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anghraineOver on Tumblr, my friend venndaai replied to the Tumblr version of this post:
Oh wow, Larissa and my Tav should be friends! They’re a half-drow whose father wasn’t able to study magic in the Underdark and put all his hopes on them, but they were always the weakest student at wizard school despite studying really hard, but the tadpole in their head seems to have finally unlocked their wizard potential and they’re not willing to give up that power for anything…
Very curious now about why Mystra chose Larissa!
I replied:
Ooh, they should be friends! I love the idea of these two people trying so hard to get magic to work and having potentially dangerous degrees of aspiration to that kind of power, and being continually frustrated in that desire until suddenly everything changed. The two of them should hang out with Gale and have hubris tea parties :P
When Larissa was captured and being eye-horror'd, she assumed she must have offended Mystra somehow (though she has no idea how) and completely lost her favor for something this horrific to happen to Larissa. And then when she escapes her pod, she thinks ... maybe Mystra hasn't completely abandoned her? Possibly? But at heart she doubts it until she sees Shadowheart using cleric spells and is like ... well, there's only way to know, and tries to cast Guiding Bolt at the devil, a spell she's never had occasion to use before.
And it just blasts out and sears this side of the devil's face (mechanically: critically hits for some 30 damage lol) and she's like ... wait, so ... Mystra's still blessing me? Then is this not a punishment ... wait ... I'm so confused????? But in general she is firmly set on getting rid of the parasite and avoiding illithid abilities whenever possible, so I think Larissa-(your)Tav would have a really interesting dynamic, actually!
I was imagining that Mystra's favor mostly comes down to the sheer intensity and scale of Larissa's awe and devotion despite her personally receiving nothing from Mystra for over a decade. But once Larissa (eventually) catches Mystra's attention, Mystra also approves of Larissa's powerful curiosity about the mysteries of the world, especially magical ones, and dedication to studying them and acquiring/preserving as much knowledge as possible + general drive and aspiration. I think Mystra judges Larissa to be someone who will always appreciate and respect the gift of magic while remaining steadfastly faithful to her, and will make a reliable agent in the world.
Larissa fwiw tries to repress her near-insatiable curiosity and the fervor of her longing for respect and magical power, thinking they're a bit unseemly, but I think a) Mystra is 100% aware of them and b) actually very much approves as long as Larissa stays within the limits of Mystra's instructions and will.
tags: #adfkja i love your tav being like 'what a helpful tadpole' and larissa being like 'my goddess is the most divine and good and just <3' #neither of these judgments could go awry in any way :P
venndaai replied to the Tumblr version of this post:Oh wow, Larissa and my Tav should be friends! They’re a half-drow whose father wasn’t able to study magic in the Underdark and put all his hopes on them, but they were always the weakest student at wizard school despite studying really hard, but the tadpole in their head seems to have finally unlocked their wizard potential and they’re not willing to give up that power for anything…
Very curious now about why Mystra chose Larissa!
I replied:
Ooh, they should be friends! I love the idea of these two people trying so hard to get magic to work and having potentially dangerous degrees of aspiration to that kind of power, and being continually frustrated in that desire until suddenly everything changed. The two of them should hang out with Gale and have hubris tea parties :P
I also like the contrast with their differing perspectives on the tadpole!
When Larissa was captured and being eye-horror'd, she assumed she must have offended Mystra somehow (though she has no idea how) and completely lost her favor for something this horrific to happen to Larissa. And then when she escapes her pod, she thinks ... maybe Mystra hasn't completely abandoned her? Possibly? But at heart she doubts it until she sees Shadowheart using cleric spells and is like ... well, there's only way to know, and tries to cast Guiding Bolt at the devil, a spell she's never had occasion to use before.
And it just blasts out and sears this side of the devil's face (mechanically: critically hits for some 30 damage lol) and she's like ... wait, so ... Mystra's still blessing me? Then is this not a punishment ... wait ... I'm so confused????? But in general she is firmly set on getting rid of the parasite and avoiding illithid abilities whenever possible, so I think Larissa-(your)Tav would have a really interesting dynamic, actually!
I was imagining that Mystra's favor mostly comes down to the sheer intensity and scale of Larissa's awe and devotion despite her personally receiving nothing from Mystra for over a decade. But once Larissa (eventually) catches Mystra's attention, Mystra also approves of Larissa's powerful curiosity about the mysteries of the world, especially magical ones, and dedication to studying them and acquiring/preserving as much knowledge as possible + general drive and aspiration. I think Mystra judges Larissa to be someone who will always appreciate and respect the gift of magic while remaining steadfastly faithful to her, and will make a reliable agent in the world.
Larissa fwiw tries to repress her near-insatiable curiosity and the fervor of her longing for respect and magical power, thinking they're a bit unseemly, but I think a) Mystra is 100% aware of them and b) actually very much approves as long as Larissa stays within the limits of Mystra's instructions and will.
tags: #adfkja i love your tav being like 'what a helpful tadpole' and larissa being like 'my goddess is the most divine and good and just <3' #neither of these judgments could go awry in any way :P