(Up front context, since Astarion is already a rogue, Miss Fortune as a companion would be a bard (default college of glamour) and their backstory would change slightly. They would’ve been abducted directly from the brothel rather than having recently escaped to work with the thieves guild.)
Miss Fortune can be encountered for the first time in the Emerald Grove up where Alfira is playing her lute. The player will hear “no, no, no, that won’t do!” and “you expect me to dance to this?” while they are walking up the hill. Upon reaching the top, a cut scene will trigger.
Narrator: *You see a half-elf attempting to choreograph a dance while a tiefling plays haltingly on her lute, frequently stopping and starting back up again as the half-elf grows increasingly more frustrated.*
Miss Fortune: Give it here, let me show you again. At this rate we’re never going to be performance-ready!
Alfira: I’m not looking to perform this, it’s just a tribute to my teacher!
Miss Fortune: *strumming the tune Alfira was struggling with perfectly* Sweetie, everything is a performance.
Narrator: *The half-elf notices you approach out of the corner of their eye. In the instant it takes for them to turn towards you, their facial expression shifts from mild annoyance to exuberance. They push the lute back into Alfira’s hands as they stalk towards you.*
Miss Fortune: Oh my gods, hi! I remember you from that mind flayer ship. I tried to get your attention but I guess it’s hard to stand out when you’re stuck in a pod. I’m Miss Fortune, pleased to make your acquaintance.
[Player]:
Nice to meet you, I’m [name].
Gods, you’re annoying.
Nice dance moves.
(Note: their next reaction is the same regardless of player’s dialogue choice - yes, even if they call them annoying xD)
Narrator: *They bow with a flourish and then reach out a hand. You take it, and your mind reels as it connects with theirs, your perspective warping. You are the peacock of the Lower City, a performer renowned amongst certain circles of society. A crowded room spins before you, over and over, and you begin to grow dizzy before you dip into another pose; you’re dancing, and the packed audience's attention is rapt. The scene shifts and the sun is just beginning to rise. You’re sitting on a balcony that overlooks the city and you haven't slept a wink. You feel a rush of emotions gripping at your chest and threatening to overwhelm you, your wine glass wobbling in your trembling hand.*
Miss Fortune: Wow, that was so weird. I wonder who that was in whatever vision...daydream thing just happened? *they laugh nervously* Talk about embarrassing for them! Anyway, cutie, what do you say we team up and figure out this tadpole situation? I’m not much of a fighter but I can talk us into or out of any situation you can dream up. I can be very persuasive.
Other companions’ reactions to Miss Fortune joining the party
Astarion: Ugh, a bard? Be careful with that one, darling. There’s nothing but lies and empty flattery behind that pretty face. (projecting much, Astarion?)
Gale: Well, I suppose charm magic has a time and place in battle, and I’m sure Miss Fortune will have no shortage of stories to share around the camp fire. I say they’ll be a welcome addition.
Shadowheart: Miss Fortune is charming, but I do hope they can pull their weight around here. What are they going to do, talk our enemies to death? Hmm, now that I think of it, I’d like to see them try.
Lae’zel: Tsk’va, I hope you know what you’re doing letting that pretty boy join. They don’t look like they can even hold up a sword. I will decorate the ground with their innards if they slow us down.
Wyll: Miss Fortune seems like an agreeable person. I imagine things will be a bit more lively with them around, and I’m looking forward to it. (until Wyll learns what a chaos gremlin they are lol)
Karlach: So you’re letting twinkle toes join our merry little band of heroes, yeah? I like their spark; we could certainly do much worse. In fact, I’m feeling inspired to whack some baddies already!
~~~~~
A/N: For those of you who have read my fic so far, you might notice a difference in their demeanor as a companion. I'm attributing that to the fact that their masks are way stronger in this situation because Tav/Durge is in a position to say no to them. They'd be less genuine at first and strive to be the happiest, bubbliest person in the group at all times. But they would wield their flirtations as armor to keep everyone at arm's length until the player is able to break through those defensive layers to find the real person beneath (much like all the other companions, there will always be more to them than meets the eye at first!)
Class: (ex)-cleric of Vlaakith (it's complicated :-/ )
((more under the cut ))
Eyes: slight heterochromia, with her right eye a pale blue "opal" and her left (often hidden in the shadow of her loose hair) a pale green "opal"
Hair: dark black with a slight raven/blue tint in some lighting; braided on her righthand side
Skin: her githyanki markings (I call them frog spots, does anyone else(?)) are somewhat similar to Lae'zel's and others seen in game, but her more defining markings are those across the bridge of her nose and spanning the tops of her ears
Scars: a thin slice down her right cheek from days spent learning under her creche's sa'varsh, courtesy of a zealous peer with quicker reflexes
Accessories: both ears have been pierced in multiple locations with small gold or silver rings in a slight alternating pattern; she also wears metallic eyeshadow in a gold similar to both her earrings and the small details of her irises
((spoilers for act 2, I'm mid act 3 as of writing this))
Following their rift with Vlaakith, Lae'zel and V'nemre both struggle to shift their view of the world knowing what they now know about their queen. On more than a few occasions, the pair found themselves sitting together in silence as the rest of their companions slept, unable to put words to the thoughts running wild in their heads.
Nem struggles particularly in corralling her clerical abilities now that her trust in Vlaakith has been shattered, calling to question how she hasn't been cut off from the source of these abilities altogether. Nem begins hoarding potions of healing for the party in an attempt to squash thoughts of self-doubt following multiple ambushes from Vlaakith's forces, and she finds that 'guidance' in particular to fumble the desired outcome more often than not. She falls further into her soldier roots, but is constantly reminded why hand to hand combat has always been her last resort.
If you've read through all of this, thank you! I'm trying to get into a better habit of sharing about my characters rather than being too embarrassed and just keeping them locked tight in my thoughts 😅
Are there any other githyanki clerics out there I should know about? 👀 I would love to see some githyanki tavs or tavs you have that you think might get along with Nem!
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.
