Just some incoherent scribbling and jotting down ideas thst I did a few weeks ago about the spawn siblings cause I'm so intrigued by them. I want more little tidbits about them so bad like who were they all before they were turned and why were they chosen to be the seven spawn.
What becomes of the spawn siblings after Cazador's death?
I cannot stop thinking about the spawn siblings. I am so interested in all of them, I want to know everything about them. I wish there were more opportunities to talk to them, or talk to Astarion about them.
I’ve been thinking a lot since I finished Astarion’s quest about what will become of the rest of Cazador’s “children” after they are free of him, and I wanted to write out those thoughts to 1) preserve them for myself and 2) maybe find other people as insane as I am to discuss them with lol.
As a general note, I don’t see the siblings sticking together after Cazador’s death. They may do so for a little while at first while they try to figure out how to move forward, but I think they would all break away from each other and go their own ways eventually (I think Aurelia would be the most likely to follow one of them wherever they go, but I don’t know for sure if I think she actually would.). Some of them may keep in contact, or they may run in similar circles and run into one another now and again, but I feel like they will all feel a desire to move away from this family structure that Cazador built and build something of their own.
(For context, my headcanons for the order in which each sibling joined the family is Aurelia, Astarion, Dalyria, Violet, Petras, Yousen, and Leon.)
Aurelia
I think Aurelia will really struggle with freedom. As I noted, I believe she was the first spawn Cazador made so she’s been under his control longer than anyone (including likely several years as an “only child” and I cannot imagine being the only target of Cazador’s sadism was great for her psyche). She was probably the most thoroughly indoctrinated of all of them. If you kill Cazador without Astarion and talk to her she will call Tav “master”. I don’t think she remembers how to function without that master/spawn dynamic anymore. Without Cazador I think she will seek out another strong personality to fill that role for her, and how the rest of her life plays out will be heavily dependent on who it is she attaches herself to. If a decent person takes her under their wing I think she absolutely has the potential to begin to heal from everything she endured, but if she falls in with another cruel master who will take advantage of her dependance on them then I think it’s likely she will end up in a situation not dissimilar to the one she was freed from.
Dalyria
I have mixed feelings about Dal. Initially I thought she would adjust relatively easily as she seemed to have retained the most of her “humanity” throughout her time under Cazador, and practicing medicine seemed to give her a solid purpose I didn’t sense from the others. However, with her last act before the ritual being to kill Victoria in an effort to cure herself of her vampirism, I’m less sure. I think Astarion’s warning at the flop house that Cazador wasn’t intending to free them (and probably his rage after Aurelia and the others returned without Astarion) scared her enough that she did it as a desperate move hoping to get free herself. She’s obviously led plenty to their deaths before this on Cazador’s orders, but I think this was the first time she’s taken a life of her own volition, and I think that will really mess her up. Especially since she would have known Victoria. I think Leon kept her away from the other spawn as much as possible, but they were definitely aware of her. And if Leon felt ok with any of them being around his daughter it would have been Dal. I don’t know. I could see her punishing herself for that for the rest of her life. I don’t think she’ll ever let herself drink from anything but animals as some kind of penance. I wonder if she will still seek a cure for vampirism? Or will the enormity of what she was willing to sacrifice for that cure will lead her to feel that it’s no longer worth it? It’s equally possible though that she would feel that a cure would ultimately be for the greater good and push forward with it anyway (without the death of any more innocents). I really can’t decide. I do feel confident that she would continue to practice medicine in some capacity no matter what. Her identity as a doctor seems to be a very core part of who she is, and I imagine that the Underdark/Undercity are probably always in need of medical expertise. I think that purpose will help her to find her way, but I think the guilt of Victoria’s death will always hang heavily on her.
Violet
I don’t feel like Violet has a long life after she is freed. We don’t know much about her, but based on her diary she seems like a real shit-stirrer. We do know she landed herself in the favored spawn room at least once, and I don’t think anyone earns Cazador’s favor by doing anything good. I headcanon her as being the spawn who most genuinely enjoys the violent parts of their nature. She genuinely enjoys hunting (that enjoyment only dampened by the fact that she’s not allowed to kill anyone herself) and probably doesn’t mind it in the least when she’s the one made to torture her siblings. All this to say, I think she would take full advantage of her freedom to get pretty serial killer-y. I think I’d give her a year at best before a monster hunter puts her down.
Petras
I honestly think Petras would do pretty well for himself? He gives me the vibe of that dumb jock douche from high school who still somehow managed to end up way more successful than anyone would have expected lol. I think he feels he deserves a taste of the good life after everything he was put through and I think he’ll be able to build a version of that for himself (I vote him most likely to steal some fancy-looking shit from the palace on the way out the door). I could see him maybe getting involved in some kind of organized crime in the Undercity/Underdark. Not leadership or anything, but definitely as a valued asset.
Yousen
So we know next to nothing about Yousen. Poor guy doesn’t even have unique dialogue. I don’t feel like I have enough information to make any kind of accurate prediction about what will become of him, so I am delving all the way into the realm of headcanon with him. I don’t even know for sure what race he is? I had thought he was a gnome, but I’ve seen him referred to in several places as a halfling? So who even knows. I also saw somewhere that he had been a spawn for 60 years. I also don’t know where that information came from, but I’ve chosen to accept it. The only canon information I have on him is that he was at least once a victim of a prank from Violet. So from this lack of information I choose to believe that he is the type to keep his head down and his nose clean. He doesn’t seek to be exceptional in Cazador’s eyes like Leon, but he in no way rebels either. He just wants to be invisible. Maybe that’s what makes him such a good victim for Violet. She knows he won’t make a fuss about it and get her in trouble to stay under the radar. I think those skills would serve him well in surviving on his own. He probably won’t thrive, but would continue to keep his head down, keep himself fed, and get his hands on whatever he needed without raising any major alarms.
Leon
I don’t think Leon lives much past the day he’s freed. I think losing Victoria would be the end for him. My headcanon for how Victoria came to live in the mansion with them is that Leon was raising her alone (she was probably an infant at the time, maybe he lost his wife in childbirth?) when he was turned by Cazador. As soon as Leon realized the situation he was in he threw himself at Cazador’s feet and begged to be allowed to bring his daughter to the palace. Cazador of course, wasn’t moved by his show of emotion, but I think he thought that this could be interesting. It was honestly a no-lose situation for him. Worst case scenario, he would get to kill a child in front of its father. Or he could use the threat of harm to the child to drive Leon to be even more loyal and hardworking than those he had to compel to be. Based on how long Leon spent in the favored spawn room it seems that this strategy was very effective. Everything Leon did, every victim he brought home, every time he sold out one of the other spawn to stay in Cazador’s good favor, and every violent act he carried out on his sibling, or himself--it was all for her. Based on his diary, he clearly came to realize that this wasn’t going to be sustainable however. He knew she wouldn’t be safe there forever, and it sounds like he was so close to getting her out. I don’t think he finds out until after the failed ritual that she is dead (I don’t think he ever finds out it was Dal. I think only she and Cazador knew what she did and she was too scared to tell Leon. He just assumed it had been Cazador and she let him believe that.). For a few precious minutes he really believes that he will be able to be free with her. He’s “young” enough as a vampire that he probably believed they could go back to a normal life. But when that’s all ripped away I think that’s it for him. I think it’s likely that the very same day he gains his freedom he walks out into the sun and ends it all.
So there you go. There’s everything about the future for these six that’s been spinning in my head the last 48 hours. Does any of this this ring true to anyone? Anything you feel like I’m way off the mark on? Super curious what people think of these characters!
Wanna talk about Bloodweave and the spawn siblings, specifically how Astarions siblings would interact with Gale in that ending where they settle down in the under dark (and gale starts a vampire book club 🤓)
(DISCLAIMER Since don't know too much about Astarions siblings (more so than others) , alot of this is just me having fun and assigning character traits to them according to how I imagine my game went)
Starting with these two!
Dalyria:
I think these two would get along incredibly well! I can see them talking for hours about their respective (sometimes morally dubious) research, boring absolutely anyone within earshot. I think they could bond over some questionable decisions they've made (gale with the orb And Dal with trying to cure her vampirism with Victoria.) and find comfort in one another . Especially since I HC gayle saves Victoria in game but more on that in Leon's section. Out of all the siblings, Dal is the only one Astarion trusts to leave gale alone with.
Also think Dals research leads to gale finding a way for astarion and the others to walk in the sun again. I don't think she joins the book club tho bc Leon is often there and well... Y'know awkward... But gale does leave a book on her desk from time to time.
Petras:
ahh the spawn I love thinking about post game the most bc I think Petras develops a big crush on Gale. I see it being pretty gradual tbh, He doesn't like Gale at first because he's Astarions and Petras has made it a habit to dislike everything about his "older brother" thank you very much (even though I think petras entire coping mechanism is to badly copy everything about astarion bc he subconsciously thinks it was the only way to survive his enslavement, hence they way he talks and Astarions fucking EA outfit, he stole it from Astarions trunk when he disappeared I just know it) .
So yeah I think it's a few months of Petras being huffy around this handsome annoying wizard while Gale continues to be nice to him. One day Gale offers to teach petras magic (he's a teacher by heart!) much like the canon weave scene and it ends with Gale genuinely but naively exclaiming "You're a natural! Why, you've picked it even faster than Astarion did!"
This is cataclysmic.
It's the first fucking time Petras has been better than Astarion in anything. Petras is immediately heart eyes and obnoxiously smug. Astarion is murderous. Leon and Dal stop a murder. Gale is sent to sleep on the couch.
Any potential brotherly reconcilation is destroyed by Astarion overhearing Petras telling Dal that when Astarion fucks this up then Petras will swoop in and marry Gale. Violet begins to cackle as all of her siblings hold Astarion ,whose now willing to lose an arm, back from dragging Petras to the surface
Petras joins the book club just bc Gale's leading it. He does not read anything but pesters Yousen for answers so he can look smart in front of Gale.
I love love love Astarion having post-cazador interactions with the other spawn (IE underdark vampire colony) but the thing that mainly trips me up is Leon.
Read it on another post where Cazadors death must have been one of the happiest moments of Leons life , He and his daughter are free. Only to find her dead bc of Dalyria.
actually 100% agree with OP that Leon wordlessly walks into sunlight to kill himself BUTTT thats not fun for me if I want him interacting post canon.
So I'm waving my hand and say a certain wizard from waterdeep uses a Scroll of true resurrection on Victoria. (Have a longish idea why'd he'd do it that I wont bore you but essentially He feels bad for the girl that didnt stand a chance and was convinced he was gonna sacrifice himself to destroy the netherbrain anyways). adds a nice dynamic with Leon disliking Astarion but genuinely liking his wizard boyfriend when they move to the Underdark lol.
Anyways all that hand waving to get a scene between astarion and his youngest "brother". What could they be like without the threat of cazadors disapproval hanging over their heads?
I genuinely think they'd butt heads in the Underdark lmao. Astarion genuinely trying to do right with "his victims" could go against Leon "I was on the favoured spawn list so many times, most of thes spawn hate me bc i brought them here." He'd probably rather most of them die if that meant less hungry predators around victoria down there (also have a reasoning why'd he'd take her down there but its flimsy ngl).
Also think Astarion would say shit like "Listen here young man" and it irritates the fuck out of Leon. He's the baby of the group and hes always grumpy. Leon probably still has the hardest "I hate being a vampire" angst out of all of them.
