#calamatism

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[I enjoy Astarion as a character as much as the next person, but like...honestly? I would have rather seen someone like Karlach or Wyll get a prequel book before him. That's not to say I don't think Astarion's story is interesting! I like him a lot and his story is really interesting and I would loooove to know more about his life before becoming a vampire and more about his life as Cazador's spawn (though I do fear this might end up just being torture porn considering the nature of a vampire spawn and their master/what Astarion tells us but I digress). It's just that...we get so much Astarion shit already. He just got a whole DnD book. So like...let's give someone else a turn in the spotlight?

And I get that he's the most marketable because he has a HUGE fanbase and people love the twinkpire but I really do think some of the other companions have more interesting prequel stories than Astarion. Using my examples, Karlach's story is SUPER interesting and it would be cool to see how she grew up in Baldur's Gate and see what factors led her to working for Gortash, what she had to do for Gortash, that ultimate betrayal, and her time in the hells as well as seeing some of the Elturel stuff. I also think Wyll's story of growing up in Baldur's Gate as a Duke's son and coming to resent the games played in politics that, at least I think, ultimately led him to wanting to take on the Blade of Frontiers hero facade to escape it would be fascinating to explore, as well as seeing first hand how he became a Warlock and sold his soul for the city he still loved so much. To see more of the falling out he had with his dad and really FEEL that anguish of doing the right thing and being forced to let his father think the worst of him for it. Plus! He talks about some of his adventures and it would be fun to see those, especially in how much Mizora's/Zariel's influence come into play on those adventures!

And that's not even touching on Lae'zel growing up with Vlaakith's dogma brainwashing her and how much you could do with that (or shit give her a sequel book! That might be easier to be creative with; maybe weave her past and present together idk). Gale growing up as a prodigy and becoming a lover of Mystra and seeking out the tiny bit of Weave for her love just to end up cursed and having his love turn her back on him. Shadowheart gets a lot of exposure in game, so I'm less chomping at the bit for something for her, but I still think showing how she grew up, the sacrifices she had to make for Shar, and the tension with Viconia and her jealousy could be interesting too. Shit, give me Halsin leading up to and during the first confrontation with Ketheric or the drow stuff or just any content for this man besides tiny asides and comments made by him that never come up again. Show us how Minthara grew up, even. And maybe MAYBE they will someday but...I'm not really holding my breath.

continued from here / @calamitism

Lestat might have flushed if he could but instead his skin remained pale and pallid in the moonlight. His red eyes widened at her question and he tilted his head thoughtfully. No one had ever really asked about his hunting habits. "As long as it takes to find enough to make it to tomorrow night. Sometimes I can catch one bigger animal and that will satisfy. Sometimes it's several smaller ones. They don't have very much blood," he explained, his tone careful but conversational. He didn't look like he might bolt, relaxing slightly as she regarded him.

He didn't think he needed to keep things from Kore or anyone else really but he also wasn't used to sharing. It felt like everyone in their little group was holding back just a little bit. They were all strangers, practically, though travelling together meant they were more like acquaintances. People in Baldur's Gate were privy to his life in the spotlight. His abduction and subsequent absence had been noticed by the community but once he'd returned, there had been few questions. He could still sing and dance and play as well as he had before and that's all they cared about.

The strangeness of his red eyes and colorless complexion had not changed how they felt about him. "Before...before the ship, I lived with my maker. We hunted together. Not animals. Not good people either, just the rotten ones. I wouldn't hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. Especially not any of you. I eat this way to avoid upsetting anyone, but...it's not ideal. We can live off animal blood, no? But it isn't the same. Human blood makes me stronger, faster. A better companion. More useful." He shrugged. "I don't think any of us are quite close enough for me to inquire."

Her mocking is painful but it's the kind of pain that let's him know he can still feel things and so he doesn't turn away from it, but embraces the evidence that he is alive. The book was like that, too, and yet he's less glad for it. His own copy is...somewhere. Written in, highlighted. Her's isn't so much different, as it lands at his feet. He bends down to pick it up, averting his gaze from her own, judgmental and imperious. Like she knows everything now and has all the answers. Like letting Louis die was ever really an option, regardless of how angry he was. His missing conspirator, having fled Paris with her companion, never to return.

His entire relationship with Louis book ended by tragedy and loss. Even his return and the happiness it brought was short lived. Where had she been all this time? Why did she come back? Her escape had been enough for Lestat. To know she was out there, alive, hopefully thriving. Far away from them. Their relationship book ended by tragedy, too. Her death. Her murder. Her rebirth and in the end, the second death of Claudia de Pointe du Lac de Lioncourt, her identity discarded in that city where Madeleine had chosen her. Lestat hadn't been there, of course, but it was his blood. They were of his blood.

And now here she is, to tell them off. To set them free. For herself, not for them. To unchain herself from their memory. Fuck Louis and fuck Lestat. He doesn't answer right away, because what is there to say? She's right. He saved Louis and that was what he got out of it. Almost a century of misery. But he thinks she might have. She might have saved him. The little girl who loved her Daddy Lou. They're alike in many ways, and she would have saved him for the same reasons Lestat did. Love. Maybe she can't feel it now, but she did once. He picks up her book and flips through it, like it might reveal something about her. It does not and he looks back at her, expression guarded, prepared for more taunting. "You'd be surprised what you'd do for love."

He'd tried to talk to the others about them but they hadn't seemed concerned - it was one thing to fantasize and another to actually do a thing and yet, he almost had. To Alfira, his dear friend and someone he cared a great deal about. Shaken and apologetic, he'd left camp after he'd been confronted. How could anyone feel safe with him around? He should go off, on his own, and yet he did not want to. Around sunrise, he found himself back at camp, with the others rising from their interrupted slumbers. And there was Alfira. What could he say? What could he do? He waited, allowing her to speak if she wanted to, afraid to spook her.

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Halsin stood on the edge of the dock, both hands occupied with scratching dog and owlbear atop their heads as he gazed out over the water. Murky though it was, this view, with the moon reflecting off the surface, far surpassed any other he found so far in the city. Though far more than the lack of nature troubled his mind here.

Kore's voice turned his head, and he managed a smile. A small one, but a smile all the same. " I apologize. I did not mean for my melancholy mood to pull you away from your rest. " He turned to face her fully, the animals running off to play elsewhere.

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The moon hung high in the dark sky and the rest of their camp slumbered peacefully while elf and tiefling found themselves in a tense standoff. Dagger in hand, Kore shook with the effort of suppressing the urges he heard about, the murderous compulsions that led to Alfira's gruesome demise. The same that made him wary of her, concerned for the safety of those they traveled with as well as her own sanity. She controlled them thus far since that episode from what he could see, but it appeared tonight those urges would challenge that self-control.

" And you are doing well. " His voice was gentle, calm, though his magic tingled ready at his fingertips, strong vines creeping beneath the soil at his beckoning to restrain her if need be. They surrounded her beneath her feet, spanning outward at a wide radius. " Think of the progress you've made with your urges. You know you can fight them. Remember that and breathe. "

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