zevlor

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CHARACTER NAME: Zevlor
CHARACTER SERIES: Baldur's Gate 3, heavily informed by Descent Into Avernus

[OOC]
This is the permissions list for OOC (out of character), activity.

Backtagging: Yes please!
Threadhopping: Check with all other participants first, but generally I don't object.
Fourthwalling: I would say only if you're Deadpool, but would Deadpool even follow this canon?
Offensive subjects (elaborate): As a player, I have no triggers. However, I prefer certain subjects be approached with sensitivity and content warnings. These subjects include: domestic abuse, rape/sexual violence, animal abuse, transphobia and homophobia, and self-harm. I will play threads wherein these topics come up ICly, but I will always try to include a CW.

[IC]
This is the permissions list for IC (in-character), activity.

Hugging this character: Go for it. 99% chance he's okay with it, though he may be puzzled.
Kissing this character: Platonic kisses, same as above. Romantic kisses will be a greater surprise, but he's still unlikely to be offended.
Flirting with this character: Reciprocation is not guaranteed, but go for it. Ships with all genders and most D&D races (I'm not sure he'd ICly cozy up to an actual Devil, but I have no ooc limits there so hmu anyway and we'll see what happens.)
Fighting with this character: Absolutely. Keep OOC communication strong in fight threads, please! I never insist my characters win in a fight but I do like to give them credit for what they are capable of in canon.
Injuring this character (include limits and severity): Anything short of permanent maiming is fine.
Killing this character: Not without prior consultation. I'm rarely interested in death in threads.
Using telepathy/mind reading abilities on this character: Yes, but if you try to influence him and he notices he will be Very Upset.

Warnings:
Canon-typical violence, which can be real intense. Check those evil endings, oof.
Implied mind control.
Potential body horror if tadpoles and mindflayers are involved.
Severe depression and loss of personal drive and identity on Zevlor's part.


Get your own copy of the IC/OOC Permissions meme!

Player
Name: B. Just the letter B, preferred, but Bridgie is the full name if needed.
Contact: discord and plurk names are both WugglyUmp, however I only check plurk once every six to eight months so discord is highly highly recommended.
Over 18?: yes
Current Characters: none
Link to permissions/opt out: Here

Character
Name: Zevlor
Canon: Baldur's Gate 3
Canon point: late Act 2, immediately post rescue from Moonrise Tower
CRAU?: n/a
Age: 58 (as a note, tieflings appear to canonically have slightly longer lifespans than humans so this probably puts him in about the middle of his natural life)
History:
relevant articles:
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Elturel
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Hellriders
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Order_of_the_Companion

[Early life]
Zevlor's mother was a cleric of Torm; his father was a shopkeeper, mild but devoted to his faith and his family. Zevlor's eldest sister, Yediri, was sickly and spent much of her time bedbound from a very early age. His two younger brothers were called Mimir and Cascis.

Zevlor was about seven years old when his mother went missing, presumably killed by one of the vampires and spawn infesting Elturel at the time. Her body was never found. A few months after her disappearance, the Companion, the second sun brought into being thanks to the prayers of Thavius Kreeg, appeared in the sky over Elturel, thus ending the plague of undead in the city. This was a seminal even in Zevlor's childhood for multiple reasons, one being the loss of his mother and the subsequent plunge into poverty for his family, the other being the awe of this supernatural occurrence saving the city, as if in recompense for his and his family's personal loss.

Zevlor's father struggled consistently to make ends meet for his family after his wife's death, which left Yediri and Zevlor to pick up the slack in caring for their younger siblings as much as they possibly could. Zevlor ended up doing the physical work while Yediri gave directions, being the oldest.

Tragedy struck their family again when Zevlor was twelve; Yediri's illness overwhelmed her young body, and they were unable to find a remedy despite throwing every penny they could spare at the local healers and clerics. For a long while, Zevlor and his brothers were bitterly convinced it was poverty itself that killed their sister. He still has mixed feelings, but they have no name for the illness she endured, so the truth is hard to determine.

Zevlor fondly remembers playing games with his siblings across the quilted counterpane of his sisters bed. His favorite toys were little carved wooden lions with bits of real fur glued on for their manes. He and his brothers would march these and their tin soldiers across the squares of floral fabric as if they were meadows, and Yediri would make up stories to go with them.

His favorite animals are still lions.

[Hellrider Zevlor]
When he turned twelve, Zevlor was officially old enough to begin work, and was aggressive in his choice of odd jobs, determined that there should be no lack of funds to care for his brothers if the need should ever arise. Mimir showed some potential in magic, and the idea of finding him an apprenticeship when he came of age was appealing. Cascis was more of an artist, with a sensitive temperament. Zevlor was exceptionally tall for his age, and quite strong, and got caught up in a few tussles as he vied for physical labor with men twice his age. His physicality and determination got him labeled as a hellion in a figurative sense, but he opted to take it as a suggestion. He applied to the Hellriders, and after a whirlwind training period, he was accepted and swore by the Creed resolute at the age of thirteen.

[Descent into Avernus]
In 1492 DR, Thavius' Kreeg 50-year pact with Zariel came due, and the city of Elturel was drawn into Avernus. Zevlor was within the city at the time, and discovered the hard way that his Oath to defend the city with body and soul also bound him to Zariel, as it did all of the other Hellriders.
He did his best to aid survivors within the city, and at one point tried to strike a bargain with an abishai to trade his own soul for the freedom of some of the other Hellriders. This failed, because his soul was already forfeit thanks to the Creed.
Only the intervention of a handful of adventurers from outside the city saved Elturel from Zariel's machinations. Zevlor aided some of them as best he could as they moved through the city and into Avernus, and offered his blood to attract the demon Crokek'toeck toward the chains dragging the city down to the Styx, in the hopes that it would chew through them.

[Within Baldur's Gate 3 canon]

Personality:
Surface level traits: Dignity, Integrity, Seriousness. On a deeper level, he is an Old Soldier, which means he relates heavily to battlefield camaraderie, dry, gallows humor, and seizing a moment to eat drink and be merry, because tomorrow it is highly possible we will die.
He is terminally a paladin, even with his oath fractured as it is. He has a need to save people, a tendency to hold himself to impossibly high standards, and he is viciously disappointed with himself when he falls short. He holds Torm in high regard, and will follow most of the lawful good Tormish tenets as a kind of secondary moral code, after his Oath.
In short, he has a sense of humor, but he can be obnoxiously, frustratingly Good while still insisting he is falling short of his own expectations for himself.
In interpersonal relationships, he can get attached surprisingly quickly and passionately on a platonic level. He's the kind of guy you spar with once and the next thing you know he's sworn himself to your cause and is ready to die at your side, the Little John to your Robin Hood. Romantically, he is far more standoffish, if only because he's aware his own needs will always be second to his moral obligations, and adding a third party in there makes things infinitely more complicated to navigate.
Despite being a career warrior, he will usually try to find a non-violent way out of a situation whenever possible, and he is not above mild manipulation tactics to get what he wants, as long as the end goal is reasonably noble.

Powers and abilities:
Canon abilities can be found here. Really, the only applicable ability upon his arrival will be the Hellish Resistance. Evidently, he doesn't have Darkvision as a trait canonically, which is fine with me because I always forget to use it anyway, so we shall say he is heat-resistance but can't see for shit in the dark despite being a tiefling.

Chosen faction: Dryad. His personality traits can fit just as easily within Sylph, but the earth feels more like his comfort zone.

Sample
Winter Wonderland meme with Hal and Halsin.
At Their Worst meme with Anthem.


Questions, comments, and concerns: Zevlor's story spans both Baldur's Gate 3 and Descent Into Avernus. I am absolutely interested in collaborating with castmates from both canons.