#baldur's gate khalid

[blackjackkent]

Prompt fill for @astreamofstars from this ask meme: Lord Huron Lyric Prompts

Khalid (and Jaheira) - "watch for a sign in the midnight sky"

My first attempt at proper writing of Khalid! Deeply enjoyed this and I hope you do too. :D

-----

Khalid fidgets aimlessly with one sleeve of his armor, trying in vain to get the leather greaves to settle more comfortably in place. It is all new equipment, purchased out of his scant funds on his arrival in Baldur's Gate, and it has not yet had time to become fully broken in. 

Had he been able to bring his amlak armor from home, perhaps he would feel more comfortable now. Miserable though he was in Calimport's city guard, his armor at least had been very good, carefully polished and molded to his body from months of hard use. But it has been left behind, along with everything else about his old life - the corruption of his superior officers on the one hand and the disinterested cruelty of his father and half-brothers on the other. 

So here he is, for better or for worse - half a world away in ill-fitting armor, chasing rumors and wild hope. He has heard the tales of an institution where his skills would go to better use, a group of warriors who fight not for power and coin but for balance. Perhaps the Harpers will prove to be the true family he has been searching for.

The recruiter he spoke to - a furtive, laconic fellow with a hand always on his dagger - said Khalid measured well in conversation, but that the only real test of a new Harper was action. “Wait tonight in the square in Norchapel,” he had said with the ghost of a smile. “I will have some of my people find you near midnight. Identify yourself to them, and they will have a task for you. Prove true in that business and there may be a place for you among us.”

It's a cold night. The Norchapel square is empty and lit only by the ominous flickering light of the single streetlamp under which Khalid is waiting. Privately he is starting to wonder if this is part of the test - to hold to his patience in spite of the chill and silence - and if the task that lies ahead could in truth just as easily be done in daylight. But nevertheless he waits, just as instructed, as the clock in his mind slowly ticks from midnight on towards one o'clock. 

“Watch for a sign in the midnight sky,” growls a voice almost at his elbow, making him jump. He hadn't heard anyone approach. 

Then he steadies himself, swallows nervously, and gives the counter-phrase without turning around. “F-f-for by the m-moon's light, we unearth all s-secrets,” he says earnestly. 

His new conversational partner emerges out of the shadows and into the light of the streetlamp where Khalid can see him. He's a big, bulky human with dark skin and hair, broad and muscular, which makes it all the more impressive how silently he moves, his feet rolling heel to toe across the cobblestones.

On his left is a brass dragonborn with a pair of lethal-looking katanas and an incongruous cocksure grin. On his right is a young half-elven woman, about Khalid's own age, with a quarterstaff in one hand and an expression as unreadable as the stone wall behind her. All three of them wear the subtle silver pin of the Harpers at the fastening of their cloaks. 

“By the moon's light indeed,” the human says pleasantly, reaching out a hand for Khalid to shake. “You'll be our new recruit, then? Khalid yn Munir?”

Khalid hesitates as he releases the handshake. “J-j-just Khalid,” he finally says quietly. 

“As you wish,” the Harper agrees. He doesn't seem surprised; Khalid is no doubt not the first initiate to be leaving something behind. “My name is Vartan. This is Kambas and Jaheira,” he explains, gesturing at each of his companions in turn. “We are to accompany you on a test of your skill and commitment. Hold true and the Harpers shall welcome you.”

“Y-y-yes,” Khalid says earnestly. “I am ready t-to assist in any way I c-c-can.” 

He gets rather stuck on the last word and Kambas laughs softly, a rumbling noise like an avalanche. “Twitchy little thing, isn't he,” the dragonborn says. 

As mockings go, it’s far less malicious than the ones Khalid is used to; indeed, the Harper doesn’t seem to be saying it with cruelty. It’s just an observation, as if he was commenting about the weather. Khalid is already shrugging it off automatically - but to his surprise, the half-elf, Jaheira, stirs suddenly. She’s been watching Khalid in silence with deep, appraising intensity, but now nudges her companion with the butt of her staff.

“Do not be unkind, Kambas,” she says sharply.

The dragonborn’s grin widens and he lifts his hands defensively. “Just messin’ around, Jay,” he says with an air of affable mischief.

“Choose your targets with more care,” she says firmly, “and while you are at it, do not call me that.” She rolls her eyes and catches Khalid’s gaze; a subtle smile twitches her lips up at the corners. “You see you should not take it personally; he is a little shit to us all in equality.”

“So is maintained the balance,” Vartan intones, and Kambas laughs again.

Khalid feels himself start to relax, and smiles back at Jaheira. “I th-thank you for the s-s-support,” he murmurs.

For just a moment - almost as if in spite of herself - her smile settles into something less sardonic and more genuine, and he finds himself struck to inner stillness by the way it lights her eyes. She is a few years his senior and her face already bears the marks of whatever violence in which the Harpers have employed her, but the smile does a great deal to soften it, to show an edge of kindness beneath the cool front. She looks at him and seems pleased with what she sees.

After so many years flanked by various flavors of cruelty, he finds himself utterly captivated by that soft edge, that approval. He stares back at her and feels heat climb up his neck. His tongue, already given to betraying him, feels heavy as lead in his mouth and in that moment he’s not sure he could speak at all.

Then it’s gone. The moment passes; her eyes hood over again and she looks away from him towards Vartan. “Well. Shall we be about it, then?” she asks briskly. “Let us see what our new Harper can do.”

[lucidpeech]

Jaheira in vintage HC Dior 1998, with.. a special someone? 👀 (yes, same collection as Shadowheart! that collection just has so many gems)

[m-for-musings]

part 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 ????

[y-rhywbeth2]

Jaheria: "So you wish to be a god, Gale? You know the wizard Irenicus attempted the same thing, by leeching divine blood from a Bhaalspawn." Gale: "Aha, transfusion! An interesting strategy. Hard to get hold of a god's blood, of course, but if one could..." [Curious/excited by the idea] Jaheira: "He managed it. After murdering my husband, and torturing my friends and I for half a year." Gale: "Did I say interesting? I meant terrible, of course. A terrible strategy." [Knows he put his foot in it, backpedalling fast]

The fact that he can say this as part of a group that contains not only two of Irenicus' victims (who have taken down multiple epic level threats), but also potentially two demigods - one's a serial killer and the other one stomped a man's skull into mush and snapped another's spine over her knee for exactly this kind of shit - is fascinating. Genuinely loving that hubris buddy!

[feletida]

- prepare for t ttttt

- trouble!

- ..thanks dear

[velasnyx]

Jaheira and Khalid. I finally finished this piece of them. I really like the way it came out and enjoyed some things I tried out in this.

[eleasis20]

Jaheira's Timeline is Fucked??

I feel like this is known. but still, what the fuck.

The original BG website (taken down) apparently listed Jaheira as being born/less than a year old during the civil war in Tethyr, also known as the Ten Black Days of Eleint. This event happened in 1347.

But if that's true, that makes Jaheira 21 as of the first game. In the first meeting with her, she states that her & Khalid were supposed to be Gorion's Ward's foster parents should anything happen to Gorion. Gorion's Ward is said to be 20 (or "of your twenty years of life") as of the beginning of the game which takes place over the course of about 5 months.

So Jaheira was supposed to be your guardian when she was maybe a year older than you at best.

Worse still, there's supposedly a dialogue between Jaheira and Glint (a companion) in Siege of Dragonspear that confirms that Jaheira had been married to Khalid for 8 years, and dated him for more than 10 years total. SoD takes place in 1368 - 1369 and is 6 months long at most.

That means she started dating Khalid at age 11 - 12, married him at 13 - 14.

Add on that Khalid's BG website bio implies that Khalid and Jaheira met through Gorion (presumably the "sorceror" Khalid asks his father to pay to teach him) & the Harpers, so she was a Harper prior to meeting him, when she was like 10.

like obviously someone fucked up on the numbers, the setting/story isn't quite dark enough to be implying an underaged/arranged marriage for one of the happier couples in the game. but still..

If Jaheira had been born in 1347 she would have been 145 years old as of BG3. Half-elves live around 120 - 180 years.

To make any of it fit, that statement has to be ignored, and at least 5 years need to be tacked onto her age.

So at the earliest:

She's born in 1342.

The civil war happens when she's 5 and she's rescued by one of her servants.

She joins/is involved/travelling with the Harpers around 13 - 15 ish.

She meets Khalid at 16 - 17, marries him at 18 - 19.

Which leaves space for Gorion to have asked her to be next-of-kin to a 14 yro when she was 20.

That way she's 26 when Gorion's Ward (20) rocks up.

As of BG3, she's 150.

But I think that's the absolute youngest she could have been, to correct the dates while still remaining true to the tone of BG & Jaheira/Khalid's relationship.

A more realistic approach would probably be to tack on 10 years:

She's born in 1337.

The civil war happens when she's 10 and she's rescued by one of her servants.

She joins/is involved/travelling with the Harpers around 15 - 19ish.

She meets Khalid at 21 - 22, marries him at 23 - 24.

Which leaves space for Gorion to have asked her to be next-of-kin to a 9 yro when she was 20.

That way she's 31 when Gorion's Ward (20) rocks up.

As of BG3 she's 155.

I did entertain the possibility that she was also present with Gorion when rescuing the Bhaalspawn & adopting his Ward,

(Idk if she knows that your a Bhaalspawn prior to you finding out bc I haven't got that far in the game & haven't seen anything to suggest she does? BG veterans ur input is very much welcome here!)

but that would need her to be around at least 20 in 1348 & a competent Harper, which conflicts with her being child in need of a servants help in 1347 when the civil war begins. Her being 40ish when Gorion is killed isn't so much of an issue since she's a Half-elf and Shadowheart, who is also considered a young adult, is in her 40s in BG3. It's just the conflict with her being a child in 1347 that makes me think she wasn't involved then.

[bigdingus1234]

i think i forgot to post this here lol

[yeehawitsjakee]

Um so I wanted to find out if Jaheira disapproves of you siding with the Zhents in the Aid The Underduke quest. Not only does she heavily disapprove but she also has this fucking emotionally devastating speech for you:

Also if you say something like "She was going to kill Minsc, remember?" she responds with this line:

I regret everything :')

[blackjackkent]

Sunset

Pairing: Jaheira/Khalid Characters: Jaheira, Khalid, Jon Irenicus, Imoen Rating: T Warnings: Major Character Death Descriptors: Angst, Fluff, Tragedy, Bittersweet, Torture, Missing Scene, Backstory, Character Study, Canon-Typical Violence, Flashbacks Word Count: 8.4k Setting: Beginning of Baldur's Gate 2, with flashbacks to pre-BG1, start of BG1, and Siege of Dragonspear Summary:  "I am in no danger of forgetting how my husband died. But I choose to remember how he lived.” The death of Khalid of the Harpers, and the love that brought him strength. read on ao3 | send me fic requests!

For a long, long time, Khalid has only the vague impression of hectic movement. The drug-tipped darts have not given him the mercy of perfect unconsciousness; instead, he exists in a never-ending world of shadow, dimly aware of being bundled head over heels into a cart which dashes off into the night to the sound of thundering hoofbeats. 

Somewhere in that long twilight, he feels himself torn from the cart, placed on another, then another. Then a ship briefly, a different rolling motion punctuated with a brutal chill, and then more carts, each somehow a more violent journey than the last. Every now and then, he feels a gentle prick of pain - at his neck, on his thigh, in the crook of his elbow - and then the shadows deepen for a while and he can see the taunting edge of oblivion. But awareness always creeps back, unrelenting, inescapable, and when he drifts near the surface again, he knows some time has passed, but not how much, nor where he is.

After a while, the movement stops. The drug starts to wear off, the shadows receding bit by bit. Vision returns, and then the sense of lying prostrate on stone, his cheek glued to the floor by a layer of damp and stinking dust.

He attempts to squirm, to roll onto his back. The room spins dramatically around him, sending his stomach in a nauseous scramble up his throat.

"Wh... where..." The muscles of his face feel wooden and stiff from lack of use. "Where..."

He is dimly aware that he should be frightened, even more so than usual. The fear, numbed by the lingering effects of whatever drug kept him sedated all this time, waits to pounce like a muzzled beast at the back of his mind. For the moment, he instead feels only a sort of dazed horror, and the creeping sense that something terrible and irrevocable has happened. 

He makes another fumbling attempt to move, and succeeds in rolling over onto his back. He's in a cage, and not a very large one; trying to shift from his curled position knocks his boot heels against the iron bars. The air is deathly cold, like a tomb.

"You're awake. Good," an icy voice growls from somewhere above him. Khalid squints up into the dimness and can just make out the voice's source - a tall, broad-shouldered man, his eyes obscured by the heavy hood of his cloak. "It is time for the work to begin."

Read More on AO3

[soelvfiskart]

Some ink practice with some bg1-2 characters

[ratscrap]

next batch of portraits! jaheira, montaron, and khalid! we're almost at the final stretch now ^_^

[sapphcblues]

one thing that's really important to me in jaheira/khalid fics -- and what sometimes bothers me about otherwise really good ones -- is when someone actually goes to the effort to write his stutter the way it would actually work instead of just making him get stuck on the first single consonant/vowel of every third word or something. it's a small thing, but it matters so much to me.

i also think it's really under-explored. give me writing about how much it frustrates him to have these thoughts and feelings he wants to express to jaheira but struggling with the actual act of communicating it. how exhausting it is to constantly have to fight with your own body just to speak. how much it bothers him that other people take away his opportunities to speak because they've decided for him that it isn't worth the time to get to what he has to say. give me khalid who actually has physical symptoms when he stutters, who has blocks instead of just constant syllable repetition, who relates to the entire concept of speech differently because of how much effort it takes for him.

and give me writing about the way jaheira loves khalid wholly, including the way he speaks (and doesn't). jaheira being that solid, soothing presence for him when he's frustrated by it, letting him take his time, never rushing him or speaking over him. ruthlessly efficient jaheira becoming so incredibly patient when it comes to hearing what khalid has to say, never treating his voice like it matters less. give me jaheira appreciating that it makes his words more thoughtful and carefully chosen. that when he wants to tell her he loves her, he says what he means in the clearest possible way, and that him taking all the frills off it means she feels it in a way she could never feel silly romantic gushing.

give me that or i'll write it myself god dammit.

[incorrect-bhaalspawn-quotes]

How Khalid and Jaheira Probably Got Together

Jaheira: My future partner must be brave, strong, intelligent, successful, and organized.

Khalid: *steps on a caterpillar and proceeds to drop to his knees and sob while apologizing profusely*

Jaheira: That one. I want that one.

[velasnyx]

Just realized I never posted this drawing I did of Jaheira and Khalid but like haha omg what if Khalid didn't die and they got to grow old together hahahahahhahha im gonna go cry now

[tultultoltol]

you know, Khalid, it has been a long day without you. And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.