#cyricist

god he's such a fuckboy. incel bitchass motherfucker. he's like simon from infinity train but somehow worse, my god. rancid vibes.

he thinks banites dress like idiots, and, like, yeah they do, but come on man. what is this. you look like a discord mod with that coat.

CW: Coercion, Cult Shit and mentions/allusions to SA & Partner Abuse

Ronan is the childhood friend-turned-ex-boyfriend of Briar Lockren, the Tav half of my Tav/DU run (who was originally constructed as a fake Origin character). He was raised in the same Cyricist enclave in Luskan - such a small sect that most people don't even know about it. As his father was the head priest, Ronan was under unique pressures that lead to him rebelling against his father but never the core beliefs he was having instilled in him. However, since his best friend was Briar, a girl and their youth group's black sheep, the way much of his misogynistic upbringing bent around her as an "exception" or "a girl who can 'keep up'".

Even when Briar left the enclave, the two kept in close contact. It was a bit of a Romeo-Juliet thing they had, and Ronan was able to persuade her to help him with the cult's work since they were fighting against the Banites from the Black Altar, the Undermountain and the Obsidian Chapel (Ronan was the lesser of two evils). The two started a relationship, honeslty against Briar's better judgment because of their shared history and the fact they were both young adults with marbles for brains.

It was during those years of their relationship that Ronan's worst traits came to the surface bit by bit. He became extremely possessive and dismissive of Briar, sometimes coercing her, marking her body with those stupid fucking claw rings, and then love-bombing her when she grew upset. Still, they had good times where he was sweet and caring to her and she remembered why she fell in love with him. Briar was convinced his worst traits were because he was still victim to his father's restrictions and expectations. If they could just leave it all behind, they could properly be together and he'd have room to grow and be better, just like she was able.

Ronan had a very different interpretation of this sentiment. The night she proposed they leave, Ronan murdered his father and usurped his position. The betrayal and power grab of his own flesh and blood, the entitlement he felt to Briar, and the willingness to seize power by any means -- oh, baby, he had POTENTIAL. with it, he caught Cyric's eye. Before his father's body had cooled, Ronan had become the Chosen of Cyric.

The power trip and actions taken in the immediate aftermath caused Briar to flee, but not before he branded her with a powerful curse: cataclysmic disaster would follow her everywhere she went. If she wanted it removed, all she'd have to do is return to his side.

(he's not entirely sure how he did that - perhaps it was a gift from Cyric, but whatever the case may be, he hasn't had luck with similar-scale magics. still formidable as FUCK)

For three years he watched Briar through the mark, haunting her nightmares, robbing her of sleep and connection, and generally making her life hell. He was convinced she'd give up eventually. It was inevitable. She was his, after all, branded with his mark.

Around this time, Ronan's people were summoned to Baldur's Gate by the Cyrcists located around the area - the Banite Chosen was making moves, and the Dead Three had something to do with it. Ronan and his people began their work to undermine them when something unprecidented happened.

He lost connection to Briar. For the first time in his entire life, he had no idea where she was, what she was doing, or where she was going. And it has wrecked him.

Ronan is currently a delirious, paranoid mess, putting all his permitted resources into looking for her instead of doing the work he was supposed to do in Baldur's Gate. Little does he know, when he next meets Briar, he'll barely recognize her.

dude he sucks so bad

and that's what i love about him - if Ronan had actually left with Briar instead of usurping his father and doubling down on a power trip - i think he ACTUALLY would have had a chance to become a functional person with a normal relationship to women. he had a choice. he had someone actively showing him better. but it was his own decisions that made him who he is.

after everything he's done, he'll have one final chance to make things right. you get ONE GUESS what he decides to do with that chance.

i also love him because his relationship to Briar allows her to be a very imperfect victim - she turned a blind eye to a lot of what he was doing (and what she was culpable in) because she cared for him. doesn't mean she deserved any of what he does! that's still abuse, dude!

anyway please dunk of him, he deserves it and should be drowned in a puddle