JoanTheBridge

"Astarion is absolutely from Evereska!"

Ooooh, pray tell, what makes you say that? (I'm just digging for lore here, I know nothing of the Realms)

Since you asked…

The absolutely non Baldurian origin of Astarion Ancunìn

(Conveniently footnoted because…I’m me)

I spend an inordinate amount of time tying characters into broader Forgotten Realms canon. Astarion, though, is almost a blank slate. There’s essentially no elven lore tied to Baldur’s Gate itself — canonically it’s the most human-dominated of the Sword Coast cities.¹ No elven quarter, no temple to Corellon, no hereditary moon-elf lines. If an elf lives there, it’s as a traveler, a fugitive, or someone making very questionable life choices.

Even Astarion’s age is up for debate. He tells us he’s been a vampire for “nearly two centuries,” but that only marks his undeath. Given his colouring and temperament, he’s almost certainly Teu-Tel’Quessir, a moon elf.² (Races of Faerûn describes sun elves as reclusive traditionalists, while moon elves are wanderers and adventurers.)³

Moon-elf culture gives us the perfect frame for where he was in life: the period of wanderlust, a kind of elven rumspringa when young elves leave home to see the wider world. Elves of Evermeet describes these youths “singing, dancing, gambling, drinking, flirting outrageously… hoisting their tankards.”⁴ Baldur’s Gate — a city of vice and indulgence — would have looked like paradise to someone in that stage.

That wanderlust usually begins around a century of age.⁵ If Astarion was turned while traveling the Coast, he could have been born around 1290 DR. And since elves are famously vague about time (“a hundred summers ago… or maybe last moonrise”),⁶ his “nearly two hundred years” of vampirism may be nothing more than typical Tel’Quessir imprecision.

As for where he came from: Evereska is the most logical origin. It’s the largest surviving moon-elf enclave on the mainland.⁷ When the Siege of Evereska (1371–72 DR) shattered the valley, many families fled before the mythal was restored.⁸ The obvious refuge was Silverymoon, the “Gem of the North,” whose population at the time was nearly thirty percent elven.⁹ Whether Astarion’s family left during the siege or generations earlier, an Evereskan → Silverymoon → Sword Coast migration fits both geography and temperament.

His refinement, education, and nostalgia for lost beauty all point to that upbringing. Even his name, Ancunín, echoes Evereskan naming conventions listed in Dragon #272 “Evereska: The Hidden Vale.”

Personally, I like to imagine him snared in a tangle of elven politics. Cazador Szarr, whose aesthetic all but screams sun elf (canonically, all the significant elven vampires are sun elves), could have arranged the young moon-elf’s magistrate post — an appealing role for an ambitious adolescent, offering access to the Upper City’s Patriar clubs in exchange for jailing a few troublesome N’Tel’Quessir. Turning him was likely no accident. Once Cazador sealed his pact with Mephistopheles — an archdevil known for preying on the pride of elves¹¹ — a handsome, charming moon-elf thrall would have been perfect bait for gathering mortal souls.

Canon Realms lore is explicit that many non-elves fetishize elven beauty and sexuality; it’s not hard to see how such a creature could be used as bait.¹² It also casts a cruel new light on Astarion’s confession that Cazador “particularly enjoyed his pain.” Among the elder sun-elf lines, there’s a deep disdain for their moon-elf kin — the silver ones, ever too merry, too free, too ready to dance with humans. That ancient arrogance would make Astarion’s suffering not just convenient, but deliciously symbolic: a moon-elf body broken to serve a sun-elf master’s pride.¹³

So no, Astarion was never a Baldurian native. More likely he was an Evereskan by blood, perhaps raised in Silverymoon, who wandered south during his wanderlust and fell prey to the city’s appetites. The “Pale Elf of Baldur’s Gate” was never its son.

Notes

Volo’s Guide to the Sword Coast (2e); Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (3e), p. 103; Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus (5e).

In-game model, complexion, and linguistic cues match moon-elf description in Races of Faerûn, p. 29.

Ibid.

Elves of Evermeet, Elaine Cunningham (1994), pp. 21–22.

Races of Faerûn, p. 29; Player’s Handbook (3e), Table 6-4 “Age Categories.”

Common elven trope in FR fiction; e.g., Evermeet: Island of Elves (1998), p. 54.

Lost Empires of Faerûn, p. 69.

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (3e), p. 118; Return of the Archwizards trilogy (Troy Denning, 2001–2003).

Silver Marches (3e), p. 40.

Dragon Magazine #272 (2000) “Evereska: The Hidden Vale.”

Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells (2006), p. 152.

Races of Faerûn, p. 31 (“non-elves fascinated by elven allure”).