#theoakandthemistletoe

[noamuth]

Nilaufein - 20. Has your OC ever done something terrible and lied about it? Did they run away or blame someone else for it? How long did they maintain the lie and did the truth ever come out?

Nilaufein (along with at least a couple as-of-yet unnamed friends) is responsible for many escaped slaves, from humans and tieflings to kobolds and even some orcs and goblins.

Though he did not have firsthand knowledge of the Bauthwaf--the tunnels which lead out from Menzoberranzan--as a seller of Riding Lizards, Pack Lizards, and their gear to adventurers and even soldiers alike, he worked closely with those who have to travel those tunnels frequently. Not only that, he had friends in a cartography guild whose job it was to have the most accurate lay of the land.

He could not free many at once, or too frequently, or it would have raised alarm. He and his friends were risking punishment of torture and death if found out.

Thankfully, no one ever discovered it. Missing slaves were pretty easily explained away as "they tried to run so I killed them" or "they got killed on our expedition/patrol/etc" or and other such excuses. Sometimes a few slaves were deliberately not freed in order to have living people to bring back, to make the claims of death more realistic, on the promise that those slaves would be the next to escape.

It made him a terrible Lolthite.

What made Nilaufein feel terrible, however, is that not all freed slaves made it to the Surface. Even with a map and a guide, the Underdark is an extremely dangerous place. More than once, he would overhear someone come back from patrol and talk about a corpse they found which Nilaufein knew could only have been one of the people he freed.

And he had to take that guilt and sadness and stuff it down, and remind himself that he was still doing the right thing.

[butleroftoast]

New blog!

The Oak and the Mistletoe

A druid and a politician walk into a tavern...

A BG3/D&D/general fantasy RP blog for Pol Morris, the Skullduggans, and any other characters I feel like messing about with.

Will it ever get used for any RP other than terrorising @noamuth with suspicious rats? Maybe!

[noamuth]

Taliira - 18. Has your OC ever had a prophecy made about them? Was it a big deal or did they ignore it? Was it straightforward or cryptic? Did it ever come to pass or did they circumvent it?

Not so much a prophecy as much as very high hopes and high expectations.

She embraced it, as the first daughter of her parents, she was treated favorably, though it was not without strictness. She, too, had to be prepared for the cruelty of "the world" (aka Menzoberranzan)--but unlike Dalamus who was taught to survive but submit to it, she was to compete with or surpass it with her own manipulation and cruelty.

At the moment, she is still in schooling, but getting high marks for her abilities and cunning.

[noamuth]

6 and 14?

6. How easily could your OC be convinced to do something that goes against their moral compass?

Considering the abysmal state of his moral compass currently, it can be complicated, but possible with the right angle and phrasing. It is not wholly difficult as long as one remembers that he is self-centered, but the consequences of convincing him to go along might be undesirable to a good-aligned party.

For example, he does not go out of his way to help people, and certainly not for free or out of the ~kindness of his heart~. But, if he can be convinced it is in his best interest, he is more likely to concede. This can be anything from the promise of a physical reward or favor done in return, to being able to dedicate kills to Lolth or otherwise having a chance to please his Goddess (which is incredibly non-specific, but this usually means letting him do less-than-savory things, like murder, thievery, or betrayal). One can also appeal to his ego for a better outcome. ("We need you" "You're the only one who can do this" etc).

A bit like Astarion, he can enjoy bloodshed. Unlike Astarion, Dalamus dedicates such bloodshed to Lolth, but his desire for sacrificial bloodshed is usually tempered by his sense of self-preservation.

14. How does your OC want to be seen by other characters?

He wants to be seen in a similar way that he saw Orgoll: ruthless, frightening, wholly dedicated to Lolth, intimidating to deal with, a prime specimen of Lolthite.

And while he does match some Lolthite stereotypes, he is frankly not as strong or as brutal or as hellbent on causing suffering as Orgoll was.

He wants to be seen as someone strong, confident, and intelligent in a sort of conniving, willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish his goals sort of way.

Basically, he wants to appear like someone others would not mess with. He never wants to be seen as weak or vulnerable or frightened or confused, things that would have made him a target for elimination or manipulation in Menzoberranzan.

But he also wants to be seen as creative, artistic, when it comes to his jewelry.

[noamuth]

1. What kind of person is your OC in a crisis? Are they calm and collected? Do they panic? Or are they chronically the cause?

Dalamus has good physical reflexes and has learned well to hide any fright that might arise during battle. Stay out of direct danger, assess the situation, act--which might include running away.

In the case of defending someone else, like his Matron, it is better to act first, ask questions later, and the Matron can justify any resulting damage or death however she likes.

Existential crises are not as easy for him to handle because they are not as ever-present as physical danger is. He has always had the Lolthite cult-think to basically tell him who he is, what he is allowed to do, what he is allowed to be, the direction of his life, the consequences of breaking those rules or straying from expectations, etc, etc.

It felt.. simple.

Without everything being essentially decided (or limited) for him now that he is on the Surface, he feels lost and extremely overwhelmed to the point of being unable to hide it, as shown by his frequent outbursts of anger and generally irritable mood. This is, of course, compounded by being surrounded by strangers, mostly Surfacers no less, and by feeling vulnerable and in pain.

He wants so, so badly to just go back to the way things were before, back to the simplicity where he knows the rules and has a reason to care about following them, but it is impossible, and when that finally settles in his mind, he will feel empty and listless in a way he has never felt before.

Personal crises, those dealing with more intimate emotions aside from anger, seem to result in a sort of freeze response.

[noamuth]

11. What does your OC believe in? God(s)? Monsters? Love? The power of unbreakable bonds of friendship to overcome any obstacle? The ability of money to open any door? Or are they indifferent?

Dalamus believes in one goddess: Lolth. All others he frankly has little knowledge of, either by indifference, or through the censorship and destruction of information by Priestesses. Information on Eilistraee, for example, is often deliberately suppressed.

Dalamus believes might makes right. He believes the strong rightfully rule the weak. He believes in "survival of the fittest," those who adapt and overcome survive and those who do not should perish.

He believes in Drow Superiority. He believes the Lolthite ways are the best ways. He believes the cruelty has made him strong and resilient.

He believes that people are ultimately selfish and untrustworthy, that they will lie, cheat, and steal to get what they want. And he believes that they will betray at a moment's notice if things stop going their way.

He believes that selflessness is a myth. He believes kindness is a weakness at best, and a ruse at worst. He believes nothing--services, help, information or advice--is ever free. He believes friendship has an expiration date. He believes altruism is pointless at best, or actively harmful to society at worst. He believes trust is foolishness, and love might as well be a death knell.

He believes Nilaufein died because he was weak, and that he was weak because he was kind. He believes he does not miss Nilaufein. He believes that Orgoll was strong, but that he, himself, was cleverer. He believes that Taliira will be a powerful mage, and he will never see her again. He believes that the treatment he endured by his Matron was justified and correct. He believes the way he treats others is justified and correct.

He believes that his usefulness to the group is extremely limited on the Surface, and that keeping him around makes little sense for survival. He believes that his injured back makes him a liability that the other camp members are just waiting for the chance to get rid of him for.

He believes his Matron wants him back. He believes he can return to Menzoberranzan and go back to the way things were before. He believes he has a purpose there, and nowhere else. He believes his worth is tied to his productivity, his usefulness to his people, his Matron, his goddess. He does not believe his life, that he, as a person, has intrinsic value outside of the purpose that his worship and his job gives him. He believes that, without Lolth, he is nothing.

Occasionally, these beliefs waver, and the fear of not knowing what to believe makes him grasp them that much more tightly. But they are slipping.

[noamuth]

I didn't want to annoy the OP of the "fall in love with the glow of the moon" post, but the image of Halsin trying to show Dal how to love the surface needs recognition. Patiently explaining why it means so much to him, sadly realising Dal still isn't on board, remaining optimistic that he will come round in time.

(Referencing this post.)

Yesss, awww. I skipped Halsin in the first-impressions journals because I only really know the fandom version of him and haven't seen him much in-game yet (<- slowest player ever), but I really need to look into him more because this would be a HUGE missed opportunity if I ignored it!!

I can imagine, whenever Dal decides he's on speaking terms with Halsin outside of rebuffing everything he says, Dal trying to explain how the surface is "not his world," and Halsin saying something along the lines of "It is, though! Just a side you haven't seen, yet."

I mean, a lot of drow have this sort of complex where they have wrapped so much of their identity around being "outcasts" "banished" to the Underdark, and their Raids on the Surface are a sort of revenge for this. And while Dal has never been a militant "take back the surface!!" sort, he grew up around it for 200 years.

I think being told that the surface can be his world, not in a conquering way, but a belonging way... It might do something. But it has to be said at the right time when he's at least a little open to it.

And I think Halsin would have some deep sympathy for Dal missing his own "world", his own flora and fauna of the Underdark, and understand why he's reluctant to "replace" that with the surface. He'd know it doesn't feel fair. Which is also why I think the "this can be your world, too" sentiment would be important. He's not replacing it. His world is just expanding.

[noamuth]

A rat showed up in camp last night. Rather than anger a polymorphed or wild shape mage, I gave it a carrot.

And I was right. It was a mage. Cannot trust anything up here.

And it he did not eat the carrot.