Motivation: get back home (during game), find a cure for astarion (post-game)
Accomplishment: opening their own forge
Traumas: daddy issues + history of being trafficked, loss of their sister nacria
Embarrassments: any sort of emotional vulnerability embarrasses them
Confidants: astarion, dammon, karlach
Soft Spots: gentle with children, loves quiet music
Superstitions: refuses to cut their hair. ever.
Likes and Dislikes
Likes: fashion, making jewelry and other decorative metal pieces, cooking, experimenting with weird ideas, organizing and reorganizing their spaces, physical affection, dancing, socializing/meeting new people, partying, gardening, their cat (alenne)
Dislikes: being alone, the upper city in baldur's gate, snakes, using fire magic, cold weather, tight spaces, green peas, expressing any negative emotions
Apparel
Accessories- black makeup, lots of silver jewelry (all homemade) incl necklaces, bracelets, and piercings in horns, tail, face, and ears
Most prized possession- blue pendant. no magical properties but nacria had a matching one, they made them together with their father
Trinkets- they have a favorite rock they have carried in their pocket since childhood. also no magical properties, it's just a pretty reddish stone that's worn smooth from them playing with it
there was also a reactions section for how the character reacts to different emotions but honestly this mf is so emotionally repressed the answers to most of those were just going to be "substance abuse" so i didnt bother with that part lmao
Khalid of my heart...
let my love...
my love guide the way...
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Adjustable Party Limit
Custom Companions Lite
P4 Companion Heads for Tav
NPC Hairs for Tav
Extra Dyes for the Fashionable Folk of Faerun
Get a Room - Photomode Romance Poses
Claravel's Emotes for Photo Mode
Otis_Inf Photomode ToolsReshade
Dialogue - Baldur's Gate II
As a community, we’ve agreed to move forward with sharing our fanfiction, and honestly, with how prolific this fandom is, I think we all know how quickly things can pile up.
To keep things manageable (and enjoyable!), we’ll be introducing
✒️Fanfic Fridays✒️
To preserve the spirit of this space, please continue posting stories that feature OCs you’ve already introduced through previous posts.
Please use the tag #astral writing moving forward.
That way, everyone can follow along and stay connected to the characters we’ve come to know.
I’ve updated the intro post and the rules to reflect this change.
If you have any questions, ideas (maybe themed fridays?), or concerns, feel free to reach out!
I have previously described her as ’melismatic’—a horribly technical way of saying ’sing-song voice.’ With Rachel Bloom being a direct inspiration, that is indeed the voice I hear, only, well... English—on the posher end of EE without going full RP, with lots of vowel-tensing for sure. She can absolutely up-talk when she’s excited, but has enough control over her voice as a singer to not vocal fry. And here I go, getting technical again. It is quite the animated speech pattern, is all, always using her vocal cords to their fullest, be it for high or low. Chirpy, always halfway to a ditty, and a fast talker more often than not. Her idiolect can seem an odd mix of stiffly formal yet colloquial, even more so when adding in her fondness for gratuitous profanities. Rachel Bloom’s best fake British certainly gets some of the way there:
10. Does she pack snacks for the road?
She would not be allowed to. The only reason she is able to still keep dried meats in her pack is simply because Gale has not discovered them yet, or the health hazards would have been banished by now. Smaller nibbles would no doubt get lost in there long enough to gain the sentience necessary to plot and carry out a hostile takeover. How fortuitous that their camp cook is so very keen to impress her; scones and sweets are never further away than an ask (but only after that one time when he kept the entire camp hostage for three days straight whilst manically assuring them over and over that the next batch of muffins would be the edible one. No personal inadequacies were admitted to. Everyone starved. Only Wyll’s ’scones for dummies’ recipe kept all-out war from breaking out, and thus it remains the pastry on offer, lest their camp mum suffer another existential crisis).
My partner is finally home as of this week, so not only am I forced to actually, uh… do things; he’s also kindly brought some love from his nieces in the form of good old-fashioned toddler-germs. All to say, aye, this is late. Anyway. Full list of prompts here.
7. What does ’home’ mean to Chevka?
The Chondathan dictionary defines ’home’ as: [Noun, -s] The place where a person or animal dwells; a person’s house or abode; the fixed residence of a family or household; the seat of domestic life and interests.
Why, that doesn’t sound so bad, now does it. So why does the thought of it all sit as well with her as a stomach full of spoiled milk?
Home is where the horrors are not, her mother had said.
Home is where you hang your hat, her stepfather had added, before Chevka threw the soup turrine at his head.
Home is where the heart is, her husband had declared, when he agreed without hesistation to give up his.
And maybe her capacity for domesticity had crashed with the nautiloid, maybe eternal wanderlust truly was the curse of her kind, or maybe being swathed in a duvet of stars every night for half a decade has a way of making every set of walls resemble a prison—who can say. Whatever the case may be, when the day comes where life and circumstance catch up and rudely force the issue of early retirement, she does not settle into the promised forever of Gale's tower easily (or particularly willingly), her own good be damned. It’s a funny thing, too. Had mind flayers not rained on her parade and forced her to stick with her choices for once, the voluntary vagabondry that she so insisted on pursuing that day of the abduction would have lasted, in all likelihood, no more than a day. But rain down they did, and set her wobbling down a path that will, in six years or so, see her flee Waterdeep with her hat and no heart but her own, in search of a story that might finally bring her home.
8. What is her love language?
Does she really want you to sleep well, or does she want to sleep with you?
That question has confounded every companion at least once, whenever Chevka’s nightly ritual of ’sweet dreams’ accompanied by cheek kissing commences around the campfire—truth is, it started as a moment of panic improvised entirely to distract Gale from what she’d just done, but proved a fantastic cover to keep doing the very same, while keeping risk of explosions and explanations to a convenient minimum. ’Tis not so far-fetched a thing to see, not from her—that’s why it works. After all, it became abundantly clear astonishingly quickly that if she likes you, then your body can and will be claimed for comfort without warning. A head in one’s lap, feet snuggled neatly in another’s. Elbow in elbow, hand in hand—a step is never taken without touch. Never again do you have to ask for a hug, you only need to say hello.
The difference between platonic love and lust lies not in touch at all, for she shares that equally with all. It lives in whispered secrets offered freely, untying herself at the seams to sincerely show all, and the burning need to know the true depths of any lover in turn. A bond forged with words weigh more on her heart than any kiss or cuddle could, and she would not hesitate to kick friends off a figurative cliff for a night of stargazing with a lover that would see them take turns crafting stories about the constellations, and they could fill every gap with oaths woven from adoration, admiration, and utter mutual understanding, and then find stars to call their very own.
Tavtober Day 8 - What is your Tav/Durge’s love language
Tavtober hosted by @astral-campfire 🔥
Gift Giving: Shoko enjoys so much to express her love - both romantic one and friendship - with little presents she found that reminds her of her lover or friends. 💕
After Gale asked her for magical items to treat his conditions, she was so keen to make him happy that she fill a entire bag with magical trinkets. But she also collects items for her other companions: flowers for Shadowheart, sweets for Karlach (or weapons she can throw in battle 🤣)...
Cuddler: after Gale and Shoko declaring their love, she became a real cuddler. Shoko is not a extrovert type and she was not used to physical touch with friends... but with Gale it became rather different.
During the day, she seeks for his hand whenever she can, even just for a brief touch; in the evening, her favorite pastime is to snuggle up to him while reading. 💕
Hi! Sorry for the inactivity! I'm still alive, things have just been really hectic (although that may be putting it lightly). I'll be making weekly posts for these, since it makes things a lot easier for me. And I'm just answering for Iz this month. Here are days 1-7:
1) What's in your OC's backpack?
Izzrhys travels fairly light in terms of personal belongings, but he always has a lot of supplies. Upon the nautiloid crash, he already happened to have a tent and bedroll with him and provisions for a few days. He also carries basic alchemical supplies for making healing potions/antidotes and usually keeps a good amount of medicinal herbs on hand as well as a few prepared potions and salves. He carries other medical supplies such as bandages and splints. While perpetually prepared to take care of others, he has very little in terms of more personal belongings. He has a few items of religious significance: some extra red cord/rope, incense, a scourge, and a prayer book small enough to fit in his pocket.
2) Does your OC have any nicknames or pet names?
Izzrhys usually goes by "Iz." Close friends or lovers may refer to him as "Izzy," although he usually won't protest one way or another, even if a near-stranger tries to call him such. Karlach calls him "Soldier," of course, and she tries some others, none of which stick, including "Paragon" and "Saint." Occasionally, she settles on calling him "Old Man," or "Pops," seeing as he's the oldest in the early-game party aside from Astarion. Gale refers to him by some pretty basic pet names. Typical "love," "darling," "dear." I am so certain there are other more unique pet names/nicknames, but I, the author, am very bad at coming up with them 😅
3) Your OC as a Flower
Izzrhys is best represented by the purple hyacinth. It is associated with deep regret and sorrow, and also a desire for forgiveness/reconciliation. The mythology behind the Hyacinth flower is also about Apollo and a Spartan prince, Hyacinthus, who was the god's lover until he died tragically. It is said that Apollo created a hyacinth flower from his spilled blood. So queer love and Greek tragedy. Fitting for Iz, I think.
4) Your OC as an animal
While it sounds super basic, I always kind of associated Izzrhys with wolves. He's fiercely loyal, and he is always willing to take care of those who might seem like a burden to others, much like how wolves are known to take care of their elderly and sick instead of casting them out/leaving them behind. They also share child care responsibilities, and he so happens to be pretty good with kids. He wouldn't be a particularly good parent, but he's an ideal babysitter.
5) What meme reminds you of your Tav/Durge?
So I have another post where I shared this art... I've associated him with this meme pretty much since day one 😂
6) What's your Tav/Durge's Zodiac sign?
Also previously answered this in an ask here. Izzrhys was born 26 Kythorn (June 26), 1389 DR. His zodiac sign is Cancer. I would consider Iz to be intuitive, compassionate, sensitive and nurturing. Among his more negative traits are a tendency to be protective/secretive when it comes to his own emotions and memories (he's very guarded, not wanting to inflict his problems on others). Then there's his tendency to put others before himself to the extreme. He doesn't fit stereotypes of being clingy and overemotional/crying a lot (maybe sometimes, but that's not typical of him). While not clingy, he does base a lot of his self-worth on what he means to others/how useful he can be to them, and he's fiercely loyal.
7) What 'Home' means to your OC?
Home for Iz isn't a place, but a feeling. A sense of belonging that he hasn't really had in a long time. Essentially, he feels most at home when he knows he's with people who love him for who he is and not just for what he can do. He felt at home with the Waterdhavian clergy; many of them took the time to engage with him, not to mention that they saved him from certain death even though they by all means probably shouldn't have. He didn't just feel needed and useful, but also wanted. He struggled with that a lot more after moving to Baldur's Gate, and didn't really feel a strong sense of being "home" again until he met the companions, most of whom are able to empathize with him in a way a lot of his Brothers and Sisters couldn't. He does feel especially at home with Gale, in part because Gale constantly makes him feel like his presence is desired.
