This is a repost of a start-to-finish liveblog of my blind playthroughs of Baldur's Gate 1, Siege of Dragonspear, Baldur's Gate 2, and Throne of Bhaal. It is a mix of fanfiction and meta commentary, complete with images, and tells the story of Caden of Candlekeep, my thief(ish) Gorion's Ward.
Caden of Candlekeep finds himself thrown into a life of adventuring when his foster father is murdered and a series of terrible forces begin to pursue him, desiring to use the power within his blood for their own ends. A kind and trusting young man, he initially struggles with life on the road but grows to be a capable leader among his close-knit group of friends.
Notes:
Welcome! Thank you so much for reading! As mentioned in the description, this is a full repost (including images, tags, etc.) of my liveblog of the original Baldur's Gate games and their expansions. It focuses on the development of my OC, Caden, within the game, his relationships with other characters, and my reactions to the games. It includes a mix of meta commentary and more overt fanfiction - some emotional, some more humorous; at this time I had not played BG3 and in fact, when I began, I did not know much about D&D or the Forgotten Realms at all.
This liveblog is overall less narrative and more meta than the ones I have posted to AO3 thus far, but it grows more narrative over time and is (I hope) still entertaining regardless. :D It took place over a number of years; each chapter in this repost represents a day I spent with the game.
I hope you enjoy Caden's story as much as I enjoyed writing it!
In the spirit of having more variety in my liveblogging and bc @springagainafter has been encouraging me to, I’m gonna start trying a run of Baldur’s Gate in addition to KOA and DAI (and occasional Stardew Valley).
I’ve poked at the game on my own a little bit to try and get the feel for it and so far the general situation is
With that in mind, anyone who knows anything about these games is more than welcome to chime in with suggestions/advice; I’m enjoying the story but the game mechanics are a bit intimidating. :P I’m going to be playing on Baby’s First RPG difficulty so I can just worry about RP/story, and the aim is to romance Aerie come BGII.
(Everything I know about these games I have learned entirely from Springy’s existing liveblogs which I highly recommend to everyone because she is great. c: )
With all that intro out of the way…here’s our latest hero of the day:
His name is Caden and he looks good in a skirt.
Technically you also get a big headshot picture but this game is super bizarre and the only options you get also belong to existing NPCs (???) and are also fairly creepy in general. So we’re going to ignore all that and just assume he looks like this:
Aerie Greatly Approves (even though she’s not in the game yet)
So anyway, Caden is a thief/warrior hybrid, an orphan of many years staying with his foster father Gorion in the academic fortress (??) of Candlekeep. He knows nothing of his past beyond what little Gorion has told him, but frankly doesn’t care; he lives a fairly carefree life hanging out with his friend Imoen, another orphan, and the two of them wreak good-natured havoc on all the Candlekeep residents by practicing their thieving skills.
Imoen is a whiz at lockpicking, Caden is a master pickpocket and also very strong (and somewhat theatrical) with a quarterstaff. Most of what they steal they return, doing it mostly for the lols, as they don’t really live in need of anything particular – but they do like occasionally taking things from the well-off and paying it forward in Robin Hood style to those in Candlekeep who don’t have as much.
He’s a chaotic-good half-elf, fairly charismatic and good-humored without having to try very hard at it, and generally just interested in having fun…which is all, presumably, about to go straight into the medieval toilet.
Not the finest start to a day. Caden’s used to lazy late mornings, skiving classes with the tutors, practicing pickpocketing and pranking with Imoen, and occasionally speaking to those who wander through the inn. This morning, however, is frantic, a panicked scramble for escape from the only place he’s ever known as home.
Hardly encouraging. On the other hand– it is exciting. And for all his inexperience, he does have boundless energy to spare if nothing else.
Taking what I assume is Caden’s usual morning circuit around Candlekeep before being obedient and going to get the stuff Gorion asked us to buy. The captain of the guard is hung over. Caden is happy to use this excuse to dun him for some money for menial tasks.
Judging by this dialogue, Caden is not in the habit of doing things for nothing (at least not for those who are decently well-off).
And…suddenly things have taken a darker turn, and getting those weapons and armor Gorion suggested seems like a much better idea. This is pretty jarring for Caden since he’s always gotten on very well with Candlekeep’s insular community (in spite of his thieving tomfoolery)– and it’s a big leap from getting on well to being threatened with murder.
As I suspect will happen regularly in this run since I’m playing on Super Easy Story Mode, a little of the tension was lost since immediately after this Caden swung his quarterstaff once and the man literally exploded.
I’m guessing my “steals lots of stuff for the lols but gives it back mostly and generally gets along with people” headcanon is going to stay headcanon rather than game mechanic bc I keep getting caught and yelled at.
Another assassination attempt, and I’ve not even had breakfast yet.
Name checks out.
Caden clearly knows everyone in Candlekeep very well by name and face and this is an Unusual Event. (He’s also more than a little rattled about it at this point.)
My pickpocket skill isn’t actually high enough yet but Caden headcanonically lifts every red cent these people have on them. They’re not Candlekeepers, they’re wealthy, and they seem to be butts to those less fortunate, and he pulls no punches with such sorts.
