Since Sarevok is under the spotlight of my attention right now, I feel like sharing my favourite companion banter form the original games where he realises he has made a horrible mistake in asking to travel with his siblings and their friends:

Sarevok: "Ranger, turn your rodent's gaze another direction! I will not be scrutinized as though by some ridiculous divining rod!" Minsc: "Boo is an uncanny judge of character, but you... you give him trouble." Sarevok: "I shall give him more than that if this continues! I nearly conquered a nation! I will not be judged by a creature that stores nuts in its cheeks!" Minsc: "Food storage aside, Boo controls himself far better than you do. Do you see him ranting about mere glances? Let's look." Sarevok: "What?" Minsc: "There, you see? No rant. In fact, right now we see him snuffing about for a comfy place to sleep. Admirable restraint." Sarevok: "I'm still in Hell, aren't I? This is insanity." Minsc: "Ah, finally a calming look across your face. Boo's handiwork, no doubt. Doesn't that feel better?" Sarevok: "Let's... let's go kill something. Soon."

I feel sorry for Orin

repurposed from an old Reddit post of mine

Raised from birth in the Bhaal cult and has never known ANYTHING else. Literally the result of incest between her mom and Sarevok (her father AND grandfather) - and for her entire life is actively manipulated and groomed to worship her "Grandfather" second only to Bhaal (leaving a disgusting implication that Sarevok might eventually try again). Literally every single day of her life spent in a murder cult, never knowing anything else.

Her mother is actively manipulated when Orin is seven to try to kill her daughter, only for Orin to reflexively kill her first, at which point Orin was briefly possessed by Bhaal himself (per some Sarevok dialogue). AT AGE SEVEN. And even from a young age, Orin's true gift is her artistry, a talent that outside the Bhaal cult probably could have been nurtured into something phenominal, but inside the cult is twisted into a sinisterness in the kill that, when she's out of earshot is decried as wasteful.

She eventually rises through the ranks (never have had any choice), having never felt a meaningful moment of compassion or kindness and, desperate to be cared about, sees the power and fear and respect her bloodkin (The Dark Urge) has gained and uses their hubris to take them out.

Ironically, in the timeline where Durge lives, they get a gift Orin couldn't even dream of - a 2nd chance. With their brain scrambled and the tadpole present but being interfered with, the Dark Urge got a chance to be someone new. (Whether they accept or reject that 2nd chance, they at least got a choice this time).

What did Orin get for her troubles? Her (grand)father openly coveted to either take her out, or worse, take her out - when the time was right, her own allies both detested her (Gortash openly revels at the idea of working with the Dark Urge again)

and most brutally, if you manage to confront her with the truth, any of it? About Sarevok, about her mother, etc? She immediately believes you. And for one (1) moment, maybe there's hope for her.

Hope that Bhaal immediately rips away; an Orin confronted with the truth and showing even the slightest hesitation is immediately forcibly transformed into the Slayer by Bhaal himself, with a strong implication that the core of the old Orin is gone forever win, lose, or draw. "No more doubts, no more fears, no more Orin. Become murder.". Seeing what Bhaal's reaction was the moment Orin had one (1) instant of hesitation also confirms that she'd likely have never had the chance to choose differently, either Bhaal would always step in or else she'd eventually meet her end.

Imagine the AU where Orin takes her CLEAR flair and artistic talent to become a truly great artist. Where she gets the same second chance that Durge got - If she'd been able to use her talent for impersonation and desire to great to do something powerful instead of being forced by her family from childhood into the family business of murder.

She literally never had a chance. Even Bane and Myrkul and their respective cults were never so unfathomably cruel, and she never knew anything else.

At least for my own first game, though, my Durge recognized that without her "sister," she'd have never gotten the chance to save the world, never met Shadowheart, never stopped a century worth of Ketheric's torture on Dame Aylin, never set in motion the liberation of the Githyanki...In the right world states, Orin unwittingly saved the world, but it's a world she'll never get to see or know, and probably never could have.

That's tragic as hell.

Re-creating my favourite Baldur's Gate 1 & 2 party in BG3 (x)

Fun fact: if you leave Sarevok alive he can send you a letter during the epilogue.

He basically says that even if Withers resurrected you, you'll still pass on your curse to any children you have, and he waits for the day they come to the tribunal so he can enjoy watching them murder each other.

Pretty wild that you can just trick a god by saying "yeah this murder was yummy" but alright.

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It's absolutely hilarious that the apparent reason why Sarevok does nothing but sit on his ass at the Murder Tribunal all day instead of being at the temple is because Orin beat his ass and the sheer humiliation of getting dunked on by his own daughter keeps him away. I still don't get why they cut that, it's my favourite datamined dialogue of all time.

got his dad kidnapped, his friend kidnapped, mizora is waiting for him at camp and his favorite clown got killed. terrible day for the blade.

also he was made to be the perfect trickster hero lying to the baddies with that high charisma so i got him to do the talk

Thinking about Gortash using Sarevok's old Iron Throne fortress/tower for his own purposes as a prison

and also putting into motion a plan very similar to Sarevok's for becoming an archduke (which in this context is the same as a grand duke, I think, but I'm not knowledgeable with noble titles)

My view on Durge and Sarevok's relationship is that Sarevok actually respected and liked Durge (as much as possible for a non-reformed bhaalspawn) so it's very possible that he had at some point shared his history, old plans, and failures with Durge, at the very least as a lesson for Durge.

Also, Gortash has a line about him and Durge studying their predecessors and their mistakes,

which combined with everything so far, definitely makes me think that the Iron Throne prison and the Archduke plans were at the very least co-founded by Durge and Gortash, if not outright suggested by Durge.

Another interesting side to all this - Orin is attached to her (grand)father (again, as much as possible for a non-reformed bhaalspawn) so it probably pisses her off that Gortash managed to pull off a plan that Sarevok failed, especially bc it was with Durge's help, and it's just one more reason why she's so spiteful towards him. In her eyes Gortash uses her grandfather's plan, uses her grandfather's fortress, uses her sibling and boss in myriads of ways and in turn - the whole Bhaal cult, for his own gains.

Update on the Orin animatic! Won't post anything more until its finished because it wont be long enough to warrant multiple trailers or anything lol, im just really happy with how its turning out!

Another round of BG3 textpost memes!

Pre-game Durge gets a kick out of annoying Sarevok by telling him how many times they've banged in the Iron Throne but not telling him where it is.

"Bhaal's essence left me as I died… and that which has been given to me now maintains my mortality only. Some might still consider me a Bhaalspawn, but it is solely a matter of history and memory." A few days and a conversation with a bloodthirsty dwarf later: “In the cold nether realm while I waited to be reborn I sorely missed the crimson spray and the hot tang of death on my tongue.” "Even after my resurrection, violent rage pollutes my tainted blood. As [my sibling] can surely attest, it is a constant struggle to keep our bloodlust in check."

Great news! Bhaalspawn canonically keep the urge to kill the shit out of people after having Bhaal torn out of them! Thank you again, Sarevok!

YOU HESITATE. IF YOU WILL NOT FIGHT FOR MY BLESSING, I WILL MAKE YOU SOMETHING CRUELLER.

Baldur's Gate (1998) / Baldur's Gate 3 (2023) - Sarevok Anchev

No, but Cazador's line: "What is family if not the monsters we are obliged to love?" hits HARD on a durge playthrough.

Emperor we've been working together for months at this point will you just TELL ME-

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