#SHART HAS TWO DEITIES FIGHTING FOR CUSTODY BUT ISOBEL HAS FOUR FIGHTING FOR HER CORPSE

[majorasnightmare]

STAYING ON MY ISOBEL BULLSHIT now with Dark Urge flavoring

i think possibly the best variation of Isobel and the Urge is the one where Minthara is present to grill you about it, because it really brings a LOT of context to the forefront of that scene that otherwise would go unquestioned

like firstly minthara has zero qualms about the Actual Killing so the killing of isobel is just like, a Non Thing, but what minthara does is question the CIRCUMSTANCES and force you to explain yourself for them, when otherwise thats something that just doesnt get discussed! you focus so much on the fact of the killing that you barely notice the scene surrounding it, which is so utterly fascinating regarding how the Urge works.

Minthara questions "why here? why now? in the middle of the shadow curse, trying to fight a powerful enemy, when allies are beneficial, if at the very least to put warm bodies between us and them?" all of which are valid points! minthara questions what the benefit is to turning all of last light into zombies *now* is, especially when you have to fight you way through them, and doesnt understand what the point is in indulging it *now* of all times. Which is certainly something to consider when you examine HOW the isobel urge scene goes down

The earliest possible scene is sceleritas visiting you in camp to give you a target for the Urge, a first in the playthrough, which happens BEFORE you go to last light but while youve spent some time in the shadow cursed lands. He provides you an image of her to recognize her, and informs you that itd be really great to kill the shit out of her, but reasons WHY are sparse. Up until that point, the Urges were random, sudden, things youd resist or indulge in the moment. Kicking a squirrel suddenly, resisting tearing off the wings of a bird, welcoming a bard into your camp or being rude but having not a single hint of bloodthirst until you wake up covered in gore. durge even says as much in an optional dialogue in the underdark, when spaw tries to scare you off before you find their village

"The Urges don't give warnings" is a rule that durge has intuited through their interactions with the Urge, where their understanding is that the Urge is sudden, seemingly random, without prior signs or warnings of any kind, least of all verbal. And here Sceleritas is giving you basically an assassination target. And true to form, when you actually MEET isobel, the Urge is the worst its ever been, requiring several boxes of dialogue to go through before its able to be successfully resisted, a struggle visible enough in your expression that Isobel can tell when you've succeeded. This is FAR from the usual Urge experience for a post lobotomy durge, this is premediated and *intense*, your Urge dialogue being short clipped maddened ramblings of ripping and maiming, completely different from your fantasies of cutting of Gale's hand (which bears durges typical macarbe prose)

Succumbing to this Urge also rewards you with the Slayer form, a first for Bhaal as durge didnt have the Slayer beforehand, despite being Bhaals chosen. Killing Isobel is so important to Bhaal that he gives you what he considers his greatest gift and most powerful expression of his domain (though it can also be used as punishment, as seen in the Orin cutscene where she learns her heritage)

Why does Bhaal want Isobel Thorm, of all people, dead SO badly? He isnt even this bad about GORTASH, chosen of his sworn enemy Bane and one of the reasons why his Dark Urge chosen falls from grace in the first place? The Urge compels you, overwhelmingly, to kill Isobel as soon as you see her. It goads when you fight Marcus, saying he shouldnt kidnap her because you need to kill her *now*. You cant have any dialogue with Isobel without one of the first things the Narrator says to you is that your Urge wants to kill her SO badly. If you mention it to her, you get MULTIPLE dialogues where your only options are succumb to the Urge or resist it, with the succumb options being things like "stab you! kill you! maul you!", essentially just barking out murderous nonsense as the Urge overtakes you, and its physically sickening to boot. Resisting THIS Urge over all others FEELS godawful, its nauseating and painful and even though there isnt a check to resist it, the description emphasizes just how hard it is for you to commit to resisting this Urge. The Urge doesnt act like that at any point in act 1, or even the rest of act 2 for instance. Talking to Steelclaw and forcing yourself to remember essentially triggers another squirrel incident, this time offscreen. And resisting the Isobel Urge means any long rest after has the chance to trigger the Companion Urge scene, which Sceleritas claims to be your Urge trying to cope with the lack of bloodshed but which overall feels like a punishment. As far as ive gotten into Act 3, so far this is the ONLY Urge that behaves like this. Theres SOMETHING about Isobel SPECIFICALLY. The reward is the greatest its ever been for Durge, and the punishment is uniquely bitter, and theres no room for gray areas, even as Minthara concisely points out all the reasons attacking Isobel is a Logically Bad Idea.

To kill Isobel, your Urge makes you unto an animal, disregarding your own safety and well being, and even your own long term goals (you have to kill ketheric no matter what ending your after! you have to kill ketheric even if you want to please bhaal! to become his chosen and slay the world in his name!) and it doesnt make a lick of sense. Sceleritas asks if you arent fond of piles of corpses anymore but it doesnt even matter if you tell him your waiting for a better timeframe to slaughter everyone, the fact you didnt do it as soon as the Urge demanded it is worthy enough of punishment to try and kill your closest companion.

Overwhelmingly it feels less like the typical instinctive Dark Urge borne into your blood and more like a Divine Mandate that you are punished for rejecting. Blessed with the purest expression of Bhaals power, losing yourself to an animalistic frenzy, forgoing common sense or strategic thinking or even *plans on long term appeasing Bhaals goals*, putting EVERYTHING at risk because theres a strong chance the shadow curse will just PERMAKILL YOU as per the curses lore, all for a SINGLE kill. Bhaal wants Isobel Thorm, specifically, dead by YOUR hands, and her death is worth more to him than the slaughter of Myrkuls Chosen, and worth risking the completion of the worlds death to him. The entire situation casts doubt on the nature of the Urge (up until then a randomly occuring "instinct" that could be embraced or resisted but ran the risk of striking when you werent prepared leading you to act on it, but overall something that did not overwrite who you were as a person or your decision making abilities, as durge remained macabre-ly poetic as per usual and could balance it against perceived pros and cons strategically) which in turn casts doubt on your entire HISTORY as the Dark Urge prior to your tadpoling. Combined with the knowledge that Bhaal blesses his killers with murderous euphoria better than any drug high, and the description of Orins slayer punishment as "No more Orin", the Urge to kill Isobel makes one wonder just exactly how much control Durge had over themselves beforehand and if the Urge is truly as innate as Sceleritas (and the Absolute in the optional wall crack dialogue) seems to indicate

After all, if the Dark Urge is you, and you are the Dark Urge, why would Sceleritas go to the trouble of informing you beforehand? Why would the Urge pick your closest companion when you dont kill a stranger whos keeping you alive long enough to slaughter the world? Why would you lose yourself and start babbling madly when you talk about the killing Urge? Why does the Urge sicken within you so similarly whenever your kind or compassionate?

What the fuck is UP with Isobel Thorm?