application: escordvi

[netherese]

PLAYER INFO

Player: Christine
Age: 30+
Invited by: Sheila, but I already live here.
Contact: necrofancy or necrofancies @ discord
Current Characters: Balthier (Final Fantasy XII, Corsair)

CHARACTER INFO

Character: Gale Dekarios
Canon: Baldur’s Gate 3; coming in from Act 3, before progressing his personal quest.
Age: 40ish.

Background Information: Gale @ the BG3 Wiki.

Personality:

🔮 Tell us about who your character is and what someone’s first impression would be upon meeting them.

Gale’s first impression is typically an honest one. He is bright, cheerful, optimistic and has quite a way with words, being well-read and inclined towards verbosity. His first appearance in canon is amid dire circumstances— trapped partway through a portal after narrowly escaping the crash of a ship that he and the other characters had been held captive on— and even so, he manages to find a silver lining by focusing on strength in numbers and finding a way forward together with his fellow survivors. Though each of the crash’s survivors have been infected by mindflayer parasites, he makes light of the situation not because he doesn’t grasp its severity— being an incredibly accomplished scholar, he is aware of every excruciating detail of their imminent fate— but because he hopes to motivate the party towards finding a solution rather than allowing themselves to remain mired in despair. He is an excellent team player, able to set his sights on the end goal and willing to be flexible in order to achieve something that he feels is for the greater good, even if some of the steps may not always be to his liking. From the start, he is eager to do his part to aid the party, right down to volunteering himself to be camp chef if you don’t have need of his wizarding prowess at the moment.

Generally kind and intelligent, Gale is a warm and (sometimes excessively) talkative presence. Though largely a pleasant personality, he is pragmatic rather than idealistic, and places a great deal of stock in reason and effort. He’s not shy about speaking on his accomplishments; he introduces himself as “Gale of Waterdeep” for the very reason that he likes how prestigious it sounds, but he is also the sort of man who only boasts about what he is actually capable of. His confidence is well-earned; he will admit to being a “wizard of considerable acclaim” in addition to a “scholar of exceptional accomplishment,” but it isn’t until developing a genuine friendship with him that he will confess to having been the Chosen of Mystra, Faerun’s own Goddess of Magic. This position speaks highly of both his talent and ability, and almost makes his own descriptions of himself seem humble by comparison— though ‘humble’ is not necessarily a word anyone would ever use to describe Gale Dekarios, he is not necessarily conceited, either, even if he is quite prideful.


🔮 What is a driving force your character has? What goals do they have and what motivates them?

Gale’s driving force is and always has been his ambition. It is a double-edged sword that pushes him to always move forward, to always pursue a better version of himself. He is open about wanting to be the greatest wizard Faerun has ever seen, to develop his talent to its furthest extent. While he does not seem the sort to want power for power’s own sake, there is no denying that power tempts him, as it has so many others who have come before him. It is enchanting in its own right, a promise of something more, and magic itself is Gale’s entire life, his heart, his first love.

He is passionate about learning, about the finding and sharing of knowledge, and he feels quite the same about magic. He is delighted whenever he is given the opportunity to share it with others, to teach them a little something that might allow them to understand what it is that makes magic so very special, and feels that anyone who has the desire to learn it should have the opportunity to do so. He feels quite the same about learning in general; as a devoted scholar, he is a willing teacher as well as an eternal student in his own right. No amount of knowledge— or power, for better or for worse— will ever be “enough” for Gale. One can always surpass themselves, and he has never been content to allow himself to be satisfied when it comes to either magic or academics.


🔮 What are their flaws as a character? What is something they’ve messed up, or have done that they regret?

Though ambition is Gale’s driving force and a great source of strength, it is also his greatest weakness. Like so many wizards before him, Gale’s story is one of hubris. While he tells tales of wizards past who would see themselves ascend to godhood for the sake of power, he fails to learn from history despite being so certain that he has, and as such, he is doomed to repeat it. Gale is a man with a genuinely good heart, but because his intentions are good, his focus narrows and he finds himself in a position where he fails to see how things could go wrong, even as he follows in the footsteps of his predecessors. In his pursuit of more, Gale went so far as to defy the goddess of magic herself, and was punished for his defiance and his tampering with forbidden magic by losing his position as both her Chosen and her lover, in addition to the loss of the greatest of his powers.

For a long while, it does seem that he has learned from this experience, and he even refers to himself as a wizard on the road to redemption, citing his own folly and fully admitting that his current situation— living his life as a walking time bomb with that aforementioned forbidden magic buried deep within his chest— is a tragedy of his own making. The real tragedy is that even having come to grips with his past mistakes and then dedicating himself to finding a way to atone for them, learn from them, he finds himself tempted to become a victim of his own pride and self-righteousness the moment a new opportunity is presented to him. This is most obvious in his parallel with Karsus, the mage-king from ages past who attempted to ascend to godhood— Gale becomes convinced that were he to walk the same path, the purity of his intentions, which would be to become a more benevolent and generous god of magic than he considers Mystra to be, mean that he could not possibly fail. The ends, once again, justify the means, and he is so convinced of his success and his own investment in the greater good that he simply cannot see that despite being one who loves learning so dearly, he has learned nothing at all from history— neither that of those who came before him nor his own.

Abilities & Inventory:

Abilities:
Gale’s abilities primarily revolve around magic. At his current canon point (level 12), he has a number of spells available to him and is able to cast up to Level 6. His current spell list can be found here, though he has to have spells prepared in order to cast them. He can also use Arcane Recovery to regain limited spell slots/energy before having to rest for an extended period.

Additionally, having been infected with an Illithid parasite (a "tadpole") by his mindflayer captors means that Gale has some very limited psychic power, occasionally able to hear or see the thoughts and feelings of other people bearing tadpoles. He also has the potential to exert psychic influence over other tadpole bearers. Because this ability comes from being a part of the Illithids’ hivemind network, it is unlikely that it will work reliably here, aside from possibly being able to share fleeting thoughts with any potential canonmates bearing tadpoles, as well.

Inventory:
➤ A small leather pouch.
➤ A leatherbound spellbook.
➤ Gold Wyrmling Staff.
➤ 4 Potions of Greater Healing.
➤ 1 Scroll of Revivify.
➤ The Annals of Karsus, a book recently acquired for personal research.

ARMADA SELECTION

Paladin. While Gale could certainly make due in either armada, the Paladins’ goals align very closely with his own. As a prestigious wizard, he is passionate about his research and the pursuit of knowledge, and the Paladins’ approach to exploration and their efforts towards bettering the world would resonate strongly with him. Of the party members available in his canon, he is among those who lean more naturally towards general do-gooding, as well. He approves of and enjoys participating in efforts towards helping others, and while he’s certainly not above bending the rules if he feels the ends justify the means, he would find the Paladins’ ideals of justice and order well-suited to his own world view.

SAMPLE

Test Drive Sample: Top-Level!

Questions: Would Gale be able to bring his familiar, Tara with him? She is a tressym, which is essentially a magical flying cat, and frequently runs errands for him in addition to being a general assistant and companion.