#and told stories about Elturel as a bard

[spoopyandtired]

Been a while since I posted art. Have a Baldur's Gate 3 oc <3

[your-talos-is-problematic]

For the First Time In Forever, WIP Wednesday!!

I am being brave and starting it myself today 😟. I know I haven’t contributed in a long time, but I think I’m now at a moment where life has calmed down enough for me to want to write again. Until auditions, but that’s another whole can of worms. Tagging @skyrim-forever @trickstarbrave @throughtrialbyfire @friend-of-giants and anyone who sees this and wants to join!

No TES stuff rn but I do have some Baldur’s Gate writing! I actually finally got myself to write again because I had this whole scene out in my mind and told myself to just write it down before I forgot it. Being able to share the work in progress here was actually a big motivator too!

So, without further ado, here’s a scene that hasn’t happened yet in my playthrough, but oh well. Narrator is my Tav, Tilia- helpful information is that she’s a tiefling draconic soul sorcerer. Also there’s italics on her inner thoughts but those don’t copy-paste between notes app and tumblr properly.

I pushed open the door, stepped in, and stood waiting, silently, for the aging halfling shopkeeper to notice me.

After a few seconds, he looked up, his lightless eyes not making contact with mine, but drawing upwards to my horns. After a short sigh, he explained, “We don’t serve tieflings here,” in the cadence of a line he had said more times than he had the right to.

That’s to be expected. I responded with a smile. “Even me?”

Confusion and annoyance crossed his brow. “I don’t know who you are, girl, but I don’t need to. Devil-spawn aren’t-“

“Aren’t welcome? The number of times I’ve heard that. Tragically,” I said, realizing too late that he wouldn’t get the joke, “it’s exactly what I expected to hear from my own grandfather.”

There was a long, empty silence in the room after that. I eventually disrupted it by hopping up onto a table and curling my tail onto my knees, turning to watch the recognition dawning on his face.

He moved away from the counter to stand closer, still leaving me a wide berth, then brought his eyes up to mine. “You’re leaving. Now. GUARDS!” The two people, both armed and armored, who had been watching anxiously by the door, began to move towards me. It’s a good thing I’d thought of this- coming here alone was risky, so I’d remembered to keep a few spells on hand.

I pressed my fingertips together, pointing my hands in the direction of the two people but not releasing them. All three sets of eyes were trained on the tendrils of poisonous Weave held in my palms. Cloudkill was a bit strong of a choice, but for the sake of my pride, my mother’s heart, and my father’s nerves, I needed this to go correctly.

“It’s not very nice to attack your granddaughter. Now, can I continue my story, please?”Taking his [empty/fearful/annoyed? gaze] as a yes, I continued on, in my best impression of a bard.

“Yes! The little Zariel tiefling baby belonging to you, my good sir, miraculously managed to survive its abandonment. In fact, she- yes, your child is a she, even though you never knew her long enough to find out, lived long enough in Reithwin to meet a man. A tiefling man, no less, coming from a long line of people proud to be tieflings. She swept him off of his feet and they left for Elturel together.” I took a strategic breath, giving him time to recall the fate of that city- my best bet is that the high classes of Baldur’s Gate don’t think about what happened to us all that often. “Before everything went down with Avernus- she survived, no worries- they had a daughter.” Another pause- this time to let my green, scaly wings materialize and unfold. I slid my eyes away from the rest of the room and directly to his own. “A daughter born with the dragonblood that, as far as I know, comes from your side of the family! Isn’t that unbelievable?”

He’d been glued to my words since I brought out the wings, so I slid down from the table, landing face-to-face with him, and let the magic from the Cloudkill flow back into me. Up close, I could notice more details about him- he was definitely the right age to be my grandfather. More notably, there was a resemblance between us- the curly hair, and the nose shape that betrayed me as a descendant of halflings.

“What do you want, little girl?” His tone was exhausted, intentionally- he was deflecting. Nobody wants to hear about the child they abandoned, I suppose.

“I’m [23?]. And I want everything you know about the dragonblood. Then you never have to see me or my family again.”

“Fine. One of the sorcerers in the family wrote a book about it, I think. I’ll look for it.” He turned away, taking a few steps in the direction of the stairs.

“And I want a letter of apology to my mom, written and signed in your hand.”

His head snapped back in my direction, indignation on his face. “No.”

“Yes,” I said, with my best threatening smile. Last resort- Thamaturgy. I let lighting gently crackle across my horns and arms.

“My daughter doesn’t want to hear from me,” he responded.

“You haven’t seen your daughter since she was a day old and you left her in Reithwin. Don’t tell me what she’d want.” I knew this part was going to be hard, but I care about my mother.

[shit happens idk]

“Mhm. I’ll take those books. And I’ll be back tomorrow morning for the letter.” I turned

“Wait a second, girl.”

I turned. Come on. This was going exactly like I wanted it to. With a hint of anxiety in my voice, I asked, “What?”

“Who do I address the letter to?”

“[mom’s name that is some sort of positive quality or whatnot].”

“And you are?”

“Tilia of Tragedy.”

[she leaves]

Now I have to figure out how to get a letter to Waterdeep.

[druizard]

What's Aislyn and Gale's epilogue situation (Waterdeep, adventurers, etc)? How does Aislyn feel about it?

Similar question for Beetle and Rolan - what's their life like post-game?

Ooh, thank you for these questions!! Both couples have a happy ending, so its always fun to talk and write about this subject!!

Aislyn-

If I am being completely honest, I had a lot of hesitations about moving to Waterdeep at first. I grew up deep in the heart of a forest, shut away from the world, until I left to attend bard college. But when he told me he would follow me anywhere I wanted to go, I had no idea where that would even be! After seeing all the amazing things Faerûn has to offer, how could I return to the Dales? Plus, with Gale's sweet mother living in Waterdeep, it only seemed right to make the City of Splendors our home. We needed a place to return to between our expeditions after all!

We only took about a month off to get me settled into the tower and relax before setting off to sniff out adventure! Living in Waterdeep, we didn't have to look very far to find leads on potential expeditions. He and I spent a few years exploring Faerûn before finally getting married and settling into a more domestic lifestyle. After so long on the road, it was actually really nice to have a comfortable place to call home again.

Gale and I were elated when Blackstaff hired him as a professor! I struggled to find work in the city for a while, but Gale eventually convinced the Academy board to hire me as their professor of Druidic studies. It has been so wonderful to see how learning about the natural weave helps young wizards to understand their own magic and how important it is that we protect the wilds.

Of course, it's hard to live in such an unnatural place as a city. But having a wizard for a husband means that I never have to miss the forest for long. On rough nights after work, Gale will conjure up a natural landscape in our home, just like he did the night he confessed his love to me. If time allows it, he will offer to teleport us to the Dales for the weekend or holiday to spend time with my family and explore the deep forest together. I couldn't be happier with my new life as Mrs. Dekarios. 💞

Beetle-

I don't remember the last time I was this comfortable. Ever since I can remember, my life has been moving from one place to another, being a target anywhere I go and living in squalor or no where at all. Baldur's Gate isn't free of racism and hatred, but it's nothing like Elturel.

Ramazith's Tower is... gargantuan, to say the least! There is plenty of room for Cal, Lia, Rolan and I to have our own space and then some. Many of the Elturian tieflings who ventured here with us have been staying in the tower as well! Most of them only stay until they find work and homes of their own, but the tower has plenty of room for them to stay as long as they need to. If I had my way, none of them would ever leave.

Rolan has been so accommodating and has allowed me to open an elemental temple on the ground floor of Ramazith's Tower! It is open to anyone looking to hone their Ki and align themselves with the forces of creation and the four elements. Part of why I do this is for my fallen mentor, Wren, who died after fleeing Elturel. We have an altar set up in her honor in the back of the temple and I am honored to carry on in her footsteps, guiding our fellow monks on their elemental journey.

As far as our relationship goes, Rolan and I are a stronger couple than ever before. We have been so busy since taking the tower and Sorcerous Sundries, but we always manage to find time for each other. Even if that's just sitting on the balcony and indulging ourselves in each other's bodies or laying in bed all night talking.

I always thought I would have to be the one to ask him but on one particularly beautiful night, above the clouds, overlooking the city on our balcony, he finally asked me to marry him... But that's a story for another time! 😉

Got a question for Aislyn or Beetle? Send us an ask!! I'll send you one back for your Tav (as long as you're not anon!)