#vampire spawn!tav

[romantic-bloodless-nights]

Ascended Astarion comes home from a meeting with the town leaders one day and finds that Tav is nowhere to be found. He does not catch their scent outside, indicating that they did not leave, and tearing apart the palace yields nothing.

Furious, he grabs one of his fanatics, who tells him that Tav is in their shared bedroom. They've been there the entire time. They hadn't been feeling too good lately, citing the intake of bad blood which made them stay home. Astarion believes this to be impossible since he has already gone through their room. He drags the fanatic to the room and practically throws them in, demanding they point Tav out if they are so sure. The fanatic stares at him out of fear and points up to the high ceiling. The glare on Astarion's face melts upon seeing something small and silver in the corner of the room.

Surprised, he quickly begins climbing the walls, his eyes fixed on the spot. He slows when he realizes he's looking at a small fuzzy bat sound asleep, much smaller than his own bat form. Tav's scent is all over it and Astarion is now convinced that this is his beloved consort.

"Tav...?" he whispers in astonishment. "You... You figured out how to...?"

He wipes his hands on his chest before carefully reaching out and gently scooping the bat up. It chatters some as he jumps down and starts looking it over. Its small body feels hot in his cool hands, perhaps a fever. He moves to the bed and lays the sleepy creature down, tenderly rubbing its small back with his thumbs. When it opens its eyes, it gives something akin to a small hiccup and in a puff of black smoke, Tav lays before him in their humanoid form with wide eyes.

Before they could speak, a wide smile spreads across Astarion's face and he scoops them into a hug, excitingly talking about how they could now go for nightly flights and how cute they were as a bat. He prattles on about how they must be able to learn other abilities while Tav feels sick and heaves the contents of their stomach onto the floor beside the bed. Astarion pauses and clears his throat.

"Oh dear... First things first. We'll bring you fresh blood to replace that..."

[romantic-bloodless-nights]

Ascended Astarion walks confidently into a gathering of nobles and politicians only to realize he's in over his head the longer he listens to everyone talk. Everything he's known before has changed. Laws and solutions are being suggested for the current situations that would have never been considered back when he was Magistrate. Half of the jargon is unfamiliar to him now.

An intense anxiety washes over him as more unfamiliar eyes fall on him and, barely excusing himself, he bolts for the exit, nearly knocking several people over.

He can't do this.

Tav doesn't have time to react when the doors of the palace slam open and shut behind them before they are nearly tackled to the floor in a tight hug. A familiar sob reaches their ears, calming the quelling rage, and bared fangs at the idea ANYONE had the gall to attack them and they immediately turn as Astarion buries his face in their neck. His fingers bite into their clothing as his knees give way, taking both of them to the floor as he hyperventilates, trying to tell them what happened.

"I knew it was too soon for you to go back to that..." they sigh, running their hand through his hair and rubbing his back while leaving gentle kisses anywhere they can reach. "Calm down, Starlight. It's not the end of the world."

It takes some coaxing but they're able to get him to his feet and guide him back toward their bedroom. Astarion keeps his head down and refuses to look Tav in the eye as they draw him a bath.

"Relax, my heart. All in due time," they whisper as he settles into the tub and they wrap their arms around his shoulders from behind, nuzzling him as they run a hot washcloth over his pale, heaving chest. "You have the first part of your wish. The second part will take time and work. You're rusty with socializing, crowds especially, and a lot has changed in two centuries. You only have to brush up on some of the newer norms, that's all... We can make a day of looking for books and scrolls that can help with that. You'll have Baldur's Gate in the palm of your hand in no time, Darling."

After some time and the tub water cooling, Astarion gives a deep, stable exhale and turns his head to lean against his consort's, his hand wrapping around the one holding the washcloth. This earns him a kiss on his temple.

"What would I do without you?"

"Go cry in a corner somewhere and lick your wounds until you get angry and sassy enough to try again," Tav sighs, making him roll his eyes.

"Ha, ha. Very funny," he replies dryly before bringing their hand up to kiss it. "Thank you, my greatest treasure."

[romantic-bloodless-nights]

With the introduction of Bat Spawn!Tav comes the idea that whenever Astarion has plans and his sweet dark consort doesn't feel up to going or doesn't want to wake up, he has them pop into bat form and places them in his jacket, opposite of his heart. That way, anyone who is aware that he is a vampire and goes to stake him, his consort is safe regardless if the idiot hits or misses. It doesn't matter if they want to go or not now, where it did before when they didn't have another form, they are to be with him at all times now.

From time to time, he'll reach in and gently pet them and chuckle if they start chittering at him, telling them they'll be heading home soon. They weren't exactly dressed for public appearances when they changed into a bat to come out in humanoid form. Once at home, they fly out of his coat and change back, still in their sleepwear.

In the beginning, he'll coax Tav into going flying with him to see how well they can handle it. Starting small, it would be around the palace before adventuring out into the city. When they arrive at the party in the epilogue, they actually land as bats and change back before greeting the others.

[romantic-bloodless-nights]

Okay, so we see how Astarion changes when he Ascends.

Imagine Tav doing the same. Vampire Spawns are supposed to be changed to align with evil in DnD, but let's set that aside and address the elephant in the room, something I have not seen brought up in any of the tags:

Tav may have gone through the bridal ritual, but they are not a normal vampire "bride" as Astarion is not a normal vampire lord. He's the Vampire Ascendant, a new creature that is found nowhere else. Anyone bitten by Astarion wouldn't be a normal spawn regardless and shouldn't there be some indication of that?

The ritual itself was supposed to be vile, and yet, we don't see much of that past the sacrifice of seven thousand and seven spawns. There are more pros than cons to ascending Astarion if I'm honest and that's somewhat broken if the ritual was supposed to be horrific. I think the use of spawn as a currency somewhat dampens the moment as they're already begging for death AND would be considered too much of a liability to release when someone is playing a good character with all of Baldur's Gate on the table. No "good" aligned character would do this. We've already talked about how a good chunk would most likely not go into the Underdark and try to cause chaos out of anger, frustration, and frenzied hunger yet this was considered the "good" ending for the Pale Elf quest. As I pointed out in another post, you aren't told that you can kill them after talking Astarion down either. Perhaps if they used living beings as the exchange since vampires are technically not supposed to HAVE souls, the choice would be harder.

Anyway, my idea is that Tav may be a step above vampire spawn even as a normal "spawn" of Astarion's, perhaps even above a vampire lord which could have consequences if the bite causes their entire demeanor to change. It could be for the better, aligning them further with Astarion with no interest in pulling away, or for the worse and they could end up trying to rival him rather than fall back on the idea of "good" as very few vampires tend to be "good". What if it gave Tav the ability to create spawn of their own or stuff a vampire lord should only have access to since Astarion is more powerful?

Hell, this is on top of Bhaal's blood... What would that be like?

[romantic-bloodless-nights]

Ascended astarion and strahd beefing over dinner while tav is either awkwardly sitting there or kicking back and enjoying the show is actually pretty funny

Immediately thought of this for Tav and Astarion greeting Strahd before everything goes down:

"Why do we have to do this again!?" Astarion practically growls under his breath as he escorts his dearest dark consort to the dining room with their visitor trailing behind.

"You need a support system if you are to take over larger areas," Tav whispers. "I know you have an issue with him being a vampire lord, but you do have the upper hand here, my heart."

Astarion grumbles to himself as he stops at Tav's seat, pulls out the chair for them to sit down, then takes his spot at the head of the table, Tav to his right. He then forces a smile as his eyes turn to the pale, dark-haired gentleman at the end of the long table.

"Please, have a seat, Strahd."

"Count Zarovich is fine, Astarion," the figure gives a melodious hum as he sits down at the far end. This causes Astarion's eye to twitch.

"Lord Ancunín, thank you," he bares his fangs slightly in a grin, his tone close to dripping poison. Tav reaches over and takes his hand as if to remind him of his plans. This immediately catches Strahd's attention. Astarion clears his throat and begins to lay out a carefully crafted offer of alliance that he (mostly Tav) had put together before the dinner event. As he goes through the papers with the proposition, Tav notices their guest almost leering at them from behind his goblet. They quickly turn their attention back to their husband, trying to ignore it. When Astarion finishes, he drops the papers and sits back in his chair. "Well, what do you say?"

He pauses at seeing Strahd's gaze on Tav and he looks between the two.

"Tav, my dear, how would you like to see Barovia? We could leave tonight if you wish," Strahd sighs before sipping at the liquid. Tav's head snaps in his direction in shock.

"Excuse me?" they blink. In their peripheral, they can see Astarion is about to lose his mind.

"What?!" Astarion throws himself to his feet, his hands on the table."What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

The vampire lord looks him directly in the eye.

"I'm taking your spouse," he states plainly and then turns back to Tav. "Come now, I think you're wasting your time here with the nouveau riche. Someone like you should know what true power and luxury are on the arm of a real vampire."

Tav's jaw drops at the mere suggestion.

"Count Zarovich-"

"Please, Love. Call me Strahd."

What happens next happens so fast that Tav did not have time to react. The entire table is flipped by their husband, who squares his shoulders and bares his fangs at their guest.

"HOW DARE YOU!?" he bellows. Without warning, both vampires lunge at one another as Tav sits there, stunned. It passes quickly, and they let out a hard sigh.

"Well, this was a bust," they sit back, picking up a wine bottle from the ice bucket on a nearby cart. Instead of pouring it into a glass, Tav opens the bottle and drinks directly from it.

Tav watches a brutal fight between the two men with Astarion pulling daggers seemingly out of nowhere as he screams that Tav is his and no one else's. After finally pinning the Count to the floor, his clothes and hair a mess, Astarion breaks off the leg of a discarded chair to stake him as the daggers didn't do the damage he wanted. Strahd hisses at him before disappearing into a black cloud of bats that fly toward one of the exits.

"TACKY BASTARD!" Astarion screams after him before storming over to Tav, who offers him the bottle. He takes it and downs more than half of the vintage liquid.

"Well, you'll get your wish, Starlight. No more vampire lords," Tav shoots a glare toward the door. In one swift motion, the bottle is tossed aside with a shatter and they are scooped up and carried toward the back of the palace.

"Mine!" Astarion grunts. With a giggle, they nuzzle their face into his neck.

"Yes, yes, I'm all yours. I adore it when you get all possessive. It's adorable."

[romantic-bloodless-nights]

UGH, Ascended Astarion taking care of a sick Spawn Tav...

Well, I'm a sucker for Astarion taking care of a sick Tav regardless, and vice versa XD We all know he'd be a dramatic queen about it if it's him, though Tav may be used to that if they remember having to deal with a sick Gortash after getting him to break that tough guy act of pretending to be perfectly fine to push through his work when he's burning up.

Though, imagine he calls off all plans to stay with them.

The bed becomes a nest of sorts with more pillows and blankets added to make it as comfortable as possible. Astarion remains in his loungewear, curling himself around his poor consort. He refuses to leave for more than short sprints to other parts of the palace as he doesn't want to keep waking them by re-entering the bed.

No one is allowed near Tav when they're vulnerable like this. Gods help anyone who comes through those doors uninvited.

Astarion hunts for them himself, testing the blood before it ever touches Tav's mouth to make sure it won't make them sicker. He may be paranoid that one of the fanatics is jealous of his dark consort and wishes to do them harm so only he can give Tav any food that he and only he touches.

[romantic-bloodless-nights]

Apparently, Araj can send you a note alluding to the idea she may kidnap you in the epilogue.

Imagine this being Spawn Tav and she's both disappointed and delighted once she's successful in doing so. Disappointed because the blood she is after may no longer be viable and delighted by the fact that Tav is now a vampire spawn that she could keep as her own pet and will constantly have the feeling of being on the verge of death by planning on conditioning Tav to do as she says. If the blood is viable despite the vampirism, Tav just became ten times more valuable.

Regardless if Astarion is a spawn (Tav was changed by either Cazador or another vampire lord) or ascended, she knows there's going to be something powerful coming for them and will be ready for any opposition. She's already put threats in place that if anyone comes for Tav, she will kill them and then herself.

If this doesn't happen in the epilogue but in Act 3 when Gortash is alive, the group can take advantage of the book Araj has and make him aware of the kidnapping so he can offer his blood in exchange for Tav's release (he will have her killed when the exchange is complete), though this may end up in ANOTHER hostage situation where Gortash keeps Tav in the exchange, albeit a more cushy one on Tav's end. The group has to kill Orin to even see them again. Gortash takes advantage of this to help Tav remember their past and build them back up to their role in the plot, vampirism be damned.

If Astarion had ascended and/or Halsin's, Lae'zel, or Karlach's been romanced, the group has to try to keep them calm and from tearing into Araj's place with the reminder that she will kill Tav on sight. Wyll, Gale, Spawn Astarion, and Shadowheart have a better chance of keeping themselves together in this situation, though they're completely on edge.

If Gortash is involved, they have to keep Karlach from burning down the entire fortress just to get to Tav.

The reunion between Tav and their romanced companion would be huge.

[romantic-bloodless-nights]

Cute idea for Spawn!Tav and Astarion:

Astarion teaches Tav to hide and hunt as a vampire in the woods, using himself as the prey. At first, they're horrible at it and he can hear them coming each time. Tav spends a lot of time missing the mark or getting thrown around when they try to tackle him down. Astarion can't help but snicker at how pouty they get when they fail.

One day, however, while teaching them, Tav disappears and the woods go quiet. Astarion starts to worry as minutes tick by that something bad may have happened before they get the drop on him and the two go tumbling. Tav ends up pinning him to the ground by his shoulders, panting and grinning ear to ear because they finally got him.

Astarion is stunned at first but then starts to laugh at how over the moon they were for actually landing a sneak attack on him. It's adorable. And he won't lie, he's proud as fuck.

Romanced or not, if flirty dialogue is chosen, he'll place his hands on their hips to gauge their reaction and see if they want to go further... you know, as a bit of a treat... He figures, what the hell, he's already on his back. Though he will admit, he's never thought about trying his hand at romancing another spawn.