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[sharranselunite]

Player Information

Player: Dee
Contact: theskyisnew on everything
Characters played: It's me
Are you over 18?: Yes


Character Information

Character: Shadowheart, born Jenevelle Hallowleaf
Canon: Baldur's Gate 3, Act III after her personal quest
Age: 40
History: Link. A few quick choices:

1. She killed her parents at their request rather than saving them.
2. She didn't kill Aylin.
3. She turned from Shar permanently.
4. She dyed her hair white.
5. She is level 12 as she's toward the end.
6. Karlach was Tav to fit Kimmeh and Freya.
7. They've done none of the other companion quests.

Possessions: Just her camp clothes.
Weapon: Since she has powers, no weapon!

Powers/Abilities: Shadowheart is a level 12 Cleric, specifically a Disciple of Life. This makes her a stronger healer. I will not have her capable of resurrecting anyone, and her healing will depend on whether a player wants it. I know I don't need to write out the list of spells here, but imma do it anyway for my own sanity.

Cantrip spells:

Light - Infuse an item with Light
.
Sacred Flame - Can encase a target in flame radiance. 3d8 Radiance attack.

Resistance- Protects other people from spell effects.

Produce Flame - Can, obviously, create a flame in her hand to be used.

Fire Bolt - Hurls a mote of fire, 3d10.

Level 1 spells:

Cure Wounds - Cure wounds. Duh. This is higher-level strength at level 12. She needs to be able to put her hands on them.

Healing Word - She can cure someone in her sightline by speaking the spell.

Create or Destroy Water - In this case I would probably just be using it to create water.

Shield of Faith - This would create a protective shield around someone.

Level 2 spells:

Blindness - She can blind an enemy.

Hold Person - She can hold an enemy in place.

Spiritual Weapon - She can summon a spectral battleaxe that will strike enemies for her.

Level 3 spells:

Mass Healing Word - Everyone within a vicinity that she can see will be healed by voice.

Glyph of Warding - She can create a glyph that if walked on will freeze the person and give them Light damage.

Speak with Dead - With permission in game, requested to the mods, she will be able to use a spell to speak with a corpse. Since the D&D movie had it be only three questions, I'm going to keep that for hilarity's sake.

Level 4 spell:

Wall of Fire - What it says on the tin. Create a wall of fire that causes burning damage to anyone who gets close.

Level 5 spell:

Flame Strike - Create a pillar of fire to crash down in an area effect with fire damage.

Level 6 spell:

Blade Barrier - Creates a wall of blades that strikes anyone who comes close or tries to go through it.

That's it. I'm sorry.

Shadowheart has Darkvision and her elven ancestry makes her harder to Charm, and magic can't put her to sleep (unless necessary in game). She can use a variety of weapons and shields, and she's an expert combatant.


Application Questions

Who is the most important person in their life and why? What might be different if this person hadn't been around?

There are two answers, but they are related. First is Mother Superior Viconia DeVir, because she was the one who captured and raised Shadowheart. She is the one who trained her to be the extremely loyal near zealot who was capable of terrible things. And she was the one who had her torture her parents. Everything she learned about Shar and how to follow the life of a priestess was through her. And she desperately wanted to please her.

However, Viconia confessed that she was specifically tasked to do this by Shar herself, as Shadowheart was chosen by her to be the eventual successor as Shar's right hand woman. Viconia was tasked by Shar to murder all of her loyal followers, and it was her duty to mold Shadowheart into what Shar needed. Without Viconia's direct actions and her cold control over Shadowheart, she might have defied sooner, or backed away.

That being said, Shar is ultimately the real culprit here, and the person that Shadowheart set on the highest pedastal possible. Viconia's actions were due to Shar, so she's responsible. Shadowheart was raised to worship and adore Shar, to devote herself to her fully, and to look at all the actions she trained her with as just and good. So what if she killed people? Tortured them? Believed in a life of darkness and hate? That was what Shar loved in her, and she so wanted to be loved by Shar.

Being a favorite of Shar gave Shadowheart special privileges, and she valued that, seeing all of it as approval and power. She believed that the pain in her hand was reasonable as Shar was teaching her lessons, and that pain was necessary to be at her best. All the bad things that happened to her, and that she did to others, was at the behest and worship of Shar.

Without her, Shadowheart might have been a good person. It's hard to know for sure, but she had loving parents who followed a kinder goddess. She eventually came to the light, and found happiness and friendship on the other side, but she believes that she had to go through the worst to get to the best. She still has a lot of guilt in her heart over what she did, and this was all due to Shar. She has not lost full influence over Shadowheart; she'll never be truly rid of her in her heart. But she's moving on the best she can.

Is there an event in your character's life that they'd do differently? How so and why?

Shadowheart would do so much of her life differently if she could. A lot of it was out of her hands, however. She was kidnapped by the Sharrans as a child, and that led to a life of pain, darkness, memory sapping, and zealotry. She can't help but imagine a life in which she made it to her parents safely and got to find out who she would be without any of that. Since this was out of her hands though, she can't do it differently, even if internally she wishes that she could have.

As a Sharran acolyte, she's done so many things that now on the other side of it, she has many regrets about. She's killed people, she's lied to so many, she's caused torture and suffering, and all of this was done specifically to her parents. While she was controlled and mindwiped by them, she now understands that a lot of that responsibility is on her shoulders too. She had choices that she made every day to stay on that path.

By meeting her friends, she decided to change, and the truth is she could have done that at any time. By having positive influences in her life, she started to see the error of her ways, but the fact some of this was always in her power to do, makes her see there is a lot she could have done differently. She could have walked away from Shar at any point when she knew that her actions were wrong, but she chose differently. She wishes that she had that strength sooner, and that is what she would do. She has to live with this forever now, and she understands that.

What's the greatest challenge you foresee your character facing in the setting? How might this impact their ability to adapt and in what ways will they confront this challenge?

Shadowheart has never been without a mission. She was about to help the others defeat the Absolute, and she realized that afterward, she would have to figure out what she wanted to do with the rest of her life after abandoning Shar and the life she led before. But she still had a final battle that she might have died in to distract her from 'what's next.' Unfortunately here, she is in the 'what's next' aspect, and it's far from home.

She's used to being told what to do and where to go by Shar, and having to make her own decisions about what she wants is going to be difficult. She doesn't know what she wants! How is she supposed to figure that out in this world that is so different from her own!

That too will be a struggle. Cars and advanced technology will be completely confusing to her. She's never driven anything or used a phone, so there is hilarity to be had with her trying to get it. She might throw a phone, stomp on it, and need to get a new one. She might get frustrated with the car and try to walk. We'll see. For someone who is used to having a plan laid out for her life, and to be sort of a passive participant, she's going to have to make decisions. She was getting a taste of that with her friends, but even then, they knew what they had to do to fight the Absolute. Now what? We'll find out.

Shadowheart is stubborn, and she is dedicated to changing herself. This will be a challenge, but one that she will try to meet. She is also prickly in attitude, distrusting, and guarded about herself, so trying to crack her open like an egg will be hard.

What's the easiest thing you foresee your character adapting to in the setting?

Shadowheart is very competent and used to adventuring the world. She knows how to take care of herself and once she gets the hang of traveling, she'll feel comfortable doing it and being out there in the Fringes. She's unafraid of combat if she runs across raiders, but she is a healer at heart, so she can help people out that way.

It will probably be a bit of a relief for her to be without direct goddess intervention at the moment. While she has started to warm up to the idea of Selûne being her original goddess, and perhaps her new one, she's a bit exhausted by religion. While she may believe Selûne still guides her here because her powers work, she will appreciate less direct interference, and the freedom entirely from Shar anywhere around her will be glorious. Plus no Sharrans to deal with. Bliss!

While she is guarded, she has started to open up emotionally to her friends, and she is becoming more capable of making connections with new people. She hasn't done that for non-Sharrans for most of her life, but she's starting to like it now that she got started. She may be more willing to stick her neck out for others when she wouldn't have before.


Samples

Sample: Link