Baldur's Gate 3 Oneshots & Short Stories

Revivifying Tav - Astarion

Astarion was the first to suggest stealing The Blood of Lathander, but he's also the first to regret it as he now has to unbury Tav from mountains of rubble.

Act 1, spoilers for the Rosymorn Monastery quests

Word count: 1,914

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"Well, what are you waiting for? Go on." Astarion's voice is sweet like honey, but it does little to mask his true intentions. Lae'zel's ire does nothing to break his attitude, however.

"Chk, don't you dare! Stealing that mace is suicide, and I will not defile this creche even more than we have!"

You can't seem to pull your eyes away from the mace - The Blood of Lathander. Pure sunlight captured in steel that still manages to shine with the warmth of dawn. You can feel the warmth radiate from it, like being wrapped in a calm summers day. Your party had found mentions of The Blood around the temple, but you stumbled upon it's hiding place by dumb luck. It would seem like a waste of said luck, you think, just to leave such an astonishing artifact to collect dust. Almost hypnotized by the godly light, your hand reaches out.

"Tav, I highly suggest you rethink stealing from a god." Gale's opposition falls on deaf ears.

The leather handle beneath your palm radiates heat and power. Your other hand comes up to wrap around it. You brace yourself, and pull. The weapon, while suspended in air by magic, puts up a fight and holds it's stationary position.

"Come on, love, don't let some metal best you."

Astarion's words seem to be the only ones you can hear. You steel your resolve, and you give it one more hefty tug. The mace releases, sending you stumbling backwards, The Blood now in your hands. Reality seems to hit you all at once as the ground violently quakes.

You just stole from a god.

You have no time to grapple with your panic. A shield of magical force rises around the dais you stand on, powered by four arcane cores on tall obelisks. A portal opens before the dais and you watch the weapon of the monastery, the one that conducts the very power of the sun direct itself toward you. You're a rat in a cage, and you're about to be shot. You turn to your companions with renewed fervor.

"GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" Astarion rushes up to the shield, daggers out. They glance harmlessly off it's surface.

"Go! I'll get them out of this!" He yells to his remaining party.

"Astarion, your blades will do nothing against a magic barrier!" Gale pleads. Lae'zel stands beside him in an athletic stance, swearing at their predicament.

"Skra, we don't have time for this! If we don't move now we're all doomed!"

"I SAID GO!" Astarion looks feral like a wild animal as he shouts towards them.

They hesitate for a moment, then surrender. Lae'zel and Gale sprint past your cage, and you don't miss the sympathetic looks they give you as they leave you to your fate. Astarion, however, will not resign so easily. His daggers hit the shield over, and over, and over, and over again. Another massive quake nearly knocks him off the bridge, and the weapon glows impossibly bright. Your hand hits the shield as you plead to your lover.

"Astarion, you have to leave! You can bring me back! Just please go!"

He stumbles to the shield once more. Each word of his response is punctuated with another strike of his blades. "I will not leave you for dead!"

You've never seen this amount of ferocity and dedication from the rogue before. Only recently had you two begun seeing each other. It's an arrangement only to sate the hungers of the flesh - or at least, that's all that was said. Your own growing feelings aside, you'd swear on your own grave he didn't see you as anything more than a bit of fun and a means of survival. To see him fighting tooth and nail for a battle you know he'll lose - a battle for you - it makes your heart ache for him. A tear rolls down your cheek, and your other hand releases the mace. The holy weapon slips past your fingers and clatters to the ground. Astarion stops his mindless onslaught at the sight of you: both hands resting delicately on the wall of your own cage, your eyes full of admiration, the artifact of a god discarded to the ground, and a single tear rolling down your beautiful face like glass. The anger in his eyes soften, and you know that he's finally surrendered.