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The Once and Future Champion (Baldur's Gate 3/Dragon Age) (Complete)

Reader mode
Well, this has been an amazing ride! Congratulations on the completed story Cliff! Thank you very much!

I really don't know what the team is going to do against the Diablos Ex Machina guys revealed in Veilguard, especially with their better than Tzeentch level planing, but I also wouldn't mind if they (the bad guys) disappeared in a puff of logic.
 
I understand you write only for your own enjoyment, but I'll cross my fingers and hope dearly for that sequel.

Solas and the Chantry are going to have a hell of a time with Karlach, Gale and Shadowheart's everything, and as someone who really hates the Chantry and thinks that while the Egghead means well...somewhat...he really needs to get smacked upside it, I am yearning for this sooo much.
 
Ugh, draft error - Alfira and Zevlor were supposed to have minor mentions in the wrap-up, and didn't. I inserted them. Hers is during the 'one month' section, Zevlor gets a cameo at the farewell party.

Gregory Crey said:
I really don't know what the team is going to do against the Diablos Ex Machina guys revealed in Veilguard
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You've already seen the foreshadowing of several possibilities:

* Shadowheart has managed to invoke a direct miracle from Selune (Ketheric's salvation counts, even if nobody present fully realized the significance of what she'd done) twice in this story alone. And she intends to bring clerical magic and clerical worship to Thedas if she can. By the time the Diablos Ex Machina guys even show up, they might well have literal divine intervention to contend with.

* Gale likewise is in a position to revamp Thedas' entire magic system, if he can isolate why Thedasian casters are vulnerable to possession but Torilian ones aren't and then figure out how to tweak their casting methods or adapt Torilian shielding magic or anydamnthing else. This also fucks the Diablos Ex Machina guys pretty hard.

* Hawke is owed a publicly acknowledged life-debt by one of the two contenders for ruler of the githyanki empire. Orpheus might have a lot on his plate this year, but by that point in the future? Hawke might well get Lae'zel showing up leading an entire goddamn githyanki army if he really really needs one.
 
cliffc999 said:
Ugh, draft error - Alfira and Zevlor were supposed to have minor mentions in the wrap-up, and didn't. I inserted them. Hers is during the 'one month' section, Zevlor gets a cameo at the farewell party.


You've already seen the foreshadowing of several possibilities:

* Shadowheart has managed to invoke a direct miracle from Selune (Ketheric's salvation counts, even if nobody present fully realized the significance of what she'd done) twice in this story alone. And she intends to bring clerical magic and clerical worship to Thedas if she can. By the time the Diablos Ex Machina guys even show up, they might well have literal divine intervention to contend with.

* Gale likewise is in a position to revamp Thedas' entire magic system, if he can isolate why Thedasian casters are vulnerable to possession but Torilian ones aren't and then figure out how to tweak their casting methods or adapt Torilian shielding magic or anydamnthing else. This also fucks the Diablos Ex Machina guys pretty hard.

* Hawke is owed a publicly acknowledged life-debt by one of the two contenders for ruler of the githyanki empire. Orpheus might have a lot on his plate this year, but by that point in the future? Hawke might well get Lae'zel showing up leading an entire goddamn githyanki army if he really really needs one.
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Those are all great things to throw at them, but my worry isn't their power level or their current plans, but their (alleged) ability to plan out everything for thousands of years while staying hidden. Mostly in the worry that they will observe this group and then adjust their plans accordingly, the group apparently alerted every mage in Thedas of their arrival. Then again, maybe it was just the locals to the area that they arrived in?

Well, the Githyanki are used to fighting superintelligent manipulators, so maybe it is not as bad as I thought.
 
Gregory Crey said:
Those are all great things to throw at them, but my worry isn't their power level or their current plans, but their (alleged) ability to plan out everything for thousands of years while staying hidden.
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Did you mean the Dead Three or the Netherbrain? Oh wait, doesn't matter, they're all dead anyway. :p
 
Balorak146 said:
Solas and the Chantry
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The Chantry is not going to be quite as triggered as Hawke is afraid of, because by the time the Inquisition is over with the two possible candidates to succeed the dead Justinia V as the new Divine are Cassandra Pentaghast and Leliana... and Cassandra is the conservative one and even her reaction to seeing an honest-to-goodness deity of good who actually can answer prayers (and if necessary, send down warrior angels from heaven to fight alongside you) is going to not so much be about proclaiming heresy as it is going to be breathless excitement. What Leliana's reaction would be is somewhere down around Shadowheart's reaction to cute animals. :p

And don't forget, Shadowheart is not only capable of healing, blessing, raising the (recently) dead, and other things that Thedas would only see as miracles, but if Selune agrees that it's a dramatically appropriate time to bust shit out, she can potentially bust shit out that even the Forgotten Realms calls miracles. Literally the only other person in Thedasian history who could do shit like that is Andraste.

Hawke hasn't quite realized yet that there's an outside chance the history of Thedas could just possibly end up considering his most significant contribution to said history as 'this guy was the husband of the second Prophet'.
 
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cliffc999 said:
Hawke hasn't quite realized yet that there's an outside chance the history of Thedas could just possibly end up considering his most significant contribution to said history as 'this guy was the husband of the second Prophet'.
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I don't see him having a problem with this.
 
Balorak146 said:
I understand you write only for your own enjoyment, but I'll cross my fingers and hope dearly for that sequel.

Solas and the Chantry are going to have a hell of a time with Karlach, Gale and Shadowheart's everything, and as someone who really hates the Chantry and thinks that while the Egghead means well...somewhat...he really needs to get smacked upside it, I am yearning for this sooo much.
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I right there with you.
 
I can't believe this is over holy shit this was literally the only baldurs gate story i ever managed to find thats not just an smut story or just a thirst trap with a fem tav/durge, goddamn what a ride thanks for the story and congrats
 
cliffc999 said:
I was amused to find out that Alfira's proposed bard school was now enjoying a positive explosion of new funding, to the point she'd actually been regifting the majority of it to refugee reilef and reconstruction. This was partly because of her own minor glory as one of the tiefling refugees who'd so selflessly turned out to save the city that had barely even wanted to let them in and now couldn't quite praise them enough, but largely because as the one bard who'd actually been present throughout our entire quest from the Emerald Grove onward she was automatically presumed to be the authoritative source regarding exactly what the story of Baldur's Gate's latest heroes had been. And every other bard, chronicler, scholarly society, and the generally curious were gladly doing her whatever favors they could to convince her to share it. I took mercy on the poor young woman and spent two entire days giving her most of the details of our story from front to back, as unvarnished and factual as we could make it, so that she could handle the job of making sure it was written into history. Alfira gave me her most solemn oath not to Varric the whole thing up too much.
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... Depending on how much detail about Shadowhearts backstory Alfira includes, every tavern could be hearing the story of just how much of a loser Shar is.
 
I noticed the Prelate's name was punctuated different ways, but when I went back to find out which to point out as the problem... it turns out you've used an almost even split between L'ir'ic and Lir'i'c, with a couple of cases of Lir'ic thrown in for flavour.


cliffc999 said:
Karlach's own adamantine weapon cleaved through even the toughest flesh as if it were air, and while she had no nigh-invulnerable armor or regeneration of his own she didn't need it so long as she operated in tandem with me. As long as I could tank the majority of the damage her own wounds never accumulated beyond what a veteran warrior was already accustomed to withstanding in battle despite the unrelenting odds, and with her sword to flank and augment mine the enemy never got a chance to surround us and overwhelm us from our sides or rear. Shadowheart remained a pace to my left throughout just as Karlach anchored my right, her Spirit Guardians spell blazing forth and incinerating all the smaller vermin and scuttlers with the sheer force of its radiance just as the Spear of Night did its own work covering my flank and impaling the bigger ones. Gale remained behind us, having used up a good half of his spells keeping us from being swarmed under by clumps of enemies so numerous that even the Spirit Guardians couldn't stop them all before they drowned us underneath the weight of their bodies.
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her

cliffc999 said:
"I am really starting to hate that thing's sense of timing." Shadowheart agreed wearily as we all piled frantically out onto the roof. We got there just in time to see the brainstem detach from the ground. It's tip slowly, insolently traveled up past our eyes as the Netherbrain began to levitate up to altitude.
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Its

cliffc999 said:
"Where the hells did those even come from?!?" Wyll swore. "Every nautiloid we saw at Moonrise has been accounted for already?"
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On review, I guess this does work for a sort of overwhelmed puzzlement, but the paragraph is a bit overloaded with question- (and exclamation-)marks.

cliffc999 said:
"Selune, blessed Lady of Silver, patron of those who quest-" she began.

"Lathander, our Morninglord, patron of renewal-" Dawnmaster Arkhold began, immediately catching on to their intent. The Blood of Lathander blazed forth even more brilliantly than usual as he used the divine weapon as the focus for his own calling-

"As the silver moon waxes and wanes-" she continued, and Isobel joined in alongside her-
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This should be her, since Isobel hasn't yet jumped in with Shadowheart.

cliffc999 said:
We can still provide secondary support. Orpheus' own mind-voice came through calmly, as him and Voss also came in. And we can distract the brain. It could overwhelm any single mortal mind by calculating its moves ahead of time, but the possible neural permutations of nine minds in concert are enormously more complex than a simple ninefold multiplication!
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Shouldn't this be he?

cliffc999 said:
"I thank you for your plaudits, Grand Duke, and I will soon send my emissary to you to clarify any further details that may need resolving." Prince Orpheus greeted him regally from the saddle. "But for now my people must swiftly withdraw from this city. All the ghaik that directly served the elder brain are now dead along with it, but before it died it was attempting to summon allies. I must muster my forces – including those I summoned but have yet to arrive – and ensure that none remain in the near astral or arrive here. Furthermore, with the elder brain now gone Vlaakith will soon dispatch her own githyanki hither to find and slay me – I would be a poor ally indeed if I remained here and drew that trouble down upon you."
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I think this would be clearer if you added that or who (depending on whether you want us to think of them as military units or as people).

cliffc999 said:
"I did only what was necessary and permitted, Garrett Hawke." Jergal nodded gravely. "It was thou who went above and beyond .Many other possible champions could have also defeated the Absolute and foil the plot of the Dead Three. But few indeed could have done so in the particular manner that you have, and fewer yet would have. The deeds that thou hast done here will echo across the face of time and the differing planes in many ways both direct and indirect, and few of those ways will be for ill."
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beyond. Many
foiled

cliffc999 said:
I was amused to find out that Alfira's proposed bard school was now enjoying a positive explosion of new funding, to the point she'd actually been regifting the majority of it to refugee reilef and reconstruction. This was partly because of her own minor glory as one of the tiefling refugees who'd so selflessly turned out to save the city that had barely even wanted to let them in and now couldn't quite praise them enough, but largely because as the one bard who'd actually been present throughout our entire quest from the Emerald Grove onward she was automatically presumed to be the authoritative source regarding exactly what the story of Baldur's Gate's latest heroes had been. And every other bard, chronicler, scholarly society, and the generally curious were gladly doing her whatever favors they could to convince her to share it. I took mercy on the poor young woman and spent two entire days giving her most of the details of our story from front to back, as unvarnished and factual as we could make it, so that she could handle the job of making sure it was written into history. Alfira gave me her most solemn oath not to Varric the whole thing up too much.
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relief

cliffc999 said:
As to more mundane concerns… well, to put it succinctly we were bidding fair to be set up for life. We had the wealth we'd adventuring and from the rewards granted us by a grateful city council, my new noble rank, and the fact that I could have had essentially any position in the city government that Ulder Ravengard had the authority to grant me free for the asking and she'd have been deputy High Initiate of the Selunite temple of Baldur's Gate likewise. Plus there were all the commercial and other opportunities potentially available to someone whose prestige was so well and truly that of the hero of the hour. My and Shadowheart's material prospects were as favorable as anyone could expect, and we'd never have needed to delve into another dungeon again unless we felt like it. The Grand Duke would even have been willing to 'reorganize' a few property lines as part of the Upper City's reconstruction and grant us room for a generously-sized mansion and estate.
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Seems like there's a word missing here - won would be fairly typical.

cliffc999 said:
Lae'zel had returned both to attend my departure and to help close out what official affairs remained unresolved between his court and Baldur's Gate regarding their temporary alliance, just as Orpheus had promised. It was amusing to find out that Lae'zel, who had so legendarily scorned diplomacy when we'd first met, had effectively become the chief diplomatic envoy for Orpheus' court. She was not only his kith'rak with the most experience at living among non-githyanki but was also one of his most mentally flexible people. Furthermore, as a githyanki of the current generation who had had no prior connection with Orpheus' followers prior to his return and yet still solidly within his innermost circle of advisors, Lae'zel was effectively a living symbol to the gith at large that Orpheus was not merely a political rival attempting to seize power for his own cronies at the expense of Vlaakith but a genuine reformer attempting to offer a new way of living for all gith, longtime Comet conspirators and newcomers alike.
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This makes sense on a second reading... but throwing the pronoun at the reader before the name it is standing in for dropped me out of the story the first time through.

cliffc999 said:
"That's why exactly I'm going, sir." Karlach said cheerfully. "I spent my whole life in the Gate, then I spent ten years of it trapped in Hell, and then I spent a few weeks of it out on the long road with Hawke and company… and those few weeks were the happiest part of my whole life. Everything new, everything fresh, everything full of sights and sounds I'd never seen before, good fights in good company… and a commander that I could really, really trust. I definitely want some more of that before I think about settling down, and going with Hawke to an entirely new world and a new set of challenges sounds like the best idea ever to me!"
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These would usually be in the opposite order; is reversing them Karlach's voice?

cliffc999 said:
Varric narrowed his eyes knowingly at where her and Hawke had been holding hands. "Oh, I'm sure you are." He turned to Hawke and continued insolently. "You really do have a type, don't you Hawke?", and Karlach hurriedly muffled a laugh behind her hand.
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Delete the comma.
 
A fantastic take on both games, mixed into a fine read simply marvelous work!

Dare i hope for a sequel one day in the future?
 
cliffc999 said:
We had the wealth we'd adventuring
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gotten adventuring
cliffc999 said:
"I propose that we test that theory!" I mocked it, and we drove in for the kill.
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Hi Giles! :p
cliffc999 said:
"We did it." Lae'zel sighed, blushing furiously from where her and Prince Orpheus had ended up riding double-saddle. Fortunately for her she was the one riding behind, so he couldn't see.
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*snickering*
cliffc999 said:
For those wondering at the whiplash of Hawke returning to Thedas, here's the thing - from the very beginning of the story I had storyboarded out that this tale would end with him going back, only this time with renewed purpose and bringing the things Thedas needed to be saved where canonically it was screwed.
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Once again, Fuck Veilguard!
cliffc999 said:
And yes, that's The Iron Bull going "Da-yum! Just look at that hotness!". Remember what his type in women canonically is, and then note that Karlach is dead-center in his strike zone.
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Oh God, their kids are gonna be little terrors...
cliffc999 said:
What Solas is sensing is of course the fact that Gale is from another world and that his wizardly powers don't use the Thedasian magic system, eevn if Gale can obviously adapt his casting to local conditions, and thus starting to be just a wee bit spooked by the fact that multiple Outside Context Problems from entirely beyond Thedasian conception have just landed right in the middle of his scheme and are all too likely to blow it the hell up. But hey, that's his problem.
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Get fucked, baldy!
cliffc999 said:
What Leliana's reaction would be is somewhere down around Shadowheart's reaction to cute animals.
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I'm just imagining Leliana meeting Shadowheart and gushing over Nugs. "These are Schmooples II and Boulette! Aren't they the most adorable creatures?" *squeeing intensifies*
cliffc999 said:
Amusingly, over the course of writing this story I ended up slowly ruining canon play for myself.
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As much as I'm wincing over how much that must suck, I still laughed my ass off over reading this. :p
bob1? said:
Please ruin Vailguard canon play… just every choice rendered meaningless 😭
you would do amazing👍
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Oh, the "game" and the "devs" that made it did that very thoroughly by themselves.

Thanks Cliff!
 
I haven't posted nearly as much as I should have, considering how I know I feel when posting MY stories, but I've really enjoyed this, and I'll admit, you finishing your story has gotten me to at least plan out an endpoint to my current story. It's still nearly two years off, but at least it's an end (though, of course, like yours and many good ones, it'll be an open-ended ending).

So, thanks for the story and the inspiration, Cliff.
 
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