APPLICATION

[illithidnapped]

PLAYER

Name: Cobalt
Age: 18+
Contact: coba1t
Other Characters: Gabranth
Interests:

Chaos in every form.

But mostly I'm looking to hit up the aspects of this game Gabranth couldn't ever fully touch: sneaky work, spy work, word work, making connections, etc. It's been a blast getting to play a big mad sentient rock but having a character with a completely different set of skillsets just means I can dig into...uh, well, everything. This is going to be the death of me and my free time. 0 regrets.

CHARACTER

Name: Astarion
Canon/OC: Baldur's Gate 3
Canon Point: Just after the intro/tutorial for ease of avoiding spoilers: at first camp, when everyone heads off to sleep. Astarion will remember the player character only vaguely, and the circumstances of that meeting, but what they looked and sounded like will all be foggy mist thanks to hopping through the Fade, so as to avoid DA inquisitor OC type confusion.
Journal: illithidnapped
Age: 200+ (I only play olds now)

Canon World

Big trashy tabletop fantasy hellscape. Dragons, wizards, magic, rogues, demons, hells, tentacle cryptids, it's literally everything you'd expect from standard Dungeons and Dragons type fare. Every spell has a description that's 900 years long. Also there's vampires, and they can make other slightly less-powerful vampires to do their bidding, this is important.

History

**CW for physical abuse, slavery:

LINKS: wiki | all dialogue | all dialogue w english UI, but this person picks choices slowly | shorter scene exchanges | Cazador's wiki entry

。a high elf nobleman is attacked by humans (Gur) some 200 years ago, without any means of defense or hope for escape. If you guessed this is Astarion, you'd be right.

。like a chapter in a Twilight novel a vampire shows up out of nowhere and saves the day...uh, night, and wrecks the men that nearly killed Astarion. Nonexistent audience swoons, very romantic. Eat your heart out Stephenie Meyer.

。Astarion gets bitten because of course he does. Why would anyone say no to becoming a vampire after all that, particularly when you're bleeding out in the street.

。turns out he's just a vampire spawn, basically a lesser vampire, stuck in thralled service to the vampire that sired him: no mist powers, no bat swarms, no summoning wolves, but does still turn to bacon in sunlight, is allergic to water, etc. A vampire can choose to upgrade their spawn into real vampires but...

。Cazador, the vampire that sired him, is actually just a power hungry bastard looking to pad out his already substantial sway: over the course of the next 200 years Astarion spends all of it unwillingly living in what he refers to as slavery, having to act without choice or freedom under the control of Cazador, a literal walking puppet in his own skin. Also awful, Cazador mistreats and abuses his vampire spawn whenever the mood strikes, including prolonged scarification, mutilation, torture, etc.

。flash cut to just before the game's intro, and Cazador sends out Astarion to seduce and lure in another nobleman living in the city of Baldur's Gate. In the process, Astarion is kidnapped by cthuluesque monsters known as mind flayers (illithid), imprisoned in their ship and then infected with a tadpole that according to common understanding will eventually turn the host into a mind flayer within days. Bad.

。the ship is attacked by dragonriders, freeing the player character and all would-be captives just before the ship teleports through material planes, crash landing on a beach and killing just a lot of unsuspecting fishermen. Also bad.

。the player character meets Astarion, who lures and then attacks them under false pretense, thinking they're an enemy before realizing they've both been through the same thing and are now allies in looming, tentacle-shaped doom.

。Astarion joins the party, and off they go to find a cure for the parasitic tadpoles infecting them...that strangely don't seem to be changing them at the originally intended pace. It is a mystery.

Personality

Vain: 200 years living as a vampire spawn hasn't done anything to undo his former high held magistrate pride. He's still a nobleman at heart, he's still accustomed (despite a lifetime or two of enthrallment) to unliving, sleeping and partying well. The first time the group makes camp Astarion comments on how strange it is having to sleep in the dirt. He gossips, he brags, he speaks with a flourish and recollects on breaking a thousand hearts or demands decisions be made just for the drama that'll no doubt ensue. Some of it (a lot of it at times) is all armor, made up as a diversion to keep focus away from him, but the rest is habit.

Angry when provoked: monstrosity is a touchy subject. At times he'll brush over it as though he doesn't care (you can say you feel sorry for killing monsters in a crypt, but Astarion will scoff that they're just bones, and you might as well feel sorry for a breadbasket), there are other times— particularly in regards to Cazador, even in vague mention— that Astarion will go almost rabid with rage: threatening murder, disfigurement, torture, etc, in spite of all alliances. It's drop-of-a-hat quick, and it leaves just as fast, but it comes on strong.

Regret laden: it's clear enough that Astarion does deeply regret the pact he made with Cazador, even though there are times when the game works to emphasize he might have initially held strong feelings for him. When lured into a dream by the tadpoles in their minds, the group all individually dreams of alluring visions of desire: everyone seems pleased in the aftermath— except for Astarion, who tries to mask that he'd dreamt of Cazador, and turns vicious if you make light of it, or if you try to comfort him. He hates the man, there's no willingness to go back, but he carries the conflict of that resentment deep in his core.

Mildly powerhungry: Tadpole. Brain. Tadpole bad for brain. Everyone knows this, everyone realizes that if they don't free themselves they'll be ruined, but Astarion is the one that asserts the party should try and communicate with the tadpole, so they can instead control it. And why wouldn't he want that? Because of its influence, he can walk in sunlight without burning up, reach out telepathically across minds, and not go running back to Baldur's Gate under Cazador’s control. Part of it's just self preservation, but underneath there's a little glint of real delight each time he gains a new power.

Hedonistic: Talk dirty to him, tell him your secrets, make bad decisions. Astarion delights in all things wanton, and isn't shy about confessing it to party members or strangers alike. In fact you'll have worse luck trying to get him to stop than you will getting him started. Feelings, though. Those spoil the fun of it, and he's much less inclined to give out honesty in place of euphemisms (though it isn't impossible).

Strengths & Weaknesses

Proficient with stealth/daggers: it's not clear whether Astarion picked up his combat abilities before or after lesser vampirism struck, but he is quite decent at them now: able to skulk in shadow or find a throat in a pinch, whether it's with daggers, a sword...or just his teeth. Don't ask about heavy armor, though. Light kit only.

Charismatic and performative: his chosen topics might be crass (or intentionally abrasive), but Astarion specializes in warming up to/cajoling/seducing/antagonizing anyone in need. Subtle spywork or diplomatic favor suits him more than anything physical. Please don't make him put in substantial work for his dinner, it's too hard.

Malicious tendencies: Selfless choices can get out of here. Sparking a little drama, making ruthless calls that give distinct advantages, this is where his black little heart thrives. He doesn't relish making 'for the good of all' calls, not even when it involves circumstances similar to his own prior ones. It means, in short, he could be swayed into being less than beneficial to Riftwatch under the right circumstances, but don't worry, that's highly unlikely. He promises.

Fragile in a fight if under fire: he's not a true vampire, he was never permitted to drink humanoid blood, only to feed on dead or dying rats or wild vermin, but even barring that his prior life had been as a noble magistrate passing out decrees on a whim. He can't take a hit, and he won't last if he has to.

**Magical aptitude: Can lull a humanoid person to sleep or faintly charm them by way of discreet vampiric magic** please see suggested nerfs as this is maybe conditional whether or not he comes to Fade Rift with magic in his pocket still


Suggested Nerfs

I'd like Astarion to lose all of his vampiric buffs and needs: no bloodlust, no sunlight burning, no water burning, no aversion to garlic or lack of rest or seeing in the dark, no charm spells, just...an elf. An elf with sharp teeth and some rampant albinism.

It's a twofold request, one because I think it'd be more interesting to divorce Astarion from the innate conflict of Cazador's granted powers (as a mirror to his found freedom in canon, since he'll be losing his tadpole anyway traveling through the Fade), letting him enjoy himself as himself again, and two, because a chatty character without any real power would need to rely on other characters more often for help which...I mean I just like it, it's a good CR opportunity any way you slice it, and if push comes to shove I can give him a few abilities by way of bonus AC later on down the line.

Please forgive me for always having to ask you guys to weigh in on so much. I know it's a pain.

If that's not doable, that's fine! Suggested nerfs would then be something along the lines of charm spells needing eye contact or physical contact, sleep spells requiring the same, and no absolute vanishment into invisibility even in broad daylight (he's a rogue otherwise so his magical prowess is fairly limited outside of what you as a player give him).

Arrival Inventory

Only the finest clothing fresh out of Baldur's Gate, laden with gold filigree. Two daggers with ruby hilts, four storks, an abundance of feathers, at least one succubus who won't make it through the Fade, and we'll say...four or five devils that also never claw their way out of sleep into Thedas. Sad. His dream was only just starting.

Humanization

He's still a high elf despite all his minor vampiric adjustments, and considering everyone in Baldur's Gate 3 thinks he's a regular elf with weird teeth and not a vampire or a demon, I think it's safe to say he can pass in Thedas as well without needing tweaking.

Fit

He's a charismatic, volatile instigator, happy to be free and happier still to stick around in Thedas as long as it means never going home. It's going to be disastrous, and it's going to be glorious, and it's all I deeply want in my bleak little heart.

SAMPLES

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