Ketchup... catsup... catch up?
Tanthalas
Posted: May 13 2004, 06:09 AM
OK, this is an old discussion that's been raging for a year or more now. My two cents on this (I apologize for stuff that sounds far-fetched; I'm DMing a Ravenloft campaign with a lot of time-travel and stuff these days, so my explanations for inconsistencies I didn't notice have to be quick and a litte odd =) )
I'm not particularly conversant in FR lore - I only read some of the books (Salvatore's first two trilogies) and played the BG series. So I'm sorry for any problems that may crop up here... if there any, please let me know and maybe we can patch together some kind of version of this story that's acceptable to all.
Now, let's start with Alaundo. He apparently recieved visions directly from Savras, which means that any gods (or Powers) would probably keep an ear open to what he had to say, if only as a source of information. Bhaal heard a prophecy of his death and his spawn ("the Lord of Murder will perish, but in his doom he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny") and also of the Time of Troubles (one of the chanters in Candlekeep in BGI mentions this). With godly intuition, intelligence, vision and time, he connected these two events and planned accordingly. He also foresaw the possibility of returning through his children, prompting him to follow the prophecy (which creates the interesting paradox - did the prophecy cause what it was predicting? =) ). All this happened long (thousands of years) before BG takes place.
Bhaal secretly wandered the earth up to thousands of years before the Time of Troubles. This explains the age differences between the PC and Sarevok, Imoen and the Five (specifically Sendai, Yaga-Shura and Abazigal). If he was banished to the Outer Planes during this time, that doesn't mean he couldn't entrust some of his "most trusted Deathstalkers" with rites that would allow them to channel his essence into concieved children - he doesn't have to create them himself, after all! Surely a tailor-made godly ritual of som sort could produce a similar result.
During the Time of Troubles, Bhaal walks the earth and is killed, but his taint remains at the place of his death (pointing towards his continued existence in some form). Now BGI begins. Sarevok is older than the PC and also more mature, lacking their sheltered existence. Imoen is younger and even less mature. The PC may be 14 or 15, but has perhaps matured quicker than one might expect of a normal child of their race - after all, who can predict the effects of godly blood on any child? Imoen may lack the same speed due to her lesser taint and, especially, due to her suppression of her Bhaalish nature by her natural, sunny disposition. The PC hasn't been noticed in Candlekeep - at least, not by most of the monks - since Gorion brought him at an ambiguous age. A large (or precocious) child at 5 may be taken for 8 or 9, which would shield the PC's strangely fast development to maturity. Those who might have looked closely (Tethtoril, Ulraunt) and seen the oddity could either have been assisting the Harpers by their silence (after all, Elminster's involved) or unable to fathom the meaning of the events. Now Sarevok, physically and emotionally older, comes along and notices the "signs" the PC is displaying. He has just spent time reading Alaundo's prophecies on the matter, he has magical assistance behind him (Winski) and he might have put two and two together as regards the Harper raid on the Bhaalist temple that freed you (BGII's discussion with Alianna), having researched it after escaping. He was, after all, older at the time, which may have been a set time to sacrifice as many Bhaalspawn as possible at once place - or maybe they were being done in lots, and the PC and Sarevok were in the same lot, Sarevok a 5-year-old, the PC a newborn. So perhaps he recognised Gorion or the Harper's involvement with you and therefore found out who you were. Imoen is a different matter - for one thing, her taint is less than yours, her nature is not that of a Bhaalist child, and she was not found under the same circumstances. Therefore, she is overlooked.
A few years pass and the PC is now a mature representative of his/her race, but emotionally still a child (given the background). The changes in character may therefore not be so noticeable, while quick physical changes can be put down to some human blood in almost any race. BGI plays itself out. Sarevok's essence dissipates and is reabsorbed in the Throne. Imoen, on the other hand, has a relatively minor taint, so her soul is not bound up in it completely and she doesn't disintegrate upon death.
Joneleth Irenicus, a very powerful elven mage, has access to major divinations (including Wish), so it's not surprising that he can find out about the PC and Imoen as moderately powerful Bhaalspawns. He captures the two. BGII begins. Irenicus' plans come to fruition and his experiments succeed - he finds a way to extract the souls of the Bhaalspawn, using the collected energies released by the deaths of several people at the same time to rip them out. The PC's soul is removed and, along with it, that portion of the taint that was tied with it, giving Irenicus some of the powers of the Bhaalspawn. The physical aspects of the taint that are embedded in the flesh of the PC remain, and they are strong enough (as the PC is one of the 6 most tainted Bhaalspawn) to provoke involuntary transformations into the Slayer. Later, the PC, whose nature is merging with the Taint ever more, learns to control these changes (or perhaps that's a self-defense mechanism of the last remnants of his soul). The PC kills Irenicus, whose stolen soul, tainted by Bhaal's energies, becomes a petitioner on the empty plane of the Throne of Blood (why a petitioner? Well, it was mixed with Irenicus' essence, meaning it didn't instantly dissipate), now slowly filling up with essence. The PC follows it, dragging his companions with him. In the Throne, the PC battles Irenicus and wins, claiming the right to his soul and allowing resurrection, which formerly was not possible, as the owner of the soul was disputed. After all, the PC had never actually died, rather, he was completely without a soul for a time (and therefore appeared dead). The attempts of the elven healers to rejoin body and soul (i.e. ressurection) allowed the PC to regain their soul and their taint without dissipatig. BGII ends.
ToB (Ascension) begins. The Five have assembled. Hitherto unkown fragments of Alaundo's prophecy point to the PC as the one who will stop the destruction. Imoen begins to gain insight into her taint, which has been brought into prominence by either Bodhi's evil, her self-knowledge, or the soul-transference processes, and gains powers. Sarevok is returned to being, but the taint that he formerly possessed is gone, into the Throne. The will of the PC (unconsciously) sifts through the Throne to discover the fragments of his soul, now free of taint, as something familiar. The PC murders most of the Five, each time setting more essence free, essence he can partially access through the pocket plane, which is, after all, a piece of the Throne - hence the Bhaalpowers. Meanwhile, their control over the Taint increases, leading to improved Slayer abilities. Finally, the showdown on the Throne occurs. Amelyssan the Blackhearted has used her knowledge of the rites to absorb most of the essence, giving herself great power. This allows her to manipulate the essence of Imoen, who has far less control than the PC, and also to sift through the Throne in much the same way as the PC did to find Sarevok, coming up with the Five, possibly Gromnir (all Bhaalspawns) and Irenicus and Bodhi (who each held a Bhaalspawn soul, and therefore some of the Taint, at the time of their deaths and are therefore found on this plane). She cannot manipulate the PC, as their power over the Taint is almost equal to hers, though for different reasons (namely having been on this plane before and forming it out of their will). The battle disrupts Amelyssan's control over most of the essence (first via the pools, then via the destruction of the divine avatars of the Five). Her grasp is weakened so that she is defeated, but she cannot die - therefore the Solar intercedes. The Solar may not be one in the traditional sense, but rather a manifestation of AO's will, or maybe it is a lone Solar, acting under AO's command for a while, or maybe it is working for some other Power. The PC is given final control over the essence, allowing Imoen and Balthazar (and the PC's child, if there is one at this point) to give up theirs. Then the choice is made. ToB ends.
Now, in the course of writing this, I'm sure I've missed some of the details mentioned earlier... but maybe I can synthesise any oversights into this explanation. Or maybe you guys don't like it, which is fair enough =) That's how I see it, anyway.