The Question… Now That I'm Back On BG3 Again… Do I Also Bring Back My Gortash. 🤔

Kafka

“Am I safe with you?” [ @dryadalismagicae ] { Na'elle }

The laugh that follows her question is sudden and sharp and unkind, yet how amusing it all is!

Before, she would have been in peril because he was under the thrall of some mind-flayer scheme. And now? Now, even should he wish to do so—and why would he?—he lacks any and all ability to draw upon the magicks that his pact with the Absolute had bestowed unto him. The laugh is double-edged and slices him, also, to the core.

The reason, how-ever, is not one he intends to share. He had done well covering his powerlessness since leaving Grymforge. He has no intention of revealing his predicament now.

"Safe with me?" he repeats, every syllable measured and serrated.

"I do not think that you could have asked a more insipid question if you had tried to find one."

Let her assume the reason for his scathing remark: that he feels not the slightest indebted to her, that he has no attachment to any of these ridiculous fools, that he would just as soon let them all suffer the consequences of whatever asinine decision they might next make and take the artifact for himself.

She can think whatever she likes. It is no matter to him.

[ He knows the truth. ]

me [coming to terms with a truth about myself]: hm..................................................... unfortunate

𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄 & 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄; 𝙺𝙴𝚈𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙳 𝚂𝙴𝙰𝚁𝙲𝙷 𝙵𝚁𝙾𝙼 '𝙶𝙾𝙾𝙳𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙳𝚂'.

change  pronouns,  tenses  and  other  details  as  deemed  necessary. &  please  specify  muse  when  sending  to  a  mumu.

𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄

The  best  revenge  is  not  to  be  like  your  enemy.

The  best  revenge  is  living  well.

Unfortunately,  we're  all  out  of  'bitter  revenge'  at  the  moment,  so  it's  either  tea  or  nothing.

Revenge,  the  sweetest  morsel  to  the  mouth  that  ever  was  cooked  in  hell.

Revenge  may  be  wicked,  but  it’s  natural.

Tell  me,  Is  revenge  a  science,  or  an  art?

Beware  the  fury  of  a  patient  man.

Careful,  [Name].  You’re  ill-suited  to  the  revenge  game.

Revenge  is  not  sweet;  it  is  gloomy  and  a  waste  of  time.

Our  souls  may  be  consumed  by  shadows,  but  that  doesn't  mean  we  have  to  behave  as  monsters.

There  is  no  such  thing  as  justice,  all  the  best  that  we  can  hope  for  is  revenge.

Justice,  like  beauty,  is  in  the  eye  of  the  beholder.  Some  see  an  innocent  victim.  Others  will  see  evil  incarnate  getting  exactly  what's  deserved.

There  is  nothing  wrong  with  revenge.  The  wrong  has  already  been  done,  or  there  would  be  no  need  to  even  the  score.

𝐀𝐆𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄

Let  the  flames  begin.

I  swore  on  my  knees  at  the  altar  where  you  held  me  that  I  would  kill  you. 

I  will  hurt  you  for  this.  I  don't  know  how  yet,  but  give  me  time. 

I  want  to  commit  the  murder  I  was  imprisoned  for.

And  you,  you  better  run  because  I'm  going  to  destroy  you  for  what  you've  taken  from  me.

I  will  write  your  name  in  the  ruin  of  them.  I  will  paint  you  across  history  in  the  color  of  their  blood.

If  someone  murders  your  child,  find  a  machete  and  take  his  head  off.

Revenge  is  what  I  want.  Nothing  but  pure  unadulterated  revenge. 

An  eye  for  an  eye  is  never  enough.  Never,  never,  never.

I  will  grind  your  bones  to  dust.

If  you  have  to  injure  someone,  then  make  it  so  severe  that  his  vengeance  need  not  be  feared.

The  hour  is  late,  and  the  time  for  forgiveness  has  passed.  This  is  the  hour  of  blood.

I  will  be  everywhere  you  look  but  nowhere  to  be  found  and  that  will  be  my  revenge.

I'm  going  to  carve  my  name  into  his  soul

You  don’t  have  any  reason  to  be  mad  at  me.  You  stole  my  life  and  I  stole  it  back.

I always forget what day it is and invariably find myself reminded to stay off the dash. 😂

Here is another diatribe intended for my roleplay blog:

This is a small essay that I originally typed on this post, but I didn't want to bog down the actual dash game post, so here we go, with the points numbered for easier reference.

♜ WHICH CHESS PIECE ARE YOU? ♖

White Rook

You are a White Rook. (1) As a piece that can move inwards and outwards, you're a master of self-reflection. (2) You know what needs to be done and when to do it. (3) You're a protector, and would willingly take someone's place in danger in a heartbeat because you know you can handle the pressure. (4) But even castle walls crumble. For all your chivalry and fortitude, everything must come to an end. Will you be there to see the final stages of the war? Or will you have already been discarded in the battle?

To clarify, I answered this one as though it was after being freed from the Absolute and that had been traveling with a good-inclined group of adventurers for the events of the game. And all of this would absolutely apply, though one wouldn't think so, at first, but that will be for another post. I had started explaining here and it turned into a mini-essay.

As a piece that can move inwards and outwards, you're a master of self-reflection. When not delusional due to the influence of the Absolute, Nere is his own worst critic. He remembers everything he has ever done wrong or 'failed' in his entire life. He is extremely harsh with himself and even perceived failings. His whole insistence on "Nere. Does Not. Fail." boils down to him nearly having a meltdown over Trauma [ Within my own personal storyline, this is also because the last thing he remembers his older brother saying to him before he never saw him again was, "I'm sorry that I failed you." ].

You know what needs to be done and when to do it. He is a very logical and strategic person. Though I had to mess up his INT stat a bit for the companion version so his main stats [ STR, DEX, CON ] could be right, he is also quite intelligent, and he has used it to great effect to remain alive. My version of Nere--based upon his canon stats and feats--was essentially a gladiator prior to escaping from that life only to wind up a fighter for another group. He was definitely a Battle Master fighter, always using his brain in conjunction with his impressive strength and build.

You're a protector, and would willingly take someone's place in danger in a heartbeat because you know you can handle the pressure. This part probably seems the most questionable at face value, but consider it like this: To have been treated as he was for the entirety of his life... only to then be treated well by people who have absolutely no obligation to him? Who, by all rights, could have simply killed him and walked away, never having to think of him again? All of that [misplaced/misled] devotion previously given to the matriarchs and the Weaver, didn't just vanish. Were he to find people worthy of it, he would absolutely risk his life if it saved theirs. While he absolutely hated his circumstances within the society of Lolth-sworn and thought that he could be so much More, he is absolutely geared towards wholehearted, soul-crushing devotion, as he was still devoted to 'the Weaver' before the Absolute stole him away, despite everything he had suffered. And when the Absolute does get him, he is just as devoted to this 'new deity'. "I have been entrusted with a sacred mission. I cannot fail," he says if you tell him that he can report his own failures, clearly both proud that he had been given such a mission and prideful that someone would say he failed. And then this conversation can occur if you kill all of the duergar before freeing Nere [ hint: killing the duergar first is also how you save both the gnomes--aside from the one that is now cutscene locked to die who wasn't originally--as well as Nere ]: Tav: I was abducted by mind flayers. That was when I began to hear the Absolute. Nere, "I don't understand... I've been following those... wretched beasts?" If you CAST DETECT THOUGHTS you can get: It cannot be. Have I betrayed Lolth for an imposter? Tav: Your faith in Lolth faltered. It is not too late to reclaim it. Nere, genuinely sounding so disappointed in himself, "Was I so weak as to betray the Weaver? ... I will take word to the Order of Soul Spiders. They must know of the Absolute threat." You can also choose to convince him to abandon the Absolute and RUN. That's what I choose and it has, thus far, kept him from getting zombie-fied later. Tav: You don't have to. Run - abandon the Absolute. "Perhaps you're right.. Perhaps I should. Dying for a cause is one thing, but for a mindflayer? For filth like that? ... No. I owe you a debt, it seems. You've saved me from worse than the duergar. Take this - a personal blessing. I pray we don't meet again."

He is very committed, up to and including being willing to "die for a cause". That is how Lolth-sworn drow--particularly the males--are taught to be, and it is hard-wired. It would be a very difficult thing to change.

Really, the only difference from Lolth to the Absolute to the player party, is whether or not the people he would lay down his life for in the player party are worthy of it, unlike those who were the focus of his earlier devotion.

people? caring for me? loving me? sticking around? sounds fake must be after something

Inbox call?

“You failed me, MALE. You will NOT fail again.” // @aracnaregis

Why? Why is this happening now?

How long had he existed as one forsaken before he was stolen from the Weaver by the Absolute?

How long has it been since he was rescued from being one of the mindflayers' pawns?

How long has he been able to enjoy the quiet of his own mind without the presence of another to encroach upon it?

He should have known the peace would never last.

Peace isn't for their sort, no matter what Asha says.

He would like to be able to say that his heart races due to the danger of this, of being noticed. He would like to be able to say that there is at least some vestige of fear that accompanies the realization.

Instead, as he closes his eyes and exhales a sigh, there is only a grim resignation...

[ He does not think that his family will merit two instances of divine intervention, and certainly not when he did nothing nearly so defiant as his older brother had done. ]

... and, yet, there is also that ever present anger, churning below the surface.

Though it takes a moment longer than he would like, when he finds his voice once more, he replies, level and quiet.

"I have failed no one except my own blood... But then I suppose you would know nothing of that, Dark Weaver. Your people—doubly misguided and misled though they are—were freed of the Absolute that they might return to your worship. What more could you want than to have your very own puppets returned to their strings?"

// Everybody @'d Nere, and Nere said "Fine. Let's match that energy" and (verbally) threw hands at everyone in turn. He had a different insult ready for every one and I am just BOY. THAT IS TOO MANY BATTLES. PUT SOME OF THEM DOWN. His response was only a sullen, They began these wars. And now I'm sighing and rethinking my life.