⠀⠀⠀"Y'know, I ain't never seen a big ass devil lady like you before," the emerald hedgehog spoke, with an oddly confident tone, despite being quite literally half the size of the monstrous woman standing before him. He zipped around in a green flash, stopping for split-seconds to examine her, before stopping a few feet in front of her.
⠀⠀⠀"Gotta say, I like ya style." He grinned, pulling his bright red shades over his eyes, "guess y'could say you're pretty hot, huh?" The pun was hardly Scourge's best work, but he couldn't help himself. He always was a shit-talker, and if that meant throwing puns at someone, then damnit he was going to throw puns.
⠀⠀⠀"Ya gotta name, lady?" Hands on his hips, muzzle cracked wide into a sharp-toothed grin, shades reflecting the light emanating from Karlach's chest-- hardly a subtle hedgehog. His attitude was worn on his face, his vest, his spiked cuffs, like a badge of honour. His grin faded as his eyebrow arched suddenly, his shades being lifted back into their place on his forehead as he stared at the fiery red woman's chest.
⠀⠀⠀"Yo, what's the deal with the glowin'?" Scourge could feel its heat, its energy, even from where he was standing. He leaned forwards slightly, as if trying to get a better look at it. "Ain't seen anythin' like that before..."
˙ ˖ ❤️🔥 journal updated — our fiery friend ( the fury of avernus ), an indie writing blog for the study and portrayal of KARLACH CLIFFGATE, origin character from BALDUR'S GATE III, blog est. 9 dec, 2025.
🔥 multi-verse/oc friendly, all writers are welcome 🔥 mature themes WILL be present ─ mdni, 21+ interactions only 🔥 NO SMUT 🔥 scorched by chry .
rules ┊ things to bear in mind ┊ verses (wip) ┊ tag dump
this is an open, safe space with no judgements. if you're going through a tough time right now, you're not alone. my dm's are always open ─ let's chat. 𖹭
The skies of Avernus ignited into a disgustingly hot flurry of fire and ash as a young tiefling named KARLACH CLIFFGATE fell into Zariel's burning clutches. It was as if the environment was sentient, her forfeited life had somehow satiated an ancient hunger within the lands of its inferno.
Startled and frightened, pearls of sweat beginning to form around her temples, Karlach's golden eyes darted around frantically as she tried to figure out some sense of her surroundings and the situation she thrusted into. One minute, a faithful bodyguard to proletarian, Enver Gortash. The next, this bitch's infernal puppet. Fear mixed in with anger, betrayal, confusion, sadness. So many emotions for a 16 year old to feel, and not enough time to process any of them...
❝ You're mine now, girl, ❞ Zariel smirked as she stared down the young tiefling, her grip tightening around her tiny wrist, her crimson skin beginning to smolder as if it was being branded. Slowly. Painfully. ❝ --and so, let's see about that heart . . . ❞ With the click of her gilded fingers, the archdevil summoned her damned, however, loyal, subordinates. With no say in the matter, young Karlach's thoughts, needs and feelings completely silenced, she was dragged backwards at incredible speeds into a holding cell to have her poor heart removed out of her chest. It would be replaced. With an infernal engine; Zariel's grand prototype-contraption that she eventually hoped would power a mechanical army, to aid her in the ever-growing Blood War. Karlach was to be its trial host.
And thus began Karlach's new life, in an unfamiliar world of war and demise. In the blink of a nymph's eye, she had everything of value taken away from her; her home, her parents, even the very thing that made her feel alive. The only object of sentiment she had managed to keep close by over the next insufferable decade would be Clive, a brown teddy-bear that was given to her as a gift by her mother. He gave her much needed comfort, so much hope and determination. Remarkable that he survived the transition from Baldur's Gate all the way down to the Hells, stitching and stuffing unsinged. Silly, really, but every time Karlach looked into his little button eyes, she felt a build-up of optimism and strength, forged by the thought that she could survive this fucked up ordeal and, one day, escape from this hellfire prison.
Not to mention, absolutely obliterate that gobshite of a traitor, Gortash.
𝑺𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑰𝑭𝑭𝑬𝑵𝑬𝑫, 𝑯𝑨𝑽𝑰𝑵𝑮 𝑩𝑬𝑬𝑵 𝑪𝑨𝑼𝑮𝑯𝑻 not only practising sleight of hand magic, but fumbling the trick miserably. She'd been trying to produce a coin seemingly out of thin air, but had only succeeded in dropping it thrice now. A high, pale flush colored her cheeks, as though the idea of doing anything anything less than completely practical was a great shame -- a ridiculous notion, considering the amount of time she spent braiding her hair in the mornings, or the fact that she still insisted on wearing cosmetics even on the road.
Still, she was too much herself not to regret it. "Just something to keep the hands busy," she said. Something to delight her daughter as well. With any luck, Ruby would have at least a few tricks down once she was rid of this parasite and up north at last. At least it was Karlach who had caught her. Ruby had reason to suspect that the woman wouldn't judge her for something as frivolous as this. Then again, she'd been wrong before.
Ruby stooped, snatching the coin and stowing it in the pouch hanging from her belt, asking, "Was there something you needed?"
The tiefling sighed, ❝ --Gale, I can't sleep. Tell me a story? ❞
; @myheartisablaze
The wizard turned and stared at the tiredless tiefling and asking him to tell her a story. "You want to hear a story? hmm.. alright, but warn you, this may give you a laugh." A smile appeared on his lips as he begins to sit next to her bedroll. "Once, a long time ago, I was a small lad in Waterdeep, when I discovered the first time in magic, I decided to give it a go and magicked a ball of fire for a cat. My father told me not to bring any form of strays home, and he tried to carry the so called 'cat' and burned both of his hands..." He chuckled as he shook his head. "A naughty lad I was, I got a earful from both of my parents..."
There's no helping the flinch as Karlach takes her hands. Nan isn't used to being touched outside of melee, least of all gently. Even her tail is still as Karlach lays a hand over her pounding heart, as if any movement would ruin whatever this was. There was something about someone as large as Karlach -- someone almost as large as Nan herself -- being so careful with her that left Nan anxious to do or say the right thing. Not that she knew what that was, of course, but she wanted to all the same.
Her mind went nearly blank at the sensation of Karlach's warm ear against her skin, a gentle hearth burning away winter chill. Heat crawled up Nan's face, purpling her grey cheeks as she sat frozen in place. Was this normal? Was this allowed? What was she supposed to do, and where did she put her hands? Even as Karlach pulled back and apologized, Nan was left at a loss. It was impossible to imagine anyone ever feeling safe enough to do something like that. Not to her, at any rate.
"I..." she began and coughed. "No, yeah, it's fine. Um. I mean. You looked happy listening to it, so I guess that means it's there, yeah?" Was that what friends normally did with each other? She had no way of knowing. But it was true -- Karlach had looked comforted by the sound of Nan's pulse, now pounding in her ears and against her ribcage. "You, uh, you're fine. That was fine."
When she knelt down beside Karlach, Niamh had to remind herself not to reach out and touch her. It was in her nature to want to touch, to soothe, but she didn't need to add any more burns to her palms.
For a few moments she was worried. Then the steady pulse of Karlach's heart slowed, the glow easing, and Niamh smiled at her.
"I wouldn't be a very good cleric if I let that heart get the best of you," she teased. She did reach out, then, to let her hands hover over the cuts and scrapes on the tiefling's skin. A soft blue glow enveloped her fingertips as she soothed the injuries with a healing spell.
❝ We can't just give up. There has to be something we can do. ❞
── asked by @myheartisablaze ❤️🔥
"I am not giving up," Iago says miserably, muffled by their miserable head buried in their miserable hands. They normally like puzzles. It gives their twitchy fingers something to do and their empty head something to latch onto. For what they lack in memory, they more than make up for with- well, no, an aptitude for problem solving and riddles doesn't make up for too much, but it's at least something they can take pride in.
Usually.
Until, of course, sometimes, occasuonally, unfortunately, that aforementioned empty head takes even that from them. They're quick to forget, easy to find themselves confused. The confidence with which they walked into this labyrinthian sort of catacombs, meat shield dear companion at their side, had dwindled significantly until they were finally forced to admit that they two of them were quite lost.
"I am not giving up," they repeat, even though they've started to sink down the wall like they're trying to melt into the floor. "I am taking a moment to think. We went left, right, right, up the stairs, left... no, right again. Right? Left. Then another... left..."
With every vaguely recalled direction, they get lower and lower and lower until they've plopped down on the stone below and their guesses have devolved into a pitiful, incoherently whine.
send me memes | always accepting | @myheartisablaze
the drow peered through red eyes over at the double-doors leading outwards, and all the people coming and going, though she seemed reluctant, almost, to leave sharess' caress. the other drow in there, the twins... she hadn't seen people who looked like her and who weren't also trying to kill her in what felt like a lifetime.
gods, it was stupid, but seeing siblings together like that, even in a place like this where he would have never willingly stepped inside, it made her miss her brother. a death had been necessary, but she wished it would have been her own instead of his. rhys had always been the stronger one between them.
but bree still wasn't comfortable letting anyone see her upset. upset was dangerous, because it gave other people power. and while she didn't think karlach was the sort she needed to worry about, that didn't mean karlach was the only person looking in her direction right now. bree stretched exaggeratedly, letting her silver hair -- long, now -- cascade over her shoulders. she forced a girlish sort of light back into her voice, pulled her lips into a beautiful smile.
“i don't know, but i want to find out. maybe i'll even find someone to buy my drinks for me. shall we go?”
