it's been a hot second since i yapped on here, and i just have... so many thoughts. the current fixation in my endless rotation of brainworms is mylla's mother, corinna borodin. shout out to it's quiet uptown from hamilton and the first few lines in i know it's over by jeff buckley for reminding me how painful it is every time i think about her.
mylla’s mother lived in a lingering state of fear of her daughter’s life ever since her tiny, unmoving body was pulled from the water. freshly post partum, corinna borodin spent days, weeks, and eventually months of watching her baby girl sleep at night, desperately needing to witness with her own eyes the steady rise and fall of mylla’s chest. all the while, the sounds of her newborn son’s wails fell on deaf ears, leaving her husband to carry the weight of the family’s survival on his shoulders.
eventually, things shifted into a sense of normalcy once more in the borodin household. until mylla becomes hellbent on training as a paladin with the man who had saved her. and all corinna can think of is a casket, one that she would have to bury before she and her husband were long gone. many arguments ensued late at night between corinna and leonis about their differences of approval in mylla’s future, unbeknownst to their daughter. but, as she always does, corinna relents… seething. if she can’t dissuade mylla gently or convince her fool of a husband to see sense, then corinna would whatever it took to ensure mylla’s future was one she could survive in. she commissioned finely-crafted armor, sought out the best and most reliable of swords and shields she could buy, and gave mylla a HEFTY some of coin for her journey to waterdeep. all in the hopes that, one day, her daughter will visit home safe and sound.
and she does return home !!! albeit with some… strange and interesting folks, bUT HER DAUGHTER COMES BACK NONETHELESS !! the only difference: mylla’s not her little girl anymore, with eyes so wide and bright, chin held high and mighty. she comes back different. oath broken, wear and tear etched on her freckled skin, and the crushing weight of the world on her shoulders. and corinna’s fear deepens. though, there’s nothing she can say or do to challenge mylla’s stubbornness on wanting to do good.
so, corinna resorts to the one person she believes can bring her daughter back home. astarion. making the pale elf swear on his undead life that will return home, alive and well. and… we all know how that ends.
and her mother just… falls apart. the constant, lingering fear of losing her child, her first born, her baby girl, came true, just like she predicted. but no one listened to her. no one could see the outcome she so clearly envisioned if mylla didn’t stray from her idealistic path of becoming a hero. not even her own husband, who consistently feed into mylla’s fantasies and dreams ever since she was a mere babe. and look where that’s gotten them. her daughter now rotting in a tomb made of stone.
after mylla’s death, corinna takes their son, and leaves baldur’s gate without her husband by her side.
