#and that he and karlach are off for real killing devils in avernus and making out every chance they get :P

[blackjackkent]

Heyyy, have you ever written your Hec and Karlach with the "blows up at the pier" ending? I am just not sure where to look for it lol but I always love imagining the "alt routes" but I understand if others are too sad to dip toes in

Oh man, anon coming in with the Big Feels out of nowhere. :D I love it. As per usual this got way longer than intended and very out of hand. XD

I have not written that before and it is indeed VERY sad to think about. But I am up for giving it a try! [rolls up sleeves, braces self]

(If you're interested, I also answered a similar version of this question a while back regarding Hector's life in a worldstate where Karlach got mind-flayered, which was ALSO sad. 😭 )

So anyway. Scenario, then: the brain fight didn't go super smoothly and Wyll is unconscious, so Hector is left with no other voice to save Karlach from her self-sacrifice.

-----

No one moves. The pier is suddenly deathly silent as the roaring of Karlach's engine falls to stillness. Hector sways unsteadily on his feet, clinging to the afterimages of the flame still burned into his eyes.

Don't breathe. Don't think. When you think, it will become real...

But there is no stopping it. Thinking is what he does best, after all. She taught him to live, for a while, to see the glory and goodness of the wide world outside the monastery, the bright intensity of its colors.

But she is gone, and he can see the grayscale already fading in again at the corners of his vision.

"No..." he whispers. His voice sounds choked in his throat. "No." Somehow he always believed, deep down, that something would come to save her, that they would find some way to make everything all right. "NO!" He falls to his knees, burying his fingers in the ashes; his palms blister in the lingering heat.

"NO. NO. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO NO NO NONONONONONO!"

He's screaming, he realizes distantly. Sobbing too. Everything has snapped; every ounce of the control that he wears like armor has vanished. He feels detached from his body, unreal, numb with grief. The tears pour down his face, blinding him.

It isn't fair. After everything they have been through, everything Karlach suffered, it isn't fair that this is how she ended, without even a body to bury in the city she loved. It isn't fair that he will never hold her again, never feel her arms around him, never protect her and be protected by her, never see the world at her side, never... never... never...

The world is so cold without her warmth.

"Gods, please... please come back to me!" he howls into the uncaring ocean view. "I can't... I can't..."

The first paroxysm of anguish starts to fade. He collapses forward on his elbows and knees, his face pressed into his fists, and sobs.

In the monastery, they taught him there was no pain that discipline and prayer could not soothe. They were wrong. He knows now just how wrong they were.

"The Moonmaiden sees me… no grief nor pain nor fury shall wrest me from her path…" He whispers the mantra brokenly, instinctively, desperate for the comfort it has brought him in other moments. But there is no comfort to be found even in Selune's light, not for this.

He is alone.

But no... not completely alone. A hand touches his shoulder softly; a form crouches gently at his side. Shadowheart. He can see the sympathy in her eyes, the compassion and shared pain.

"Come here," she says softly, and opens her arms to him, as he did to her after the House of Grief. And as she did then, he falls sideways into her embrace, presses his face into her shoulder and cries bitterly. Her armor feels cold after the furnace heat of Karlach's destruction, but the hug is tight and fierce and she rocks gently side to side, holding him.

"I'm so sorry," she whispers.

His voice is hoarse, almost inaudible. "It hurts..."

"I know... I know..." She looks up. The others are watching at a distance - those who remain, anyway. Astarion is gone into the shadows, Lae'zel to the Astral. Gale is crouched by Wyll's unconscious body, but his eyes are fixed on the back of Hector's head, unblinking. Minsc, his face drawn tight with regret, is standing a little closer, Boo balanced on one fist.

And Jaheira closes with them, moving to sit on Hector's other side. The druid rests a hand on Hector's back just above where Shadowheart's arms hold him. "Silvanus guide the light to the source," she murmurs. "Take her to what she justly deserves. By nature's will, what was given is returned. What was turmoil is now peace..."

Hector draws a long, slow, shuddering breath.

"May the Moonmaiden's light follow her into the dark," Shadowheart says softly. Her voice is still a little unsteady on the Selunite prayer, but she knows Hector needs to hear it. "The silver light always at her back..."

He swallows, sits up slightly, not pulling away from either woman's touch. They are grounding him, drawing him back to himself, and his heart rate begins to calm, the sobs slowing to unsteady, hiccuping breaths. "Perhaps," he whispers hoarsely, "perhaps had I served Shar, it would be easier... I would be prepared for such loss..."

He can feel Shadowheart give a single, sharp shake of the head.

"Do not think it," Jaheira says, her voice low. "You would be empty. It is no better. The grief carries all the meaning of what was; it is the love with nowhere left to go. In time it will be bearable, cub."

He does not want it to be bearable. He wants it gone. He wants her back. He wants the hole in his heart filled back in.

"My Lady..." he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut. "See her soul as it travels outward. Take it where mine would go, I beg you."

Karlach once said that she liked the thought of her soul spreading out through the world, becoming part of it. He liked the thought too, for she was always full of life and loved the world so deeply, with such fierce devotion...

But he knows the truth, as it was taught to him. She will go to the Fugue Plane to be judged. And if no god fights for her soul, she will exist in limbo forever, trapped in another unending wasteland.

"Take her to you, My Lady... please. In my place, if you must, but do not leave her forgotten..."

----

Some months later, he and Jaheira travel at Withers' behest to a gathering outside the city.

It has been a good half-year, all things considered. The city is starting to rebuild, to regain some semblance of its former life. Hector has been hard at work among the Harpers, lending his strong back to building projects and his counsel to those in need of it.

He's filled out with new muscle and a sense of pride in the Gate. Jaheira has noted it more than once - with surprise, given that he once lived in such isolation from the city's life. But they both know, truly, where that pride stems from. Karlach could not live to see her city flourish again - so Hector must see it for her.

In his pocket always he carries the three copper coins Jaheira delivered to him a few days after the brain fell. Sometimes he listens to the message recorded on them. More often, he simply places a hand against them when the loneliness threatens to overwhelm him, feeling the soft warm buzz of the enchantment on them and imagining he can almost feel Karlach's touch.

Withers finds him wandering away from the party, late in the evening, and addresses him without preamble, grave as ever.

"Thou feelst it still," the skeleton says, with something oddly like kindness. "She is not here. She who means the most. Hast thy thoughts been with brave Karlach often?"

Yes. Of course they have. He doesn't speak of it much to Jaheira and the others, and he has tried to move on - and some days he can almost manage it. But her loss always sits in the back of his mind, inescapable. Every moment of victory bears its quiet reminder that she is not here to share it with him. Every failure brings the ache for her comfort and her warmth.

"I loved her so much," he says quietly. "It isn't fair."

"No," Withers says placidly. "It is not."

He feels a sudden tightness in the back of his throat. He has not spoken of her aloud for so many weeks, but Withers of all people coming to him with kindness brings the feelings rushing back, stinging into his eyes. "I don't know how I can go on without her," he mutters.

Withers's dessicated lips curl in a slight smile. "She battled in Avernus, fueled on naught but hope," he says. "And that hope came to become truth. In but a dozen tendays, an entire life was lived. More than mortal years-- mortal centuries were hers." He gives a slow nod in acknowledgment of Hector's grief. "Thou might endure a great eon of mourning. But thou must hope, as once she did. Her life... her happiness... was you."

Great, now he really is going to cry. That strain in his throat is rapidly forming into a lump that makes it difficult to speak. "And she was mine..." he whispers.

"Thy life was hers for a while," Withers says gently. "It is now thine again. Live it well." He reaches out a hand and rests it on Hector's shoulder. It is light and skeletal and bears no warmth, but it goes with the intensity Withers suddenly has in his expression.

"In the Fugue Plane," he says, "her soul burns so bright, it pains the gods to look upon. Recall that in time, all changeth and all is rejoined. Thou shalt be with her again."

Hector feels something tight come loose in his chest, and he nods unsteadily. These are not empty words; this is Jergal speaking, not Withers. This is, perhaps, the only voice available to him that could tell him truly what he needs to know - that Karlach is not lost to him, nor beaten into dim submission by the wasteland of the Fugue.

She is still bright. And she is waiting for him. And one day, when he has brought her city back to life, he will go to find her.

[amnestria-the-elf]

So we're all just supposed to be fucking grateful that Larian gave us "new Wyll content" (evil ending for a man who is canonically incorruptible, what the fuck) and simultaneously broke him again (giving low approval greetings to a romanced PC, what the fuck).

I... I just... the simultaneous feelings of rage and utter hopelessness are overwhelming.

Listen, if you've read any of my posts you know I have a pretty clear "Don't yuck anyone's yum" policy. If you think an evil Wyll ending is interesting, fine. But here's why it falls flat for me.

First, like I said above, Wyll is canonically incorruptible. It's literally the entire basis of his character. He is a man who was coerced into making an infernal contract to save a city and had to pay a horrible price for doing so, then spent seven fucking years alone in the wilderness doing his damned best to protect the people of the Sword Coast, while all along telling his horrible, abusive patron to just fuck off already.

Now, could you argue that during the events of the game, Wyll develops a taste for evil? Sure. There are plenty of opportunities for his villain origin story to unfold. But they never do. His moral compass never wavers. Turned into a devil? He feels shame, because it's an outward sign that he was doing things for Mizora that were morally wrong, and he didn't see it before. His approval rating for the PC shoots through the roof if you save Karlach, a sure indicator of his true moral compass. His father kidnapped? Fuck that noise, we're gonna save him. Rescue Zariel's "asset"? Ugh, fine, but don't get distracted from the real reason we're here. His father gets tadpoled? Oh hells no, we're gonna take down these assholes and save the godsdamned world. His father accuses him of being an agent of a devil and is super pissy about it? "Everything I did, I did for the people of the Sword Coast."

For fuck's sake, he will leave the party if the PC gets too evil, even knowing it means he'll probably turn into a mindflayer immediately. Even if he's romancing the PC. Unwavering moral compass. So giving him an evil ending without also going back and changing everything about his character just feels like lazy writing to me.

Which brings me to the second reason all of this rubs the wrong way. Wyll deserves so much more content. More romanced greetings, more reactions to other characters' choices, a final boss battle that is actually about him, a default ending that actually makes fucking sense (I have another post cooking about the Avernus ending, so I will leave it for now.)

And please, spare me your "But Wyll was rewritten after early access" bullshit. That's Larian's problem. They chose to listen to feedback and do a late-stage rewrite. They then chose to implement it poorly and never fucking fix it. Other characters, who already have far more content than Wyll, have had even more added over the course of the seven released patches. Wyll, on the other hand, has been sitting around completely ignored until now when we get this evil ending.

Many have rightfully pointed out the inherent racism steeped in all of this. I want Larian to be better. But as Maya Angelou said, "When someone shows you who they are, believe them." I already didn't have much hope about Patch 7 for Wyll, but this... honestly, this is worse than him just being ignored again.

The thing that kills me the most is that this is just going to be more fodder for the fandom to completely mischaracterize Wyll, for those who already haven't bothered to think critically about his character at all to just be like, oh, cool, Wyll is evil now. Nope. You've completely missed the point.

I'm just... so tired. I've worked very hard to put this little bubble of Wyll enthusiasts around me (hi friends I love you all!) so that I can hold on to some shred of sanity in this fandom. The world needs heroes of color. Just let Wyll be the hero in peace.

[animentality]

Now I need to know what you think is missing from Wyll, Karlach, and Gale’s character arcs. For Wyll and Karlach, the emotional character moments to not feel as important as they should be. Karlach’s goal of killing Gortash doesn’t doesn’t relate to her current issue with Zariel and Wyll kind of has a flat character arc from hero for Baldur’s gate to hero for the sword coast and then hero for Avernus or back to Baldur’s gate. Gale’s is a bit harder for me to point out the major issue but I think it’s that the consequences of his choices happen off screen after all the conflict.

Thanks for answering so many of my asks!

Yeah no worries, I enjoy thinking about Baldur's Gate, the same way a mental patient dreams of violent neurosis.

Anyway, here's my suggestion.

As it is, right now, it does NOT make sense for Zariel to want Karlach? She literally has armies of pit fiends and orthons for the Blood War. The fuck does she need some random tiefling for? And one who needs an Infernal Engine for a heart just to...barely keep up with real devils?

Why even use an Infernal Engine like that, anyway? You telling me you couldn't use that shit for something way more useful than making some random girl able to fight the devils that you already have at your disposal?

What makes wayyyyy more sense is...let's give Karlach a disability. She has a heart murmur, or some kind of heart abnormality. Let's say that in that day and age, such a thing could kill her.

Now Gortash is a thief. Let's say he STOLE an Infernal Engine, and he's dying to test it out. See how it works. Let's say he wants to test it out on a live subject, because he's a tinkerer. He tells Karlach he can fix her heart. And she's desperate, because she think she might have a heart attack, and die. So she agrees.

But instead of fixing her heart, he replaces it with an Infernal Engine. And she's furious, because, they find out, it's unstable and it has to return to Avernus.

And Gortash, being the prick he is, just shrugs and condemns her to the hells, because he has what he wants. He now knows how the Infernal Engine works. He's "nice" enough to send Karlach to the hells, though. Let's say he might have soooome connect, who can at least direct Karlach to Zariel.

So Zariel, being a little more sympathetic than most, takes Karlach in. Gives her a home. Teaches her how to fight, and recruits her for her cause, mostly out of pity. But then Karlach gets tired of fighting in the Blood War. She betrays Zariel, by running away, and that's when she gets tadpoled.

And it'd be a slap in the face for Zariel, because she took that girl in, when no one else would've! So she's hurt and betrayed, and that's why she's hunting Karlach. She hates traitors.

So that's re-framing Karlach! It makes more sense to me this way, because as it is, Zariel has no reason to want Karlach, OR to hunt for her. And also, Gortash's relationship with Karlach is still preserved, just shifted, to make more sense.

And her ending arc could be...force Gortash to fix her heart, after he's learned enough about Infernal Engines to now know how to do that. And confront Zariel.

Let's say Mizora too, or at least Mizora.

You could have a great boss fight somewhere interesting, maybe go to the hells...whatever.

And her entire character arc could go from "sad golden retriever who gets kicked and then DIES" to:

"I was betrayed by someone I used to care about, who used me for his own benefits. I am 'stronger' now than I was before, but at a cost. I was taken in by someone kind...and then I betrayed them. And now, I'm on the run because of that decision...but I did get dealt a pretty shit hand in life. I must now confront the man who hurt me, and apologize to the woman I then hurt as a result of my past trauma."

At the very least, we could see her evolving. She seems innocent and sweet at first...and then you find out, she did some horrible things during the Blood War. She has PTSD. She's grizzled and disillusioned. And maybe she has a hard time trusting people, after being betrayed AND betraying someone who was kind to her. But with the help of Tav/Durge, she learns to stop running from her trauma. To face her old demons head on. Maybe she even drops her "cheerful" act and becomes colder. But in the end, when she's either killed Gortash and had Zariel fix her engine, OR had Gortash fix her engine, and then confronted Zariel, she could return to her happier self, just more honest this time about how she really feels.

Also, she wouldn't have to fucking die.

She'd have a proper working heart, and can live her life.

Now as for Wyll...

Sighing, because his arc is botched.

In the EA, I know he was originally more sleazy?

He like...was called the "fraud" of the Sword Coast. He was meant to be a more morally gray guy, who seems like a hero, but who actually made a deal with a devil for his powers. I didn't play EA, but from what I understand, you could confront him more for being fake?

I would like it if they'd kept this complexity. Have Wyll be putting on "airs" but also be more willing to hurt innocents in the guise of being a hero?

Have him be a little amoral.

But Tav/Durge can either push him to greater immorality...or end up making him a proper hero in the end. Someone his father could be proud of...or maybe. Confront the damage his father did to him, growing up, maybe trying to make him something he was not.

And basically, becoming a hero, but on his own terms, and rejecting his father's idea of what a hero is.

That could be an interesting thing to do with him. Have Mizora be that evil devil on his shoulder...and Karlach be the good angel, because she would basically be like, well...I don't want Mizora to come after me on behalf of Zariel, so...come on, bud.

As for Gale...

Well.

I don't know.

I haven't played through Gale's arc as much, but from what I understand, his biggest issue is that he doesn't get much of a quest in the end. Just the Sorcerous Sundries stuff, which is whatever. You get to decide if he picks the bad Gale ending, where his ambition destroys him, and he becomes just another asshole god, or if he chooses happiness, and becomes a teacher.

Just give him an actual ending quest. Let him fight either a representation of Mystra or Elminster!

Let him reject both of them.

I honestly hesitate to suggest ways to fix Gale, only because I don't know enough about him. To me, a character choosing happiness over ambition is a pretty solid arc.

I just think the execution at the END could've been better.

Also, not just exclusive to Gale...

one of the biggest issues with BG3 is the fact that they chose to split their time doing the dumb, play as an origin thing, rather than prioritizing letting the whole cast intermingle. They could've developed more chances for Tavs/ Durges to influence the party, together and individually, have their decisions matter throughout the entire story.

Instead, they gave us the backstories, and then we just decide literally in Act 3, are they gonna be good or evil.

You only get to see character development if you are ROMANCING them, which is just, terrible, because it limits you to only seeing one character truly develop. Also, even if you are romancing someone, then it's still not really showing you that development.

Like, for Astarion, right, let's say you're trying to convince him not to be Cazador 2.0...you just choose that.

Let him Ascend, or don't.

But your relationship with him doesn't have THAT much of an effect on him?

It would've been far more interesting if your actions in Act 1 and 2 decide what happens there, and there is NO going back by that point. Oh, you forced him to drink from Araj?

He's going to become Ascended, and you can't stop him.

Oh, you chose to encourage Gale's ambition in Act 1? He's becoming a god, good job.

Your Durge was nasty to everyone, and killed so many innocent people in Act 2?

Everyone should fucking leave your ass then. ESPECIALLY if you become the chosen of Bhaal.

That's my issue with the general character development of Baldur's Gate. It's left entirely to, pick dialogue option 1 or 2.

There's not an actual reason to get a character's approval up unless you want to have a sex scene with them.

There's only ONE thing that'll make characters leave, otherwise, they just smile on and don't care that you just killed Isobel for no reason.

And going back to the romance being used as the linchpin for character development...sure, Astarion must learn to trust you and be honest and stop trying to manipulate you. But you don't actually get to reprimand him for that sort of behavior. To challenge him. To force him to see how he's hurting himself, and others?

Like Astarion is a big asshole!! He's a racist, he's mean to kids, he approves of you being horrible.

But then at the end...he just...is good now?

Because you chose to be good, and he's just going along with you...but that's lazy writing.

You had to SHOW us. You had to make us REALIZE he's getting softer. And not just to you, but to everyone.

It makes no sense to me in the epilogue how Astarion just, is a hero now, for no reason. If you don't romance him, I mean, it defaults him to "hero."

And I just don't get that.

So anyway.

Too long of a post, but....

that's my big issue.

Karlach, Wyll, they get no character arcs, and have no depth. Their endings are unsatisfying and uninteresting.

And...BG3 needed to actually show the characters evolving. But they didn't have time to do that, because they chose instead to just, reveal the trauma of their backstory from Act 1...forget the characters have backstories in Act 2...and then decide if they want to be good or evil in Act 3.

And that's...really...boring. And they feel like cardboard cut outs by that point, and not people.

[limpfisted]

FIVE. THE BLADE OF AVERNUS VS THE GRANDDUKE.

The Blade of Avernus is, in my opinion, a greatttt ending for Wyll. He is still so flawed. He atill believes in fairy tales. You are still a part of his fairy tale. But now he can admit he is Hellstouched, and he is making it a part of the hero that he is. He WILL right for the aword coast, because that is his home and where people have welcomed him into their homes when he saved him. He will be both devil AND heor and take on all that means—and he will split the difference between fairy tale and the passion and violence and devil inside him. Perfect ending, plenty of room to grow as a character, he still needs therapy.

The more interesting endings are where he goes off with Karlach, and where he becomes Grandduke though.

As Grandduke he is pent iut and exhausted from his Father’s backroom deals, the political assasinations, the lack of gratitude, the lack of acknowledgement. Prety much everyone hates him but the refugees, and some of THEM even don’ care for him. This is fun to me, I love it, he just goes insane basically trying his hardest to do the right thing but still not ever being able to let out the devil in him or the violence, in fact, suppressing it more as he tries to be ever and ever more good snd more noble, giving up his needs more and more for the people hes sworn to protect. It eats away at him. You can’t be “too good” forever, especially when your morals HAVE to get more and more grey, just like your Father’s did.

The last ending is my favorite.

I don’t believe in redemption. But I do believe in getting up every single day and decising to be a better person than you were yesterday and acting accordingly.

Wyll did some FUCKED UP SHIT FOR MIZORA!!! He killed innocent people!! People who could have begged for their lives!! He would’ve thought it was a devil’s trick!

By saving his last “victim!, befriending her, and fighting by her side by side for the rest of their days—Wyll gets to be both devil, both protector, but most of all—he gets to forgive himself and let himself heal from what he’s done and the guilt on his conscience. He can’t go back and un$kill Zariel’s innocent minions. But he can save this one, beautiful, strong, brave, handsome tiefling girl who he is bound to by soul and breath and blood. And that’s enough to make it jist a little bit better.

If Wyll is forced to choose on his own? He chooses Karlach. Every goddamn time. Even over you and your fairy tale. Karlach is REAL. Realer than anything he’s ever seen or felt before. Wnd he loves her in such a painful way that reminds him he’s not as perfect or heroic as he wants to be-#but maybe she can be his good eyes, and he can keep her safe.

[apaleflame]

bg3 post epilogue slide show that exists in my imagination: [spoilers]

shadowheart and psymáre use their copious riches they collected during their adventure to buy some property in rivington, they have a house built for shadowheart’s parents and another for themselves. scratch and the owlbear cub have tons of room outside to run around and play!

funny idea popped into my head that psymáre should take over ownership of sorcerers sundries since it’s previous owner, uh, tragically died

im not sure where precisely astarion is living (maybe he also buys himself a house with all the gold we picked up) (also like, with cazador gone... who owns the szarr estate? maybe the gang pulls some legal strings so that astarion becomes the new owner, then he auctions off all of cazador's shit, and now has a ton of money. then oops the mansion burns to the ground. hooray insurance fraud!) but psymáre visits him often because they are friends. in her free time she’s researching ways for him to be able to walk in the sun again.

gale returns to waterdeep after retrieving the broken crown pieces from the river and returning them to mystra. psymáre’s roped him into her “helping astarion walk in the sun” project. she goes to visit him in waterdeep after everything at home for her has settled down and gets a grand tour of the city. they use magic skype to talk to each other when psymáre goes back to baldur's gate because they are wizard besties

wyll is in avernus, and so is karlach for the moment (a lot of players (including me) are disappointed that there's no way to give her a real happy ending, despite all the threads in act 3 that hint that there should have been a way, so... this might change pending future content updates) so unfortunately they don't see each other very much in person anymore :( but psymáre's a very smart wizard and makes magic skype work between planes so they can still catch up. i imagine she'd have a chat with barcus about potentially getting the iron hand gnomes and their new gondian allies to work on a solution to karlach's case

it seems like lae'zel and the gang permanently part ways after she returns to the astral plane, and I wish there had been a slightly longer goodbye scene with her if you had very high or exceptional approval with her. in my mind hers and psymáre's parting was a lot more like morrigan and the warden's friendship parting in da:o "i knew nothing of friendship before i met you, live well my friend, live gloriously". psymáre really didnt like lae'zel when she first met her and was surprised by how much she came to value their friendship (like... she only stole the hammer from raphael & freed orpheus because lae'zel asked her too. braving a devil's lair so you can free a guy who might just kill you when you release him for your friend is pretty ride-or-die, in my eyes). maybe they will meet again one day! i hope they will. psymáre's a high elf and still has many centuries of life left ahead of her, and in the astral plane lae'zel won't age, so who can say!

since jaheira lives in baldur's gate, that means they're neighbours and would still see each other! i dont see psymáre becoming a harper herself, but she'd be allied with them, certainly. jaheira goes home to her family and has a well deserved break from apocalyptic fuckery. also that reverse aging scroll jaheira has in her basement... psymáre's a high elf and is 370 years old, so she might expect to live another 400 years or so, whereas shadowheart... isn't going to live that long (elves live on average about 750 years, but half-elves only about between 128-180 years) ... maybe jaheira gives the scroll and her research to them, since she decided she wasnt going to use it?

(now ive made myself sad thinking about how all of astarion's friends are eventually going to die of old age :( maybe the "walking in the sun" fix will be to cure him of vamparism? this would be a good century or two into the future though, probably. give him plenty of time to decide if that what he wants or not. also plenty for psymáre to learn how to cast wish or find a scroll of true resurrection)

in halsin's romance ending he tell you that he's going to help the refugees and orphaned children start new lives in the now shadow curse-free lands, so obviously he's still gong to be doing that. i cant decide whether or not yenna goes with him or if psymáre and shadowheart adopt her lmao but i definitely think that they'd drop by and say hello whenever they're able. and im sure shadowheart would like to see moonrise towers back to its former glory!

i recruited minsc really late into act 3 so i didnt get to know him very well but i assume post-game that he's doing just fine i dont have any further thoughts on him lmao

[blackjackkent]

All right, back into Rakha's adventures. We left off having met Jaheira, with whom Rakha had a, shall we say, tense standoff. With Mol's help, though, things were resolved into cautious respect, or at least an acknowledgment that they're on the same side.

Time to explore Last Light, but first, a quick rest. They make camp near the inn, within the boundaries of the strange orb of light protecting the place, and Rakha is in the process of laying her bedroll out when there's a sudden low rumbling like a small explosion behind her, and she feels the magic in the air shiver--

Mizora.

Rage, instant and intense, floods Rakha's whole body - the same rage she felt the last time Mizora stood in their camp. Rage not on her own behalf but on Wyll's, at this woman who controls his life and toys with him like a puppet.

She has grown in that time. She knows Mizora cannot die, or Wyll's life will be forfeit. But she does throw a hand out at once, intending to grab the woman, hold her, demand to know what she's doing here and then throw her out.

But her hand passes directly through the devil's body; she stumbles forward almost off-balance. Mizora is not here - this is some sort of illusion, a projection.

Mizora looks at her coldly as she staggers back to a steady position. Then she looks away, as if Rakha is beneath her notice, and fixes her gaze on Wyll. "Playtime's over, pet," she snaps.

"Ah, I love this time of year," Karlach quips sarcastically. She's come up on Wyll's other side and has both fists clenched, clearly just as willing as Rakha is to lash out - and just as frustrated that that apparently isn't possible. "The dickheads start popping up wherever you look."

(A/N: God, I love her.)

"What do you want, Mizora?" Wyll asks. Unlike Rakha and Karlach, there is no energy for anger in his voice. He just sounds exhausted.

"Drop the attitude and perk up your ears," Mizora says coldly. "You've got a new mission. Absolute's cult has gone and grabbed one of Zariel's assets. A devil - and a powerful one at that. They're locked up in the cult's fortress, Moonrise Towers. And you're getting 'em out."

Rakha scowls. Perhaps she should simply let Wyll speak; perhaps this is none of her business. But Mizora is an enemy. So is Zariel. Mizora hurt Wyll and Zariel hurt Karlach. If Rakha cannot touch them, cannot kill them, she wants them gone.

"Forget it," she growls. "This 'asset' can rot in the Towers for all I care."

"I'd start caring - and quick, sunshine," Mizora shoots back. "Ahem - Clause Z, Section Thirteen: 'Should promised soul refuse obeyance or neglect duty, the pact-holder shall cast the promised into Avernus as a lemure.'" She smiles unpleasantly. "I'll make it simple. Wyll fails or refuses, and he turns to a thick blob of stink-flesh and sinks to Avernus."

(A/N: Given Mizora can hear and see everything Wyll can, there's no way that she doesn't know that Rakha and Wyll are starting to get close. In retrospect this explains why he was so wary of anything demonstrative at the party earlier. And it means she is being a real dick here (unsurprisingly) and playing on Rakha's care for Wyll to make sure that she does what Mizora wants. Fuck Mizora. All my homies hate Mizora. (I do love her as a character though. :P ) I'm also really loling about her calling Rakha 'sunshine' XD)

Rakha flinches and her jaw sets. Mizora watches her expression and her grin widens, seeing that the barb has struck home. "Now," she goes on, this again to Wyll. "Be a good boy and play fetch, pup. Or you'll spend an eternity sizzling in the Hells."

Narrator: [PERCEPTION] Mizora's words may be flippant, but they are tinged with desperation. She cannot afford for Wyll to fail this mission. This may be your best chance to negotiate Wyll out of his pact.

Rakha cannot strike her, cannot avenge what has been done to Wyll, while the pact is still in force. Therefore, the pact needs to go - and quickly. They have leverage. This is the only option. "We'll rescue your asset - on one condition," she says.

"Oh?" Mizora answers. "And what condition is that?" She tries to sound careless, but Rakha can see a muscle twitch in her cheek.

Narrator: Your mind links with Wyll's, drawn in by his increasing panic.

"What are you doing?" She hears Wyll's voice in her mind, desperate, afraid. And in truth, she doesn't know. She is guessing, based on anger she doesn't even fully understand.

But Mizora is desperate too. And the pact needs to go. Wyll needs to be safe. She feels that with as much fervor as she has ever brought to killing. She ignores his voice in her head and keeps her gaze fixed on Mizora. "You end Wyll's pact and go your separate ways," she says flatly.

Narrator: A doubtful Wyll catches his breath but says nothing, and your connection fades.

"Interesting," Mizora says. Her careless persona is slipping; her voice is strained. "Now why should I go letting my favorite pet off his leash?"

(A/N: There's a history check here which Rakha obviously shouldn't be able to pass, and also a performance check option: "Say you know a pact-breaking charm and chant a series of pseudo-Infernal phrases." Which is not Rakha, but is hilarious.)

Rakha can feel herself gaining the upper hand in the conversation, and she steps forward, staring into the projection's eyes coldly. [INTIMIDATION] "We could always let the cult infect the asset. I bet they'd make a loyal thrall..."

It's a gamble, of course, based only on Rakha's limited knowledge of both Mizora and the tadpole parasites. But she has seen the chink in the devil's armor and tears into it ruthlessly... and her guess holds.

"Incredible," Mizora says with an attempt at a laugh. "You actually think you hold the winning hand." She clicks her tongue disdainfully. "Fine -- I'll play your game. But I amend the pact once the mission's done, not before. Clause F, Section Nine: 'Soul-binder shall bestow reward or favor only upon soul-bearer's fulfillment of related obligation."

She smiles, but Rakha can see the flat hatred in her eyes. "Now, to Moonrise, pet," she snaps. "And do mind the shadows - they've been especially hungry."

She vanishes, leaving them alone in the camp.

-----

"The more bullshit she pours, the more of it I'm forced to swallow," Wyll mutters angrily, pacing back and forth in front of his tent. "Mizora's set me on fiends inside and outside the Hells. She's never ordered a *rescue*." He rubs his fingers at his temples. "Gods, she makes a mockery of everything the Blade stands for. Such an arsehole..."

Rakha listens quietly as he rants. She can see his agitation - and she isn't sure she fully understands it. The path has been laid out; they do this job and he's free. Mizora loses her control over him. This is victory. And perhaps one day they can tear the devil apart for what she has done to him.

"Any idea who this devil is that needs freeing?" she asks matter-of-factly.

Wyll sighs. "Not a one. All that matters is that we free it. Fail, and I'm made a mindless blob clawing at demons on the front lines of the Blood War."

Rakha's jaw works. That image sits poorly with her - the idea of Wyll taken away, ripped into the Hells, torn from his cause. It's wrong. Wrong in the way the magic of the shadowlands is wrong. Wrong in the way she herself is often wrong. Wrong in the way Wyll never is.

"It's not going to happen," she mutters hoarsely. "You mean too much to--"

She stops. Me, she was going to say. She didn't expect the word until it was almost out of her mouth. And she feels an odd heat crawl up her neck at the realization.

"--the Sword Coast," she finishes. Her eyes flick away from him.

He smiles very slightly. "And it means everything to me," he murmurs. A slow breath in, then out; his shoulders square. "I always knew what my future held, and I know I chose right." A pause - then he reaches a hand out and rests it on her forearm (slowly, carefully, giving her the option to pull away). "Thank you," he adds quietly, "for sticking your neck out for me. I mean it."

He lets his hand fall again and sighs heavily. "But I'm not going to celebrate til I'm actually free. I can feel Mizora scheming, plotting... She won't let me go without making a fuss. Trust me on that."

-----

"Godsdammit," Karlach snaps irritably when Rakha talks to her later. "Why did it have to be Mizora? Why did it have to be Zariel?" She flails her arms in all directions. "We're supposed to risk our necks to get one of her assets? What if it's a runaway like me? Or something far worse?!"

Rakha raises one shoulder in a slight shrug. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there," she says noncommittally.

"I guess so," Karlach says bitterly. "But I'm telling you now, it's a bad idea to play games with a devil. You never win. Not ever."

Rakha suspects she's probably right about that. But she also knows that they had no other choice. The pact needs to end. Wyll needs to be free. Mizora, one day, needs to die.

She thinks Karlach would probably say the same, if pressed to it.