#caden of candlekeep

[blackjackkent]

Ask prompt fill for @astreamofstars for this ask meme: Questioning Sentences, Vol. 33 Jaheira/Khalid (and others) - “Are you getting my wife into trouble?” Two fills for the price of one cos I couldn't decide if I liked this idea or the other one better for this prompt so I did both. XD Set during Siege of Dragonspear, but doesn't include any spoilers.

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“All right.” Caden sways blearily on his feet, gesturing with the tankard in his hand. “Are you ready… for the master plan?”

“Minsc is ready,” Minsc agrees eagerly. “For a plan which Caden makes is masterful indeed!’

They make a rather comical tableau, gathered together in the shadows at the edge of the coalition camp. Caden is pacing unsteady circles, occasionally stopping to lean on one of the nearby trees. Nearby, Minsc and Rasaad sit side by side; Minsc has drained his mug completely and his eyes are wide with inebriated enthusiasm, while Rasaad is holding himself to ramrod stillness, the alcohol only evident in the slightly unfocused look in his eyes and the amused smile playing around his lips.

And there’s the cat, of course, which is prowling through the grass around Caden’s feet. Unlike Caden and the others, though, the cat almost melds into invisibility with the shadows. Its fluffy coat is dark gray except for a stripe of white along the tail, leaving the glint of its eyes the only obvious sign of its presence.

“Steady, Caden,” Rasaad says with a low chuckle, watching his friend take another gulp of ale. “If you are not careful, I believe you might pitch over.” 

He takes a sip from his own mug and glances over her shoulder back towards the center of the camp. No one seems to have noticed them sneaking off; most of the army has gone to sleep and the fires are burning low. The guards on watch are attentive to threats from the outside, and they have little interest to spare for the erstwhile Hero of Baldur’s Gate and his friends lurking drunkenly outside Torsin de Lancie’s tent.

“Nonsense,” Caden says gravely. “My balance is perfect and my ideas better still. Now--” He points at the cat, who is watching him with a glassy-eyed attentiveness, its tail lashing back and forth. “The key to it all.” He swings his hand in a wide arc and points dramatically into the darkness. “...A hole.”

Minsc turns his head to peer in the direction Caden is pointing and the wall of dark green canvas that sits there. “A tent,” he corrects Caden earnestly.

Caden blinks, then releases a very uncharacteristic giggle and downs another mouthful of his drink. “Nooooo,” he says, over-enunciating. “There’s a hole in the tent.” He points again at the cat. “And you can fit through it.”

The cat mrowls thoughtfully, then flops over onto its side and rolls so it is looking at Caden upside down. 

“Exactly,” Caden says, nodding several times vigorously. “And then - havoc. Shred de Lancie’s shirts. Steal his sword. Whatever you can think of.”

“It would certainly serve him right,” Rasaad agrees. He smirks over the rim of his mug as he takes another sip. “We would send Caden himself, but we have all seen his attempts at subtlety.”

“Shuuuush…” Caden whines, laughing, and punches Rasaad gently in the shoulder. This does, in fact, overbalance him and he sits down hard in the grass next to the tent’s front peg. “Oof. Well?” He grins goofily at the cat. “What d’you think?”

The cat climbs slowly and methodically up Caden’s arm until it is balanced on his shoulder, and begins to knead its claws vigorously into his shirt.

“Ow.” He grunts. Reaching up, he picks the cat up and sets it back on the ground, climbing unsteadily back to his feet. “I’ll take that as a yes. C’mon, Rasaad and Minsc and I will keep guard, and you can--”

He stops abruptly as, turning, he bumps into a man standing in his way who seems to have materialized out of the shadows. “Oh. Hello, Khalid,” he says, blinking rapidly like a child caught raiding the pantry.

Out of armor, Khalid looks about an inch shorter and considerably less broad than he usually does; his mop of dark hair is mussed from his helmet and he’s dressed for bed in a loose, dark tunic and a pair of Calishite-style trousers. “G-good evening, Caden,” he says cheerfully; his weariness from the day’s travel is evident in the thickness of his stammer, but he grins good-naturedly. “Are you g-g-getting my wife into trouble?”

Caden cocks his head at the older man innocently, an effect marred a little as he sways back on his heels. “Dunno what you’re talking about,” he says.

“Mmhm.” Khalid peers past him at the cat who has begun to groom itself, its fluffy tail curled up over its back. “S-she is not in b-bed, and that c-c-c-cat looks familiar. Are you quite sure?”

Caden follows his gaze and shakes his head. “It’s just a cat,” he says, very seriously. 

Khalid laughs. “There is n-n-no fooling me, C-Caden, I’m afraid,” he says.

At the sound of his voice, the cat’s head suddenly shoots up. Darting past Caden, it hurls itself at Khalid’s legs and begins circling him, rubbing up against his shins and purring ecstatically. 

Khalid’s grin softens. “Y-you see?” he murmurs. Crouching down, he runs a hand slowly along the cat’s silky fur from head to tail-tip, and the purring rises in volume like the rumble of a distant thunderstorm. “I would kn-know her in every shape,” he murmurs. “Though… the s-s-s-stripe on her tail is a d-d-dead giveaway.”

The cat nips at his hand, and he chuckles. “Am I g-g-giving away your secrets, my love? I’m s-s-sorry.” He raises an eyebrow at Caden. “N-now - out with it. Are you g-g-getting my wife into trouble?”

There’s a low hissing sound, and the wildshape melts away, leaving Jaheira, curled awkwardly on the ground, pressed against his thigh. She looks up at him with a bleary smile and pokes him in the side. “How dare you?” she says reprovingly; the words, though carefully pronounced, have a distinct tipsy slur. “I do not need the boy’s help to get myself into trouble.”

“Ahhhhh, I s-see.” Khalid’s eyes widen and he juts out his jaw, mock-appalled. “A d-d-drunken band, the l-lot of you.”

“I believe you have mispronounced ‘criminal masterminds,’ Khalid,” Rasaad says with a sage nod. 

“Well, t-t-tell me, then,” Khalid says. His lips twitch with amusement. “What c-c-conspiracy can you be m-m-masterminding at this t-time of night?”

Caden downs the rest of his mug. “Messing with Torsin de Lancie’s tent,” he says matter-of-factly.

Khalid tilts his head slowly to one side. His eyes flick over the tent, to the hole in the fabric at its rear, then to Caden, then to Jaheira. Then he starts to laugh. “Ahhhh, I see,” he says, shaking his head ruefully. “Well… why d-d-didn’t you say so in the f-f-first place? C-carry on.”

[blackjackkent]

Jaheira rubs a cloth from her pack slowly along the sleek blade of one of her scimitars and examines its edge with an appraising eye. For a little while she pretends to ignore the small shape creeping around the edge of the fire towards her, but eventually Boo is sitting almost at her knee and she gives the hamster a sidelong glance.

"What is it then, small one?" she says dryly, the pale green pulse of an animal speech spell flaring around her body.

Boo perches up on his back legs and peers up at her with that beady, unreadable stare. Jaheira looks back thoughtfully, raising one eyebrow.

She reflects, not for the first time, that for all that Minsc often seems mad, it is hard to ignore that there is something about the little beast that is more than bestial. The little dark eyes shine with intelligence, and he is the only creature she has ever attempted to speak to with aid of magic that has deliberately not deigned to speak back.

And it is no different today. Boo ignores the spell and simply squeaks once, loudly, then turns and looks back across the fire towards the bedrolls of the camp. Jaheira follows his gaze, and has to resist the urge to smile. Minsc is peering around the edge of one of the tents with an air of stealth that would be more appropriate if he were about half the size that he is.

She has not spoken to him since their argument when they first arrived back from the sewers, and though Boo offers no words, the message is clear. You have grieved him. Will you not clear the air?

"He does not need to hide," she tells Boo softly. "You may tell him so."

Boo squeaks again and scurries off into the shadows.

She returns to the care of her weapons and does not look up when she hears the Rashemaar's heavy footfalls at her side.

"May Minsc sit?" he rumbles.

She smiles slightly. "You feel you must ask permission?"

He drops down at her side and stares into the slowly dying flames. A silence stretches for a few moments before he says haltingly, "I still do not understand all of your anger, Jaheira. But if Minsc has given offense, then he shall not rest until the offense is eased." A pause. "Minsc has lost too many witches. He does not want to lose you."

Jaheira draws a slow breath, lets it out heavily. "You have not lost me, Minsc," she says quietly. "It was I who almost lost you." She frowns. "And I have also lost too much to suffer that lightly."

Minsc looks at her sideways. "But you will not be my Wychlaran," he says. It is not a question, just a flat, tired statement of fact.

She sighs. "Minsc... do you think I did not listen when you spoke to Dynaheir, to Aerie? It was a bond of trust, entered into willingly by both sides. You cannot claim me in such a bond without my knowledge." A pause. "If you wished a place at my side, you should have asked me. Not claimed space within me like a conqueror."

He considers that in silence. "Jaheira, as always, speaks more wisely than Minsc can even think," he agrees after a little while. His mouth draws into a tight line. Then, in a very low voice, he adds, "Minsc has been afraid."

At that, she does lift her head away from her attention on the blades and looks at him directly for the first time. She knows Minsc well enough to know that this is an admission he would make to no one else.

"So many things have changed, Jaheira. I do not remember my time as a stone, for to Minsc it passed like lightning, like a blink - something and then nothing, and then something again but with more itching. Itching and loneliness. Had I a witch she would have soothed both. But I had none... Dynaheir was dead many a long year, and Aerie so far away that Minsc might never see her again..."

She nods slowly. She still remembers the keen, biting emptiness in her chest in the days after Khalid's death - the knowledge that she had been hurt beyond measure and that the one who would have eased the pain was beyond her reach. "You had only me."

"Yes," he answers, and a little more energy comes back into his voice. "And it seemed to Minsc that you must be my new witch, for you were the only one I trusted so, and a Rashemaar without his witch is like Boo without a bit of grain - quite empty." A pause. "Minsc forgot that for Minsc to have a witch, the witch must also have Minsc."

Jaheira smiles slightly and reaches over to rest a hand lightly on his knee. "I will not call myself Wychlaran - but you have me at your side, no matter the name, Minsc," she says quietly. "I did not travel yet again through the Baldurian sewer muck simply to toss you away."

His shoulders relax a little and she can see the slight curve of his lips back into his more accustomed smile. "Good. Minsc is glad to hear it," he says quietly.

For a little while, they sit in companionable silence, watching as the flames slowly drift lower and lower. Boo crawls back out of the shadows, dragging a carrot from the camp supply sack larger than he is; settling between them, he begins to gnaw contentedly on his prize. Jaheira begins to feel some of the tension that has been her constant companion for so many months beginning to bleed away. So much danger still lies ahead... but her friend, at least, is safe again, and that makes such a tremendous difference. He is not one of those she has lost, not yet.

"So," Minsc says abruptly after a little while. "This new monk you travel with. Hector. Tell me of him."

Jaheira stirs, jarred loose from reverie, and has to take a moment to collect her thoughts enough to answer. "A good man, I think," she says slowly after a little while. "He has seen as much in a few months as we did in all our time in Amn, and still stands as straight as he did the day I met him."

Minsc nods. "Minsc sees Rasaad in him," he says gravely.

Jaheira says nothing for a moment. Then she nods. "He has much the same temperament. He says little and sees much. Even when we were closest, Rasaad often said little of what was in his heart, and I think Hector also holds much he does not reveal."

"And he is not quick to catch a joke," Minsc points out with a sudden broad grin. "He said to Minsc that the bond of a Wychlaran sounded only like friendship. At that Minsc laughed, for such a thing should be laughed at, and said that by such a thought, the whole camp is full of my Wychlarans! But the monk did not laugh in turn; Minsc is not sure he saw the jest."

Jaheira grins crookedly. "Perhaps he did not. Certainly that was also a failing in Rasaad at times; perhaps Selunites are not trained in the art of humor." A long pause. "But I like him, Minsc. He is brave in spite of great fear - and good reason for it. He loves fiercely, friend and lover alike. He kills doppelgangers with only his fists. And there are shades of Caden in him, too; I think he would be kind even though it killed him."

Minsc squares his shoulders stoutly. "Then Minsc and Boo shall see to it that it does not kill him, for they shall kick the butts of all by his side." Boo lifts his head, his cheeks fat with a great mouthful of carrot, and gives a muffled squeak.

Jaheira chuckles. "He is in good hands indeed, then."

"Hands and paws," Minsc amends with a wide grin.

"Of course," she says, and grins back. "How could I forget?"

[blackjackkent]

@astreamofstars: I like the little glimses of Caden that have popped up in your fics. I like the idea of that being the OG gang - and the BG3 gang are the newcomers, without all the history, but Jaheira still feels familiarities all the same. blackjackkent: I've def enjoyed indulging myself with all the flashbacks in her moments with Rakha, hehe blackjackkent: lots of parallels/contrasts. Rakha is definitely a much scarier Bhaalspawn than Caden was D: blackjackkent: (or Imoen) astreamofstars: Poor Imoen blackjackkent: yeah :( astreamofstars: I'd love to see him meet Rakha. blackjackkent: ooo blackjackkent: yeah that'd be interesting :O blackjackkent: my inclination is to say it'd be post game but if she ends up with tentacles maybe I'll end up writing a flashback where he showed up in Act 3 at some point XD astreamofstars: I wonder if Jaheira is secretly firing off letters at this point. Like "right, so ... did you at any point secretly murder a bard and not mention it?" blackjackkent: I just snorted out loud. blackjackkent: Caden> [peering at letter] Did I what? blackjackkent: lmao blackjackkent: "If this is about something happening to Volo, I had nothing to do with it. Unfortunately." astreamofstars: "What exactly might have possessed YOU to snort a bunch of weird tadpoles? Is that a Bhaalspawn thing, or is she just weird?" blackjackkent: "...Is this a new drug in the Gate? You're going to have to be more specific" astreamofstars: 😆 blackjackkent: to aerie> I'm glad to hear from her bc she went very quiet after she said she was going after Minsc, but also wtf is she talking about astreamofstars: "Clearly she found him and too much concentrated exposure to Minsc has sent her loopy" blackjackkent: lololololol

[blackjackkent]

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

Jaheira - "do you know what loneliness does to a man"

As I'm doing more often these days - didn't use the exact quote but let it inspire me and then modified a little to fit the story. Set about ten years pre-BG3. Caden is my Bhaalspawn PC from BG1/BG2. Hope you enjoy! c:

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Caden’s eyes drift half-open drowsily and he stares up at the ceiling of the guest room of Elerrathin’s Home. At first he’s not sure what woke him - perhaps one of Jaheira’s small horde of adopted children causing chaos downstairs - but then he hears it. A muted, rhythmic, slightly atonal whistling coming from the roof.

“D’you hear that?” he mumbles. Aerie, still sleeping peacefully at his side, doesn’t answer. After a moment’s hesitation, he gives in to his curiosity and slides carefully out from under the blanket so as not to wake his wife.

It’s a little hard to find the route upwards, presumably so the children don’t make use of it - a ladder carefully inset into the climbing vines along the upper floor’s rear balcony. (Plants among more plants - the balcony is strewn with pots of flowering buds, jars of dirt waiting for use, long planters with the stems of autumn vegetables just starting to poke into view. Like so much of Jaheira's house, it is a sanctuary of green amidst the dusty brown of the city streets.) Caden carefully avoids damaging any of the vines as he clambers up the ladder; his shoulder twinges with the unexpected exertion and he grunts. Gods, getting old, aren't you, boy?

Emerging onto the gentle slope of the roof, he blinks, for a moment dazzled by the brilliant orange of the sunrise against which the endless buildings of the Lower City are silhouetted. The fall air is crisp and cold and raises goosebumps on his skin as he steps out of the cozy warmth of the house below. 

Jaheira sits with her back to him on the edge of the rooftop, looking out to the west away from the sunrise and towards the grey sheet of the harbor not yet touched by the daylight. Her head is ducked slightly, and it takes him a moment to realize that the strange sounds are coming from her - she’s playing, very unsteadily, a simple tune on a small and very battered tin whistle. 

He moves softly, but she hears him anyway, and her head snaps up, turning to glance over her shoulder. She fists one hand tightly around the whistle, dropping it into her lap as if to hide it. “Ah. You’re awake, my friend,” she says.

He smiles. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I just came up to listen.”

She snorts softly. “We have known each other long enough that there is no need for flattery, Caden.”

“I didn’t say I was listening because it was good.” He sticks his tongue out at her.

This elicits a soft laugh, and her shoulders relax slightly. “No, I should think not. I cannot quite get the touch for it, despite my efforts.” She lifts the whistle again and turns it slowly in her fingertips, watching as it catches a muted reflection of the slow-rising sunlight. “I do believe it is mocking me.”

He grins, moving to sit beside her so his legs dangle off the roof edge. “I’m sure someone in the city could teach you.”

“For coin and time - neither of which I have to spend on such frivolity,” she says wryly.

He raises an eyebrow. “Ah, right, you’re the High Harper now. No more fun and games, hm?”

“Just so.”

“There are those who would say we, of all people in the world, have earned a little frivolity,” he points out.

There’s a dash of humor in his voice, though, because he already knows the answer she will give him even before she speaks the words. So he’s not surprised when she shakes her head. “There is always yet more work to be done,” she murmurs. “For the city. For my children. Perhaps for the world, if it should have need of me again.”

Caden juts his lower lip out stubbornly. “If the world should have need of me again, someone can bloody well tell it that I'm not available for hire. And nor is Aerie. We've given enough.”

“You and Aerie have many happy years yet ahead; I would not take that from you,” Jaheira says quietly. 

A pause, and then she laughs again, but this time it is a somewhat darker sound, sardonic, self-deprecating.“But… ah, well. You see that this is what loneliness will do to a woman.” She gestures vaguely with the whistle. “She takes to brooding on rooftops and plotting self-sacrifice, and tormenting the local cat population with the squeaks of a whistle.”

Caden frowns. “Is that what you are?” he asks. “Lonely?” 

Her head jerks, her gaze flicking away out across the buildings around them. Then she smiles, and suddenly the moment passes, the tension in her face loosening. “We may call that a slip of the tongue,” she says mildly. “What time do I have to be alone, with that crop of rascals running about downstairs? Not to mention the Harpers under my command - who seem younger every year. And you, just now, as my guest.” She shakes her head. “No - I am not alone, and for that I am grateful.”

“Alone and lonely are not the same thing,” he says gently.

Again that flicker of a shadow crosses her face. “Do not press me on this, cub,” she says. “A slip of the tongue, no more.”

“Cub. You’re not really so much older than I am, you know,” he says dryly.

“Nonsense.” Her expression softens as she glances at him affectionately, and then she grins. “You were the first wayward child I ever raised, long before Rion.”

“I was twenty!” He laughs, nudging her gently in the shoulder. “But believe whatever you want.”

She smiles. Whatever dark thoughts led her to the rooftop seem to have passed, or at least burrowed themselves into better hiding; she tucks the whistle casually into a pocket and pushes herself to her feet. “Come. I will leave aside this travesty against melody, and let us go down to breakfast.”

[blackjackkent]

Dipped back into my re-run of Hector's playthrough, which I'm getting close to done with (mid Act 3 now) so I'll be able to start making lots of Hector gifs soon. XD Conversation with Volo after rescuing him from the mob is hitting a little different now that I've started playing Rakha.

"What is the Slayer?"

"The Dream Eater. It is said the children of Bhaal are claimed throughout their sleep, ever disturbed by visions of a life of bloodshed and terror. Once they have seen too much, once these dreams drive their minds to break, they are beset by the Slayer. It is a beast of unspeakable violence that consumes all in its path, including the soul of the one who is to host it."

A couple thoughts:

a) He straight up uses the word beast which is what Rakha uses to reference the dark urge in her head. ^_^ Unintentionally perfect.

b) This makes me wonder not about Rakha but about Caden. I know he has the nightmares in Siege of Dragonspear and BG2 but the implication always seemed like it was Irenicus's doing specifically. But this implies that those dreams had been part of his life long before he met Irenicus - that as a child of Bhaal he likely dealt with just as terrible a time in his sleep as Rakha does.

This is interesting to me. Certainly I didn't know/realize/think of it at the time that I was liveblogging his story, but it does add a little extra pathos to the fact that Caden was such an incredibly nice guy in spite of all of the beast's best efforts.

Frankly I'm inclined to say that his dreams were never quite to the level of intensity that Rakha's are, at least when he was younger. My suspicion is that Gorion knew of the potential influence of the beast and took pains to teach Caden a certain amount of mental discipline and resistance from a very young age (subtly, without making it clear that's what he was doing) and consequently Caden was able to avoid the worst of the imagery that would have driven him mad.

But then eventually he met Irenicus, who knew exactly what was going on with Caden and why, and Irenicus was able to get in through the chinks in whatever mental armor Caden had developed and really wreck him internally, which is why Caden's dreams got a lot more intense and blood-filled at that point.

Anyway, just some interesting ponderings. (To me anyway. :P ) Looking forward to getting to this point with Rakha.

[blackjackkent]

It occurred to me (as I mentioned Jaheira in the last post) that I don't have a second BG1/2 Bhaalspawn to slot into Rakha's worldstate. (And realistically I'm probably not going to play the older games in their entirety again, certainly not to liveblog depth.)

So just like Buddy is Buddy in every BG3 worldstate, I think Caden is just gonna be my Bhaalspawn in every worldstate. He is a constant across the multiverse, casually sitting in Faenya-Dail kissing Aerie and staying the hell out of trouble. XD

[blackjackkent]

springagainafter: awww at the Jaheira post with flashbacks springagainafter: was the "shadows of Amn" bit a deliberate title drop? :p springagainafter: glad Imoen never turns into the Slayer; that would have been awful blackjackkent: it wouuuuuuld blackjackkent: and yes it was haha blackjackkent: was wondering if anyone would pick up on that springagainafter: me immediately: "*Leo pointing pic* it's the game title" XD blackjackkent: :D springagainafter: awww adult woodworker/storyteller Quayle; I love it blackjackkent: <3 blackjackkent: i indulged myself terribly with that whole post haha blackjackkent: :D springagainafter: loved it! :D blackjackkent: :D excellent blackjackkent: <3 ty friend springagainafter: <3 springagainafter: do Caden and Aerie have other kids? blackjackkent: good question :O i think i've pictured quayle as an only child but he marries another of the avariel and they have a number of kids so there's a crop of like three or four grandkids at this point. springagainafter: awwww :D

[blackjackkent]

All right, back into Hector's playthrough... left off having just gotten Minsc and Boo! I'm so excited. :D

Next priority is to save Florrick, bc I gather that's on a time limit before she gets hanged, and then go after Wyll's dad.

Lots of exciting stuff to do. :D Quick stop at camp first though to make sure that Minsc is getting settled in smoothly.

"Jaheira... Boo is trying his best to explain, but I still do not understand your anger!"

"Do not hide behind your hamster, ranger! You do not understand because you do not *listen*!"

OK, so maybe not completely smoothly. XD

This reads to me as Jaheira having a bit of adrenaline letdown; she's been worried about Minsc since before she even got to the Shadowlands and now she doesn't have to be anymore, and there have been a lot of other backed-up emotions waiting their turn, such as anger for having put himself/her in that position in the first place.

"We were the first to discover the cult. And if you had only waited, we might have marshaled our numbers and--"

"Good does not wait for evil to button up its britches! When it offers buttocks for the smacking, Minsc and Boo greet cheek with hand!"

Good old Minsc. XD

Hector and Co. are just watching this play out and looking sort of bewildered. Hector doesn't say anything yet though. In arguments among the companions he's traveled with longer, he has been willing to step in and take a hand, but I think he sees Jaheira and Minsc's friendship as something he stands a little outside of, and is even rather intimidated by. He's grown very close to the people he travels with, but the idea of a decades long friendship of such depth and shared challenge is outside his experience.

Say nothing.

"This mess falls on *our* heads, Minsc. The city under siege, its people poisoned by the cult - it all might have been avoided if you had just put your feelings aside and *listened*."

Hector tips his head thoughtfully to one side as he listens, and he feels a flash of sympathy for Jaheira. She is angry, yes - but at herself as much as Minsc. There is guilt under the words. She sees the moment of Minsc's capture as a turning point in the whole conflict.

And yet... had things played out as she describes, there is no guarantee things would have gone any better.

[INSIGHT] "Or the trail would have ended there, instead of leading you to Ketheric," he points out quietly. "The Prism. Me."

Jaheira glances sideways at him and scoffs. "I have seen too much to believe destiny has taken our side," she says bitterly. "Blind luck, perhaps. The point remains."

"You meant well, Minsc," she says - more calmly but no less pointedly. "But you exposed the city to harm. You helped the cult spread. And worse, perhaps, than any of this..." She swallows sharply, and her voice cracks almost imperceptibly. "You forced me to leave you behind!"

The emotional subtlety seems a little lost on Minsc, whose eyebrows and shoulders lift in an attitude of abject puzzlement. "But... this is where Minsc falls short of the understanding, Jaheira!" he says earnestly. "What else is a berserker for, if not to charge into danger ahead of his Wychlaran?"

...Oh. :(

Narrator: [HISTORY] The Wychlaran - wise women of Rashemen, each bonded to a berserker bodyguard for life. There is no higher title, nor deeper bond, in all of Rashemaar custom.

OK this is actually kind of sad. :(

In this particular worldstate, Minsc has already had not one but two witches. In BG1, he and Dynaheir were traveling together when Caden initially recruited them, and Minsc was devastated when she was killed at the beginning of BG2. And then, further on through BG2, Minsc eventually asked Aerie if she would be his new Wychlaran, which she accepted, because she is a tremendous sweetheart.

The big question to rationalize out here - given Aerie's kindness, Minsc's loyalty, and the fact that Minsc was one of Caden's best friends - is how Minsc stopped considering Aerie his witch, because Aerie and Caden are both super alive and happy and safe in Faenya-Dail, half a world away.

The only explanation I can conjure up is that we know Minsc definitely continued adventuring after BG2, and despite the narrator's point that a Wychlaran bond is supposed to be for life, I picture Aerie basically releasing him from the pact because she was no longer traveling/in danger particularly and didn't want to hold him back from his adventures by feeling like he had to be around for her. (And, to be honest, probably freeing herself a little as well from feeling like she had to be responsible for him in turn while she was trying to settle down with Caden, raise Quayle, and not think about that sort of nonsense so much anymore.)

Knowing Minsc, this would be a troubling development, because his role as bodyguard to a witch is critical to his identity. So it is not surprising to me that he would latch onto Jaheira as a replacement - she is one of his only remaining close friends, and she is an older, wiser woman with powerful magic.

That said, it's also not surprising to me that she doesn't respond positively to this discovery - she has seen plenty of his relationship with both Dynaheir and Aerie and doesn't want that level of bond with him (especially not if it is going to trigger him to dive headlong into a nest of mindflayers to "protect" her).

"Wychlaran...? Minsc, I am not your witch! You are not my bodyguard! This is not some high lodge of your homeland!"

"Boo agrees you are a queer kind of witch," Minsc says gravely. He still seems more puzzled than castigated by her irritation. In his mind, which operates in simple, isolated truths untouchable by nuance, his loyalty to her is simply not a matter to be questioned. "But this city is a queer place. And Minsc, you may have noticed, is sometimes strange himself."

Minsc pauses, considers in silence for a moment. "The titles matter not," he finally agrees after a little while. "Only this - when Minsc does as Minsc does and charges in to make a mess, Jaheira does as Jaheira does and finds a way to save us all anyway!"

Hector can't help a slight grin in spite of himself. He doesn't blame Jaheira for her irritation, and he shares her worries for the battle that lies ahead. But Minsc's greatest crime here seems to be loyalty heedless of consequence, and there are far worse failings to have.

"Aw, that's actually kind of sweet," he says; his lips twitch as Jaheira shoots him an exasperated glare.

"Ugh," she mumbles. "I fight alongside fools."

Minsc grins broadly, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "You hear that, Boo? We fight alongside a Wychlaran again!"

"I am your *friend*, ranger. I am not your witch!" Jaheira snaps. "There will be no ointments, or healing balms!"

Minsc's face twists with perplexed regret. "Not even for Boo?"

Hee. This is absolutely meant as a throwback to this banter with Aerie in BG2, and I love it.

I was definitely wondering previously if Minsc was considering Jaheira his new witch, so that confirms it. Poor guy. :( He just wants someone to be loyal to - as we all do, I suppose.

Jaheira is clearly not comfortable with it, though. She is, as we know, a person who keeps her own cards very close to the chest emotionally; a bond that deep and permanent is not something she would give easily, and certainly not without some Serious Discussion in advance. (To be honest this reads more like her being bothered by him just assuming it and using it as his rationale for acting irresponsibly; I could see a scenario where, had Minsc asked her the way he asked Aerie, she might have been more amenable.)

Maybe Shadowheart would be interested in a berserker bodyguard, Minsc. You should ask.

[blackjackkent]

Hi there! I’ve been reading your playthroughs and love them a lot! It’s inspired me to want to try smth similar with my game, but I’ve been having a really hard time coming up with a character, as opposed to a generic self insert. Your PCs are so great and distinct, how do you go about creating them?

:O Ahhh, this is such a nice message, thank you! Very touched to hear you've been enjoying my stuff and that it's inspired you as well. c:

Let's see. I think what is most significant about the way I create characters through liveblogging is the idea of focusing on throughlines. In other words, recurring elements carrying through from post to post/event to event. Every time I write about something happening to them, I try to focus on how it can relate back to something else that already happened to them, and how that informs their reaction to the new thing. This helps give them a sense of internal consistency and motivation.

This is particularly significant, I think, with Rakha, since she literally knows nothing besides what she's experienced over the course of the game. So every experience is a step based on what came before it. But even with Hector or my other earlier OCs (or, tbh, even when I'm writing fic about established canon characters), in any given situation I'm always thinking about what makes their response specific to them and not somebody else. What have they gone through, what past reactions have they had, that inform the current moment.

As far as the initial process of creating a jumping off point... I think for the most part I try to combine two simple facts about them to create a unique third thing, and that ends up providing a very personally unique starting point for all the throughline work. (DND with its combination of class and background provides some useful starting points for this out of the box for any new character.)

Examples:

Hector: I knew from the character creator that he was a monk and that he had the Sage background. This gave me a starting point image of a guy whose life consisted of a combination of physical training and intellectual study - which would be a very rigorous life indeed, leading to the combination "third thing" that he didn't really ever leave the monastery and was very new to the adventuring life. This was the jumping off point for all of his early game reactions to things.

Rakha: I knew bc she was Durge she was no thoughts head empty, and in my first post writing her, I had her think very systematically through all the facts of her situation. Taking these two things together made for the "third thing" that she is a very analytical thinker and takes rational interpretation of events to an extreme, which has colored her speech patterns, responses to events, and interactions with other characters.

Caden: I decided in the CC that he was a thief, and the game gave me an initial context of being raised in Candlekeep and being close with Imoen and Gorion. This combined to the "third thing" that he was a good-hearted person who nevertheless did know how to steal things - kind of a goofball who liked pickpocketing and stealing for the fun of it but always gave everything back. This laid groundwork for him turning out to be a generally trusting person often flummoxed by people less generous and more manipulative than himself.

Speaking a little broader and outside the DND context, Elliot Hawke: I knew I wanted him to be a mage, I knew I wanted to play him as more sympathetic to the Templars, and I knew I wanted him to be a red/aggressive Hawke, since my previous DA2 char had been none of those things. So I combined these for the "third thing" (conceptually, not numerically) that he was a somniari, which gave him reason to be scared of his own powers and lash out at the people around him. This informed all of his choices and behavior afterwards.

I sadly can't find the post now but I read someone a while back talking about how you can use this same approach for worldbuiliding as well. (A particular culture of people with only one defining trait is boring. But with two, you combine them to make a third more interesting set of implications about that culture which gives them depth. Etc.)

But yeah, once I've figured out that establishing hook, then I can build on it with every experience they go through. How is their response to that experience colored by the hook/past experiences? How does it fit or contrast with what they've done up to now? How does it add to their store of experiences going forward?

One example off the top of my head, with Rakha: meeting Ethel at the tiefling camp turned out to be a formative experience, because it clashed and contrasted with the established throughline up to that point. Rakha was, as established, very cool and analytical and not emotionally driven, but Ethel was (apparently) kind to her and it woke up an emotional response that was new to her. This made the experience stick out in her mind - and also meant that when she eventually went to Ethel's teahouse, she had a very specific chink in her armor that Ethel could use to convince her to give up her eye. Had she gone straight to the teahouse without the previous combination of experiences, her reaction to Ethel's hag form would have been quite different.

I could probably ramble about this a lot longer (quite entertaining to analyze my own writing like this), but I hope this gives you some ideas to work from and answers your questions to some degree. c: I really appreciate you asking! Cheering you on in your own character creations and would love to hear about what you come up with!

[blackjackkent]

I need to go back through part of Caden's playthrough in BG2 to refresh my memory on some stuff for this one-shot I'm working on, which led to the brief thought that maybe I should redo his whole BG1/BG2 playthrough with more hardsaves like I did for Hector, and while doing so actually try playing the game on normal difficulty. (Since when I liveblogged it I played it on story mode where it's impossible to die.)

I just reached the Friendly Arm Inn at which point Imoen was promptly hit with the Horror spell and then one-shot by the rando assassin hanging out on the steps, which sent Caden (understandably) running around in a frenzied panic for a full minute (stumbling into and out of the nearby cow barn several times) while the assassin killed the two nearby guards.

When Caden finally calmed down, I sent him back to survey the damage, at which point the assassin, who was still at full health, promptly also one-shot him and gave me a game over.

😂I'm not sure I'm cut out for this game.

[blackjackkent]

Jaheira, understandably, is pretty upset about the whole Marcus situation.

"Isobel! Are you all right? Marcus has been with us from the start - they've been tracking us this whole time. And that was no random attack. You were the target, Isobel. They know how important you are."

She turns to look thoughtfully at Hector, who is carefully cleaning Marcus's blood off his quarterstaff.

"But they don't know about *you*," she says pensively. "Ketheric will strike again. We need you to strike first."

Hector pauses in the process of sheathing his weapon and blinks at her. "Who *is* Ketheric?" he asks. He knows he's heard the name before...but as a Sharran, not whatever he's become since.

"General Ketheric Thorm," Jaheira says grimly, and her face twists into a dark expression of hate. "Remember that name. He's the leader of the Absolutists." She shakes her head sharply. "He was a Sharran once - took to building an army of Dark Justiciars beneath this very village. Alongside the local druids, we made it our business to see him deposed - dead and buried."

Her scowl deepens. "But he's returned. Not only does General Ketheric Thorm live again, it seems he is no longer mortal. He has become, in fact, invincible."

"A Sharran?" Shadowheart murmurs - not loud enough for Jaheira to hear, but loud enough to reach Hector's ears. "Perhaps someone I should seek out."

Hector doesn't respond, but he does hear a slight shift as Gale elbows her sharply in the ribs.

"We met him on the road here - commanding an army of the Absolute," Jaheira goes on. "I put an arrow through his eye myself, only to watch him pluck it out like a splinter. A man doe snot return from the dead and become impervious to arrows out of nowhere." Her eyes narrow. "There is magic at work - strong, arcane, and most likely necromantic."

(A/N: Is she thinking, I wonder, of the battle in Saradush, so many years ago - of the Bhaalspawn Yaga-Shura who had his own heart removed and burned in magical fire to acquire his invulnerability? Is she remembering her old friend, Caden, and how he eventually found the key to toppling that giant? Perhaps that is why she is so confident that there is also a way for Hector to find.)

"He healed right in front of me and chased us into the shadows. We took shelter here, and were considering a full retreat - until you came along." She shrugs slightly, helplessly. "I don't know why he's waiting, why he's not marching his army west as we speak. But as long as he remains, there's still a chance."

She meets Hector's gaze squarely. "You are that chance. Protected by your artifact, you can infiltrate Moonrise Towers, posing as a True Soul. Discover the source of his immortality. Make him mortal, so we can make him bleed."

Another task, another trial, another goal, another knot to unravel. In a way, it's nothing new - infiltrating Moonrise was already the plan. But he is developing a real laundry list of things to do while he's in there.

He inclines his head slowly at her, wordlessly, and she nods back. "Good luck," she says, and sweeps out of the room without a backward glance.

"We're in more danger than I knew," Isobel says with a worried sigh. "If something happens to me, everyone in this inn is dead. Like that."

Hector raises an eyebrow at her. "Marcus told me Ketheric wanted you captured, not killed. Why is that?"

She shrugs uncertainly. "Why does a man like him do anything? Power, spite, some kind of twisted, personal morality..." She huffs out a breath through her nose, an expression of frustration. "I can understand why he'd want me dead. Without me keeping the curse at bay, everyone in this inn - everyone intent on killing him - is dead too. As for why he'd keep me *alive*...I don't know. And I don't want to find out."

She looks up at him with gratitude, almost with reverence. "Now that we have you, I hope I won't have to."

He shifts uncomfortably. There is too much at stake for him to back down, and yet the pressure is starting to become almost too much to bear. He closes his eyes, struggles to find the centered place inside himself again, to ground himself in the moment. The warmth of Selune's blessing is still here, and he focuses on it, lets it fill his consciousness until the agitation subsides.

All things with her strength... he reminds himself.

Opening his eyes, he nods firmly. "Once I take Ketheric's head, you'll be safe again."

She nods, and he isn't sure he's imagining the thrum of power, of his Lady's voice layered through hers. "No mercy. For Ketheric will have none on you. End this."

[blackjackkent]

Had everyone take a short rest and exploring the rest of the ruins before doing a proper camp. Found some books in one room including "The Mortal View: Eyewitness Accounts of the Bhaalspawn Crisis." BG1 and BG2 references!

I'm running on the assumption that this is taking place in the same world (albeit much later) as Caden's story. So we've got references to his time in Candlekeep with Imoen, Sarevok and the Iron Throne in Nashkel, Bodhi's vampire thralls in Athkatla, the war of the Five in Saradush, and Skie's murder in Siege of Dragonspear.

Poor Caden's memory is being tarnished here and that makes me angy. >:|

[blackjackkent]

And thus, after literally like...years and years of on and off liveblogging, I have finally finished Baldur's Gate 2! :D

TY to everyone who was interested in Caden's ongoing story; I really enjoyed writing it and sharing it with you all. <3 For those still interested, I'm going to be doing a similar liveblogging/writing playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 - probably starting tomorrow if I have time. Very much looking forward to seeing what all the hype is about.

Thanks again for indulging my particular brand of nerdery with these sorts of games. :)

[blackjackkent]

37. How would they respond to a player character prompting them with, "Tell me about yourself"? & 38. If a player character asks them to consider consuming tadpoles or using the Astral tadpoles, how would your Tav/Durge respond? for both Hector and Caden if he was a companion in BG3

(Tav/Durge as Companion Ask Meme)

Hector first!

I answered 37 for Hector here!

38. If a player character asks them to consider consuming tadpoles or using the Astral tadpoles, how would your Tav/Durge respond?

(Initial tadpole)

"You're... really planning on it? [doubtfully] This dream visitor... I don't know. They're compelling, certainly. It'd be nice to believe someone knows what's going on and the right path to take, even if it's not us."

Player: [PERSUASION] I think they're telling the truth. And we could use all the help we can get.

[PERSUASION (success)] "Well, I trust your judgment. More than my own, if I'm honest. The monastery never prepared me for decisions regarding brain worms. I just... hope you're right."

[PERSUASION (failure)] "Look, I certainly won't stop you if you think it's the right decision. But you can leave me out of it. One worm is quite enough for me."

(Astral tadpole)

I decided at one point a while back that Hector's personal quest would involve saving the monastery from an Absolutist attack and then realizing that he couldn't go back to live there quietly after everything he'd been through. So this conversation would be different before and after the end of that quest.

Before his quest finished, a flat refusal:

"Absolutely not. That... illithid, the Emperor... we're not seriously going to trust it, are we? I can't... my home is still waiting for me; I won't touch the damned thing."

Afterwards, a different response:

"Absolutely not. That... illithid, the Emperor... we're not seriously going to trust it, are we? Who knows what it's really after?"

Player: [PERSUASION] It wants the same thing as us - the Absolute destroyed. We can't afford not to listen to it.

[PERSUASION (success)] "Gods damn it. Moonmaiden forgive me. All right, if you think it's best. I suppose I was never going to go back to Silverlight anyway..."

[PERSUASION (failure)] "Please don't mention the blasted thing to me again. I want nothing to do with it."

-----

Caden next. (I redid his BG3 face cos I realized the other one was the same half-elf face I used to make Khalid, and also because in a BG3 companion scenario he would be much older! Presumably the situation here is that he got caught up in nautiloid shenanigans on a visit to BG from Faenya-Dail, which would make this a rather stressful scenario for him on multiple levels. Although I bet he would love bantering with Jaheira and Minsc. :D )

37. How would they respond to a player character prompting them with, “Tell me about yourself”?

[slight grin] "Raised in Candlekeep, thrashed to a fine paste on the road. Until recently I was living the quiet life very far from here, south even past Amn. Happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time." [grin fades] "And the love of my life's waiting back there with our children - safe from all this, thankfully, but we'd best make tracks for a victory before long. I am not dying in this mess, not after everything I've managed to survive."

(Player: Jaheira said you have history with the Dead Three.)

"She did, did she? Well. I doubt she told you everything, or you'd be a lot less calm about it. Let's just say there's a family connection that got severed a long time ago, and leave it at that. I'd rather focus on happier topics."

38. If a player character asks them to consider consuming tadpoles or using the Astral tadpoles, how would your Tav/Durge respond?

(Initial tadpole)

"What, you have one in your head and you want MORE? Seems like a waste of a good worm that could be decorating the bottom of my boot instead."

Player: [PERSUASION] That would be the waste. We can't throw away any potential asset.

[PERSUASION (success)] "[sigh] I trust you, you know that. I'll follow your lead. Not like it's the first terrible decision I've ever been involved in."

[PERSUASION (failure)] "Oh, look, I accidentally dropped it. Squish. Just kidding, but no. Not for me, sorry."

(Astral tadpole)

"What? Become like the Emperor? Hells no. Aerie is waiting for me in Faenya-Dail, and I'll not come back to her bearing a face full of tentacles."

Player: [PERSUASION] If we aren't strong enough to defeat the Absolute, it will destroy everything - including Aerie and your children.

[PERSUASION (success)] "...Gods. You really think it's the only way we can win this? [long pause] Damn it. Fine. This has better be worth it."

[PERSUASION (failure)] "If it were anything else, I'd follow you to the ends of Toril, friend; you know that. But not this."

[blackjackkent]

Walked into the tavern and was immediately greeted by two chatlog lines that each threw me for a loop.

The first:

The second:

And sure enough there she is, Vampire Extraordinaire, hanging out in the back of the tavern. Which is pretty weird considering I'm pretty sure we killed her way back at the beginning of Shadows of Amn.

We'll check that out in a moment. First we have panicked locals to deal with.

Why is everything my problem, dammit? I just got here. I need a nap.

Cool, we'll uh. Get back to you on that.

Let's go see what's going on with Hexxat.

One of the options here, hilariously, is "I am happy to see you too. I've missed you more than I expected."

lol no

...and she wasn't kidding, because after saying that she just straight up vanished.

lolololololololol

[blackjackkent]

@zenjestrr replied to this post:

patiently waiting for some madlad to make a port of BG1 and 2 within BG3's engine sometime within the next 20 years

2:30 AM and I am struck with the sudden urge to see how I would make Caden in BG3's engine...

This was the best I could do. XD Pretty bog-standard half-elf tbh, not too far off the default, but he's cute enough. :D