thetealhummingbird - Tumblr blog

thetealhummingbird · 3 days

Text

Full lore dump of my dnd npcs that I've adapted into full on bg3 characters below the cut ⬇️⬇️⬇️

First, what is a Dual Life?

A Dual Life is a magic entity that I created for a homebrew dnd campaign back in 2020. They are a person who has been magically bonded, at birth, to a specific member of the animal kingdom. From that day forward, that person will have one specific animal as their guardian and animals of the same type will naturally gravitate towards them. Upon their death, be it natural or unnatural, the animal guardian will willingly give up their life, fuse with the person, and grant them a second life. The person also takes on some of the characteristics of that animal.

Now, how did this all come about?

In the original campaign, this came about through completely random chance. I changed things up a bit to fit with BG3. A man named Bartram Graves sought after immortality. Upon doing experiments with the weave, he discovered that there was a way for him to infuse magic directly into a person lifestream that would allow them a second life after death. It is important to note: this practice is considered extremely taboo and the result of a successful Dual Life is labeled as a magical abomination, not only in the eyes of most mortals but in the eyes of the gods themselves. It took decades of extremely unethical experimentation, but he came about with his first success: an infant elf he named Nyomi.

Nyomi

Nyomi was bound to a deer who identified herself as Silfy. Nyomi was always a well spoken child who stood up to anyone. As she matured into an adult, she became more conscious of what she considered good and bad. She despises Bartram with every fiber of her being and wants nothing more than to exact justice upon him. To a stranger, Nyomi is cold and calculating, trying to determine if they live up to her standards of good and bad. To her beloved siblings, Nyomi is soft and gentle. One could say she is overly soft as she will give in to anything they ask of her. She also tends to throw her moral code out the window and make excuses for them.

As Nyomi grew, Bartram continued his project. Ten years later, he had two more successes. A drow he named Lillith, and an elf he named Braern.

Lillith

Lillith was bound to a mated pair of giant spiders named Charlie and Nora. Lillith was an extremely soft spoken and shy child who grew into a soft spoken and awkward adult. She is terrified of making anyone upset and will continually cross her own boundaries to make others feel better. She almost always ends up learning everything there is to know about someone else before she reveals even the slightest bit of information about herself.

Braern

Braern was bound to a crow that called himself Elias. As a child, Braern would isolate himself and didn't care much for friendships. As an adult, Braern only cares for those he has dubbed his family. He's fiercely protective of them and wants nothing more than to please them.

How the siblings were separated

Once Nyomi became an adult, Bartram decided it was finally time to make sure his success was viable. Nyomi was quietly executed, and reborn as her Dual Life self. She gained a deer's antlers and hooves. This act picked up a lot of attention, specifically from two wealthy and powerful people, Lord Kilzern Manu and Lady Ommara Fragon. Both Kilzern and Ommara were dragons in disguise and had an extremely personal rivalry.

Ommara approached Bartram first and offered him an extremely obscene amount to adopt Braern into her family. Obviously, Bartram accepted and the young elf boy (approximately 10 in human years at the time) was taken away to live with Lady Fragon. She changed his name to Raven. He became one of her own children, and went to great lengths to care for him as though he were her's by blood.

Nyomi and Lillith weren't so lucky. Kilzern approached Bartram next and demanded both Nyomi and Lillith, as well as the creation of an additional child. Bartram easily parted with the two young women (approximately 25 and 10 in human years at the time), but was hesitant to take on the challenge of yet another Dual Life child. Kilzern insisted and thus, a human he named Raphael was born.

Raphael

Raphael was bound to a tiger who called herself Pansa. Immediately after his birth, he was brought to Kilzern's home and Nyomi was put in charge of his care. Raphael grew into a very aggressive and stubborn child. He has a great difficulty distinguishing how to act during tense situations and laughs at inappropriate times to cope with discomfort. As an adult, he has become even more aggressive to anyone he doesn't trust. Biting is always an option for him.

Life living with a tyrant

Kilzern Manu, a tyrant lord and secretly a black dragon in disguise, only desired power.

Nyomi, Lillith, and Raphael were not Kilzern Manu's only children. He had two blood children, Tolrin and Sisseth

Tolrin was even more bloodthirsty than Kilzern. He had an intense drive to prey on those who were weaker than him. He took out his rage on each of his adopted siblings, but particularly delighted in torturing Raphael.

Sisseth was far more even tempered than her father and brother, but she wasn't without her flaws. She felt it in her heart to protect her adopted siblings, but only to a point. Due to her sweet and gentle nature, Lillith was the one she protected the most from Tolrin's torment. She would occasionally try to help Nyomi, but felt that since she was an adult, Nyomi needed to stand up for herself. Sisseth was genuinely frightened of Raphael due to his volatile nature, so in the back of her mind she felt he almost deserved Tolrin's punishments.

The fall of Manu

When Lillith became an adult, Manu had planned to make a spectacle of her transformation to Dual Life. He planned a lavish event and invited those nobles corrupt enough to enjoy watching Lillith executed and then transform into a magical abomination. Sisseth realized what was happening and decided now was the time to act. She smuggled her sister out of the mansion and sent her off to live in an extremely secluded temple in the woods.

Upon Sisseth's return, Tolrin reported to their father what she had done. The day of the party arrived, and Sisseth took Lillith's place on the chopping block.

At this point, Nyomi and Raphael, were in shock. Lillith was gone, Sisseth was dead, and it was only a matter of time before Raphael became an adult and Kilzern would order his execution.

Unceremoniously, Raphael and Nyomi murdered Tolrin and Kilzern while they slept, then set the mansion on fire. They escaped into the woods and ran away to Baldur's Gate, where they would hopefully live unnoticed.

Raven's life

Braern, now turned Raven, had a relatively uneventful life. Lady Ommara Fragon had one other child, Tybalt, and the two of them quickly became firm friends. Tybalt was quite a bit older than Raven, but became the most doting big brother one could ask for. Once he became an adult, Raven opted to take on his Dual Life form to better protect his mother.

Unbeknownst to anyone in either family, Tybalt and Sisseth had begun to court each other. When Tybalt found out what had happened to his beloved, he tried to take on the House of Manu by himself, and failed.

When Tybalt didn't return, it drove Raven to rage. He went with Lady Fragon to exact revenge, but to their surprise, the mansion was on fire and the Lords of the house were dead.

Raven vowed to stay by Lady Fragon's side as her bodyguard for the rest of his life.

Lillith's life

Lillith lived 20 years of her life in the secluded temple that Sisseth left her at. Her only company were her spiders, plus the priest and priestess who guarded the temple. They urged Lillith to study sorcery and devote herself to Mystra.

Unfortunately for Lillith, being a magical abomination means the goddess of magic doesn't like you very much. She spent 20 years trying to learn even the smallest bit of magic only to fail every time. No matter how hard she tried, she was unable to succeed at even the most basic principles or channel the smallest portion of the Weave.

To combat the frustration of being urged to study something she could never succeed in, Lillith took up painting. In any spare time that she was allowed, she worked at becoming an extremely talented artist.

Nyomi's life

Nyomi stayed with Raphael until he became an adult and she was certain he would be fine on his own. Once that happened, she left and went to the Underdark to seek out those considered to be evil doers and offered up justice. She did her best to find those suffering from the same kind of torment she suffered and would relieve them of their burdens. She never sought out payment or praise for what she did, and would fervently ignore criticism.

In all that time she spent in the Underdark, she only ever made very shallow connections with other people. One night trists or fleeting conversations were all she would allow herself. She had no desire to create meaningful relationships with others. She had a job to do.

Raphael's life

Raphael grew into a very anxious and aggressive adult. After Nyomi left, he quickly turned to a life of crime. Anything he wanted he would get, no matter the cost. He had been denied so much and was tortured for so long that he decided his adulthood would be full of everything life had to offer. His constant companion was Pansa who stood by his side as his ever watchful guardian.

As an adult, Raphael became extremely touch averse, he'd even developed slight chirophobia (fear of hands). He would never allow anyone to get close to him. Now that he was in charge of himself, it was his job to make sure he was never hurt again.

So, what was the point of all this?

Ultimately, I just really needed to write down all my lore in a place where I'd remember it. In each of their respective timelines, the end of what I wrote is what happened right up until they were kidnapped and tadpoled. If you read all the way through, I'm genuinely super honored and surprised. Thank you! <3

#i ate that shit up #i absolutely love the DuelLifers lore #i love that you adapted it to BG3 #not me freaking out when you talked about Fragon!!#and crying when you talked about sisseth and tybalt #one question #whats AM been up to?#justice for Alexander Morris #DuelLifer

6 notes · View notes

thetealhummingbird · 7 days

Text

Omg I am obsessed with Ravens look!! 😍😍

To round off the Dual Life family, we have Braern/Raven.

lots of lore below ⬇️

Born at the same time as Lillith, but was promised to a different family entirely. Upon being brought to his new family, Braern's name was changed to Raven. He has had very limited contact with any of the others and doesn't necessarily think of them as his siblings, more like distant relatives that he no longer sees.

(a Dual Life is a person who has been gifted a second life by an animal guardian. Upon the person's death, their animal guardian will sacrifice their own life to raise them from the dead and that person will take on the characteristics of their animal guardian. Dual Lives are considered magical abominations and their creation is strictly prohibited in almost all magic circles.)

Nyomi, the first born, turned to her dual life form (deer) in her early adulthood. Helped Raphael murder their abusive father and brother. She took it upon herself to look after Raphael until he reached adulthood. Afterwards she headed out into the world to enact justice on those she deems as evil.

Lillith and Braern, the second and third born. Lillith was sent away to live an isolated life before she could be turned to her dual life form (spider). She spent the next 20 years of her life in a secluded monastery devoted to the worship of Mystra. She tried in vain for 20 years to learn magic, but she wasn't able to do so.

Braern was turned to his dual life form (raven) in his young adulthood. The family he was given to treated him as their own child and gave him many opportunities the others did not receive. That being said, he was trained to be a body guard for the matriarch of the family and never leaves her side.

Raphael, the youngest, murdered his abusive family at age 14 before he could be turned to his dual life form (tiger). He spent the next four years with Nyomi and he tried to establish a normal life. Due to the abuse he suffered over his young life, he had trouble adjusting and was incredibly aggressive towards people.

#bg3 #Raven #Dual Life #i absolutely love him #i miss them so much #Crispy Bishes 4 life

7 notes · View notes