#nim lore

The first time Nimue encounters her Dream Visitor has her both suspicious and intrigued.

She'd always been a person thirsting for knowledge, often knowledge that wasn't intended for the morally pure, so she had seen quite a few things already. This figure however was strange to say the least, awfully familiar too, like looking in a mirror.

In my mind, the Guardian has to work with what it finds in the shambles of its host's minds, to garner trust in their shared affliction and "goals".

In Nimue's case it is an older and therefore wiser version of herself, a Nimue aged to the cusp of 600 years, 400 years older than she is when she gets infected.

It did make the right call, as she was well aware quickly that this Guardian was a figment, a disguise, but with it imitating herself, her intrigue kept her engaged.

This is post Tiefling party after the both of them mingled (for their own egos mind you, I'll get to that eventually)

Astarion felt this pull towards Nimue, even though she treated him and everyone else like lesser than her, but couldn't explain why. After spending the night together, he's firmly telling himself it must be because she secretly does like him but just won't admit it. There is some truth in it, but after this interaction, he understands why he felt the constant need to stay close around her; she reminded him of Cazador.

Starting with her being aromantic;

Nimue does not care nor wish for partnership in her life. She's always seen it as more of a workload than anything that could benefit her emotionally. Her extremely low empathy would make it hard for a partner and herself to really put effort into a relationship, as she does not feel when her partner would need affection or anything of the likes if they did not actively ask for it or demand it (which works exceptionally well with Astarion as he has all the leeway for when and how affections happen). Most regular people also simply don't work that way and would get upset which would ultimately annoy Nimue and make her pull away. Thus she's always stayed alone, happiest with her own company and glad to not have a relationship she merely sees as too much effort to be worth it.

Now we know though she gets together with not just one but TWO partners in the duration of the game, which actually works perfectly for her. She likes both Astarion and Durge and enjoys seeing them together. She is a very passive partner and due to having the other two infatuated with one another, she does not have to do all the "work" by herself. On top of that, Astarion and Durge have gotten accustomed to Nimue's detachment to romantic actions and words and know that if they want/need it they simply tell her straight up to which she obliges with observed/learned behavior. Oddly enough this works out well and they even get married eventually.

Now to her asexuality;

I've drawn a few saucy pieces where it's depicted how Nimue usually behaves during those encounters and it is very much as she is with romantic relationships: passive. Durge and Astarion get together more often and Nimue usually passively participates by being in the same room or sometimes by simply cradling one of them while they have sex (mostly Astarion as Durge is the giver usually).

She actively participates, much like with giving affection, when specifically asked by her partners and ofc if she is in the mood for it. Nimue is sex positive but that only shows when prompted as she rarely initiates. Before Astarion and Durge, she had been celibate for half a century simply because she doesn't have any innate need for shared pleasures.

Now outside of the relationship, before meeting both of them, she was a bit more loose with sexual encounters. Nimue knows factually that she is appealing and used her body if she could get something out of it, but had no connection to the acts in any way. Her mind was usually somewhere else anyways as she barely felt pleasure from the mindless mingling, she just didn't care. Now there are instances where people interested her enough to stay in the moment, but that rarely happens (default Durge being one where she was interested, and those falling out of the norm in general).

Now Nim and Astarion get together very much aligned with the way the romance plays out in game. They sleep with each other at the Tiefling party (for ego reasons mostly, not because they both truly want to— they're stupid that way), then Astarion has his oh moment realizing why he gravitates towards Nimue so much and keeps his distance. In Act 2 they encounter Araj and well Nim doesn't hand him over, and Asta has to acknowledge the festering fondness bothering him so, as does Nimue herself. Everything after that aligns pretty much.

Now how did Durge get sprinkled into that soup? Well I don't know all that yet either whoops.

I am unsure where to insert him into the story, currently I'm thinking somewhere in the Underdark post Tief party. I would like Astarion and Nimue to be feeling conflicted about one another already when Durge enters the scene, because he is someone they both agree on to swoon over— not to forget his strange behaviors and deadly urges that have them intrigued for their own reasons (Asta for protection, Nim out of morbid curiosity).