#haven't even set foot in the goblin camp

[weaveandwood]

Gale this is a Wyllmance playthrough you cannot look at Rosalind like that I am WEAK.

[masterskywalkers]

Played a little bit more of Prince's playthrough today and I have to say, seeing how their interactions are with Astarion considering I'm not planning to romance him is really interesting.

Unlike Tavanna (romance) and Naberius (short fling before hearing Astarion's truth and deciding he needed a friend more), Prince is a lot more cautious and wary towards Astarion. They don't dislike him, but they do sense that there is much more to his character than what Astarion is letting on, and the way things developed in-game today between conversation options and decisions taken really made the moment Astarion decides to work on seducing/manipulating a Tav to ensure his own safety more obvious.

A few things to note for Prince that are important before I unravel this play session:

Prince let Astarion drink from them, but died during the event. They've never really let Astarion forget it, and are more wary of how Astarion feeds (Tavanna and Naberius were a lot more willing and offering to it when and if Astarion needs it, whereas Prince sees the risk to it)

Prince learned about Astarion's vampirism much sooner than Tavanna and Naberius did. Rather earlier on, in fact - and now that their party is heading to Ethel's swamp, they have this knowledge when meeting Gandrel.

Prince however knows nothing about Cazador before Gandrel. Astarion has kept that very hidden.

Before the Gandrel encounter, Astarion's approval meter was at neutral. Both Shadowheart and Wyll (who frequent Princes' parties) were already at high approval. Astarion's changes to high right after Gandrel in Princes' playthrough.

Princes' planned romance is Shadowheart, and the romance path has already started for them.

So the first stage of this breakdown starts with meeting Gandrel in the swamp. As mentioned above, Prince enters this meeting knowing that Astarion is already a vampire, and so when they learn that Gandrel and the Gur are looking to capture him, Princes' alarm bells are set to caution. Prince is a friendly and kind sort, who is doing their best to build trust and friendships with those in the group. So, they keep Astarion's secret for him, and eventually, sensing the danger Gandrel offers, gives Astarion the okay to kill him.

After the battle, Shadowheart quickly says that she's 'surprised Prince sided with Astarion', to which Prince responds that they hope it won't turn out that the decision will bite them in the future (I see what you did there, Prince).

Now, for Astarion, this seems to be a critical moment in which he decides Prince is worth trusting his safety in. Once the party eventually returns to camp a little later and Prince starts their discussions with the party, this is the moment where Astarion freely mentions Cazador to them for the first time. Sure, there's a reluctance to talk about his past - and Prince offers him the choice not to say anything - but Astarion tells Prince the details anyway. Prince listens, and instead of offering hollow or comforting words like 'I'm so sorry that happened to you', they gently press for more understanding of his history.

Prince leaves him alone after the discussion - probably with a lot for Astarion to think on for the evening - and goes to talk to Shadowheart, where they unlock the first romance scene with them (talking together over wine / first kiss). The next morning, Prince and Shadowheart both mentioned that they liked the company they shared.

Now, Prince went to talk to Astarion again after this - mostly because I expected a comment about them and Shadowheart - but what I didn't expect was for Astarion to push the early, pre-tiefling party hookup conversation.

After this discussion when I checked his approval, I was surprised to see it was high already - I've been taking Prince's playthrough slowly! We've only just wrapped up the Shadow Druids story! We're trying to build our money up for the special Zhentarim bow! We haven't even fought the paladins for Karlach, or stepped foot in the Goblin camp. We're only just facing Auntie Ethel in her house? Prince isn't a particularly snarky character - yet this?? Was happening??

Then I realized; storywise, it makes sense for Astarion to choose this moment to put his manipulation into play. He has grown to trust Prince in some respects, enough to know that they can offer a sense of security to him that he hasn't ever had before. He has a place in a party that maybe can take down his abuser if he plays his cards right. Prince knows he's a vampire, has seen him kill a hunter for his own protection, and has heard about Cazador - and yet Astarion still hasn't been shunned or thrown out of the party.

For someone in Astarion's position and with his thoughts and expectations - whilst also seeing a closeness building between the party members (especially with Prince and Shadowheart) - now seems like a perfect time to cement his place in the group.

Yet he believes that all he has to offer is his body, so his only gift to Prince is sex.

During this conversation Prince is very ???, because the alarm bells are ringing for them once again that something is very wrong here. They haven't entertained Astarion's flirtation, as Astarion tries to say that 'they found enjoyment out of Astarion biting them', Prince quickly counters him with the 'not really. I died, remember?' To Prince, there is no reason for this attempt at seduction to be happening - and they're intuitive enough to sense that likely, this isn't even Astarion himself really wants.

There was a moment in this discussion where the dialogue really hit me and how wonderfully the writers have written this if you play a character that truly pushes and challenges Astarion here rather than just immediately responding to it. I purposely play my characters differently from one another as I love seeing how stories can diverge; so for the past seduction scenes (which, mind you, both happened at the party ((although Naberius got a second proposition scene since he ran off with Minthara first at the goblin party))). Tavanna was already fond of Astarion at this stage that she didn't really hesitate to enter a friends-with-benefits situation with him, and Naberius is such a self-centered ass at times that he just went along with it because he thought it would be fun sleeping with Astarion (and he was a bit prideful that Astarion asked twice).

But Prince has no romantic interest at this stage. They consider him a tentative friend, but they consider that about most of their party.

I have to apologize since for the first time I didn't save footage of this (the one playthrough I don't and it's the one that makes me think the most, lol), but the dialogue that hit for me went something like this:

Prince: I didn't enjoy it. I died, remember? Astarion: which is even more reason for me to make it up to you! And what better way to do so than this? Prince: ... you do understand that you don't owe me anything, right? And you certainly don't owe me sex? Astarion: this isn't me owing you as such ...

^ I'm definitely paraphrasing there - but the important thing to note is Astarion makes this offer sound like a transaction he owes, and Prince very quickly notices that and answers with 'you do understand you don't owe me?'

And we know that Astarion, realistically, doesn't know that. He has been conditioned to expect that his worth comes in only what he can offer via his body and that it's a truth he doesn't like, but he knows nothing else so continues with it anyway.

I just found this so interesting because as someone on their 4th playthrough, I know that this is something that gets discussed in more detail in act 2. But to see how the seeds are planted so early in act one and how Astarion's approval isn't so difficult to gain if you listen and seem to value him (again, Prince has had far less interaction with Astarion compared to what Tavanna and Naberius have had on past playthroughs; yet the interactions have been ones that have seemed to resonate with the character: the trust with the vampire reveal, gifting Astarion the book of necromancy, allowing him to protect himself against Gandrel, listening as he spoke about Cazador). I'm also playing on a Tactician run and have purposely been avoiding the use of the 'Friend' spell to help with dice rolls on character discussions. To me, it was just really neat to see how you can choose to challenge the truth of the cruel, harsh world Astarion has been forced to live in for 200 years earlier than perhaps a player thinks they can.