#coranzan lore

Personality: Strong-willed, positive, charismatic extrovert.

Ambitious, passionate, confident, determined, empathetic, compassionate, mindful of inner circle, loyal to close friends

Mission-focused, problem-solver, long-term thinker, sociable, charismatic, well-connected (Waterdeep)

Self-absorbed, insecure, restless, high-strung, impatient, domineering, craves acceptance.

Defensive, discouraged by strings of failures, often busy and difficult to pin down - but will give full attention when requested.

Ideals

Redemption: Everyone is deserving of the opportunity to realize the error of their ways and be given a second chance.

Compassion: There is strength in showing mercy and compassion, rather than ending a life. Even the most troubled souls should be given the chance to embrace redemption.

Change: The old, bloody traditions must be transformed into new community-focused ones. Only then the drow may build their place in the world, and Dark Maiden's dream come true.

Flaws

Confident but insecure: Believes in himself strongly, but doubters can rile his inner voice telling himself he's weak and not enough.

Long-term planner but impatient: Can see the long-term goals and work towards them a day at a time - but if not enough positive movement forwards is made, will succumb to defeatism.

Anti-Authority: Does not respond well to authority since leaving Menzoberranzan.

Head-Strong: Believes his method is best, feels most comfortable in leadership position.

Bonds

Family: Nothing is more important to Coranzan than his family. Especially his twin sister, Z'ress, who stood by him through every phase of his life, good and bad. His relationship with his Moondancer parents (Veldrin and Zilharess) improved significantly despite a rocky start on the surface as they mentored much of his life there.

Become Someone: One day Coranzan hopes to become an esteemed Sword Dancer of the Promenade of the Dark Maiden despite the disdain for his arrogance and hard-headedness and wishes to be an example for other men previously barred from this position.

Liar's Reputation: Coranzan used to be a famed young theater actor and noble's pet that pushed Keptolite propaganda and he cannot quite outrun from his past from Menzoberanyr that knew his history. He hopes his works for Eilistraee can make up for his past foolishness singing the praises of a god that abandoned him.

Religions

Eilistraee: Coranzan strongly believes in Eilistraee's mission to free the drow from Lolth's grip. He doggedly dedicated himself to proving he was worthy of the title of Cleric, despite the stringent rules preventing men from joining. After over a century of attempts, Coranzan broke down in a moment of weakness and Eilistraee heard his desperate prayers, told him he was worthy, and graced him with a moonfire blessing in the midst of a deeply intimate moment. This bolstered Coranzan's strong belief and felt a deep emotional bond with here thereafter, near the point of fervent obsession.

Eilistraee's Priestesses: The Promenade of the Dark Maiden maintained a matriarchal hierarchy preventing men from being promoted in their order until 1490 DR. Coranzan bucked against this constantly, feeling this concept was an outdated hold over of Lolthite beliefs. Combined with Coranzan's natural brash arrogance, the Priestesses dismissed his points as power-grabbing where he had not earned the right to hold that honor. It was until he'd returned to the Promenade with moonfire hair that they'd had no choice but to admit him.

Lolth and Keptolo: Coranzan was not strictly religious before the First Daughter that owned his theater troupe approached him to serve Keptolo directly. He was no more a Lolthite than most commoners, but the idea of a noble mistress introducing him to Keptolo and gaining his approval - and becoming an object of his lust - seemed like a sign to him. He was god-touched and he would serve Keptolo and Lolth with every fiber he could for their approval and rewards. All this came crashing down when his mistress and Keptolo left him to die on the surface. The harsh reality of the gods he worshiped taking all and giving nothing sunk in - he'd served these gods for lies.

Vhaeraun / Vhaeraunites: Given Coranzan's mistress' and Keptolo's motivation was for him to siphon male drow followers from Vhaeraun's growing popularity, Coranzan fears his name might be known to the Masked Lord in the worst way. Additionally, this opened a rift between Coranzan and his uncle who secretly worshiped Vhaeraun. However, during the Masked Lady era (when Eilistraee held her brother's portfolio following his death), Coranzan found some of his closest confidants amongst Vhaeraunites that joined Eilistraee's church. The relief that Vhaeraun was gone and their camaraderie in bristling at the church's matriarchal hierarchy made him feel like he finally had allies that would bolster his cause to a more egalitarian approach in running Eilistraee's church. Unfortunately, when Vhaeraun returned and his dissatisfied loyal followers returned to him, he found himself feeling quite alone once again. Thankfully it was during this time Coranzan reconnected with his uncle and although he would not follow Eilistraee, he had his support once again.

Perspectives

Redemption: Coranzan's own journey was heavily influenced by the mercy given him on his first surface raid. Without a Paladin of Lathander extending him the opportunity to redeem himself, he would be yet another dead jaluk for Lolth's cause. As an Eilistraeen, he's been around many a Lolthite that thought lowly of him and insulted him, but he gave uncharacteristic patience towards them. He believed that if Keptolo's lapdog was worthy of redemption, so might other Lolthites.

Love: Over time, Coranzan has flipped from thinking romantic love is a manufactured concept, to an obsession, a distraction, to unrequited pining. Coranzan came around to the idea of this intense means of caring for another by a human bardic mentor extolling the virtues of romantic love in his own experience. He'd seen his mentor's intense form of love shine bright until his final day, when he passed and his half-drow wife survived him. Coranzan began to understand that such bonds - although they could hurt - were intense experiences, and he sought it. He sought romantic love, stumbled and flubbed it repeatedly. The purest form of this love was something he felt he finally understood when Eilistraee sought him out, comforted him with a night of profound, groundbreaking intimacy. He pined for this moment every since. In the BG3 timeline, this leans into the importance of Minthara's presence in his life to pull him back from his unhealthy divine obsession and ground him in reality with her own flawed but earnest, devoted, and - importantly - real love.

War: Coranzan was never good at defending himself through combat when he was young, compared to most other drow. He leaned instead on his wit and the help of his quick-thinking sister to escape most tough scrapes. Joining Keptolo afforded him some sword training but he still primarily used his words. Under Eilistraee's church, Coranzan was inspired to improve himself to fight alongside other sword dancers. He vigorously retrained himself and it became an endless drive to improve. Nowadays, he is far more deadly with his twin blades, but is now restricted in its usage. Priestesses consider him now far too quick to resort to violence and even bade him take a vow to not kill other drow when a treacherous situation led to him killing his former lover, Amanais.

Sex: With most of the drow cultures Coranzan has run with, sex has always been a relatively detached and easily negotiated affair. In the Underdark, he fell in with the rules: your superiors had control over you and you had no say. He does not view this as abuse - it's just how it was. Unbound by the rules of Menzoberranzan he felt he could now take control. Unsurprisingly, in his early days on the surface, he gained the reputation of being a bit overbearing, abusive, and domineering, resulting in some stigma in his participation in Eilistraeen gatherings. It took him a fair few decades to fully shed this mentality but in time, Coranzan embraces a gentler approach to others generally and finds it is an appreciated approach in all aspects in his life, including sex. As such, it's generally his first approach to engaging with another. This was only reinforced by his encounter with Eilistraee.

Family and Children: Coranzan has learned to love his family, despite their differences and his resentment over his parents choosing to raise him in Menzoberranzan instead of the Promenade. Initially Coranzan had complicated feelings towards the children of the Promenade, feeling jealous of their sheltered life he never got. But in time, he learned to live through them, wanting to help them form a better existence for them. And it doesn't help that his theatrics make for great entertainment, and Coranzan generally enjoys entertaining children. If he had the chance, he'd love to raise his own family some day.

Feelings Towards... (WIP)

Drow Women:

Drow Men:

Drow Nobility:

Driders:

Eilistraeen Clergy:

(Ex-)Lolthites:

Surface cultures:

Vhaeraunites:

Keptolites:

Backstory Overview

Coranzan was born in Menzoberranzan and was generally considered a weak child growing up. He leaned on wit and his sister's help instead.

Growing up, he struggled to stay focused on his family's merchant guild business and instead turned to theater.

In time he was noticed by the First Daughter of the House that ran it, Phaethra. She invited him into a scheme to draw Vhaeraun's followers using her propaganda pieces, a plan that had Keptolo's (and Lolth's?) favor.

Keptolo took a personal interest in him, used Coranzan for his own depraved entertainment at times, pushing him higher in Phaethra's priorities with promise of rewards for both of them.

Coranzan is only so useful to her and she's a bit jealous of Keptolo's focus on him, so she plots his demise by demanding him to rid her of her mother, securing her Matron status and proving his loyalty to Keptolo's will that he support her. Miraculously, Coranzan succeeds.

Dismayed she instead refuses him Patron status by saying he needs to prove himself, never having done his Blooding. He's ordered to attend a surface raid with his sister to the surface.

His parents, who have been in and out of his life at this point, find this out and offer to lead him out of the Underdark. They reveal they're Eilistraeen secret moondancers and they've been planning to leave Menzoberranzan anyway and they'd like him to go before his raid.

He rejects them. Vehemently. He's loyal to Lolth and Keptolo. He's disgusted by the revelation. They leave without him or his sister. Coran doesn't out them.

Unsurprisingly, he's bested during the surface raid, despite his sister's attempts to save him. A paladin of Lathander whups him easy and Coran is completely messed up.

In the haze of being beaten and freshly unadapted to the surface, he's a mess of sound and sensations. He's praying unanswered to Keptolo and Lolth, but he knows they won't hear him.

But he does think he can hear Eilistraee's song, sees the dancing of moths. Maybe he made a mistake to reject his parents offer. She is here while his gods are not.

He takes the paladins offer of mercy and redemption and that decides to lead him to the Promenade, where his folks said they'd be.

Coranzan is grateful for the opportunity. He's grateful for the second chance. He decides to serve Eilistraee's message, feeling the burn of being discarded by Lolth and Keptolo.

Over a a century of adaptation, Coranzan trains well, becomes a much better version of himself, physically and mentally. He turns from bitter to joyful thanks to a number of mentors.

However, the matriarchal order of the Promenade of the Dark Maiden restricts his upward momentum, despite his improvement. He's barred from becoming a cleric, due to being a man and he pushes on this issue constantly. He's dismissed as an arrogant man, seeking to power grab.

After a century of working on himself to no avail, Coranzan breaks down in an ugly, sobbing prayer to Eilistraee. She takes pity on him, lets him know that he's seen for his good, she loves him, and intimately embraces him. The encounter leaves him with a moonfire blessing.

The Priestesses can't deny such a blessing and begrudgingly admit him as a Cleric and Sword Dancer.

This is where his canon backstory stops and where a BG3 timeline begins. However, Coranzan is also designed to be played at a table, from this point.

Character Songs

Keptolite Era: Trust in Me - Siouxsie and the Banshees, Siren - Kailee Morgue, Supervixen - Garbage, My Kingdom - Kalandra

Eilistraeen Era: Get Free - Lana Del Rey, 25 - Veruca Salt, Broken - Eivor, Empress - The Arcadian Wild

The Twins: Love Don't Die - The Fray, Comfort Crowd - Conan Gray, So Far Away - Staind, Stand By Me - Florence + The Machine , Sons & Daughters - The Decemberists, Breathe Me - Sia, Glory and Fore - Lorde

Coranzan x Phaethra: Say It - Madeaux

Coranzan x Amanais: Is This Really Love? - d4vd, Blood in the Cut - K. Flay

Coranzan x Eilistraee: Surrender - Eivor, Dear Fellow Traveler - Sea Wolf, ufo ufo - Weightless, Glitter - Rafferty

Coranzan x Minthara (BG3 Timeline): #1 Crush - Garbage, Loneliness Is Worse - Veruca Salt, A Stroke of Luck - Garbage, Jonathan Coulton - Your Tattoo, Divine Feelings - Vance Joy, Move Me - half-alive, White Flower - Rafferty, Protection - Massive Attack

House Zau'drathir Era (BG3 Timeline): Overachiever - Walking on Rivers

Other Links:

Character Sheet

Masterpost - post of posts

References and BG3 Character Creation

Tags: Coranzan, Coranthara, Coranzan Art

To Do:

Background Summary

Timeline

Tags Re-org: Coranzan Posting, Coranzan Asks, Coranzan Lore

First some background on my interpretation of Eilistraee:

I consider Eilistraee to be a pretty sexually positive goddess. She's a fertility goddess, her cult is full of ritualistic orgies, there's no way she's not getting down now and then herself. And I find it strange that a lot of the fandom treats her as this sexually untouchable being.

So I'm like, be the change you want to see in the world. Sexualize 👏 that 👏 goddess👏!

Let me be clear, Coranzan having sex with Eilistraee is pretty cool, but I don't think it's a particularly unique experience on its own. What is unique is her manifesting before him at all and choosing to spend time with him and him alone, as opposed to appearing in a group prayer or orgy setting.

Generally, it's understood that Eilistraee is pretty distant from her worshippers, compared to Vhaeraun or Lolth. Why she's this way is anyone's guess (maybe she's more like Corellon than Lolth in this way, maybe she feels interference is hindering drow self reliance and independence or something). But my interpretation is her physical manifestations of her bodily form are rare and deeply welcomed events, but primarily appear to groups performing ritual songs, dances, or orgies.

And to add another bit of context, it's worth remembering that Coranzan's previous intimacy with gods was with Keptolo, over a century prior. Keptolo stoked Coranzan's obsession to serve and simultaneously rewarded and abused him as he did so. His sexual experiences with Keptolo were far from gentle experiences, and Eilistraee couldn't have been more different in that regard. This is kind of a healing moment for him where faith and intimacy intersect.

So with that established let me get into how this occurred.

Coranzan wistfully smiles at Eilistraee's manifestation on the Phalar Aluve.

I've previously established that Coranzan has wanted to be a part of Eilistraee's clergy since he was brought to the Promenade of the Dark Maiden in the 1330s DR and Eilistraee's Message deeply resonated with him. However, according to Eilistraee's priestesses, men were not allowed to become clergy until Eilistraee herself intervened upon her return in 1489 DR. That's well over a century of him trying to convince her priestesses that he was worthy, hoping Eilistraee herself might recognize his burning desire to serve and redeem himself for his past service for Keptolo and Lolth.

At some point, not even the encouragement of his family and mentors was enough to keep him going down this path. The constant rejections over a century overcame his usual resilience and positivity. On the verge of throwing away over a century of training and hard work, he broke down in a sobbing prayer to Eilistraee, begging for some sign that he should keep going or that she agreed with her priestesses and he would seek another path.

Miraculously, Eilistraee heard his prayer. She appeared to him, comforted him, told him he was worthy, and that she did love him. She chose to show him her love through a rare moment of intimacy just between the two of them. I have difficulty describing how this would go down specifically since hand wavey metaphysical god stuff is difficult for me to get into... but part of this process involved her soothing him, running her fingers through his hair, granting him the Moonfire blessing to linger in his hair.

Coranzan was left feeling deeply connected to her, his faith renewed, and inspired to be worthy of her faith in him. Furthermore, the lingering Moonfire hair demonstrated Eilistraee's personal blessing and it was enough to show he was worthy of becoming a Cleric of Eilistraee to her priestesses. Shortly after this event, men were generally allowed to become clergy.

He took his charge seriously, doubling down on missions to serve her cause. He wanted to make Eilistraee proud. But part of him also hoped he'd get another chance to see her again, spend another moment alone with her again. However, he hadn't seen more than the usual manifestations to guide him. Moths fluttering in patterns, moonlit paths for guidance, but she herself hadn't appeared before him again.

Coranzan sometimes dances alone, hoping to be visited by Eilistraee again.

He knew the moment he had with Eilistraee herself was rare and special, but he couldn't help but wish for more. He tried to be her star cleric, hoping he might be worthy of another visit and only became more obsessed with the idea of her. He currently borders on the edge of zealotry, but his sister, who remains a lay worshipper of Eilistraee, keeps him in check.

In BG3, it's kind of important to understand he's still obsessed with Eilistraee to a nigh unhealthy degree. She guides him through his journey in signs and symbols - to the point Coranzan believes Eilistraee guided his hand to spare and rescue Minthara.

Coranzan helps Minthara break out of Moonrise Towers.

By the time Coranzan was born, his family was starting up a little-known merchant guild, following the fall of his mother's/grandmother's House. It was a collaborative front between his parents (needing a cover for their Secret Moondancing movement) and the Coranzan's Vhaeraunite uncle (who also needed a similar cover for his own reasons).

Veldrin and Zil'haress - Coranzan's parents, Secret Moondancers, and founding members of their own merchant guild.

By Coranzan's 20s-30s, his family's main occupation was running it and he was expected to be a major part of managing it, after his sister. But there's a lot of numerical concepts involved in the administration of this guild and Coranzan found it immensely frustrating. Compounded with the fact that no one really knew how to help him (his sister did her best, but Coranzan loses his patience on this issue very easily), he tended to drift away from it at every opportunity.

At some point, he found himself quite adept in reading and retaining stories instead. He could recite something he'd recently learned within a few reads. Theater troupes and plays attracted his attention and he desired to be up there doing that instead. His ego and love of attention also being a major part of that desire.

A young Coranzan and his sister, Z'ress ( @susann-noir ), still living in the Underdark.

He got into trouble a lot by drifting away from his responsibilities, due to the amount of frustration that job gave him. He needed some kind of occupation to keep him out of trouble. His ego combined with his boredom resulted in his sister having to save his ass frequently.

His main focus was reciting and acting rather than musical performances at this time. When it came to music and rhythms as a part of plays, he scraped by with a lot of copying and practice and a little understanding of the fundamentals. His sister would coach him and guide him in the things he struggled with and it was enough to get by.

Young Coranzan as a theater actor in Menzoberranzan.

There's a lot of story details between here and there but this is the first domino to fall that led to his leaving the Underdark and converting to Eilistraee's Church. The decision to join a theater troupe ended up getting him caught up in House scheming that got him sent unprepared for a Surface Raid and nearly getting killed. A paladin showing him mercy gave him the chance to join his Secret Moondancer parents at the Promenade of the Dark Maiden instead.

Coranzan and Z'ress pleading to a paladin of Lathander.

Eilistraeens had a more compassionate approach towards teaching him math-adjacent skills, especially ones related to music and song - since that's deeply a part of their rituals. They recognized his issues and patiently worked with him to help him understand these concepts, particularly with regards to reading, writing music, and rhythms. They also managed to work on his impatience and lack of focus through rituals meant to calm him. He leans heavily on those.

Coranzan intensely focusing on his playing.

Coranzan's main focus as a bard is still not music, but he is far more comfortable with it now than he was before and indulges in it as a hobby and occasional entertainment for the camp. He still does not prefer to work in math-heavy concepts and rather leaves those concepts to his sister instead, who handles them with relative ease. He's far more adept than he was in Menzoberranzan, but he knows it's not his strength and finds it frustrating if he's expected to engage with numerical concepts for extended periods.