It’s 2021 and I’m feeling optimistic, so what better way to kick things off here than with a highlight reel of Gale smirking?

He’s that character in this game that I can’t NOT romance every. Single. Time. And that smirk is a big reason why.

Boy oh boy am I glad his romance finally worked. My current obsession. He has such a fluid and fun romance with just the right amount of tragedy.

Untitled Baldur’s Gate fic part 1/?

I haven’t quite thought of a title for this, but have it anyway. It won’t be long, I honestly didn’t think I’d need multiple parts, but…

• Gale/Female high elf MC
• Companion peril/death
• Violence, Magic, Spiders, maybe smut but later, hurt/comfort
• 2,469 words
• Did some editing with some feedback I got.
• Added some dialogue between companions

Looking for a bit of feedback since I’m pretty rusty. Enjoy!

•

The forest murmured quietly with life around the edges of the camp. The midmorning sun shone through light green leaves, leaving the brush and trail below it dappled with light and shadow. Birds flitted through the trees, singing their songs of finding a mate or setting their territories. Tasi carefully packed a few things into her bag as she set out for the day with her companions. She had just emerged from her tent when she heard a sharp sound break the peace. Shouts coming just to her left, close enough she knew they were in the camp. She whipped around to see Gale doubled over, gripping his chest, his face twisted in pain, and Astarion scrabbling away from him on the ground. Black tendrils swirled around Gale, lashing and snapping through the air at everything within a few feet of him. Tasi caught a wisp of black veins running up from under Astarion’s collar and over the backs of his hands as necrotic energy sapped away at him. 

Tasi dropped her pack and rushed to him as Gale dropped to his knees, she could hear him wheeze and gasp in the cloud of black energy. Shadowheart rushed from her tent also hearing the noise already with a prayer of healing glowing around her, it cut through the black roiling coils that sucked the life from all that it touched, and as the bluish-green light fell across Gale his breath eased and he fell into a fit of coughing as air rushed back into him. Tasi picked him up from the ground, helped him to the stone outcropping that their camp sat at the edge of, and sat him upright. His eyes were black and his breath came between wracking coughs, black whisps spilled from his mouth. Tasi looked down at her own hands now, which were wrinkled and greying, black veins writhed beneath her skin. She looked at Gale still sputtering in front of her.

“What is this?” a gruff voice shouted above her, Lae’zel and Wyll had stopped their training to see what the commotion was. 

“I do-” Tasi started.

“I nee- need- *cough* a- I need ma- *coughcoughcough* magic!” Gale sputtered, Tasi’s mind raced for a moment. 

So soon? She thought, He just had something the other day. She gripped the necklace around her neck, it was the only thing she could think of in an emergency and snapped the cord with one swift motion, she pressed it against his chest, his hands rested shaking over hers, violet light shone suddenly whipping out from his chest to envelop their hands. Gale’s head lolled back and his mouth hung open as he hastily absorbed the magic inside the amulet. His throat made a wet sucking sound as though someone had just punctured his lung. The light faded from his chest, his eyes returned to their normal color though Tasi noticed they had rolled to the back of his head, and he slumped forward. She caught him and gently pushed him back so that he was upright once more.

Gale’s eyes had slid closed and Tasi wasn’t sure she could feel him breathing. She turned to the group of her companions standing in shock behind her.

“Wyll!” She barked, “take the gold from my pack, it should be enough for the-” the feeling of a hand that had come to hang limply from her wrist stopped her thought. Her gaze snapped back to Gale.

“I’m alright, now. There’s no need…” he said weakly. He was awake, but his face was sunken and dark circles hung beneath his eyes.

“No, you’re not. What in the Nine Hells just happened, Gale?” She hissed. He didn’t look at her, his eyes were staring down at the dirt. He was quiet for a few moments.

“Gale?” Shadowheart’s voice was quiet but pressing, his eyes snapped up to meet hers for a moment before taking in a staggering breath. There was a long moment as the group waited for Gale to compose himself.

“It was the Netherese magic… I thought I had it… under control…” he said, panting heavily.

“Apparently, not,” said Astarion, not unkindly but Wyll shot him a sharp glance.

“Oh c’mon, surely even The Wizard of Wonder can make a mistake sometime,” Wyll’s usually cheery voice poorly hid his concern. He walked to kneel beside Tasi and help Gale to his feet.

“No, Astarion is right, as much as it pains me to say it,” Gale winced as he was stood up, Tasi and Wyll under each of his arms, “I thought I was strong enough to contain its dangers until I found a solution.”

“What will you do now?” asked Shadowheart. There was a long heavy pause.

“What he must,” said Lae’zel, her harsh voice cutting the silence. Gale looked at her, she stared back at him. Though there wasn’t her usual hardness in her face. Her jaw was set and her lips were just a thin line, but her eyes betrayed her. Her brows furrowed and her eyes flicked between Gale’s face and his legs. There was another heavy pause and Gale’s eyes flickered closed as he sighed.

“I’ll do what I must,” he said quietly. Wyll and Tasi walked him back to his tent and laid him on his bedroll. Wyll walked out quickly, leaving Tasi and Gale in the uneasy quiet of the moment.

It was cool in the shade; the breeze made the loose fabric of the tent opening flutter gently. Warm sunlight dappled the walls and top of the tent, making the inside a moving kaleidoscope of speckled dark and light blue hues. Gale had an extra length of canvas he laid on the ground to keep his belongings from laying directly in the dirt and muck. Tasi knelt beside him and made sure he was settled before moving to leave. Gale, with surprising speed, grasped her forearm, stopping her in her tracks.

“I am so sorry,” he said just above a whisper, “this means I must leave you.” A wry smile curled the edge of her lips.

“But not today, or tonight. You’re in no shape to travel,” she said, her brow tensed. She looked down at him, he looked so much smaller than he usually seemed. Gale always had a strong presence about him, his wide and grand gestures as he spoke commanded attention, his caliber of magic commanded respect. But here, now, in this tent, he was so small and weak and frail. The sight of him like this nearly broke her heart. His hand fell to the bedroll with a small thud, she could see his fingers trembling and twitching, sweat glistened where the sun broke through the weaves of the canvas above them. Her eyes flitted to the canvas beneath her knees, “In the meantime, I will take the others and continue to try to find Halsin. Shadowheart will stay with you.”

A burning rose in her chest, she chewed the inside of her lips trying to fight the feeling of dread and heartbreak that coiled like a lich’s claw in her belly. She looked back to him, resolving her voice to stay calm.

“When I return, I will make preparations for you.” She said standing up fully now. Gale followed her with his eyes. The sadness there was clear, but something else Tasi couldn’t quite read was lingering beneath it. 

“Thank you,” he croaked, his eyes fluttered shut once more and a new wave of fear gripped Tasi. She stood and watched him for a moment, she stared for what felt like too long to see his chest gently rising and falling as he slept. She breathed a silent sigh of relief and tucked a stray lock of white hair back behind her pointed ear as she emerged from Gale’s tent. 

She looked up; her companions were gathered nearby. Wyll’s eyes were fixed on her, a look of hope battled the worry on his face as he watched her. Shadowheart was leaning against the stone peering at her from beneath her dark hair, her face in a taut frown. Astarion pretended to sharpen a dagger sitting lazily near a log, but Tasi could see his gaze flick over as he cocked his brow. Lae’zel stood squarely, her arms crossed over her chest, her expression inscrutable. There was a long awkward pause, Tasi took a deep breath and willed her voice to stay even.

  “Wyll, Astarion, and Lae'zel,” She said, her voice low and harsher than she means, “you three will come with me, we will continue to find the druid. Shadowheart, take care of Gale. If anything happens,” Tasi paused for a beat to look at the cleric, “I’ll find you a new spear…” She could see the woman’s shoulders drop slightly, but Shadowheart nodded curtly. Tasi looked at the amulet in her hand, the small bone carving now nothing more than a trinket, her heart sank further. She tied it again around her neck noting how much lighter it felt without the magic it held. She picked up her pack from in front of her tent where it fell as the others prepared their packs leaving just a little sooner than the rest.

–

The day crawled by slowly. Tasi barely paid attention, nearly walking into an ambush in the nearby abandoned town. Had it not been for Astarion snapping her out of her thoughts, she’d have been skewered. Wyll found a lead to a goblin called Spike, who seemed to be hiding farther west in a ruined temple. Tasi recalled the mercenary Aradin from the druid camp mentioning a temple nearby. They searched the town for more clues to a cure, Lae'zel seemed to believe the githyanki pack was near as well.

“Quite tragic, isn’t it?” Astarion said quietly as they walked through the ruins of building after building. “Our dear wizard, felled by some new mysterious force.”

“Surely there’s something we could do,” Wyll replied, “Gale is a stronger man than he appears, there’s got to be something we can change.”

        "Perhaps. It would be a shame to lose such an ally so quickly.“ 

"I’m sure our fearless leader will think of something, eh, Tasi?” Said Wyll, forcing himself to stay upbeat.

“Yeah, I’ll, uh, I’ll figure something out.” She said, “I have to,” she muttered under her breath.

Tasi stopped for a while, sitting in the shade of an overgrown well. She took a coin from her pocket and flicked it with her thumb into the darkness below her, hoping in vain it might bring her a wish. She waited for the plop of the coin breaking the surface of the water below, but it never came. There was a moment of silence, before there was the clinking of the coin hitting stones. She motioned to the rest of the group, now curious what might be in the depths.

Her feet hit the stone at the bottom of the well, she could see now the large maze of tunnels before her covered in thick spiderweb. One of them lit a torch for Wyll and Lae’zel. The group picked their way carefully through the tunnels, avoiding the webs and wrapped carcasses of captured and entangled prey.

There was a sudden shriek in the darkness around them, they could see the webs tremble and the sounds of skittering legs and clicking mandibles surrounded them. There was a flash of blue and a great blue and white spider appeared in front of Astarion, it attempted to catch him in it’s fangs but he was too quick. Lae’zel brought her dazzling greatsword down, cleaving it in half in one sweeping move. There was another flash of light above them as second spider appeared in a canopy of webs, spitting venom down at them. It hit Wyll and Lae'zel, both seemed to shake it off however, Wyll’s skin began to blister where the venom soaked in. He returned the favor with a beam of eldritch energy blasting from his palm, it knocked the spider down from the web canopy and onto its back on the ground before them. Tasi raced to it, jabbing both her shortswords into its body with a sickening, crunching squelch; the creature hissed as its legs twitched in the air curling in on itself, dead. 

There was a moment of silence, Tasi turned to check on the group; she saw Astarion struggling, in his haste to move away from the spiders, he’d found himself entangled in the webs that lined the walls of the tunnels.

“Stop!” She exclaimed, keeping her voice low. She stepped toward him, her hand outstretched, “Don’t move, you’ll-”

Another shriek, louder this time but further down the tunnel. They all turned to look down the tunnel, staring with bated breath. Tasi looked back to Astarion, his red eyes were wide with fear, his hand reached for his daggers but was caught in the webs behind him. She used her swords to begin cutting him loose. She felt the ground beneath her begin to shudder, like a pair of oxen galloping past. She looked back down the tunnel to see a massive blue and white spider, filling the space of the tunnel ahead. Its ruby colored eyes glinting in the torch light; it hissed loudly as it spotted them.

“Get me out, get me out, GET ME OUT!” Astarion shouted, pleading quickly to Tasi.

“I’m trying!” She shouted back at him, hacking furiously at the webs around him. He squirmed and writhed, pulling away from the wall; finally, the last of the web was cut away and he was free. Astarion eyes narrowed as he stretched a hand out in front of him, pointing to a space just behind the giant spider.

“Invinium viiya!” He shouted, his voice echoing off the stone. Suddenly, in a flourish and a swirl of black smoke he disappeared from in front of Tasi and reappeared in the space he pointed to. He gave his daggers a quick twirl in his fingers before lunging into an attack at the spider’s rear. Lae’zel charged at its head raising her sword above her head, screaming as she brought it down; black blood sprayed onto the stone ground and the spider reeled back screeching in pain. In a flash it disappeared and reappeared behind them, in front of the bottom of the well. The fight was quick but brutal, ending with Wyll casting a spell that sounded like a close up lightning strike and Astarion picking Tasi and Lae'zel up off the ground. They all took a little while to catch their breath and tend to their wounds; after a while Tasi pressed on into the caves. She faced a jagged ledge that seemed to just fall away into oblivion. She sat at its edge and was quickly lost in thought.

@distraughtlesbian replied to your post:

the drow term for albinos, can actually have fangs—they’re listed as a potential birth defect as szarkai have a higher chance of being born with deformities, along with things like hairlessness and gnarled/clawed hands—but they’re specified to be *small* fangs and of course astarion has noticeable TEEF, so you’d just have to roll the dice and hope mr. gandrel the gur has never met another fanged drow

This was so very informative! I didn’t realise that albino drow could have fangs. I think that would also be a persuasion roll to try to make. (Memo to self: have the gang try to pass him off as szarkai in Baldur’s Gate.) Thank you for the educational comment. :>