#morgwynn

[bardandbear]

the thrilling adventures of Dark Tav

[bardandbear]

Jumping on this train (and it really helped me think about backstory before release!)

Morgwynn Belaine - Warlock, Tiefling, Charlatan

She's the black sheep of the family - their entire purpose is to breed powerful spellcasters, but she had no magic beyond a few infernal cantrips. Flunking out of wizard school and then bard college led to her making a deal with a succubus to finally get access to the magic she so desperately needed, only to be kicked out for cheating and disowned. She's bitter, hedonistic and quietly desperate to prove she's worthy of something other than failure. Gale pokes sore points about her lack of magical talent, but she pokes back (the scene where she channels the weave with Gale is super important to her). She's this close to falling for him. But the moments where she and Astarion share genuine connection like two feral animals experiencing kindness for the first time eventually win out, especially after her patron gets involved (and doesn't trust Gale one bit). It's entirely by accident, and there's a chance they might actually recognise enough of the toxic parts they share to heal eachother, or alternatively wallow in them like it's a hot tub. They're going to make each other better, or so much worse. But they'll do it together.

Feed my BG3 hunger.

I wanna know for those playing with CustomTavs that will romance someone in the game, who are they wooing? And why? How do you imagine their dynamic? In tags or reblogs are fine! I'll start;

Delight- Warlock, Tiefling, Criminal

I literally cannot unsee her romancing Astarion.

Their pasts just line up and mirror so well, as do their current situations, and while she's not outright cruel she's definitely not a Good Guy. She finds him funny and over the top, and is entertained by his poor lying but drawn in by his vulnerability. He finds her contradictory but also funny (laughing together about the walking undead husband was a sweet moment between them lmao) and is starting to find her smartass comments and teasing endearing. They don't just become good lovers, they become good friends, and they will be wonderfully morally grey and chaotic together.

Briallen- Half-Orc, Sorceror, Folk Hero

This bitch can fit so much Survivor's Guilt inside her!! I think she will really fit well with Halsin all things considered. She is, down to her core, a genuinely good person who wants to protect and help, even if she sees her heroism as a selfish act to punish herself. I can see her being drawn to Halsin's strength, confidence and wisdom and I can see him drawn to her bravery, selflessness and serenity. But hopefully he will be able to curb her extremely low sense of self-preservation and she will show him that she will accept him in his entirety with no strings. Two folks who really admire each other slowly falling head over heels for each other!

Iker- Human, Ranger, Soldier

Gale. Not just because he's a magebreaker and I love the whole enemies/rivals to lovers, but because Gale is a wonderfully complicated person and turns out Iker finds complicated hot. I can see Gale intially finding his standoffish and straight up cunty behaviour annoying/vaguely amusing at first, but become increasingly curious about the person he used to be before everything. Iker looks at Gale and they think "Fuck. He's hot. Damn mage." and becomes fascinated with the fractured man beneath the perfect veneer. Idk about Gale, but Iker is actually the devoted type and in the future won't care what he does as long as he lets them stay by his side. Unhealthy obsessions all round let's get on it cunts.

Rowan- Half-Elf, Wizard, Scholar/Sage

I am truly a bit stumped with them BUT I can see them making poor decisions and falling for Wyll. He's got secrets and they're a curious sort who naturally wants to uncover them, for good or ill. They trigger Wyll's protective instinct, as they are particularly a bit naive about the wider world beyond their studies and dig sites and he's as soon to find them crouching down in the middle of a battle protecting a suspected artifact as he is to find them completely closed off to the world with her nose in a tome. He would find their completely objective opinion about his situation surprisingly refreshing and they want to study him under a microscope (oh and he has a very nice smile they can't seem to say no to). They'll make him better, he'll make them worse lol.

Zlatan- Githyanki, Cleric, Outlander

Oh Shadowheart for sure. Not only does he find her beautiful, he's intrigued with the fact that such a kind person (objectively) worships such an evil goddess. He's always been fascinated with outlier cultures and beliefs, like the drow. She would obviously be wary of him at first, but will be pleasantly surprised by his easygoing and cheerful nature yet shocked by his daredevilry and adventurousness. When she finally lets down her guard and they get closer, I can see them having actually quite a romantic dynamic between them.

Delshad [Name WIP]- Dragonborn, Fighter, Noble

I'll be honest, I was inspired by the Panel to make a hot af dragonborn to sweep Karlach off her feet. I'm weak. He is literally Just Some Guy. He's polite, he's softspoken, he likes embroidery and he will Fuck You Up when pressed. He would find Karlach very, very cute once she trusts him with her more romantic side and he can withstand her sparky tendencies with all his scales. She would appreciate the fact that he's pretty non-conforming in terms of his status and his gender stereotype and that he's only a gentleman with her FOR her. Very sweet, very soft relationship ahoy!!

Tav [Name Undecided]- Gnome/Deep Gnome, Rogue, Urchin or Charlatan?

Now this Tav is very much a recent and underdeveloped idea, because I saw The Prettiest gnome Tav the other day and I had this image of a cute gnome lady Absolutely Down Bad for Lae'zel because she loves big strong hot mean women. I imagine a very messy, horny dynamic since this Tav despises any authority on principle and Lae'zel comes from a society very much built upon obeying authority, but I can see Lae'zel finding Tav's dedication to chaos and getting things done her way or no way quite attractive.

[bardandbear]

MORGWYNN

Infernal tiefling warlock - the fiend

[bardandbear]

drawing memes > drawing any actual art of my characters or finishing anything

WIP Wednesday featuring Morgwynn and her DurgeAU alter-ego Bastien. When becoming the Dark Urge is actually therapy.

Tagging @elfinbloodbag and @theharlotofferelden from the last still unfinished one I posted. Maybe by next week I might finish something... maybe...

[bardandbear]

would I were a devil, To live and burn in everlasting fire, So I might have your company in hell, But to torment you with my bitter tongue!

[bardandbear]

a random OC ask for you: what is your OC's favorite memory?

also: if they were dropped in a random city for a day with a pouch full of gold/relevant currency and no obligations whatsoever, what would they be doing?

this is such a lovely surprise thank you for asking!

For Morgwynn my Tav, it is a bit of a tricky question, pre-BG3 her answer probably would have been the 24 hrs following making her warlock pact, before the grim reality that it still wasn't enough to fix her set in. End of game, probably early in the Shadow-cursed Lands where she still thought she might be able to use the tadpoles to get what she and Astarion wanted.

For similar reasons, if dropped in a city for a day pre-game she probably would have found a brothel with the cheapest alcohol. I'm not sure so much would have changed afterwards... girl's a mess.

[bardandbear]

another Wednesday Friday, another WIP

tagging @meowstarion for this very belated WIP Wednesday because I know you're sitting on more delicious Nell art and I'm nosy.

[bardandbear]

So I wanted to yell a little into the void about my Tav's backstory...

Black sheep doesn't begin to cover it. I'm the deformed, malshapen aberration on the otherwise perfect family tree. It's a wonder they didn't take me out back and put me out of my misery. It would have been kinder. They don't do kindness.

Born in Neverwinter in 1460 DR, Morgwynn is the second eldest child of Gahelion Belaine - a high elf wizard - and Sorene Belaine - a half drow, half tiefling sorcerer. The Belaine family is an old, elven bloodline obsessed with one thing: magic. Gahelion married Sorene out of an admiration for her sorcerous bloodline, something he was desperate to pass on to his children to outdo his own siblings.

The couple were overjoyed in fact, to have born a tiefling child from Sorene's lineage, until it quickly became apparent that Morgwynn seemed to lack any innate magical talent beyond her infernal cantrips. Her older brother Galamor was showing his magical aptitude before he could walk, and it was a hope that her magicks would eventually manifest themselves that saved her from the worst of the disdain in her younger years.

Once it became apparent that magic did not flow in her veins however, the coldness became outright resentment. She was treated poorly by her parents and siblings both, even the youngest being taught their parents' cruelty without understanding it. Denied food, water, clean clothes and human contact, Morgwynn tried desperately for years to earn the approval of her parents before bitterness and despair set in.

After lashing out more and more in her teen years despite the futility of it, Morgwynn gets sent far away from the family estate to Baldur's Gate where she is enrolled and promptly fails at wizard college, before being sent to bard college as a last resort. While she's better at it: the charming, the talking, the politics, she still can't spin a tune or capture the magic of song whatsoever, and it's largely pity and sweet talking that keeps her from failing her last chance.

She does make 'friends' however, and gets drunk on the attention she'd been starved of, no matter where it came from. Falling into every indulgence of the flesh and alcohol that she can get her hands on, she eventually happens upon a succubus while out with friends and becomes obsessed with the power and confidence she exudes - she's everything Morgwynn isn't. After months of trying to impress her she eventually offers the succubus a deal - her soul's eternal service in exchange for warlock powers and a night of passion.

The plan is flawless, for a time. Morgwynn can finally call upon the magic that had never answered her, and the gnawing pit of emptiness inside her is quieter. But it comes crashing down when the bard college finds out she's cheating by using warlock magic, and she's expelled. She is disowned by her family in the same day, and left to drift - even after selling her soul she's still not enough. She spent a decade buried in bad relationships and liquor to try and feel anything, and probably would have died that way if she hadn't been plucked for a mindflayer's experiment.

The oblivion of ceremorphosis wasn't something that Morgwynn necessarily feared, she almost welcomed it, but she'd always been too stubborn to surrender quietly. So instead, she does what she's always done best: survive out of spite.

[bardandbear]

adventures with WIP Wednesday continue.

my excuse this week for not finishing anything? covid.

[bardandbear]

Will any of these ever leave the sketching phase? We may never know.

I don't really have many art mutuals on here (I don't think) but let me know in the replies if you are okay being tagged in WIP Wednesday shennanigans.

[bardandbear]

verdant

Bastien | Mephistopheles Tiefling | Dark Urge

[bardandbear]

blood and wine (extract)

I’ve never killed anyone, he said, indignant. Well, not for food anyway. I’ve always hunted animals, only I’m not used to being so… watched. It’s not enough.

The ridge of Morgwynn's nose crinked as she furrowed her brow. Why didn’t you tell me? 

Astarion blinked. Would you? At best, I thought I’d end up with a stake between my ribs. We’re  trying to avoid transforming into monsters, you’re hardly going to welcome one with open arms.

You really think I don’t know what it’s like to be looked at like a monster? She said, tilting her head a little so the dawning light caught on the ridges of her horns. She leaned forward - bold, given what had just transpired - and poked him in the chest with a sharpened nail. Next time, one monster to another, just ask me first.