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commander-krios · 2 months

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How is Alyril'fryn and Juniper relationship to the other companions? Are they close with any of them, other than their LIs? What is their dynamic like?

Bonus: Do they have any notable relationships among the other non-companion characters? (You know, other than Rolan 😏)

Alyril'fryn

Aly never cared much about friendship before the tadpole crew. Any friends she might've had was always about survival, not much else. But with these idiots, she finds she actually enjoys being around them. In face, she got close to a few, mainly Shadowheart and Astarion.

With Shadowheart, it was a rough start. Shadowheart didn't really warm up to her until late Act 1/beginning Act 2. But they were a lot alike in many aspects, though they didn't realize it at the time. Aly agreed with Lae'zel a lot of the time, wanting to make sure they were focused on getting rid of the tadpole, not caring much about religion or Shadowheart's mission. But they ended up learning a lot about each other over the course of their journey, and formed a bond that neither wanted to break at the end.

With Astarion, Aly did realize she had a lot in common with him. Their violent, broken pasts that were catching up to them but also, how they viewed the world around them: that everyone was out for themselves, might as well protect yourself and to hell with the rest. But then, together, they realized that wasn't a healthy view of the world and broke that cycle together. Their dynamic was extremely sibling-like: bickering, teasing, hating/loving each other in equal measure.

The three of them; Aly, Astarion, Shadowheart; spend a lot of time together throughout their journey and even after, continue to be closet friends.

The only NPC besides Rugan (her ex, former Zhent partner) that made any difference on her in game was Barcus Wroot. As a drow and a deep gnome, their friendship arc fascinates me and I hope to explore it a bit in fic.

Juniper

Juniper makes friends easily. She's charismatic, knows how to play a crowd, can find convincing arguments for those who disagree with some of her choices (usually). But as far as close friends, I'd say she's only super close with a few people, mainly Gale and Karlach.

Karlach is the first. They have a lot in common besides being tieflings. They both love life, food, love. They enjoy a good fight and the celebration that comes after. They enjoy dancing and singing and if Juniper hadn't fallen for Rolan, 100 percent would she and Karlach be an item. Karlach is the first person she talks to when she wakes up and the last one she talks to before turning in at camp. They tend to cause more chaos than they stop, but that's part of their charm.

Gale is her best friend. He's like a brother to her, warm and kind and understanding. They protect each other, teach other, help each other. They have a shared love of cooking and reading, and will spend many nights discussing recipes or stories or history. Big nerds.

As far as NPCs go (I won't talk about Rolan since I can go on forever), Juniper is close with Volo, Dammon, Alfira, Cal, Lia, and the Tiefling kiddos).

Volo is obvious for bard reasons. Juniper enjoys his embellished stories and has fun co-writing a bunch of the stupidest tales with him. She goes to him if she needs a laugh and really does enjoy his company (much to the irritation of Rolan).

Cal/Lia become her family after everything. She and the two of them are a bonded trio, making life very difficult for Rolan lol

Alfira (and by extension, Lakrissa) are the reason she has a purpose in BG after game. Alfira begs her to help with the bard school and she does, helping with the preparation and opening, eventually taking on her own students. She loves Alfira so very much, she's become a sister in all but name.

The tiefling kids are also a joy to Juniper (and Zevlor as well, but more in a role model figure). She loves each and every one of them, but there are a handful that really got to her. Mirkon, Arabella, Ide, Mattis, and Silfy become so special to her that she does eventually adopt them.

And finally, Dammon. He's another close friend of hers, best friend perhaps. He's reliable, he's special, he reminds her so much of home with his sun stealing smile. She loves him, so much, and I have a thought to make him an official part of her relationship with Rolan.

#undead-potatoes #tav: alyril'fryn #tav: juniper #not me only really having a real clue with Juni #since she's taken over my life #this question took me soooo long but thank you for it!#i love doing these

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zhaoly · 8 months

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k so I didn't know this before but halsin apparently originally wasn't even intended to be a companion plus he's intended to be part of a poly romance... which is why his mono romance was barely developed??

man how were we supposed to know that :\ but suddenly it all makes so much fucking sense... why his character arc and romance fell so flat and why you can't romance him for so DAMN long. I suppose you're supposed to romance another companion and then bring halsin in to be part of a poly relationship instead and it's not intended that you get to act 3 with no romances--they assume you've romanced another companion already

i'm really damn disappointed that his mono romance is pretty much nonexistent and that his character development is so all over the place. I don't think I'll ever be doing a poly romance because I'm just not into that at all so unless they fix halsin's mono romance guess I gotta live with it

the only other companion who really interested me for a romance was karlach but her story is almost equally nonexistent and apparently she's got bad endings only?! like just kill me man. i want to try karlach's romance but i feel like her story is just... nonexistent, i mean all you do is find infernal iron and go to dammon. there's not even a specific quest arc or challenge for her, you just sort of naturally find the iron during regular exploration.

guess i'll be trying the other romances more out of curiosity rather than desire. like they all have aspects i like but then there's just like one (or two) things that turn me off.

i liked gale initially bc i was like holy shit an alistair/anders lovechild but then he started all that weird mystra stuff and i was like aight im outie. and i was also like wait we're supposed to be able to romance this guy?! isn't he very clearly not over this thing with mystra? i mean dude's gonna blow himself up for repentance or sth

wyll is like... fine i guess but too nice LMAO and i wont lie the dance scene was just like........... not my thing at all. just really not. and i honestly really don't like his devil appearance, i feel bad for saying it bc it's not his fault lol 😭 i liked him way more as a human but then quickly realized he doesnt stay that way for long. i think his story is definitely intriguing with the whole mizora thing and him being the son of the duke but man.

astarion is insufferable lord i can't stand the way he talks. i kicked him right after the nighttime blood sucking scene bc his voice/personality were so grating and i'm just not into the vampire shit at all. he also just like... looks like a creep and the way he talks doesn't help... tbh i think the only way i'll be able to tolerate him is to mod his face he just comes off as a creepy insufferable old guy i'm sorry

i like shadowheart as a companion but not really into her for a romance. her whole utter devotion to shar was also a huge turnoff lmao and for this first run I just decided that my tav wasn't into that. i did make the choice that basically had her turn against shar but i'm like yeah she can be besties with my tav i like that more. I actually really like sh's arc as a close/best friend

couldn't stand lae'zel initially either, left her in the cage after she wouldnt say please since tav is petty like that. found her later and reluctantly went the creche with her and then ended up killing her oops but hey she threatened to kill me first 🤷‍♀️ i'll def take her on future runs but i don't think i'll ever romance her

so like who does that even leave me with?? halsin basically fit a lot of parameters i like in a companion until i played through more of the game and realized that they really didnt deliver with him. i'm sure if i play through these companion quests/romances further in the future i'll warm up more to these characters but my initial impressions were just... not favorable and hey it's an rpg and my tav has opinions! who knows maybe i'll end up loving one of these character romances but rn i'm still lamenting over halsin's utterly lackluster one

#welp #it explains so damn much #not rly looking for opinions on this one just tagging for my own future reference so i can look back and be like #damn girl u were so wrong... or right....#halsin #bg3

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bhaalbabebardlock · 3 months

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Daisies on My Nightstand

Chapter 16- What You Were Made For

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AO3 Link

Summary: Ilara is bombarded with questions she doesn't have answers to back at camp, and decides to go to someone she knows for help.

"Explain. Now." Karlach's voice was harsh, harsher than Ilara had ever heard her, and she flinched. She took a deep breath as she looked around her at everyone staring back at her expectantly. Tensions had gotten high as soon as they returned to camp. Astarion demanding to know what Gortash had meant by 'nearest and dearest'. Karlach demanding to know how she had known him. Shadowheart silently watching with an unreadable expression on her face before finally slinking away to tell Gale and the others what had happened. And now, they were here. All of them. Waiting for her to talk. She didn't even know where to begin.

"I am... I am the chosen of Bhaal. A Bhaal-spawn." The words hung in the air between them, nobody saying anything for an uncomfortable amount of time before finally speaking up.

"How long have you known this?" Shadowheart's voice had a sharp edge to it, a note of pain underneath at not being told, making Ilara flinch with guilt.

"Maybe a week?" She replied softly, shrugging her shoulders. That was mostly true, right? She hadn't really known, just had suspicions. Clues. The urges. The dreams and memories of bloodshed and her rapture in it. Scleritas. A goddamn letter. A visit from Orin. Dreams about Gortash. She sighed.

"I think the better question is, what did you do?" She turned sharply at Jaheira's question, her face darkening.

"What do you mean by that?" The old elf scowled, her eyes scanning Ilara's.

"You are older than when you woke up on that ship. You say you do not remember, what you've done. Is that still true? And better yet, do you intend to go back to your father?" Ilara went impossibly more stiff, trying to decide how much of an answer to give.

"I have no intention of remaining a slave to a miserable god who wants to see the world end in bloodshed. As for what I've done, or what I remember... it is perhaps best I don't share, and just say that I was not good, or kind, or caring. I was cold, and ruthless, and always, always covered in blood that was not mine. The memories I do have are not comforting, or useful to us now." There was a long silence before Gale spoke.

"Well, this has been... Enlightening," he said lightly, trying to lift some of the heaviness. She narrowed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose to try and temper her headache.

"You did... You did all of this? Because you were the chosen of Bhaal, wielding death in his name. We all have these tadpoles in our heads because you apparently stole the crown in some heist game with Gortash!" Shadowheart's voice had taken on an even sharper edge as she stared at her friend, and Ilara's eyes went wide.

"I. DON'T. REMEMBER. I don't remember, and I wasn't... I wasn't me. And for what it's worth, I am trying to fix it- which I was doing before finding out that I was involved in any way."

"You haven't even answered my question! You're hiding this from us, fine. Now we know. I know that's not who you are now. But that's who you were. I remember you." Karlach's voice was like a sharp knife dragging through Ilara, and she went completely still as her gaze slid over to her friend.

"What do you mean by that?" She didn't mean for her voice to catch as she asked the question, and she flinched against her own weakness. Always. Always so weak. Karlach scowled, shaking her head.

"When you found me, I thought you looked familiar. But the small handful of times I had seen you, it was ten years ago, in passing. And you were always... Silent, cold, your eyes so empty. I thought it couldn't possibly be the same person. Until Gortash said otherwise today. Then, I realized I had been right."

She wished she could sink down into the ground, erase the things she had done, the person she had been.

"I don't.. I don't remember," she said instead, shaking her head. She was so tired of that word, so tired of saying it to everyone around her , so tired of failing because her mind was a smooth blank screen of nothingness. Or had been. She at least had the memories of her perverted worship to comfort her, her every thought drenched in blood. She wished more than anything that she could offer some clarity.

"But you did, somehow. I saw it. In your face when you looked at him. We were right there, Soldier. Astarion and Shadowheart and I- we all saw the look on your face." Ilara slowly dragged her hands over her face, staring out at them all through her fingers.

"I don't know what you want me to say, Karlach. I don't remember anything. I'm not who I was. Whoever Gortash remembers, whoever he thinks I am, she isn't there anymore. The tadpole and Orin made sure of that." Her voice held a note of bitterness, a raw anger at what had been done to her. The thought of pulling Orin's entrails out of her as she laughed flickered through her mind, and she clenched her fists. There was a long stretch of silence, the tension seeming to pulse in the air between all of them.

"Will you be able to do it? Take care of him?" Karlach's voice was softer, a note of concern threading through her anger. All the color drained from Ilara's face as she realized what Karlach was asking her, and she clenched her fists even tighter, digging her nails into her palms as she chewed the inside of her cheek. She didn't know. She didn't know if she could do it, but she had to. So she would. It was was she was made to do, be a weapon in the dark against any who should try to usurp power. Wasn't that what he was doing? Didn't he need to be stopped? So why did it feel like sharp blades of ice were digging into her stomach at the thought?

"Yes," she replied, her voice feeling a thousand miles away. "I don't remember him anyways. What's one more death on my neverending list?"

***

She groaned, laying back against the bedroll as she thought about Astarion's question. It had been a long night as they all talked about what had happened. About her. About what to do. As they all had fired question after question at her that she didn't have the memories to answer. Astarion had been silent the entire time, until now, when he had quietly come in asking if they could talk. She finally sighed.

"I don't remember him, no. But yes, I... Had a feeling. There had been some evidence, some things Orin had said this morning and-"

"Orin?" He cut in sharply, trying to keep his voice level. "Ilara, do you tell anyone anything? When did you see Orin again?" She winced at the insult, her chest going tight.

"This morning. When you left to go hunting. It wasn't important."

"Wasn't important? Wasn't important? Darling, how much have you just been keeping to yourself? How much did you know about Gortash before we went to that coronation this morning?" Another low groan came out of her mouth, and she pressed the heels of her hands against her eyes, trying to stop the pounding in her head.

"I didn't know... Much. I might have had a clue, or two, that we knew each other. Once." A letter. Dreams. The way I felt when we stumbled onto him in those few precious seconds in Moonrise.

"Oh, it was more than that, pet. We all saw the way you looked at him. It was... It was the way you look at me." She went completely still, feeling like all the air had left her body.

"It's not... It's not the same. I don't even remember him. It's just... A feeling. An echo of something that was."

"You love him." The words hung between them, and she wished she could grab them out of the air, erase them from ever being spoken.

"I don't remember him," she whispered back. She clenched her jaw, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts before she sat up quickly, blinking at him. She had an idea, a desperate idea that she usually avoided at all costs. The one person she knew had a vested interest in her, had offered her a way out, had said she would come to him when her desperation had reached it's end.

"I... I have to go. I have to go, I'll be back by morning. I need you to not ask me any questions, not right now. I'll be back. Do you trust me?"

"We are not done with this conversation, little love."

"I know. I'll be back to finish it. There's someone I need to talk to, who I think might be able to help us. The devil who has already offered us help more than once this journey."

She took a deep breath before standing up and grabbing her pack, slinging it over her shoulder.

"It's time to make another deal. I need to go find Raphael."

#ilara #bg3 fic #fanfic #bg3 fanfic #raphael #enver gortash #karlach #astarion #durge #the dark urge

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