Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Story & Character Discussion All the things we want to chatter about Astarion & other stuff, without hijacking another thread :)

Suddenly, something landed beside the prince, apparently jumping from the nearest fence, and mewed in displeasure. The huge black cat shook off the dust, stretched, yawned, and headed down the road toward the market.

- Kitty, kitty, kitty... - Ast Jr. reached for this imposing furry stranger with a smile.

- You say to me, “Kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty,” but you do it without respect. - The cat turned around, stopped and sat down opposite the Little Prince, keeping a watchful eye on him with his cunning green eyes.

- Uh...” The little boy froze in surprise with his hand outstretched in the air. - Well, I wanted to pet you... Ahem... Ahem. Allow me to introduce myself, Astarion II, son of Lord Astarion I and his consort, Lady Dark Urge. May I offer you a promenade, or invite you to dinner at the castle? There's a soiree tonight that will be attended by some of the most... prestigious people in the city. - The boy stuck his nose up, proud of how beautifully he could introduce himself and mimicking his father's trademark grin.

- Dinner, pur-mur-mur... Noble faces, expensive shoes... I have not yet had the honor of sending my natural needs into expensive shoes... It's a worthwhile proposition, I'll think about it. - The black cat tilted his head to the side and began to actively scratch his ear with his hind paw, it seemed to symbolize his thought process. - Look, Prince Astarion, is the flea still there? These little creatures have gotten cocky.

The heir leaned toward the cat.

- Nah, I don't see it...

- Uh-huh. It's on my paw, I clawed it. That's what you should do to them, you know?

The boy nodded seriously. He saw no reason to do anything differently with the fleas yet.

- Do you want to be my partner? Do you want to be a loyal henchman of the predatory, dangerous and ruthless Murrleone? Then tell me, what are you capable of?

- I can bite, I can turn into a bat, I can spit out of a tube, more...

- Hush, hush... - the cat raised his paw, stopping the Little Prince from enumerating his virtues. - Biting is a good thing. I respect that too. But without claws, - Murrleone abruptly released the claws on his raised paw, showing them off in all their glory. - Biting would be wasted labor.

The boy stared slightly disappointedly at his fingers with their neat aristocratic manicure.

- A bat will do, you can infiltrate the ranks of the enemy and give them a wonderful prank... - the cat with a snide chuckle, rubbed his front paws together, - But not a bat, better a regular mouse, these primitive idiots do not like those who stand out and fly too high, they will start laughing at you, and the operation will fall apart.

- But I'm a vampire... Vampires turn into bats, not regular mice... - Ast Junior widened his eyes in surprise.

- Vampire? Do you know how to scratch furniture? Scratch it to shreds? And how to scream at night so everyone comes out cursing at you? Vampires, from what I hear, hunt at night. And I like to hunt at night. And then scream. No, don't think I'm asking for anything from anyone, - Murrleone made a skeptical face and waved his paw dismissively, - this world has been rotten for a long time. Don't believe, don't be afraid, don't ask. - The cat looked at the boy with the look of a weary sage. - Yelling should be for pleasure, for self-expression. Yell in a way that no one likes it.

- And how do you yell so that no one likes it? - the little boy squatted down and stared attentively at the cat.

- Well, I'll teach you. - Murrleone sucked in a deep breath of air with his nose and pressed his ears against his head, - MYA-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U-U!

Poor Dolly Thrice jumped out into the street again with terror on her face. The guard dog from the neighboring house whined and hid in his box. The pigeons synchronously pooped on Balduran's statue. The little prince jumped and clapped his hands in joy.

- Awesome! Awesome, awesome, come on, come on, come on, come on! Come on, let's go to the castle, I'll tell mom and dad I invited a real bard to dinner, not like those boring bards and their incessant howling! Hooray!


“Sceleritas is bad!” - The little boy said in a confident voice, patting Sceleritas on the shoulder, trying his best to justify his playmate. “He's really bad! He brought a cat into the castle, the cat ripped up the wallpaper and ate all the food off the table, left and promised to come back! You can't bring home cats, Sceleritas, you're no nice at all!”


Yes, it's such a happiness! <3 Astarion will never betray or abandon, they can both be themselves around each other, understanding and accepting each other real.

Oh, maybe with the new modding tools after patch 7, Astarion can add Will's dance, that would be so cool!



“All of this would be nothing without you.” - truth. It's like a title, or like an epigraph for the whole Astarion romance. And that to live one without the other would be pure agony. I've always been annoyed by this: “When you ask for freedom, Astarion will blah, blah, blah...” What, in the name of all the devils of hell, freedom? It's like: “When your character jumps from the highest roof upside down...” In the case of the roof, at least it won't hurt as much. They're happy together and they're both watching out for each other. <3


We have nothing at all to owe anyone except our loved ones, and “you should feel guilty” - in real life these are the words of manipulators, something you should never fall for. “If you don't want to see my middle finger, put away your index finger” is a good saying to that effect. Of course, the game has nothing to do with reality, that's just me for the sake of example. I completely agree with you, and the only real guilt I will feel is if Astarion is forever suffering for being a spawn forever. If you purposely fail this manipulative persuasion check, which is needed to refuse the ritual, Astarion will tell you how he feels about it. Too bad I couldn't find a video on the subject, you could try it in game if you have a close save. And look at the look on his face during the ritual rejection scene.


He just looks plain exhausted and depressed in this scene. Even without the moment where he cries horribly painfully and bitterly. If you watch that scene frame by frame, honestly, it's far preferable for the Astarion-loving DU/Tav to unpack their BFG (“big f**king gun”, and every mighty hero has one, hehe ;)) and deal with any accusers with it (Gur is a great excuse to do that and appreciate the Ascendant's Bite). Because we can do that together with him...


And later like this...


The romance with UA in general feels more like some kind of friendship than true love.


Yeah, there's no one better than Astarion. His movements, his facial expressions, his voice... I liked the romance with Daeran in Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous a lot too, but Astarion hooked me much stronger.


Thank you!!! <3


Ha ha, he pronounces it “ bird” so cool! I think I'll attack that bird one time now, it's fun.


Oh, your Sceleritas evokes genuine sympathy! He makes me want to take him in my arms and tell him that he's... very bad? Being nice is definitely not something he likes...


What great dialog... I've never seen it before. Why, for the sake of getting it, do you have to necessarily start a relationship with Karlach, only to dump her for this dialog? It's so hard and unpleasant to flirt with someone other than Astarion, and I really don't want to do it. How I wish I could have these extra dialogs without any relationship with others, especially since if you take out the line about Karlach, his other lines would be perfect for talking to him about relationships, for example. “Still, if you insist on adoring me, then who am I to stop you?” - how this line would be great for a situation where Tav/Du, for example, rejects someone's advances, Astarion notices it, asks a question and you could say something like “I don't need anyone but you”. That dialog is something I'd really like to see in my game. Without Karlach. Sure, when you pick Astarion and get great dialog, that's great. But when you pick Astarion a priori, and are loyal to him from start to finish, you get... Nothing. That's not fair. Especially since the dialog is already written, they could have added it, just with some minor changes.