A little more about the gods…
When I was reading about the different D&D gods (even before BG3), I always liked Eilistraee. A ray of hope, joy in life, healthy hedonism, beauty, and fighting evil without that naive "but maybe this villain can change and become good." Nope — just slash the hell out of them!
And you don't have to be a cleric to honor a deity and follow their path. Some do more, some do less. Mortals need gods so they don't feel abandoned. Mortals often want to be part of something bigger. And gods need mortals to exist.
When I was choosing a deity for Liv, I immediately settled on Eilistraee. However… it's hard to follow her dogma and her path if you're siding with a vampire. And Liv mostly always chose Astarion.
Does he need the dogmas of light gods? No. He doesn't need the dogmas of dark gods either. He doesn't need gods in any form. Neither the Ascended nor the spawn. The gods are deaf to vampires. Their souls are tainted coins. And vampires don't need gods — they need power and control.
And since I choose the Ascension… well. You don't need gods if you've chosen a dark eternity and a bond that's always hungry. Love as the most terrifying thing in the world. There's no place for gods here.
Astarion says that love is a hunger stronger than any vampire thirst. And Astarion himself is very hungry — for life, for desire, for freedom, for possession. He will not allow any gods into his consort's life, because the consort already has him — the Ascended vampire husband. Gods are competition, and he won't tolerate that.
But what about Liv? How much does she change after becoming a vampire?
To be honest, I haven't explored her transformation through the lens of an alignment system. I don't think becoming a vampire instantly makes her "evil." Not in terms of alignment. But she will have new instincts, new temptations, new roles, new weaknesses.
The former priestess of Eilistraee will want to hold onto the values of her goddess's path — and now she'll have far more means to help others, because that matters to her.
But there's another major challenge she'll face: dance. The joy and beauty of dance. She used to dedicate her dancing to the goddess. Now she will have to learn to dance for herself — and at first, she'll feel an overwhelming shame and guilt over that very desire.
The old dances no longer fit, no longer resonate. Liv needs new ones. Her own. And that will be a long journey — one where Astarion will support her with grim satisfaction.
