I am running on about two hours of sleep and the lady at the drivethru window when I picked up my coffee said I looked SO cute so I'm a bit tired and manic right now BUT!!!! I have a wildly insane headcanon idea
So Ulder Ravengard was first introduced as a part of the Murder in Baldur's Gate adventure, which established the return of Bhaal with the death of Abdel Adrian on Returning Day. He was potentially one of three people who could be Chosen by Bhaal in the coming days, depending on the actions of the players in the adventure, becoming more ruthless with the direction of the Flaming Fist, more paranoid, more bloodthirsty, until eventually the spirit of Bhaal took him and he could become the final boss of the module
(the other two potential Chosen being Rilsa Rael who I always mistake for Nine Fingers Keene (!!) and Lord Torlin Silvershield, the latter being who WotC canon deemed to be the real Chosen)
And I always thought that was a fascinating choice, for Larian to continue on with Ulder and introduce Wyll, who is so good and driven and earnest; I think having that context for Ulder explains a lot about the state of the Flaming Fist as we see them in BG3, because a man that capable of zealotry that he finds common ground with Bhaal would overlook a lot of the bigotry and brutality that's rampant amongst the Fist. That culture of cruelty and violence didn't just spring up in the five minutes since Gortash took over
But I got to thinking. How did Ulder end up like that when he was serving under Abdel Adrian for years? Abdel, who in WotC canon remained good and true and just, who was awkward about his public image, but fundamentally a good man and good leader?
(bear with me, I'm connecting dots again)
Well. Bhaalspawn are naturally drawn to one another, aren't they? What if Ulder isn't just an appealing option for Bhaal - what if he's the unknown descendent of another famous Bhaalspawn from Baldur's Gate, perhaps THE most famous Bhaalspawn...
What I'm saying is, what if Sarevok had a kid he never knew about (Ulder comes from a family of blacksmiths? When Sarevok is famously connected to the Iron Throne and the iron crisis? ) and eventually through three or four generations, we end up with Ulder and Wyll, who retain just a sliver of that potential within them, enough that Ulder can hear the call of Bhaal during the Returning Day crisis
I'M JUST SAYING. It has potential. It could be a fun headcanon to explore...
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