#also yes Gale is Sage’s childhood friend

[jibberjibbsart]

Wait I want to rewrite Sage’s backstory already.

It all starts with Sage’s mother Ana Tavreen.

The Tavreens were struggling nobles from the city of Waterdeep and were deeply indebted to the Graye family. To free themselves of their debt, the Tavreens promised their eldest daughter to the Graye’s eldest son, Octavian. Ana wanted to refuse the marriage, she wanted to marry for love, but she also wanted to help her family. She agreed and entered the loveless marriage.

Years go by and Ana is unable to conceive an heir. It is no secret that Octavian has taken many lovers during their marriage and she fears he is seeking an heir elsewhere. Conveniently she meets him.

He says the right things, it’s as if she has known him for years. She falls in love quickly. He tells her he can solve her problems, he can give her everything she desires. She agrees, and signs her soul away.

She becomes pregnant, and her mysterious suitor disappears. She tells Octavian they will finally have an heir, she saved her family.

Until the baby is born with blue skin, horns, a tail, and obsidian eyes. A tiefling.

The man Ana laid with was a Cambion, a half devil half mortal being. Normally they can’t reproduce with humans, but a human with tiefling ancestry can potentially produce a child. Ana’s family has infernal blood. Octavian was furious, but they had no other option. Clearly something was incompatible with them and they couldn’t have a child.

Using his connections, Octavian had a wizard create a glamour charmed amulet to disguise Sage. While they wore the amulet they would appear human. Because of the risks of the glamour fading and others discovering Sage’s true identity, they restricted Sage’s access to the rest of the world. They were to be homeschooled by a private tutor, they weren’t permitted to have friends, and they were only allowed brief appearances at parties. Octavian made excuses saying Sage was sickly and needed bed rest.

Sage’s mother loved them. She told them stories of faraway places and daring adventurers. Ana longed for Sage to live a normal life.

When Sage was 13, Ana gave birth to a baby girl named Juniper. She was human. Octavian called her perfect.

Sage snuck out of the house while everyone was celebrating the birth of Juniper. Sage ran until they reached the pier. Tears poured down their face and they couldn’t stop from crying out. Their mother would be busy with the baby now. Their father never looked at them. They would be alone. They looked at the glamour charm around their neck and almost ripped it off, but their hand stilled. They couldn’t risk exposing themself and ruining their family’s reputation. They turned around and planned to return before anyone noticed they were missing until a voice called out. A boy, a few years older than Sage, asked if they were okay. In his hands was a small ball of light, he was a magic user. Sage quickly stuffed their glamour charm in their shirt as they walked over to him. The light reflected in his soft brown eyes, Sage blushed. He asked if they knew any magic, and if they wanted to learn.

Months turned into years and Sage continued to sneak out to meet the boy by the docks. It turned out that Sage was quite proficient at channeling the weave. Sage still hadn’t revealed their true identity to their friend, but they wanted to. They had developed feelings for him and they wanted to be honest with him.

One night he told Sage he had something to tell them. He was leaving Waterdeep and going to a school to deepen his understanding of magic. He took Sage’s hand and told them to join him. Sage had told him how strict their parents were, but he insisted they would understand. Before Sage left to go home, the boy kissed their cheek and wished them good luck. Sage decided to tell him their secret tomorrow. Tomorrow would be different.

Sage’s father was furious. He couldn’t believe Sage would risk their family’s reputation for learning silly parlor tricks. He locked them in their room and forbade them from using any more magic. He especially didn’t want them sneaking out anymore so he assigned a butler to watch over their door.

Once the seasons changed, Sage knew their friend had left Waterdeep long ago. They never got to say goodbye. They never told him their true identity.

On Juniper’s 5th birthday they had a big celebration. It was a stormy night and Sage was permitted to mingle (it would’ve been odd not to have the eldest Graye child celebrate their younger sibling’s fifth birthday after all). Sage was glued to the walls the entire evening, only their mother gave them any company.

It was towards the end of the night when guests were thanking Ana and Octavian for the invitation when Sage overheard it. A woman around their mother’s age talking to their father. She mentioned her son, and his name was all too familiar. It was their friend from the docks. This was his mother! Sage perked up and approached the woman, Sage’s father was furious they interrupted the conversation. Sage asked her how their friend was doing and his mother realized who they were.

“It was a shame that you weren’t able to attend with him, he didn’t say why but he seemed real torn up about it.”

Something in Sage snapped, their heart hurt. They couldn’t stop themselves from crying. Their father grabbed their arm and demanded they pull themself together but Sage couldn’t hear him. Energy crackled around them, it was as if the weave itself was reacting to Sage’s emotions. They tore their arm away from their father and a jolt of electricity burst from them. Sage’s amulet shattered from the sudden release of energy and the glamour faded, their form shimmered and their horns and tail materialized. Soft gasps were heard around the parlor as Octavian held his arm, smoking from the lightning. He demanded they leave, and Sage’s mother begged them to stay. Sage ran off into the stormy night, away from Waterdeep, never to return.

Years later after being kidnapped by mind flayers and infected with a tadpole, Sage pulls a quick witted wizard out of a magical stone. A wizard that hails from Waterdeep, and has suspiciously familiar brown eyes.

#let’s play guess who sage’s biological dad is! #also yes Gale is Sage’s childhood friend #I just think childhood friends to lovers is sweet #tav #tav x gale #gale x tav #gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #bg3 #baldur's gate oc #baldur’s gate 3 #baldur’s gate #Sage tavreen #OC #dnd

[slusheeduck]

Get to Know my Tav!

Snagged from @mistercrowbar!

Falerin Glais - Drow Half-Elf - Fey Warlock - He/him - (1)27

favorite weapon: Sorrow. For the most part, he likes staying back and slinging offensive spells to get the job done. For situations where that's not possible, though, it's nice to have a way to stab people without getting too close.

style of combat: "So anyway, I started [Eldritch] blasting."

most prized possession: His spellbook! It's the one he was gifted from his mentor ages ago, a very handsome, leather-bound tome that attaches nicely to a belt. While he's a warlock, he still tries to learn spells the traditional way, and he has a nice collection inside.

deepest desire: To live without the threat of death (or ceremorphosis) hanging over him.

guilty pleasure: Climbing things. In a sense, it's not guilty to enjoy it, but every time he does, he can hear his mother telling him not to--just think of your condition, Falerin!

best-kept secret: His first time was with his patron. His very powerful, very noteworthy patron. His first time with a non-fey was with Astarion.

greatest strength: His patience. It's a learned skill, but he's very good at meeting people where they are and not pushing until they're ready. It's helped immensely with keeping peace among the party.

fatal flaw: His stubbornness and self-reliance. He learned early in his life that nothing would get done unless he took the initiative to do it himself, but as a result, it makes him very, very bad at asking for help. It also can end up with him railroading his way through life, regardless of how what he does makes others feel.

favorite smell: Foresty smells--wet leaves, morning mist, wildflowers.

favorite spell or cantrip: Cloud of daggers all day, every day. Yes, it's killed some of the people they've needed to save and resulted in some hasty Healing Words, but it's so convenient and straightforward.

pet peeve: Being pitied, or worse, babied.

bad habit: Licking things. At this point, he'd still do it even if his fey exposure was somehow eliminated.

hidden talent: He's actually quite good at crafting spells, though he often has nothing more to go off of than theories since his own skill is fairly limited. He and Gale started bonding by playing around with the spells he came up with.

leisure activity: Crocheting to the sound of camp bickering. After their adventure, it's often to the sound of Astarion complaining about clients.

favorite drink: Black tea with milk and one sugar.

comfort food: Fresh-baked bread with butter and jam (any kind, but he's very fond of blackberry or marmalade)

favorite person: It's actually a hard tie between Astarion and Gale. While he fell in love with Astarion fairly quickly, he and Gale clicked almost immediately upon meeting. They spend hours talking shop about spells, magic, and other sage-friendly areas long after others (Astarion included) have gotten bored and left. Beyond that, they both have a deep sense of loneliness that they haven't been able to shake off before now, so finding someone who understands just how special it is to have friends makes their relationship all the more special.

favored display of affection (platonic and/or romantic): Physical touch. His mother was a cuddler, so casual touches and hugs are his favorite way to show people he cared. He did NOT hesitate to hug Karlach to test her heat. He did, however, struggle a lot with Astarion being touch-averse early on; he stuck it out and didn't say anything, but it bothered him far more than he let on.

fondest childhood memory: He had a fairly happy childhood (the benefit of being raised in a cosmopolitan surface city by his human mother, no doubt), even with his heart condition, but one of his fondest memories was playing around with magic. It was one of the few ways to play that didn't end in a scolding or a visit from the local healer, and even as a child, he knew that magic was his best shot at fixing himself up.

Tagging anyone who wants to share more about their Tav!

#tav #bg3 #Falerin Glais