Peaceful oblivion. It had been all he had needed to know in the moment it came.
He had died then, stripped of his unholy blood by the Father he had refused. A Father who had disinherited him when he had insisted his family were those who had found him. Those who had stuck by him, even when they didn't understand his affliction. Those who had laughed with him, who had cried for him. Who had been by his side weathering the storms and taking the hits for him.
His god had moved to destroy who he was, not accounting for who he is now. And that had started long before Orin's betrayal.
Bhaal should have known his son's his heart was changed long before this moment.
But his journey had not been finished, and no sooner had he accepted that the scourge of his existence was to be destroyed by the very being who created it, back he is pulled into his body.
He is not the same.
Nothing will ever be the same, and he has made peace with that too. Made peace that he will greet every dawn from now on with gratitude, and a desire to be better. To be more.
That night at camp, as they all take the rest sorely needed, he re-reads the letter and makes his choice. He will greet the new dawn as a better man, and bring Enver Gortash with him, whatever it takes. He sleeps, in deep exhaustion, and there is nothing but the echo of murderous thoughts, like wounds starting to heal upon his mind.
The resolution he shares with his companions at first light is met with such a variety of reactions it takes the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon to sift through and come to any kind of consensus.
Karlach's immediate response is the most difficult to bear, heartbreaking because he's so fond of his tiefling friend. He asks them all to trust him, just once more. Trust that he can make this right, that he can implore the Chosen of Bane to just come with him. He pours his heart out, allows every layer to be peeled from him as his companions each weigh in with their concerns, their thoughts.
In the end, for better or worse, they agree to his request with the condition that if the Archduke doesn't agree, it will fall to him to conclude things in a manner that's best for Baldur's Gate. Jaheira catches his eye and sees within him the solemn promise that he will do what he must to preserve the life of Enver Gortash, but not at the expense of Faerûn.
It is a handful of hours before dusk that the doors to the Archduke's private office are pushed open, the Oathbreaker paladin that stands at the entrance scanning the room for the man he's here to convince to stand down. With his friends at his back, he steps into the quiet expanse of the grand office, eyes not drawn to the table in the centre but to the corner at the back. The lump in his throat is harder to swallow down than he'd like, but eventually his gaze flicks back to the table.
no subject
He had died then, stripped of his unholy blood by the Father he had refused. A Father who had disinherited him when he had insisted his family were those who had found him. Those who had stuck by him, even when they didn't understand his affliction. Those who had laughed with him, who had cried for him. Who had been by his side weathering the storms and taking the hits for him.
His god had moved to destroy who he was, not accounting for who he is now. And that had started long before Orin's betrayal.
Bhaal should have known his son's his heart was changed long before this moment.
But his journey had not been finished, and no sooner had he accepted that the scourge of his existence was to be destroyed by the very being who created it, back he is pulled into his body.
He is not the same.
Nothing will ever be the same, and he has made peace with that too. Made peace that he will greet every dawn from now on with gratitude, and a desire to be better. To be more.
That night at camp, as they all take the rest sorely needed, he re-reads the letter and makes his choice. He will greet the new dawn as a better man, and bring Enver Gortash with him, whatever it takes. He sleeps, in deep exhaustion, and there is nothing but the echo of murderous thoughts, like wounds starting to heal upon his mind.
The resolution he shares with his companions at first light is met with such a variety of reactions it takes the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon to sift through and come to any kind of consensus.
Karlach's immediate response is the most difficult to bear, heartbreaking because he's so fond of his tiefling friend. He asks them all to trust him, just once more. Trust that he can make this right, that he can implore the Chosen of Bane to just come with him. He pours his heart out, allows every layer to be peeled from him as his companions each weigh in with their concerns, their thoughts.
In the end, for better or worse, they agree to his request with the condition that if the Archduke doesn't agree, it will fall to him to conclude things in a manner that's best for Baldur's Gate. Jaheira catches his eye and sees within him the solemn promise that he will do what he must to preserve the life of Enver Gortash, but not at the expense of Faerûn.
It is a handful of hours before dusk that the doors to the Archduke's private office are pushed open, the Oathbreaker paladin that stands at the entrance scanning the room for the man he's here to convince to stand down. With his friends at his back, he steps into the quiet expanse of the grand office, eyes not drawn to the table in the centre but to the corner at the back. The lump in his throat is harder to swallow down than he'd like, but eventually his gaze flicks back to the table.