#tiny rambles

The worlds

Both Thedas and Faerûn are continents in worlds steeped in the Dark Fantasy genre, populated by an assortment of races/species that coexist with varying degrees of success. You have dwarves and elves, humanoids with horns (Qunari/Kossith and tieflings, half devils/half humans et cetera), hurlocks and genlocks; hobgoblins, goblins and orcs. The list goes on, especially for the D&D world.

The Dragon Age games have gradually moved from classic dark fantasy with overt oppression and systematic abuse to its latest instalment, which is basically a game about grief, loss, and how to recover from that through the combined strength of your friends and community; you have to own up to your mistakes, and try to save the world from being literally corrupted by a Blight. And there are two escaped elven gods out to squash anyone opposing them like a little tiny insect.

Baldur’s Gate 3 shares some of those themes of ragtag companionship and joining forces to save the world, but it also really digs into the darker aspects of its genre. It’s gory, disturbing, and asks all kinds of questions about what it means to be Whoever You Are in a world that largely gives less than one single fuck about you, and, more or less actively tries to kill you for any number of reasons - chief of which being you’ve been infected with a thousand-toothed tadpole that will turn you into a tentacled monster set on world domination in a matter of days.

Thedas has a High Fantasy religious system, where you have Fantasy Catholicism, and Elven Paganism, but no Hell, no demons. When the god referred to as ‘the Maker’ deemed mortals unworthy, he pretty much said “You’re on your own, kids, good luck finding redemption. Deal with your own shit.”

Faerûn has demons galore, and several levels of Hell - and a whole plethora of deities. Dwarves have their own pantheon, as do elves and humans - if you’re an elf or dwarf from the Underdark (drow or duergar, respectively) you have your own set of gods and belief systems. One of the playable races in BG3, githyanki, worship a living ruler called Vlaakith. She’s so powerful she basically named herself a god/ascended to a godlike status among her people. And then, of course, there are the Ilithids, the tentacled race of psionic powerhouses that Astarion will be transformed into - unless he finds some way of removing the tadpole germinating inside his brain.

So, on the surface, the worlds are inhabited by similar creatures, share similar themes of corruption (and how to fight it) while Faerûn is vastly more diverse with regards to player characters and religious systems.

On the topic of elves

Because Astarion isn’t just a vampire spawn, but a High Elf, let’s dig into the different views on elves.

In Faerûn, elves are, by and large, considered to be beautiful, capable, and trustworthy… with some exceptions. They come from all walks in life, and can have different origins - in BG3 they’re limited to High Elf, Wood Elf, or Drow. Drow are EVIL! Just look at those red eyes! They worship spiders! WOE! No, it’s not that simple, but for hyperbole’s sake. Drow BAD, other elves GOOD.

In Thedas? Elves BAD. Elves of the Dales? BAD and godless, savages the lot of them. City Elves? A burden on human society, honestly, why are they even here? Let’s bundle them into ghettos and strip them of practically all their rights, and sell them as slaves. That oughta teach ‘em.

What about mages, then?

Mages in Faerûn? Excellent! Scholars and sages and natural savants, they’re all good. Necromancers good, sorcerers good, everyone wants to know a capable mage for all those pesky Quests you want to go on. As long as you're not outright Evil, you're cool.

Mages in Thedas… Dangers to society, let’s strip them of all their rights, take them away from their families the moment their magic manifests and put them in Circle Towers - prisons where mages are kept under surveillance at all times, educated in the fields of magic, and if they don’t pass their final exam, they’re killed on the spot. Wouldn’t want one of them to be possessed by a demon, and turn into an Abomination. Oh, and if, for some reason, you don’t have the skills enough to control your magic, or your mind isn’t deemed strong enough to resist a demon’s influence, you can either opt for a magical lobotomy, or be subjected to it by Fantasy Catholic Church. Or, you know. They kill you ded.

(Dragon Age: the Veilguard scrubbed the lore a lot with regards to the oppression and systematic abuse of both mages, elves, and others. While I can appreciate why, I like keeping some of it intact in my fics, while retaining the Found Family vibes of the Veilguard companions)

So… what happens if a High Elf vampire spawn gets portalled into a world where actual vampires only exist in a few lore entries as being people possessed by hunger demons, and most recently as a single instance of party banter between Emmrich and another of the companions? Where the first bunch of people he encounters are all Basically Decent, and don’t assume he’s a cold-blooded murderer? Where the assassin of the team gets him blood from the butcher’s so he can join them at meal times. People actually ask for his input and help with stuff?

And, because this is a slash fic, what happens when our Outwardly Suave Dork Who Cannot Deal with Feels gets involved with the Respectful Genteel Necromancer of All the Big Feels and Romantic Gestures? Well...

So. Who are Emmrich and Astarion (and why should anyone care)?

Emmrich is the ‘gentleman necromancer’ of the Veilguard team. He’s a human mage and a scholar, 50 years old (according to data mined from the game), devoted to his Mourn Watcher duties. The Mourn Watch are a dedicated class of necromancers who tend to the dead, while safeguarding both them and the living. Mourn Watchers revere the dead, and take their jobs very seriously. Emmrich is also a corpse whisperer, which lets him speak to those who have passed. Emmrich also has an assistant and ward, called Manfred, a reanimated skeleton (assembled from donated parts) and imbued with a spirit of Curiosity.

Emmrich comes from a commoner background, and is currently at a stage in his life where he’s academically accomplished, renowned and wealthy, at the higher end of the social hierarchy, and he wants for almost nothing. But he’s got two major Things with a capital T that weigh on him: he suffers a fear of death like you wouldn’t believe; and he’s never found a love that lasts. His Major Choices have to do with facing his own mortality, or choosing to become an immortal guardian of the world. His Wound (emotional driving force) is losing his parents at a young age. When he feels wronged or cornered, he can be petty and cruel.

Emmrich is a Romantic. Capital R on that one, too. This is our man of Big Emotions. When he falls for someone, he plummets. He doesn’t just fall in love, he crashes - but of course, he’s old enough now that he’s outwardly composed about it. Naturally.

Astarion is a rogue and a charlatan; a vampire spawn formerly working as a magistrate in one of the largest cities of Faerûn, Baldur’s Gate - all while enslaved to a cruel master, the vampire who Sired him. Recently kidnapped by mind flayers and infected with a thousand-toothed tadpole that will turn him into a tentacled monster with aspirations of world domination, Astarion finds he can be out in the sun again. He can step into water, for the first time in two-hundred years. He can enter homes uninvited, he can think for himself, free of his master’s influence/mind control.

Astarion’s Wound, as it were, is the abuse of power, and has to deal with the abuse he’s suffered over the past two centuries. Depending on choices you make in the game, he can either begin to heal, or become more bent on revenge and accumulating power of his own.

I will die on the hill that is Astarion is a Dork who hides it well, but! He is charming when he wants to be, cunning, vindictive, and has Enormous Issues with Emotional Intimacy. He's snarky, sassy, flirty, and will absolutely use sex as a means to get into someone’s good graces, or to get the upper hand, attain status within a group, you name it. Not a problem. But Actual Feelings? Noooo.

Care, or don't, but I think it will be really neat to explore their different dynamics, but also dig into their diametrically opposed approaches to, and views on, love and intimacy.

Yeah. Astarion will resist any suggestion of Love (ugh) while Emmrich, of course, will crash… and burn? That’s the question, isn’t it? How to mesh their character motivations, Wounds, and let them have their Happily Ever After. All while telling a story that fits into the Veilguard plot.

Expect the usual from me: Dual POVs, Big Emotions, High Stakes, and ANGST.

@ghoulehhh @natendo-art @in-my-loki-feels @kusakichan15

@devilbearingtrouble @impulsemuppet @mirilyawrites @scifikimmi @silentxsymphony

@rin-love-is-green @confetti39x @stillwanderingflame @elodiah @lokimobius

@insert-witty-user-name-here @blackbirdofasgard @dreamycloud @distracteddream @thosegayoldmen @crowtoed

@mobius-m-mobius @dilfmobius @adorbspotat @lgwilt