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blackjackkent · 2 years ago

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This Sharran gauntlet is definitely a bit of a maze. Doing my best to cover everything and not get lost but we'll see.

My immediate plan was to go deal with that displacer beast, since the knowledge that it was there was making me nervous. :P Jumping down to the level where it was standing, though, it seems to be abruptly gone, and Karlach picked up a perception check.

Cool. Probably the one Raphael told us to look for.

Aggressive quicksave per @zenjestrr's suggestion, and down we go, fully expecting something to jump out of a wall.

Actually, before even starting down the corridor, I'm able to move the camera along, and hey, look.

There he is.

This big boy and his numerous friends are a level above us (just take my word for it; the messed up, shattered architecture around here is very confusing) and looking the other direction. I'm guessing our current path will take us underneath him and then he will drop down on us? The displacer beast appears to have moved to the far side of the room past him.

My ideal strategy here would be to jump up behind him and get the drop on him instead, but only Karlach has the jump distance necessary to make that work. So we'll see if we can get a shot on him from underneath before he notices us, I guess.

A very unscientific diagram of the situation:

After some experimenting, I was able to get the group (in a rare moment of the hide action actually working successfully in this game) to sneak to the far right side of the room without alerting anybody. This allows us to get a bit of a look around at this area, which is AWFUL.

Hector points out that there is tons of blood and gore everywhere, and this is hanging out at the far end near where the displacer beast is pacing back and forth.

Yechh.

I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt, Shadowheart, that this isn't what normally goes on in Sharran temples.

We do seem to kind of have the option of just...scurrying past the whole situation and not engaging. But I'm not overly interested in doing that, and I don't think Hector is either. He doesn't like Raphael much but the depiction of the Orthon as a crazed brute seems like it might not be off the mark and needs to be dealt with.

But if there's a way to handle this situation stealthily I don't think I know what it is. And ultimately I think Hector would like to get Orthon's side of the story before killing him outright. So I think the correct answer here might just be to step into view and see what happens.

[QUICKSAVE]

The displacer beast spots them immediately, followed at once by the orthon on the upper level, who has sighted down on them with a crossbow.

"What's this?" the devil growls in a rumbling, resonant baritone. "Fresh entertainment...but you're too fresh for this place, aren't you? There's a whiff of the surface to you..."

His eyes move from Hector to Karlach, and he smirks. "You. Tiefling. You've got the stench of the Hells about you - the stench of home. And a whiff of the surface besides. A servant of Zariel, if I'm not mistaken." His fingers flex on the handle of his crossbow. "I'd know the stench of her infernal machinery anywhere."

Karlach shifts uncomfortably at Hector's side. "What do you know of infernal machinery?" she asks.

The devil shrugs casually, the tip of the crossbow remaining perfectly steady with the movement. "Only what I can smell. And whatever engine burns within you is grinding to an inevitable explosion. Burning and fear - you reek with it."

Hector sets his jaw. How dare this creature taunt them with that terrible encroaching deadline? He has tried, so hard, not to think about it, to focus on what he and Karlach have together, now, but that mocking voice draws it back into immediate focus and the pain stabs back into him again, and with it, fury.

And yet...

Is it possible the orthon knows something that could help to save her? Hector would betray Raphael in a heartbeat if it meant keeping Karlach safe...

As if following his thoughts, the devil twitches, looks back towards Hector and wrinkles his nose up. "There's something else...almost hidden by your fear-stink. Cherries...musk...and sulphur. Raphael! I can smell him all over you. WHERE IS HE?"

"I...don't know what you mean..." Hector tries evasion, but it's useless.

"LIES," the devil bellows at once, as Hector on some level knew he would. "My nose would recognize him anywhere. That perfumed trickster swindled me - trapped me!"

There's clearly no point in being coy about this. Hector sighs. "He wants you dead," he says matter-of-factly.

"Where is he?" growls the orthon. "Spit it out. NOW!"

"Careful," Shadowheart mutters. "I'm not sure we want Raphael as an enemy."

Hector isn't either, but he also believes Raphael fully capable of lying about what is actually going on here. What he wants, more than anything, is information before making a decision, and this orthon seems like it might be marginally more likely to tell him things directly than Raphael is.

"Let's...share our experiences about Raphael," he says carefully. "Perhaps we can help each other."

The devil laughs. "Bargaining, are you? A Kara-Tur warlord once tried the same - I made him watch as I ate his concubines and young, then fashioned a codpiece from his skull." He snarls, a noise of muted frustration and rage. "You can't help. It's not just walls that keep me here. Not the traps, the dark, or the creatures it hides. Something stronger holds me. A contract. Either I fulfil the contract, die trying, or forfeit my freedom. If I leave this place now, I'll become Raphael's slave."

Hector's eyebrows lift in surprise. This...is interesting news - and not simply for reasons of the issue at hand. Astarion has said on more than one occasion in camp that he would like to work with Raphael, to make a deal that would see him freed of Cazador's ability to control him. Hector thinks it's a terrible idea, but knows arguing with Astarion is pointless - but he wonders how Astarion would feel to know that Raphael is ready to enslave and control as well, perhaps just as much as Cazador was.

But...that is an issue to consider later. For now he must decide what to do regarding that crossbow still pointing down at him.

"Show me this contract," he says, still speaking very slowly, carefully, ready to dodge aside if the devil shows signs of attacking. "Perhaps there's something you missed." That would be the ideal scenario, wouldn't it? Get the creature out of its contract, send it back to the hells, and upset Raphael's plans at the same time but without giving him room to object.

The orthon blinks, then straightens and, completely unexpectedly, begins to sing - terribly.

"Spill all the blood sworn to the night. Silence all prayers, smother each rite. Wander Shar's halls, hungry to slay. Leave no Justiciar alive to obey. Leave none to hear it; then be set free. This song is your oath. Swear, swear it to me."

Hector resists the urge to wince at the discordant notes, focusing instead on the message of the strange, winding verse.

Narrator: Well, that explains where all the Dark Justiciars went. [INSIGHT] The final lyrics linger in your mind. There is a trick buried within them - a clause that cannot be easily fulfilled.

"That's it," the demon rumbles, bringing his crossbow up again and re-aiming it at Hector's face.

"So he's responsible for all the carnage down here," Shadowheart whispers, appalled. "All those Dark Justiciars...slaughtered..."

Hector looks up at the orthon, his mind churning rapidly, trying to parse the situation and the best way out of it. "Raphael wanted you to kill Dark Justiciars?" he asks. "Why?"

"Asking why doesn't get me paid," the orthon snarls. "Hunting and killing does. Raphael mentioned something about an aasimar. Meant nothing to me. I did my part - I filled these halls with ghosts. But Raphael's playing some other game, one that involves stiffing me."

He pauses, seems to consider for a moment, then shrugs. "Anyway, enough prattle. The lyrics are clear - all who hear the song must die. He spits on the ground, cocks the crossbow back. "Time to die."

Hector backpedals at once, a hand going to his crossbow, but as he does, he babbles out desperately, [PERSUASION] "The lyrics are a trick! You've always had an audience - your followers! Get rid of them!"

Years of reading back in the monastery libraries on all manner of subjects coalesces here; he has read of devil contracts and of the legal ones of the material plane. If he can convince the devil to believe him...this has to be correct, it has to be the way out...it solves everything at once...

But that's a very big "if."

A long, strained pause. For a moment he's quite sure he's going to get a crossbow bolt in the head no matter what...and then the orthon's weapon drops and he looks perplexed. "The merregons?" He glances at the masked, imp-like creatures flanking him. "They barely have a thought to share among themselves..." Another pause. "But they do have ears." He turns towards them, snaps out an order. "Kill yourselves! Back to the hells with you!"

It's a rather extraordinary show; without hesitation, all the small creatures turn and slam their axes into each others heads, then collapse in a bloody heap. One of their axes clatters down next to Hector's feet.

The orthon roars with frustration. "Arrrghhh - I still hear it! Seems your theory is wrong!"

Hector's whole body is jittery with adrenaline, both from fear and from a sort of hysterical thrill that he spoke and the creature listened to such a bloody degree. He can feel the situation on the verge of slipping out of control...but he's almost certain his interpretation of the situation is correct, and at least there are fewer enemies on the field now. [PERSUASION] "You're not finished yet!" he points out desperately. "The displacer can hear you, can't she? Kill her!"

A very unexpected burst of grief flashes onto the orthon's face. "Kill..Nessa?" He looks towards the displacer beast at the far end of the room with deep regret.

"Stay very still, my beauty..." he whispers, and pulls the trigger on the crossbow. The shot flies true and the displacer falls without a sound.

The regret morphs into rage at once. "I STILL HEAR IT!" the demon bellows.

Hector swallows. This is it - the final point. If he's right...the orthon will no longer stalk these halls, Raphael's request will also have been fulfilled, and all of it completely in line with the contract.

[PERSUASION] "Exactly," he says. It takes every ounce of nerve in his body not to flinch away from the pure fury in the demon's face. "Kill yourself, complete the contract, and you'll be reborn in Avernus. Free!"

Surely this is right. It fits with everything he's read before about such things. Listen to me, he thinks desperately, watching the crossbow's tip waver in midair.

And then the crossbow drops. The devil stares at him, reaches to his back and pulls out a heavy steel sword from its sheathe.

"If you're wrong about this," he growls, "I'll claw my way out of Avernus and eat you alive - contract be damned."

He lifts the blade, puts it to his own heart, and thrusts it home. A spatter of bright red blood sprays across the stone floor. "Nicely played, Raphael... Bastard..." he groans out and collapses heavily off the platform into a heap on the ground.

For a long moment, Hector and his companions simply stare at the unmoving body, unable to believe that worked.

"That silver tongue of yours is dangerous," Shadowheart murmurs after a while, looking rather impressed. "Bravo. I can't believe you actually pulled that off."

----

"Me either," Hector whispers. His heart is pounding as if he's just run a marathon, and he finds that his hands are trembling as he goes to try and loot the devil's body.

He didn't really think that would work, right up until the moment that it did. All this time out in the 'real world,' he's struggled with the nuances of conversation, of handling tense situations smoothly. Here, of all places, he was utterly terrified that he would say the wrong thing, would fail, would get them all killed...

But that devil...listened to him.

He believed what he was saying, that these actions would free the orthon from its contract; it wasn't a lie, he wasn't trying to trick the creature. But nevertheless, it was a desperate attempt at best. And the fact that it worked...

He sits down heavily on the floor, puts his head in his hands, and just breathes until the shakiness starts to bleed out of him. It worked, and it's over. It worked, and it's over. One less thing to face in this darkness. All things with her strength.

All things with *my* strength.

For the first time, he realizes he truly believes it. He can do this. He can face these things and handle them, at least sometimes, even the ones that seem insurmountable. For the first time since the crash, a tiny bit of the everpresent fear ebbs away.

"You all right, Hec?" Karlach sits down next to him, leans her head gently against his. Feeling him shaking, she shifts to wrap her arm around him and, unresisting, he slumps into her side.

"I hate this place," he mutters with a hoarse, rueful laugh.

Shadowheart stands nearby, watching him thoughtfully. "You have no love for my Lady, or the others who worship her," she says quietly. "I know that. But you drove out that evil, so it will not kill any more of us."

He nods slightly, not looking up. "They don't deserve a massacre," he says hollowly. "Any more than the Selunites on the surface did."

She has no answer for that, and turns away with a troubled expression.

"Loathe as I am to interrupt our self-congratulatory snuggle session," Gale says mildly, "I think we might do well to be moving on. We've no shortage of other dangers to face before our tents show us their welcoming faces once again."

He leans over and offers a hand to Hector, helping him lever away from Karlach and back onto his feet. "But well done, my friend. Any standoff with a devil that ends with everyone still un-immolated is fine by me."

#bjk plays baldur's gate 3 #hector carlisle #bjk writes her own party banter #hey hey hey what's that coming down the pike #it's an INCREDIBLY LONG POST #this post has everything #hector character development #party banter #a devil singing badly #persuasion checks that blew out my entire collection of inspiration #unexpected displacer beast feels #tiefling snuggles #you name it we got it #god only knows what i just wrought in terms of raphael's opinion of me but we'll cross that bridge when we get there :P

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chimerafeathers · 2 months ago

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i really love how intensely Mirabelle reacts to act 5 Siffrin botched friendquest.

Isabeau is mostly operating out of concern and, eventually, hurt. he already knows something’s up before Siffrin gets to him. he knows something truly awful must be wrong for Siffrin to be lashing out like they are, and as soon as he can’t handle the situation anymore, he leaves and asks (with strained cheer) for time apart to cool off.

most of Bonnie’s anger comes from being upset and afraid that Siffrin would willingly put themself in danger for no reason, when that’s exactly why they’ve been so unsettled since the eye incident. they hate that Siffrin values their own life so little, they hate that they’re the cause of any pain or loss for him, and here he is, putting himself in that situation AGAIN. on purpose. it’s loud and explosive, but it’s familiar, too, being “hated” by Bonnie for this reason.

Odile pushes, and keeps pushing, until her concern overwhelms Siffrin and they strike where they know she’s most vulnerable. she gets physical, just for a moment, grabbing his collar before controlling herself and letting go. her fury shuts down into cold detachment, and she walks away.

but Mirabelle—dear, sweet, gentle, loving Mirabelle, “the most wonderful being on earth,” with her secret “ruthless side” that largely involves lightly badmouthing people behind their backs and then apologizing—slaps them. immediately.

and then COMPLETELY RENOUNCES THEIR FRIENDSHIP.

not just “we’re not friends anymore,” but “we were never friends in the first place.”

that’s!!! pretty extreme!!!!

of course, she ALSO starts by asking what’s wrong. something must have happened for him to act like this. but as soon as Siffrin brushes her off, she jumps past that line of questioning and dives headfirst into re-evaluating everything she thought she knew about them as a a person.

if he could say something like that to her and not see anything wrong with it, then she was wrong to treat him as a friend, wrong to read camaraderie into his teasing, wrong to think they must care about them all under their aloof demeanor.

that’s how Mirabelle phrases it—“I was wrong about you”—but i think that there’s a hidden layer of I was right about you, too.

she talks about the way they tease her like she had to convince herself that he was doing it in a friendly way. she says they talk like they “know better than her” like that’s a thought she’s had for a LONG time.

“Always soooo mysterious, Siffrin, always talking as if you're better than me! As if you know me!!! But you don't, Siffrin!!! You're just as lost and useless as I am!!! So stop!!! Talking!!! As if you know me!!!!!!”

none of this comes across as a new, sudden way to view Siffrin for her. it doesn’t shock or confuse her. it makes her angry, defensive, almost like she was waiting for something like this to happen at some point. the feeling of resentment, frustration, jealousy, being patronized and condescended to—this is something she’s been actively pushing down and rejecting this entire time, but they’ve given her ample reason for it all to boil to the surface. violently.

Mirabelle’s kindness is not inherent or easy. it’s a choice she’s making. she treats Siffrin warmly because she gives him the benefit of the doubt—refusing to act based on anxiety-fueled, cynical speculation, and reassuring herself that his actions are driven by care and friendship even if she can’t quite see it.

“I was wrong about you” doesn’t mean she always and without question believed them to be a fundamentally kind, caring person from the beginning—it’s that her first, colder instincts were right, and she was wrong to convince herself otherwise.

never mind that she asked what was wrong at first. she barely gives them time to speak in their own defense, to explain what they really meant by what they said. all of her suppressed doubts and frustrations are getting aired out now, now that all the trust she’d so deliberately placed in him has been betrayed. her pain feels bigger than this singular moment, so when she hurts him back, she makes sure it extends back through the entirety of their relationship for him, too.

“You're awful. You're not my friend, not my ally, not anything. You never were.”

like the others, she goes back to the clocktower and tells Siffrin not to come back until later. but there’s a finality to the way she ends this confrontation that isn’t quite there with the others. Isabeau and Odile reach their breaking point and remove themselves from the situation, asking for space to cool off but still somewhat leaving the door open for Siffrin to tell them what’s really going on at some point. Mirabelle is the only one who tries to fully cut ties—after everything else she says, her “I don’t want to see you until tonight” reads to me somewhat as “I don’t want to see you anymore unless I have to.”

I can’t wait to never see you again.

even back at the clocktower, Mirabelle doesn’t really defend Siffrin’s place in the party when Odile suggests leaving them behind out of concern for their trustworthiness on the most important day of the journey. Isabeau and Bonnie protest out of sentimentality and faith in Siffrin’s abilities and connection to them, and Mirabelle agrees, but…

“I agree, but... B-But would he even agree to come with us, still? Maybe they won't even come back tonight...”

she doesn’t say much outside of that. maybe the stutter and hesitation here are signs of regret about how things happened, but she lacks Isabeau and Bonnie’s confidence that Siffrin even wants to come back to them in the first place. she doesn’t trust that their bond was real anymore. maybe it never was in the first place, or maybe she broke whatever was there herself.

and she’s still mad when they finally catch up to Siffrin at the King! and she makes sure Siffrin knows that—after saving them, assuring him that he no longer needs to fight, that they’re all there for him. she still cares, of course she still cares—she’s still hurt, too, but they can figure that part out once there’s less world-ending stuff going on.

she’s the first to say that they all reserve the right to still be angry at Siffrin later—and that they’ve already forgiven him.

she’s also the first to say we want to stay with you, too. it’s not just you.

she was wrong! she thought they didn’t care but they care so much, it’s overwhelming, it’s world-ending.

i think she’s gonna be wallowing in guilt post-canon the moment she remembers what she said and did TO SIFFRIN and not just what Siffrin said to her. especially now that she knows Siffrin’s exact hangups, and especially especially if she figures out what Siffrin was trying to say.

they put themself through hell out of loneliness and fear that none of the others cared about him the way he cared about them, he was going insane from repetition and exhaustion and hunger and trying to keep them all safe and together, and all they did in the midst of all that was say something kind of mean to her one time (that turned out to not even be MEANT to be mean it was supposed to be HELPFUL they just SAID IT ALL WRONG) and she SLAPPED THEM? and told him that they WEREN’T FRIENDS AT ALL??? how could she!!! she should have known better!! what they said hurt a lot but still!!!

so when they eventually manage to try to talk about it, they end up almost in, like, a guilt competition.

Mirabelle apologizing for how she reacted, that she shouldn’t have yelled or hit him, that she doesn’t want to be the kind of person who acts that way out of anger and she’s sorry that she made Siffrin expect that reaction from her, she should have known better and believed in him more and they only messed up like that because they were losing their mind in a time loop but what’s HER excuse—

and Siffrin going nononono stop I deserved it—(HUH DON’T SAY THAT NO YOU DIDN’T)—and that he should never have said such awful things to her, ever, and she was under so much pressure already with the weight of the country and everyone’s lives and futures and her religion and their whole party counting on her to do this impossible task because she’s the only one who can, all this unbearable expectation and hope crushing her, and they KNEW that but they thought they could skip to the ending as though her feelings didn’t matter at all, like helping her wasn’t as important as saving a little time—

until they’re just. in tears together, apologizing for all the horrible things they did in between complimenting each other’s strength and kindness and resilience and how much they admire each other and saying that no, everything you did was completely understandable, actually, the only one who sucks here is me. which neither of them will accept coming from the other!!

they’re so similar, in ways they couldn’t really understand, before.

warm, affectionate, perfect Mirabelle, the resolute hero, a beacon of compassion and hope for all those around her, who wears her heart on her sleeve, her fear making her courage shine all the brighter—nothing like the insignificant, forgettable Siffrin, too terrified to be known, too fragile to touch, too selfish and disgusting to bear letting go.

cool, mysterious, unflappable Siffrin, the worldly traveler, as charming and silly as they are confident and skilled, who brushed off losing an eye like it was nothing, accepting the risks of this journey with barely more than a shrug—nothing like the anxious, stagnant, undeserving Mirabelle, a fraud and a nobody crumbling under the weight of a mission too important to be entrusted to someone like her, doubting herself, doubting her friends, doubting her mentor, doubting her faith, too weak and brittle to bend and change the way the world needs her to without breaking.

not worth bothering others with their problems. they should be able to handle this alone. stay positive, stay calm. breathe in, and out.

they’ll struggle with it, still—the hiding, the minimizing—but now, they understand each other a little better. they can hold each other accountable for what they leave unsaid.

it’ll get easier, eventually. they have plenty of time.

#i!!! don’t know how to end posts!#this was supposed to be about One Quick Thought and then i just. kept going.#it’s REALLY LONG. SORRY?#some of this is a rehash of what i said in the mirabelle edition loop hangout post #i didn’t want to repeat EVERYTHING though so. no prologue discussion this time #isat #isat spoilers #in stars and time #in stars and time spoilers #isat mirabelle #isat siffrin #mypost #isat meta #mirasif qpr #it makes me wonder what other negative impressions she’s harboring about the others #surely siffrin isn’t the only one that she has twisted up somewhat in her head in ways that she has to talk herself out of #it’s a very anxiety-based behavior. making up worst-case stories in your head about yourself and other people #and having to remind yourself that those worst cases aren’t necessarily reality #the most obvious (to me) in the party would be comparing herself to Isabeau and feeling Some Type of Way about finding herself lacking #even if no one else sees it like that.#he’s strong he’s brave he’s reliable he’s heroic—he’s COMFORTABLE WITH CHANGE……#meanwhile she’s just!!! same old mirabelle!!!!!#incapable of changing in so many ways that seem so easy for everyone else! what’s wrong with her that she can’t!!!!#if it’s not clear absolutely none of this is like. critical or disparaging of mirabelle. i fucking adore her.#and her handling this the absolute Worst out of all of them (Bonnie included!) is part of that #LET HER BE MESSYYYYYY #btw for those familiar i’m picturing the guilt competition very much in Steven Vs Amethyst (steven universe) style

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