “Yes, always have been, always will be.”

Gale nodded respectfully. “Well, that is certainly an interesting revelation. And quite an admirable commitment. What pushed you towards a vegetarian diet?”

As she opened her mouth to answer Gale’s question, she immediately paused when she saw a pair of glowing red orbs staring intently at her in the dark of the night. Astarion was sitting not that far away from where she and Gale were sitting near the fire. He seemed to be watching and quite obviously listening in on their conversation.

“Ria?”

Shaking her head slightly, she returned her attention back to Gale.

“S-sorry, um, well, you see…” She cleared her throat. “I’ve had a lot of things try to eat me throughout my life, so eating other creatures like that just doesn’t sit right with me. Especially when I’ve been the one on the receiving end a lot of the time, the worst thing you can ever experience is someone wanting to eat you when you don’t want to die.”

She flashed a scathing look at Astarion as if to say ‘yes, I mean YOU’. The vampire raised one eyebrow at her, his lips curling into a mischievous grin which nearly made her want to toss her dagger at his face.

“That…certainly makes a lot of sense,” Gale said quietly, glancing at the steaming pile of roasted elk on his plate. “I couldn’t possibly imagine what that must be like.” His warm gaze flicked to her small form as his expression softened. “Are you alright with me eating meat around you? I’m not particularly fond of vegetables myself, but if it makes you feel more comfortable, I would be happy to oblige.”

Ria shook her head lightly. “No, no, it’s quite alright. I don’t expect you to change your eating preferences around me. I appreciate the thought, though.” Watching giants eat other sentient creatures did in fact make her hair stand on end, but she didn’t want to demand anything of her new companions, especially Gale who had been the kindest to her out of everyone there.

“I also have a question to ask you,” Gale said, changing the subject.

“Go ahead.”

“Why exactly did you join our group?” Gale asked. “I mean, it couldn’t have been an easy decision, after all, seeing as we’re all giants in your eyes. I’m not sure if I could do it myself if I were in your shoes.”  

Ria had a feeling someone was bound to ask this sooner or later. She finished chewing her mouthful of diced carrot before clearing her throat. “Well, despite how frightening large people are, it made sense for me to travel with some added protection while I find somewhere more permanent to live.”

Gale raised one eyebrow. “Even though said giants could turn into mind flayers at any given moment?”

Ria stiffened. She had completely forgotten about the illithid parasites plaguing everyone’s brains.

“Uh, well, that is a good point,” she replied somewhat shakily. “But if you were going to transform, wouldn’t one of you have transformed by now?”

Gale nodded, chewing some roasted meat thoughtfully. “That is a good point. I haven’t been able to pinpoint exactly why we haven’t completed ceremorphosis yet. All of us should be tentacle faced mind flayers by now.”

“Exactly,” Ria said. “Bearing in mind, if any of you start to sprout tentacles, I’m out of here.”

Gale suppressed a chuckle as he swallowed a mouthful of food. “That’s fair enough.”

Ria smiled warmly at the wizard and glanced quickly over at Astarion. The vampire was still watching her as if he expected there to be more to her answer. There was, in fact, more to her reasoning for travelling with the party of tadpole infected giants. And she wanted the vampire spawn to hear it from her own mouth.

“There’s more to my reasoning,” Ria continued.

“Oh?” Gale said, slightly surprised that she had more to say on the subject.

“I refuse to be seen as a mere piece of food,” she said, her gaze fixed on Astarion. “And I’m not going to let some vampire ponce look down at me like that.”

Ria’s comments stirred a reaction out of Astarion and the vampire’s red eyes glowered in her direction, eyeing her up thoughtfully.

Yes, that’s right, you can kindly go fuck yourself.

Gale quickly noticed the rising tension in the air and chuckled nervously. “Oh, well, I can certainly see why Astarion isn’t in your good books. Nor do I ever expect you to warm up to him, after what he did.” The wizard cleared his throat loudly. “Perhaps a certain vampire spawn should make it up to our borrower companion by doing something nice for her.”

An exasperated ‘hrmphf’ resonated loudly from where Astarion sat and Ria had to force herself not to chuckle at his discontent. Astarion’s footsteps sent small vibrations through the earth as he vanished into the cover of the night, seemingly done with listening in on Gale and Ria’s conversation.

“I do apologise about him,” Gale quickly said, a disappointed look visible on his face upon seeing Astarion’s reaction. “He’s not exactly the kind-hearted type.”

“I’ve gathered,” Ria said, not even bothering to hide the smug look on her face. “No need to apologise, though. I plan on making him regret ever thinking about eating me.”

[riddlerosehearts]

okay, so i finished my first playthrough of baldur's gate 3 last night!! and then i played the ending cutscenes and the epilogue twice so i could collect my thoughts and reactions and figure out how to write them all out. god, i love this game. for a while i almost didn't want it to end because i loved it so much but i think now that i've finished it i'll only become more attached to the silly little half-elf bard that i created to play this game with, and want to keep thinking about him and posting about him more--especially since i'm planning to eventually get a new graphics card and then i'll be able to make nice high quality screenshots and gifs of the game. i've already been planning out what my next tav will be like too, and thinking about doing so many more playthroughs of this game! i may have some criticisms here and there because bg3 is definitely flawed in some areas, but i mean, what isn't? it's a huge game, i had a lot of fun with it overall, and i'm so glad i finally decided to pick it up in march after months of seeing its characters flood my dash.

i kept hit the "4096 characters per block" limit while making this post btw 😭😭 but it seems i could get around that just by breaking up the bullet points a bit. i don't care if nobody but me is going to read my million words of rambling about how much i love these characters, i am not cutting anything out of my post.

so we have the big goodbye scene at the docks, starting with orpheus wanting you to mercy kill him and lae'zel to carry on his legacy and lead the rebellion. i wasn't sure what to have her do, so i initially picked the option for her to make her own choice because i wanted to see what would happen, and because it's what i've usually been choosing in these situations. she decided to do as orpheus asked and the dialogue she had about it was beautiful, but honestly in this specific case i think persuading her to craft a new fate for herself in faerun is the most in-character thing for elenion to do. so i reloaded and did that. and i think it definitely was the right choice for this playthrough, because what she said about her destiny not being for orpheus or vlaakith or decide, and how it was on faerun that she learned to be free, is pretty much the exact reasoning i had in mind! and the epilogue party, with the hopeful letter from voss mentioning an alliance with the githzerai and the dialogue from lae'zel about fighting vlaakith's army, also ended up confirming for me that her staying in faerun doesn't mean the githyanki are doomed or that she won't still find ways to fight for her people.

the way she's all like "go mingle! that's the word, right?" and "this is... nice. yes, i think that's the right word for it" at the party is so funny and cute. she's trying her best!! i adore lae'zel and i will never understand why she seems to be so much less popular than most of the other companions.

after lae'zel's scene we have a very short scene with gale talking about the crown of karsus. i chose to have him give it back to mystra. i'm going to come back around to gale later and talk about astarion now though! his ending scene makes me so sad to think about, like, everyone is talking about celebrating and then he's just suddenly on fire, nobody really shows any concern outside of one of the companions saying a single line about how he won't get to see the sun anymore, and then that's the last anyone sees of him before the epilogue party?? the tone of the scene feels like it's supposed to be funny but like i said, it just makes me sad :( the epilogue makes things a lot better, though--you get to actually talk to him about and he's surprisingly earnest and apologetic, and seems so much happier and more at peace now. he also continues to be hilarious. the second time i did the epilogue party i chose the "i've been boring--living a quiet, peaceful life" dialogue option and he's like "and fate let you get away with that? i'm impressed!" anyway, though, i love his growth and i'm so proud of him.

next up, wyll and karlach--i totally get why so many people ship them now because wyll is the one to call out to her and bring up the idea of them going to avernus together, and then at the party she says having him there has been incredible and that you can get through anything with someone you love at your side?? i mean, karlach is very freely affectionate with her friends--she tells a non-romanced tav she loves them after fighting gortash, and if you tell her as she's dying that she was spectacular in every way she'll say she adores you. so no, her saying she loves wyll doesn't have to imply anything romantic, but it is just adorable anyway.

the scene with them in avernus feels so weird though... i mean, karlach's part in it is badass, the problem is wyll just standing there being silent the whole time. i know that if you romance karlach your tav can go with her to avernus instead, and it feels really obvious that the scene must've been made with only that scenario in mind when wyll's version of it could've been unique to him and had actual dialogue between him and karlach!! honestly, it just feeds even more into the feeling of wyll's personal quest never being about him. it also makes me even more curious what the ending is like with him becoming grand duke... i mean, does he end up becoming a slimy politician who's corrupted by power? if so, then why did the story itself not do more (or anything, really) to hint that that would happen to him and give him more of a power hungry side and if not, then why do the dialogue options for convincing him to become the duke both talk about power and make it seem super obvious that that's the Bad Ending™?

oh well, i guess i can't say i'm not happy that there's a way to give karlach a more hopeful ending! i understand the appeal of a good tragedy, and i understand that karlach herself would rather die than be unable to live freely, so maybe you could say that letting her make the choice to die rather than return to avernus is the option that gives her the most agency... but at the same time, the song that plays over her ending scene is "i want to live". she says she wants to live, to be free and be happy with her friends by her side, but it just seems so hopeless. if one of her friends is willing to brave avernus with her, to make sure that she won't be alone while helping her have a fighting chance of getting her life back, then i think she should be able to take that chance. i kind of wish it was possible to fix her engine and give her a fully happy ending as well--everyone but her pretty much has one, as even though astarion can't walk in the sun as a spawn he can still be free from cazador. and if the tragedy of karlach's death or the bittersweetness of her returning to avernus resonated more with someone, then they could still choose one of those endings. but i guess larian probably isn't going to add anything like that at this point :(

i also still just can't help but feel like wyll really deserved better treatment from the writing. well, at least his epilogue confirms that mizora isn't bothering him too much, and you get some incredibly sweet dialogue if you tell him you've missed traveling with him.

does... shadowheart not have any kind of ending scene at the docks?? like, she's obviously there, she can be randomly chosen out of the companions to make little comments on things, but i don't get a scene with her at all and i'm unsure if it's bugged or if the writers just left her out?? it feels weird. but i guess that's okay for now, because i absolutely adore the entire conversation i got to have with her at the party. i'm so glad she chose to save her parents in this playthrough--apparently, there are certain hidden requirements you have to meet or she'll agree to let them go, and i guess i came across everything by accident during the brief time that i took her around the city with me. anyway, elenion got snarky with her and pretended to forget her name and then she got snarky back and just automatically hugged him. adorable. the first time i played the epilogue i volunteered halsin to take the owlbear because i hadn't talked to shadowheart yet, but the second time i played i gave him to her because holy shit she's got as many animals in her house as fluttershy. love that for her. and the way she rambles on about her parents, her mother's recipes and her father's terrible jokes, and then apologizes because she thinks it must be a boring topic?? excuse me, no, i am unironically extremely interested in this and i think elenion is too because he's also just been trying to live a normal boring life with his and gale's families for the last 6 months.

and now, back to gale. god he's so cute. the way he does this little bow to your tav during the ending and then they bow back. the silly indirect way he tries to propose by asking if you'll come back to waterdeep and become part of the dekarios clan. the way he says it would make tara and his mom happy if he got married and then goes "oh thank goodness!" when you say yes. the kneeling down and kissing your tav's hand after that. i had to try and get decent screenshots of that part because it was so cute:

i also tried both of the choices, between whether to move right in and settle down with him or continue traveling together, because i was initially indecisive about what would be the best/most fitting choice for my tav's character. in the travel ending, i love how gale says that even while adventuring, he's never been so relaxed and now he spends his free time writing, painting, and knitting. i also had this extremely cute dialogue at the party and now i'm wondering what the variations for each class are:

but, ultimately, after trying both and having both versions of the epilogue convo, i decided that just moving to waterdeep and living a calm life is what felt most right. i figure that what elenion needs most in their life now is stability. also, gale becoming a professor is just perfect for him and is so cute. and so is this:

see, this is why gale with a bard tav is a perfect combination: they can collaborate on their writing! anyway i love gale so much but this post is so stupidly long at this point and i need to try and wrap it up, so uhhh, what else...

tara is so cute and funny at the party, grumbling about being jealous of gale's relationship with your tav if you romanced him and then complaining that he keeps his potions in such disarray that it seems like he was raised in a barn. i also overheard her calling everyone ugly while i had speak with animals up AKJAFGHSKFG. at least half the reason why i want to do a gale origin playthrough is because i need to see more of tara.

volo claims his invitation got lost in the post. i really, really think he just was not supposed to be invited, and yet here he is! one of the first things he tells elenion is that he's gotten good at forging their signature, and then he says their success has been wonderful for his reputation. they just might be considering hiring astarion to kill him.

i did not even know jaheira had kids. i looked it up and apparently you can find her house and meet her family in the city but i just completely fucking missed that. something to keep in mind for my next playthrough!

i love that there's a whole box full of letters from people you helped throughout your journey. honestly, i wish there were a few more, specifically from characters like rolan or his siblings, isobel and aylin, omeluum and blurg, and more from the tiefling refugees in general because i love them. but the ones from alfira and dammon are so so cute. also, i got a letter from shadowheart's friend nocturne, which made me realize... i never met her and i never got the memory related to her either because i didn't know you could give shadowheart the noblestalk LMAO oops. i missed quite a few details, huh!

...and i guess that's where i'll end this post. i've been playing this game since march and i've only just finished my first playthrough, though granted there were like 3-4 whole weeks in there where waiting for a new hard drive + feeling weird from irl stuff meant i didn't really play at all. still, though, i can't wait to start back over in act 1 again! especially since, tbh, i think act 1 just might've been my favorite. i love act 2 for ketheric and isobel and aylin and a lot of other things, and act 3 honestly felt a bit messy and overwhelming but still had a lot of great moments. but there's just something i love about beginnings, and the atmosphere during act 1. so, yeah, can't wait to experience it again as a whole new character.

[mybg3notebook]

Gale Summarised Analysis

Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were written up to the game version v4.1.104.3536 (Early access). As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information. Written in May 2021.

The majority of sources used for this article are in the game itself (this includes my Gale-solo playthroughs as well as a combination of the videos by munmomuu and selphie1999), and the few dev’s notes provided by pjenn. Gale as origin is not taken into account since it’s not finished and has little to none Gale-related content. There will be little datamining content as well since pjenn said the game contained almost no gale-related notes (only in the Weave and in the Revelation scene).

Additional disclaimers about meta-knowledge and interpretations in (post)

The number between brackets [] represents the topic-block related to (this post), which gathers as much evidence as I could get.

We can infer about Gale by analysing what he approves and disapproves of. Sometimes, we can even lightly infer some information from his neutral reactions, but let’s be honest: this way of analysing a char is pretty poor since it leaves everything to speculation. Neutral reactions can only be analysed, in very rare instances, by contrasting the same situation in other contexts, and seeing what other options Gale approves or disapproves of. With these considerations in mind, we can proceed to describe this character.

Disclaimer: this is a meta with my personal interpretation of the character, sticking as much as possible to the facts and leaving little to “desires” or “projections” of what I want him to be. If I do so, I will state it explicitly in the text for the sake of analysis honesty. I want to be clear about what is canon (facts shown in bg3 EA), from what’s personal interpretation with little proof.

Understanding Gale (integrated text)

We are none of us monsters. We are merely hatcheries for monstrous things. So we fight them

---Gale 

Collecting most of the information provided in-game, we know he has a cat, a Library, and writes poetry sometimes. One of the first things that Gale will reveal is that he is a private person. He easily and clearly sets boundaries from the first moment, showing Tav where they stand. The second aspect he makes us aware of is his pragmatic thinking and his preference for diplomatic approaches. A third aspect that stands out on its own: he is a very verbose person, maybe as a result of his academia background in combination with his poetry hobby. He also has a bad posture when talking, but I’m not sure if this is intentional or a bug.

We can assure that Gale certainly is a man of the city [13], and may have a decent social status. It's impossible to say for sure if it's noble or rich or both, or it is just a natural consequence of being a wizard scholar: he is frustrated by the harshness of the camping life, he misses the civilisation of the city which offers well cooked meals, soft beds, and scented baths. Not by chance he is the only companion in the group who would approve of giving Oskar 200 gold to fight “the discomforts of the road” [13]. However, he adapts. Despite the lack of luxuries, he managed to survive in the wilderness.

Gale and his link with magic is unquestionable. Magic is life for Gale, metaphorically and literally speaking since it's magic what allows him to stay alive despite the "orb" in his chest. If we talk about Magic, we have to talk about Mystra and the Weave. The Weave is not only the embodiment of Mystra, it's an extension of Mystra herself. It extends across many planes of existence and is in almost all parts of Faerûn. By dragging power from it, Magic can be performed. 

Mystra, for lore reasons and conjectures that I will discuss in the post "Mystra and her Chosen ones", turned teenager/young adult Gale into one of her Chosen, making their relationship more intimate and granting Gale a deeper access to the Weave. This put Gale into the category of an archwizard. It's clear that Gale was and still is a devotee of Mystra, which could give us a hint of his alignment since she is a neutral good goddess and she expects for her Chosen to align around it.

Gale likes confidence, in others and in himself. He is confident in his looks (he has described himself as a “handsome devil” and answered during the romance/Revelation scene that he knew he was beautiful under the light as well as Tav). But beyond these two lines, qualifying him as a narcissist seems extreme. He is surely very confident about his knowledge, and we see he is not just mere words: his Mind Flayer knowledge is at the the same level of what githyankis know. If we compare how Astarion/Tav struggled with the book of Thay, and then we see how Gale manages it (sadly the scene is not complete yet in EA, and there is almost no datamining info of Gale), we can conclude once more that his knowledge and power of the mind are real (he is, so far, the main companion who allows us to explore the lore of the game in a deeper way during his conversations). We also know it's a bit more complicated to intrude into his mind using the tadpole because he has knowledge and mental tools to protect himself (check the post about the Tadpole inside Gale). He is certainly a very verbose and confident scholar, who knows his limits, and in occasions he seems to dabble into an ego-teasing play as an attempt of levity, displaying his “insufferable side”, as he has described himself (his self-awareness of these traits is remarkable, and it is the reason why I avoid qualifying him as arrogant. Arrogant chars are hardly self-aware of their own bad manners or insufferable traits). But we can see it's usually done as a joke or, with an evil Tav, as an aggressive reaction. For a deep analysis of this aspect, check the post about "Gale Hypotheses- Part 2", section: "Narcissism". 

Based on his approvals and disapprovals, we can see that Gale has a strong preference in avoiding fights, violence, and bloodshed [1]. He will always prefer diplomatic and persuasive approaches [2]. Reasoning is his best weapon, but if the individual we are dealing with can hardly be persuaded, he would approve of a deception or an intimidation as long blood is not spilt. Here is where we see his pragmatism in action, all the time. His primary goal at every moment is to avoid bloodshed. His philosophy could be summed up in the line “the means [as long as they don’t kill gratuitously] hardly matter if the end is worthy”. And for Gale, nothing is more worthy than life [3]. This doesn't cover only the life of innocents he cares about, it includes the life of the most dubious characters as well, such as Rugan or Crusher. Gratuitous death is meaningless for him. During the scene of Nettie we can have a glimpse of his philosophy towards life: he viscerally hates treating life as if it were nothing: 

Gale: How dare she snuff out life with as much thought as snuffing out a bloody candle? […] It's not right to feel the cold breath of death in your neck, then move on as if it was nothing but a soothing breeze. One respects life by fighting for it, and one respects death by fearing it.

Gale: One should never be afraid to live life to the fullest.

Probably the limited amount of life he has due to the "orb" increased his sense of respect for life and its celebration. I personally understand Gale as a character who embodies the perspectives of a seriously ill person, knowing that their life may be short, but they will try to make the best out of it. 

He doesn't only respect life per se, he also cares about its dignity. This can be seen in his explicit rejection to undead existences such as Connor (he explains that it would be merciful to put an end to his undead nightmare), or in his disapprovals of humiliation and torture [9]

 We could suspect that this emphasis in protecting any life comes from the fact that only people who are alive can (sometimes) be forgiven or/and change. This is not explicit, but since he is a character who talks about being better and wiser than his previous self, about acknowledging mistakes, about forgiveness, this interpretation seems reasonable. 

These concepts of kindness and compassion combined with “the mistakes of the youth” are repetitive in his interactions and approvals [5,12]. Of course, they echo in his soul since they are reflections and desires of his own experience. This pattern covers forgiving children in particular [5], and disapproving hard judgements [16], especially on matters whose story is not fully understood by Tav. This means he doesn't like quick judgements when he doesn't know the whole story first. This scenario can be easily seen during Karlach's quest, he reserves his judgment until knowing Karlach's side: There are always two sides to each story.

Gale: I have to say I don't know if agreeing to this hunt was such a wise idea. Who's to say who's the real villain in this tale of devils and masquerades? [...]When we track Karlach down, let's chat before we chop.

Similar concept appears during his Revelation scene, when he encourages and keeps asking Tav to listen to him first before judging. This is also the reason why in his Loss scene he would disapprove if Tav quickly assumes that his loss of Mystra was due to arrogance. Tav judged him without knowing the whole story. However, once Tav knows the whole story, Gale will accept any judgement from them without approval penalties during the Revelation scene.

He approves all actions that imply helping others in hard times and disapproves of them if they were done out of greed [4]. He is an animal lover [6,7]. Being kind to animals and treating them good will increase his approval, while animal cruelty will earn his disapproval. Same goes for humanoids: any display of gratuitous violence that could have been prevented with a trick or a diplomatic approach, any humiliation forced upon others, any torture or situation of slavery, is disapproved [8, 9, 11]. 

In particular, Gale seems to advocate the philosophy of “give others their own medicine”[18] or in other words: poetic justice. We can see this during the Myconid colony; he approves of helping the Myconid to avenge the young killed by the Duergar, adding the comment: “Wicked killers deserve wicked ends”. He is implying to give them a similar, wicked medicine to the Duergars. Another less deadly situation of this kind is shown during the foot situation with Crusher: Gale is the one suggesting “pungent poetic justice” and telling Tav that they should force Crusher to kiss their feet. 

The most iconic scene, however, is during Nettie's, if Tav lies during her interrogation. As a hot-headed reaction, Gale states that he would have poisoned Nettie if this situation would have happened to him. Although, after calming down, he approves of and confirms Tav's actions [if Tav managed to persuade Nettie to give them the antidote]

Gale: A taste of her own medicine is what she deserves! […] But you handled it, and you handled it well. 

 In this scene we also see a pattern: Gale is shown as a fallible human; his most visceral reaction during the first moment is anger and indignation, giving us a hint that he is not so rational when it comes to emotional states. An extremely obvious, human concept. 

The scene of Nettie trying to kill a potential menace (the victim of a MF) reverberated in his consciousness, projecting immediately a fact in his mind: if he ever dares to reveal his "orb" problem, and anyone knows what a danger he represents—no matter how stable it looks—people will want to remove the menace by killing him. 

This is the reason behind his words “It's just that, had it been me... had it been...” Gale knows that this simplistic and common thinking in removing what's dangerous would end up turning into a more destructive tragedy in his case than in any infected victim of the tadpoles. So this combination makes us see, for the first time, an emotional Gale. After some seconds, he cools down and returns to his more rational, diplomatic, and moderate self. What we can read here is that Gale would be very prone to rush decisions or to make mistakes under emotional circumstances. We will learn later that the other mistake he made under emotional stress ended up with the "orb" stuck in his chest. A third mistake was done during the party, once more under the emotional stress of a potential abandonment by Tav due to the true nature of the orb. 

Everything related to the “orb”—which is his most traumatic experience—naturally makes him more emotional and prone to mistakes. To see how truly traumatic the "orb" is in his life we can notice the following patterns during the meeting scene: he speaks about the tadpole in a relaxed, rational way, despite the traumatising experience. He first asks for an archwizard instead of for a cleric, because his priority is the orb. Gale's main fear is not the tadpole, but the orb. If we remember his words after the consumption of the artefacts, we realise he lives in a permanent state of anxiety and raw fear, and probably pain too, given his facial gesticulation when anything interacts with the "orb" (whether artefacts or Tav's hand). His banter with Shadowheart reinforces the concept that he always has a knot in the stomach. When he accepts the deal with Raphael, it seems to be related to the orb, not to the tadpole. The effect of the "orb" has ceased, but the tadpole is still in Gale's head since we still need to roll against a high DC and not only against a 1DC during this scene, so we can assume he still has the tadpole despite Raphael's deal. See the post about "The Tadpole" in Gale for more details.

Gale is a character that represents human experiences deeply related to growing up: mistakes done in the past, and the acceptance of not being forgiven despite the desire of wanting to. This can be easily seen during the conversation of the second tadpole dream, where Gale's mood is foul and we learn that his deepest desire is for Mystra to forgive him, but he also knows it's impossible for that to happen. He detects the lie in this dream because he has accepted that Mystra will never forgive him. Gale is the story of mistakes done during youth with grave consequences, of acknowledging them and trying to make them right, of surviving those mistakes, and depending on the interpretation, he is also the story of an ill dying man, with a gentle vision and deep care for life. 

The great majority of his approvals are based on actions that show kindness and compassion, both reiterative concepts that are so important in his character that they come from his lips when we see the goblin party: 

Gale: The shadow within is spreading like poison, corrupting kindness and compassion. [Only after a tough DC of 15]

In combination with: Gale: I don't know myself anymore. All this... It's not who I am. Around you, I'm not who I want to be. I should leave. 

These lines show how, in a sudden change to an evil path, Gale would start doubting his own morality, explaining that the cause of it is the "orb" itself, corrupting the most core aspects of his personality. This corruption may or may not be lore-related. It's not completely clear what Gale's "orb" truly is. For more details, check the post of the "Orb".

 His constant critical thinking comes from his advocacy to non-conventionality [15]: a true scholar will always explore all the options and hypotheses before reaching a conclusion. Therefore, Gale would approve of any non-conventional way to fix a problem [15] as long as it doesn't potentially cause harm or bloodshed [1,2,3,8,9]. Due to his own background, Gale will always advise to be very careful of the consequences of one’s actions. This can be easily seen when, after encountering the caged goblin Sazza, Gale would advocate to explore the possibility of reaching Gut Priestess to cure the tadpole. However, when Tav helps Sazza to escape, Gale will comment briefly against this action.

Gale: I know I said it's not inconceivable a goblin priestess could help us. And yet... was it really wise to set another goblin free so she can arrange introductions? […] consider the consequences. What if she leads her entire tribe to the grove? Tav: I don't care, I owe this grove no allegiance. Gale: No allegiance, no. Though we don't need to sign its death warrant

Once more we see that Gale is up to using any (unharming) means to get a goal, but not at any cost. He has a clear line he doesn't like to cross: life [3]. Avoiding putting other people's lives in danger is very important for him. We see this concept over and over in most scenes.

He doesn't likerushed decisions, and in that same train of thoughts, he will disapprove any use of unknown magic or tricks when nobody in the group can truly understand how they work [17], for example the tadpoles or Raphael's deal (he is against accepting it quickly, but he will approve of having a more cautious attitude and carefully thinking about it). 

Since the moment we meet him, we can infer he is obsessed with the artefacts. It's obviously understandable: he doesn't want to die, but also, he doesn't want to kill all those that will be caught in the eruption of the orb. For this reason he will insist on the loot in the Temple Ruins despite knowing that grave robbery is not correct. 

Gale: Bad form, isn't it? Grave robbing? […] Let's have a look at the loot. It isn't for your pockets only. 

He keeps pondering life over death: although he respects the dead, he will always value more the living creatures in the present. This is also what pushes Gale to suggest Tav to open Rugan's chest. Stealing from the evil Zhentarins is not something that will weigh on his consciousness too much. Besides, he knows it belongs to a wizard: meaning that the chance for it to contain a powerful artefact is really high. Similar suggestions will be said about the Idol of Silvanus, but talking with him in the camp will show us that he won't approve of taking it, only as a last resort. He keeps pondering the living over a sacred piece of stone, since he knows the druids won't take the stealing very peacefully. Once more we see Gale's respect and care for life, trying to minimise damage as much as the circumstances allow him.

Gale is also a survivalist. He doesn't want to die, he loves celebrating life in its more mundane and small details. He is an emotional character for a wizard, a bit strange since they are usually portrayed as more rational and cold, losing their lives among dusty books. However, Gale has shown in many scenes that he prefers to survive without killing, but if he has to, he will do it, dealing with the weight of it in his consciousness because killing unprovoked affects him (scene in the camp after killing the druids, or the goblin party scene). 

His moral in preventing gratuitous death sometimes will conflict with his own survival, especially if he is by an evil Tav's side. He couldn't accept bloodshed when other peaceful options were available and possible to reach. This is clearly shown during the goblin party, where Gale's consciousness suffers and feels the corruption of the "orb" killing the kindness and the compassion inside him. He accepts that wanting to live is a powerful drive, but he doesn't support this massacre, questioning if all that blood was necessary. A Tav killing the tieflings seems to lose the possibility of pursuing Gale romantically, at least in EA so far. For Gale, survival is important, but the means to do it (when they can cause death) matter too. Life is worth preserving.

 The usual archetype of survivalist tends to be an individualist one who would survive at any cost without remorse because that's the “law of the jungle”, the strongest must survive. However, Gale seems to embody a different concept of survivalist that it's hard to put in words: a sort of communal survivalist, trying to survive in coexistence with his community: he wants his survival to imprint the least harm possible (even though sometimes it would not be possible), trying to help those around him as long as his condition allows it; for example, despite wanting Gut's potential cure for the tadpole, he would disagree in helping Sazza escape because she will lead the goblins to the Grove, no matter the fact that doing this will grant them their introduction to the priestess. 

His list of approval shows that his sense of survival is always pondered with the consequences that it can cause on others (check the post with the "Extensive list of Gale's approvals"). The whole concept of the "orb" has this motivation as well: he wants to live and survive, but he also can't give up because his body would kill many, so he needs to do as much as his moral allows him to keep it in check. If he cannot do it any longer, he promises to minimise the disaster as much as possible by erupting in the deep Underdark or in a desolated corner of Faerûn (and considering his ridiculous list of approvals and disapprovals, we know he is honest in not wanting to kill gratuitously). Gale acknowledges his own mistakes, trying—to the best of his ability—to deal with them without catching others in them. Although all his speeches keep emphasising that he is a mere human, and plans may fail. 

At some point, if he wants to survive “not at any cost”, he will be forced to ask Tav for help during the scene of the stew (available only for medium approval or higher). As a gesture of honesty, Gale will set a boundary before making this request, acknowledging its unfairness but giving Tav the decision to proceed or not. He is not denying to explain the details later, but at the moment he can't speak the “why” of his condition no matter how curious Tav is. Tav will decide whether they can keep their curiosity on the matter. 

We will understand later that this impediment comes as a precaution as well as consequence of his personal trauma with Mystra and the "orb" (See post about "Gale: Manipulation, Lies, and Trust"). So, he is very clear about setting the conditions in which this conversation will happen from the beginning. The easiest way for Gale to avoid this whole situation would have been by simply lying, but he opted for an honest approach with clear out-loud reservations, knowing he was asking for more trust than he was allowed to, but the intention behind is more than important. There is a clear, huge contextual detail that we can't miss: this scene doesn't happen because of Gale's whims, he is forced to ask for help since his condition “is not a patient one” and will endanger everyone if not kept at bay. 

This detail where Gale explicitly asks for an exchange of trust is not present if Gale's approval is neutral or lower. In this case, Gale would not care about giving a context to his strange request: he doesn't trust Tav and he doesn't expect to be trusted either, he only wants the artefacts to keep his condition in check for his sake and the sake of others. We can understand this change of attitude depending on the approval as he doesn't want to give any extra explanation to someone he is not interested in building a relationship with. For more details, check the post about "Gale: Manipulation, Lies, and Trust".

I personally support the idea that nobody in canon Faerûn is free of racial prejudices since Forgotten Realms lore has been created based strongly on fantasy racism. I've read that WotC wants to move forward and improve this aspect in 5e, but so far what they allowed Larian to do with the Tieflings in BG3 seems to show the contrary. So, since apparently we are going to face fantasy racism anyways, I will try to analyse racial prejudices from all chars. When it comes to Gale, it's a bit far-stretched to point out unjustified racial biases. He has a vague comment about Rashemi that some people may consider a faerunian saying. Personally, I think that line is a bias forced into him to have a particular dynamic with Minsc (the Rashemi “silly” companion -we all can see where Larian seems to go with this). Gale clearly sees tieflings, gnomes, and even goblins as people, and has a cautious attitude towards some githyanki (at least that's what we can infer with Lae'zel when we find her in the cage), but given the githyanki lore it's pretty reasonable to see them as dangerous creature that could kill people on the spot. So far, he seems to have no racial preference either [10]. 

As it was said before, he prefers to avoid killing people, but that doesn't mean he won't do it if his life depends on it. He will prefer persuasive and defusing approaches, but if he needs to kill to defend innocents or his own life, he won't hesitate. So therefore, stories about characters making mistakes or having violent excess in an effort to protect themselves or what they hold dear will be understood by him but hardly approved [19]. He tends more to approve a call out of that excess than approving an excuse for it.

Gale has deep abandonment issues that can be easily seen when he defends Astarion from being handed over to Gandrel. We need to put this in context before going on: for Gale, Astarion represents a danger as a vampire who attacked one of them during their sleep. By the display of meta-knowledge, we know with certainty that their approvals and disapprovals are mostly opposite: What one approves, the other will disapprove and vice versa. Getting rid of Astarion should be something that Gale would approve, however, he doesn't. If we explore his comments we will realise that what Gale disapproves from this situation is Tav's abandonment. After Mystra's abandonment, he knows very well that “Loyalty is such a very rare commodity”, and the few situations in EA in which Tav can display abandonment, resound strongly in Gale. 

Gale is a scholar with a strong balanced rational side. But unlike the trope, he also embraces an emotional side that, so far the info we received in EA, it's the side that makes him prone to mistakes. 

As an amateur poet, Gale loves words. We can obviously notice this in his verbose attitude, but also in the way he carefully uses words. One of his characteristic words is “spectacle”. He has also shown a reiterative—although not always—uneasy use of the word “fun”. Using “fun” as a way to describe the night spent with Gale gives him a slight uneasiness. “That’s a word for it.” He disapproves of using the word “Fun” after the Mayrina/Connor situation, in which scene Gale alludes that “your new company may be a proof of how depraved and twisted you are to see that tragedy as “fun”. Personally I think this is a direct allusion to Astarion, who considers Mayrina's situation as “entertainment”, in the same way he considered as “fun” the show of Arabella's death (two of several instances where he used that word). Gale also doesn’t use the word sex during EA, instead he uses romantic ones such as love-making, intimacy, art of the night/body. In the most technical case: coitus (used only when he is talking about “goblinoid intimacy” in the expression “post-coital snack”). These details are showing not only his poet/romantic side, but also his interpretation of sex from his perspective: sex can only be possible through a connection. We know he doesn’t engage in casual sex with Lae’zel if he is not romanced, and his romance can only potentially start if Tav shares that deep connection with him through the Weave. 

Another detail related to words is that Gale has always used an infection/disease-related vocabulary to explain the “orb” stuck in his chest: infested, taint, shadow spreading 

[…] I failed to control [this chaotic magic]. Instead it infested me. […] This Netherese taint... this orb, for lack of a better word [..] […] the shadow within is spreading like poison, corrupting kindness and compassion. [...]

Gale apparently has a particular way to sense magic. I have no way to check this in-game, but it seems very strange how he immediately identifies magical artifacts without casting Detect Magic. There are some extra scenes as well where he says to taste or smell the magic in some objects. Even his encounter with Shadowheart, besides being considered a flirt, could be also interpreted as him detecting the magic that we saw later in her hand or maybe the dark magic that blocks her memories, since Gale pointed out about a curtain covering her soul: “if the eyes are the mirror to the soul, yours have dark curtains across the mirror” (a very ominous flirting if it’s only a flirt)

This makes me suspect that, if the "orb" is not giving him this skill, it may be a consequence of having been Chosen of Mystra (for more details read the post about "Mystra and her Chosen ones"). If this is the case, he may have hindered remains of theirs powers when it comes to detect magic at will.

Gale has a perception of magic with all the senses: he sniffs and tastes magic. During the mirror scene you have an option related to [Arcana] tag where he “Sniff the mirror, trying to understand the nature of its magic”. A wizard Tav will just “Inspect the mirror”. He also said that he could “taste” the magic in the necromancy book and in the runes of teleportation. 

What we know of his family is little: when he was a kid there was a housekeeper in his life (mentioned only once during the scene of the harpies) and his mother that seemed to have personally raised and cared for him (mentioned twice: in the ruin temple scene, and in his banter with Wyll) 

Tav: Why care about decorum in a long-abandoned tomb? Gale: Because my mother raised a gentleman. Then again, to be alive is to be curious. 

Wyll: Between the orb and the bug you've got more than your fair share of unwelcome passengers. Gale: What can I say. Mother always taught me to be a gracious host.

This post was written in May 2021. → For more Gale: Analysis Series Index