I always wondered why in Astarion's case the tadpole "changed the rules" but it didn't do the same for Gale. This is such a small hint, but it's still there. It was hinting since the day one that Netherese magic was involved. I believe that because Gale's Orb is a result of a weave that was created with Netherese magic, the tadpole changed with the same magic only exacerbates the disease. Hence why feeding the Orb with the artifacts suddenly stopped working as it should. I can't even imagine how terrifying that must have been for Gale to see that the treatment he used for so long suddenly started failing him.
The very same magic that for Astarion made him be able to walk in the sun, enter houses and cross rivers, while I suspect for Karlach it was responsible for keeping her alive, for Gale was a literal death sentence. If Mystra in her infinite assholery didn't decide to stop the clock on the Orb for the sake of using it as the ultimate weapon to kill both her ex-boyfriend and the Absolute, Gale would be in great pain in Act 2 and Act 3. (Albeit I must admit it's kinda big decision considering that Mystra is Weave, so when she lets the Orb feed of her weave it's like some kind of magical cannibalism that can hurt her or can even kill her if prolonged? And ok, prop's to her for sacrificing herself like this for the mission, but still, telling your ex to kill himself is not good and in the end she groomed him, so this whole situation with him trying to impress her was kinda her fault too when she ignored her godhood and the imbalance in their relationship and didn't realize that unequal relationship is not something that anybody could accept. She as a goddess should have known this relationship is doomed simply by the fact that to her Gale will never be her equal, always be her subject, hers to command as one of her Chosen and always lesser than her, and should have just ended it before Gale got stupid ideas OR not get together with him in the first place as a responsible fucking adult).
If you traveled with Gale in your party, it was very much visible how much pain the Orb caused him when it inflicted Arcane Hunger on him. It's a miracle that he managed to walk through the entire Act 1, considering how quickly the artifact treatment failed him. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility if for the half of the Act 1 Gale was bedridden due to chronic pain (I'm seriously surprised I didn't see any fanfics using this idea for some angst yet). But because it's a game, and he is a companion, he had to be able to accompany you, that's why Arcane Hunger status stops appearing after the 3rd Artifact fails to sate the Orb, and you have the Conversation with Gale about his affliction for real. If it was not a game after this Gale would either have to try to consume even more artifacts to sate the Orb (which doesn't happen, he never asks you for more after the 3rd one fails) or he would be in constant pain, barely able to walk. Lying in his tent and suffering in silence while the party got increasingly worried about his state.
Disclaimer Game Version: All these analyses were written up to the game version v4.1.104.3536 (Early access). As long as new content is added, and as long as I have free time for that, I will try to keep updating this information. Written in June 2021.
Detail: BG3 takes place in 1492 DR.
To understand what's the context around "Netherese magic" and, let's hope, its nature, I think it's of vital importance to know a bit about Netheril and what happened in recent years.
The game does a good job in showing us what happened with their fall at Karsus' hands. I explained in the post of "Well-known Characters" a good amount of information about him. His desire for godhood was a bit more complex than just wanting to be a god, even though the game shows it as blind arrogance and ambition: so far we know, it was Mystra who commanded her priests to spread this version of Karsus' Folly, as if he only wanted power alone.
After Karsus' folly, all the floating cities of Netheril fell to the ground, destroying their population with them. However, only three cities were saved since they were too high in the air: their fall gave enough time for Mystra to be reborn in minutes and saved them. A fourth enclave, ruled by Telamont Tanthul—also called Lord Shadow—was teleported to the Shadow Plane (now called Shadowfell) days before the catastrophe. This was possible because Shadow Lord had been experimenting with the Shadow plane energies for a while. When he returned to Faerûn to see the aftermath of Karsus' folly, he recognised the need to stay in the other plane and gather strength to rebuild Netheril. After 1700 years, he started his plan for the return of his Civilisation in 1372 DR.
This is the context in which the trilogy of The Return of the Archwizards is set. This also belongs to 4e, which is one of the concepts that have annoyed more players, since this return made the Shadovars the Big Bad Evil everywhere. Maybe WotC wants to clean this aspect in the game. Maybe not. We don't know for sure. But we may suspect that Netherese people are returning in BG3: many details ingame keep giving context about them: Gale's explanation about Karsus' Folly, Excavation of the Enclave of Nhalloth (book), The Approachable East: Vol5 (book), and then the presence of Netherese magic not only in Gale's "orb" but in the tadpoles.
I think it's worth checking the ingame book called “Excavation of the Enclave of Nhalloth”. Nhalloth was a Netherese city floating above the Sea of Fallen Stars in Faerûn. After Karsus' folly, it sank into the sea, claiming for some underwater creatures. As a consequence of the Spellplague, the geography changed, the waters lowered, and allowed a bit of exploration. Little was found, and explorers reported odd feelings and ghosts around it.
What do we know about the Return of Netheril in 1372?
These new Netherese people started to spread their influence in Faerûn, looking for Netherese old artefacts and spying on people and places that could possibly hinder their ultimate goal of creating a new Netheril in their image. But, were these people truly Netherese? The question comes from the fact that living creatures can't stay in the Plane of Shadow (currently merged with the Plane of negative energy which transformed it into the Shadowfell) without being affected by it. So, in an attempt to be short but still provide important facts I will numerate vital details of them that may become handy in BG3:
This floating city used to be called Thultanthar, and after its return, it's more commonly referred as the City of Shade.
Somehow, the Netherese people survived, and became more united and secretive.
Over 1700 years, each generation of these netherese people become more and more attuned to the shadow plane, some of them even turning into Shades: twisted, dark, humanoid creatures with longer lifespan than humans. Lord Shadow was still the main ruler of the City of Shade because he is now a Shade.
A big percentage of their population are worshippers of Shar.
The archwizards (ruling class) in the highest ranks are called Shadovars. Not every Netherese or Shade person is a Shadovar. Despite this, most folk refer to all Netherese as Shadovar nonetheless.
Most Shadovars are followers of Shar.
Shadovars are masters of Shadow Magic. It's a common mistake to think that Shadow magic is the same as Shadow Weave magic. Shadow Magic is magic using the energies of the Plane of Shadow. This can be done using Weave or Shadow Weave. Since most shadow casters are evil-aligned, Shar tried to offer them the Shadow Weave as a means to cast their magic without using the Weave (an element of a neutral-good aligned deity). This is related to the effect of worshipping without consent: Using the Weave is always a way to worship Mystra even if the caster wants it or not. This always gives power to Mystra. Shar created the Shadow Weave as a way to divert all those evil-aligned casters into her own worshipping. More details in the post of "Mystra and her Chosen ones"
With the return of the Shadovars, they tried to corrupt the recently recovered Weave and turn it into Shadow Weave.
In 1487DR, Lord Shadow tried to gain the power of the Mythal of Myth Drannor, but Elminster killed him and the City of Shade fell upon Myth Drannor, destroying both cities.
However, this was not the end of the Shadovar. We may have some information about how they are in 1490s DR (let's remember BG3 is during 1492 DR):
Lord Shadow may be part of the Weave now (I have no idea why Ed said this. Lord Shadow was not a Chosen of Mystra, why would he be a weaveghost now?)
Two of his daughters and a Netherese arcanist survived: The sisters Lelavdra and Manarlume and the arcanist Gwelt have been calling themselves "The Three".
The Three have been collecting Netherese and others loyal to the Shade Empire from the ruins of the Citadel of the Raven in the western Moonsea region since late 1487 DR. They had collected at least 60 low level arcanists and 20 low born Netherese within a short period of time.
Gwelt was leading the hunt for others calling their group "The Court of the Three."
Their goals were supposedly to collect other Netherese, make allies, identify foes, take command of the remaining floating Netherese cities, and find a remote location to regroup and plan their re-emergence. It is unknown how far they have come.
Why all of this may be important?
Because part of this canon material may or may not be part of the story of BG3.
It's true that Larian has already changed some very consistent canon facts, such as the spell of the Hag eye (Ethel justifies her spell as a very personal customised one) or—the most impressive change—the Ceremorphosis process: Gale explains that the normal process removes the personality of the person in the sixth day after the infection, when in Forgotten Realms canon it should happen few hours after the infection. So my expectations for them to follow all canon material are not blind. They will change canon concepts as they think suitable, which is how DnD works. Still yet, it seems reasonable to read about all this in order to have a better context of what we will see, since the canon context is undeniably there.
Personally I always saw the presence of Netherese/Shadow Magic in the tadpoles as the intervention of Shar, but I never could find a group of mortals who would do that work and have such specific knowledge. We know that, with the exception of Mystra, contact with mortals is forbidden to all gods; therefore, Shar could not be the one to have approached these Mind Flayers. Now, the presence of the Court of the Three, working alongside or co-opting The Three Dead's plan seems a more reasonable possibility for me.
So far, what we know is that
Shadow Magic is equivalent to Netherese Magic ( EA, Ethel's words)
Shadow Magic is magic related to the plane of Shadows. This plane was altered by Shar when she merged the negative energy plane with it, causing the Shadowfell. The Shadowfell was Shar's realm for a while.
Shar was a great loser in the last edition. She could not change the Weave into Shadow Weave and become the greatest deity of magic as she planned. So she may want to counter-attack now.
Shadovars—who tried to help Shar in turning her into the Goddess of Magic—are masters of Shadow Magic and Shadow Weave magic.
The Shadow Weave was not destroyed, it's recovering at a similar pace to the Weave.
The tadpole can't turn the host into a mind flayer because Netherese magic (the dream person) attached to it works as a stasis process. ( EA)
The Netherese magic—aka dream person—seems to restrain the Mind Flayer transformation while having strong connotations of Bhaalspawn essence. ( EA)
These small details may suggest that maybe the Shadovar are returning, or the three dead are using Shadovar's knowledge or vice versa. The possibilities are many and it seems hard to decide which ones are more likely since EA gives little information for such estimation.
Sources:
2e: Sea of Fallen Stars
3e: Lost Empires of Faerûn
4e: The Return of the Archwizards, The Herald, Grand History of the Realms
Article: After the Fall by Ed. Greenwood: https://dnd.wizards.com/articles/features/after-fall
Ed Greenwood Twitter
This post was written in June 2021.
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