#wondermumbles

H’ok. So. Let me explain.

I went with Astarion’s romance because he was the only romanceable character available to Roisia at the time. That’s one out of five. In my brain, I told myself I could justify and rationalise Roisia picking Astarion “in world”: the vampire satisfies his desire to gain a little blood and a little influence over the MC, Roisia satisfies her curiosity about how a vampire works up close and personal, and they can both have a little fun in the process. Everyone goes home happy!

Then again, maybe not.

Vampirism isn’t a form of resurrection; the undead creature persists in their cadaverous form. That’s part of the reason behind the desire to drink the blood of the living: vampires hunger for the essence of life, something they themselves have lost.

And Roisia’s more than just a necromancer, she’s an undertaker first and foremost. So you’re right! She should know that shaggin’ a 200+ year old corpse--however conscious and however much he says ‘Please.’--is still a necrophiliac act and is in Roisia’s profession Extremely Unethical. (I mean, you wouldn’t want grieving families to think that they’re adding their deceased loved ones to your personal dating pool, now would you?)

Now granted, Astarion is not a corpse in a traditional sense and more specifically, Astarion doesn’t seem to think of himself as a corpse. He calls the raised skeletons in the dank crypt unthinking cadavers and refers to the undead druegar as mere husks. So he clearly sets himself apart... but does a conscious, consenting decedent make the necrophiliac act more or less unethical for an undertaker? I’m not sure Roisia would be entirely comforted by an affirmative because she still is going to have a great deal of trouble making eye contact with her mother