#drow lore is WILD

[ilikedetectives]

*Act 3 Minthara spoilers* So in this scene if you have Yenna in your camp and Orin abducts Minthara, we got a little more info about Minthara's past in Menzoberranzan.

"Not the first. I killed my sister in her crib to secure my inheritance."

The more I learn about her upbringing the more I'm deeper into Minthara brainrot.

[adozentothedawn]

I introduce: Faeryl!

She became a cleric to Lathander mainly because she thought it would help solve the spider goddess problem. also cause she likes it not being so damn dark all the time anymore He did already once try to take over and reform a pantheon, he presides over new beginnings, and he can beat the shit out of problems. Sounds like a great fit! The fact that his attempted coup ended in complete disaster and was probably an inherently terrible idea in the first place did not occur to her as a problem. Yes int is her dump stat. (I also rolled absolutely horrible on the arcana checks for now, so in character xD)

That's pretty much all I have for now, but I'm sure she's gonna get fleshed out while I keep playing.

[kirain]

Question. How do you handle the age differences and life spans of your tavs/romances in bg3?

Are you asking if I've made my Tavs age-equal to the romances I've picked for them? If so, then I've actually been very careful about that. Lore-wise, I can't stand the thought of my character dying hundreds of years sooner or living hundreds of years longer than their partner. So I adhered to D&D 5E lore. If you're interested, I've explained most of the lifespans below.

Serena, my canon character, is human and romanced Gale. In D&D, the average lifespan of a human is 120 years, but since she and Gale are both wizards, they could potentially live for thousands of years. It all depends on the magic they wield. Elminster, for example, is nearly 1,300 years old. Otherwise, they'll age alongside each other as equals.

Saska is a Seldarine drow. On average they last between 400-750 years, depending on if they survive and leave the Underdark. Saska has indeed left the Underdark, works as a bard, and romanced Karlach. Tieflings typically live to 150; however, Karlach has the potential to live longer since her body has been so drastically altered. Upon finding a permanent upgrade for her engine, it's possible she could live just as long as a drow, if not longer, as she's been touched by infernal technology.

Ez'ria is a githyanki fighter/storm sorcerer. This one was easy, since she romanced Lae'zel. With any luck, they'll both live to a nice, healthy 120 years old; the average lifespan of a gith.

Eilonwy is my redeemed Dark Urge half-elf. On average they last about 180 years. This one's a bit more complicated because I partnered her with Astarion, who's a pure high elf and a vampire. High elves live to an average of 750 years, and vampires/spawn are of course immortal. But I've given this a lot of thought. Eilonwy, for example, is a druid, and because of their connection to nature/magic, their aging slows to 10% of what they would normally age. This means Eilonwy has the potential to reach 1,800. I should also mention that there are cures to vampirism in D&D 5E, so I like to think they find one at some point during their travels.

Bakara is a tiefling sorcerer of the draconic bloodline. Another semi-easy one, since I partnered her with Wyll. As I mentioned before, tieflings typically live to 150, whereas humans live to 120. I headcanon that my tiefling was already 50 when she met Wyll; who, according to Larian, is 24 during the events of BG3. To clarify, tieflings are considered young adults by the age of 20 and full adults when they reach the age of 60. So despite being 50, she's mentally around the same age as Wyll.

Thalias is a high half-elf Selûnite cleric. Possibly the easiest one, since he romanced Shadowheart, who is also a high half-elf who becomes a Selûnite cleric (at least in my game). With Selûne's blessing, they could live however long she desires, but on average they'll both live to be 180.

I also made an adorable little deep gnome named Mira to sweep Barcus off his feet. I shall wait patiently for Larian or a clever modder to make him romancable. The average lifespan for gnomes is 350 years.

Halsin is a bit more complicated, since he's a pure wood elf and a druid. This means he could conceivably live to be 7,500 years old, which is wild. I do plan on doing a playthrough where I romance him, and when I do I'll be making a mysterious wood elf named Arawen, a warlock who made a pact with an ancient archfey. So in addition to living to 750; as per the average lifespan of her race, as long as her pact remains in tact, she will live as long as her patron allows.

[trappedinafantasy37]

There is something in particular that we need to discuss in regards to the ending Minthara gets with an embraced Durge that is unique to Minthara. Hopefully by now, we are all aware that at some point, it was planned that Minthara would be pregnant by the end of the game and Larian cut this. Sadly, I do not have a pickaxe in the datamine so I do not know the full conditions of what would trigger it (ie, I do not know if it was meant to be a Durge specific pregnancy).

However, if you embrace Bhaal and talk to Fel you can ask him if Bhaal will allow you to spare your romance partner. Here is what he will say in general:

And here is what he has to say about Minthara specifically:

^ These lines of dialogue have been in the game for a while and are still accessible as of Patch 7.

The only clear thing that we get from this line is that Bhaal most certainly does like Minthara and approves of her (and she is the only companion Bhaal likes). He also seems to be very well aware of her fertility and sees it as a major benefit. And Bhaal very much would like Durge to use Minthara to breed and raise the next generation of Bhaalspawn. The only thing that is rather vague is whether or not Minthara is currently pregnant with Baby Durge. I mean, it would be wild if she was considering that Daedra is female and doesn't have the "right equipment." I mean, anything is possible when it comes to Bhaalspawn and reproduction. But I am going to go with the headcanon that Daedra can indeed get Minthara pregnant if she really wanted and this is good enough for me! My evil drow lesbians deserve the right to make evil drow babies together!

I also had a mutual express to me their confusion as to why Bhaal would have Durge kill Minthara if Bhaal does like her and may potentially be pregnant with Baby Durge. Bhaal is the definition of chaotic stupid. Not everything that he does makes any logical or rational sense. Bhaal's wet dream is for everything to die, specifically through murder. He does not care if that death is an inconvenience or will backfire, he just wants death and murder because he's fucking dumb (comparatively, Lolth and Shar are good examples of what it means to be a murderous god and be smart about it). I also want to note that Durge killing Minthara, or any of the romance partners, is not Bhaal forcing Durge, but Durge willfully choosing to do so. As Fel said, Bhaal is giving Durge the choice to spare their romance partner, but they do not have to do so. At least, not right now and it seems like Bhaal would prefer that they keep their romance partner alive specifically to make babies.

As stupid as Bhaal may be, he is at least smart enough to have backup plans and contingencies. This is why he created his own horde of Bhaalspawn and why every Bhaalspawn has the instinctive desire to breed. I can do a separate mini post about this to go into the lore of it if people want, but what you really need to know is that Bhaal essentially cannibalizes his own children. Every time a Bhaalspawn dies, a piece of their divinity gets returned to him and it makes him more powerful. So Bhaalspawn want to make more of themselves, and then kill each other because the more Bhaalspawn that die, the more powerful Bhaal becomes. Every single Bhaalspawn is born to die.

So, how does this all relate to Minthara and her baby? Well, her baby would be a Bhaalspawn, but not just any Bhaalspawn, they would be mini Dark Urge. A mini Dark Urge Bhaalspawn who would inevitably be driven to kill Durge one day, and maybe even Minthara since Bhaalspawn have a nasty habit of killing their parents. Most importantly, this baby is meant to be a backup plan, Durge's contingency. Bhaal does not care if a Bhaalspawn dies, because their death empowers him. Bhaal may have his favorites, but he does not need to like his child in order for them to carry out his prime directive of kill everything. Although he was pissed that Orin attacked Durge and usurped them and he does not like Orin, Bhaal still rose her to Chosen because Orin would still be able to carry out his plan of murdering the world. When Durge returns, Bhaal gets super happy because Durge has the greatest potential to fulfill his dream, but Bhaal still requires that Durge earn the title of Chosen once more.

On the precipice of doomsday, Durge has two choices for Minthara, kill her first, or kill her last. No matter what choice Durge makes, they intend to kill her one day as that is what Bhaal's ultimate goal is and Minthara was never going to be an exception, even if Bhaal does like her and may be carrying his grandbaby. The blood eclipse that we do see in the embrace Durge ending is not reality just yet, but a premonition of what would happen if Durge keeps things up. It's a vision of what Bhaal wants Durge to accomplish. Since it is not yet reality, it is possible that Durge could fail and could be killed by other factors. If Durge dies or fails, then Baby Durge would be their backup if Durge chose to spare Minthara. Or, Baby Durge may be the reason why Durge failed because they were drawn together as all Bhaalspawn are and are destined to kill one another.

No matter what choice Durge makes in regards to Minthara's fate, it still benefits Durge and Bhaal in the end. As I mentioned earlier, Bhaal may pick favorites but he does not give a shit if his favorite babies die as he still benefits from all of his babies dying. So him liking Minthara and her being the perfect broodmare was never going to spare her either. At the end of the day, she will have to die in order for Bhaal to jerk off to his wet dream.

Choosing to kill their romance partner right now or later is all Durge's choice to make, not Bhaal's. Sadly, the game only gives you two choices in regards to your romance partner. There is no third option to have them walk alongside Durge during all of this. Ironically, Minthara and Ascended Astarion are the two companions that I think would stand by Durge as they murdered the world and they would gladly murder the world with Durge. But, that was not the choice Larian gave us and that is a major L.

Depending on the choice that you make, you can roleplay the reason that you want and Minthara has a unique RP aspect as she may be pregnant. And Minthara being pregnant with a future Bhaalspawn is excellent RP material. And it need not be because Durge is a callous asshole who never loved Minthara and was only using her as some people are perceiving it to be. Just because Durge will inevitably kill her does not mean that they did not love her or never loved her.

[mangalho]

I made this dude to relax bc i read the info on drows on the dnd wiki (i dont know shit abt dnd and im not joking) and thought ‘whoever made these guys is a pervert’ i respect that, but i closed my eyes at the stupider bits of the lore…

i just dont think their society is like. Livable HAHAAH also its stupid asf to have ‘inherently evil species’… apparently they’re steering away from that shit which is great.

He was a man from a non-noble house chosen by a matron of a high house and they were surprisingly happy together for drow standards. Malaggar comes from like a mining/trading settlement, but his ventures took him to Menzoberranzan and thats how he met her. She was smitten by his general honesto demeanor and cute "provincial" accent (okay big City bitch..!)

please note that drows are kind of insane in general but apparently its worse in highly populated noble ridden cities with the strictest social rules so like. To you this was just some guy but to that woman he was so different so quirky ajahjahah

They had a good run, but eventually another matron from another high house came and said ‘i want him’ and since drow women compete like wild animals she killed his OG wife.. demolished her really

He became her bitch AND was miserable. She was happy bc he was like a pretty young thing but soon started getting violent with the guy because he was grieving his first wife whom he actually liked. He was in a rough spot bc he was getting his ass beat on the daily fr.. However his new wife was also a high drow so. He was basically elevating his family just bc he was there taking the domestic abuse (read: normal spider-worshipping drow behaviour)

The new matron was very unkind in every possible way you can imagine, but she didn’t do anything to him that would scar his body, greatest asset and all that. One day he snapped and killed his matron by way of knife and ran away to the surface world. Then he started his life of crime. Went from a little abused noble boy to some cartel mercenary dude who kills ppl and has tattoos. I think they look both really dumb but also sick as fuck, and he probably got them as a way to rebel against his upbringing in a way. But he’s edgy so i bet he thinks he looks sick like no nations no borders no self awareness being embarrassing unites all peoples

he is traumatized by women and is deeply afraid of them! I want his story to develop around becoming more normal and overcoming his grief.. hes from a long lived species so its taking him a while. Also its harder to make real friends if all your coworkers are insane criminals

[slumpsnail]

I'll be opening commissions soon so I drew my Tavs as samples. I don't draw them a lot, they mostly stay in my head haha. I've carried these characters throughout so many games and campaigns, but I changed their lore a bit to fit BG3 better. If you want to know more about them I'll write a bit more under the cut.

I'm hoping to open comms by the end of June, I will keep you all updated if anyone is interested :)!

Rin is timid, shy, and is often described as melancholic. The youngest of a wealthy, large, chaotic, but loving family in Baldur's Gate. They had a rather idyllic and routine life before getting snatched up by the Nautiloid. Rin is not a natural born leader and struggled to form connections with the group.

Aria is an orphan from Waterdeep with a love for ancient history, lost civilizations, and books. She was a childhood friends of Gale Dekarios but their relationship soured after he became Mystra's Chosen. She left Waterdeep soon after to pursue research for her book. Aria tends to keep others at arms length as she has a fear for developing deep bonds. Though she can appear aloof, Aria is very kind-hearted and is often helping anyone in need.

Ravi and Nym are found family siblings from Thay. Their life in Thay is a bit of a mystery, but the siblings were living a quiet life in Rivington for over a decade. Nym is actually a wild magic sorcerer but has trouble controlling her powers so she rarely uses them. Always having a fondness towards music, she befriended many bards in the local taverns and learned how to play the lyre. Nym happily works part time with Circus of The Last Days when they're in town. Ravi is a skilled ranger for hire and is often away from home traveling with any number of adventures and mercenaries, which is how he meets Aria. Nym and Ravi are very charismatic, it's hard to tell whether they're being genuine or charmingly manipulative.

Rin is my first Tav when playing BG3. They were originally a full Drow but I decided to change their lore recently. Aria, Ravi, and Nym are characters I've kept in the same universe so I'd like to think they were all together when the events of BG3 happened. Aria is a character I often recycle in many games including the DA series. She's normally an elf but I wanted to change her to a tiefling for BG3 because, ya know, tail stuff. She's my Galemancer Tav hehe!

[dailyadventureprompts]

Thinking about d&d from a brand manager perspective : So much of the previous lore is at least partially salvageable if you just take the gygax mandated biological determinism out of it.

Saying drow are these naturally seductive backstabbing manhaters is fucking wild but I as a fantasy reader could accept that the city of Menzoberranzan was like that™️ because it was a stronghold for the cult of lolth, completely different than this OTHER drow city featured in this other adventure path with its own themes and worldbuilding for gamemasters/players to use in their campaign.

Doubling and then redoubling down on the "All X are Y" attitude is how you get books like Volo's that just give stripped down summations of lore from previous editions that are all freely available online, and aren't much more in depth than what a first time DM can come up with through improv.

Sell something new and the people will buy it, that's what's worked with magic the gathering and their worldbuilding and mechanics developing team is right next door. Backwards engineer some of the older MTG sets and you can not only save on art and worldbuilding but also have a built in crossover audience.

Yeknow what, just to show that I can, I'm going to do an entire week of prompts based off a set I haven't even played. Chime in with what you think it's going to be.

[tikvin]

Durge girlies infodump ✨

Eshra

Bard+vengeance paladin (I call it "got her powers out of sheer hate". Also dialogs of those classes are most fitting for her. She's also not classic Bard tho, doesn't have instrument either)

Is one of the most uncanny looking durges, but you only notice if you look at her for more than a moment and think about it more than a minute. The more you look at her the more strange things you start to notice. The streaks on corners of her mouth with time will reveal to be a wide mouth, unhinging jaw. Hair color and eyes that are not natural for drow. Slightly longer limbs, all that.

However she's a very charismatic person and averts the attention from the details easily enough. She's cunning, knows when to observe silently and when to speak. She's not a prying type, but very perceptive of emotions of others.

Eshra is in romance w/ Astarion, and Eshra detected his lies very soon, but kept quiet about it, playing along and waiting to see where it goes.

Eshra doesn't have anything against killing, however the real joy she gets is from killing those who think they are the shit. Bringing down prideful and strong chars to pathetic death (favourably in most dishonouroful way) is quite the delight of her life. She tries to avert her urges from the unreasonable (to anyone sane) targets to someone strong. She's also smart enough to dig for reasons to kill, Kahga being the best example. Eshra had an urge to just watch the little girl die.Fotr the fist time such urge concerned her, the itch of the urge would not stop if she just ignores it, so she redirects it to someone "bad" in the room, that being Kahga. She digs for reasons to kill and does so, without even trying to make Kahga change her mind.

Eshra also at first "saved" Lae'zel only to wait and dig for a reason to kill her. Eshra attacks Minthara almost instantly, because Minthara is smart and quickly notices something isn't right with her, and Eshra feels thretened by Minthara's prying. She would prefer her to stay silent, silent for eternity.

Jericho

Wild magic sorcerer

I headcanon her to be a very masterful before the amnesia and losing the control after, requiring help of Gale to try and control it (and that's how they get married lmao). She actually might have turned a bit dumber after amnesia.

Jericho is the most determined to stop the urges and most disgusted by her deeds among my durges. She's also a bit cowardly when it comes to her past, so she doesn't pry too much into it, afraid of what she might find. She also the one to believe Emperor. She's a bit wary, but doesn't see Orpheus helping them (the mountain pass was skipped on account of lore reasons, absence of Lae'zel, cuz after reading the discs of Orpheus there's just no reason keep Emperor alive. I will be playing again with Lae'Zel present, so Jericho would free Orpheus, cuz she'd trust Lae'Zel. Which one is canon I will decide after)

After the game events she recognizes her cowardice, and now feeling much more secure in loving and peaceful environment, she does her best to research bhaalspawn and everything about it to help prevent tragedies. Also the only girlie who is a bit bummed that she must avoid having biological children, but she's dutiful enough to recognize that responsibility.

Also the softest among durges, maybe because she got hit in the head the hardest lol, the one who truly starts a completely new and different life after the incident.

Oh, and she's 100% sure Tara doesn't like her, if not hate her

Thalissa

Assasin rogue+fighter.

Very much not a real githyanki and avoids actual githyanki, while simultaneously pretending to be one when it's convenient. With her I'm planning multiple play throughs btw, current one is without Lae'Zel, other will be with her and another with her being Tav.

She's also not concerned much with her urges, or her memories ("eh, I'm a rogue, I doubt I had much to care about anyway"). Obnoxiously smart mouthed, nonchalant, sometimes unintentionally rude. "Heh, yea, I'm a swamp elf". She hides her face usually, pretending to be whatever other race people might mistake her for.

Much like Eshra, Thalissa enjoys killing those who are oh so full of themselves

But she also actually enjoys being around "goodie two shoes" characters, because she likes to poke fun and make them just a bit annoyed, also secretly hoping their "goodiness" will rub off on her a bit, to quiet down the bloodlust.

Thalissa as a Tav is still the "chill and easy going gith". A githyanki who escaped strict military life and lives in material plane, because she enjoys it way more, even if often faced with prejudice.

Thana

Monk

Very temperamental, openly rude, but not in an elegant way like drows are usually, more barbarian like actually. She might have a bit of a anger issues and it's relatively easy to set her off.

Not the smartest one, not book wise at least.

Not very concerned for cultural things either. "Blah blah blah, balance, rules, boooring, are we fighting or what?"

She is also the one who gets concerned only when her urges start targeting children, but brush them off to kid being annoying and the urge being an intrusive thought. She genuinely tries to be "the friendly drow", but the moment she hears something rude with "you're a drow" reasoning she just can't keep her tongue back, which then doesn't help her making her case lol. You get approximately 3 sentences to make her like you, cus that how long it takes for her to decide (however, in certain cases she might get mad that you don't like her and make it her mission to make you her friend)

She's also not too concerned about memory loss, she undermines her "condition" until it takes grave turn, then she's scared, but too prideful to admit it, until, yet again, it gets in dangerous area (act 2)

That would be it for now, just a bit of general info about the girlies. If you have your favorite, feel free to ask about them, I'd love to answer, I've been keeping the lore for a long time

[notarobot1006]

"you knew they were GOOD dark elves and not BAD drow, because they had NORMAL BROWN SKIN TONES instead of the SPOOKY GREY SKINTONES"

I love that this passed review over at WOTC. "You can tell if someone is good or bad by looking at their skin color" doesn't become good writing just because only one group has human skintones.

I love people just going completely conspiracy theorist about THE AUTHOR OF THE DRIZZT BOOKS MAKES THOSE POOR WOTC WRITERS CONSULT HIM EVERY TIME THEY NEED TO MAKE DROW CHANGES because 1) I have never seen anything, ever, that suggests that is happening, in fact across editions the sourcebooks have usually just been Writers Doing Their Own Shit, and 2) the guy can't even get his parent company to stop spoiling plot points in his own fucking books. He can't even get them to hire him for more than three books at a time and it's not, as far as I can tell, a renewing contract, he just has to wait and see if they'll let him write a couple more drizzt books with the characters he literally made and popularized. He's not even a regular fucking employee?? Hello???

[lunastrophe]

Drow Fashion 🕷️✨ About Spider Silk - Part 1

Everything you may want - or may not want - to know about spider silk in (mostly Lolth-sworn) drow culture and fashion. In this part you will find information about:

sources of spider silk,

basic uses and meaning of spider silk in drow culture.

🕷️ Various Types Of Silk – among surfacers, silk spun by spiders is generally not widely used, but in the Underdark, spider silk is not excessively hard to obtain. It is extremely light, very elastic, durable and often has many other extraordinary properties, especially after being imbued with magic. In consequence, the Underdark silk market is probably vast.

Raw spider silk can vary in quality, depending mainly on the spider species it comes from – also, most spiders are naturally able to produce several types of silk that vary in thickness and adhesiveness. Some threads are suitable for producing delicate, transparent or semi-transparent materials. Some are useful for weaving thicker fabrics, carpets and tapiseries. Silk waste, after being properly processed, is also useful – for example, for making silken threads and fabrics of lesser quality.

🕷️ Silk Farming? – silk can be obtained from webbings, cocoons or egg sacks of wild spiders, or it can be extracted directly from caught or freshly killed specimens of various sizes. Such methods are generally time-consuming, though, and often dangerous.

Silk farming is probably quite popular in the Underdark, allowing to produce silk on a larger scale while maintaining better control over its quantity, quality and properties. Silk farms can contain thousands of more or less domesticated spiders that can belong to species best suited for producing silk.

Headcanon warning - silk farming is not mentioned in drow lore sources, I borrowed this idea from historical attempts to produce spider silk on a larger scale. So far, we humans are bad at this, mainly because we cannot figure out how to domesticate spiders (they like to kill each other, so it is hard to keep them together) and how to make them produce the kind of silk we want them to produce (every spider produces several types of silk and only some are suitable for making threads and textiles)... but I bet that drow would figure out how to make this work.

(If anyone is curious about this topic, I was inspired mainly by this article).

🕷️ Free-Range And Cruelty-Free* – silk can be obtained without harming the spiders and in case of more intelligent species, even with their explicit permission. Such things are probably especially important to Lolth-sworn drow who are forbidden to cage, mistreat or kill arachnids, or even to disturb inhabited spiderwebs.

*Only in relation to spiders, though. Underdark drow are probably not overly concerned with well-being of slaves and serfs tasked with gathering and processing silk...

Silk of spiders that live in temples and other places sacred to the Spider Queen, as well as silk of abyssal arachnids that live in Lolth’s domain, is most likely highly valued among worshippers of Lolth – especially among her priestesses.

🕷️ Uses Of Spider Silk – drow use silk to make armour, weapons, clothing, domestic and ceremonial textiles, high-quality strings, lines, nets and tents, and various works of craft and art. Spider webs, often calcified with magic, are used in creation of architecture ornaments or sometimes even whole structures like bridges, passages or buildings.

Among Lolth-sworn drow, spider silk is closely connected to worship of Lolth and is widely present in Lolthite temples and shrines – just like living spiders. It is said that Lolth herself favours silk and that when she takes the guise of a drow, she appears as a lithe drow woman dressed in a gossamer gown woven from spider silk.

Spider silk is also useful as a spell component and it can be used to craft magical items. For example, silk of phase spider and strands of ether are needed to create a portable hole – wondrous item that looks like a circle of black cloth.

For more of my drow lore ramblings, feel free to check my pinned post 🕷️

[meanbossart]

Did Drow ever have a childhood before the temple or was he raised in it? If he did does he remember it? Sorry if these are silly questions I want to make something and I want it to be accurate.

(Heads up for A Novel Experience readers - these are technically spoilers as well as character lore, so, if you wanna stay totally blind to later developments, just don't read past the cut-off.)

Not a silly question at all! He would have found the temple only by age 18 (does that number mean anything to Bhaal/ the drow race? Probably not. Does it help me sleep better at night that he was at least of legal drinking age by the time he got introduced to his murder heritage? Yes It does). He doesn't really remember anything from his childhood other than that he was raised in the Underdark for a time, knows some basics about the culture and harbors a deep hatred of drow women and general dislike of drows. He knows he came to the surface quite young and spent over half his life above-ground, and honed his survival skills during that time, hence why he doesn't have any sun-sensitivity.

As for the details of his up-bringing, he was found somewhere in the wilds of the Underdark as an infant by a couple of slaves who took pity on him, then brought into a family where he was adopted by a matron and her consort who' d just lost their first-born son. Obviously, drows aren't known for their benevolence, but they found there to be something prophetic about this baby that had somehow stayed alive in spite of the Underdark's unforgiving nature, so they decide to keep him as a kind of marvel/curiosity, figuring if he didn't amount to much they could just sacrifice him to Lolth later.

Within the family he was pretty much left to his own devices, with the matron taking a lot of entertainment out of his weirdly feral behavior. He would just eat vermin and bats if she didn't bother feeding him, fended for himself and just showed a lot of strength for a child, not to mention that he never asked for anything or complained about the hand he was dealt. At some point he killed another family's son that picked on him, and, naturally, his foster mom loved that, lol.

ALAS, he killed her and her consort when he was about 10-13 years old, and then just left. Sceleritas would have appeared to him around that time and led the way to Baldur's Gate, while providing him with some basic aid and pointers to survive, though mostly just observing to see if he could prove himself worthy of his heritage by staying alive. He spent years living in the woods and city-streets he passed through, getting sustenance from eating game he hunted, food he stole, and, sometimes, people he killed. Probably fell under the care of a couple of unfortunate souls along the way who likely met a gruesome end, and finally arrived at the temple as a young adult where he lavished in his newly found status.

[mass-effect-galaxy]

Baldur's Gate 3 roleplaying idea: The Eilistraee Sword Dancer

(the "evil drow" variant is here)

I am still rather new to DnD lore and therefore I am still looking at what kind of characters you would actually be seeing in BG3 and how they would react and act in the story.

I became interested in the cult of Eilistraee by chance when I turned Shadowheart into a cleric of the Dark Maiden because I didn't find the altar to Selûne in the pantheon next to the Elfsong. This made me curious to learn more about that religion (other than the obvious naked drow dancing with a sword).

I quickly realized that an Eilistraee cleric would be perfect for a Tav character. These brave men and women are used to traveling the surface, making contact with other people, and offering help and guidance wherever needed - basically what you do being the protagonist here.

Eilistraee clerics are usually, but not exclusively, drow women. This religion is open to all races and has many elf, human, and half-elf followers. For about a century now, the clergy is also open to men. So, you can be of any race and gender when playing an Eilistraee cleric. Specific orders, like the Sword Dancer, are still limited to drow, elf, or half-elf women.

Technically, you want to have the first level as a War Domain cleric of Eilistraee and multi-class the rest into School of Sword bard. The cleric uses wisdom for spell-casting and the bard uses charisma. You should focus on charisma because Eilistraeans are supposed to solve conflicts by diplomacy, whenever possible.

As a cleric of Eilistraee, you are practically the embodiment of Good. Her clerics are expected to be proficient both in swordplay and arts, most notably dancing, singing, and playing instruments. They are supposed to offer succor with their music and protection with their swords.

These clerics travel to communities of different races to provide whatever help is needed. They in particular travel to those regions where drow are not welcome, probably because of misdeeds done by Lolth-sworn drows. These kinds of pilgrimages are called "Run". Their purpose is not spreading the Eilistraean faith but the improvement of the peaceful coexistence of races, with the ultimate goal of making the surface a safe place for drow. Anti-racism is a pillar of the Eilistraean faith.

Even though we accidentally end up in the Emerald Grove while it is under attack by goblins and drow, that place would certainly be a place that would see the visit of Eilistraean clerics soon. The priestesses would provide healing, music, food for the needy, and protection from wild animals and dangerous monsters (the "High Hunt").

So, that's what you do: you talk to people and offer your help. You don't ask for anything in return, and when you get rewards you use that money to buy useful things for your companions. You do not steal or plunder, and when you loot dead enemies you only take what you need (food, coin, and gear you are actually going to use).

You try to solve conflicts without violence, as much as possible. However, this has its limits - and you don't carry around a sword because it looks good (Clerics of Eilistraee don't use bows and crossbows, BTW). You abhor slavery, and whenever you can't convince someone to let go of his slaves, you are free to strike him down. You also don't run around claiming to be a True Soul. If someone assumes that on his own, it is their business; but you won't claim it yourself - even when the outcome would be a fight. If violence is unavoidable, you should try to end it as quickly as possible with as few people as possible getting involved.

Being a "light side" cleric in a world where all gods are real would also mean that you should respect other peoples' allegiances. I don't think that it would be right to lecture Shadowheart on her Sharran faith. I would even go as far as saying that interfering with Shar ordering Shadowheart to kill a daughter of Selûne would be overstepping your boundaries as sort of an envoy of Eilistraee. This is definitely true for Gale: It is not your place to question Mystra commanding Gale to sacrifice himself. And if he is willing to do so, you would see your part in supporting him in whatever way you can on that path - what would also be the proper ending for that playthrough (don't bring him to the end of Act 2, though).

Even though Eilistraee is usually depicted as a nude dancer, this is not really a nudist cult. Rites are usually performed naked. During the High Hunt (in terms of BG3, the boss fights against the chosen three) clerics of Eilistraee are naked too and only armed with swords. In all other situations, a cleric of Eilistraee would be wearing practical clothing appropriate for the task; probably even less revealing and flashy than what is considered fashion amongst Lolth-sworn drow.

On a side note, being a drow and a bard gives you the highest amount of special dialogue the game offers in one run.

[astarionposting]

I love drow but I just can't seem to create a unique tav ;-; I'm scared all our drow tav's look the same in the end😭 any advice?🥹

Honestly, since most drow are purple/blue with white hair and red eyes, it’s hard not to make them look alike, but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing! I love drow sooo much that I just love every single drow tav I see 😭 I think they are all beautiful, so that just means your tav is also beautiful! <3

This turned into kind of a long post, BUT MOD RECS BELOW!!

I am probably not the best person to ask when it comes to creating unique tavs since I use the same face and hair for my fem tavs (IM TOO ATTACHED </3)

I like what I like what can I say, what can I saaay?

But for character customization here are my tips:

I’d say if you want to create a more “unique” drow, feel free to go beyond what is the usual “drow” look (purple/blue skin, red eyes, white hair, etc.)

I’m pretty sure drow can’t naturally have other hair colours (idk i could be wrong, ask @vspin cause they are like a drow lore master-I KNOW NOTHING) but who says hair dye doesn’t exist in faerun?!! Try some cool new hair colours! Have fun with different hairstyles and tattoos, different eye colours, download some new scar mods!

Another big factor is the clothing and accessories + the dye you choose. I feel like they really will allow your tav/oc to stand out.

Basically, DONT FEEL LIMITED!!! GO CRAZY GO WILD RAAAAA

PC PLAYERS - MUST HAVE MODS

Unique Tav - for body tattoos

New Character Creation Presets - a large selection of beautiful heads created by the wonderful Toarie

Npc Options Unlocker - just unlocks npc heads/hairs

Hair Mixer - allows you to mix different hairstyles, I use the oldest version cause I’m too lazy to update this mod, but the newest version allows you to combine THREE hairstyles now!

Astralities' Hair Color Supplement - A fun thing you can do is play around with the eyebrow/eyelash colours + there is more variants of white/grey hair colours if you want to stick with that colour!!

Astralities' Skintone Expansions - Fantasy | Natural- SO many new skin tone options, i feel like this can make a huge difference as well.

New eye colours (and blindness for all eyes) - SO MANY new eye colours + blindness options (as u all know I luv my ocs half blind 😭)

CovenElf's Tattoo and Makeup Collection - I use this for the messy eye makeup + Lillith’s night elf tattoos + I use the one that replaces the floral neck tattoo to intensify eyeshadow colours or I use like a brownish red at a low opacity to create the effect of tired eyes (my fav thing ever)

OTHER MODS I RECOMMEND:

Hair mods - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

More heads (even though I use only one lol) - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Cool scar mods - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Cool body tattoo mods - 1 | 2 (unique tav also has a large selection of body tattoos)

More face tattoos - 1 | 2 | 3

Cool armour/accessory mods - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

More eye variant mods - 1 | 2 | 3

Armour dye mods - 1 | 2 | 3

My full mod list is available HERE (needs to be updated tho) + my oc mod lists - Lillith / Freyja

I hope this was helpful! <3

[majorasnightmare]

FREE DIRGE LORE!!! 8, 20, aaaand 22 pleaseee

FREE DIRGE LORE ON NAADYS BIRTHDAY!!! as a present he offers an inside out torso 🕷️🕸️🕷️

8. How does your Dark Urge feel about the wilderness?

I think his feelings about the wilderness surprise him, because hes actually really fond of it. He enjoys the simple and consistent behavior of animals, even if he has to kill them, and he really deeply enjoys the distance from people. Hes also really fond of natural water sources, a remnant of growing up next to the Chionthar, which was one of the only places in the city where the Urge wasnt quite so loud. He doesnt quite realize how much he enjoys the wilds until he gets back to Baldur's Gate and fucking hates it lmao

20. Is your Dark Urge open about their Urge or do they try to hide it? Why?

Hes SOOO open about it to a RIDICULOUS degree. Pre tadpole he identified completely with the Urge so anyone who had the privellege of knowing him As He Is (and not when he was trying to stealth through the city) would know who and what exactly theyre dealing with. Post Tadpole, he feels he has to rely heavily on this group of strangers for his own safety and sanity, and tries to be as open and forthcoming as possible about the Urges, first because it scares him and he wants help, and then when he gives up on the idea of receiving help as a matter of responsibility. He owes it to them to tell them when he might fly off the handle in case they have to put him down for everyones collective safety. He doesnt even try to hide Alfira's murder, and its everyones reaction to that event that solidifies his decision to both tell everyone whenever the Urges risk them (his own mental health is an acceptable sacrifice), and his decision to handle them almost entirely by himself

22. What first impression does your Dark Urge give off to strangers?

It depends on how much effort hes putting into "passing" as it is. Act 1 is when hes at his most offputting, a twitchy mess poorly concealing the burning desire to kill, and most peoples first impression is that theyre interacting with someone very deeply sick. By the time Dirge is leaving the Grove behind, hes stabilized enough to no longer come off like someone on a very bad LSD trip trying to ground himself. The general impression he gives off is one of lethal competency and assured unflappable confidence, with a fairly easygoing but professional attitude, which persists all the way to the end of act 1, throughout act 2, and only starts collapsing in Act 3

Once he learns hes a bhaalspawn, the combined stress of that revelation plus the ones hes learned in moonrise towers has started puncturing holes in his carefully constructed facade into a frankenstein of his Act 1 and 2 vibes. The end result is someone with the same lethal competency as before, but teetering on a very unstable knife's edge. Some of the twitch has started to come back, and hes snappier and more irritable than usual, because there just isnt any relief from the endless pressing throngs of people, and its driving him up a wall. The confidence is now taken as anticipation of bloodletting, and his general affect is more unsettling for it, like someone trying ever so slightly unsuccessfully to hide the fact theyre actively fantasizing about peeling your skin like a banana. Hes aware of it and tries to talk as little as possible to as few people as possible, made more difficult by the fact that by this point hes established himself as the partys go-to haggler and interrogator-of-npcs.

thankies for dirgeposting oppurtunity, heres him in the faded drow leathers dyed in his usual colors!!

[neb-art-zeke]

hiiiiii! Please tell us more about Relonoth if you don't mind 👀

How old is he?

What is his DnD alignment?

What's his tent in the camp like?

Does he have a partner(s)?

Hey @razrogue! Thanks for your interest in my TAV!

So fore warning, I'm not as knowledgeable about the larger DnD/Forgotten Realms lore and I've never played the previous Baldur's Gates so a lot of my knowledge comes from just playing Baldur's Gate 3. Also like many of my OCs, he goes through constant change as my knowledge of the lore expands and new ideas in my mind surface. With that being said:

Background: Relonoth is the son of a Seldarine Drow father and a Human Druid Mother. Relonoth lived with his mother and father in his mother's tribe for the first 12 years of his life where he learned the basics of living in the wild before she was killed fighting alongside his father during an attempt of his father’s life by Lolth's Drow. Not wanting to endanger the tribe further, Relonoth's father would take him far away from the tribe where they traveled aimlessly for several months. One day, they managed to stumble upon some helpful monks who were on their way back to their monastery. Sensing the torment inside both Relonoth and his father, the monks invited the two to journey with them back to the monastery to find inner peace. Relonoth and his father spent 7 years learning the ways of the monks and spent one more year traveling with each other after before deciding to continue on separate journeys. Before departing, they promised each other they would reunite for a single week at the place they left every 7 years to share with each other their monastic journeys. BG3 takes place 2 years before another reunion. Some of Relonoth’s experiences and adventures include finding his mother's old tribe, fighting in an underground martial arts tournament, mentoring other young monks, learning the way of the four elements from ancient beings, and putting stops to deadly conspiracies, but his greatest adventure takes place during BG3.

Name Origin: I found a Drow etymology naming convention sheet online and the name roughly translates to "Wind's Path" which I thought sounded cool. The in-lore reason I developed after was that his father named him that name because he wanted his son to have the freedom to become anyone he wanted in his life (Free like the Wind).

Age: 67 (as of BG3 - looks about 33 because of half elf aging)

DnD Aligment: Neutral Good (as a nomadic monk, he'll find himself helping the less fortunate and oppressed and generally respects the rules of the lands he comes across but still has his principles of freedom and choice which sometimes clash with more strict rules of some kingdoms. His nature of helping people and quickly disappearing in a gust of wind after earned him the title of The Wind Walker.)

Tent: His tent is very simple. Being nomadic, he likes to carry light but he's known to collect a few things from his travels and keeps them in his tent space (i.e. small gifts from his friends, rocks and feathers of birds from the different lands he visits and small things he thinks his father would like to see during their next reunion)

Romance: Karlach (I like to imagine that after finding a solution to her infernal engine problem, the two escape Avernus and continue traveling the world with Karlach wanting to experience the grander world after spending years in Avernus and Relonoth wanting to continue his monastic journey with one he loves. She even gets to meet Relonoth's father during the reunion. Really want to get a comic commission of this lol.

[hidefire]

DRIDER RAIN AU. while this is based on dnd/bg3 lore, i can adapt this to any fantasy setting, or even a modern setting if we really wanted to.

rain was an orphaned drow, expected to be one of the children who just never made it. she was small, and quiet, but quickly became fierce and rough around the edges. she learned quickly that she would have to fight for what she wanted. and what did she want? the love of lolth.

her younger years were spent learning about her people, about the spider goddess they followed, and rain became determined to become a soldier in the name of lolth. from a young age, it was her entire focus. she spent all her time training, whether that be phsyical, or magic related. and so by the time she was around eighteen, she had made a name for herself within drow society. not only was she an amazing fighter, she was a great fire magician.

she was basically set for the rest of her life. lolth had taken a notice in the girl, and it wouldn't be long before she had a family of her own and an estate and a war to fight in. she would bring honor to her people, and to lolth. she only really ever cared about lolth, had lost herself entirely in the goddess, and had no real connections.

maybe that was why it was so easy to frame her.

there was a rebellion growing in the city that rain originated from. she had nothing to do with it, hated the rebellion against lolth, actually. but despite rain being well loved by many high ranking drow, she was hated by the others who wanted her spot. and it was easy to connect her to her hometown, to the rebellion, the hatred of lolth. she is trying to infiltrate your upper ranks, my queen.

and so, she was punished. no trial, no test. rain was brought down and punished.

cursed with the form of a drider, and absolutely cursed to remember. rain grew the legs and abdomen of the spider, replacing her lower half. she gained fangs, with a venomous bite, and a taste for blood. her eyes became fully black, and she gained six more. she was absolutely hideous to every drow. an embarassment.

before exiling her completely, rain was left with one final quest from lolth: if you can bring me something that proves your loyalty to me and the drow, you will be allowed back into our society, given back your previous form.

this was, of course, a wild goose's chase. there was nothing that would ever prove that. but rain had been given a quest, and lolth was everything to her. so she ignored the stares as she left everything she had ever known, and became determined to prove that she was worth of being a drow again.

rain spends time isolating, and then going back to people. she finds that if she stays to herself for too long, her feral instincts take over, until she is back with people again for a while. but she becomes disheartened. living outside of the underdark was hard enough for a drow, but for a drider? impossible. she was wanted nowhere. often, she wondered if she should let the feral, spider side of her take over completely. let rain mars die fully.

it is not until there is news of the absolute that she begins to really stir. an elder brain, she hears rumors of, with a crown that could grant power and absolute control to anyone who wielded such a thing. she became convinced, no, certain, that if she were able to bring that crown back to lolth, she would be freed. not only freed, she would be loved. and that becomes her quest. the only way to hold onto herself.