#voss/tav

[des-no9]

DOLL PARTS is a tale of the intertwined lives of survival in a tumultuous winter beneath a dystopian Vlaakith Empire. Of a formerly Mastered Doll, Vanquish, now a Carver, living amongst the lowest of society in the Discard Downs. Of a disgraced old githyanki, Voss, adjusting to civilian life after most of his spent inside prison. Of an heir to the Empire conspiring to tear it all down from within, Orpheus, if he could just open his eyes for long enough to care.

Explicit - 30k Kith'rak Voss/Vanquish, Orpheus/Vanquish, Orpheus/Kith'rak Voss, and others. 8 chapters (including the Prologue and Epilogue)

CW: Abusive and Unhealthy Relationships, Dub & Non-con, Drug Use, Rough Sex, Blood and Violence, Alien Biology, Public Sex, Identity Issues, Prison Violence and Abuse

Read DOLL PARTS on AO3, from the Prologue Overture Strings, then-

Written for @bg3-winter-big-bang alongside my dear friend @unaarista who drew incredible art for it, including the cover.

Updated every Wednesday until complete. Enjoy!

[zellk]

Githyanki doodling on post-it notes that I cleaned up a lil bit Lae'zel from memory on the first (im only happy with the profile tbh), and Anma and Mitas on the second (It was SO easy to fit them in BG3 lore it's insane... I even have a whole storyline roughly figured out for them and it came together in like 30 minutes on my walk home from work.) I don't have any energy to draw nowadays except on post-its, but it's better than nothing.

[cambion-companion]

[theamaus]

If Fa’ra had never been infected with the tadpole she would still have been sent to Faerûn to investigate. There she might have been separated from her team and wandered off to explore the land.

Here she might have come across music and found her deep passion for it, thereby becoming a bard. She might have found the crèche in the mountain pass and then come across the tadpole gang. Maybe she sees a handsome wizard. Maybe she tries to help him. Maybe they fall in love.

Who knows.

[a2zillustration]

I haven't even let Gale read a book about this yet everyone neEDS TO CALM DOWN.

| First | | Previous | | Next |

[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]

[[ All Croissant Adventures (app) ]]

[redcapmcnasty]

I’ve been inactive but I wanna start posting again.. here’s some Voss & Sabine I drew this week 💕

Sort of an AU pic cus I wanted to draw him in slutty Githyanki raider gear.

[iicaru2]

potentially unpopular opinion, but my favorite ending for lae’zel (romanced or not) is asking her to stay in faerûn. the first ending i ever got for her was the sick ass dragon ending, but i didn’t feel good about it when i got to the epilogue. i kept thinking about that scene she has in act 3 (post-vlaakith showing up in camp to yell at her like an abusive mother) where you can ask her about her own needs and wants vs. her pledging herself to different people’s causes. vlaakith, then orpheus.

she approves when you ask, and says something along the lines of “there will come a time when i can think of myself beyond the lich-queen (...) but that time won’t come until the prince of the comet is set free.” she’s been living her entire life following orders and dedicating every bit of herself to the cause she believes in. lae’zel does just about everything in the name of someone else, because that’s what she was taught. she was raised a loyal soldier, and she doesn’t quite know what she is without that purpose in her life. she’s a lot like shadowheart in this regard.

but if you convince her to stay in faerûn after defeating the netherbrain— i know this quote because i saved it as i love it very much— she says: “mother gith battled for liberty - but it was only here, with you, that i learned what it meant to be free. yes - i will stay. my destiny is for neither vlaakith nor orpheus to decree. it is mine.”

and orpheus acts like everything he did was for nothing after that, which is kind of dumb. voss is obviously still going to fight for githyanki liberation (he has a letter about this in the epilogue), and you can see several of them taking to the skies afterwards. the githyanki people will be liberated, but it doesn’t have to be lae’zel who spends the rest of her life doing it for him. she’s found friends here. family.

she’s made a life of her own, and it’s unfair to ask her to throw that away for a war she didn’t start. like, for fuck’s sake, she’s twenty-two. she’s the youngest of the origins, and honestly, after seeing so much content of her throughout my several campaigns, it makes sense. lae’zel is the way she is because not only is she very young, she was also raised a soldier in a cutthroat environment. she’s never known any different, not until the pc and the tadfools party comes along to turn her worldview upsidedown.

if you ask her to stay, she seems so happy in the epilogue. plus, if you happened to steal an egg from the crèche and have exceptional approval with her, you can ask if the egg has hatched yet, and it leads to my favorite line of hers in the game: “so it has. i call him Xan. ‘freedom.’ tonight, he is safe among people i proudly call friends. what a wonder he is. he will be a fine warrior, if he chooses. or a poet, or an explorer, or a scholar. i was afforded a destiny of my own choosing. when he comes of age, it is only right i give Xan the same.”

she’s happy, and free, having adventures of her own all over faerûn with people she trusts. she’s raising her adoptive son and giving him the childhood she was never allowed to have. it’s such a great ending for her and i love her so fucking much.

[calistozom]

SPOILER WARNING for one of the endings. And also, I may be exaggerating a little.

In my first run, I tried to reach the best possible ending. Even though I chose the Emperor (because he, at the very least, didn't try to kill me the first time I met him), in my personal canon, after the great final, my OС would try to resurrect the gith Prince. NOT just because I felt sorry for Orpheus, but also because I felt guilty for actually destroying Lae’zel's life… twice... my "lil angry war-frog" didn't deserve it! ＞︿＜

And I ALSO understand that most of those dramatic deaths are used purely for the sake of the plot and this is a REALLY GOOD plot in many ways ... HOWEVER, I still resent how quickly our rebel giths buried their Prince. Like WTF, Voss?! What the actual F….???

I may not know everything about resurrection mechanics in DnD, but I do know that THERE ARE a lot of ways to bring someone back from the dead. Like all my resurrection scrolls, or "Divine Intervention" (from clerics), or resurrection spells (from almost all mages/sorceress/warlocks/clerics/paladins/etc.), or the "Wish" spell (which Gale's "friend" Elminster is clearly capable of), or the "Reincarnation" spell (which druids are capable of), or you can ask Withers/Jergal to create a miracle for the last time (although he most likely would have refused and I don’t judge him). Just ask for help, you stupid kith’rak! * screams of rage *

P.S. – while I was drawing, my sister showed me THIS and I felt like it fits, so I’m leaving a link to you. Thank gods, that I’m not the only one who asks these questions.

[certifieddilfenjoyer]

Astral Prism, Orpheus & Raphael Theory

So you know how most people in Baldur's Gate 3 fandom make the Raphael joke?

I'm here to tell you that it's extremely hurtful, because his character has a lot more depth than some of you are willing to see.

Behold, my Baldur's Gate 3 theory:

Right before we enter Act 3, we are jumped by githyanki who want to retrieve our Astral Prism. We are summoned to the Dream Visitor - The Emperor, to help him in the fight.

We find out then that our supposed ally is an illithid but there is one more guy, The Gith, the Orpheus, The Prince of the Comet.

You can ask the Emperor what the heck is a githyanki doing there and he will tell you the brief story about the War of The Comet*.

He is going to mention, that he is bound by INFERNAL chains. Hold on? How come?

After we are done with the Royal Guard, we can go to the upper left side from Orpheus's prison and find an ancient Githyanki disc. It will tell us, that Vlaakith had some infernal business conducted with a devil with wry charm. Of course Raphael isn't the only devil capable of being charming, but it feels natural for it to be him when he is already a very important character in game.

Baldur's Gate 3 Wiki says that it is indeed Vlaakith and Raphael.

OK, but why would they exchange the Astral Prism and is it Vlaakith getting it or Raphael receiving the relic?

He is giving it to Vlaakith. But how would he be in possession of such an artifact?

My theory: He is the one who had it created for that trade. (Commissioned from someone else)

Explanation:

If you look at Hope's and Orpheus's prison, you will notice a striking resemblance at the crystals that can be only shattered by the Orphic Hammer. A Hammer, that Raphael is in possession of! How convenient!

(Even Hope's and Orpheus' eyes are glowing in the same way when they are enslaved.**)

The runes and the design of both Astral Prism and Orpheus' shackles are also strikingly similar. It does not look like anything of Githyanki creation, it screams infernal.

But that still doesn't really add up, does it? Who would possibly create such a powerful object which plays such a major role in the plot?

Here, we have to familiarise ourselves with the wonderful post by Bearhugsandshrugs

Em explains above who the people visiting House of Hope are***.

One of them is a crazy, extremely knowledgeable wizard who specialises in creating copies of himself which prevents him from dying in battle.

When we kill Raphael, we kill him in HoH, in his own domain. He should be gone, for good! But yet, upon interacting with the Orb of Infernal Envisioning, we see that he is soon to be devoured by his father. Hells do not split into separate planes - so either Mephisto snatched his soul somehow (which seems impossible because his body is still there and devil's souls are their bodies) or Raphael respawned and his father took one of his clones or something like that. (He's just so cool I had to put it in here, but let me return to my theory now)

Another name on the list points out to Raphael's interest in different planes (even the ones which don't seem to be reachable) but also, magical puzzle boxes capable of holding items inside. As you can see, the name on the list is under the uninvited visitors section, which most likely means that they either fuel his soul pillars or have been turned into a soul coin. So it didn't have to be that particular person helping Raphael with the creation of the Astral Prism, but it points out to his interest in that topic.

Now, when would that even happen?

Karsus Folly took place in -339 DR, BG3 takes place in 1492 DR, around 2000 years later.

The enslavement of Orpheus - so also the Vlaakith trade - happened at around -4000 DR.

It is not impossible that Raphael was already around and scheming at that time. Why? Because Mephistopheles gifted Haarlep to Raphael most likely when Raphael was about to get the Crown before his father snatched it. Comparing their visual age, it seems that Raphael was already a young adult cambion at around the War of The Comet age.

Another thing is the fact that, Kith'rak Voss, the badass Githyanki Red Dragon rider, the sword of Vlaakith, found out about Raphael and contacted him and told us to get our ass inside Sharess Caress. Raphael doesn't mention him having an 'office' there, it's Voss who does it. Only upon entering the place, we can interact with Korrilla who's like, hey girl go upstairs Raphael rented a room hoping you'd drop by. HE KNOWS WE SPOKE TO VOSS, he has to! And also, Voss was around when Orpheus got enslaved! According to Wiki he was inside the Astral Plane when that happened. And Raphael has absolutely 0 interest in trading with Voss, yet the githyanki managed to reach him somehow. In my opinion, when he finally realised the lies of Vlaakith, he was looking for a specific devil, for Raphael, because he might remember him from back then.

(* Justice to my poor Githyanki, the most based and cool race in BG3. Imagine how painful it has to be to realize over centuries of time that you helped the self-proclaimed queen establish her tyranny over your own people because you've been brainwashed to believe that Orpheus is a traitor and Vlaakith the rightful heir of the throne)

(** The eyes, the chains, the crystals. The top of the Orphic Hammer is literally partially built from that same gem/crystal and on top of that, if you use Examine on it, it clearly states that it has been built in Infernal forges.)

(*** headcanon warning: The Amulet of Vigor that is present in the Archive is actually proven to have some... Other invigorating capabilities ☠️☠️☠️ and the old, ancient, crazy wizard has the boudoir privileges. Coincidence? ☠️☠️)

Anyways, to sum up:

• Githyanki disc shows us a deal between Vlaakith and Raphael where the devil gives her the Astral Prism.

• Raphael orders creation of the Orphic Hammer (the name itself, come on, it's such a mockery just like House of Hope) to make sure that he has the means to free him if it will benefit him in any way.

• In exchange for the Hammer, he receives some kind of knowledge of ascension to godhood. (Lae'Zel tells us during the game that ascension is the githyanki's greatest honour but it turns out it is nothing else but ensuring that Vlaakith remains alive and a god, because she just consumes the life force of her greatest warriors)

• Hope's and Orpheus's chains are strikingly similar and the part of the Orphic Hammer is built from the same gem/crystal that seems to be enslaving both of them.

So yea, my humble request is that you start fully appreciating the incredible writing of the game, instead of just focusing on the shallow 'haha bottom' jokes. I could make another post about that itself, but it's pointless. I hope you enjoyed!

[bg3scenarios]

Kith’rak: You have returned safely from the House of Hope

Tav: Yeah, it was awesome

Kith’rak: Awesome?

Tav: I got some bitching gloves, and a cool necklace, and I slept with this really hot incubus-

Kith’rak: And the hammer?

Tav: Oh

Tav: …

Karlach: I knew we forgot something!

[des-no9]

just some Vossies and Van and Vossies I sketched over the past couple of weeks <3

The tir'su says: 'Don't die.' 'Only with you.'

[thegoblinwitchqueen]

A commission for the wonderful @tunarath of their Tav Ilu and their father Kith’rak Voss ❤️❤️

[wellthebardsdead]

Voss: please you must accept the devils offer we-

Tav: it’s alright, wait for us downstairs.

Voss: *looks at them, then at Raphael, then at lae’zel*

Lae’zel: listen to them Kithrak, you can trust them.

Voss: *nods* very well… I will await you downstairs. *walks out*

Raphael: I’m glad to see you’ve made i-

*squeak!*

Minsc: I? Boo? You know this man??

Raphael: boo?

Boo: *scurry’s down minsc’s arm and leaps from him onto Raphael’s awaiting palm, before scurrying up to his shoulder* squeak!

Raphael: I- well yes I know that-

Boo: squeak!

Raphael: yes and I’m greatful for th-

Boo: squeak! Squeak!

Raphael: I?! You can’t be serious! Let’s be reasonable here my furry friend-

Boo: SQUEAK!!

Raphael: Ugh! Fine! Take the damned thing! *summons the hammer dropping it at tavs feet*

Boo: squeak.

Raphael: what about her?! I know I owe you more than a few favours but-

Boo: *grabs his face* …

Raphael: *visibly nervous* …I’ll release her.

Boo: squeak.

Raphael: …And apologise.

*a few minutes later*

Astarion: I would. Like to thoroughly and sincerely apologise to boo… I don’t want to know what that hamster is capable of.

Minsc: a wise choice! Boo is the most mighty and powerful hamster in all the realms! And he accepts your apology.

Boo: squeak!

Tav: who was it he asked Raphael to release by the way?

*meanwhile in the house of hope*

Korrilla: I don’t want to end my contract with Raphael, he’s a great boss and he gives me what I want when I want it Hope!

Hope: ughhh if you won’t leave then I’ll stay here. He’s not allowed to hurt me anymore so I guess I’ll forgive him. He seems to be suffering enough as is-

Raphael: *bawling his eyes out into his pillow because his plans all got undone by a hamster* ITS NOT FAAAAAIR!!!

Haarlep: *patting his hair* there there~

[almightyramtha]

once vaana found out he was a devil she was very anti raphael

Bonus from downstairs:

[jackal-tabaque]

Однажды в ночи... Once upon a night...

[a2zillustration]

Emperor we've been working together for months at this point will you just TELL ME-

| First | | Previous | | Next |

[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]

[[ All Croissant Adventures (app) ]]