#durge does not remember

[maegalkarven]

I have an awful idea of Karlach and Durge actually knowing each other in the past, quite well, actually.

(The reason Karlach did not recognize Durge is because Durge always used that shape-shifting mask of theirs and looked like someone else).

Durge and Gortash met for the first time 11 or so years prior the game.

Durge was already a cult leader, Gortash was not yet Bane's Chosen or even banite, but was starting to work on the cults angle.

Durge hang around just enough for them and Karlach to hit off; it was actually Karlach who is the first person Durge felt genuine connection with.

Father Bhaal disapproved and Urge started to act up; Durge blacked out several times killing innocent tieflings, acted a lil weirder than usual.

Gortash, being Gortash, noticed.

He had a list of candidates from whom he was planning to choose the right person for Zariel's engine.

But he discarded them and sold Karlach instead; he explained it to himself as there's no better candidate for the role. She would survive the engine being installed and, if she was tough enough, would survive Avernus and emerge victorious.

It had nothing to do with his unstable ally acting more unstable than before.

Durge, who at that point had caught up what Father demanded Karlach dead and, for the first time ever, were hesitating to kill someone, visited Gortash and found out Karlach was gone.

"Good," is all they said. They did not elaborate.

[maykitz]

my opinion on durge and orin relationship pre worm incident

[swirlmup]

i have a more serious astarion comic planned(all 25 pages thumbnailed!), but in the meantime have this general bg3 comic cataloguing the only time(thus far) that i've had to use a revivify scroll and also my discovery that healing potions can still hurt you.

[antiqua-lugar]

aside from everything else about durgewyll I am loving how it highlights wyll and gortash as narrative foils. both their upbringings lead them to interact with demoniac entities, both can only become archdukes and join baldurian high society through uldred, both are swaying the dark urge from simply following bhaal (and arguably the dark urge sways them from simply pursuing an ideal and the dark urge can recognise both as their equal)

and by playing your card right in act 3 wyll just...gets everything gortash was trying to get? wyll really is a hero saving baldur's gate from the legion of the absolute. wyll influences gortash's favourite assassin into becoming someone they can defeat the netehrbrain together. they can even become archdukes together! ...or they can turn it down and then they can go to he hells to sneak around and have adventures (like gortash and durge used to) and save karlach's life (the same life that is at risk because gortash mindlessly threw it away).

like. it's a lot, wyll and durge can even murder raphael.

[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.

[hijackalx]

i think batshit crazy durge x gortash is cute too ok. but also i think that plays a lot into durge behaving exactly like orin despite gortash stating that he liked durge because they werent like orin at all.

he says he liked that durge could control themself (mostly), and i think the fact that you get a choice on whether or not they act on their urges a lot of the time is proof of their self-control. theres only like a handful of instances in the game where acting on their urges is mandatory.

also, @/wilchur’s post about the butler always needing to keep durge in check is really interesting, because i think thats further proof that durge always kind of fought their urges/was inclined to rebel. they HAD to do evil fucked up shit, but maybe that doesnt mean that they always wanted to…… even before orin sabotaged them.

BONUS: obviously gortash is drawn to control and orderliness. in the books where you can find his plans for the city he basically says he’s going to be running that bitch like the military, lol. literally everything he does is for control. so, naturally, he would be drawn to durge’s level of self-control. yall picking up what im laying down?

and maybe….. dare i say…… the fact that they would resist the spontaneousness of their urges is what was actually attractive to him……..— WAIT DONT SHOOT 👐

[cawecho]

loser lizard doots

[sequesteredbhaalspawn]

Just thinking about a Dark Urge feeling the need to be gentle with Gortash (pre-tadpole), and guilty and disgusted the feel about it leads them to committing a spree of murders to try cleans themselves of it- but it doesn't ago away. Durge just covered in gore and viscera, blooding caking over their skin- arms sore, and shoulders almost dislocated from how viciously they had stabbed their last victim- so many time, crying, because they where made to kill, only kill- committing divine murder! Why are they cursed with this unnatural feeling?

Of course it's only for Gortash, and they are kill a monster to everyone else. Still evil, and cunning. Still a cannibal, still a n*cr*phile, still horrid and depraved... but for this one person there is this need for gentleness.

[kittlesandbugs]

Scarred up problematic 6'-something brick shithouse, lover, fighter, killer, and Bhaal's Favorite Princess here to Destroy Everything

[ofwraithsandwords]

I saw some fanart of Astarion and a muscular afab Tav/Durge going at it Sexual Style a while back and I haven’t been the same ever since.

[thepioden]

You may think, based on the content of my blog, that I am a Karlach simp, and you would not be wrong, but the BG3 character I am truly horniest for is the red dragons from the intro.

[thirdmagic]

bg3 is good because the people making it were shamelessly horny and put all the self indulgent stuff they wanted in it. they put their love their passion and their entire pussy in it, in more than one sense. and they are our fucking allies in this world

[bhaalsdeepbat]

Astarion refers to the other spawn he intends to create as his children and I personally HC it more like his consort spawn eventually plays the role of brood mother to whoever the favored "children" are for eternity. like they recreate a fucked up family unit. romanced player and the children have to compete for scraps while he spoils whoever his romance partner is. and the cruelty of it is that Astarion's consort has all the gifts to be in the sun, but Astarion now wants an eternal night for all of the children he intends to make (and force to live in the shadows).

[thats-a-lot-of-cortisol]

So you remember this guy?

I fucked up his save file so I had to make a new honor run. I'd decided before I started Luka's that each new honor tav would be a reincarnation of him (he's a high elf), and that every time I had to start over I would roll a d20 to see if they would be a durge. This time around I had to get a nat 1 and. Well.

So meet Aconitum! He's a resisting durge. His guardian is his best friend who was killed by Orin during the Lobotomy Incident :)

[squidaped-oyt]

Durge's memories only of themselves, who and what they are, and their past being gone seems to me like Bhaal finally hitting the hard reset button on his 'malfunctioning' spawn. Because obviously if all those inconvenient memories are gone Durge will just be an obedient little homunculus again, right?

[parasite-core]

Shadowheart was so mad at Addy over finding out he was the one who started the cult of the Absolute, and for him not telling them. Even though Addy didn’t know before just then either. And they all know he has amnesia and he made no secret of this being a surprise to him while talking to Gortash.

Shadowheart, my girl, *you* have amnesia, have a little empathy.