What do you think of my incredibly loong BG3 fanfic outline? It's looking to be 1.5 million words over 7-8 parts at 300k(ish) each, and I'm wanting some feedback about whether this "flows". It will even have illustrations (now doing paid artist trials, hit me up).

It roughly follows the plot of the game but the timeline is dramatically extended and everything is far more elaborated on - I turned a 7 minute swamp sequence into 9 chapters and 37k words, for scale.

It's told mostly from Astarion's POV but Tav's POV does drop in now and then, particularly later on. Heavy on plot and smut obviously (how else do you think I'm stretching it to 1.5 million words plus?), and it explores both their backstories.

Shameless plug if this sounds interesting. I am posting random sample chapters each week and I do take requests for what I should post next (I'm not writing it in order cos I like to make my life hard)

https://archiveofourown.org/users/ms_fahey

If there are any plot points you think I've missed, or something seems not quite right, I'm keen to hear from you. There may be some changes between this and the final product, but I felt I needed a bit more structure as I worked.

Part 1 - The Wilderness

After being kidnapped by Mind Flayers and stranded on a beach, far from home, the vampire slave Astarion teams up with some other tadpole-afflicted companions to find a cure to prevent them turning into mind flayers themselves.

However, the tadpole is the only thing preventing his evil master Cazador Szarr from enforcing dominion over his wayward spawn. Astarion seeks not to destroy the tadpole, but to control it - and he will do anything to ensure his own freedom.

But Astarion, ill equipped for life outside the palace, needs a protector. A protector who will help him find a healer who can solve his Tadpole dilemma. Except he has nothing to offer, other than his beautiful face, his perfect body, and two centuries of love making experience.

And Tav, the shy, impulsive leader of their little group, might be his only real option. But for some reason, she seems immune to his charms. But he has no choice but to try – he’s as good as dead without her.

Together with Gale the well-meaning wizard, Shadowheart the secretive cleric, Lae'zel the brash Githyanki fighter, and Wyll the heroic warlock, they set out to infiltrate a Goblin Camp and brave an enchanted swamp in order to find the Druid Halsin, and prevent a war between the Goblins, and the Druid’s Emerald Grove.

Not because he cares, or because it’s the right thing. But because if Astarion can help her save the Grove, then maybe, just maybe, she might start to believe she can trust him. Because she knows he's hiding something. But she's hiding things too. Then again ... it seems like everyone might have secrets.

Part 2 - The Mountain Pass & The Creche

With the Grove safe and the Goblins scattered, Lae'zel is certain that her people hold the cure to the tadpole, and so the companions set off through the mountain pass to reach the Githyanki Creche.

Tav and Astarion have tentatively begun a secret relationship, with Tav still not quite sure if she trusts the beautiful but clearly dangerous vampire. What is he hiding, and why is he so afraid of going home?

Astarion meanwhile, is determined to enjoy every minute of his new found freedom, and relishes in being able to make his own decisions. For the first time, he is able to choose, and he chooses Tav. And he is determined that nobody will take away something that is his.

But when Shadowheart tries to enlist Astarion’s help for her secretive Nightfall Ritual, he realizes he may not be as free as he thought - and that secrets may not be the best foundation on which to build something real with Tav.

The group travel along the Risen Road, and encounter Karlach, a Tiefling Barbarian, and help her escape her captors. Karlach reveals she was sold in servitude to the Archdevil Zariel, forced to fight in the Blood Wards, and vows never to go back. Tav, ever determined to save everyone, promises Karlach that they will help her fix her Internal Engine, so she never has to return to the Hells, and the group gains its sixth companion.

As they move along the Mountain Pass, they stumble across Waukeen’s Rest, recently attacked by the retreating Golin hoard, and save Florrick, an advisor to the Grand Duke Ravenguard – Wyll’s father, who has been kidnapped by the goblins. But that’s not all Wyll has been hiding – he is bound to serve the devil Mizora, and ordered to kill Karlach, but refuses, with dire consequences.

Finally, they reach the Creche, located within Rosymorn Monastery. But the Gith, led by the Lich Queen Vlaakith, may not be so eager to help a group infected by the tadpole progeny of their millennia-long foes - the Illithids. But they are interested in a mysterious artefact that Shadowheart has been carrying around.

Meanwhile Kith'rak Voss, a Githyanki knight, reveals the startling truth – Vlaakith is not the rightful ruler of the Gith. Instead, she usurped power from the true heir, Prince Orpheus, who she keeps imprisoned within the Astral Plane, sapping his powers to supplement her own. To end the War of the Comet, they must find the elusive Orphic Hammer, hidden with the Hells itself.

But first, they learn there is something else inside the Monastery. Something bright and strange and powerful. Something that might make Astarion question what in the sweet hells Tav is thinking.

Part 3 - The Underdark and the Grymforge

Travelling through the Underdark, denied the sun, Astarion begins to feel the cracks forming under the pressure of his past, and the fear of his future. What is this Goddess known as the Absolute, and why have they all started having strange dreams about a guardian who needs their help? He doesn't know, but he doesn't like it.

As they make their way through the dark, the group stumbles across a Myconid Circle, and learn that the peaceful people are under attack from the Deugar, the Dwarves of the UnderDark, led by True Soul Nere. To save the fungi people, and the deep gnomes enslaved by the Cult, Tav leads her companions towards the Grymforge, an abandoned Adamantium Forge.

There, they hope to confront Nere, and find a passage to Moonrise Towers, the heart of the Absolute. But the journey is treacherous, full of dangers, and one of their companions meets a tragic fate.

Only then do they discover that they have in their possession one of the rarest items in Faerun - a Scroll of True Resurrection. Tav has to choose - use it to bring their companion back to life, or free Astarion from his curse.

When she makes the wrong choice, she starts to see Astarion for what he is, when all the charm is stripped away, and Tav decides to end things between them. Meanwhile, they learn the truth about Gale’s illness – it is not a mere mortal disease, but a Netherese Orb, the most powerful explosive force in Faerun, lodged in his chest, poised to detonate.

Thankfully, they encounter the Elminster - Gale’s mentor, the Chosen of the Goddess Mystra - and who offers Gale a deal. Mystra will stabilize the orb, guaranteeing the safety of the people around Gale – but in return, he must soon unleash the malevolent magic within him to destroy the Heart of the Absolute… an action that will surely end Gale’s life.

Tav, always determined to save everyone, vows that will never happen, and she and Gale grow closer as they brave the Underdark. Unable to stop it, Astarion can do nothing but watch as the two finally connect, knowing if anyone can save Gale, it’s Tav. And the wizard, unlike the vampire, might actually appreciate what he has before she's gone.

Part 4 - The Shadowcursed Lands

Still struggling to adjust to seeing Tav with Gale, Astarion longs to go far, far away, where nobody will ever find him, and where nobody will ever hurt him again. But he's stuck - the Dream Warrior will only protect him from ceremorphosis as long as he agrees to follow Tav.

And try as he might, he can’t bring himself to want to leave her, no matter how much it hurts him to see her in the arms of another. But when Gale and Tav’s relationship becomes strained, Astarion has a choice - to try and be free, completely, or to hope to belong to someone he truly cares for.

Finally out of the UnderDark, the group finds themselves in the Shadowcursed Lands, and meet up again with the Druid Halsin, as well as the High Harper Jaheira, at the Last Night Inn. But that’ not all. The Tiefling refugees were attacked on the road, and many of them have been killed or missing. And there are many dangers lurking in the darkness.

Nevertheless, Tav vows to find a way to cross the Shadowcursed lands to Reithwin Town, find as many lost souls as she can, and lift the Curse by reuniting the spirit of the land, Nathaniel, with his shadow self, Oliver. To unite the two halves of the spirit, they must brave the Gauntlet of Shar, the Lady of Loss, and recover a long-lost treasure - The Nightsong.

Shadowheart, a devotee of Shar, is determined to pass through the Gauntlet, endure her trials, and emerge as a Dark Justiciar. But within the dark halls of Shar's Gauntlet lurks a new threat - Balthazar the Necromancer, who is determined to recover the Nightsong for his master, the Absolute's chosen, Ketheric Thorm, as he prepares his army to march on Baldurs Gate.

And the Nightsong is not what anyone expected.

Meanwhile Raphael, a demon price of the Hells, comes to them with an offer. Kill his old foe, Yurgir, and Raphael will help unlock the secrets behind Astarion’s scars, and perhaps help him find the key to his freedom. Not only that, but they learn Raphael is in possession of the Orphic Hammer. With the help of the cambion Mizora, they journey to the Hells to find it.

There, they meet Haarlep, the incubus, who offers Tav a deal – play a game, and he will give them the Hammer, enable them to free Orpheus from his Astral Prison. But they’re about to learn, you never make a deal with a devil, unless you’re prepared to lose.

Part 5 - Moonrise Towers

Still reeling from their horrific trip to the Hells, Tav is still suffering from the lingering effects of Haarlep’s curse. Meanwhile, the companions, now joined by Halsin and Jaheira, arrive at Moonrise Towers. Assumed to be True Souls, the group begins to cautiously make inquiries, trying to discover the truth behind the Absolute, and how to stop the war before it even begins.

There, they will learn the history of Ketheric Thorne, how he was driven by grief to turn to Lady Shar before his eventual defeat at the hands of Halsin’s druids, and Jaheira’s Harpers. Now, a century later, the God of Death, Myrkul, has raised Ketheric from his grave - offering him immortality, and the return of his beloved daughter, if he leads the Cult of the Absolute to victory in a war of extermination.

Determined to free the Tiefling refugees and Deep Gnome prisoners, they also encounter a familiar face – Minthara, the Drow who led the goblin attack on the Grove. After her failure, Minthara has been sentenced to death. Now free from the Absolute’s influence, she vows to destroy the cult. Fuelled by her desire for revenge, she will not rest until she sees the death of the Bhaal’s Chosen, Orin the Red, granddaughter of the legendary Sarebok Anchev.

Together, they journey deep within Moonrise, and discover the horrifying truth – the towers are built on top of a Mind Flayer Colony, and it is being used to secretly infect innocent citizens of Faerun with enchanted Illithid parasites. This army, perhaps in the tens of thousands, exists unseen and unknown, just waiting for the order to transform.

But who is giving the orders? Is it Thorm? Is it Orin? Is it the yet unknown third leader of the Absolute? Or is it something else entirely – something more powerful than even a God?

Not only that, but their dream guardian finally reveals himself – he is not the saviour of their dreams, but a Mind Flayer calling himself The Emperor. Once known as Balduran, the founder of Baldur’s Gate, The Emperor was turned Illithid, and became a slave to the Netherbrain.

Now, he swears to protect the group from transformation, encourages them to use the power of the tadpoles. But to ensure his own survival, he intends to sacrifice Orpheus in order to destroy the Netherbrain. But Tav, not yet sure of what is the right thing, refuses to hand over the Orphic Hammer that will allow The Emperor to free Orpheus from his prison,

Meanwhile, Mizora has kept up her end of the bargain, and hidden the Hammer until it is needed, so Raphael cannot prove they stole it. But he knows that Haarlep, his personal incubus, can take Tav’s form, and is determined to use the connection to torture her until she breaks.

Astarion hopes their mutual pain will bring them back together, but to his dismay, Tav chooses Halsin for her healer. But what afflicts her is not a sickness that can be soothed away with the druid’s ointments and tea, but a curse, with only one cure – journey back to the hells, and destroy Haarlep.

But Tav refuses – no one will be allowed risk themselves for her sake, and anyone who tries will be forced to leave the group and take their chances on their own. Unwilling to defy her, but unable to do nothing, Astarion decides he has to do something - the only thing he knows he can do, to try and help relieve her anguish.

Part 6 - Baldur’s Gate

After months of travelling, the companions finally arrive at Baldur’s Gate, in possession of one of the three Netherstones. Without the full power of the stones, the Elderbrain, the true identity of the Absolute, cannot be controlled by anyone. But nor is it free, to unleash its war upon Faerun.

The group begins to seek out allies within Baldur’s Gate, including Minsc, Jaheira’s old friend, now brainwashed by the Absolute, and living as a criminal gang leader known as the Stone Lord. If they can free the Reshemi berserker from his tadpole control, he and his adorable sidekick, the Giant Miniature Space Hamster “Boo”, may prove instrumental in turning the tide against the Elderbrain.

Together, they must deal with the thieves’ guilds, a Zhentarium coup, missing children, a haunted mansion, exploding toys, suspicious oxen, Sharran cultists, and perhaps the worst of all – a corrupt newspaper mogul determined to destroy their reputation in the eyes of the public.

Not only that, but Orin the Red, the sadistic servant of Bhaal, the god of murder, has painted the streets red with blood in glorious sacrifice to her father. Worse – she is a shapeshifter, and she could be anyone, at any time.

But there is more happening in Baldur’s Gate. Refugees are flooding the city, something is wrong at the circus, a serial killer stalks the darkness, gnomes are being enslaved to build the cities’ Steel Watchmen, and Wyll’s father, the Grand Duke, is still missing. In his place has risen Enver Gortash, the Chosen of Bane, the final third leader of the Cult of the Absolute, determined to seize power by any means necessary.

To secure his rise, he stole the Crown of Karsus, and used it to enslave the Elderbrain, turning it into a Netherbrain. But he is wary of his ally Orin, and offers Tav a choice – destroy Orin, and bring him her Netherstone, and he will join with Tav to rule the Sword Coast together. But Orin isn’t prepared to go down so easily, and takes a hostage from amongst the group, challenging them to instead betray Gortash if they want to save their friend.

Thankfully, Halsin’s love for Tav is not as singularly possessive as Astarion’s, and an unusual deal is struck between the three – one night of healing, with Halsin, and one night of control and dominance, with Astarion. This, perhaps, is how balance is achieved.

But it isn’t long before cracks begin to form. They still have secrets, darkness in their past, that they must confront, if they’re ever going to hope to heal. So Astarion makes a decision, one that may cause him to lose Tav forever - strike a deal with Helsik the diabolist, and return to the House of Hope, against Tav’s wishes, to destroy Haarlep and end her curse. That is, of course, if he survives.

Part 7 – The Dragon, the Vampire Lord, and the Netherbrain

Tav is now free from her curse, but the world is still not set to rights. Orin still haunts Baldur’s Gate, hidden somewhere beneath the city – but their mission is clear. If they can defeat the Bhaalspawn, and take control of the Netherstone, they can ally themselves with Gortash and seize control of the Netherbrain.

But Orin isn’t prepared to go down so easily, and takes a hostage from amongst the group, challenging them to instead betray Gortash if they want to see their friend alive again. To save them, and stop Orin, the the group must journey to the Undercity Ruins, and confront Sarevok Anchev to find the location of his granddaughter.

There is more though, hidden beneath the city – Ansur, the Bronze Dragon of legend, has slumbered for millennia. If they can find him, and wake him, he may prove a powerful ally in the war to come. Not only that, but the wizard Lorroakan is still hunting the Nightsong, and will stop at nothing to get his hands on it.

But things get worse when Astarion is confronted by the Gur, and they reveal the precious treasure that was stolen from them – and demand Astarion bring it back.

Meanwhile, Astarion has learned that Cazador intends to sacrifice his seven spawn in a Black Mass ritual, that will see him become the Vampire Ascendent – with all the powers of a true vampire, but finally free from the thirst, and able to walk in the sun.

But Tav is determined to save Astarion, just like he saved her, and goes to Cazador alone, to offer herself in his place. Imprisoned, and held, to lure Astarion home, she learns the horrifying truth about the ritual. Now, Astarion must finally put aside his fear, and face his former Master. Will he lose, and be sacrificed? Or worse – what will happen if he wins?

Because Astarion has a choice – kill Cazador, and free his siblings, and then he never has to fear the vampire lord again. Or he can take Cazador’s place, sacrifice the evil lord and his spawn-family, and become the Vampire Ascendent himself. And never fear anyone, ever again.

With his new powers, he could destroy the Netherbrain, and save Faerun. But is the price of his Ascension too high – not just the seven souls sacrificed, but also, the loss of Tav? What is he willing to pay, for a thirst-less immortality, for ultimate power, and for his freedom?