Chapter Text
After the final battle, after he arrived back in Waterdeep, after cleaning out his tower and after his mother had fed him no less than 4 rather large meals, Gale sent out letters to each of his companions. From Faerun to the Avernus, and beyond, the letters go out; by parchment or sending spell, means both arcane and mundane.
The letters contained an invitation for the recipient to visit, anytime they choose (though this was a somewhat distant prospect for some). But in truth Gale sent them out in with the simple hope that it would help them all to stay in touch.
They had been through so much together, and had become more of a family than a group of friends. None of them had come away from their time together unchanged - and he felt these changes greatly. Not just physically, in the removal of his orb, but he had changed mentally. He was no longer the haughty Chosen of Mystra nor the depressed pariah, but simply a (rather powerful) wizard with good friends.
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A letter dated the 26th of Nightal, 1492, sent by Paper Bird:
Dear Astarion,
I hope this letter finds you in good health! I didn’t see you after the defeat of the ‘Elder Brain’. Did you find your way to safety? How has it been, adjusting back to a life without the sun?
I myself am back safe and sound in my tower in Waterdeep - though my mother made me promise never to leave without so much as a note ever again! She is determined to fatten me up after my ordeal, if the amount of food she had been feeding me is any indication! She also refused to let me leave her house for two days - as though I would disappear the moment I stepped out the door!
It is good to be back home. The City of Splendours remains just as splendorous as ever, and if you ever happen to find yourself in the vicinity of Waterdeep, I’d be more than happy to have you stay with me! - Although I assume travel is slightly more complicated for you, given the return of your extreme sunlight allergy?
This reminds me - I have begun researching a way to mitigate that particular aspect of your curse - I’m still in the early stages, but I will keep you posted!
Tara sends her regards, and asked me to include a list of the locations of the tastiest pigeons in Baldur’s Gate, in case you were hungry (I was unsure if I should include it or not, but here it is nonetheless!)
From your friend,
Gale of Waterdeep Dekarios
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Astarion was somewhat bemused when an ostentatious origami bird flew into his living room one evening. He was even more perplexed when the bird stopped and unfolded itself into a letter before him. It was, he soon discovered, a missive from Gale - who else but a Waterdhavian wizard would deliver a letter in such a manner?
He was… touched, that the wizard was still thinking of him. He had thought that perhaps they had parted on bad terms; it had been quite traumatising for the elf to suddenly feel the sunlight burning his skin again. Still, he regretted his immediate reaction to hide away and lick his wounds.
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A letter dated the 4th of Hammer, 1493, delivered by ship post and arriving slightly waterlogged :
Gale
I do apologise for not joining you and the rest for the victory celebrations, but as you say, my ‘allergy’ tends to make such things difficult .
Adjusting back to life in the shadows has not been easy. Still, at least I don’t have a psychotic master with delusions of godhood breathing down my neck anymore. My friends are the only ones with such delusions[ambitions]!
Thank you for the invitation, but it seems I am fated to remain in Baldur’s Gate for the foreseeable future. I have taken residence over Cazador’s castle - the rest of my siblings and the spawn have preferred to disperse into the Underdark and beyond. But why choose a dank cave over such a fabulously grand residence? - at least the monster had some taste.
So, if you ever do find a cure, feel free to visit me here - there are certainly enough spare rooms to choose from, now that they’re not filled with bodies.
Give Tara my thanks,
Astarion (Of Baldur’s Gate)
By the way, how did you send your last letter? I’ve never heard of a letter sending itself before.
~/~
A letter dated the 14th of Hammer:
Dear Astarion
You’ll be glad to hear I’ve moved beyond my delusions of godhood and am now perfectly content with being a lowly mortal! I am, however, a mortal at somewhat of a loose end: I find myself at a loss of what to do with my time, now that I’m neither at the beck and call of a Goddess nor under the constant threat of imminent death.
So you see, you’re not the only one finding it difficult to adjust back to ‘normal life’! I find I miss our intrepid band of adventurers, even if I don’t miss the uncomfortable camp bedding or the ceaseless sense of impending doom.
(Not that I mean to imply my struggles are anywhere near as great as yours - a life destined to be spent only in darkness is not one I can imagine, nor one I envy. I know you have suffered greatly, and offer myself as a welcome ear should you ever want to vent or complain. Or not! The offer is there should you need it.)
I am still at work researching ways to find you a permanent cure - most ‘solutions’ I have found are temporary, or only mitigate the symptoms to being ‘bearable’. They are completely inadequate, so my studies continue. At least you have given me an intriguing problem to puzzle over and fill my days!
Sincerely,
Gale.
P.S: I’m sending you these letters via Paper Bird, something of an ingenious Waterdhavian invention. They are incredibly useful when you want a message to go straight to a person, or don’t know their address. I’ll send you over a box of my modified version - an improvement on the design that makes them faster, more durable and able to hold more words (the last improvement being rather crucial for myself).
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A letter dated the 21st of Hammer:
Gale,
Don’t sell yourself short - having a bomb stuck in your chest and a craving for chewing on magic boots, all because you tried to impress your former lover, a Goddess , gives you plenty of reasons to complain. That’s not exactly an experience you just ‘get over’. So I suppose you should feel free to vent to me too, should you feel the need. I could always do with more kindling.
That was a joke. It’s surprisingly difficult to convey sarcasm through writing.
On a more sincere note, I wanted to apologise for not coming back to say goodbye, after that horrid brain was defeated. I didn’t want to show my face, because I was, quite honestly, a mess. I didn’t want to see you all happy and victorious when I didn’t have anything to celebrate. I also didn’t want any of you to see me like that - it felt just like when I was first turned, and I was back to skulking around in the darkness with no hope for the rest of my long, undead existence…
I suppose what I want to say is sorry. And thank you, for still trying to help me, after everything.
Astarion
Thanks for the package. I hope I sent this correctly.
~/~
From a letter dated the 29th of Hammer
Dear Astarion
Thank you for your apology, though you have no reason to be sorry. I can quite sympathise with the need to retreat after such a life altering event. I locked myself away in my tower for an entire year after the orb lodged itself in my chest - I didn’t even speak to Tara for a tenday or more. The only thing I felt I could do was isolate myself and wallow in my misery. So it is completely understandable for you to feel like you did. There is no shame in it. I thank you , for sharing that with me.
Actually, it was only through all our harrowing adventures that I really began to feel like myself again - truly myself, not the ‘Chosen of Mystra’ or her wretched cast off, but the me I used to be; the best me, the curious, loquacious wizard with a yearning for knowledge and adventure.
…
I do hope you have found something to fill your days - or rather nights! - with. I have found that having something to do with ones time does much to ease one’s sorrows, as it forces the mind to focus elsewhere. I’m certain you can find something in Baldur’s Gate worthy of your time!
On a similar note - I have received a rather unexpected job offer from Blackstaff Academy, my old alma mater . It seems defeating a great evil is all one needs to do to qualify for becoming a member of staff!
I am unsure if I should take the position - it has been quite some time since I’ve done anything remotely like teaching, and I’m not entirely convinced I'd be up to the task.
Yours sincerly,
Gale
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From a letter dated the 7th of Alturik
Dear Gale
I appreciate your words. It is a relief to hear that you understand my behaviour and that you have faced similar demons of your own. I suppose it is true what they say, that sharing one’s problems makes them easier to deal with, ridiculously saccharine as that sentiment may be.
I suppose I too have been learning what it is to be myself - what it really means to live life as a vampire. Even though I’ve suffered this curse for nearly two centuries, I’ve spent the entire time at the beck and call of a demented master. I learned how to survive as a slave. It’s time for me to discover what I am as a free, if undead, elf.
…
I ran into Jaheira the other night, and we shared a drink in the Elfsong. It was actually rather fun, to spend an evening in a tavern and not be on the hunt for some victim to lure back.
Jaheira looks utterly exhausted, by the way, so I did not volunteer to help her with her ‘rebuilding the city’ endeavours - although she did hint rather unsubtly in that direction. I’ll leave that kind of work to the virtuous workaholics, thank you.
Unfortunately, it seems some of our group's heroics have rubbed off on me. As I was walking back from the tavern, I witnessed an attempted mugging, and for some reason beyond my comprehension, I stepped in to help. The would-be victim was so thankful, that they even gave me the very gold the mugger was after- as some kind of reward! I took it of course; no matter how ridiculous the whole situation was, money is money.
From
Astarion
By the way, for what it’s worth I think you’d be a fine teacher. You are, as you have always said, an “ accomplished wizard of exceptional skill ”. And from what Wyll said, you are a pretty good teacher too.
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From a letter dated the 16th of Alturiak
Dear Astarion
Thank you for the vote of confidence! Even if all you did was parrot my own words back at me. I’ve decided to take the job - professor of Illusion. That’s my specialty, actually - my favourite school of magic, if I had to choose just one. It’s the possibilities, you see: with Illusion magic, the only limit is the casters’ imagination!
Perhaps I’ll be able to impart just a little of the love for magic onto some impressionable young minds.
…
I wish you luck on your journey of self-discovery. It can be rather painful at times, learning how to be oneself, and facing one’s flaws head-on, but I assure you it is well worth it in the end.
But well done with the vigilantism. Perhaps you could take up crime fighting in your spare time!
Yours sincerely,
Gale
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From a letter dated the 24th of Alturiak
Dear Gale,
Illusion, I should have guessed! It suits you, and your flair for the dramatic. And I can well understand your point about it being only ‘limited by the users' imagination’ - you used an illusion on the night after we fell out of the sky for the incredibly important job of checking on your hair!
…
You jest about crime fighting, but Jaheira said something similar the other night. Apparently, the Fist are rather short-staffed, if her daughter is to be believed. She said there might be some good money in bounty hunting within the city.
And I am a Vampire after all. I may as well put my rather remarkable talents to good use.
…
Do you ever wonder about what it would have been like - to take the power of godhood like you could have? I must confess, I have thought often about how much easier life would be, to have become a Vampire Ascendant, to walk in the sun without fear. All the power of a full vampire and none of the drawbacks.
I don’t regre t my choice, exactly. Anything Cazador wanted must be terrible. But still.
And you could have become a god. That is a lot of power to walk away from.
Astarion
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From a letter dated the 5th of Ches
Dear Astarion,
Yes. I think about it. There was so much power at my fingertips. So much limitless potential.
I still dream, some nights, of the way the orb craved magic and power - yearned for it. Of how it felt to absorb raw magic, channelling the force directly into me. It’s a feeling I cannot describe in words alone.
I didn’t lie before. I am happy with my mortal life and mortal powers. And I’m not entirely sure I would have made for a good God. There’s a lot more to Godhood than simply power. For example, leading one's followers, answering prayers, building a devoted following... How exactly does a god go about fulfilling their domains, anyway? What about the murky areas of cross-over - the Dead Three were all gods of Death, in one way or another for example. How does that all work?
And when you ascend to godhood - how much of the person you were remains? Gods and their whims often seem inscrutible to us mortals - perhaps if our mortality was stripped away we too would be capable of incomprhensible acts.
I think it is best, for both of us, that we made the choices we did. Who knows what we might have become?
…
I have made little progress on finding your cure, I’m afraid. I’ve been burdened with ‘onboarding’ for the new academic term. And the lesson plans I was given were, quite frankly, abysmal. I had to re-design the whole semester!
…
Let me know how the bounty hunting goes!
Yours mortally,
Gale
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From a letter dated the 16th of Ches:
Dear Gale,
How goes the collegiate life? Have you Banished any students yet?
…
Apparently, a hero is just a murderer who kills the right people! Who knew?
I have been making a tidy profit by draining wanted criminals of almost all their blood and then dropping them on the Flaming Fists’ doorstep - I’ve been getting a meal and a paycheck at the same time. Unfortunately, the blood of the criminal element is not exactly haute cuisine . But beggars can’t be choosers, I suppose.
…
I agree - I think we chose the right paths in the end. I have been told that vampirism - true vampirism that is - changes you: corrupting all your qualities, changing love into obsession for example. I can only imagine how much more warped a Vampire Ascendant would become.
I have been learning to appreciate myself, for all my flaws and fangs. And you were right - it is rewarding. I feel more whole than I can remember. This would have almost certainly not happened if I had ascended.
Your humble vampire spawn,
Astarion
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From a letter dated the 22nd Ches :
Dear Astarion,
The life of a professor is quite mundane, I’m afraid to say! Equal parts frustrating and rewarding, and rather more exhausting than I could have imagined. Although it is gratifying, every time you see one of the students suddenly make sense of the lesson, the moment when everything falls into place and they light up with understanding.
I find myself missing our ‘adventures’ some days, though. Perhaps it is the sense of comradery I miss the most. I feel somewhat out of place amongst the other members of staff, and I have yet to have a conversation with any of them go deeper than discussing the weather.
I suspect they may be fearful of accidentally bringing up the subject of Mystra, which is certainly a fools' errand. We are teachers in a magical academy, she is the Mother of All Magic - it’s bound to come up at least once .
And when it eventually does… well, I am fearful none of them will be accepting of my decision to no longer worship her. No matter that it is the best decision I could have made - I am finally free to live my own life on my own terms! Losing the mantle of ‘Chosen’ has been incredibly liberating.
…
I finally heard back from Wyll the other day. He and Karlach are hard at work - there’s never a dull moment in Avernus, it seems. Can you believe the two of them got together while we were ‘adventuring’? I never even noticed! I certainly didn’t have ‘romance’ on my mind, I was too preoccupied with the tadpole in it!
Yours,
Gale
~/~
I can believe it actually. I might have been interested in a romance, if I hadn’t been shot down at every -
Did you really not have any romantic interest in anyone ? We are a rather attractive lot, after all, and
You were far always too preoccupied - you never seemed to notice any time I attempted to flirt
Did you ever even notice me flirting with you? If I had kept trying, after you turned me down that night -
If I hadn’t tried to seduce everyone as some kind of ridiculous self-preservation plan
would we ever have amounted to anything?
Why am I even writing this, I’m never going to send it
Astarion stared down at the ink-stained scraps of paper lining his desk and floor. Until today it had been remarkably easy to write to Gale, to open up to him completely. There was something so freeing, he had found, in writing to him, the way it let him compose the jumble of thought in his head into something coherent. He found that in writing to Gale he allowed himself time to figure out his own thoughts.
He had been surprised to receive a second letter, given his rather curt response. But Gale had responded with good humour, like he always had, and a touchingly sincere care for him. Astarion had felt safe in bearing his soul to the man, in a way he would never have been able to do in person. And he had begun to enjoy their correspondence; receiving each letter was the highlight of his tendays.
He had even begun to spray his letters to the wizard with perfume. It started with the second or third letter as something of a joke, but now… he wonders, hopes, that Gale has noticed; that he presses his nose to the parchment just as Astarion does - there is something of Gale’s own scent attached to his every letter; the scent of books, sandalwood and something slightly magical - the ink he uses perhaps, a flamboyant deep purple…
He feels foolish to have fallen so quickly and so deeply for the man. But he was honest enough to admit to himself that his feelings had started from almost the moment they had met.
He had propositioned the wizard the night of the party with Halsin and the tieflings, and the man had just chuckled and brushed him off, wandering away to try and cheer Wyll up with some magic lesson . It was only after the wizard walked off that Astarion had realised just how honest his proposition was; the bitter taste in his mouth was not sub-par wine but jealousy, and the sinking feeling was the sudden arealisation that he might actually care for the wizard.
It had only gotten worse from there. The more he got to know the Gale, the more he found to like . Soon he was outright pining, but his every attempt at flirtation had been brushed aside or taken as a joke. He had eventually taken the hint and stopped, burying his feelings deeply away.
Baut now … Astarion began to hope - could it be that the man was simply imperceptive? Oblivious to the world outside his own head? Just how in the hells had he managed to form a relationship with a Goddess?
No. Astarion crushed the thought before it could take root and grow. Hope was dangerous . It would be far better for him to keep his feelings to himself. To take the leap, to reach out only to be rejected -
He couldn’t bear it.
Better to remain friends than to risk heartbreak .
~/~
From a letter dated the 4th of Tarsakh:
Dear Gale,
…
Yes, I did notice Wyll and Karlach becoming a couple, actually. They weren’t very subtle about it.
It is perhaps not so strange - banding together to survive against great odds has a way of bringing people together - or so I’ve heard. And I might have also heard our ex-Sharan and Gith warrior friends getting rather close on some of those long, cold nights…
…
You are much better off without a master, be they god or mortal. We both are.
Yours,
Astarion
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From a letter dated the 11th of Tarsakh:
Dear Astarion,
…
Lae’zel and Shadowheart too? I would never have guessed! Although, it does rather put some things in perspective, now I think about it. And it makes sense - their mutual ferocity turning into deep passion…
It seems were were some of the few not to couple up! Unless - don’t tell me you know something about Halsin and Jaheira?
….
Yours,
Gale
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An undated letter, never sent:
Dearest Astarion,
When I first sent you a letter, I didn’t expect much of a response, if any. Although I valued the friendship we made ‘on the road’, I feared perhaps it would not last; the differences between our lives being so great. But I am glad to be wrong! I find myself awaiting each of your letters with great anticipation.
I have let my soul leak onto the pages I’ve sent you. I’ve shared with you things I would tell none other - and I am so grateful that I can share them, share myself , with you.
I feel that we are kindred spirits, in a way. I must admit, my heart leaps every time I receive a new letter from you.
And I worry about you, alone in that palace, that hellhole, despite how much you may have renovated it... I want to offer you a place to stay, should you need a change - a permanent one, or for however long you need it. My home is yours.
But every time i begin to write these words, my fears overwhelms me: what would you say if I were to make such an offer - would you see through my flimsy attempt to be closer to you? My selfish desire to have you near?
And what if you do not feel the same? What if you are just humouring a friend with your letters, and you do not feel as do. I do not think my heart could take such a rejection.
No, I think it is better to keep my feelings to myself. Indeed, it would be poor form to make such overtures where they might be unwelcome.
Especially in writing.
~/~
A letter dated the 30th of Tarsakh:
Dear Astarion,
I have just received an invitation - from Withers of all people! Who would have suspected he was the sentimental type?
I assume you will have received your invitation by the time this letter reaches you - It seems we’ve all been invited - this is tremendous news! I do so dearly wish to see everyone again!
Surely Withers has come up with some way to make travel there for you bearable? If not, I might be able to come up with something to make dealing with the sun temporarily more bearable for you! Do let me know!
I can’t wait to see you. (And everyone else!)
In anticipation,
Gale
~/~
A letter dated the 4th of Mirtul:
Gale,
Yes, I also received Wither’s invitation.
No need to worry, I will certainly be there. I can travel through the Underdark if nothing else.
I can’t wait
It will be good to see you everyone again.
Yours,
Astarion