[OOC] Introduction
Apr. 28th, 2024 06:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lettersfrombelThe premise behind this account is twofold. First, it's a standard RP account for a tabletop OC who also is the 'Tav' in my first Baldur's Gate 3 run. Second, I'm documenting the run by writing letters from Bel's POV, mostly to his friend, River.
Who is Bel?
Belantar Vivalfin is a drow, born in the Underdark some 120-odd years ago. I still need to name his settlement, but while it was a Lolth-sworn/Lolthite drow community, it was not a large city like Menzobezzaron. There were three 'Noble Houses' that would barely merit a mention in an actual city, and the settlement had a surprising amount of unity. The ethos was generally one of 'compete against your sister for the benefit of the House, compete against other Houses for the betterment of the settlement, compete against other settlements for the benefit of the drow'.
This was mostly useful for Bel as death rates for male drow were high enough that (name) did not practice the Lolthite custom of sacrificing extra sons at birth. While Bel has a complex about being the third-born son of his mother and growing up hearing about how his life was permitted only by the grace of his mother and the Spider Queen, he did grow up.
Bel's mother, Yausram, was the head of the House, and had a problem with a string of male births. Bel has two older brothers and a younger brother, Harlkyn, was born when Bel was about 50. Bel was largely the one put in charge of his brother's education, and it went about as poorly as you expect, when you have an emotionally-neglected teenager put in charge of a younger sibling who is even less wanted as part of the family. What Bel thought he was doing was trying to teach his brother to survive as a male in drow society. What his brother saw Bel doing was being the most persistent of his tormentors.
Harlkyn ran away about two decades ago, and Bel is pretty certain that his brother was eaten by something, and while he didn't expect anyone to mourn him, actually experiencing that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Bel basically got permission to do mercenary work, and fucked off, hoping that if he stopped writing, the family would assume he died.
(Interlude: Bel's brother, Harlkyn is Ilphyl/spacetogrow, who is also a D&D character I've played. Because of Ilphyl's persistence in cutting ties with the Underdark, we couldn't figure out an excuse in the TTRPG side for Bel to learn that his 'brother' was alive, and also a nonbinary druid worshiping Eilistraee.)
What Happened in that D&D game?
The tabletop game I created Bel for started with him knowing two other PCs. River was an elf Bel met early in his travels, who was basically tasked with finding out 'why is a drow on the surface' and ended up deciding that Bel was all right. Nurgle (yes really) was a child Bel rescued from a cult of Talona, which had connections to slavers in the Underdark. Bel figured the best thing he could do with a human child was give it to someone else to raise, and Nurgle retained his calling to a goddess of poisons and plagues despite years in an orphanage. The other party members were Sylvia (a kitsune friend of River's looking for her brother), and Wynn (a human girl from Nurgle's orphanage).
The group took a mission to investigate a string of murders, but the mayor wanted them to prove themselves by clearing out a spooky house first that had a tendency to make adventurers disappear. The house had a mimic infestation, and a basement alchemy lab whose security system caused everyone to black out. When they awoke, Nurgle and Leona, the NPC cleric of Selune, with them were missing and also the house was on fire. With help of a half-orc named Orva (who had been watching the house for the mayor), they escaped.
Sylvia had seen a dulllahan right as she blacked out, and the murders were all beheadings, so it seemed clear, but in looking at the powers around the town -- the mayor, a traveling vampire who occasionally hunted in town, and a hag -- didn't sense anything fey or undead in the area, and the two local monsters also wanted the intruder gone. The party was spinning in circles -- the best lead they had was 'check the sewers', but no one wanted to go in unprepared -- before they realized they had grabbed a book from the basement lab in a strange language. While the party mostly got 'that shit's not right' when looking at it, the librarian in town was able to identify it as Qualith, which is the written language of mind flayers.
When a new body showed up with head still attached, albeit staved in, an autopsy showed that the brain was missing. A mind flayer was disguising their hunting as another monster who went after heads. Now that the gig was up, they had shifted methods. Furthermore, Bel and River had seen the last victim alive shortly before her death, in the company of the mayor's son who had been against his father hiring outside mercenaries.
So, the party prepared for a fight, went into the sewers, discovered the mind flayer had been the mayor's son, who was using their powers to continue the charade while researching mimics, kicked mind flayer ass, and discovered that Nurgle and Leona had been captured and charmed, but unharmed.
So... Baldur's Gate?
Bel and Sylvia were the main two who were interested in pursuing the life of a traveling adventurer, and Bel's working theory is that he's the most distinctive of the party, so 'kidnapped by mind flayers and getting a tadpole in the eye' is either revenge or just a 'kill two birds with one stone' -- learn what Bel knew, and remove him from the playing field.
I mean your build?
Oh. Seldarine drow because while Bel was raised in a good Lolth-fearing household, he also blames Lolth for all the fucked up shit from his childhood. Bel doesn't consider himself a good person, and he's certainly willing to be ruthless, but the occasional option to shit-talk the Spider Queen in dialog is worth it.
Bel is a charlatan rogue, which is a bit annoying as it means that I either need to respect Astarion or just leave him in camp once I get at least three other companions. Also, any skills Bel picked up in his prior adventure fall under 'I have no clue what the mind flayers did to any of us'. Certainly it seems to be the case with the other origin characters.
What's with the hat?
While Bel happens to lack standard drow sun-blindness, he doesn't like bright sunlight. Hence he will wear anything, no matter how stupid-looking, if it has a brim. He'd prefer good looking, but any port in a storm.
Who is Bel?
Belantar Vivalfin is a drow, born in the Underdark some 120-odd years ago. I still need to name his settlement, but while it was a Lolth-sworn/Lolthite drow community, it was not a large city like Menzobezzaron. There were three 'Noble Houses' that would barely merit a mention in an actual city, and the settlement had a surprising amount of unity. The ethos was generally one of 'compete against your sister for the benefit of the House, compete against other Houses for the betterment of the settlement, compete against other settlements for the benefit of the drow'.
This was mostly useful for Bel as death rates for male drow were high enough that (name) did not practice the Lolthite custom of sacrificing extra sons at birth. While Bel has a complex about being the third-born son of his mother and growing up hearing about how his life was permitted only by the grace of his mother and the Spider Queen, he did grow up.
Bel's mother, Yausram, was the head of the House, and had a problem with a string of male births. Bel has two older brothers and a younger brother, Harlkyn, was born when Bel was about 50. Bel was largely the one put in charge of his brother's education, and it went about as poorly as you expect, when you have an emotionally-neglected teenager put in charge of a younger sibling who is even less wanted as part of the family. What Bel thought he was doing was trying to teach his brother to survive as a male in drow society. What his brother saw Bel doing was being the most persistent of his tormentors.
Harlkyn ran away about two decades ago, and Bel is pretty certain that his brother was eaten by something, and while he didn't expect anyone to mourn him, actually experiencing that was the straw that broke the camel's back. Bel basically got permission to do mercenary work, and fucked off, hoping that if he stopped writing, the family would assume he died.
(Interlude: Bel's brother, Harlkyn is Ilphyl/
spacetogrow, who is also a D&D character I've played. Because of Ilphyl's persistence in cutting ties with the Underdark, we couldn't figure out an excuse in the TTRPG side for Bel to learn that his 'brother' was alive, and also a nonbinary druid worshiping Eilistraee.)What Happened in that D&D game?
The tabletop game I created Bel for started with him knowing two other PCs. River was an elf Bel met early in his travels, who was basically tasked with finding out 'why is a drow on the surface' and ended up deciding that Bel was all right. Nurgle (yes really) was a child Bel rescued from a cult of Talona, which had connections to slavers in the Underdark. Bel figured the best thing he could do with a human child was give it to someone else to raise, and Nurgle retained his calling to a goddess of poisons and plagues despite years in an orphanage. The other party members were Sylvia (a kitsune friend of River's looking for her brother), and Wynn (a human girl from Nurgle's orphanage).
The group took a mission to investigate a string of murders, but the mayor wanted them to prove themselves by clearing out a spooky house first that had a tendency to make adventurers disappear. The house had a mimic infestation, and a basement alchemy lab whose security system caused everyone to black out. When they awoke, Nurgle and Leona, the NPC cleric of Selune, with them were missing and also the house was on fire. With help of a half-orc named Orva (who had been watching the house for the mayor), they escaped.
Sylvia had seen a dulllahan right as she blacked out, and the murders were all beheadings, so it seemed clear, but in looking at the powers around the town -- the mayor, a traveling vampire who occasionally hunted in town, and a hag -- didn't sense anything fey or undead in the area, and the two local monsters also wanted the intruder gone. The party was spinning in circles -- the best lead they had was 'check the sewers', but no one wanted to go in unprepared -- before they realized they had grabbed a book from the basement lab in a strange language. While the party mostly got 'that shit's not right' when looking at it, the librarian in town was able to identify it as Qualith, which is the written language of mind flayers.
When a new body showed up with head still attached, albeit staved in, an autopsy showed that the brain was missing. A mind flayer was disguising their hunting as another monster who went after heads. Now that the gig was up, they had shifted methods. Furthermore, Bel and River had seen the last victim alive shortly before her death, in the company of the mayor's son who had been against his father hiring outside mercenaries.
So, the party prepared for a fight, went into the sewers, discovered the mind flayer had been the mayor's son, who was using their powers to continue the charade while researching mimics, kicked mind flayer ass, and discovered that Nurgle and Leona had been captured and charmed, but unharmed.
So... Baldur's Gate?
Bel and Sylvia were the main two who were interested in pursuing the life of a traveling adventurer, and Bel's working theory is that he's the most distinctive of the party, so 'kidnapped by mind flayers and getting a tadpole in the eye' is either revenge or just a 'kill two birds with one stone' -- learn what Bel knew, and remove him from the playing field.
I mean your build?
Oh. Seldarine drow because while Bel was raised in a good Lolth-fearing household, he also blames Lolth for all the fucked up shit from his childhood. Bel doesn't consider himself a good person, and he's certainly willing to be ruthless, but the occasional option to shit-talk the Spider Queen in dialog is worth it.
Bel is a charlatan rogue, which is a bit annoying as it means that I either need to respect Astarion or just leave him in camp once I get at least three other companions. Also, any skills Bel picked up in his prior adventure fall under 'I have no clue what the mind flayers did to any of us'. Certainly it seems to be the case with the other origin characters.
What's with the hat?
While Bel happens to lack standard drow sun-blindness, he doesn't like bright sunlight. Hence he will wear anything, no matter how stupid-looking, if it has a brim. He'd prefer good looking, but any port in a storm.
