so a bunch of tieflings from the grove just outright go missing after Act 1. No bodies in the Shadow Curse, no letters, no dialogues from others. Just a dozen-plus missing tieflings. Coincidentally, only one of them was at the tiefling party.
Anyway, my headcanon is that the tiefling caravan split in two, with those who we never see again being the 'early' group - who managed to avoid the shadows and Absolute Cult and eventually get where they're going safely. It was just the 2nd, later, group that got caught up in the shadows. Guex got an early start with the early group and we never see him again, while those who hung around later were the ones we had to help out again.
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BG3 having a bunch of recurring NPCs from *Elturel* aka the city so plagued by vampires it started the chain of events that led to the Descent, as well as a vampire companion (cosmic horror pun not intended) who makes a very lacklustre attempt at hiding the vampness (iirc you can have him bite people at the second Grove battle right in front of former Hellrider Zevlor), is definitely a choice.
I am ultimately glad they decided not to have any of the refugees comment on it because it would force some odd story choices (it seems very odd even post Avernus for Zevlor or Tilses to be chill with a vampire hanging around - desperation and lack of options are a hell of a drug, but the risk reward ratio on early game Astarion, who also does not hide his disdain for them, seems like the kind of thing they wouldn't be able to look past especially with children involved). Making the player choose between interactions with the tiefling faction and Astarion as a companion would be terrible in terms of experiencing the story to its fullest, while having them be easily persuaded he's all good would feel cheesy and off to me, so in that sense, the polite fiction that they're just completely unaware works best.
But
But
Consider the following: they're absolutely aware what he is and don't trust the party to do anything sensible about it (because let's face it, the party doesn’t really give off the vibe of being particularly sensible), so take things into their own hands. What I'm envisioning is Zevlor being too busy to be on it all the time so he deputises Tilses and maybe Ikaron or Asharak to handle it. At all times when the party is around the Grove, two to three people with sharpened stakes follow them, hiding behind corners spy comedy style and being wildly conspicuous to anyone with eyes - it's just that our player characters are failing every perception check.
(The less comedic version of dealing with this conundrum is one I'm still hammering out the finer details of for my post-game story. It is also narratively tasty but unfortunately, sad)
I think you are the most qualified person to ask this question since you write the tieflings so well: what Olympic sport would the tiefs complete in?
High praise indeed, Anon! Thank you so much!
Going through the list of events, I'm going to go through the adult Tieflings we see in the Grove. I'm also sticking to the summer events.
Zevlor is, of course, Equestrian, and more specifically eventing (which, I discovered, is basically a triathlon). Tilses would also take place in Equestrian, but she'd be focused on jumping. If the Hellriders aren't taking place in the equestrian events, it's a crime. Nuff said.
Rolan would be a swimmer. I think he'd would find swimming for exercise cathartic--the water resistance, the controlled breathing, engaging all your muscle groups to move through the water.
Lia would be a rower for a similar reason, engaging all the upper body muscles. I think she would do really well with a team, as well, and find a lot of fulfillment in it. Cal, in perhaps a surprising choice, would take part in gymnastics. His high strength score lends itself to strength based events. Imagine Cal taking on the pommel horse or the rings, holy shit.
Dammon, surprising absolutely no one, would take part in the hammer throw. But, before I remembered that existed, I also figured he would do well with shot put. Short bursts of power suit him.
Along a similar vein, Alfira would really excel at rhythm gymnastics as a form of artistic expression. Lakrissa, on the other hand, is a natural for archery, and in a modern AU would absolutely be that person doing trick shots on TikTok.
In canon, we know Bex is a great runner and that she was able to outrun the cultists. Thus, I can see her taking part in the sprinting events. Danis, meanwhile, I think would get the most enjoyment out of golf out of any of the events available. Outside of competition, I think he'd like the social aspect of it.
Komira is absolutely a Taekwondo girl--she was ready to throw down with the druids and strikes me as the type who wouldn't hesitate to fight for what she believes in. Locke's temperament, in contrast, reminds me more of a distance runner. He's much calmer than his wife.
So I debated between Asharak and Guex whom I thought would be a better fit for fencing--we see Asharak training the kids in fighting, and Guex using Main Hand Attack against Makeshift Training Dummy. Ultimately, I felt Asharak's temperament was a lot better for it and, frankly, that he would do well enough to compete on an Olympic level. Guex's event? Javelin Throw. We see him use potentially any weapon you sell Dammon against the Training Dummy if you defeat the druids (off the top of my head, I can't think of anyone who uses a javelin canonically otherwise minus maybe Cal). But I also think he'd like the challenge and feeling powerful without having to get into close quarters.
If we've talked Tiefling headcanon, you'll know I carry a headcanon that Okta is/was a monk and actively adventured until her pregnancy. Thus, she's a natural fit for Judo. Ikaron, too, does a physical event that requires a lot of control and precision: Boxing. Like Rolan with swimming, I think he'd find it cathartic.
Cerys would take part in the modern pentathlon. We don't know much about her backstory from the game besides her being a scout and the third leader option if both Zevlor and Asharak are killed in Act 1. Thus, IMO, she has to be extremely impressive in her own right. The pentathlon presently includes fencing, swimming, equestrian jumping, laser pistol shooting, and distance running.
Zorru and Yul are other canonical scouts. We know Zorru was able to make it Baldur's Gate presumably by himself, which means not only is he a good runner, but he has to be skilled at dodging obstacles, too. He's a natural choice for hurdles. Yul, we don't know enough about, but for the endurance required for scouting, let's slot him into cycling.
Kaldani and Rikka get to be our beach volleyball pair! I really wanted a duo that's seen a lot together in game, and they seem to get along well. I can see them working amazingly well at a team and being unafraid to work hard to win.
Damays and Nymessa were a little hard for me--I very much wanted Nymessa to be in breakdancing just to make Damays's head explode (at least the way I characterize them). But, in the end, I thought pole vault would be a good fit for her. Damays seems a fit for discus throwing.
Kanon strikes me as someone who would be really good at diving. We know he was a tailor in Elturel, and I think he'd appreciate the precision and artistry. Arka and Memnos? They get to be our tennis duos team. I think they'd balance each other well in the sport.
Pandirna absolutely has to be in weightlifting, all things considered. Let's hope she doesn't get in trouble for doping with Ethel's potions... Toron I think would be wrestling because wrestling cattle or something. Nadira would be sport climbing, because that seems to fit in well with her sneaking around devils and the like. (I can't remember at the moment how much of that is canon and how much of it was headcanon we came up with on the camp server.)
Eramis and Elegis I slotted into long jump and high jump respectively. At the time of writing this, this is based off vibes from each of them rather than anything in game that lent itself to this. Finally, Xeph, Rechel, and Amek get to be our synchronized swimmers, because we gotta have synchronized swimmers, and also I don't know where else to put them.
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Zevlor who stumbles upon Tilses in Baldur's Gate after everything that happened. And Zevlor can't face her. Not after everything he has done, not after how he has failed everyone. So he turns around, speeds through the dark street not enough drunk to his liking.
And he hears her going after him, calling him "Commander! Commander! Wait!" as if she was still at the barracks in Elturel trying to keep up with him as he hurried to the training grounds. The memory brings a stab of pained nostalgia to Zelvor. He manages to lose shortly after.
