BALDUR'S GATE III VERSE
I'm thinking… to preserve as much about Varian as possible—because there are certain aspects of him that you just can't take away without him suddenly not being him—I'm going to kind of merge things a bit. Please bear with me as Baldur's Gate III has been my first real venture into dnd and so I am having to piece together a whole lot of lore and whatnot as I go and might get things wrong. I am always happy for any and all constructive criticism so that I can better hone this verse. Baseline now, based on what I have found and think I understand, I may say that, in his BG3 verse, Stormwind is another little kingdom along the Sword Coast—basically a city-state—that's located somewhere along the Coast between Neverwinter and Waterdeep.
Proximity to the spill over from the fighting in the Sword Mountains between goblins and trolls, has seen it besieged by those two factions, as well as all others at varying times due to its small size. It has fallen to those forces more than once [ including when Varian was a child ], and so has never really had time to flourish in the way that Waterdeep or Baldur's Gate have done. The constant upheaval and danger has kept it from becoming strong tourist or trade locations either, despite its place on the Coast and boasting some of the best architecture and stone masons along the Coast. Varian was raised primarily in a Waterdeep [ link leads to map ] by wizards who had been friends of his father Llane and who had helped him to escape in the hopes that he one day would be able to retake his kingdom. Before he was even fully into adulthood, Varian did just that, reclaiming his kingdom and the crown that was his birthright and leading those who had escaped it back to their homes. The process of rebuilding began—Varian married and soon had a child—but the joy of being returned to a home lost did not forever stave off the previous unrest, not in the least helped by an advisor of the king who was scheming for power. The stone masons were cheated in underhanded dealings unknown to Varian though orchestrated by his advisor. Rioting began and, in the course of it, his wife was killed. His spirit broken by the grief, Varian was easy prey for the machinations of his advisor—a fiend in disguise. Tricked into a contract, Varian's soul was split in two, one half manifested in the form of the mild-mannered and absent-minded puppet king she required to gain the power she wanted over the kingdom and the other in the body of a fierce and strong warrior, who she sold to a drow in the Underdark. [ After all, where would one be the least likely to accidentally see the King of Stormwind? With any luck, amidst the warring drow, he would be dead ere long. ] What the fiend had not counted on was Varian befriending another, a half-drow who quietly helped him, first to survive… and eventually, when the time came, to escape. Through an unfortunate but necessary series of events, Varian's young son, Anduin, realized what had happened and set out to right it, landing himself in grave peril—and inadvertently drawing the attention of both halves to his father's soul. In the events that followed, Anduin seized his father's contract and destroyed it, which saw the two halves reunited… but not quite the same as he once had been. Because of the nature in which they were reunited, the two halves continued to be independent and at war with each other within Varian's mind. This led to more than a few conflicts—that almost drove away allies and son alike—until Varian managed to establish balance within himself… not in small part due to the help of an ancient entity of nature who had chosen him as its champion. Varian has fought in many more battles since to protect all that he holds dear, but he was on a diplomatic trip to Waterdeep when the Illithid vessel darkened the skies. Never one to cower from danger, even in the face of insurmountable odds, the King of Stormwind took up his lighter armor and launched into action, directing people out of the ship's path and to safety… only to be taken himself. He wakes on the ship to yet another presence within his mind, though this one far less friendly than ancient entity or even fiend. Having already been an unwilling puppet once before, he has no intention to be so again. He is determined to find a way to stop this and to save all those other souls in peril—whatever it takes.
All of this is subject to change—whatever adjustments need be made to make it fit the best—but, for what I know now, I think that will be the best way to adapt Varian into the world.
His stat sheet:
And a few screencaps that I love. 😂
This last one is so perfect if you know anything about Varian's source material lore. 😂
And later additions:
The number of nature and history checks this man has passed, PARTICULARLY about the Underdark has left me cackling and is the reason that I realized he had been sold to the drow.
