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trappedinafantasy37 · 25 days

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Let me tell you about my first time meeting Minthara and locking myself into the grove raid

I was having a chat with someone in the comments of my fanfic where I had told them I locked myself into the grove raid on my first run. They got really curious as to how I managed that. But, my response got a bit too long, so I figured I’d kinda do a bit of a writeup and reminisce about my first time playing Baldurs Gate 3 all the way back on Christmas Day and how I raided the grove with Minthara.

And oooo boi, where do I begin! Just a massive string of first time player who doesn’t know how to look, how to listen, or how to read. To start, never found Wyll in the grove (and when I eventually did he was big mad). I have no idea how I missed him. For some reason, my dumb ass also didn’t explore north of Blighted Village. So, I never found Karlach (and when I eventually did she was big mad). I went down to the swamp and Ethel just humiliated me, so I decided to go back until I was level 5 cause she was level 5. I never found Wood Woad so I never learned of the Shadow Druid stuff. I also never found the Underdark or Grymforge until exploring the goblin camp AFTER the raid so the only thing left for me to do was the grove.

Kagha wouldn’t talk to me cause she wanted me to go to Zevlor. I don’t know how I did it, but Zevlor wanted me to kill Kagha and just refused to talk to me when I said I wasn’t gonna kill Kagha. I also never found Mol so never got the quest to steal the idol.

So, all that was left was the goblin camp. Went downstairs to find the bear in the cage, I kinda figured it was Halsin. But, I think I picked the wrong dialogue options with the goblin kids and pissed off the bear. Long story short, bear got dead. All that was left was talking with Minthara and man she scared the absolute fucking shit outta me! When she told me to tell her where the grove was, I was literally too scared to tell her no and gave her the location. Don’t know bout you, but powerful and scary women can convince me to do just about anything! I felt awful, but it felt like it was the only way to progress the grove conflict.

Then I started the raid and saw that I still had the option to turn against her. I was so excited and thought “Yay! I can still save them AND I’ll have an army of tiefling and druids.” WRONG! I had 3 tieflings and only 1 was actually worth a damn and the druids slept through their big day. Minthara swept the floor with my ass, again, and again, and again. I tried that fight for 3 hours and Minthara won the fight every time. Mind you, I was severely under leveled and was doing the raid at level 3.

I may have found Withers, but didn’t know about respecing so Shadowheart was still in her default class of Trickery Domain (WHICH IS GARBAGE), Astarion who was an Arcane Trickster (WHICH IS GARBAGE), and Bae’zel who carried our asses as best as she could. And then there was me, a Rogue Assassin who loses her biggest advantage after round 1.

In typical drow fashion, she quite literally beat me into submission and I just said, “fuck it, I’mma join her.” Easiest fight in the game, didn’t break a sweat. When I talked to her in the inner sanctum, I genuinely felt nauseous to my stomach, but I decided I wasn’t gonna reload and was live with my choices, even if they’re stupid. I told Minthara that what we did was murder and we deserve to hang for it. Then she said “Look at me” and I was hooked. She has had me in her clutches ever since.

I did the goblin party and her and I went to the chapel. I figured I was gonna get a fade to black kinda sex scene. WRONG! It has got to be the most graphic and explicit sex scene I’ve seen in a game second to Cyberpunk. I was literally in shock the whole time. And then, afterwards, I cuddled with her and she wanted to talk about my feelings and I'm all "O.o, you're supposed to be evil?" The game may have been painting her as an evil character, but that moment showed that there was so much depth to her than just being an evil character. A moment most players will never see cause most don't raid the grove. I truly wasn’t expecting to see her again in Moonrise. And when I did, I knew I had to get her outta there no matter what.

Looking back on it now, it’s interesting for me to see how many things had to go wrong in order for me to end up raiding the grove. If I had found Karlach first, it wouldn’t have happened. If I found the Underdark/Grymforge first and leveled up a bit, wouldn’t have happened. If I freed Halsin, I probably would have killed the goblin leaders (including Minthara cause I did not know about the knock out method on my first play through) and the raid wouldn’t have happened. Hell, if I had thought to lower the difficulty to Explorer it wouldn’t have happened! But I didn’t get that big brain idea until the fight with Nere, well after the grove raid.

Minthara left such a massive impression on me because I did raid the grove. It really does make me think of her line “I would have just been another casualty in your crusade against the Absolute and no one would remember me.” If I did things right, that’s exactly who she would have been and probably would have been dead in most of my playthroughs. But, instead, I fucked everything up and she most certainly wasn’t a casualty and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forget her. When meeting her in the goblin camp, never could I have imagined relating so much to a character. Out of all the companions, I relate to Minthara the most and Karlach comes a close second.

I don’t always raid the grove, but I will never kill her under any circumstance. Her and Shadowheart are the only two companions who have survived every playthough I’ve done and will survive every future runs cause I just cannot play this game without them. And it’s all because I was a chronic dumbass and raided the grove.

#bg3 #baldurs gate 3 #minthara #minthara baenre #nightwarden minthara baenre #shadowheart #karlach #karlach cliffgate #astarion #laezel #wyll #wyll ravengard #team raid the grove #seriously why didnt the druids help its their grove #accidentally evil #life is more fun when youre a chronic dumbass

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rim-draws · 4 months

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Meet Tav

Tav is a Wildheart - Bear Barbarian half elf and also my first run of Baldur's Gate 3. And because I'm a loser I have a whole backstory and personality traits and stuff and I can't hold it in anymore-

Tav was born to a lone human mother. Many years they heard stories and tales of their father whom they had never met. Both them and their mother lived in a life of poverty in the outskirts of Rivington. Hearing news of Tav's bio father was somewhere in Baldur's Gate, she led her child there. Though once inside the walls of Baldur's Gates, she found the truth to be too much for her to bare. The person she has been idolizing and telling her son about ended up just being a scammer who used her for money and her womb. The shock was too great, she went into complete shock and eventually passing away. Her death affected Tav greatly, creating a rageful side of him that he barely tried to contain. They vowed from that day on to kill the man who had caused his mother so much grief.

Tav started travelling on their own, mainly getting themself into fights with people they found annoying, gaining a bit of a reputation as a folk hero by the groups of people they surrounded themself with at the time. Eventually, a man adopted them, which was when they met the rest of their siblings.

Taf and Taph (yes, I think I'm funny)

Tav was encouraged by their father to go out to fight, even kill, a few people, convincing them their victims are inheritely evil and vile. Not that thry cared, they'd fight anything and anyone for a roof over their head.

Things were fine, for a while. Though as Tav grows up, they started to realize they were killing the people who were after their adoptive dad, people who their dad had wronged, tricked, scammed, etc. They were just a cheap mercenary of sort. What's worse, the man was the person they vowed to kill all those years ago. Truly, they were a fool.

So on that fateful night, Tav uses the man's own hammer to cave his head in. Taf - who has always been adored by the man, fought against Tav, refusing to understand their rage. Tav tried to say Taf's mother was most likely fooled and killed by this one one way or the other, the only Taf is alive is probably because the man could still use him. The fight between the siblings was what gave Tav the scar on their face and Taf the burnt scar on his face (although barely visible, still serve as a constant reminder). To break her siblings apart, Taph blasted a her ray of powers, burning their skin, creating the white marks on their faces.

Her outbrust snapped Tav out of their rage but triggered something deep and dark in Taf, shifting him to a monster. It threw Tav out, declaring their brotherhood a sham and told Tav to never show their face again.

Tav left, now on their own again, they continues their bullshit. Fighting people, accidentally helping others and lying to just about anyone, no longer finding trust so easy. This continues until their adulthood where they were sucked into the Nautiloid.

Although they're a barbarian, they don't go around starting fights at random. They often only fight fights they can't avoid, mostly opting to go the long way around to avoid it in general. Therefore, kindness which comes from the heart are rare for Tav to come by. And as mentioned, they lie, constantly, to just about everyone. To them, they don't trust anyone nor their intentions. After almost being murdered by Nettie plus growing up with their father, they stopped talking to people about his tadpole as well, opting to lie when someone mention it in general.

(Yes they stole Astarion's camp clothes just like how they stole from ever faction's stash and the bank).

Tav's Camp relationship

Mild spoilers ahead !!

Shadowheart - they saved her from the nautiloid when they saw her pod and brought her along. During her fight with Lae'zel, he's on her side. In many ways, he also doesn't pry at her secrets which took him all the way until they're in the Gauntlet of Shar for him to know she's a Shar worshipper. He refuses to have a drink with her at the camp. He trusts her judgement when facing the Nightsong. Although she's very wary of him throughout 2 acts, by act 3 she holds him in high regard.

Lae'zel - He doesn't bring her often but does when it matters. Though he also lied to her to get her to believe him that her tribe are out to kill her. She finds him attrive but he doesn't sleep with her.

Gale - He brought Gale along very briefly in his adventures because the way Tav functioned, Gale ended up dying early on, although revived eventually. Gale considers him to be a good person he could trust about his secrets and not explode himself but Tav is also a dick who, after telling him maybe he shouldn't explode himself and maybe being god isnt too bad, told Gale to go feck himself mope by himself went to bed.

Astarion - Astarion wasnt able to pin him down in their first meeting and straight up hated his guts at first. So much so that he didn't even attempt to bite him in camp and just confess he was a vampier offhand while they were on the road. Tav pushes forward. Slowly, hatred turned into friendship and bestie-ship as Tav treats him like a person, supports him through his troubles, struggles and nudges him to the right direction.

Wyll - He brought Wyll along at first until Wyll died and he elt his body stink up the camp for days until act 2 glitched out so Tav had to revive him. By act 3, Wyll, for some reason, like him enough to ask him to dance, which, like a dick that he is, he rejected. Though when they had the chance to meet Wyll's dad, Tav brought him to do so and vow to both save Wyll's dad and release him of his pact.

Karlach - Tav found Karlach very late in act 1, after the tiefling was rescued so Dammon had already left. She became a prominent part of Tav's travel companion, which is not a great set up and resulted in many reloads. Tav and Karlach considers each other close friends and he alsobhugged her after she got her first upgrade in Shadowcurse land. Though he stopped travelling with her as much when another character comes into camp.

Halsin - Tav threw a rock at him the first time he met him but upon realizing it doesn't feel good to throw rocks at bears, he threw hands at everyone else instead, young and old. Being someone who had spent decent times in the wilds, he like mischief but doesn't want to create genuein distress in the bear. He brought Halsin along as they massecre the goblin and convince the spiders to help them. He helped Halsin lift the shadowcurse from Moonrise with the terrible contraption below and Halsin became a permanent part of Tav's travelling companion.

(The bear heart at one point increase his carrying capacity to 400+ and I obviously abused it)

Jaheira - Let Shadowheart deal with Jaheira at the beginning then refused to drink the spiked truth potion because thats just rood. But asissted her and her people, saving both the deep gnome and the tiefling that were trapped and had her follow with him as they went straight for Ketheric. Invite her to join and she also became a somewhat permanent travelling companion.

Minsc - Tav saved Minsc but doesn't really know what to make of him. He doesn't travel with Minsc often but often talk or entertain him if he has any thoughts.

THATS much thoughts.

Next post will be of Tav's romance which is the main source of my brain rotting these days.

Spoilers alert:

#bg3 #bg3 tav #baldurs gate tav #bg3 halsin #bg3 screenshots #bg3 companions #bg3 screencaps #my tav #male tav #tav #bg3 oc thoughts

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little-tyrant-gortash · 5 months

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Oathbreaker

Pairing: fem!Tav x Enver Gortash, fem!Tav/Astarion

Tags: Emotional Manipulation, Manipulation, Manipulative Relationship, Paladin Tav (Baldur's Gate), Vaginal Sex, Penis In Vagina Sex, Drunk Sex, Unrequited Love, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Scars, Blood and Injury, Injury, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Pregnancy, Unplanned Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Torture, Psychological Torture, Implied/Referenced Torture

Word count: 1,691

Ao3 here.

Chapter 1.

Chapter 2.

Chapter 3.

Chapter 4.

Chapter 5.

Chapter 6.

Chapter 7.

Chapter 8.

Chapter 9.

Chapter 10.

Chapter 11.

Chapter 12.

Chapter 13. ⬇

Chapter 14.

Chapter 13: Innocence Lost

He should've expected things to go downhill. It couldn't be as easy as he imagined them to be, could they?

First of all, the way she screamed had a remarkable effect on him. Gortash quickly realised that the need to protect her went well beyond his sneaky little "safety measures"; he maneuvered so quickly around the office to check what was wrong that it was straight ridiculous. It was blind luck nobody saw it, and that she was too preoccupied with the pain in her feet to notice. But he couldn't blame her for that. The stench of burnt flesh made him crinkle his nose.

"Damn it!" He huffed, and he didn't even think, he picked her up, bridal style, to get the weight off of her feet. She clung to him for dear life in her agony, buried her face in his neck and sobbed loudly. "How can you be so clumsy?" He sighed as he started to walk through the workshop with her in his arms.

That was when the door burst open and revealed a very angry looking Shadowheart with her bright, silver hair. Gortash stopped in his tracks with a frown. The Steel Watchers should've stopped her-

"Your days are over!" She declared, looking every bit of feral as she summoned her spirit guardians – the green ones that would cause nasty necrotic damage to anything living they'd touch.

"Are you insane?!" Gortash yelled as he took a few steps back. "I have her right h-"

Organised chaos, was it? More like disorganised chaos. Most of the time he remembered where he left what, and he instinctively tiptoed over it in his workshop. Toolboxes, chests, pieces of armour. But Tav's injury and Shadowheart's sudden appearance shocked him enough that he couldn't remember fast enough that there was a chest just behind him – a chest he tripped over.

Falling backwards, all he could do was cursing out loud.

Hitting the ground wasn't that bad, actually. But when Tav fell right on him, she knocked the air out of him. There was an almost soft crack in his chest, then excruciating, horrible pain a second later.

"Oh shit", Shadowheart's voice was the first that made it through the ringing in his ears. Gortash's head was throbbing with murder. He kept Tav close, until she attempted to pull away and get up. "I'm so sorry, I didn't- I couldn't-"

"Heal me", Tav sobbed and remained sitting on the ground just beside him. "Please- it hurts- so much-"

"What the Hells happened?" Shadowheart made her way over to Tav, completely ignoring Gortash on the floor. Maybe she did that well. "I heard you scream-"

"Karlach's engine", Gortash groaned when Tav couldn't muster the words. "Her engine. Overheated. Melted… the pliers…"

Well, that broken rib really hurt. He barely could take a normal breath, let alone speak in complete sentences. I'm too old for this shit, he thought begrudgingly as he turned his head to look at Tav and Shadowheart. The latter dismissed the spirit guardians, and she already started to heal Tav's feet. The flesh knitted anew, making her accident a bad memory.

Good.

"You. Get. Out", Gortash groaned at Shadowheart, who stared back at him with a snarl.

"You don't order me around!" She spat back at him.

"Shadowheart-", Tav weakly protested.

"I knew you couldn't be trusted!"

"Shadowheart-"

"Is that your plan? Making us believe you're the good guy when you're attempting to kill us??"

"Shadowheart!! Enough!" Tav yelled. "He didn't do anything wrong! I held the fucking engine and I got too distracted, end of story!"

"Distracted by what?" Shadowheart asked with a raised brow. "He did it on purpose, didn't he?!"

Gortash also raised his brow. Really, what distracted her? Tav blushed and looked anywhere but at them. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary, just- oh.

"Ooh, Tav", he sighed – even if it was immensely painful –, a smile playing around his lips.

"You just be quiet", Tav huffed, taking her half burned boots off.

"You paid attention to what I was doing-"

Tav felt a rush of absolute fear when she realised he could expose her to Shadowheart.

"Gortash."

"What my hands were doing, to be precise- you got distracted by- my hands-"

Shadowheart looked like realisation dawned on her, then she made the realm's most disgusted face as she glanced at the flustered Tav. Who, in turn, angrily yanked her boots off and threw them to the far end of the room.

"Gortash! You're the absolute worst man alive on this gods damned planet!"

Tav pushed herself up to stand, thankfully, Shadowheart could heal her injuries in no time. Barefoot, she started to walk out of the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gortash ignored the throbbing, sharp pain in his chest.

"Out! I'm done!"

"You won't even take Karlach with you?"

Tav's bare feet stopped stomping on the floor of his workshop. Enver finally got up, too; he resisted the urge to touch his aching side. It wouldn't do any good if he had his hand over it, anyway. He'd felt this so many times, growing up. He'd survive it again.

"I have no doubts she'd attempt to kill me, too", Gortash continued, walking over to his desk to sit down on the chair. "And believe it or not, you and your merry little band still need me."

"He's right", Shadowheart's shoulders dropped, and offered him an apologetic look. "Sorry about- what I said."

"Consider it forgiven. Now, please. You, get out."

"We'll talk later", Shadowheart told Tav in a serious tone, and neither Gortash nor Tav had doubts that the silver haired warrior would definitely interrogate Tav about their relationship.

"One more thing", Gortash told Shadowheart, "how come you weren't stopped by my Steel Watchers?"

"Well, Gale kept them… busy", Shadowheart smiled at him before she left the workshop.

Gortash sat back down, a bit harder than he wanted to, and closed his eyes at the flash of sudden, excruciating pain that shot through his chest. Gale. He was crushing the name in his head with mortar and pestle. Gale. Gale. Gale. He's going to make an ornate bowl out of his wretched, thick skull, and he'll use his brain t-

"He probably destroyed half of your Steel Watchers", Tav mused without turning to look at him.

"Wonderful", Gortash groaned, and this time, he couldn't hide the agony from his voice.

He gritted his teeth when he saw Tav turned to look him in the eyes. She noticed. What was more, she seemed like she… cared? That she was… worried? Enver seemed to rapidly sink in his chair when she started to walk over to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, and he scoffed.

"Oh, nothing. I'm fine. Just pulled a muscle."

She stared at him for a long second before she stalked even closer, stopping between his chair and his desk. This way, she had her back to Karlach.

"You're lying", she deduced.

He stared back up at her, challengingly.

"And? What are you going to do about it?"

"I'll get the truth out of you."

"Oh?" Despite the pain he was in, he smiled at that. "And how are you planning to do that?"

"I'm asking first", she crossed her arms and leaned against his desk. "Why did you have to embarrass me?"

"She rather should know about the truth than think that I'm scheming to kill you, isn't that right?"

"I don't want them to know about us", Tav shook her head and looked away.

"I can't understand why", he mused playfully, "we're making a good team."

"Good team?" She echoed. "Have you been paying any attention to us? We're making each other worse."

"Worse is always better in my book", he smirked now, a bit darker than intended. Tav squirmed where she stood, his smile awakening something inside of her. "You can't even take your eyes off me, can you?"

"You're a pompous bastard full of himself, nothing more", Tav spat.

Gortash laughed quietly, but not for long. His voice died in his throat and he let out a ragged sigh as he leaned back in his chair again. Tav was watching him like a hawk.

"If you're injured", she muttered, "why won't you tell me?"

"Complaining about physical injuries is weakness, and I'm anything but weak."

Tav needed a few seconds to absorb that. Then, she cupped his cheeks in her fragile little hands.

"I don't want you to be in pain", she whispered softly, "please, tell me, how can I help?"

"If you say that little word again, I may just tell you", Gortash teased.

He was disguising just how deeply it cut him to know that she cared. That she didn't lie. Every second he spent with her, he learned more and more about her expressions, the way she said words, what she thought of things, and to know that she did not lie now – that she truly did not want him to be in pain – was new and utterly terrifying.

Because nobody ever cared. Nobody ever asked. Nobody wanted to make sure he was alright. All the lessons he learned during his life were that the strong crushes the weak, and he never wanted to be the weak one. He was forced to be; many, many times.

"Please, Enver."

His name sounded like dripping honey from her lips. He crumbled at her touch, at her voice. For a moment, he felt like a frightened child again.

And then, he felt enraged. Enraged that he couldn't find her sooner, enraged that he had to walk this lonely path alone for so long. But not anymore. She was here, and Hells, he won't ever let her go again.

"I never get tired of you saying my name", he whispered back, placing his hands over hers as he closed his eyes.

Tav half smiled and ever so gently pecked his forehead.

"What the everloving fuck?!"

Their hearts skipped a beat at the same time when they've heard Karlach's voice from the desk where they left her, and they both thought of the very same thing.

Shit.

#Oathbreaker #little tyrant [enver gortash]#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #bg 3 #enver gortash #archduke enver gortash #lord enver gortash #fanfic #Oathbreaker fanfic #|| I forgot to upload chapter 12 so here you get two in one. XD

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lockewrites · 4 years

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From Strangers to Threats

Astarion x F!OC || SFW || 1304 words AO3 & FF

Aurella meets the only survivor she’s found so far, and they immediately hit it off.

Aurella groaned as she pushed herself up off the ground. Purple bits of the ship were scattered around her, the tank that held her now on its side, broken. She brushed the dirt from her clothes and grimaced when she heard the crunch of sand between her teeth. Her sword was half-buried in the dirt, but it appeared undamaged; returning it to her belt, she cast a final glance at her pod before venturing off and trying to figure out where she wound up.

The bulk of the ship laid in ruins, chunks thrown here and there, and she wondered if anyone else had survived. Possible, given that she hadn’t been crushed or eviscerated when landing; the numerous dead bodies said otherwise. But she appreciated the free loot since she had almost nothing on her person; if she found a town or anything, it’d help to have some coin. She was lucky to still have her sword, but it wasn’t as though she was defenseless without it.

Continuing up the hill, she caught sight of someone with their back to her; as she attempted to hide, not trusting a stranger to simply let her by, her foot snapped a twig in two. The stranger whipped around at a sound he shouldn’t have been able to hear, and after a moment’s glance, the elf waved at her.

“Over here!” he called out.

She sighed but approached him, figuring at the very least, he might know where they were. As she stepped closer, she saw a pod like her own fallen against a tree. Not a local, then.

His attention drifted between her and something in the bushes to his left. “Hurry,” he said. “I’ve got one of those… brain things cornered.”

The glint of his dagger caught her eye, and she maintained her distance even as she moved closer to him.

“There, in the grass,” he said, pointing. “You can kill it, can’t you? That sword isn’t for just show, I take it.”

“You’ve got a weapon,” she remarked. “Handle it yourself.” She waved her hand flippantly before turning to leave.

“I was hoping for a kind soul,” he said behind her. “Well, not to worry.”

Before she could react to the threat in his voice, his dagger was pressed against her neck while his other arm wrapped around her shoulders, pulling them both to the ground. Instinctively, she reached up for his alabaster wrist, attempting to pull the blade away, but he was stronger than his frilly clothes suggested.

“Is this necessary?” she said with a scowl.

He shushed her and smiled threateningly at her. “Not another sound. Not if you want to keep that lovely neck of yours.”

Risking the reaction of him slicing said neck, Aurella slipped her hand over his and released a shock of lightning.

“Augh! You little--”

He pulled back, and she used the opportunity to roll away and jump to her feet, unsheathing her sword just as he stood up.

The elf’s smile was replaced by a vicious sneer. “I saw you on that ship,” he hissed, “strutting about while I was trapped in that pod.” His arm gestured to the tank behind him. “What did you and those tentacled freaks do to me?”

Her grip on her sword tightened as she spoke. “I didn’t do a damned thing to you.” She smirked. “Put down the dagger, or I promise that sentence ends with a ‘yet.’”

He returned her threatening grin. “You arrogant little--Augh!” His words were cut short as he veered back, gripping the back of his head.

Aurella reacted similarly, a sharp jolt of pain shooting through the skull and into her temples, like claws seeking to escape her mind. She saw herself stalking through dark streets, but the image was too sharp, too perfect to be through her own eyes. The noise of bustling taverns and closing shops too loud for her ears. Aurella tried to focus on what she saw, but only caught a glimpse of a pale, lanky hand that didn’t belong to her reaching to push back unfamiliar curly hair as she looked up at the sky. Unexpected light blinded her, and a fear she’d never experienced before settled in the pit of her stomach, her limbs screaming to flee. And then, the image slipped away.

She blinked, the sallow elf returning to focus.

“What was that?” he breathed, stumbling as he regained his surroundings. “What’s going on?”

Her fingertips pressed into her temple, the pain dulled but still present. “I don’t know. I think I saw… you. Or I was you. Walking the streets in the middle of the night.”

“It sounds like you saw a glimpse of my past,” he remarked, seemingly more steady on his feet. “And I believe I saw yours.”

The pair stared at each other for a time before the elf tentatively calmed his stance and held his dagger at his hip. Aurella allowed a moment of making him question whether she’d lower her weapon as well before finally doing so.

His shoulders relaxed further as he let out a sigh. “It’s those tentacled monsters,” he said. “Whatever they did to us caused that link. They took you too. I saw it during… whatever just happened.” He waved his hand and chuckled as he sheathed his dagger. “I’m half-tempted to spill your guts all over the dirt anyway, but for now--apologies.”

Aurella smirked, feeling emboldened now that the threat had passed. “I can’t say I wouldn’t have enjoyed seeing you try.”

“Is that so?” he replied, raising a brow. “The day is still young, though I’m not sure how long we’ll have with these things in our heads. I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone that little entanglement.”

“Shame, but you’re right,” she replied, her smile dropping a moment before returning. “And I have to say, an apology is a sad offering after threatening to kill me.”

“Well, I’m out of wine and flowers,” he said with a scoff, “so I hope an introduction will suffice. My name’s Astarion. I was in Baldur’s Gate when those beasts snatched me.”

She crossed her arms. “So was I. My name’s Aurella.”

“Aurella,” he repeated. “We clearly move in different circles.”

“It would seem so,” she remarked, eyeing the ruffles of his torn tunic.

“So,” he sighed, resting his hands on his lower back, “do you know anything about these worms?”

“I’m sure you know as much as I do,” she replied.

“I suppose it’s not exactly common knowledge,” he said, his arms falling to his side. “These worms are already affecting me. I can feel it. Now, what to do about it…”

She pursed her lips, wondering, beyond the telepathic connection they’d experienced, how he was affected, but she didn’t ask. “Any ideas? Or are you planning on keeping that to yourself? I would consider a plan a good addition to your apology.”

“Aren’t you cheeky,” he muttered with a grin. “Getting out of here would be an ideal start. Then finding anyone who might know about these worms. We need an expert, someone who knows how to control these things…”

“I prefer it be taken out entirely.”

“Well, yes, of course,” he said, rolling his eyes. “But first things first.”

She held up her hands. “Fair enough.” Pausing a moment, she eyed him, considering her next words. “You know, I could… use the company. I have no idea where we are, and if this worm is going to make my head burst, I at least want an audience.”

He let out a short laugh. “I was ready to go this alone, but,” he returned her scrutinizing gaze and smiled, “maybe sticking with the herd isn’t such a bad idea. And watching your head explode is a rather enticing thought. All right.” He gave a half-hearted bow. “I accept.”

#astarion #bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #baldur's gate #bg3 spoilers #baldur's gate spoilers #baldur's gate iii #aurella #aurella emberlin #fic: aadrabble #ship: you don't know you're falling #alxxiis actually wrote something

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