#hexxat bg

[ratscrap]

next batch of bg2 portraits! hexxat, anomen and..gee haerdalis... how'd you get THREE total variant portraits

[shaykai]

Oh to know Peace with You

[fangsandfeels]

I still can't get over the fact of how supportive Jaheira is to Astarion, to the point of calling people who consider vampires merciless and power-hungry ignorant when he chooses not to ascend. It could have been part of the same rewrite Saarevok and Viconia went through, but I know that's not the case since everyone loves to have Jaheira back, which means writers nailed her character and personality.

Why am I so fascinated by it?

Now, I know very little about Baldur's Gate 2, I admit, so feel free to correct me, but there was one vampire companion in the enhanced edition - Hexxat. Unlike Astarion, she was a full vampire. Like, Astarion, she too stated that everything she did was for her own survival and never failed to mention that she was merely a victim of unfortunate circumstances.

According to her dialogue, she never stirred conflicts: she was polite, reserved, respectful, loyal, and didn't mock or belittle any good-aligned characters.

Meanwhile, the said characters hated her guts. To the point that they would either literally attack her (Aerie, Anomen, Mazzy, Keldorn, Valygar) if they walked together for too long or demand the MC to kick her out of the group - just for being an abomination. Jan was the only companion who, among general distrust for vampires, had a very personal reason to hate Hexxat (she lured and killed his niece). But others just hated her for being undead. Among them, Jaheira and Minsc were the least aggressive in regard to her, yet remained on high alert around her.

But then came the resolution of Hexxat's personal quest...

...where it turned out that all that time, she was trying to find a way to stop being a vampire. To go back to her human form. Yes, even if that meant she would literally crumble to dust because her mortal body was going to feel the weight of centuries. And yet, Hexxat still agreed to this - she wanted to die as a human instead of continuing to live as a vampire, despite having a cloak to walk in sunlight and genuinely never revealing how she really felt about her condition (mostly because the kind-hearted characters weren't giving her any reasons to tell them how she feels). Of course, the MC can talk her out of it, but she only agrees if they promise to end her life as soon as she asks them. Which is kinda telling that Hexxat was never enjoying her life as a vampire and only considered delaying her death because she found a company worth living for. She also refuses to make the MC a vampire, claiming she can't give them what they desire and that she is done "using them" - while it's mostly attributed to scrapped content, it can also be the sign that Hexxat could have turned the MC into her spawn, but chose not to out of respect, or that she could have made them a full vampire, but refused to - because she felt like they didn't understand what they asked for and saw vampiric existence as a burden, not a gift.

Now, I know that there were no mentions of Hexxat in BG3 and that she is only a BG2: Enhanced Addition companion, but still, I have that headcanon that Jaheira was affected by her story. She promised Hexxat to overlook her nature (acknowledging that she wasn't turned voluntarily), but still remained pointedly wary of her - only to find out that all that time, the only thing Hexxat worked towards was her own death. Not getting more power, not finding a way to live in luxury while draining every pretty girl she could find, no - just ending her existence.

It probably went against everything she knew about vampires - creatures who clung to their immortality and reveled in spreading misery.

Hexxat wasn't a good person: she put her needs first, she killed a lot of innocent people; she lured in and drank girls because she was attracted to women and chose victims based on her preference - and she never failed to remind that she was the victim here while showing superficial regret for the killings. But, given that she was doomed ever since she was Turned, and the only "help" she could expect from a random paladin was a searing smite, she probably learned that it didn't matter how much regret she would show or how hard she would lament about her fate - she will be treated and murdered as an abomination. So, in the end, she only sought death on her own terms - all while having to hear how much everyone wanted her dead over and over again.

These are some dreadful shoes to put yourself into. And while some might say "If I was Turned, I wouldn't kill anyone! I'd walk into the sun at once and end myself!"...would they really do it, without knowing what's happening to their soul?

It's a big deal in Faerun. IIRC, there is no official statement regarding what happens to vampires after they die and DMs usually get to decide that part. It means you have no clue if you're a Turned vampire without any background knowledge on the matters of sould and spirit.

What if the god you worshipped rejected you for being undead (no matter how much of yourself you managed to preserve somehow), and your soul would go to the Wall? What if you won't even make it to the City of Judgement? Would you take that chance if one of the outcomes would be your soul slowly getting absorbed into the Wall while you feel every moment, all your hard work of serving your deity or just being a decent person gone to waste? What if you go to the Abyss just because your soul got tainted?

In a world where the afterlife is very much real, such uncertainty is terrifying.

Yes, while vampires aren't supposed to have a soul (it's part of the curse), games diverge from the DnD rules in that regard (especially BG3, with the spawns).

I think this, along with general jaded observations, made Jaheira more accepting of many things. No, of course, she would be a menace to Cazador's spawns or any vampires who dare to approach her house - no bloodsucker comes near her cubs and lives. No, she won't automatically cut all the undead some slack. But, sometimes, she watches and observes before she makes a verdict: especially when a particular undead is a part of a group she works with.

Of course, she would sass Astarion (and he'd gleefully sass her back). But she never gives him the same warnings she gave to Hexxat - or admonishes him for his nature. At best, she calls him an immortal, but she'd rather poke fun at his gremlin side, than his undead side.

(Mind that she would have ripped him a new one lest he gave her a reason, and Astarion was smart enough not to do that)

It seems to me, Jaheira really believed that Astarion had it in him to reject the ritual. Some of our companions are surprised that Astarion was able to refuse the allure of power, but Jaheira isn't one of them. She is the one saying that maybe people who think they know everything about vampires are actually fools who don't know shit. It's not possible she isn't speaking from experience.

[thornetabris]

yeah yeah astarion the fruity lil vampire kinda evil with traumatic past. do not forget your roots.

[fallenbhaalspawn]

haven't decided yet whether nerys (my charname) actually likes nalia or not but i do know that having met her so soon after losing her sister/bestie she is extremely protective of this young and naive mage/thief.

[rpgchoices]

A battle of the baldur's gates!! Hexxat, the vampire companion from BG Enhanced Edition vs Lae'zel the githyanki companion from Baldur's Gate 3.

(here for general tag / here for all round one polls)

[optiwashere]

Thanks to you, I'm inspired to write a Gorions ward x Hexxat fic because there is NOTHING with them on Ao3 but theres 40 fucking Dor Il Kahn fics. I'm gonna write the wlw rep I wish to see in the world

Fuck yeah, anon. Have fun, and I'm pumped for you! Glad I could be of some inspiration 💜

I'm both saddened and not at all surprised at that fic count situation, tbh. There's really not that much BG1-2 fic on AO3 in the first place. I think it's bigger on FFnet? Hexxat doesn't get a lot of love, either. It's really disappointing! A lesbian Chultan vampire who toys with Charname/GW before actually falling for her? That's just asking for fic given how sparse her romance actually is.

Total tangent: I feel pretty bad that Baldur's Gate (Video Games) is the canon tag for all three BG games and that we don't have a separate set of tags for each game. Not that there's many BG1-2 fics in the first place, but if you're really only there for those games then, well, you're kinda fucked lol.

[bg3fandomcritical-reactive]

I don’t wanna crush anyone’s dreams but there’s no way they’re making AA canon. They’re gonna go with the most popular characters and most popular ending. And as the anon who dreaded it said- Astarion will make it to the remake.

It’s gonna be Shadowheart & Astarion due to their statistical popularity. I maybe forgotten now but I do believe Jaheira was the most romanced female at least in BG, if not BG2 as well.

Minthara will return as a villain, I think that’s why they gave her the same ending no matter what you did as long as she was romanced. So they don’t have a Viconia/Sarevok situation.

The rest? 😕 We might get one or two. If I had to guess Gale in an Elminster type role. Maybe Karlach. But the others are a shot in the dar

And it /will/ be another Bhaalspawn plot, because despite the vastness of the Forgotten Realms WOTC would rather just use the same Gods, city and lore because it’s easy. I say this as Hexxat enjoyer who knows she’ll always be the superior vampire but we will never see her again.

.

[blackjackkent]

Our first priority, even before finding Bodhi, is to head back to Athkatla. We have to stop by our thief's guild, as the chat has been pinging me to remind me that I have to go pay my dues to the people there, and we also have to take Yoshimo's heart to the temple of Ilmater. (We also have approximately three billion things to identify and sell, although a bit less now that all the drow stuff turned into dust.)

However, on our way, we're interrupted by what appears to be some sort of random event.

I googled this guy because his name sounds familiar. Apparently he and his companions are from the D&D novels and I could have met and/or fought him in BG1. Apparently he's one of the people we can enlist for help in our fight against Bodhi.

Some amusing notes about him from the BG wiki:

The drawback to asking for Drizzt's help is that because he's such a powerful warrior, he can kill Bodhi in seconds, before the party members can touch her - meaning you receive no XP. 

And from Sorcerer's Place:

If your protagonist is an elf named Drizzt and your reputation is less than 12, Drizzt Do'Urden will be mad at you for using his name and will challenge you for the right to use it! Beware; this can be a very tough fight!

lololol

Anyway, let's see how this goes.

It's probably a good thing that Jaheira is here; given the party's recent experiences, they have more reason to be suspicious of a random drow than they might otherwise be. But Caden trusts anyone Jaheira trusts. (And let's be real, a lot of people she doesn't trust, too. :P )

Also these people are uh. Interesting. :P

Were he more in control of himself, Caden would be looking exceedingly bemused here. These people have far more energy than he feels capable of at present.

And...if Jaheira can vouch for them...perhaps that energy can be put to use.

\o/ New friend yay!

(Side note - are those crypts we're headed to the same ones where we met Hexxat way back at the beginning of the game? :O Full circle...would have been funny if we could have just accidentally killed Bodhi back then.)

Hooray!

[moontheoretist]

#and not a single nigga in sight Yes, that's one of the main issues.

The designs are diverse, but not diverse enough. (But like I said in the notes, it's better than most fantasy anime series). Multiple people said that there are no black people or people with very curly hair, which I agree with. I noticed that when Ryoko Kui was making fanarts of the characters from video game, there was one instance when Ryoko did completely change the race of one of the characters. That character was a black woman vampire named Hexxat from Baldur's Gate 2. That was really weird considering that on another fanart Ryoko drew black characters with no problem whatsoever. That's a bit suspicious.

(On the right original Hexxat, on the left Hexxat by Ryoko Kui).

(On the right Valygar from BG 2, on the left Dynaheir from BG 1 & 2).

I considered before that Ryoko may have a hard time drawing black people, because a lot of artists struggle with drawing people of other races and ethnic groups, but the fanarts show that Ryoko can draw them. Now the question is why Ryoko Kui chose to draw dark skinned people in DunMeshi, but is deliberately avoiding drawing characters with black facial features? Are they supposed to be black or not?

I don't get it at all.

I love the variety of looks between members of the same race that is displayed in Dungeon Meshi. THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE DONE!

Edit (17.02.2024):

HOLY SHIT I FORGOT ABOUT DWARVEN CHART! I have no idea how I did because I'm pretty sure I saved all charts on my desktop before posting them. I guess tumblr didn't process the image and it got lost.

I love dwarves, how could I forget about them? D:

[madameoni]

Hiya

Was going through your baldur's gate tag and saw your ocs. They look cool and I love their names and your art! Curious, to know some more about Alecto. (Alignment, romance, that sort of stuff.) (I'm currently playing through the original bg trilogy and wanted to what others had)

Thank youuu <3

Oh boy, rant incoming, excuse the typos in advance-

I'm in the same boat about the original triology! I'm only about halfway of BG1, and so far I play Alecto as chaotic good. I'm not sure about who will I romance for what I gather I don't invision Alecto being with someone *yet*. I admit I'm interested in learning about Hexxat when I reach BG2 because evil-vampire-lesbian-please. I made her a draconic bloodline sorcerer, she uses mainly daggers and lightling spells, I try to play her with enough charisma to make her persuasive. But she is more than okay with violence if it fails.

If you're interested in my headcanons for her personality:

So far I see her as someone who was raised too sheltered and has her own version of whats good shaped by her experiences. She has a very chaotic series of experiences after all lol I can see getting more and more jaded, disregard autority, and just try to *do* stuff. She wants to be good, but I can see her failing to do so, or her version of good not being the same as others.

She is mostly sarcastic and aloof, but polite when needed. Being raised among monks and scholars, she learned to value intelligence but also to manipulate old people to get what she wants. Being a sorcerer, a draconic lineage to boot, made her a bit full of herself. She does think she knows best, or at least feels the need to portray herself as such.

That's what I feel from the gameplay so far, but I might develop it as I go- I really want to give the old games more time after I finish BG3 with the epiloge proper at least once lol I will probably scream about her as play more.

My headcanon for her in BG3 have her as matured woman, extra jaded, pissed of at the world and the gods alike. Jaheira's personality goes well with hers- she probably has a similar relationship with the Harpers. She is just jaded wine mom at this point lol

Thank you for asking and sorry for the wall of text haha

[shaykai]

your fave Hexxat anon here. When you get to the end of her ToB quest, you might have to reload several times to get the right outcome. That final dialogue is a tricky sonova. I had to look up the right answers myself, and I'm a crusty old bastard whose been with BG since the first game came out.

YEAH I HAD TO RELOAD ONCE (and then the second time I feel like I wasn’t nearly as supportive as I wanted to be but I wasn’t about to let that happen again lololol)

Did beat the game the other day, though! Hexxat had a lovely ending <3

And also Sarevok was mad and my one regret is not getting to murder him yet again

[swordcoasts]

*putting on clown shoes* what if i made another bg oc. to romance hexxat. what then.

[shrumgi]

skrzek replied to your post: skrzek replied to your post: ...

i also heard that bg has a very uhh prolific modding scene where they wrote gay content for companions so thats interesting xD but if theres an actual canon bi option thats awesome! aND EXCUSE ME LESBIAN VIVIENNE-LIKE IM?????? ahh

Lol really? I bet it’s for other companions.

Personally, I’m not a fan of modding scenes in a game. I actually even feel weird if I think about picking a mc avatar that’s not the original.  As for Viv-like, BRUH

‘A striking woman of Chultan descent, Hexxat holds her secrets dear. When pressed, she speaks in vague terms ‘ BRUH

[violasarecool]

oooh you recruited Hexxat?? (says the annoying BG anon)

lol yeah we've been recruiting everyone for their various quests

we also did not fight her partially bc of said quests (but like. mostly bc bag of holding thank fuck)

[rpgchoices]

The top 4 characters will get into the tournament!

Post 1 here for more explanation and info.

all 8 parts of the first selection are here