#bg3 patch 9

Castiel

It's been a longer break from Baldur's gate 3 but I finally found some time during the Christmas break to play and create a palladin, meet my oathbreaker.

Edit: changed her from Drow to Teifling, felt like it fit the story better.

Tav took a swig of brandy, letting the bitterness sit on her tongue before swallowing the burning liquid. Her eyes drifted downward to the dancing flames of the campfire. The ribbons of smoke engulfed her, the familiar smell transported her to a memory of nights spent with Songbirds around a hearth. A smile crept across her face as she recalled exchanging pipes and bottles with her sisters while laughing at the secrets they had collected from that day's clientele. She pictured Merideth sitting stoically in a nearby rocking chair, painstakingly planning their next moves and humming a soothing tune to herself. Tav began to hum along with her; the memory felt so real that for a fleeting moment she was filled with comfort. It had only been a day since she was captured by the nautilus and had a tadpole burried in her skull. however it had felt like a lifetime since she last felt such peace. She clutched onto the memory as long as she could until a sharp voice pierced her thoughts, bringing her back to her cold reality.

“What is that infernal noise?” said Lae’zel.

“Wind by The Fireside.” Tav replied. She softly sang the tune she heard in her memory; It was a favorite of Merideths, a song she requested Tav to sing in the tavern a thousand times before.

“So as you shiver in the cold and the dark,

Look into the fire and seen in its spark—

My eye

Watching over you.

As you walk in the wind's whistling claws,

Listen past the howling wolf's jaws.

My song

Comes to you.”

Lae’zel grumbled in displeasure. “Do you have nothing better to do than sing Teeth-ling?”

"Teifling." Tav corrected, although she did not think it would make a difference to her gith companion. 

“You may be content with sitting around contemplating our death in silence. but I am not.” Said Tav. “We may as well do something to occupy our minds besides sit and think about the horrible little monsters in our heads.” 

She looked over to Wyll who sat restlessly next to her. He tapped his heels in the dirt with a chaotic rhythm and stared vacantly into the fire. His lips twitched in anticipation as if he was suppressing the urge to speak. Her suspicion of him was unwavering; from the moment their brains became entangled, she knew he had been keeping something from them, something big enough that it consumed his every thought. Her time with the Songbirds had taught her that information could be as powerful as a sword, she was determined to figure it out lest she fall victim to the unknown. However Wyll was on his guard, she knew wouldn’t get anything without making him feel comfortable first. 

“I have an idea, why doesn’t the Blade regale us with one of his famous heroics, how about it, Wyll? Tell the one where you saved a duke from a band of trolls. That one is my favorite.”

The Blade, who normally reveled in self indulgence, said nothing to her. After a moment she held out her bottle of brandy as an offering. Still, he ignored her, rocking to himself and mumbling under his breath.

“Wyll?”  She said cautiously. It was enough to break his concentration and he returned to his old cheerful disposition.

“My apologies. What were we talking about?”

Tav couldn’t help but to see his politeness as a mask placed over a cracked visage. She pressed him hoping it would reveal something of the truth he was hiding.

“Are you feeling alright? You look unwell.”

“Yes, yes…I’m just tired, that’s all. Nothing to worry about.” his voice quivered as he spoke; he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow bone. It was another crack in his reality. He was close to breaking, with a bit more time she would have her answer. However the sound of a sword unsheathing halted everything. Lae’zel had pulled out her dagger and pointed it in the direction of Wyll.

“He’s changing.” Lae’zel said abruptly.

“He was merely daydreaming.” Shadowheart interjected. “Put the dagger away before I put it away for you.”

“Calm yourself before you hurt someone…” Tav said. “No one is changing tonight, Giff.” She couldn’t help but to emphasize her mispronunciation. La’zel rolled her eyes and grumbled while she put away her dagger. 

Tav turned her attention back to Wyll. His movements were cautious so as not to alarm the others. Tav backed off, whatever it was he was hiding, she would have little chance of figuring it out tonight.  

“Nevermind Wyll. We will discuss it another time. Hopefully soon, it’s so rare that a bard gets to meet a legendary folk hero.” She said with a grin.

Wyll said nothing. He simply nodded, and bid the group goodnight as he left to find his tent. 

She looked across the firepit at Gale, who was fingering through a book of cantrips he had discovered on the road while taking copious notes in a leather bound journal. He carried the two books everywhere, even going as far as to check his pack religiously to make sure he had not lost the tomes while walking. She had observed the curious way he checked over his shoulder before writing things down. It wasn’t much to go off of, but it was enough to peak her interest.

“What is it you're working on Gale?” Tav said.

“Necromancy spells.”  He said, brimming with excitement. “Whoever wrote this book botched the translations. were lucky someone with considerable talents found this tome before anyone else got their hands on it, otherwise they would have created one hell of an explosion.” 

“You are checking the book for errors?” Tav said, noting the boisterous way in which he spoke.

“Yes! It’s always important to check over one's work before starting an incantation. I once had a colleague who fumbled over his words when reciting a spell. He was trying to summon a rain cloud, but instead he opened a portal that compressed his body into a cube of blood and flesh, the poor bastard never knew what hit him. I’ll never forget the noise…” He began to mimic the sounds of bones cracking until Tav interrupted him.

“Perhaps we should save the gorey details for another time, or perhaps we just never talk about it again.” 

Gale gladly went back to his editing. Tav grew disappointed in the lack of challenge he presented, he was not a man who hid things as much as a man who struggled to keep things in. Shadowheart on the other hand, was a real challenge. Her face lacked expression when she spoke and her mannerisms were deliberate, as if she was trained in discretion. She was a fortress unwilling to speak even the slightest detail of her life; Tav had briefly suspected her of being a fellow Songbird, but the brash manner in which she spoke was unlike that of her training.

“How about you Shadowheart?” said Tav.

“What about me?” She replied.

“Well, you strike me as the type of person with a story.”

“Well I’m not.” Shadowheart replied. Tav tried a new approach, she leaned in warmly, letting her own guard down just enough. She playfully smiled while she spoke.

“Hells, Shadowheart, I’ll die of boredom before the worm takes me out, give me something or i’ll be forced to ask Gale more details about his friends gruesome death or worse, listen to Lae’zel.”

Shadowheart laughed at this. Tav could tell she was becoming comfortable. She continued her approach with blunt playfulness. 

“Truly Shadowheart, you have nothing to tell? I mean, we share the same homeland, it can be quite a thrilling place. You must have stories from Baldur’s Gate. I mean, I have plenty.”

From behind her, a velvet voice pierced through the darkness, sending a shiver down her spine. “Let’s hear it then.” 

She turned around to find Astarion standing above her with a grin plastered across his face. He had returned from his solitary walk in the woods. He sat down next to her, and stretched out his arms to the fire for warmth. He smelled pungently of earth and sweat as if he’d been deeply immersed in mud, but his body remained remarkably clean. His porcelain skin beamed like a star against the black of the night.

“Go on.” He said.

“What are you talking about?” Tav said sharply.

“Well, you are so eager to get everyone else talking, yet you hold your cards very close to your chest. So let’s hear it.” 

He stared at her with piercing red eyes and a tight lipped smirk she found difficult to read. Her mind began to race as she wondered what it was that he wanted. Had he somehow discovered what she was doing? Or worse, did he know who she really was? After all, he was baldurian and a magistrate no less. Many magistrates called upon the Songbirds to extract secrets of their suspects before trial; he could have easily been a benefactor to them and simply toyed with her for the fun of it. This was a possibility, however, if he did know what she was, she would not give him the satisfaction of making her sweat. She smiled at him and relaxed her back against a nearby log, newly composed.

 “I have no issue with speaking, I am trained for it after all. I worked at a tavern on the west end of Baldur’s Gate, called The Nesting Grounds. I am an apprentice for the owner, Merideth Gotye.”

Astarion threw his head back and laughed. Her companions crinkled their brows and looked at one another in curiosity. Tav’s mind began to race again as she tried to come up with a deflection to whatever it was he was about to say.

 “How unexpected, you are full of surprises, aren’t you?” Astarion said.

“I don’t know what you mean.” She replied. 

“The Nesting Grounds is not just a tavern. It's a brothel.”

Tav smiled, and relaxed in her seat confident he knew nothing. “How antiquated. We prefer the term companion house.” 

“You're a prostitute?” Shadowheart said with wide eyes.

“No need to be so shocked by it all, I mean honestly I’m sure all of you who have stumbled into a brothel after a night of too much ale.” Tav looked to Lae’zel, who was picking dirt out of her fingernails with a blade. She amended her statement. “Well, most of you.” 

The silence built among the fire. Tav found joy in the discomfort of her companions, so long as they didn’t know about the songbirds, she could live with their awkward revelations of her side business. 

“Does this upset your sensibilities, Elf?” She said, turning back to Astarion.

“Hardly, but It does make you all the more interesting.”

“Trust me, you couldn’t afford me.” She replied.

 Tav felt a great relief as she regained control of the conversation, however she still knew nothing about this man, save that he tried to kill her without a second thought. Out of all of her companions, he was the one she feared the most. She could read the others like books, look at them and study their behaviors until she knew their intentions. However when she looked at him she found only darkness masked with coy humor.

“You said you were a magistrate?” Tav asked.

“Indeed.” Astarion replied. 

“Which sort of magistrate?”

“What kind of question is that?”

She spoke with bravado, and puffed out her chest. “Well, are you a defender of the people? Helping bring justice to those who desire it?”

“There is no gold in good deeds.” Astarion replied.

“Ah, the classic corrupt magistrate, and a brazen one too. What a treat.” Said Tav.

“It is not corrupt to choose cases that interest me, darling. It just so happens that what interests me is a full coin purse. Besides, it’s not as if your profession is brimming with morality.” He paused and turned to her with a smile she was learning to detest. “In fact, I think we are a lot more alike than you think.”

Tav furrowed her brow at him. “Selling your body and time to wretches and cheating husbands is a lot like being a magistrate?”

“Well, We both work with people, sometimes unsavory people, ones that make requests of us that others would find…distasteful.” Astarion said.

Tav held her breath, did he know her or was he toying with her? After all, she had always been careful with him. The consequences of an exposed Songbird agent was death, for all of her recklessness, she knew this all too well. However she could not account for the worm that now connected them. It was entirely possible that he had seen who she was through her thoughts as she had seen into his.

 Remembering what Merideth had taught her, Tav did the only thing she could do in these situations, deflect. “Fair enough, but I do hope that if I am to fall into legal trouble, you are the one sitting in the big chair.” 

She stood, lifting her bottle of brandy to study the contents. She took one last swig of the bottle and discarded it behind a log.

“𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒌𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒂𝒕𝒉, 𝑷𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏.

𝑨𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒂𝒚, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖...