#achoris

sometimes self care is spending a stupid amount of time on dumb shit like this yknow

(left to right) Kelnari is mine, Yarrow belongs to @feelingkindawoozy, and Achoris is @krakendraken's

moments of weakness and comedic genius, hand in hand

(Left) My rendition of the god, Set. Ideally would like to finish this one day, maybe. ft a little Achoris who loves his daddy (Right) Ground work for a ref sheet for Nikotiemus and Arseni because they don't have scarcely any proper art (except for a commission I managed to get some years back of Arseni by the fantastic AlexCogganARTS on Twitter!)

@erinobaron shared this photo in a group chat and i got inspired because Val absolutely would (shown is Set's mortal aspect)

(Left) Kelnari on his wedding day, something like 90 years prior to him currently. blissfully unaware of the century of misery and torment that he was just starting to enter uwu (Right) Dakota and I were watching Our Flag Means Death and when a scene popped up where he audibly went "Okay Achoris" I obliged. ft Kel but also @feelingkindawoozy's Yarrow/Cha Cha and @decusworkshop's Niamh~ its not necessary realistic that yarrow would drunk drive the ship aground, but god gave me the ability to draw and i will use it how i please at everyone else's peril

Ezekiel got a glow-up (i actually colored this piece properly) but MORE IMPORTANTLY

I made a lil animatic!!! Because I'm too much of an ex-theater kid with a hubris problem and I can't just DM an encounter normally sometimes, I have to take "show dont tell" a little too literally

"Forgive my stare. You've earned it. I'm a fortune-teller. Of sorts. One silver coin is all I ask, and I'll give you a song. Guaranteed to keep you warm at night for many years to come."

"Achoris" This set will be for sale soon! Follow me on Instagram (@ DaarkaArts) and/or sign up for my newsletter on my shop's website (SHOP . DAARKA . COM) to make sure you don't miss it!

It's a shame we deleted the post explaining Vesemir's backstory in detail when we decided to wipe the blog because it showcased most of his origin story and how he ended up becoming a bard to begin with so I guess I'll just summarize it real quick: Vesemir was born into a privileged family in the Upper City of Baldur's Gate and since he was a small child he was placed on a set path to go into medicine like his parents (a surgeon and a nurse) but he didn't really vibe with that so he cut contact with his (abusive) family when he was old enough to do so and went on to pursue a career in music. This is like the barest of the bare minimum you need to know about Vesemir to understand the rest of this post.

The first person Vesemir linked up with was Delilah. She's a delinquent lupine from the Lower City who had her hands in everyone's pockets and her snout in everyone's business. She traded in gossip, and had a knack for unearthing the dirtiest secrets and the nastiest scandals in all of Baldur's Gate while also nabbing an expensive family heirloom or two to sell for extra coin. In theory, her talents could have landed her a proper job as a journalist for Baldur's Mouth but she preferred to work as a freelancer if she could even be called that since she hated the idea of having a boss over her head and having to somewhat censor herself in order to write official articles for the gazette. She was young, free, and the world was her oyster – she clicked with Vesemir instantly after meeting him in a tavern and helping him out with some lyrics for one of his debut pieces. She tried to charge him for providing him with fresh content for his ballads but he offered her a long-term partnership instead. He liked her spunk and sharp tongue, she liked the prospect of steady income, and so she agreed to be Vesemir's muse as long as he made it profitable for her. With Delilah, Vesemir never ran out of fresh gossip to sing about and with time, Vesemir even taught her how to sing and play the lute so she could perform with him (I forgot to mention that Vesemir's main instrument is the violin).

The second person to join their little group was Achoris. Achoris was a half-angel who made a name for himself as a musician in the Upper City, performing live at parties and other such lavish events for the nobility there. He was a singer and a harpist with a divine voice and killer looks so naturally he was very expensive and booking a performance from him was considered a privilege. Those who didn't know any better thought that he lived a perfect life of luxury as a rich and rather famous artist, but the truth was far grimmer than that. Achoris was a slave to a greedy man named Sisko who acted as his producer or manager to the public eye but behind closed doors, Sisko would abuse and overwork his caged songbird without mercy. Sisko even sold Achoris' body to fanatical fans, whoring him out for profit's sake. Achoris desperately wanted out, so once he heard of a new bard making waves in the Lower City with the help of the nosy lupine Delilah, he saw an opportunity to escape and decided to seize it. He found out the bard's identity and arranged a secret meeting with him through Delilah, asking for their help to free himself from the magical contract that bound him to Sisko. Vesemir truly did feel for Achoris and agreed to help, not only freeing him of the contract – but also killing Sisko and making a public display of the whole thing. Vesemir then whisked Achoris away, and Achoris was more than happy to exchange life in a golden cage for one on the road.

The last one to join Vesemir was Sythaeryn, a human flutist of middling age. Sythaeryn's career as a musician was plummeting prior to meeting Vesemir – he was struggling to come up with new pieces and the old ones were losing their charm, all because Sythaeryn was too grief-stricken to continue performing following the death of his husband, Mavros. Mavros succumbed to a terminal illness and there was nothing too incredibly dramatic about his passing but Sythaeryn felt as if the sky itself has fallen, he couldn't go on living without his other half. Sythaeryn's depression eventually led him to develop suicidal thoughts and he was truly, seriously considering taking his own life but then he heard Vesemir perform a song about exactly that, lost love and suicide. The song touched Sythaeryn's heart and made him second-guess his decision to end his life that night. He approached Vesemir once he could catch him alone and, out of sheer desperation and loneliness, told him his story and how Vesemir's song likely prevented a death that night. Vesemir invited Sythaeryn for a round of drinks and the decision to partner up with him came up naturally after that. Sythaeryn was very awkward and weird for a while around Vesemir's band since he didn't really expect to make new friends at the lowest point of his life but he opened up to them eventually.

Vesemir as he was created in-game,