GORTASH AND DURGE

I'm insane enough now I need a sideblog for them

[inumage]

If anyone has durge/gortash or gortash songs pls tell me in anon/replies/tags I am making a writing playlist (find me at ao3 under inumage)

So far I have:

Horror of our love (ludo)

Older (Isabel del Rosa)

Lydia (Highly suspect)

Thank you orz

[guwutash]

lovesick puppy

[nekrosmos]

The face Gortash makes seconds before dying? Absolutely illegal

[skeletonmancer-deactivated20250]

hey gortash enjoyers let's be normal about these photos together <3

[fassina]

One of my favourite Durgetash writers has started a multi chapter fic about Durge and Gortash getting ready to go meet Ketheric for the time and I am foaming at the damn mouth for old K man to come into play.

(Fic rec obviously. It’s sumptuous. The second chapter has both a bhaalist sermon and a flirty letter and I was kicking my feet.)

[haunted-dot]

Did I create this whole thing because of one throw away line in a letter?

Yes, yes I did. I'm sorry and I'll show myself out.

(I just imagine it's something they constantly tell each other when proven right. Also ignore my Durge's bad outfit. I wanted to give him plain clothes because I think Durge only wears the most practical plain shit you ever saw especially compared to Gortash who dresses well..."fashionable" is a word I guess, so I tried drawing a modified sorcerers outfit but maybe it has gone a bit too boring)

[bearhugsandshrugs]

Ayo it's Gortash-conspiracy time, gather around.

Because this note you'll find outside the Zhentarim outpost at Waukeen's Rest is INTERESTING and led me down a rabbit hole. Uktar wrote a report for Keene about the upstart arms dealer Gortash and how he took over and replaced the existing networks. This is juicy for two reasons.

First, the Knights of the Shield. I had no clue who they were so I googled them, and hey, no biggie, it's only an organization that's been around for a THOUSAND YEARS, with a secret service leadership commited to the tenth (yes, you read that right) archdevil Gargauth (who was one of his enemies? You guessed it: Bane).

They were information brokers and political agents with a merchant front. And Gortash just annexed them. Took over their operations. Replaced them. The mind of this man. It really is no joke when everyone in-game talks about what a genius he is, because that type of shit requires not only planning, but a delicate hand to execute. It requires leadership and running a tight ship, and boy, do I find this interesting.

But second, and we already knew this but it hits me once again, the Zhentarim. Their leaders were associated Bane at some point but turned over to Cyric over history as well, with worshippers of Bane and Cyric in general being claimed by the other each time one of them was dealt a destabilizing blow. In consequence, the Zhentarim are listed as amongst the enemies of Bane.

Now to the tinfoil hat section of this. Unfortunately we have no date to this report, so it's hard to judge when Gortash started this. But I find it interesting how this all leads back to Bane again and again, how Gortash seems to wipe out organizations affiliated with Bane's foes. And it leaves me wondering, yet again, when exactly he got recruited or devoted himself to Bane. Was it during that time, when he wiped out those enemies and Bane took an interest in him? Or was that merely a test he had to pass to become the edict of Bane?

But then I'm also confused by Gortash's methods. Bane seems more tyrannical to me, whereas Gortash supplanted the networks. A tyrant might have made them grovel before him. Might have sowed fear and doubt and hate. Here, instead, Gortash just spins up his own operation. And he keeps doing that: He postures as this underdog noble man who worked his way to the top, he has this front, this act of being the hero (he even says so to Ketheric!). Being a hero is hardly something associated with outright tyranny, which would be Bane's classic modus operandi. Don't forget that it's not only about tyranny, it's also about fear and hate. Would you fear or hate your hero, your savior?

Do you know, however, whose modus operandi it would be to pose as a hero, only to dominate in the end? To infiltrate his oldest foe's followers, pose as his chosen one, only to subjugate them?

Cyric's.

He was "the god of lies, trickery, and strife, having previously held dominion over tyranny, murder, lies, intrigue, and illusion." His beef with Bane goes way back, so much so, that Cyric claims to have killed Bane before (oh, and he also killed Bhaal). He ascended to godhood as an exception granted by Ao, and took on all followers of (get this) Bhaal, Myrkul, and Bane. Now I'm aware I am fully in crackpot theory land. But how sweet would it have been if Gortash had actually been a follower of Cyric, not Bane; using the Bane-worship as a front.

It would explain why he's so ready to share his power with Tav/Durge (a true tyrant would never share power so easily – which is why I also think that if Gortash was actually a follower of Bane, he was trying to use Bane to his own advantage, which didn't really work out for him).

And Bane seems to have been skeptical of Gortash as well: He doesn't come to his aid in the fight against Tav/Durge, not even against the Netherbrain. Which is particularly juicy because Bane had the power to protect his chosen ones from psionic powers. (Yes. lol. Really) So if you take Gortash to the Netherbrain and the brain kills him with a thought, Bane could have protected him. And chose not to. Motherfucker

I know, this theory with Cyric has more holes than a Swiss cheese though, I'm fully aware, and I'm still learning the lore, so feel free to correct me. But it's fun to think about.

Anyway. Someone please release me from the chokehold this man has one me.

[kaijusaur]

[wandrinstar-farms]

whoopsydaisy I tumblrized all ur villains uh oh

[tripsoftritium]

childhood doodle

[faithcontinue]

Nym Orlith: Well, I should admit to you first that I'm not capable of being as extreme as some might expect... What about you?

[DRAGONBORN] The area underneath my crest is sensitive - don't touch it too fiercely.

[2dandan-deactivated20251002]

gortash but workaholic

戈塔什但是社畜版

[nevarroes]

yeagh

[animentality]

We all know the Dark Urge is ashamed of their feelings for Gortash. That's canon.

But what could be canon, if we all delude ourselves together, as a team, is the idea of the Dark Urge apologizing because their father knows their heart, and he is furious that they would care about someone, especially a Banite.

And the Dark Urge has to insist, to plead that it doesn't matter, please, father, it doesn't matter how I feel, because Enver Gortash will still die.

The plan will succeed and everyone will be dead, and I will still be the last soul on earth, and please, I've given you everything, my entire life, and eventually I will give you my death, but let me have just this one thing, the only thing I have ever asked for.

Let me kill him last, so that I won't die alone.

And they'd think, shamefully, about how they had always envisioned themselves dying alone on that altar, but it would be such a relief to die beside Enver Gortash, holding his bloody hand.

And Bhaal's answering silence would be truly horrifying.

[avernusreject]

Bit of angst for you:

What if in Gortash’s last moments after fighting a non-allied durge, he spends his last moments holding his hand up to caress their cheek one last time. Durge doesn’t leave him, even after he passes. A bloody hand print dries on their face. They can only just sit there, feeling utterly lost for a reason they can’t quite place.

[fuckitwebhaal]

gortash to me is a slut who's been handled more than your average doorknob

[perilegs]