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Baldur’s Gate 3 – Playthrough 13 – Wicked – Betrayals

This is part 2 in a series of 5 posts. Please read the posts in order, starting from the first one. In particular, note that I am Wiccan. I’m describing a character, not my personal views.

Others

What about any other potential companions?

Wyll

I knew that Wyll would object to Sandalwood’s long-term plans and leave the group. Therefore, I never spoke with him.

From playthrough 12.

It proved to be a moot point anyway. Wyll objected to something that Sandalwood did and got in her way. It’s not wise to get in the way of a Witch, as Wyll learned the hard way.

Karlach

I anticipated that Karlach would object to Sandalwood’s actions, and indeed she did. Fortunately, some very nice Knights of Tyr were willing to pay Sandalwood for dealing with the Karlach problem.

Karlach was glad to see Sandalwood. How sweet. How quaint.

Halsin

From playthrough 12.

Sandalwood had not intended to kill Halsin, at least not until after she taunted him with the defeat of his Druid Grove. However, she never got the chance. Once those selfish, inconsiderate Druids were gone, Halsin simply vanished. She never saw him again.

Minsc

As for Minsc, Sandalwood thought the world was best served by the chaos caused by the conflict between Nine-Fingers, the Stone Lord, and the Zhentarim. She chose not to interfere.

From playthrough 1/14.

The actual logic behind this was that if Sandalwood behaved according to her past history, Jaheira would have left the party. Jaheira’s approval of Sandalwood’s actions became quite low, but she never actually left. Sandalwood wanted to keep it that way, otherwise she’d have to recruit a hireling for the coven.

Relationships

Lae’zel

At first, Sandalwood attracted the attentions of Lae’zel.

Lae’zel totally had the feels for Sandalwood. Hey, if they’re willing to be exploited, who is Sandalwood to say no?

But Sandalwood knew who her future paramour would be, and it was not Lae’zel. She told Lae’zel there was no future in their relationship.

All things considered, Lae’zel took the let-down stoically.

Minthara

Ambition to ambition, strength to strength, poison to poison. None could compete with Minthara.

And so they were.

The night with Minthara is the most explicit sex scene in the game. You can only see it if you choose to betray a village of innocent people.

Fortunately for Sandalwood, this posed no moral problems whatsoever. She had already arranged for the villagers’ deaths before she met Minthara for the first time.

Sandalwood agreed.

Minthara waits as Sandalwood approaches for a night of passion and fear.

I don’t want to give you the impression that the union was a fait accompli. Sandalwood had to pass an extremely difficult seduction check.

For those not familiar with die rolls in D&D, this would have failed if Sandalwood had rolled a 1.

If you want to see the details of the sex scene, you’ll have to commit your own acts of moral and physical violence. For now, you’ll have to content yourself with a few images.

As you can tell, this was a completely non-dysfunctional relationship between two people who felt deeply for each other, bound by a shared interest in conquest and domination.

Samdalwood and Minthara were forced to separate.

It was a while before they could see each other again. The circumstances were less than ideal.

Minthara was sentenced to death for a crime. It had actually been Sandalwood’s fault, but Sandalwood didn’t feel like discussing that at the time. Or ever.

It took some relationship negotiation (which involved slaying a few prison guards, no big deal) before the two lovebirds could reunite.

Sandalwood was attracted to Minthara’s lack of caution and complete trust in her. Sometimes it takes only one death sentence to change someone’s perspective for the better.

Despite those words, you’ll have to use your own imagination for the resulting sex scenes. It’s not that the game’s designers didn’t want to create one, but Minthara didn’t like her lighting in the earlier sex scene so she had them all executed.

Even Zethino was convinced that the two were a good match.

Was Sandalwood worthy of the complete trust that Minthara put in her? We’ll see…

Alfira

When BG3 fans get together, a typical “water cooler conversation” question is: Of all the character you can’t romance in the game, which one do you wish you could have a romantic scene with?

For me, the answer is obvious: Alfira.

Then I’d add: “But I’d never do it, because then I’d be standing the way of Lakrissa.”

From playthrough 9. You can’t tell from this screen capture, but in the game it’s clear that Lakrissa has a thing for Alfira, though Alfira appears not to acknowledge it.

Sandalwood would not be troubled by the presence of Lakrissa, since that presence could readily be corrected into an absence. However, that became irrelevant.

Alfira is the best Bard in the game, though she’s too shy to admit it.

How good is she? She actually taught Sandalwood how to play!

When the Druids started slaughtering the Tieflings, Sandalwood played for their children to calm their fears. Without the skill taught by Alfira, Sandalwood could not have done this. (Why were the Tieflings killed? Sandalwood fulfilled a request from Mol, the leader of the Tielfling children, and the whole thing got misinterpreted. After this performance, she never saw any of those children again.)

Alas, Alfira did not survive the Goblin conquest of the Druid Grove.

Sorry, Alfira. Conflict often has its unintended victims. Or intended ones, in this case.

Farewell to you too, Alfira. I’ll see you in playthrough 15 or 16.

Jahiera

Let’s return to the “water cooler” question: If not Alfira, what other non-romancable would I wish to have a relationship with? Clearly, the answer is Jahiera.

It would be a more age-appropriate relationship anyway, since Jahiera is over a century old.

As you saw above, Jaheira was a member of the coven. Wish fulfilled, yes?

Not quite. Jaheira stands on the side of justice and righteousness. It took some twisting of events to get Jaheira to join.

Meet Fist Marcus. When Sandalwood wondered if he had plans to betray a priestess named Isobel, Marcus responded in the affirmative.

Ah, Isobel. So glowing, so pure, so innocent. Sandalwood could not abide her. Marcus found an ally in Sandalwood.

The outcome was similar to that of the zapper disaster, only this time Sandalwood instigated it deliberately. The sanctuary protected by Isobel dissolved into darkness and chaos.

Jaheira was slow on the uptake. She knew that something bad had happened, but did not know Sandalwood’s role in it.

Sandalwood managed to convince Jaheira to join the coven despite her doubts.

Oh, Jaheira. You may be a century old, but compared to Sandalwood you’re still such a child.

For Sandalwood, that destination included having a naive soul witness her wicked deeds, without understanding what they meant.

The saga of BG3 playthrough 13

My original post on playthrough 13 became long, so I split it into sections. Here are links to all of them.

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