#ulma

Round 1 — Match 19 / 77 — Abdirak vs. Ulma

Abdirak is a human servant of the Maiden of Pain, Loviatar. He can be found at the Bloodied Shrine in the Goblin Camp during Act One.

"free buff for letting a weirdo bonk you three times. Capitalism"

"consent king in the goblin camp. somehow."

"there are worse ways to spend five minutes in the shattered sanctum"

vs.

Ulma is the human leader of the Gur. She can be found in the Gur Camp in Rivington in Act Three.

"i’m obsessed with ulma because she’s grieving AND organizing at the same time. like… there’s a pyre, there are bodies, everyone’s exhausted, and she still has to be the person who talks to strangers (you) and goes “we tried. we failed. help us.” and she’s not sweet about it either!!! she’s practical. she’s angry. she’s tired of everyone treating the gur like background noise. good for her."

"ulma is a GREAT npc because she’s basically the “consequences showed up” character for the whole cazador situation. she’s not part of your party, she’s not there to be impressed by you, she’s there because a vampire has been picking her people apart and stealing their kids, and she’s done being patient about it. and i love that the game lets her be straightforward without turning her into a cartoon: she’ll ask for help, she’ll warn you, she’ll show up after the fight and react based on what you did. if you stop the ritual, she’s relieved and she’ll back you later. if you let the ritual happen… she doesn’t sit there and go “well, i understand.” she goes to war. which is, honestly, exactly what i want from her. she’s not a moral lesson. she’s a person who buried people and kept moving anyway."

I don't know if any of you have tried this but if you talk to the Gur leader Ulma while controlling Astarion, there is a fully voiced scene where you can't make any choices.

Ulma: But things have changed. You have changed. Is it true you left your master? That you broke the spell that binds you to him? Astarion: Well, I mean... kind of? It's a long story, honestly. Roz: What business is it of yours? Ulma: For those your friend stole from us, it is a matter of life and death. We have tried to save our children once already, attacking Cazador Szarr's palace at first light. Even then, it was too well defended. But if his own spawn approached? Someone he thought he could control? He would throw his doors open and welcome you in. And once inside, you could do what we could not. You could save the children you damned. Astarion: You don't know Cazador like I do - he's merciless. You want me to march into the lion's den and save your children, but I promise you, they're already dead. Roz: How can you be sure, Astarion? Astarion: I spent two hundred years bringing him victims. Each and every one was whisked away to be fed on that night. Ulma: But you never saw him feed yourself? He could keep prisoners for days before killing them. If our children are truly gone, then we ask for blood. I know you can understand that, spawn. Roz: You owe them revenge, Astarion. If nothing else, you owe them that. Astarion: I suppose... Yes. Yes, revenge I can do. Ulma: You have lived a life of violence and sin. You have stolen lives, broken families, and caused immeasurable grief. Doing this will not right those wrongs. Astarion: If you're trying to encourage me, you're failing abysmally. Ulma: But it will be a start. You may still be redeemed.

this is a long one, but i didn't want to cut anything out because i think the whole exchange is really fascinating! it's interesting to see astarion be confronted with people he has hurt - people he hurt under cazador's orders, of course, but people he hurt nonetheless. until now, astarion's been in control of the narrative around what he's done... which has really resulted in him being very vague and dancing around what he, specifically, had done. but he can't really downplay the implications when ulma's right here telling us he condemned children to death. it's kind of a vulnerable moment for astarion, and you do see him get a little defensive there.