The Meeting on the Turret Stairs — Tavellil and Karldebrand
Hellelil and Hildebrand, the Meeting on the Turret Stairs, 1864, Frederic W. Burton (VP recreation by me)
I took this VP for a BG3 VP project week for the prompt “recreation of a famous painting” on bluesky and it’s just so special for me, because it combines three of my favourite things in one: my favourite art era (Romanticism)/my favourite painting from that era (and perhaps even my favourite painting of all time), a tragic love story from folklore (the story is from a 19th century English translation of a medieval Danish ballad) and ✨Karlach✨ Also it immensely challenged me to face and overcome my perfectionism since the shot itself was difficult on its own to get. The spiral staircase I shot this on is in Wyrm’s Fortress behind the passageway that leads up into Gortash’s office and was never meant to have characters be there. So I had to place Tav and Karlach as close as physically possible to the edges of the passageway, start photomode and hope that the X, Y and Z axis movements will be enough to get them on the stairs in a pose that recreated the painting as close as possible.
Hellelil (Tav uses they/them, portraying a female character won’t change that!) is a Danish princess and in love with Hildebrand (Karlach uses she/her/they pls let me project, portraying a male character won’t change that!), her bodyguard and an English prince.
Her father learns about their love and immediately sends her brothers to kill Hildebrand, tho instructing them to come as heavily armed as possible because Hildebrand is the GOAT and not to be underestimated. The painting shows their last moment together before Hildebrand leaves to face Hellelil’s brothers. Kissing her one last time and begging her to not call out his name during the fight to come [to not distract him]. Hildebrand does gain quickly the upper hand against Hellelil’s brothers in the gory fight that follows until only the youngest is still standing, tho wounded. HE CAN‘T ESCAPE HILDEBRAND‘S QUICK FINAL BLOW AND HILDEBRAND KISSES HELLELIL IN HIS VICTORY, WITH SEXY BLOOD AND ALL ON HIS FACE AND ARMOUR, SHE THEN HELPS HIM TO GET CLEANED UP AND THEY MAKE SWEET, SWEET LOVE EVERYWHERE IN THEIR NEW CASTLE BECAUSE THEY ARE ALIVE AND IN LOVE AND TOGETHER AND HAVE I MENTIONED ALIVE? AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER, AFTER TAKING OUT THE TRASH! THE END!
✨This is what happens in the Tavellil-and-Karldebrand-verse at least 🥲 That’s canon now! (I make the rules 😌)✨
If you do want the whole gruesome, cruel story it’s under the cut (or one google search away)
(Warning, it’s a dark, tragic, cruel story with immense violence against a woman, pain and torture) The real story goes on as the following and is told by Hellelil herself to the Queen [it’s unclear [to me] who the Queen exactly is; at least in the English translation of the original Danish ballad]
Remember how Hildebrand had the upper hand and it was only the youngest brother still standing? It is when Hellelil does call out for Hildebrand, pleading for mercy, to spare her dearest brother’s life. Shouldn’t have done that! Hellelil’s brother does not know mercy whatsoever and can mortally wound the now distracted Hildebrand who dies on the battlefield [things only get worse from here on].
Her brother the ungrateful, cruel twat who does not deserve to live takes Hellelil to the father’s castle through immense cruelty and torture [binding her to his horse], where he builds a high tower and her torture continues. [The floor is covered in thorns in which he threw Hellelil who only wore her chemise.] He wished her dead no, he wished her mutilated and tortured, that misogynistic ass. I hope he burns in hell forever! Not even God will forgive him or any men like him, her mother sold her as a slave in exchange for a bell [to the Queen she tells her story to, I assume. I also assume that slave is perhaps used as a broader term for servant, bc it is used in another context in the same text as well, tho I am neither a historian specialising in Danish middle ages nor an (English/Danish) literature scholar, so I could be wrong. The Queen treats Hellelil well, as far as I can tell and praises her quick needlework. Hellelil is embroidering in her chambers when the ballad starts and she begins to tell the Queen her story]. Hellelil then finally gets to die after finishing telling her story. And because I am sad now will I add: And when Hellelil arrived in the afterlife was Hildebrand already waiting for her by the edge between life and death to be the first to hold her and kiss her and love her again! The end. I hate men. Tho not all men, Hildebrand would never!
!!SNUGGLY TAVYCULE BIRDIES!! (Speak about a Karlach/Tav/Gale cuddle pile!)
“That quiff!” – My sister about Birb-Tav’s hair 🧡 (It’s very important of course! 😌)
🎨🖌️ On Bluesky Here 💕
Look at their content little faces! 🥺 And the pretty feather markings! And the fluffy feathers around their necks. And their little feet! Thank you! You may continue scrolling! 💜
✨New headers for tumblr and bluesky because I love and miss my OG team more than words can tell 🥹😭✨
Sharing them tonight to 1) start sharing my BG3 virtual photography to tumblr as well as I said I would and 2) to shamelessly self-promote my bluesky where I am currently so much more active
The multiTAVerse and its love stories has grown so much since patch 8 that it deserves its own post now, so buckle up friends, story time!
I will successively post more detailed lore, VP and OSs but have a fresh (updated) overview about the ships for now (I linked the respective ship tag behind the ship names from my bluesky if you want to read more about them) 🤍 I worked a lot on #folktav ship lore through tavQOTDs on and VP sets/OSs in the last weeks/months. Also by preparing my very first zine contributions✨ | my memes and writing masterpost
Welcome to the multiTAVerse – Ship Edition✨
Tav (i) – The burdened druid – Tav of Reithwin
Human [They/Them]. Druid. Circle of the land.
Gale. Lost to godhood. #greenweave
[If not stated otherwise are VP taken by me!] Gale leaves Tav by the docks behind [on the right] by the incredible @swordsbardkat
Karlach. Saved in Avernus. #copperburns
Friends to Lovers to Spouses.
Happened somewhere between hell, the return to Reithwin town and fixed broken hearts.
Tav (ii) – Faithwarden – Tav Dekarios
Human [They/Them]. Druid. Circle of the land.
Gale. Married and insufferably happy in Waterdeep. Crown in the river. #natureweave
Tav and Gale at their wedding by the wonderful @skelvron-keiman
Karlach and Tav (ii) are besties, joined at the hip, completely platonic! She is alive and well in Avernus with Wyll and they eventually fixed her heart!
Tav (iii) – The Sunlit Paladin – Tav Dekarios
Human [They/Them]. Paladin. Oath of Devotion.
Gale. Adventuring across the realms as an obnoxiously blissful, married couple. Crown with Mystra. #devotionweave
Tav and Karlach had a very odd relationship, always dancing on the edges of romantic/sexual attraction and tension. They never really acted on it and believed to be ‘just friends’ until the end. Letting Karlach die like she had wished to was the paladin’s last act of love for her in this life. I like to call them #DevotionFireThatNeverWas
Tav (iv) – The star-crossed druid – tbd (currently in mid act 2)
Human [They/Them]. Druid. Circle of the stars.
Gale. He knows these hands, he knows this magic, brimming with life and so welcoming and generous that pulls him out of the portal he was stuck in. He knows these eyes, he knows these lips, he knows… Tav! And the world held its breath as it witnessed their reunion #ConstellationWeave
Karlach. Smitten by the druid with starlight in their eyes since the moment they met. But how does she know what the druid feels like in her arms before they could even touch one another? Why does she see Reithwin free of the curse bathed in sunlight, rain and snow and flowers in her dreams and Tav older and wiser in between it all? #ConstellationFire
Tav. Remembers. The pain, the love, the desperation. The joy. The endless heartbreak. And the journey ahead thrice, the decisions and the darkness of the curse four times now. If it is their fate to carry the load of four lives then they deserve to be selfish for once. Tav wants both, the soulmate who holds their happiness in his hands and the adored friend who will never be just a friend again, not when they remember a life in her arms! #FireConstellationWeave
I was tagged by @optimisticgrey, thank you so much!Excellent timing— I already put together the images after having seen the game in the Astral Campfire community when I’ve got your tag 💖 🪵 I am tagging (no pressure as always 🤍 and also tell me if you don’t want to be tagged) @astarioffsimpmain @saintsandsorcery @kepchupprabbit @foxtatodreams @rdekarios @magnificentcoffeekitten @kindheartgale and everyone else who wants to join in! 💖
Rules: Put in the name of your OC + core in the pinterest search and choose six pictures with their vibe🩷 Tag people to join the fun!
Tav (i) and Tav (ii) [human; they/ them]; Circle of the land! Druids; the OG Tav and their fix-it life
The sunlit paladin
#goldentavcore
Tav (iii) [human; they/ them]; Oath of Devotion! Paladin + one level druid (= ✨the druladin✨)
The star-woven druid
#silvertavcore
I cheated in this one and used seven pictures instead of six because the composition worked so well and I didn’t want to ditch any of them
Tav (iv) [still human after everything?; they/ them]; Circle of the stars! Druid; my active Tav-run (as of day of posting in between act 1 and 2; mountain pass is done but the Underdark still needs to be traversed)
Thank you so much for tagging me, wonderful @optimisticgrey
No pressure tag for @astarioffsimpmain @nashcandream @kepchupprabbit @saintsandsorcery @foxtatodreams @moonraevn @derryday and everyone else who wants to scream about their OCs! Definitely doesn’t have to be about your Tav/Durge if you haven’t played the game but want to join the fun!
Rules: Make a new post with links to music and/or lyrics describing the following about your OC...
While I do have my Multitaverse and Tav (i) to (iii) have all their own stories and themes am I today looking for songs that applies to each of them at the same time. The hashtag that I established for describing all of them on my blsky is ✨Folktav✨ (a word play on their background as ‘folk hero’)
Song that illustrates their themes in life
Technically the prompt is called ‘Event that defines character’s past’ but I don’t have a real backstory for Tav, only vibes and loose themes, so I changed it
On My Way To Somewhere by Eivør
I'm on my way to somewhere, I don't know where. I'm on my way to somewhere, I don't know how far [...] I'm on my way to somewhere, I have been walking for so long. I'm on my way to somewhere […] Still so many miles to go [...] So many things l'd like to know. I'm always on my way
Tav always wondered where they could and would belong in life, they were constantly dreaming and searching for a ‘somewhere’ that they could reach one day where they would find themselves as a person and as a druid. A place they could call home. It needed a mindflayer tadpole infection to find this place, which turned out to be not a real place but the friendship and the love of people whose chances of ever crossing paths with them were remarkable thin and still it happened.
How your character sees themselves
creature by half•alive
[…] Discovering the patterns of my soul and where it's placed […] I know I'm made of clay that's worn, blinded by imperfect form […] I am creation, both haunted and holy, made in glory […] Look inside my heart and find a perilous ravine. Carved within the beauty, the darkness in between. Standing in the balance of complete and incomplete. I identify the echo of what is and what will be
How others view them
The Sweet Escape by Poets of the Fall
'Cause you′re fearless in your love, devoted to compassion. The highest state of art. Piercing in your truth, sincere in all intention. The way you wear your heart, the way you hold my heart.
Their closest relationship (platonic or romantic)
Fair by The Amazing Devil
And she brushes her hand through his hair, he’s got so much fucking hair. And he holds her close just to keep the world at bay. And when they’re sure no-one can hear them, she’ll turn to him to say, she’ll turn to him and say: It’s not fair, It’s not fair how much I love you […] 'cause darling I was born to press my head between your shoulder blades at night when light is fading […] It’s not fair, it's not fair how much I love you, it’s not fair 'cause you make me ache you bastard. And he’ll say: Oh how, oh how unreasonable, how unreasonably in love I am with everything you do, I’ll spend my days so close to you 'cause if I'm stood here […] I’ll stand here with you
I fell in love with this song the moment I found it on a Gale playlist on youtube and since it was one of the very first songs I put on my playlist when the Gale obsession began last September lays it now at the core, the foundation, of how I see Gale’s and Tav’s relationship and what they want and need and get from it.
A major fight scene
I don’t have a song for a specific fight scene besides my in-game soundtrack favorites which are Elder Brain, A Threat from Nether Years (especially the last part from ~02:19/20 to 02:50) and Nine Blades (the part from ~04:05/6 to ~04:24)
End Credits Song
Would you fall in love with me again from Epic: The Musical, The Ithaca Saga
[…] Would you fall in love with me again, if you knew all I've done? The things I cannot change. Would you love me all the same? I know that you've been waiting, waiting, for love
[…] I will fall in love with you, over and over again! I don't care how, where, or when, no matter how long it's been – You're mine! Don't tell me you're not the same person, you're always my husband. And I've been waiting, waiting
That’s obviously self-explanatory: They will fall in love in every life where there is a Tav and a Gale. He is theirs and they are his. They will choose each other again, again and again. And it all started with Tav and their refusal to give him up and to loose him entirely. It all started with Tav’s devotion to the man they had pulled out of the stone a lifetime ago.
I was tagged by the wonderful @foxtatodreams and I never turn down the chance to talk about my Multi-Taverse 😌✨ Thank you so very, very much for the tag, love!
Tagging @lostintheweave @saintsandsorcery @kepchupprabbit @astarioffsimpmain @thequietfaun @karlachsfootstool in case you haven’t done it yet 💖 AND OF COURSE ANYONE ELSE WHO WANTS TO INFODUMP ABOUT THEIR OCs ❤️❤️❤️❤️
From left to right: Tav (i), Tav (ii) and Tav (iii)
General
Name: Tav (i - iii) [I began counting them with Roman numerals when it became clear that I would be playing the same character several times but would tell a new story with each one]
Alias: Slayer of the Wicked One, Curse Breaker, The Hero of Baldur’s Gate, Faithwarden, Liberator, Simp (coined by Tav (ii)’s youngest sibling, said in real life by my real youngest sibling), Peace Bringer, Life Chanter, Cub, Devil Slayer, [our] steal-hearted friend
Class: Druid (Circle of the Land), Oath of Devotion Paladin multi-classed with druid (druladin)
Race: Human
Gender: Genderqueer
Age: Don’t know (28 like me???? Stats like this don’t matter to me much)
Spoken Language: Common, Animal (as in ‘speak with animals’)
Sexual Orientation: Pansexual
Occupation: Guardian of the [formerly shadow cursed] lands —> finally a druid again, not a warrior, SAHH (Stay at home hero)/ guest lecturer/ educator/ teacher (druid), Adventurer/ ✨Paladin✨ [fulfilling their oath-bound duties]
Favorite
Colour: Green, gold and pink
Entertainment: Playing and talking with Scratch, the owlbear and all of the other animals they encounter, watching Gale cook, prepare spells or read and the stars at night and sunrises (It’s difficult to separate Entertainment from Pastime)
Pastime: Sparring and training-fighting with Lae’zel, Karlach and Minsc, sorting through their spellbook, showing Gale and Shadowheart druidic magic and getting taught some of theirs, collecting and drying mushrooms, identifying birds by their songs, kissing Gale, all kinds of games (board, cards…), smiting the unholy (especially Undead), making and drinking tea with Gale and listening to him talking about the spell he is currently working on, or he reads to Tav, doing their hair while Astarion, Shadowheart and Karlach do the same
Had Sex in Public: Does the shared Elfsong room or generally the camps and the woods around them count?
Gotten Tattoos: Probably not in Faerûn (tho I wonder if Tav (ii) got the Pale Oak staff (Kagha’e gift for Tav when they became Faithwarden) tattooed somewhere (maybe on the side of their neck)
Gotten Piercings: Yes. Pierced ears
Gotten Scarred: Probably a few minor ones, tho their armors do keep them well protected. But they can not do much to protect their heart and soul… They carry many emotional scars from their journeys, of the friends they lost to the shadows, the ones they couldn’t save, the lives the had to take. The love that turned from them…
Had a Broken Heart: Oh yes. Tav (i) lost Gale to godhood and never fully recovered from it. Tav (ii) even came to be from a part of Tav (i)’s soul that haunted the docks, unable to move on from the day the brain fell. A part of Tav (i) will always live in all of them. So Tav (ii) and (iii) have to remember it in their dreams… While Tav (iii) is who Tav (i) wanted to be, the one strong enough to survive tragedy but still able to protect Gale from himself. The hero who would get the wizard in the end.
Are They...
A Cuddler: Hmm, kinda. They enjoy cuddling but had to learn to accept and reciprocate the physical affection shown to them [by Gale]. Once they got comfortable are they very cuddly and handsy with Gale.
Scared Easily: Depends. But whatever happens is Tav very good at putting on a brave face and is able to swallow their fear and do what has to be done. Usually. But the curse scared them to the bones when they first heard about it from Halsin and it did not get better when they reached it. The curse was/ is Tav’s breaking point and the reason their fear and desperation to break it took over and they (only Tav (i)) left the prisoners in Moonrise behind. Because they were scared to the core.
Of course Tav (iii) the paladin deals better with fear and isn’t scared quickly than Tav the druid does.
Jealous Easily: No, at least not in their romantic relationship. Any initial jealousy they may have had in regards to Mystra for example faded on its own when they began to understand the kind of relationship Gale had with her and how imbalanced it has always been. But most importantly gave Gale Tav never a reason to doubt him, on the contrary. They built a secure relationship with each other, founded on trust, understanding and a mutual unconditional love.
Trustworthy: Yes. They mean what they say and you can trust their words and actions.
Family
Sibling(s): Two younger siblings (matter the most in Tav (ii)’s story)
Parents: Exist (but don’t matter (much) to their story)
Children: Tav (i) cares with Halsin for the children in Reithwin but doesn’t consider themselves to be their parent but instead their guardian, protector, friend and teacher. Tav (ii) and Gale are childless by choice and enjoy the city life in Waterdeep, free from any shackles of the past. But they enjoy the company of the children of friends and family. Tav (iii) will have eventually children with Gale (1 or 2 and years down the path a third surprise child :D) after they have settled down from adventuring and smiting the Unholyy
Pets: Scratch (just him for Tav (i)) and the owlbear cub (Tav (ii - iii)) during their journey. All the Tavs have animal friends but they are not pets. Tho Tav (ii) has a seagull that got somehow too comfortable one time while Tav and Gale had breakfast on their balcony in Waterdeep and decided one day to move in with them to always steal said breakfast. And Tav (iii) hunted down the hyena they had saved before in the Shadow Cursed Lands to ask if it wants to keep them company on the street. The hyena agrees.
aka how I became an “one character, many lives” kind of person 😌 Buckle up, kids, I have a story to tell! 💚
I will be combining the OC intro questionnaires with telling you the story of Tav and the multiTAVerse in this post and make it as quick as possible. I hope you’ll enjoy the read 🩷
Meet Tav, the druid with a paladin’s spirit and so much love and devotion in their heart that they bent time and space when they lost the love of their life to godhood for a chance to do things differently in another life, for a chance to have a human life together and desperate* enough to even try. 🌱 *unhinged
Tav was my very first BG3 character and was originally supposed to just be the “Me in the world of the BG3” character that I wanted to try out the game with and to romance the beautiful wizard with. Spoilers: Tav grew throughout the game as a character and became not only one fully realised character but four, thus the multiTAVerse
About their name– I was reading a lot of fanfictions before I played the game, mostly reader-inserts, and was already feeling familiar with the name and associated it with kissing Gale :D So I kept the name. I also like about it that it’s gender-neutral, fun and really fantasy-y feeling.
The dawn of the multiTAVerse
Life was good, life was kind for Tav on their journey. Well, not at all but Tav was madly in love with their wizard and euphoric about being loved in return by him. Together they dreamed about a future together in Waterdeep once this would be over. And then came the day they defeated the brain and everything changed.
Tav lost Gale to godhood that day. He turned away from Tav and the human life they had dreamed to share, choosing the crown’s promise of unlimited power and the endless possibilities of insatiable ambition on the day that was supposed to be their biggest victory and the first day of ‘until the end of our days' for the two of them. Poor Tav’s heart was shattered and mine was too.
I began the Fix-it Tav run the same night.
And ‘Tav’ became Tav (i) and ‘Fix-it Tav’ was called Tav (ii) because I am an academic and find it really funny to count/ organise even video game characters with Roman numerals 😌🤭
And somewhere along the way, one Paladin!Tav (Tav (iii)) later did I realise that I have created my very own nuanced multiverse for a character that has grown so incredibly much since the days they were a mere “self-insert”. And this is a beautiful feeling!
The MultiTAVerse
from left to right: Tav (i), Tav (ii) and Tav (iii)
Base stats
Name: Tav (i), (ii), (iii), (iv) if something applies for both Tav (i) and Tav (ii) am I putting it in green italic, regular green means just Tav (i)
Names/ Important titles post game: Tav of Reithwin, Tav Dekarios, Faithwarden
Pronouns: They/ Them
Class/Subclass: Druid Circle of the Land, Paladin Oath of Devotion, Druid Circle of the stars
Background: Folk Hero, Outlander
Alignment: Neutral/ Lawful/ Chaotic Good
Species: Human
Gender: Genderqueer (agender)
Sexuality: Pan (Demi); Poly (?) still figuring this one out for Tav (iv) with Gale and Karlach
Signature Colours/ Dyes: Sage Green, Green/ Gold, Pink and Leaf Green (Armour and camp clothes), Grumbar (Faerûn dyes mod) (Armour/ Equipment), Light Blue (Camp Clothes)
Favourite gear/ items: The Disintegrating Nightwalkers (Nere's boots), Hellrider's Pride (Zevlor's Gauntlets), Pale Oak (The Faithwarden staff), The Giant Slayer (sword looted from Ansur), Armour of Devotion, Grym Forge Medium Armour
The Tavs
Tav (ii) came from the part of Tav (i) that was unable to move on after they lost Gale to godhood on the day they defeated the brain. The part of Tav’s soul that loved him so much and was desperate enough to face the whole tedious journey again just for one chance to find Gale again, to love him again and to protect him from himself this time. For the chance to have a future with him this time.
Tav (iii) is the manifestation of the oath of devotion paladin that especially Tav (i) had always been in spirit. And armour. Tav (i) wore the armour of devotion during the last third of act 3, feeling immediately and confusingly connected to this armour. Tav (iii) was able to survive and carry the burdens that the druid [Tav (i)] couldn’t. Of course they couldn’t, a paladin’s burden and armour should have never been theirs to carry to begin with. The paladin lost a lot on their journey, like the druid [Tav (i)] had before them. But they didn’t lose Gale, not in this life. He chose Tav and a human life by their side free of the orb’s pain over the false promises of unlimited power and burning ambitions.
And waves of relief and joy, of love and devotion rippled through the cosmos – again. Just like Tav (ii)’s in another life had when Gale had decided to leave the crown in the river after the brain fell. Like Gale’s peace of mind, his love and all-consuming blindingly bright gratitude had when he had woken up to birdsong next to his love illuminated by gentle, hopeful morning light, both of them being alive and well and he without the ever lingering pain of the orb in his chest for the very first time since his folly.
Just like Tav (i)’s desperate, earth and sky- shattering scream of pain had nearly ripped the universe apart when Gale had turned away from them at the docks with indifferent eyes, with no warmth or a word of love left for them after they had defeated the Absolute together. Tav’s scream had been silent, only the stars had felt it breaking through them, tearing them apart.
The cosmos had watched and felt how Tav and Gale fell in love and be a little insane and unhinged about each other, thrice. How they had made this ridiculous journey towards danger and potential death over and over again. Driven by their devotion to each other and their shared desire to finally outrun the one life that haunts both of them in their dreams.
And the cosmos decided that if Tav and Gale would do it all a fourth time, and they would because this is what Tav and Gale do, would it get a piece of the cake. This time would it do more than just watching, would do more than having to suffer through the quakes of their love and grieves that ripple through time and space over and over again.
Tav (iv), a child of the cosmos, quite literally
So the cosmos wove starlight into Tav (iv)’s soul, when it made them and gave them more knowledge of their other lives than any of their predecessors ever had.
The heartbeat of the universe beats gently in Tav (iv)’s soul and guides their steps. Tho it also made them an outsider, the odd one amongst fellow humans. A fate they could carry, there was so much joy waiting for them after all. So much love! And so much uncertainties and danger. But this unhinged, a little hubristic druid is not as concerned as they should be. Surely nothing bad will happen as long as they have Gale around.
A wizard with burning eyes and a gentle smile, a blade singer because he had been loved so fiercely by the paladin of another life. Of course are swords singing to him in this one now when the hands that had wielded them had held him close, had danced over his whole body with adoring touches. Hands that had healed him. Had protected him relentlessly with blows of blades that were radiating holy light.
*And a beautiful barbarian who was anything but barbaric with her passion for life and an even bigger heart of gold, tho made from infernal metal. A gentle giant with golden eyes and a happy toothy grin that can turn so effortlessly into a dangerously burning smirk… More on that below under “relationships”
RELATIONSHIPS
OTP: Tav/Gale in case anyone missed that one ^^, *Tav [(iv)]/Karlach the most complicated case of ‘friends to lovers’ there ever was! It only needed three shared lives for them to act on their feelings, one of the lives included surviving Avernus together and eventually fixing Karlach’s heart, one time not being in Avernus together and the last time having Karlach die in her paladin’s arms (as far as possible until it got too hot and Karlach pushed Tav away as her last act of love for them) only to go nearly insane with desire and longing when they meet again in a next life but being unable to touch each other.
Acceptable ships as in ‘if things would have went differently, if there would have been no Gale or Karlach could Tav have potentially fallen in love with these people, too’: Halsin, Shadowheart, Lae’zel
Strengths: Patience, gentleness and sincere compassion. A welcoming, genuine smile and a way with words that makes it easy for people to trust their ideas, to believe them and to be persuaded by Tav.
A powerful moonbeam, the tendency to fry enemies with lightning/ divine smite and the (very annoying, according to Astarion) trait of seeing and believing the best in people.
Weaknesses: Tendency to loose themself in service of others, sneakiness and stealth (try to hide in a heavy armor), deception/ speaking their mind/ truth and finding themselves and their friends in many fights that could have been avoided if the paladin had been willing to lie. (They weren’t.) Being prone to hubris, believing so much in their abilities and powers that they believe that nothing can come close to hurting them or their friends.
Disadvantages: Stealth, Deception, Sleight of Hand
Fears: Not being good enough in everything they do, the oath breaker knight, loosing Gale [(again) to godhood], a rust spot on their armor, the shadow curse and everything it entailed, not being able to fix Karlach’s heart, loosing Astarion to the dark and his pain, insignificance, loneliness, being the reason that everything terrible is happening again (the shadow curse, the goblins raiding the streets, torturing people, everything in Baldur’s Gate, the chosen of the dead three and their cruelties etc) because of them, because of the selfishness of their soul to love Gale and Karlach again…
THIS OR THAT
Introvert/Ambivert/Extrovert
Organized when it comes to leading/ supporting people, keeping track of things / Disorganized when it comes to their stuff (camp chest, scrolls etc)
Close minded/Open minded
Calm on the outside and during a crisis also on the inside/Anxious/Restless on the inside (usually)
Disagreeable/In-Between/Agreeable maybe not so much in the beginning if your name is Astarion
Patient/In-Between/Impatient
Outspoken/In-Between Tav has the courage to speak up when it matters and the wisdom to stay quiet when it is necessary/Reserved
Leader/Follower/Flexible
Empathetic/In-Between/Apathetic
Optimist/Realist/Pessimist
Traditional/In-Between/Modern
Hard Working doesn’t consider themself to be, tho others would disagree /Lazy Tav is absolutely duty-bound and goes above and beyond to help people, thus ends up feeling like they are failing them or ‘lazy’ when they do focus on themself and their comfort and leisure occasionally
Thank you so much for reading and spending time with the Tavs!🩷 I hope you enjoyed your time!
If you are curious about reading more about Tav and Gale’s lives is here my tumblr masterpost 📝 with all of my writing linked. I am also very active on BG3/ #tavqotd blsky, where I am talking a lot about Tav and their lore.
