Nere x Fem!Tav, Starring our favorite Drider, Kar'niss
CW: Pregnancy, mentions of killing, mentions of drider’s dietary habits
Nere getting ready to gut whatever poor creature is at the window:
SS from @saryelx
It was not the first time that Nere was thankful that Drow didn’t need to sleep. When he was free to do as he wished, it gave him time to reflect on everything, from figuring new spells and potion recipes, to the earliest memories of his past. Sometimes, however, his thoughts were focused on matters more current. Tonight was one of those nights. All he could think about was the woman who slept soundly in his arms, and how they had come to this point in their lives together.
In these quiet moments, his mind drifted to the moment he heard her voice for the first time when he was fighting for his life in that damned collapsed tunnel. It was a particularly vivid memory, due to the fact that it had been directly in his mind, thanks to the mindflayer tadpole. Her sympathetic reassurances had been a balm to his despair, akin to a damp cloth on a fevered brow.
Then, he mused, how surprised he was to see the owner of that voice to be a short, harmless looking human female, and more still when she scolded him for pushing the gnome into the lava without any fear to be seen. He cringed outwardly at the regret he felt for his actions as a pawn of the Elder Brain, but the fondness of the memory still persisted. Nere knew that there was something special about this human as soon as he felt her presence, but at the time, he wasn’t ready to consider what that feeling was. Initially, he had thought it was the immeasurable gratitude he felt towards her and her companions for not only saving his life, but also his sanity…
Nere was brought out of his reverie by Tav shifting and whimpering in her sleep. “Shh… You’re safe here, your Nere has you…” he soothed. As he gently stroked her back, her breathing evened out, and she settled once more. ‘Old habits die hard, I guess.’ Nere thought, as he realized he had referred to himself in the third person. Tav always laughed goodnaturedly at him when he did it, and so he found himself doing it more on purpose to hear it.
He was brought back into his memories at that, recalling the first time he heard that beautiful laugh. It was at a bad joke that Gale had told her, several days after he had joined Tav’s party. Nere knew then that he would do anything to hear that sound again, and it was the first domino to fall. The more he accomplished this, the more he realized that he had fallen deeply in love with her. The feeling was foreign to him at the time, but they had stuck together through adversity, and at the defeat of the Elder Brain, he’d asked to be hers forever.
A loving relationship was something that he never thought he would experience, but he never wanted to let go of it. And now, in the house that they built in the forest together (after Nere swallowed his pride and asked Halsin for help), they were preparing for their next big adventure. At that thought, he couldn't help but let his hand travel to Tav’s swollen belly, where their baby was growing bigger with each passing day.
Another reason he was grateful for not needing to sleep, is that he can keep vigil over his growing family when they were most vulnerable. Though, Tav’s ability to truly rest had been becoming increasingly elusive these days. Between the baby seemingly being more active every hour and Tav’s mounting nesting instincts, he’d had to physically corral her into bed on numerous occasions to get her Halsin prescribed rest. Said healer was due to arrive any day, presumably with some of the older children that were in his care now.
Movement out of the bedroom window caught Nere’s eye, and immediately put him on high alert. His ruby eyes focused on the darkness, and he stilled his breathing as he strained to listen for an intruder.
Skittering… a twig snapping… TAP TAP TAP
Nere almost jumped at the quiet tapping of the window, but was relieved to see the scarred face of Kar’niss. Thanking the stars that Tav was still asleep, he shimmied carefully over to the edge of the bed and opened the window. While Nere had initially not been thrilled with Tav’s insistence to save the mad drider, Kar’niss had made great strides in repairing the mental damage wrought by Lolth’s pettiness during their adventures, and had asked to accompany them after leaving Baldur’s Gate. He had proven himself to be an excellent guard and friend to both of them, and now Nere was happy to have his help. The drider was carrying a bundle of medical ingredients in his arms, and a sizable owl bear was strapped to his carapace.
“Good hunting, I see,” Nere commented, speaking softly enough to not disturb the currently drooling human.
“Indeed. The trip to the tradepost took longer than anticipated. It seems that a new settlement of humans has begun to take root, a little too close to that cave.” Kar’niss replied. The tradepost was run by a group of Zhentarium defectors, and their love of drider silk cloth outweighed their fear of being eaten. (Though Kar’niss very rarely fed on people anymore.) The trip took a few days, so once a moon, Kar’niss would load up with things to sell and come back with supplies.
“And to the victor goes the spoils?” Nere asked, nodding at the carcass. “Naturally. Majesty will be pleased to know that this was the only casualty.” ‘Talk about old habits…’ Nere thought to himself.
“She was very worried when you didn’t return yesterday. She’ll be happy that you’re home.” Kar’niss sighed wistfully. “Home… yes…” He was silent for a moment. Nere let the easy silence encompass them. The drider had not had a true home for decades, it still moved him to tears sometimes.
“These are the things the wood elf requested for Majesty’s labors. I will put them by the door.” Kar’niss explained, carefully shifting the weight of the owl bear to reach the pack hanging off of his shoulders. He produced a small square piece of fabric from it, and passed it carefully through the window. Nere inspected it with curiosity. It weighed little but felt warm, and in the middle lay a delicately stitched spider. Unlike the angular harsh lines of Lolth’s symbol, this spider was rounded and elegant, and faced the opposite direction. It was clearly a baby blanket, and Nere could tell how much effort (and drider silk) had been put into it.
The drider shuffled his feet awkwardly, and looked up at him bashfully. “…I wanted you to see it first… to let me know if it was good enough for the little one..” Nere raised a brow, unaccustomed to seeing such an imposing figure nervous.
“It’s perfect. Thank you Kar’niss.” Nere smiled at him warmly, a trait he had picked up recently. He carefully wrapped it around Tav’s shoulders, and Kar’niss made a pleased humming noise as he watched her sigh and snuggle into it in her sleep.
“I’ll harvest what I can from this kill, and keep watch. You should rest while you can. Majesty will need you more than ever before long.” Kar’niss suggested. Nere nodded in agreement and bid him goodnight.
Pressing a kiss to the crown of Tav’s head, Nere closed the window and resumed cradling Tav’s baby bump reverently.. Tonight would not be the last time he was thankful Drow didn’t need to sleep, but now, he wanted to. For the first time since he could remember, he let his eyes shut and let dreams overtake him. If only to make time go by a little faster, so he could wake up with his little family in the morning.
so i have a mod in BG3 that lets me add and remove NPCs from the party at will (and matches their level with my character) - and also one that lets me have more than four characters in the party.
For the Lorroakan fight I plan to have recruit several of the more plausibly combat-capable adult Elturian tieflings into the party to help murder Lorroakan (along with the ENTIRE regular party plus Aylin).
By my measure that's Dammon, Zorru, Lakrissa, and Cerys. MIGHT bring Alfira too, we could use a bard. Although I can see her and Lakrissa fighting over it.
Bex and Danys will remain a safe distance away keeping an eye on the kids in Rivington.
literally an army of like seventeen people burst through Lorroakan's front door.
Like the locket says, 'Strength in Unity', and EVERYONE is unified in that Lorroakan's gotta pay for hurting Rolan (shit, might even try to get Tavaria to bat her eyelashes to recruit Gortash).
Rolan is such a sweet softie and his relationship with his siblings is so wholesome
From the script, lmao that he's called a prodigy. I love the context the script provides in the character POV
Synopsis: This occurs betwen Lia, Cal and Ronan. There are mixed ADs which occur - when they're arguing about when to stay and go, when they've decided to stay and when they've decided to go.
Cal: How long will it take to get to Baldur's Gate?
Rolan (A note of humour in your voice - very much a "are we there yet, are we there yet" situation): Depends. How often are you going to ask that?
Rolan (Talking about things to do in Baldur's Gate - excited): We should add the Elfsong Tavern to the list
Lia (A wry smile, you're happy to see your Rolan so excited): So long as you're paying.
Cal (Your sister has conned Rolan into paying - you're teasing him): Drinks on Rolan? Count me in.
Rolan (A wry smile even as you pretend to be grumpy - Lia and Rolan are teasing you and you're pretending to hate it): I swear, I've never met such a pair of cheapskates.
--------------------
Cal (You and your sister are talking to each other - teasing Rolan): How long until Rolan shows off his Thunderwave?
Lia (Ibid. A smile - Rolan has a massive ego but you love him for it.): Depends. How many people are dumb enough to ask?
------------
Cal: Don't be grumpy, Rolan. We'll get to the city soon.
Rolan (You are grumpy but few can cheer you up like Cal can): I am not grumpy.
Cal (A big smile as you tease Rolan, knowing you're cheering him up): The scowl on your face would frighten a troll.
Rolan (Despite your best efforts a smile breaks out on your face - you tease Cal back): Heh. You're an idiot.
Facts about Rolan you might have missed, while you were busy saving the world
Spoilers for Baldur’s Gate 3 below!
Here’s a collection of some Rolan facts you may have missed during your playthrough. (These are all from memory, so I will edit this later with sources and exact quotes.)
He is not related by blood to Cal and Lia - You can find this information by speaking with his corpse. All three of them consider each other family, but Rolan seems to hold some insecurities about his position with his siblings. In the same conversation, he mentions having “no one” when asked if he has family and that he identifies as “Rolan, just Rolan” - potentially implying that he’s been abandoned or rejected by his blood family, if they’re alive.
Cal considers Rolan an older brother - If Rolan dies during his rescue attempt in Act 2, Cal confesses that Rolan is his “older brother” and “the person he looks up to the most”.
Rolan loves organizing things - He has overhead dialogue with his siblings where he jokes about wanting an organized, color-coded sock drawer.
You can try to convince Rolan to leave his siblings behind at the grove - Try to convince him to leave Lia behind, and he will admit she’s a pain sometimes, but he could never leave her, not even for his prestigious apprenticeship.
Rolan’s diary changes depending on if his siblings live or die - Self-explanatory. He obviously becomes much more depressed and angry if you fail to save his siblings.
Rolan and his siblings have known each other since Cal was at least eight - They have overhead dialogue where Cal mentions that, when he was eight, Rolan once conjured a cat for him, only for him to find out it was made of fire.
It’s implied that Rolan, Cal, and Lia share a mother figure - If Lia dies, Cal has dialogue with Rolan about throwing a party in memorial for her, “like [they] did for mum”.
Rolan, Cal, and Lia have unique dialogue depending on which of them die - This is self-explanatory, but you can see most of the scenes here. He also appears to have unique dialogue coded in act 3 depending on if he’s angry with you or not (if you disrespected Cal and Lia’s memories by calling them Carl and Liam), but I haven’t been able to trigger it yet.
Lorroakan hates to admit it, but Rolan is more powerful than him - Speak with Lorroakan’s corpse after killing him and having Rolan side with you. He will begrudgingly admit that his apprentice is more powerful than him. Side note, it can be implied that Lorroakan never calls Rolan by his name, as he defaults to “tiefling” or “boy” in their few interactions.
If Rolan has a high enough initiative in the Lorroakan fight, he will use Thunderwave to shove Lorroakan off the tower. Peak revenge.
Some of Rolan’s spells have his name in front of them (Rolan’s Thunderwave, Rolan’s Mage Armor) - Some people have headcannoned this as meaning he had to learn magic by himself, therefore being a Sorcerer. Considering his clothes are a unique color combination for the Sorcerer robes, it raises more than a few questions
Rolan always carries Lorroakan’s letter on him - This one always makes me so sad, pointed out by @sadwizardlover. Throughout the game, the one thing Rolan always carries on his person is the written response from Lorroakan to his letter, posted below.
Lorroakan also beats Rolan up😭 He'll only admit this if Lorroakan's dead though
That’s all! If anyone has any more to add to this list, shoot me an ask✨💞
romaincrisis
amandla
gamechangershow
izzy806
gracieabrams
