#mystryl

[tweedleneue]

Look I love Gale and I don't want anyone to feel bad about loving Gale, nor do I wanna fight but people are so absurdly hard on Mystra.

Putting aside the fact that she shouldn't be romancing mortals (people generally misunderstand how God's in this world work and misunderstand that Mystra was an adventurer who has only been a living goddess for a few decades) Mystra was not being manipulative by asking Gale for the crown of Karsus.

You can be pissed at her for asking Gale to sacrifice himself, despite the fact that he was going to die from his own self inflicted illness. But to perceive the request for the crown, a second request for forgiveness after Gale denied her first, one that doesn't require him sacrificing his own life, as manipulation on her part is nearly bordering on misogyny I'm being so serious.

The whole ROLE of her as Mystra is to protect her domain. The crown of Karsus DESTROYED MYSTRYL AND THE WEAVE! Why do y'all give her no consideration while giving Gale a whole weaves worth of benefit of the doubt? Please remember that when she literally feeds her power, the source of all magic, into Gales self inflicted power hungry orb, Gale immediately becomes power hungry again.

Gales insecurity leads him to having narcissistic traits, the Orb is a reminder of his folly leads him into a depressive episode because he requires greatness to feed his ego, and immediately when that wound is sated he goes back to his old ways!

Again y'all can like Gale, but you can live in the grey that both of these characters exist in. Yes she's a literal goddess I understand that, But she's not actually omniscient and omnipotent. Her current incarnation has literally died before. She's capable of Mistakes just as Gale is, and we literally only get his side of the account. Plenty of mortals mingle with the Gods in this world, Mystra literally rose to Godhood due to this proximity, Gale isn't ignorant of that fact.

Idk I am only so passionate about this because Gale is the most blatantly concerning companion. His red flags are glaring! I stan a problematic king like anyone else but c'mon now he's not a lil uwu baby who was had. Give him the credit of his own mistakes and flaws! He's literally the only companion who is directly the cause of his own undoing in his past life and people are so quick to sweep it under the rug.

[alpaca-clouds]

Trying to figure the Gale and Mystra thing out

Reading into the entire lore of the Forgotten Realms, I am still trying to figure out the timeline for Gale. Because that timeline kinda runs into the issue that Mystra has died two times during the last about 100 years.

Now, let me make this one clear at the beginning again: Mystra in regards to Gale is a fucking groomer and just a shitty person, and we stand tall in the "fuck Mystra" camp. Buuuuut... I still am trying to figure this one out, because it might also relate to Gale's age - and how young he was, when Mystra chose him.

Alright. Let me talk a bit about Mystra.

The quickest rundown is the following: When Shar and Selûne were at their usual battling, their energies interacted and created a new goddess: Mystryl, the goddess of magic. And as we know from the game: Karsus did his thing, tore apart the weave and through it destroyed Mystryl. But somehow the weave started to gather around a "peasant girl" (who never was named) from the Netherese Empire, who after this ascended to become Mystra and as Mystra managed to restore the weave.

Now, Mystra got involved in the bullshit that is usual for the gods in this world. The Faerûnian pantheon is very much based in the Greek gods, which really shows with them. There is a lot of inter-god drama, politics, backstabbing and also procreating with unsuspecting mortals. Something that Mystra was apparently quite prolific at.

Which gets me to Mystra's deaths. Because she died two times within a short time.

In 1358DR the gods were banished from their realm by Ao, with the exception of Helm who was made to guard the stair between the realms. While banished from the realm, Mystra was captured and tortured by Bane. However, fearing something like this might happen, she had entrusted some of her power to a human mage named Midnight. So, Midnight and her party went to rescue Mystra. However, Mystra was very weakened and needed to return to the realm of the gods. But Helm wouldn't let her pass, leading the two to battle. Which ended with Mystra dead.

However, as mentioned, Mystra had enthrusted Midnight with some of her power. And probably because of this, the weave then started to work around Midnight, who soon awakened as the reborn Mystra. Yet, one of Midnight's former party members, Cyric, saw a chance to ascend himself and murdered her. This was in 1385DR.

Those two deaths one after another lead to the Spellplague (aka, magic didn't work how it used to). And only in 1479DR Elminster was the one to find that Mystra had in fact survived, though she was severely weakened.

Now, BG3 takes place in 1492, so 13 years after this. So, we do know that Gale could not have been with Mystra for longer than that.

The next question would be, how old Gale is. I would put him in his early 30s. So, he was probably around 20 years old, when Mystra chose him (aka started grooming him).

This does put a lot more reason behind Gale's decision to absorb the orb. Because the ressurected Mystra was very much weakened and not fully connected to the weave. So, he would probably have done this because of that.

But this also kinda makes me wonder, how all of that played out. Given Mystra's very weakened state.

[candlekeep]

Transcript:

February 8, 2023

Cdawg — I have endless questions for Ed but am trying to repress my enthusiasm. He's got things to do. I'll ask one last question. Is there anything you can tell us about Larloch's actual life? How did he end up becoming a Chosen of Mystryl, and how did he serve her. That's a book I'd love to read, frankly. (Probably all NDA)

Ed Greenwood — Let's just say there was love involved. Elminster wasn't the first mortal to enjoy the charms of a goddess. If the deity began as mortal, after a time they really, really miss mortality, and want to taste it again.

– From the Greenwood’s Grotto Discord server.

Please support Ed Greenwood’s Patreon for Forgotten Realms lore! The Discord server is open to the public, however only patrons can ask Ed questions directly. Become a patron for as low as $3/month!

[tethys-the-aquatic-sea-godness]

Reminder: Mystryl ≠ Mystra

Mystryl embodied the weave, the other Mystra who followed are incarnations of her power, keepers of the weave, but they're not Mystryl. Only Mystryl is referred to as 'Controller of the Weave'.

[keyboardsmashdmhtmdcmdcdm]

Archfey Merlin story

Mystryl and Bahamut had a child and named Her Merlin. They took her to a non magical land in hope that she would grow up with a understanding of life outside of the realms many were used to. Merlin was disguised as a human and later used her own magic to change into a human boy and later forgetting how she was born. When Merlin was young their mother was traveling with them and lost then a kind man helped them and allowed them to stay at his house. Mystryl proclaimed them family before she left. Later in life Merlin lived in Camelot and while shapeshifting into various different ages created a legend. After Arthurs death Merlin relearned the past and revealed herself to Guinevere. The queen accepted this and became her first warlock, they were like sisters. Through family she learned that the man who helped her mother was the knight Percival's father though Percival was not as keen to have a familial bond. Slowly rising hostility with the church and Gwen's second husband drove Merlin to seek out the realms of Magic at time using the name Lillian which was given to her by Gwen. Merlin learned how to use her magic to travel though time telling no one due the how volatile it was. She traveled mostly through what is now the feywild and tried to be allies with every archfey she met. Eventually she made her way to Cendriane and was offered Mithrendain if the helped lord Kannoth build it into the biggest city in the feywild, she accepted. Kannoth had a wife who was a dark elf vampire named Nathaer Everhzynge who had dark purple red hair. Mithrendain was a fortress at the time and she often fought in his wars as a trusted ally as a show of loyalty despite being a archfey of her own now, she did this thinking it would keep his loyalty. Eventually all her time magic tore a hole through the realms and there was now a entrance to the feydark in the middle of Mithrendain. She refused to tell how it happened and people started to grow weary of her. She began a affair with Eilistraee and conspired with her to create a new race. They mixed their tears of happiness with their magic and created the Tanwen. Eventually they decided that they would end their relationship but stay friends and allies because they both would never wish to lose each others friendship and would not under mine their platonic love. The Tanwen passed though the hole through realms between the feydark and Mithrendain as well as keep the existence of it secret from the fomorians. Seeds of distrust were being sown to Kannoth and Nathaer by a star named Zhudun who had unknown goals. In battle she was known to take out large armies so swiftly they did not know if they would be able to defeat her so they wondered if Zhudun would help. He gave them a terrible prophecy for Cendriane. Nathaer and Kannoth wanted her dead but then thought that it would not be bright to get her parents wrath so they asked Zhudun how to imprison her. He gave them a spell that would put her into a sleep in a weak sate for ever as time would not pass in the room she was in as long as it was sealed. He would return for what he was owed. She knew something was wrong when she saw them and they gave chase. she was caught and brought deep into the vaults below Cendriane and put into a sleep in a room with a door that was sealed and hidden so that she may never leave. Kannoth carried a lily with a long stalk as a weapon which the scent of would break her curse as well as open the door. Later during the crown war Cendriane fell and all its people disappeared as Zhudun glowed in the sky. They did not regret this decision because of the danger she posed. The hole in Mithrendain was sealed to keep the feydark and monsters from there out, though almost none knew of the existence of the Tanwen. She was written out of history in the feywild and was only a rumor of a monster that was so evil it was unspeakable in the vaults. Eventually she was released many thousands of years later by a group of people.

[theworldisadumpster]

Absolutely one of the most gorgeous and impactful pieces of Gale fanart I've ever seen

" The Orb " Baldurs Gate 3 fanart of when Gale found the orb

[y-rhywbeth2]

tbh I'm going to side with Mystra whenever it comes to threats to the Weave. Every time somebody harms/kills the Weave it ends in literally world shattering disaster. Everyone stop fucking around with the fabric of reality.

[mystick-broomstick]

this one might be too niche 🥰

[aliquistis]

On Mystra and Gale

Okay I gotta say it.

tl;dr: Gale is too old to have been groomed by Mystra (unless you headcanon him as 30 or younger), bc she was dead until 1479 (game year is 1492). I am not defending Mystra. Mystra is a mess. Her (FR) writing is a mess. But for this at least, the timeline doesn't add up.

Disclaimer: there is absolutely nothing wrong with people disregarding/tweaking lore for fan works/fanfic. God knows I do it all the time when I GM. That's your story now and you can do whatever you want with it, including exploring problematic relationships like what if Gale was groomed by Mystra? This is just a post for general information. Write what you want. Explore those dark recesses of the human heart. Fly free, you beautiful butterfly.

Too long but still gonna read explanation under the cut.

Let me preface this again: This is not a post in defense of Mystra. I have, in fact, been very loudly complaining about Mystra since long before Baldur's Gate 3 was even hinted. This is simply pointing out timeline discrepancies that it seems many newcomers to Forgotten Realms aren't aware of (totally understandable! You should not need to ingest 30 years of lore to enjoy a game and I'm not saying you do.) Additionally, FR literally kills Mystra every new edition and it gets dumber every time.

Anyways. It is highly unlikely that Gale was groomed by Mystra. This is not a statement of morality, it's a statement of timeline. Mystra died in 1385. She was in pieces (like bits of her magic were still in artifacts/her Chosen, such as Elminster in lore that I absolutely despise) and that, as far as I can tell, is how magic subsisted until 1479, when she was reconstituted by Elminster (in lore that I absolutely despise) This is a gross oversimplification of an event called the Spellplague. I am open to correction on how magic worked here because I moved to Pathfinder during the 4e era and you could not make me read those Elminster books if you put a gun to my head.

Regardless, from 1385-1479, Mystra was dead/missing/asleep. BG3 takes place in 1492. If Gale is 40 years old, he was born in 1452. This means, if Gale is 40, the youngest he could have been was 27 when Mystra contacted him. This lowers, obviously, if you think Gale is 35 or even 30. If he's 30 then Mystra could have contacted him at 17. Yes, a 17 year-old is a child and this could have led to grooming, but Mystra wasn't at full strength when she first returned and she most likely wasn't seeking new Chosen until the next year, 1480. Regardless, this is the reason I put grooming as Highly Unlikely instead of Impossible. I personally believe Gale is older than 30 (I say this as a person in their 30s), I believe he was written with the intention of being a man older than 30, and I cannot see him being in his 20s. (more power to you if that's your headcanon, he's an archmage, he could be 600 for all we know, fly free, etc)

OKAY THAT SAID. Would she have groomed him? Fucking probably! Mystra is a mess. I have been playing in Forgotten Realms in tabletop and video game settings for going on 25 years now and let me tell you. Mystra is a mess. I could make a whole long ass other post on all the many problems I've had with her writing over the years. Even without the "Mystra banged a minor" angle here, there is a serious power imbalance and very obvious manipulation on her part. And I'm here to tell you Gale isn't even the first wizard she has done this to! She's done much worse! Mystra has a ton of flaws (I could write a BOOK on Mystra's flaws) but it remains highly unlikely that grooming Gale in particular is one of them.

If you'd like more FR lore this person has some amazing lore write-ups that I really enjoyed reading during EA. And here is Mystra's forgotten realms wiki page, already linked to her death and return.

(my friend told me to post this after I kept bitching to them about Lore on discord and They Know Who They Are)

[lanaevyssmoved]

the more i read and learn about the gods in the forgotten realms lore the less i hate mystra. dont confuse this for me liking her... but shes pretty rad

[beachgothgay]

I do think it's kinda funny that Gale knows all about the history of Karsus and you can convince him to basically be like "what if i did the exact same thing... but made it work?"

[blackbyrenflowers]

One thing BG3 players may not have known about Karsus is that he wasn't trying to become a god for the hell of it. His homeland of Netheril was at war with the phaerimm, a race of extremely powerful magical aberrations. Multiple cities had already fallen to them by the time he had developed his spell Karsus's avatar.

(Side note: High Netherese civilization was located on flying mountain tops that were severed from the ground and flipped upside to serve as a base for the city. So when I say fall, I mean fall.)

Karsus developed his spell to steal the powers of a god so he could destroy the phaerimm and save his people. The spell was actually only temporary in nature (though he didn't appear to know this), and he picked Mystryl (Mystra's former incarnation) as he reasoned the powerful goddess of magic was the best target.

The problem that Karsus didn't realize until it was too late was that Mystryl maintained the use of all magic in the universe. As her powers were lost, all magic in the world began to fluctuate wildly and she was forced to sacrifice herself to stop Karsus, which caused all magic to briefly stop, sending Netheril and its floating cities crashing to the ground.

Karsus wasn't some megalomaniac wizard who saw godhood as his birthright and killed Mystryl to get it - he was a person with good intentions who wanted to save his home and his family but ended up causing an unimaginable amount of destruction, and in his last moments his heart broke over how he had accidentally doomed them all.

Anyways, here's an unrelated Gale quote about Lorroakan seeking godhood:

[kirain]

Sigh....Galemancers really love to move the goal post when it comes to the grooming accusations huh? You found out Gale was a fully grown MAN when Mystra slept with him so now you have to say, "Well then he was emotionally groomed and the power dynamic is too vast." Mystra is a neutral good goddess because she's Midnight, who was a neutral good human. She hates that her magic has to be used for good and evil. Ao makes her share it evenly but she'd rather not. She would never do anything to hurt Gale. The writers of the game even confirmed she's not a groomer. People like you also downplay the point of Gale's entire story arc, which is he should've listened to Mystra! The whole point of his personal quest is he needs to learn to humble himself and listen to his goddess! He has no one to blame for his downfall but himself.

There's no "post" to move, anon. The game and lore give us all the context we need. Grooming doesn't only apply to children, and people have proven right and left that Mystra is terrible at relationships. She's petty and abusive when she isn't obeyed by her partners, and that's been the case with all of her iterations. Even the narrator describes her as a "jealous goddess" when you visit her shrine. Plus, your information is wrong on many accounts; the most pertinent being that the Mystra of BG3/5E isn't technically Midnight. Cyric and Shar killed her, reducing her to her godly essence (lore-wise that means she died). The current Mystra is an amalgamation of the vestiges of Mystryl, Mystra, and Midnight, as told in the novel Elminster Enraged.

Now, this is about to get complicated, as it always does with Mystra, so from here on out I'll be referring to Mystra #1 as Mystryl, Mystra #2 as Mystra #2, Mystra #3 as Midnight, and Mystra #4 as 5E Mystra. Alright, let's get started.

Elminster had to reform the fallen goddess by giving her fragments of all three iterations of Mystra. Since all three iterations are combined, our current 5E Mystra embodies the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly. There's even a conversation with The Simbul (one of the Seven Sisters and a Chosen of Mystra) where the newly reformed 5E Mystra speaks of Elminster as her "longest lover". This puzzles The Simbul because that was something of the old Mystra (Mystra #2), not Midnight. The new 5E Mystra replies that she has become a combination of the memories of Mystryl, Mystra #2, and Midnight. This is all in chapter 25-30 of Elminster Enraged. I know it's confusing, but in short: 5E Mystra is not Midnight anymore, and the leading mind is clearly that of Mystra #2, hence her extremely poor judgement—a recurring theme with her character.

Mystryl and Mystra #2 were originally lawful neutral. The alignment changed to neutral good when Midnight took up the mantle, because Midnight herself was a neutral good person. But now it seems 5E Mystra is true neutral, because you are right, anon; Ao won't allow her to do whatever she wants. Midnight tried and was forbidden. 5E Mystra absolutely does not have the same level of humanity or kindness as Midnight, and that may be because Mystryl had no human consciousness and Mystra #2 was a mess.

Regardless of her alignment, she must embody her domain by Ao's decree, which means she needs to spread magic across all Realmspace. Since she has to maintain the balance, she approaches good, neutral, and evil mages with potential opportunities. This isn't a criticism (that's just how godhood works), but rather proof that Mystra is absolutely capable of good and bad. I don't want to hear any more of this "she's a precious little bean and Gale's victim" nonsense. Even if she wants to be, she's not. As Kikitakite said in their post, she's done some fucked up things.

Whether or not the writers intended to make Mystra a groomer, that's exactly what they did. Sometimes writers don't realise they've written an abusive character until they're criticised. Take writer of The Notebook, Nicholas Sparks, for example. He didn't realise he'd written Noah to be an abusive piece of shit until Ryan Gosling pointed it out himself. Gosling has gone on record many times to say he hates Noah, and experts have labeled him an unrealistic and emotionally abusive/manipulative character. The same can be said for Stephenie Meyer, who wrote some of the most celebrated toxic relationships in recent media—with a dash of borderline pedophilia on the side. Therapists have weighed in extensively to tell people that Bella and Edward's relationship isn't healthy and shouldn't be emulated in real life. Indeed, perhaps the best thing to come out of the entire franchise is Robert Pattinson's hatred of Edward and the series as a whole. Jacob's actor, Taylor Lautner, even argued with Meyer's on set because of how weird the "imprinting" segment was and he didn't want to come off as predatory. Meyer argued it was "romantic". 😕

Even if you don't agree Gale was groomed, Mystra is flagrantly responsible for his insecurities and she never should've put her hands on him. The power dynamic is too vast, and even god Gale (conceited as he is) realises it by the end. He only stays in a relationship with Tav if they allow him to ascend them alongside him as his equal. He recognises that anything else would be unhealthy and unacceptable. Also, I researched high and low regarding your claim, but none of the devs have dispelled the idea that Mystra is a groomer. In fact, the most I could find was one dev simply saying, "To Gale it was love, but he didn't know any better." If anything, that only confirms he was confused and didn't know what to do. Their "relationship" was a stunningly horrible idea from the start and that's not on Gale, it's on the literal cosmic being who initiated it.

Moreover, Gale was very likely 17 when Mystra revealed herself to him. This perfectly fits into the 5E Forgotten Realms timeline. If so, no, he absolutely wasn't a grown man. He was a teenager. Mystra may not have slept with him until he was in his 20's, but that still makes it a disgusting teacher-turned-lover situation. Gale even tells us he was "young" when she took him into her fold, and he was only eight years old when Elminster started their lessons. Remember, Elminster is Mystra's biggest apologist. He would've taught Gale to revere her, which means there was almost never a point in his life when Mystra wasn't the main focus. You can tell by the way he speaks about her in Act 1. He's in awe, he's excited, he's proud she chose him. That does something to a child. Something irreversible. If anything, Elminster is complicit in what happened. I've said this before, but he couldn't even be bothered to visit Gale himself. He sent a simulacrum.

As for your accusation that I'm "downplaying" Gale's story arc—you're damn right I am, because the writers made me! Most D&D players I know aren't very happy with how Mystra is portrayed in the game, and that's probably because even they know she isn't presented in a very flattering light. If you really think about it, it's obvious what the writers were going for, but they failed. For example, you said Gale should've listened to Mystra, right? Well, in Act 1 he admits his ambition was his undoing, blames himself for his downfall, and by Act 2 he's literally ready to off himself for her. In fact, he's the only one who sees her ultimatum as justified. Every other companion says she's being cruel and unreasonable. If Gale actually blows himself up at the end of Act 2, the results are catastrophic. The brain is destroyed, yes, but the tadpoles, free of the Absolute's control, complete their transformation and infect/enslave the entire Sword Coast. Anon. She. Is. Stupid. Even the Narrator is like, "You wanna ... you wanna try that again?"

The entirety of Act 2 is Gale learning he shouldn't listen to Mystra. And then she has the audacity to lecture him in Act 3? If he'd listened, it would've been the end of everything. Maybe if Mystra was as infallible as she pretends to be, she would've put her three brains together and came up with a better, less vindictive plan. Because make no mistake, she wanted Gale to blow up in Act 2, which is ridiculous. I know this is an uncomfortable topic for some people, but gods aren't perfect, especially in fiction. They're flawed. They're selfish. Some of them are straight up assholes. The real irony of Gale's arc isn't that he has no one to blame but himself, it's that Mystra should blame herself. At no point does she even consider if she's being unreasonable or unfair. There's no self reflection whatsoever. And the writers expect me to think Gale's full of himself? I wonder where he got it.

Probably from his teacher. ✋🎤

[powdermelonkeg]

Thoughts on the thunder wizard again.

Genuinely, I find Gale's relationship with Mystra to be fascinating when you consider all its facets. Unhealthy, imbalanced, definitely poisonous, but also very, very intricate with a lot of blurred edges to it. One of those things where you're both like "wow, what the hell, that's horrible" but also "that makes perfect sense for their characters, and while I would NEVER, I know why they would, and why it happened."

You've got a wizard who doesn't know what real love is, who thinks he's finally being shown it by the person he adores most. His greatest fantasy, his most potent joy, his most heartfelt aspirations, and they were all offered to him.

And he wants to see what all she's hiding from him, because of course he does. She's the keeper of all things forbidden to him. The empire of Netheril reached magical heights that will never be touched again, and all that knowledge is beyond her curtain. She loves him, right? Surely, if he proves himself enough, she'll let him grasp that power he so desperately wants.

And not even in the power-hungry sense! All that magic Mystra's locked up was accessible during Mystryl's reign. Think of all the answers to theories about the universe that are back there. Every question of "can this be done, and what would it do" would be answered, if he could just bargain hard enough.

She loves him, right?

Surely, if he proves himself enough...

And then, on the other hand, Mystra. Once Midnight, her human personality has been subsumed by the goddess of magic and her duty to the Weave. She has a responsibility to magic, she IS magic.

Then along comes this mortal boy who knows how to handle her Weave. Who doesn't try to wrestle with and dominate, who sings to it. He handles it with such ease and grace—it's not just that he could be Chosen, but he deserves it. To put her Weave in the hands of someone so intrinsically in tune with it, who understands its potential with a wonder like no other. Few enough can handle the raw power that comes with being Chosen, but this one? This one is perfect.

And he adores you. And you adore him, like one would a beautiful butterfly that's landed on their finger. And he's willing to be devoted to you in all things, not out of transaction like most of your worshipers are, but out of love for you, your craft, your magic. You're so deeply and utterly charmed by him.

And it's not like Mystra hasn't walked this path before.

She gives him what he desires, because what he desires is her. And, in a different way, she desires him. She wants him to be her representation in the world. She indulges his adoration with her own presence, and takes indulgence herself in mortal comforts. He's never satisfied with her answers, but who could blame him? She keeps a whole world away from mortals, because she knows what such unfettered power might bring about (again).

And the wizarding prodigy's ambition is lit (again).

And the height of power is reached for (again).

And she stops him (again, again, again).

She does care for him. She doesn't want to see her little butterfly burn himself, and she doesn't want to be the one to ruin those wings.

But then he's not a butterfly. He's a mortal, wielding a weapon of murder, of her murder, and he's brought it to her doorstep because she told him "no." And he's cut himself on it, he doesn't know what it is, but it's hurt him—and it's only a fraction of the hurt it could do to her. How dare he want her help after threatening her?

(He didn't mean to.)

(He only wanted to help.)

(He only wanted. How human.)

She doesn't help him. If he wants to pursue Karsus' weaponry, it's his responsibility, his hubris, that led him to injuring himself on it. She's furious. She's hurt. She's cold.

(What fools these mortals be.)

But then, there's a greater threat to her. Something that could drown the Material in Karsus' failings. And that little boy, who nicked himself on the sword he lifted, still wants her help.

It's a fair trade, isn't it? She'll forgive him, let him into her domain again, if he accepts his punishment and goes into battle for her. He picked up a sword, it's appropriate that he learns to use it in her name, right?

If he was telling the truth, he wouldn't hesitate. If he really wanted to serve her with the Netherese Orb, he would jump at the opportunity to do so. He would have to give up a few petty things in the process, ("petty," she calls mortality, as if family and home mean nothing, as if friends and love are finite. Because to her, they do mean nothing. Because to her, they are finite.) but it isn’t atonement without sacrifice, is it?

It's the tactical move. She's not above hurting one man to save a nation. It's not even the first time she's done it.

(Dornal Silverhand sends his regards.)

If he loves her, he'd die for her, because she'd let him into her paradise. If he doesn't love her, he won't, and she was justified in removing him from her grace.

He doesn't love her. Not anymore.

Does he hate her enough to try to take his dues?

Ambition has always been man's greatest folly.

[galedekarios]

gale & curing the orb - early access

writing my current series of cut content from early access made me think a lot, especially about how curing gale of the orb might have originally worked out if larian had kept to what had been set up in early access. it's no secret that a lot of things were changed or cut entirely, big and small, like for instance halsin's involvement with ketheric's fall, isobel and the shadow curse.

gale's condition, too, seemed different then.

what exactly was different in early access?

while only a few body models were unique in early access, gale's key art showed his left arm in bandages.

in early access, auntie ethel had vicious mockery lines, which hinted what might be beneath those bandages:

Auntie Ethel: I can smell what's under those bandages, wizard. You're all rot and ruin. Come to greet death early? You'll be a lovely spectacle.

we also had information from gale directly as to what happened to karsus in the aftermath of casting his spell:

Player: I was wondering about that “mighty lord” you told me about in your story. Gale: Ah, yes. Karsus Karsus was perhaps the most powerful wizard that ever lived. The child-who-would-be-a-god, the elves called him. And he tried. With a spell of his own devising he endeavoured to usurp in one fell swoop the power of the goddess of magic.  Mystryl, she was called then. Imagine what it must have felt like. To be a god. To know yourself to be untouchable. To be mistaken. As Karsus aimed his spell at her she began to unravel, and with her, the entire Weave. Too late did he realize what he had unleashed. It would have been the end of everything had not Mystryl sacrificed herself.  Gale: The goddess of magic is all magic. By dying, the entire weave was lost, and the spell that challenged a god failed. It was the end of Mystryl, the end of Karsus, and the end of an entire civilization. As the child-who-would-be-a-god was turned to stone, his empire came crashing down around him. The floating cities of Netheril were no more. An event that came to be known as Karsus’ folly.

which is in accordance with the lore:

Unfortunately, his choice was a terrible mistake, for one of the responsibilities of the deity of magic was to regulate the flow of magic to and from all beings, spells, and magic items in the world. Lacking the ability to do so properly, magic surged and fluctuated. With her last remaining bit of power, Mystryl sacrificed herself to block Karsus's access to the Weave, causing all magic to fail. The flying cities of Netheril plummeted to the earth. The severing of the link also killed Karsus and transformed him into stone, and the last thing he saw was his entire civilization being destroyed because of his actions. This was to be known as Karsus's Folly. The stone form of Karsus eventually landed in a part of the High Forest, now called the Dire Wood. The city of Karse was built around its base. Karsus was never accepted as a petitioner by any god, nor did he go to the Fugue Plane when he died. Instead, his soul was bound to the Material Plane. Those with experience in pact magic could call up his vestige, where he appeared as a giant blood-red boulder, like the one found in the High Forest where his petrified form landed. Blood burbles up from the top of the stone, trickling down the side facing the summoner, pooling at the base. When he spoke, the pool fountained upwards, its height varying on the volume of his voice.

the netherese orb then seemed to have a immediate visible physical effect on gale, in addition to the ones that carried to the full release version of the game.

so putting these clues together, i think it's safe to say that the orb caused gale in early access to be afflicted with some form of corrupted petrification, which makes sense given that it's a piece of magic unleashed during karsus's folly.

at that point, this corruption seemed to be affecting his left arm the most, perhaps either from opening the book containing the netherese magic with it, or trying to shield himself with it - but that's just speculation on my part.

so what did the early access set up in terms of curing gale from his affliction?

gale in early access showed a great interest in the astral plane, especially in the absence of time there. he has several banters with lae'zel, which are still in the game now and showing his vested interest in the astral plane as well as any knowledge or insight lae'zel might offer on it:

Gale asks Lae'zel about the Astral Plane. Has she been there? Gale: Tell me, Lae'zel, what is it like on the Astral Plane? Your home realm intrigues me. Lae'zel: Githyanki lay their eggs on other planes. They cannot mature in the Astral. Lae'zel: I will only be welcomed once I obtain a mind flayer's head.

lae'zel notices gale's interest and initiates a banter of her own:

Lae'zel asks Gale what his interest is in the Astral plane, and he equivocates Lae'zel: Tell me, Gale: what is your interest in the Astral Plane? Gale: Time. Or rather: the absence of it. In the Astral Plane, everything is eternal. Lae'zel: It will be my home soon enough, should Vlaakith will it.

in addition to these banters, which clearly show gale's interest in the astral plane - which now in the full release seems merely academic - hinted at another solution to ridding himself of the orb.

what points to that quite conclusively is gale's dialogue when he reveals the truth about the orb to the protagonist.

this reveal differs quite significantly from the full release version. most notably, the protagonist was able to ask him about his own ideas for a what might be able to cure him from the orb.

gale had something very interesting to say to that question:

Player: What would permanently rid you of the orb? Gale: The orb was kept safe and inert in a pocket of Astral Plane, suspended in time. If I can somehow manage to expel it from my body while in the Astral Plane, it will be rendered inert again. Alternatively, I could learn to control it’s chaotic magic, that is; to succeed where I failed before. But without Mystra’s favour, I don’t see how that may come to pass. Of course there could be different answers as well. Faerun brims with more magic than any one wizard could fathom, let alone comprehend. Who knows what outlandish solutions may yet present themselves?

so what does this all mean?

in conclusion, i believe originally there were either more ways to cure gale from the orb - or maybe even in a different manner entirely - than there are in the full release version of the game (begging mystra to remove it, ascension, or accepting/keeping the orb).

perhaps even one that would circumvent having to beg mystra for forgiveness entirely, without gale having to sacrifice his mortality to do so.

i think these banters and lines of dialogue show that the astral plane, which would have rendered the orb inert and stopped the corrupted petrification of his body, would have played a bigger role in gale's quest.

[keyboardsmashdmhtmdcmdcdm]

Archfey Merlin

Merlin is a character I made originally a female drow based on multiple characters though mostly Merlin then became quite the story. She has the haunted one background and she is a sorcerer of draconic blood line, circle of moon druid, wild magic barbarian, cleric of Bahamut, college of valour bard, arcane trickster rogue, battle master fighter, hunter ranger, divination wizard and oath of vengeance paladin. Merlin at first looks like a drow but on second glance is not, she is eight feet and three inches tall with a dark blue completion the inside of her mouth and flesh is bright blue she has scales that swirl in patterns on her skin and glow with their own light. She has red blood. Her ears are serrated like the githyanki. Merlin is the child of Mystryl and Bahamut who was taken to the non magical earth and raised there. She can play multiple kinds of flutes and whistles including the contrabass flute, as well as a few other instruments. She has both a larynx and a syrinx and can make up to three different sounds at the same time sometimes. She also loves apples and acorns as well as food made from them. She has a innate strong shapeshifting ability and to use polymorph.

Edit: I thought that making her a oathbreaker paladin would be a better fit.

Edit: Merlin is used to working alone or being the one to give orders not working on a team.

Edit: Merlin will often travel or live as a human man for years and be referred to as such during these times.

Edit: Lillian is not her real name any more than Merlin is. Her real name in both lives is Gaelwen.

Edit: I thought making her a cleric of herself would work better.

Edit: I thought that her skin could absorb almost 100% of light and the scales could emit light.

Edit: She should not actually be a paladin or cleric at all.

Edit: Her domains are Magic, Nature, Knowledge, Twilight, War, Time, Life and death. I thought of possibly adding Trickery, Creation, Fey, Wilderness, Arcana, Destruction, Healing and madness if it is not too much.