Monsterlimbs - Cryptid - Tumblr Blog

Always thinking about how my durge Mordriel (or durges with high intimidation rolls in general) somehow attract Astarion. Like he is ALL OVER durges. And Mordriel and Astarion's romance is so wildly unlikely and funny to me.

Like Mordriel, a hulking half-elf with solid black claws, spooky eyes, and no memories, only the urge to kill, somehow got Astarion to fall in love w him. Mordriel, the man who's muttering "all is ash and meat" under his breath, who can't get away from his chronic pain and takes it out on others, who threatens people by saying "Do you have children? Yes? I see. Do you want your children to continue having parents? Or do you want them orphaned? You don't want them as orphans, do you? Then, do as I say." and constantly using his illithid authority, who's covered in explainable scars and tattoos, who is literally murder incarnate, who has killed THOUSANDS and has no remorse except for like a couple of his kills, who can't take a joke, who doesn't even acknowledge or understand flirting and actually gets annoyed at flirting until act 3, who has nearly killed all of his party members at least once including Astarion (who actually, has nearly been killed the most amount of times out of everyone), who thinks "Gods, I can smell our last kill on you. I love it." and "Will you hunt someone with me today?" and "Your teeth are so sharp. You could crush someone's windpipe with ease." is FLIRTING and GOOD flirting at that, etc etc.... That man. That man somehow caught Astarion's eye, PAST MANIPULATION. Past "oh gods gotta buddy buddy with the monster in our group because he's been designated leader and now he has the power to exile me, kill me, or worse, send me to Cazador". Past all that. HE LIKES HIM. He actually likes him. Worse, he loves him. Loves the murder incarnate. Feels SAFE with the murder incarnate. Do you see the irony in that? The first person he's felt safe with probably in 200 hundred years, is a man who's been seconds away from killing him, multiple times and hated his guts for a good amount of time. But now, that man is protecting him, projecting all of that murderous energy onto others, others who have wronged Astarion. And somehow that's romantic to Astarion. Which, in a way, sure, being protected by a horrible monster who's all sweet and lovey dovey towards you is romantic. But also what the fuck.

And even funnier to me, is that Mordriel and Astarion... out of all the people in the camp, is one of the most unlikely pairings for Mordriel. Mordriel, if he hadn't slept with Astarion first, would've ended up with Gale or Lae'zel likely. Lae'zel had the "you've been looking at me differently" option so she was feeling it too, and Gale was like "well Astarion has a certain charm about him. So does a tiger when it purrs" so he did too, and Mordriel was all over those two and really enjoyed their company. Even Wyll, he actually admires Wyll quite a bit, and it actually wildly hurts his feelings when Wyll begins to think of him as a monster. Astarion is like his... third to last choice, behind Karlach and then Shadowheart. Karlach is "his sister's Tiefling", so off limits. And then he and Shadowheart are just kind of neutral until act 2, then they're best friends and she's like a sister to him.

And the only reason Astarion and Mordriel ever slept together and showed Astarion the "plan was working", was because Astarion was just... persistent. And in Mordriel's mind, the more persistent someone is on something, the more nice it is, right? In Astarion's mind, Mordriel's all over him. But Mordriel is like. kinda curious about sex? Kinda? And that's it. The plan is not working.

Also, Astarion is just about the opposite of Mordriel's type at first. The first time Mordriel even begins to tolerate Astarion, is during the bite scene funnily enough. He nearly kills Astarion in that moment, but his "must get the whole story first" type view urges him to press on first. And then their minds link, and Mordriel gets to see the first bit of Astarion's vulnerability, which Mordriel actually sees as a strength (because, in his eyes, surviving 200 years on rats is impressive. He partially pities Astarion for the moment, but it's replaced with almost... admiration. He's impressed, and willingly lets Astarion bite him, and even waited until the very last second to persuade him to stop. Even said "I trust him. He won't hurt us" the next morning, although that was said with a silent threat of "Because if he does hurt us, I think he knows he'll be dead by my hands easily", but still. He starts standing up for Astarion and his affliction because he now has some respect for the "weak, flirty, annoying thief" he once hated). And then they bond over their shared hatred for Cazador. Cazador angers the urges because he has power, so even without Astarion being around, he likely would harbor a good deal of disdain for Cazador. Astarion takes Mordriel being like "we WILL kill him." as the plan working. Again, it is not. Mordriel's merely added another powerful being to his kill list.

The way that Astarion caught Mordriel's eye, is in the moments that Astarion was not preforming and being flirty, but instead being like "Can we kill that guy over there?", or being demanding and such, or when he's giving Mordriel his "doe eyes". The performative mask Astarion has created is..., well, annoying to Mordriel. But when Astarion gets sassy, silly, soft-eyed, or bloodlust-y, THAT is endearing to Mordriel. And so, it is insane these two ended up together. Everything Astarion does to attract, annoys Mordriel. And it is a wonder Mordriel HASN'T killed Astarion because of that. So, for these two to end up together is just. insane. I guess the shared interest for other people's torture really makes you fall in love.

Also GOD did this get so much longer than I meant.

Tiefling Mordriel sketch!

I was just gonna draw his regular self but I wanted to give him a tail and then I gave him horns and then I gave him the bg3 Tiefling ridges and I just. LOOK AT EM. I kinda wanna canonically give him a more Tiefling "like" appearance now. I don't think I'd keep the horns but the tail and the ridges I reallyyyyyy like on him. Plus he's already got the claws and the black sclera and the bright eyes, why not make him even more Tiefling-looking?

Helldusk armors goes STRAIGHT onto Gale's body the second I have it in Mordriel playthroughs. Because Mordriel's logic: wizards = squishy, helldusk armor = durable and spooky (because it has skulls and makes it look like Gale's been taking trophies from his kills, and makes him look like a super proficient killer!), durable = can take hits, spooky = keeps enemies from going towards it, durable & spooky = the off chance something DOES go for his squishy wizard, the attack gets minimized, attack gets minimized = his squishy wizard has time to run

Also Gale just looks cool as hell in that armor. If you don't have it on him, PUT HIM IN IT. Just to see him in it once. Since it counts everyone as proficient, the squishy wizard can wear it with no issue!! He just looks SO good in it. I usually think he's really pretty in wizardy robes, but in helldusk armor he is STUNNING.

Saw this tumblr post on pinterest and HAD to put Gale behind it

Family portraits -

I think if (when) ascended Astarion would get paintings w his partner, he'd get one for the "public eye" and then one for private, with more of a "vampy" vibe! Was this just an excuse to draw Astarion with glowing eyes and try out a more "painterly" style? Mmmmaybe, but I think my point still stands of him doing two different portraits for every portrait <3

Close ups of their faces because look at em!! I think they're pretty

Is your Durge REALLY dating someone if they don't draw them in blood occasionally?

Anyways, Mordriel drawings of Astarion

And an "eyeless" version! I think I kinda like it

Mordriel likes to give his companions... "gifts". Usually bones, parts of their enemies, etc.... but sometimes he just draws them something! In blood of course, he's never THAT normal. He has to be a freak, always.

Drawing his lover's FACE though is mostly an Astarion-specific thing for Mordriel, because Astarion spent so long NOT seeing his face. And also especially since he knows Halsin is... not exactly as keen on these gifts, Mordriel puts all of his creepy gifts onto Astarion, so he's only ever drawn Astarion's face like this. He grew a slight artistic flair from his hunts with Orin back in his prime, but I don't think he ever really grew beyond Bhaalist symbols until Astarion came around. Then, he started studying Astarion's face. Then animals that reminded him of Astarion (deer and cats especially). I feel like Mordriel would learn to draw faces REALLY well just to be like "look what I made you!!! It's you!!" to Astarion, and then wipe it off the wall/surface he drew it on so that Astarion doesn't get pinned for a crime.

Colored sketch of my pretty boy :)

LOOONG thingy about Mordriel incoming!

I drew this a while back but spruced up the lines it all a bit more... red today, to get into the artsy mood. The red felt fitting for a Bhaalist vampire :)

Anyways here's a little rant about my Bhaalist vampire

When Mordriel impulsively allowed Astarion to turn him into a vampire, there's definitely a small... personality shift? Vampires in dnd have a Lawful Evil alignment, and Mordriel was teetering between True Neutral, Chaotic Neutral, Chaotic Good, and Lawful Evil BEFORE being turned. He definitely leaned more towards True Neutral above all else, but once he's turned, he begins to lean more towards Lawful Evil like the majority dnd vampires. I wouldn't say he's SUPER evil though? He holds his previous values, he's just a liiiittle more willing to take advantage of situations and a liiiittle more power hungry and a liiiittle more protective over his group. Also his Urges... are a little harder to control because now they tie into his general hunger for blood. Even before, he was hungry for blood, but now with regular food (...and limbs) tasting "okay" at best, he's pretty hungry and the Urges are able to take control of him a lot easier

And then the Orin duel. He gets Astarion's revenge first on Cazador, and now, with Astarion safe, happy, and more powerful than ever, he goes after Orin. Afterwards, he lets Bhaal back into his life. But he's hesitant now. Questioning. He's not devout or loyal or obsessed like he used to be. He only remembered Neil and Gortash from his past life until late act 2 and act 3. He doesn't remember the Lord he devoted so much to. And so Bhaal... tightens the leash, so to say.

So now, he's a vampire, hungry for blood, his Urges are insanely strong, he's tied to Bhaal with a leash so short it's choking.... So, yeah, he's not having a great time. But at least he has his companions. The Urges are loud, but his companions drown them out. Especially Neil, Astarion, and Halsin :)

Veilguard has me thinking about DAI so much and IRON BULL. Iron Bull and Dorian and Sera and- okay well all of them. But it also brought up the "betrayal" part of Iron Bull.

!!!!SPOILERS FOR DAI BELOW IF YOU CARE ABOUT THAT!!!! also MAJOR rant below

I bought DAI for Iron Bull. Like literally just because the bull man was really hot and I wanted to see him more. I even built a handsome, gentle Qunari dude to go along with him in my first playthrough. Turns out when you choose the "romantic" dialogue options, it means it and, trying to comfort Dorian after seeing his dad, Dorian kissed my dude and I was SO shocked. Anyways, they ended up together instead, but I had my whole playthrough formed around Iron Bull at the time.

Only to hear something about Iron Bull betraying you eventually which was devastating because he and my dude were so close!! So sweet together!! I mean my dude whacked the shit out of Iron Bull after Iron Bull got traumatized over the fade! They were best buds, how could Iron Bull betray him??

turns out Iron Bull only "betrays" you if you betray him. I heard something about the Chargers and the Qunari in that article I read about him betraying you, and after reaching that scene and calling the Chargers to safety, searched up "when does iron bull betray you" and google let me know it was RIGHT after that scene. So I was worried, and even more worried when Iron Bull brought me up to a BRIDGE. I was 100% sure he was gonna push me off, only for Qunari to go after HIM instead. I searched up "when does he betray you" again and like. he doesn't betray you. he gets vengeance for his boys? I was so misled into thinking he betrays you, but he RIGHTFULLY gets vengeance after you make him sacrifice the Chargers. Like those are his boys?? That's his family right there?? He thanks you for not making him sacrifice them afterwards too. He basically goes "I don't know what I'd do without them" like making him sacrifice them, would obviously ruin him. And people are saying he betrays you, but he doesn't!! That's his family!! Imagine your friend (or WORSE, your lover) telling you to let your whole family die when you have the option to NOT. Yeah he's fake but ugh!! And it's like, the Chargers trust him so much. They would die for him. They DO die for him if you tell him not to signal them back. They trust him so much, that they don't even turn back if he doesn't call for them. Because he wouldn't possibly betray them, right? After everything they've been there? Of course not. The thought of him betraying them doesn't even CROSS THEIR MINDS. Because he's loyal. Because he's devoted to his team. The only reason he would betray them, is because you made him. It's like. how does he betray you afterwards?? It's vengeance. It's justice. Anyone would want justice for their family, if ALL OF THEM were slaughtered because of their "friend". Or again, worse, their lover. The person supposed to be in love with them, and care for them, and their needs and wants.

anyways i basically tear my hair out every time I hear something about Iron Bull betraying you because they sacrificed the Chargers like those are his boys?? Those are his babies?? His funky vagabond group?? His strays?? His family?? okay rant over now but UGHHHH

I used to think becoming a writer would make me better at communicating and speaking, but really it just gave me big fancy words to ramble with so I'm over here with a Southern accent saying things like "exquisite" and "truly" and sometimes I go English because I write with a half English half American accent to sound more "proper". So sometimes I just go English mid-convo now if I use too many big fancy words

Anyways this post is proof I ramble too much I love my friends for putting up w me cuz damn I can go on for 20 minutes just to say the sun's bright

I don't know if this is too much nudity but hopefully it doesn't get taken down??? They're y'know naked, but it's not like dicks are out lol and they're not actively fucking or anything. And, I've censored their hips and such just in case it looks a little too nude, y'know? This scene and the context is much more emotionally intimate than physically, in my opinion. They're not screwing to get off, it's way more meaningful than that. In this drawing, they're not even actively banging either actually, they're just cuddling in the aftermath. Buuut they're still naked so I put a little mature tag on it, just in case!!!

Anyways have a (permanently) unfinished Mordriel and Gortash drawing in their AU where Mordriel goes a little (...more) crazy and evil.

This is right after they meet again and have a little reunion! After talking, Mordriel takes Gortash out to the woods and this is after some emotionally-driven, very loving sex. <3

abandoned-child-of-bhaal (not tagging them cuz this post is y'know nsfw, but you should go check her out!!) mentioned the idea of the Bhaalist assassin temple place he and his sister grew up in forcing everyone to have their hair short and then I thought of Mordriel growing his hair out as an act of rebellion and it giving him a much more elfy look and anyways I like it and I've been thinking about that a lot recently. I think he'd grow his hair out down to the floor over time.

Anyways I tried to do a forest background for this, then changed to a bedroom, then gave up and just slapped some random colors down when I got too annoyed lol. I think I liked the lineart more than the colors which really sucks. But whatever, it's okay, it's good practice!! Even if I'm not really that happy with the finished piece, I still think they're cute together

Vvvvvvery lazy scene idea for my boy Mordriel. After hurting his sister Neil as children, he took an oath of sorts to protect her (which is later on why he chooses to be a paladin and make that oath official) as well as keep his Slayer in control. So, before he gets his memories back of WHY he wants to keep the Slayer in control (well, contained until fights come about), he tries to run away from camp a few times, only for Astarion or someone to ask him what he's doing and he gets too nervous to actually leave.

Inspiration for this was that "running away is easy it's the leaving that's hard" song!

The "comic" was originally just going to be 3 panels, one of Mordriel laying in bed with an aerial view, one of the forest, and then one where Mordriel's walking and Astarion asks him where he's going. And now it's 7 panels and I don't reallyyyy wanna finish it, but I still love this scene honestly, even though I got suuuuper lazy on the background and beginning panels. Still! I like it, and it was good practice! :)

Stinky little idiots <3

I cannot stop writing these two together. I love them. HATE Gortash but love him with durge.

RAMBLE AHEAD!! Also maybe spoilers??? I realized the format didn't work properly so I edited out all the spoilers I believe, but just in case, if you don't like spoilers, scroll SUPER fast. I doubt anyone will read it all because it is VERY long but I just really needed to get it out somewhere and if someone does read my ramble even just a little bit of it, heads-up for spoilers and shit grammar pfft!!

This is part of something I drew because I have in mind for an AU where Mordriel wakes up in the ship, thinking of Gortash. In my "canon" story for him, he sees Gortash in his visions when something reminds him of his background, but for this AU, Gortash isn't just passing visions here and there, with no name only face and vibes, he's in Mordriel's mind 24/7 essentially. Along with Gortash being his first though, he never met Neil (his sister) again after losing his memories, which means he never saw Neil care for Karlach, which meant he never even met Karlach or heard of how Gortash treated her, and because of this, never saw Gortash as a creepy little guy, only as his beautiful little lover. On top of that, without meeting Neil again, he falls into his deepest "dark urge-est" life. He only really had control because of Neil, because he was scared to hurt her again after his first transformation (even though partial), he lost full control and hurt her trying to protect her. So, without needing to be careful of hurting his little sister, he has no reason to hold back.

He also never caught feelings for Astarion because he knew he already had a lover waiting for him. Although, that didn't change his and Astarion's relationship very much because Mordriel treats his friends with just as much love and value as his lovers, just with less kissing sometimes. The only real change in the relationship relationship is that Mordriel didn't sleep with him at all. He still adores Astarion deeply, and takes care of him just as he takes care of Lae'zel and Gale and Shadowheart and all of the others he's taken in.

This drawing is kinda after their first reunion. In both his "canon" story and this AU, he goes to meet Gortash alone. Only in his regular story it's because he's worried of Gortash's explosive personality bleeding out towards his precious party members, and in this AU, he really just wants to see his boyfriend alone and be able to get all sappy and emotional without Astarion in the background scoffing at the sight of emotions. After they talk for a long while they go out to the woods together by Mordriel's request and have a ton of cuddles. And a little more, but it's way more emotionally driven than just being horny. It's so much more than being horny, it's seeing your lover in what feels like eternity, having only your own thoughts for solace when your lover had been your everything for the past fifteen years.

Another thing is that I just love him now?? I hate him but I love him?? I don't know, I'm a sucker for dramatic, over-the-top, evil little emo villains with big noses and sad eyes and smile lines. He reminds me of Lucio (from the arcana) in a way, because I LOVE Lucio in his route. He's my sad little sweet man and I'd kill for him. He's just a sad guy who needs some love and care, and someone to show him he's worth loving. But then in Muriel's route, just Lucio's name sets me off. Which is how I feel about Gortash

Okay I'm done :)

With @monsterlimbs posting her version of this meme just yesterday, let me present to you my version! This time with my girl Neil that gives Mordriel a hard time (like siblings should)

A friend mentioned to me that I should draw my durge Mordriel and @abandoned-child-of-bhaal's durge Neil in the "go, do a crime" meme format and I love it so much it fits them so perfectly

@abandoned-child-of-bhaal mentioned the idea of the Slayer forms being different for every durge and since I'm getting closer to finishing the lineart for a drawing with our characters, I decided to do a rough sketch idea for Mordriel's regular Slayer form, when his mouth isn't split.

I'd like to think that Mordriel has "levels" to his Slayer form (also suggested by @abandoned-child-of-bhaal!!) and this could be one of his more "beastly" forms of his Slayer. I feel like this would be one of his less common forms, though. Usually, I see him as a humanoid... creature like the regular Slayer in bg3, with his face looking mostly human but just elongated and slightly more animalistic, and also with the ability to walk comfortably on all fours BUT this dragon looking drawing is kinda cute. I really love the T-Rex type stripe along his neck actually. And I decided to do a silly sketch of him to see how easy I could simplify his colors and everything!

Silly sketch of my durge Mordriel and his ex Gortash in that popular meme format. Durgetash is so canon you can't even convince me otherwise. 💛

Mordriel's nose is too high but I don't even care to fix it pfft

I've been thinking of him a LOT recently since @abandoned-child-of-bhaal and I decided to draw him and their character Neil together and now I'm thinking about the whole durgetash thing. Especially since Neil's dating Karlach and the whole drama with that and Mordriel's just so disgusted with Gortash when he meets him again. Especially knowing that he and Gortash had feelings for each other! He'd be so crazy disgusted