@tav-dex Was The Motivation I Needed To Put A Ref Together For My Alien Apparently. So Here He Is, Here

@tav-dex was the motivation I needed to put a ref together for my alien apparently. So here he is, here is my favourite child. Tumblr is going to ruin my colours I know it.

Couple of uninteresting things: -Hails from creche Xal'i'n orbiting the planet Remichi -Left his creche at 17 because his wild magic was becoming a big problem, turns out you can't just beat wild magic out of someone, who knew. -Wandered the astral with various pirate crews until being recruited by a member of the Sha'sal Khou. -That sword is one he has forged after the events of BG3, it's called Mirhanac Zvir -He likes collecting gems for future armour decoration, his favourites are amethysts and onyx. -His favourite food is neogi. -His magic surges turn him into a cat all the damn time. (four times in one fight during my playthrough, he must live with the consequences now)

Minthara: There is something about you that troubles me, though. Something that I need you to explain. You chose to incapacitate me rather thank killing me when you eradicated my minions. Why? Paladin: I recognized you, in a way. You were what I would have been, enthralled to the Absolute, a warrior with their zeal poisoned by a false faith. If another had found me that way, I'd hope they'd have seen me, like I witnessed you. Minthara:...I no longer have the certainty that my faith was only ever a means to control. But I am grateful that you saw my strength, even turned against you as an enemy.

controversial opinion, but characters are so much more interesting when you are able to forget about shipping them for a moment and actually appreciate their unrelated personal plot/arc. if the most interesting thing you can think of about a character is the ship you like them with, then I don't think you actually like that character very much

This art of Serana from Skyrim (as always, drawn by my friend @yuramoonbow, also available on twitter here) was actually not a commission, but a surprise birthday gift after they had already drawn this other piece for me.

I keep reminding myself that not everyone has read every possible githyanki/githzerai related source going back to the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Fiend Folio. Not everyone has this level of Special Interest. Not everyone is actively trying to track down good hard copies of most of these books. Nor is anyone obligated to do so.

So here you go: I'm going to explain why "githzerai good/githyanki evil" is completely reductive, not in line with the lore, and would be ridiculous to add to BG3.

The githzerai are far, far, FAR from saints, and including them in BG3 would just muddy the waters further. They aren't just running around being the good to the githyanki's evil. And never have been. They've been chaotic neutral since the Fiend Folio, and they did not become Chaotic Good in the years since. In fact, I'd make the argument that, based on their canonical behavior right up to the present, "chaotic evil" would be an appropriate alignment.

Back in second-edition D&D, in the Planescape Book of Chaos, there's an entire section on a credible rumor that the githzerai are working on a ritual that will allow them to pull githyanki out of the Astral Plane into their city so they can "punish them for their evil." (Page 76, if you're curious.) Dragon magazine #306 (an official source), there's an article entitled "Killing Cousins." It details the gith-attala, or...cousin hunters, githzerai who specialize in hunting down and killing githyanki. They go after githyanki anywhere, but in particular strongholds on the Material Plane. As of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (again, official source), it's explicitly stated on page 305 that the githzerai are "always on the lookout for githyanki plots to foil and creches to exterminate."

If we encountered githzerai in BG3, the most likely place to do so would be outside the creche, planning an attack that would have targeted eggs, hatchlings, and children.

The githyanki aren't coming from a place of moral good. But neither are the githzerai. Simplifying it down to good vs evil does the entire story of the species a disservice.

watch for this as you scroll social media this evening:

israel today dropped a bomb on a refugee camp located in rafah, which, as a reminder, had been sold as a safe zone.

remember that this camp is made of tents, not buildings. this strike was dropped directly on families in the dead of night, with no shelter to protect them. many people have become trapped by the burning tents. we don't have a death toll yet, but it's likely more than 50.

the images coming out from this attack are among the most graphic we have seen out of gaza. do not look them up unprepared.