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silvantransthranduiltrash · 2 months

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Hc that different types of elves are able to use magic in different ways/to different levels.

I will be focusing more on the avari and silvan elves as i am known to do:

Magic, in this sense, is more like the life force that flows through everything and everyone. Elves generate an extra amount of it which, they then can use through pathways in their body. Humans and dwarves, etc, are rarely able to use magic to an effective result bc they don’t generate as much as elves and aren’t built with the pathways to access it, though dwarves can occasionally channel the magic around them into the objects they create.

Silvans actually have a surprisingly high level of magic usage, even more than their valinorian counterparts, though most of it is passive. A surprising amount of people will hear “silvans can communicate with trees” and then never proceed to link it to magic usage. Of course it varies silvan to silvan, but a well trained silvan can actively use magic to protect and defend and lay down wards. Their link with the world around them through trees also allows them to boost their own magic when they need it. It’s because of this especially why silvans do not like being underground. Thranduil and Legolas are actually rather adept magic users, though they don’t show it off.

There’s also a type of elf that cannot use magic at all. These are the Fawneli elves. They are considered the strongest elves in the world, to the point they can pick up boulders the size of a palace and toss them about without breaking a sweat. They’re fast and their hardy. They are also referred to as “mini-giants” because it is as if someone took a giant and shrunk them, but kept all their strength in tact. However, in return for this strength, they are unable to use even the slightest bit of magic and are completely cut off from it. The Fawneli are mostly desert elves, and nomads. They don’t have a governing body and sadly most of them were hunted down and enslaved, which was made easier due to their vulnerability to magic of all kinds. There’s only a few dozen left in the world by the end of the third age.

If silvans were magic positive, and the Fawneli were magic neutral, than the Okreans are magic negative. Not only are they capable of seeing through any magic disguise of anyone, including maia and vala, but they are also mostly immune to any and all magic thrown at them. Whenever they are around, magic actively deteriorates. As a result, they are elves of science. And, as a result, the Valar do not like the Okreans as they see them as a threat bc of this immunity. Because the Vala saw them as a threat, they massacred the Okreans, with Tulkas and Orome themselves coming down to kill off these elves, during the second age. Only 8 Okreans surivied, including Kleoyia (though she was only 8 at the time), and they were cursed by the vala to live in agony untill they either killed themselves, or lost themselves to madness.

The Atric Elves share their magic with the forms of beasts. Individually, they cannot cast it the way most do, but rather they obtain the form of animals with their magic and get power through that. The Atric elves live in the the far north, mostly in the arctic circle, and thus tend to share the forms of arctic animals, whether they be from the land, air, or sea.

Aquatic elves are, as the name describes, elves that live in bodies of water, emphasis on in. Way back at the lake, they decided that the water was much safer than land, and so they took a plunge and never looked back. Aquatic elves are often refered to as mer-folk or sirens. Parts of their body take on shapes of aquatic life, and they come in many shapes and sizes. They have abit of a rivalry with the Atric elves, specifically the Atric elves that shape-shift into aquatic animal forms, as they compete for food. The silvans, however, they have a good trade relationship with. The Aquatic elves will provide silvans with good seafood, and in turn the silvans will give them a lot of land meat and vegetables the Aquatic elves can’t reach.

Sucian elves are probably the most common of Avari elves. They are also referred to as spiritual elves. Their magic mostly comes from their own power, and many will use tools in order to aid themselves. There are two major Sucian elf empires: the Bali’tsa empire and the Qitian empire. What is unique about the Sucian elves is that they can pass on their power to others, though it is extremely difficult. It is also the most diverse of the magic types, and tends to be more unique to each family.

Lastly you have the Agpetian elves, who get their power assigned to them, assumably by Eru himself. As far as i’m aware there’s no rhyme or reason as to why they get the magic they get, but when a child becomes 100 days old, their magic will display itself. As a result, they tend to be a little more…. Religious? Than other avari, though they do not worship or care for the valar at all.

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y-rhywbeth2 · 4 months

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Lore: Drow #1

Cultures, Part 1 Link: Disclaimer regarding D&D "canon" & Lore Index [WIP] [tldr: D&D lore is a giant conflicting mess. Larian's lore is also a conflicting mess. You learn to take what you want and leave the rest]

Ssri'Tel'Quessir, the People of Darkness. I love these messy little bastards so much. An eye for an eye might make the whole world blind, but that is the price the drow are willing to pay.

They're also a surprisingly diverse bunch, and since everybody knows the backstabbing social darwinist spider-matriarchy, let's talk about some of the other drow cultures first. Let's see, there's the split between the dark elves of Ilythiir and Miyeritar; the original dark elves; the surprisingly large number of different hidden societies of surface drow; aquatic dark elves; the merchant clans... This isn't even quite all of them, it was just getting long so I had to stop there.

Also, which asshole was responsible for naming a place “Jhachalkhyn”? Come here. I just want to talk...

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Dark elves, pre-Descent: Information on the dark elves before their exile tends to be scarce.

They and the Green Elves are branches of the same elven ethnic group, and these two were the first elves to arrive on Toril, and the first of their people to travel through it, learn it and build their homes on it (alongside some avariel). The dark and green elves were the most aggressive and highly driven of their people, and the dark elves were the most successfully established - initially.

Dark elves have always been described as dark skinned, though their skin was originally brown and became desaturated as a mark of their banishment. Whether their hair was always pale or whether it was originally dark has varied by source. Black hair is a rarely seen recessive gene amongst drow, and the green elves have blonde hair as a rare colour, so it's quite possibly both.

As green elves are significantly taller than the drow, one can assume that the dark elves have grown smaller over their 10,000+ years living in the Underdark.

Miyeritari VS Ilythiiri Better covered in-depth when I get to elven history:

In short, Ilythiir was the first elven kingdom on Toril and a beacon of elven culture and glory for thousands of years. It grew into a corrupt empire (and was hardly the only example of its kind; imperialism, corruption and intrigue isn't the sole domain of the dark elves). The Ilythiiri were eventually corrupted by Lolth, and their actions in the numerous wars between the elven empires - and unwillingness to stop despite (almost) every other elven nation wanting the centuries of nonstop war to end - became so bad that the other elves and the Seldarine banished them from the surface in a High Magic ritual called the Descent of the Drow or the Curse of the Seldarine, binding the dark elves to the ambient faerzress radiation of the Underdark, which cut them off from the elven gods and the Weave.

The result of this is that drow no longer have their innate connection to the elven afterlife/plane of origin, Arvandor. They may still go to that afterlife, if they worship the Seldarine or Eilistraee, but they are not welcome there by default. While they are no less cut off from the Weave than any other race, and may practice magic, they do not have an innate connection to it and their lifespans are reduced from 700+ years to around 350 (although individual drow have been known to live far longer, and editions have not been consistent on this). It is also supposedly responsible for sunlight blinding and causing unbearable pain to the drow, and allowed the elves to drive the dhaerow into the Underdark. (It should also be noted that the effects of faerzress seem to wear off over time, if a drow leaves the Underdark. Their sunlight sensitivity also fades with time. Returning to the Underdark will cause them to fall back under the radiation's effect.)

The Ilythiiri drow feel that they won the Fourth Crown War, and that the Seldarine (especially Corellon) condoning their exile and showing blatant favouritism to the other elves despite their own war crimes is unjust (especially in light of the crimes committed against the dark elves of Miyeritar by the sun elves of Aryvandaar).

Over the course of their history, the Ilythiiri mixed their blood with that of the demon lord Wendonai, and as a result of having the balor for an ancestor, dark elves of Ilythiiri descent often have red eyes. It's genetic, and the most often seen eye colour on drow.

Miyeritar was a nation further north, in the location of what is now the High Moor. Their primary religion was that of Eilistraee, a Chaotic Good dark elven goddess of moonlight, dance, hunting and music. The majority of its population was dark elven, living alongside a significant number of their green elven cousins. It was eventually annexed by the neighbouring sun elven empire of Aryvandaar, and later annihilated in an act of genocide that also utterly destroyed Eilistraee's church for the better part of a millennia and severely weakened her ability to counter Lolth's influence. Two notable enclaves of Miyeritaran refugees secretly survived with the help of the neighbouring moon elven empire of Illefarn, who gave them out-of-the-way land to settle on within their borders and hid them from the Aryvandaan forces. These grew into the cities of Ascarle, the underwater City of Ice and Fire, and Jhachalkhyn, the subterranean City of Eternal Twilight.

Unlike their cousins, the Miyeritari had no connection to the violence of the wars except as victims, but the Curse of the Seldarine didn't merely single out the Ilythiiri, and all dark elves were exiled from the People. This betrayal led to a significant amount of bitterness, and allowed Lolth a foothold amongst the dark elves of Jhachalkhyn.

Something many drow, regardless of ancestry, affiliation or reasoning agree on is something along the lines of the following:

"[Drow] burn with hatred for the Seldarine and their coddled children, and want nothing more than to return to the surface and bring to the elves there suffering a thousand times greater than that which the drow have been forced to endure over the past ten thousand years."

The drow refer to the surface elves as Darthiiri (Darthiir, in singular), meaning "traitor."

The Jhachalkhynnar drow became radicalised from within over time, ousting opposing voices and eventually turning their blades against their green elven Miyeritari kin (who had been spared their magically enforced exile); the Illefarn darthiiri who had once sheltered them; and the dark elven Ascarleans (who had temporarily side-stepped the Descent by magically transforming themselves into a unique form of sea elf (this protective loophole didn't last, as some survivors of Jhachalkhyn's genocide later learned))

The Jhachalkhynnar drow have cooperated with their Ilythiiri neighbours at times, though drow of Miyeritari heritage are not terribly welcoming of their cousins, blaming them for their fate as much as they do the surface elves.

Around 1372-ish DR another High Magic ritual was cast to remove the curse from dark elves descended from the Miyeritari. They are no longer bound to the faerzress, and it no longer inhibits their innate elven connection to the Seldarine, Arvandor and the Weave. Their skin has regained its original saturation and sunlight no longer pains them. (This little incident with the dark elves changing back kind of just got forgotten as canon went forward, so information about what this small population of Ssri'Tel'Quessir are actually doing in the world after this is non-existent.)

Surface drow (EIlistraeean): Although they have never been focused on, apparently there are plenty of surface-dwelling dark elves living quietly out of sight, deep within quiet woodlands (often deep within the tropical forests, down South) minding their own business - 22% of all drow live on the surface and most of their communities worship Eilistraee as their primary deity. Some of them are exiles, self-imposed or voluntary, who came to the surface. Some of them resisted the Descent and never left the surface in the first place.

Part of the reason their population is so large is simply that the founders of these communities chose to live in peace rather than constant warfare and backstabbing, and thus their population has been able to grow unhindered. These communities do have to be on guard against attacks, especially from Lolthite and Vhaeraunite drow, and do their best to go unnoticed by other surfacers, but mostly get on with their lives in peace.

Their population sometimes also includes a minority of other elves and half-elves.

As of 5e, these settlements (which do long precede 5e, regardless of whoever's complaining about how drow must all be evil or that non-evil drow are special exceptions) likely include Callidae and Saekolath, founded by drow who never followed Lolth or descended into the Underdark in the first place. When the drow were banished, some drow simply left for the most remote places they could find and stayed there.

A few places where surface drow exist include:

The High Forest, which features a sacred site, has a small population of drow.

Callidae is a city of about 50,000 people, built inside a glacier in the far North. Callidae is unknown to anyone except for the neighbouring Ulutiun humans and arctic dwarves, who they coexist with.

Saekolath is furthest South, deep within one of the jungles, and their culture places great emphasis on living attuned with the nature that surrounds them. They are highly isolationist, and avoid all contact.

As of 1490, after the Second Sundering when Eilistraee announced her return by manifesting outside of the city walls of Waterdeep, many of her followers have migrated to the city to build a shrine to her there. Despite the hostility dark elves face from surfacers, they were assisted by allies in the Harpers, and the shrine stands in the North Ward despite the fact that the city does not particularly welcome them.

These communities are Eilistraeean, and their worship often incorporates the Seldarine and the Dark Maiden's allies as well; Callarduaran Smoothhands (patron god of Deep Gnomes), Haela Brightaxe (the cheerful dwarven goddess of battle), Lurue, Mystra, and Selûne - plus any other gods that might appeal to an individual, past the communal level. Some communities will even send a pacifying offering to Vhaeraun now and then, to keep them hidden from the eyes of the world. Worshipping Lolth, on the other hand, is not going to go down well, ever.

Eilistraeeans are not the only drow communities on the surface however, and her brother Vhaeraun also encourages his followers to seek the surface world for very different reasons.

Maeralynnar Drow: Some of the descendants of the aquatic dark elves of Ascarle have their own city in the Underdark. Their ancestors were given a new home in a hidden space along the coast, and fell in love with the sea, using magic to turn themselves into sea elves so that they could live beneath the waves. When the armies of Jhachalkhyn arrived, the survivors were those who fled or who were away at the time. Survivors include House Ildroun and House Meirityn, who fled into the warmer seas to the South.

In 882 DR, Lady Maerala of House Meirityn was experimenting with a High Magic ritual that would allow her and her people to alternate between their sea elven and original dark elven forms at will, allowing them to survive on land and in sea. Unfortunately for her, while the spell worked and allows them to now switch between aquatic and terrestrial forms, upon taking on their original dark elven forms they were subject to the Curse of the Seldarine and branded as drow. The descendants of Ascarle had by this point forgotten their history as Ssri'Tel'Quessir - 10,000+ years is a long time even for elves, and Maerala and her house had been driven out by 887 DR

The refugees established themselves in the Seadark (the ocean in the Underdark), building the city of Maeralyn (no prizes for guessing who that's named after). The drow of the city divided their time between learning how to survive the Underdark and uncovering the explanation for their transformation. They eventually found it in 1051 DR, when Maerala managed to trace her people's tracks back to Ascarle (currently under new, non-elven management. Specifically a mind flayer, oddly enough) There she met a kraken named Slarkrethel (who is also pretty important, but not in a way that really matters much here). In exchange for serving the ancient sea monster, he taught her of her ancestors and the betrayal they suffered.

As there was nothing the Maeralynnar could do about the exile placed on them by the gods, they went for the next best thing, and in 1357 DR they launched an attack on the Jhachakhynnar drow, slaughtered the vast majority and razed their city to the ground. They looted every Miyeritaran artefact and scrap of culture they could get and took it home to Maeralyn.

Little else is said about them, except that their society is currently held hostage to the will of a titanic, ancient sea monster running a massive information network spanning the North of Faerûn. They currently serve as spies.

In their aquatic form, sea elves of dark elven heritage take on skin in shades of deep green, banded with irregular brown patches and stripes. Their hair comes in various colours including white and silver. Also they have gills around their collar bones and over their ribs and webbed digits, standard aquatic elf stuff.

The description given for the Maeralynnar elves in aquatic form is also the description given for one subgroup of aquatic elves in Races of Faerûn. From this we can assume that that write up is how these dark elves' culture has also worked for 10,887 years, during which they would have missed out on the development of drow culture and related bitterness.

They are ruled by a ranked nobility, and this group in particular had a monarchy. Traditionally, the titles are passed down the male line in a mild patriarchal tradition, but it seems that in Maerala's case the kingdom was either matriarchal or egalitarian, with the monarch being elected from amongst the nobility by their proving their merit through some great service to society or useful discovery.

The community is very tightly knit and prizes cooperation, for the sake of survival. There is no concept of private property, and all things within the community belong to everybody. (This does not extend to outsiders, who can expect a stabbing if they try to take anything)

Aquatic elves have little contact with the world above sea level and are wary of outsiders. In light of their exile, ancestral history and current environment, this trend has likely been strengthened and may have led to a culture of mistrust and xenophobia.

Their martial training involves tridents, spears and nets. Due to a history of living in the water, and the new amphibious lifestyle, they tend to favour wearing as little as possible and making sure that whatever they wear allows them to dress and undress quickly - or at best doesn't hamper their swimming in the water.

Most elves wear their hair long, but warriors keep it short.

Maeralynnar drow lack the small stature and the sexual dimorphism of regular drow (men are, on average, smaller and thinner than women). They standing at the same height range as the humans of the Realms.

Due to the removal of the curse from Miyeritaran dark elves around 1372-ish DR, the Maeralynnar are no longer magically exiled. What effect that might have had on their society is also unknown.

Presumably they aren't currently under Lolth's sway - not fully, anyway (although considering she tends to consider the dark elves "hers," she's likely to have tried to change that).

Eilistraee, as a goddess who actively reaches out to all drow, and the historical patron of their Miyeritari ancestors who the Maeralynnar are so interested in connecting with, is a likely candidate for worship.

Living by and in the oceans as they do, Umberlee will hold a primary position in their religious practices. Sea elves fall under the purview of the elven god of the sea and knowledge, Deep Sashelas, and they would have been worshipping him as a primary deity before their exile in 887 DR. While becoming drow might've strained their relationship, it's possible that the Maeralynnar continue to worship the Seldarine (who generally have no problems accepting drow, as long as they're not brainwashed by Lolth or similar cults).

Merchant Clans: Drow are one of the most prominent traders in the Underdark. Trade with their inferiors is beneath the Matriarchs of the Noble Houses of the various drow cities, and so it falls to those living outside their walls to interact with outsiders. The Matrons insist that the merchants are irrelevant, however the trade they bring is the vital lifeline of drow cities. Without them even Menzoberranzan would be in trouble.

Different clans organise them differently, but the trend is for there to be some kind of "inner ring" or council calling the shots. Membership will consist of the wealthiest and most experienced merchants, and many of them will be men. Interactions with outsiders is a dangerous and demeaning task, best left to inferiors.

Many of the men in the inner ring are wizards - Lolthite society has a tradition called The Test; when a wizard reaches a certain level of power, he is subject to examination by the Spider Queen to see if she's happy with a male wielding power. If she's not, he gets to enjoy the rest of his life in permanent agony and hunger as a drider. Some wizards, deciding that they'd rather not risk the whims of an infamously fickle and sadistic goddess prone to trolling, simply pack up and get a job outside the city as a trader.

While the merchants are no less arrogant than the average drow, as a rule, they are far more relaxed around outsiders and surfacers, and the "second ring" of drow trade organisations are quite happy to have non-drow on staff in manager positions.

The "assets" - the lowest ranks in the organisation, menial labourers and low ranking guards - are almost entirely made up of non-drow.

Merchant clans are just as likely to fight amongst themselves as the Houses - moreso, in fact, because in the open Underdark it's a free-for-all.

Some cities are/were governed by the clans instead of the noble houses: The city of Eryndlyn, located in the Underdark under the High Moor where Miyeritar once stood, is ruled by various merchant clans. The city was founded by drow seeking to recover the lost empire, and was a major trading hub for the various peoples of the Underdark, and even saw traffic from the surface when there are (usually less than moral) surfacers willing to risk trade with the likes of drow and duergar. Eryndlyn thrived specifically because its settlers founded it with an areligious view in mind. For a while, most of its conflict came from the various merchant clans squabbling and engaging in intrigue against each other for wealth and influence. Eventually the city was infiltrated by the cults of the drow gods Lolth, Vhaeraun and Ghaunadaur (who is technically god of oozes, but he is technically in the Dark Seldarine). One of the key ways to make your cult profitable in Eryndlyn, incidentally, is to make sure people know it's profitable. The city was effectively been split into three sections, where the faiths of the three ruled the city through the clans. There was no open warfare, but the friction between the three makes living in (and especially governing) the city highly difficult. During 1372 DR, when Lolth broke contact with Toril to focus on moving house (long story, different post), the Vhaeraunites and Ghaunadaurans allied in order to destroy the Lolthite presence. The ensuing civil war destroyed a large third of the city.

The city was destroyed in the Spellplague, in 1385 DR because fourth edition hates me personally. However, most of the residents had already left to get away from the civil war and have mostly just relocated elsewhere.

#Aquatic Dark Elves who walked into the drow nonsense 100 centuries late with a starbucks are my new favourite thing #Thank you Eric L. Boyd and George Krashos #I am absolutely going to build a campaign and at least one PC on this concept #drow tav #half drow tav #long post #seldarine drow

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shaken-veil · 7 months

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Jaladri, Aquatic Elf, Warlock - Fathomless Patron (x)

#baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #bg shots #female tav #my tav #my ocs #warlock tav #there are no aquatic elves in this game sadly so #so i used high elf as a base race and went from there #the fathomless patron is a mod linked in the caption

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sorcerous-caress · 4 months

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That couch meme but it's a human and 5 different types of elves standing behind you send tweet

#none brought up aquatic elves yet #♡human kink #sun elves are like if you took high elves and tripled their racism #moon elves are much more better and friendly tho #star elves are a thing too but they are forgotten by most #winged elves #they wre there #are they even elves at this point this seems redundant #what's next? vampire elv-#oh wait #♡memes

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dndsettingsinfo · 7 months

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Dwarven, Elven, & Orc Ships by Silver Comapss Maps

#silver compass maps #dwarven #elven #orc #orcs #dwarves #dwarf #elves #elf #ship #ships #sailing #aquatic #marine #water #vehicle #vehicles

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damn-seven · 1 year

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Dropping some pretty old sketches here, but here are some NPCs I designed for my CoS DM for his games!! He wanted some werewolves, so I created these funky fellas 🐺🌙

I may get around to redrawing them sometime >:)

In order, from left to right: Brendan [He/Him], Ransley [He/Him], Delphine [She/Her], Etienne [They/Them], Waldron [They/Them]

#curse of strahd #dnd werewolf #dnd npc #dnd design #dnd sketches #dnd adventures #werewolf #werewolves #dragonborn #aquatic elf #dnd dragonborn #dnd elves #dnd #dungeons and dragons #damnsevenart #damnsevendnd #damnsevenstrahd

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yourplayersaidwhat · 7 months

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Aquatic Elf Druid: don't get me started on the types of elves

Alchemist: Dark elf, snark elf, bark elf, shark elf

Druid: one elf, two elf, red elf, blue elf

#shit my players say #rpg #submission #shareable #pathfinder

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yellosnacc · 7 months

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Once again a creature from the continent of Slomen. A very primitive but also very specilised critter. 6 to 30 cm long, wet roots up to 45cm.

They live in many aquatic environments but most often you will find them in forest rivers and lakes. Some species have even adapted for life in the sea and could be considered fully aquatic while still air breathing.

Majority of the clade feeds on small animals like invertebrates sometimes parts of plants they can digest. Their hunting strategy is either burst swimming, jumping or just sliding on top of some slow prey.

There were two important species that started life on land, with the leaf ancestor being a smaller, less land specilised of the two. Leafs are one of their earliest evolutionary branches as land vertebrates and have retained many acient features like paw suckers and teeth instead of claws. In bigger vertebrates most of these little teeth were lost and became true claws or fingers (even present on the other land climber ancestor).

They can actually eat with their feet that are still closely connected to their stomach. But it applies only to very small food particles.

The wets are not very culturally significant but some regions do eat them. But the thick mantle isn't very tasty. In some places they symbolise good harvest season.

These little guys are also related to the 'birds' of Elve and I'm sure you can see why.

#art #speculative biology #artists on tumblr #digital art #artwork #worldbuilding #speculative evolution #spec bio #fantasy #original creature #creature design #spec evo #alien life #frog #slug #elve #pick up and run #speculative fantasy

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galedekarios · 4 months

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gale's comments when interacting with an armillary sphere.

armillary sphere

armillary sphere in dnd is "an astronomical model of the courses of the sun, moons, planets, and stars and of the principle celestial circles" [x] and gale appears to have one in his tower in waterdeep.

coliar, karpri and anadia

coliar, karpri and anadia are all different planets:

Coliar was the second planet from the Sun in Realmspace. Seen from Toril, it looked like a gray and white orb which never appeared too far from the Sun. Coliar and Anadia, the two inferior planets of the Torilian solar system, were known as the Dawn Heralds. [x]

coliar is also home to elminster's hideout. the hideout contains a large portion of his library as well as portals leading to different locations on toril and earth.

Karpri was the fourth planet from the Sun in Realmspace. Seen from Toril, it looked like a sapphire-colored orb with large white polar caps. It was one of the Five Wanderers, the five superior planets of the Torilian solar system. Karpri was a purely water body: a seemingly bottomless ocean with no land masses. When viewed from space, its beauty inspired artists to paint the planet. [x]

karpri has a haunted elven base that was once overrun by mindflayers. it's also home to aquatic elves, as well as beholderkin called eyes of the deep. maybe another delicacy for tara (jk).

Anadia was the first planet from the Sun in Realmspace.[1] Seen from Toril, it looked like a small amber-colored orb with green poles which never appeared too far from the Sun. Anadia and Coliar, the two inferior planets of the Torilian solar system, were known as the Dawn Heralds. Due to its proximity to the Sun, most of Anadia's surface was too hot and dry to support humanoid life. [x]

in early access, gale used to have this line when interacting with an armillary sphere:

Gale: All these lands, oceans, empires. I’ll see them all myself one day.

#gale dekarios #gale of waterdeep #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #ch: gale dekarios #vg: baldur's gate 3 #series: baldur's gate #meta: mybg3

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kirain · 3 months

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what do you think of this post about Gale? I saw it today and idk how to feel about it. h t t p s : // www. tumblr. com / galahadwilder / 741497332636467200

I couldn't disagree with it more, to be honest.

First of all, and I can't stress this enough, Mystra doesn't care about her followers. She cares about the state of the Weave and nothing more. If her followers don't worship her, if they're not useful to her, if they don't serve her purpose, they mean nothing to her. After she abandoned Gale, she had no interest in him until she realised she could use him to stop the Absolute—and she only wanted to stop the Absolute because it threatened the Weave. In general, Mystra doesn't care what people use magic for either, be it the most admirable heroics or the most depraved insanity you can imagine.

Case and point: Lorroakan. He is an arrogant wizard, far worse than Gale could ever hope to be, who uses magic for pure evil. When he beat Rolan, he undoubtedly used magic to do it. Do you think Mystra cared? Nope. You can help that nutjob achieve his goals, kill a demigod, turn him immortal, and give him free reign to abuse magic any way he wishes, but do you think Mystra cares? Nope. She doesn't. She doesn't care about people unless they benefit her. In fact, all three iterations of Mystra have a vast history of grooming, flat out 🍇, and the forced impregnation of unsuspecting mortal women. Despite being neutral good, Mystra is and has always been extremely vain, selfish, jealous, and problematic.

With that in mind, I'd like to break this post down piece by piece. Also, please be aware that when I use the word "you", I don't mean you specifically, anon. I'm more so addressing anyone who might be reading.

PS: Please no one harass this person's post. Their opinion is their own, and it's very respectful. At the end of the day, we're just talking about a video game.

Mystra didn't tell Gale not to juggle the torches. She didn't even tell him it was a torch. She let him go on believing it was a part of her missing Weave. Had she told him the truth, he would've stayed away. That's why he's so shocked in Act 3, when she finally reveals it's the Karsite Weave. He had no idea, and she likely never intended to tell him. She didn't before he went off in search of it, and she didn't the entire time he was locked away in his tower, scared and suffering. I can't for the life of me figure out why she wouldn't warn him, but I can only assume it's because she expected absolute obedience, or because she was getting bored of him and wanted him to mess up.

Whatever her reasons, she didn't tell Gale to leave the orb alone because he was "worthy" already. He clearly wasn't in her eyes, because he wanted her to see him as an equal. He wanted her to share her knowledge with him, which is perfectly fair in a healthy relationship. If you're dating a god and they treat you like a worshipper—that's all you are to them. A worshipper. A plaything. You're beneath them. You're unworthy. She told Gale to leave the orb alone because she wanted him to be complacent. She wanted to keep him in servitude. That's what she wants from all of her followers, though it's even worse when it's her lover.

In almost every story where a mortal loves a god, the mortal is either ascended into the heavens or the god gives up their divinity. And this isn't even specific to gods, but also vampires, werewolves, elves, and so on. Arwen, for example, gives up her immortality to be with Aragorn. Bella becomes a vampire to be with Edward. Hercules gives up his divinity to be with Meg. Elisa Esposito becomes aquatic to be with the creature. These are common tropes because it makes the couples equal.

Mystra contradicts herself by saying Gale was "always worthy", because her actions don't reflect it. He was a worthy distraction from her job, sure, but not worthy enough for her to treat him like an equal. So in order to prove it to her, to prove his love and devotion, he went after the one thing he knew she wanted—her missing Weave. Yes, she told him not to, and I agree he should've respected that, but this is on par with a woman telling her husband not to buy a bracelet she really, really wants because it's too expensive. If your husband worked extra hours and saved up enough to buy you that bracelet, would you divorce him?

Gale was completely unaware of the danger. He basically thought he was getting Mystra a bracelet. Had she taken the time to explain it to him, the whole catastrophe could have been avoided. He was just a hopeless romantic who wanted to surprise his girlfriend and prove he belonged at her side. The same girlfriend who very well could have made him her equal and shared her knowledge, but chose not to. Why? Because she's selfish. She didn't want an equal, she wanted a servant. We know this because, if you romance and ascend Gale, he will ascend you alongside him and give you your own domain! Mystra had the power to do this, or at least the ability to slowly ease him into it, but she refused. No matter how much he pleaded and proved his devotion to her, she refused.

Mystra did not save Gale when the orb embedded itself in his chest. He survived only because it fed on his gifts. He says as much, and so does she when you go to see her at the Temple. That's why, when we first meet him, he admits he used to be better at magic. He was once exceedingly powerful, but the orb basically knocked him down to level one. Mystra was perfectly happy to let him scramble to find items to absorb, knowing that he would inevitably run out and erupt. When we give him his third item in Act 1, the orb is becoming quenchless, and he knows his time is nigh. Mystra has nothing to do with satiating the orb until Act 2 and 3, and only because he becomes her wild card.

Gale: Mystra will consider forgiveness?

Elminster: She will consider ... what she considers to be forgiveness.

Even Elminster, her most faithful Chosen, knows her "forgiveness" isn't really forgiveness. It's an ultimatum. Do this for me and be welcomed into my hall, or die and literally go to hell. Why would Mystra make this offer? Well, because why else would Gale agree to kill himself only to end up in the Wall of the Faithless? How would that motivate him? Mystra didn't make this offer out of the kindness of her heart, she made it because she was desperate. Had the opportunity never presented itself, she would've let him die and suffer for all eternity, and possibly take hundreds of innocent people with him in the blast. She. Doesn't. Care. 🤷‍♀️

Now, one could argue Gale was asking for too much, but I'm going to have to call bullshit on that. First of all, Mystra showed him things no mortal has ever seen. It's only fair he'd want to share her world and learn as much as possible. Imagine if the Doctor from Doctor Who picked up some random people and took them on breathtaking adventures, but the audience got mad at them for wanting to see as much as they could. Amy, Clara, Rose, etc.—none of them could live a normal life after meeting him, and they wanted to learn as much about the universe as possible. But everyone loves those characters. They don't get mad. There's even several episodes where the companions call the Doctor out for not treating them as equals, and he admits he's wrong for doing that and adjusts his way of thinking.

I would argue that the only real divide between Mystra and Shar/Vlaakith is that Mystra doesn't inflict physical pain ... most of the time. That's it. Vlaakith and Shar only care about themselves and the effectiveness of their followers, but the exact same applies to Mystra. She is the Weave, and she only cares about the Weave; therefore, she only cares about herself. She had ample opportunity to help Gale or tell him the truth, but she didn't until it was convenient for her. The gods of D&D are basically the Greek Pantheon gods—a bunch of assholes toying with mortals, regardless of their alignment. The odd one is decent, but most are only out for themselves and their rule. Now, I will concur that Mystra is hardly the worst deity (in fact, she's unfortunately one of the better ones), but she's still not great and Gale is her victim.

To get a little controversial, I think the writers made a mistake. I know what they were going for, but I think they lost it along the way. At first, I was ready to stand with everyone and admit he belonged in the quintessential "overreaching wizard full of hubris" category, but upon researching the lore, getting to know Gale better, and doing several different playthroughs, I've come to vehemently disagree. First of all, before 5E (the current D&D edition), becoming a god was the ultimate goal for a lot of players, and that was perfectly acceptable, with many DMs providing celestial paths to make it possible. Moreover, many of the current gods were once human themselves, including Mystra!

Second, it's only hubris if you fail. Gale can ascend. He can succeed. Although it's not the canon outcome I would choose for him, he is right about the crown. He does his research and figures out how to reforge it. And he doesn't seek godhood to be worshipped, he seeks it to either free himself (and all mortals) from Mystra's chains, or for her to acknowledge and love him as an equal. His arrogance stems from insecurity; an insecurity Mystra herself planted and cultivated, and in the end he's not really arrogant atfter all. Does him wanting to be Mystra's equal make him selfish? Well, I suppose that depends on how you answer these questions:

Is your partner equal to you? If you don't think so, why are you leading them on? Why wouldn't you take steps to help them become your equal? Why are you holding them back instead of propping them up? If they show interest in your life, in your world, in the things you can do, why would you keep it to yourself, especially when you have the time and resources to share it?

Just some ambrosia for thought. 😉

#bg3 #baldur's gate 3 #gale of waterdeep #gale dekarios #bg3 tav #mystra #all my homies hate mystra

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sinizade · 5 months

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Izveta, the Blind Drow

Class: Monk (of Sashelas)

Romance: Astarion (not ascended)

Besties: Wyll / Gale / Karlach / Minsc / Scratch

Friends: Shadowheart / Lae'Zel

Momma reference: Jaheira

Izveta is the youngest of two sisters in the prestigious Noquar family, as she is the best among her sisters in letters and charisma, her mother placed her as her advisor and official scribe to write down all the family's great achievements and spread the greatness that they they deserved to have. All the problems in Izveta's life began due to the purchase of a simple slave, a surface elf who was taken to her home to serve the matriarch, but was given as a gift to Izveta because of her excellent work alongside her mother. Little by little the girl fell in love with that slave, a kind boy despite the situation he was in, a forest elf with beautiful green eyes.

The beauty that Izveta possessed was always a reason for "envy" of her sisters as she attracted not only the attention of other males but also of other matriarchs who always tried to have her around to show off the beautiful girl, and it was this beauty that ended catching the attention of that young slave who fell in love with Izveta and they both started to have a hidden affair, an affair that unfortunately ended up being discovered by her sisters, causing fear in Izveta, who, in a clear act of desperation, tried to run away with that slave, abandoning everything she had built behind her.

Her mother and sisters hunted them like animals... Not even giving them the opportunity for an explanation when captured. The slave, the elf that Izveta loved? Killed by her mother, but that pain was only accompanied by more long months of slow and sadistic torture, all the hate that her sisters harbored all these years was used to give them more motivation to torture her, her long white hair? Shaved with dull daggers that caused some cuts on her scalp. Her big red eyes? Blinded by drow poison, drop by drop until she lost her sight entirely. Killing Izveta would be dull, emotionless, out of sheer cruelty, her sisters burned all her clothes and left the girl alone naked in the solitude of the Underdark

Using the few senses she still had left, Izveta managed to reach the surface only to drown in the dark ocean, she didn't even remember how she got there, but now she just sank in the middle of the sea embracing her cruel and distressing destiny, until being saved by a strange creature, a dolphin made of water that seemed to take away all the agony of drowning until she was noticed by aquatic elves, monks of Sashelas, the Lord of the Undersea. She was adopted and cared for by creatures she once thought were inferior to her, she was treated as an equal even though drows have a terrible reputation inside and outside the Underdark.

It didn't take many years for Izveta to realize that her home was now there, and that, for some reason, she was saved by Sashelas, which ended up resulting in a clear admiration for the followers of the oceanic deity. Among the monks she learned to use her other senses to see, she would not need her eyes, but rather her body, concentrating all her energy and strength to protect the temple and spread the word of her Prince Dolphin, of her new deity...

Izveta's main objective in Baldur's Gate was to infiltrate Umberlee's temple, there were many strange things happening both in the city and in the seas and the water elves believed that those responsible for such chaotic acts were those who worshiped the Goddess of the Deep Wilds

Some curiosities about Izveta

She is vegetarian

She asked the aquatic elves to tattoo her eyes because she felt ashamed of the scars she had from the drow poison (She always wears clothes that cover her back for the same reason)

Her favorite color is white, well, even though she can't see that color anymore, she still likes it.

That strange incident with the dolphin seemed to give her a small and useful ability, she has better mobility when she is in the water, not in comparison to aquatic elves, but in comparison to other land creatures, Izveta has incredible mobility in the water

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m0ckest · 4 months

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🫧 Deira Silverpearl • Sea Elf • Water Druid • Neutral Good • Lvl 6

Grim Reefers Server December CAS Challenge — This month, we made a Dungeons & Dragons party!

⤷ download sfs

Deira prides herself in the variety of magical goods she trades at the shore between those who dwell below the surface of the water and those who are locked above. Though she's what the other aquatic elves consider a "land walker" and enjoys learning as much as she can about all cultures, she still struggles to pick up surface languages. She was once chosen as one of the rare spellcaster sea elves to dedicate her life to clerical magic, but for reasons unknown she never completed her studies. As a trader, she spends more time away from her clan than most elves. She, however, rarely shares the private details of her own life and prefers the exchange of goods instead of spoken language.

#i've never really played d&d but this was fun!#m #sims #sim download #grim reefers #wciff #sims 4 #cas challenge #sims 4 cas challenge

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outofangband · 3 months

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I really loved @gwaedhannen ‘s post about wanting more strangeness in First Age Beleriand and I had a post awhile back about potential strange ecology for Middle Earth so I wanted to revisit it with some more thoughts!

Following up to my speculative biology ideas for elves,

Like the last list, these are more jotting down ideas, please please feel free to give me any to elaborate on!

Mammoths on the Helcaraxë and other cold reaches. Tolkien talks of all creatures that walk or have ever walked the earth existing in Valinor and throughout Arda hence prehistoric and extinct species can also exist here. I do also headcanon smaller herds of woolly mammoths and woolly rhinos in northern Hithlum and north of greater Beleriand. Stellar’s sea cows in the frozen waters:(

Early cenozoic aquatic birds such as Hesperornis off the coasts of Balar and Alqualondë.

Enchanted orchards of Valinor; large, seemingly abandoned self containing gardens and orchards. There are fruit tree orchards hidden behind ivy covered walls; some always filled with Autumn breezes, citrus groves always kept warm and bright lined with lemon trees and deep green grass. Except for the Maia who tend them, the only beings who enter the orchards are elves who do so, usually by mistake.

There are places throughout Arda where the Music was not well, loud, enough. They can be the size of a footstep or a field and are not fully connected to the space time continuum. Those who tread on them will end up elsewhere in time or space and will never realize what had happened.

In the great expanses of unexplored Valinor, there are coves, glens, lagoons, and all sorts of other places that seem shift and change, being there one day and not the next. Even while walking through familiar, charted territory, there is always the possibility of ending up in a hidden clearing, covered in hanging mosses and with strange lights all around.

The forests of Beleriand are full of strange, sometimes dark creatures that have never been properly documented. They are the strange hybrids of Yavanna’s creations and Melkor’s corruption and a few have escaped the eyes of even the Ainur.

The underground lakes of Middle Earth, especially around Angband contain blind, hungry beings, nourished by the volcanic soils. Strange fungi and lichen stick to the walls of the caverns and passageways beneath the fortress.

There are hot springs in several locations in Beleriand South of the Ered Wethrin (there are many in the Ered Wethrin of course but these are not exactly relaxation destinations). Namely in Himring, throughout Hithlum, north of Barad Eithel, parts of Dorthonion, in the caves of Androth, and parts of the Ered Luin. Not all of these are used by residents and not all maintain safe temperatures or conditions but some do! In many parts of Northern Beleriand, they're used for bathing and communal relaxation. There are other springs throughout the March of Maedhros and I like the idea of Himring being built around a hot spring. There are hot and warm springs in both Nargothrond and Menengroth. The definition of warm springs differs from hot springs only in average temperature

The caves of Menengroth and Nargothrond allow elves and others access to the strange wonders of the underground world of Middle Earth. They are lit by lanterns and by certain bioluminescent plants. There are windows in key areas that allow sunlight to filter into some of the larger halls and though there are small gardens of species that do not require direct sunlight, some are stationed in the areas where sunlight filters in. A small tributary of the river Narog flows directly through one of the great halls of Nargothrond. Its flora and fauna remain untouched by the elves and algae and aquatic plants as well as small fish, salamanders in their early stages, and stranger creatures are visible to see for those who walk along it.

In realms with Ainur or certain Eldar rule, natural life may not follow typical laws. Melian has great influence over the biodiversity and climate of Doriath for example even without meaning to.

The horror potential of the boundaries of the girdle or of Nan Elmoth. Time and space distorting, the forest becoming a maze, bird calls confusing and disorienting unwary or unlucky travelers

The Ered Gorgoroth, the eerie, mysterious mountain range, bordered to the north by Dorthonion and to the south by Nan Dungortheb. It was said the spawn of Ungolian haunted these mountains and the valley. I have some more posts on this but I've always imagined there being many pools and meres in Ered Gorgoroth, many harmless though frigid and some completely corrupted by the powers of Ungoliants spawn and other beings. Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to know which was which until it was too late.

Chemical reactions causing glimmering or colorful water. Elves learn carefully when this has occurred due to natural phenomena and when it is the result of unnatural influence or Ainur presence.

Salt lakes and landlocked waters mimicking ocean conditions. I’ve always imagined there being a lake like lake Baikal in the March of Maedhros

More Bioluminescence

The realms draped in dragon reek especially around Nargothrond. The pools of Ivrin are ruined by Glaurung and they are the source of the river Narog, the largest tributary to Sirion. The entire land could be poisoned. I imagine that plants wither or lose color, birds and frogs stay silent, animals are thrown off of their natural cycles, The orchards in the hills barren or producing foul fruit, strange happenings resulting from drinking from the river Narog or even eating animals that drank from it…

Alternatively the effects of the water where the power of Ulmo is still strong such as in Nan Tathren or the Twilit Meres

#the silmarillion #beleriand #musing and meta #Valinor #Doriath #ered gorgoroth #I hope these are ok I’m very tired

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