Ahoy mateys - contains spoilers

[goodberries]

PLAYER INFO

Player: Hanapi
Age: 30s
Invited by: Rema
Contact: haurchefant, hanapi @ discord
Current Characters: N/a

CHARACTER INFO

Character: Halsin
Canon: Baldur's Gate 3 — Act 3, once they're in Baldur's Gate but have not made a decision on Orpheus or beaten the game.
Age: 350

Background Information: His Wiki. Halsin has some extensive background in the DnD universe, being both old and something of a celebrity. In BG3's case, he was Archdruid of the Emerald Grove until he went off to investigate the Shadow Curse as well as the Illithid tadpoles. He meets up with the protags/origin characters after they rescue him from goblins. Once said goblins are defeated, and you help him to cure nature by ending the Shadow Curse, he joins your party permanently.

Personality:
1) Tell us about who your character is and what someone’s first impression would be upon meeting them.

The first thing that people usually notice about Halsin is that he is passionate. As leader of the Emerald Grove he had a firm but fair hand. He reveres nature, this much is obvious, having great respect for animal and plant alike. He is open and honest, never deceitful or seeing any reason to hide his intentions. This goes in serious things such as Grove diplomacy (i.e. his "shrewd" decision to bring an outsider in to be in charge of the Grove in his stead) to more personal things like being very openly polyamorous. That said, he is no pushover and will fight fiercely for his allies and beliefs. He is also not a complete softy and is still led by logic rather than emotion, guarding his deepest, truest feelings tight due to outliving so many he has met and also being hurt in the past.

2) What is a driving force your character has? What goals do they have, what motivates them, etc?

Keeping a balance in Nature and respecting the land is first and foremost what drives Halsin. Since he was a child he has had a strong affinity with the natural world. He wishes to see Nature flourish and protect it at any cost and is a devout follower of Silvanus (the god of nature). With formidable magical and physical abilities, as well as a high intellect and love for research, Halsin will do anything to maintain the balance and solve any problem that could threaten this. He is also extremely loyal and a renowned healer, making him a very solid ally to have. Once you're in with Halsin, he will always have your back and come to your aid or defense. Repairing any little tear in the tapestry of things is the role he's more than happy to play in the name of Nature (and the Oak Father). His main goal upon meeting him in BG3 is to help destroy the "Shadow Curse", which was more or less poisoning the Fae who protected the land and warping every living thing irreparably if not outright killing them. Once this is solved, his goal shifts to helping out his companions. This is not only because he's grown very fond of Tav and friends but because in helping them he continues to tend to the balance of the natural world.

3) What are their flaws as a character? What is something they've messed up, or have done that they regret?

Halsin deeply believes that he played a role in unleashing the Shadow Curse upon the land. The Curse was Ketheric Thorm's doing, whom Halsin played a major role in defeating (or so they thought) and casting him away. Since Thorm actually was not destroyed, Halsin feels heavy responsiblity for letting the man unleash his evil. Part of this deep sadness and regret he feels is because he has been friend to Thaniel, the nature spirit who embodies the land more or less, since Halsin himself was a boy. He also has some regrets about getting himself captured in the Goblin Camp before he's actually able to do any good. In his eagerness to help, he overestimated the abilities of a common ragtag group of adventurers and got himself captured (as well as a handful of those adventurers killed). He does not take such miscalculations lightly and seeks to atone by restoring the balance that his mistakes threw off. Perhaps his biggest flaw is that despite everything, he has a compassionate heart and a strong drive for Good. He will not hesitate to act if an opportunity arises, failing to consider that there is a better or safer course of action.

4) Optional: What is something unique and interesting about them, or what is a fun little tidbit that sets them apart from the crowd?

Halsin is very large (and muscular) for a Wood Elf! He often says there must be some half-orc in his lineage somewhere although does not seem to actually know why he's so big. He has a very noticeable scar on his face that he will tell you is from when he was in bear form and spurned the advances of a female bear in heat. Despite not wanting to procreate with other furry creatures, he will have trouble holding his transformation back when he's feeling too strongly about a person, but he does pretty well to keep it in check. It's a whole awkward thing. Ask him what his hobbies are aside from being the gentle giant caretaker of Emerald Grove? It's carving wood! Especially ducks.

Abilities & Inventory: Halsin is a rather powerful druid and as such can call upon nature's gifts to use magic. You can view his exact spells and druid abilities here. Shillelagh and Speaking with Animals (as well as Befriending them) are very common, and I personally like to use his thorn whip.

As for nerfing anything, he will be unable to cause significant or world breaking damage with any of his magic (strong as he is, he probably isn't capable of this by himself anyway). Many of his abilities are support based, i.e. he can heal allies, grant them boons to help in battle, and so on. Halsin can also take the form of a variety of animals (Raven, Wolf, Spider...) but prefers that of a Cave Bear.

All he would have in his inventory at the time of arrival would be a quarterstaff and the clothes on his back. He doesn't need much more and in fact would be okay without the clothes too, for the record :)

ARMADA SELECTION

Paladins — Halsin is a perfect fit for the group, being interested in keeping that balance but also an intellectual, a researcher, and a very talented healer. He is well known to go searching and excavating through ruins and dangerous territories in the pursuit of both knowledge and righteousness. He is highly knowledgable about magics and artifacts from his own world and would be more than eager to learn from the Paladins as well. Of course his main goal would be to return home but he would not twiddle his thumbs in the meantime. Far from it.

SAMPLE

Test Drive Sample:
Halsin & Xenk
Halsin & Gale
Halsin & Astarion
Halsin & Oengus
Questions: All good here!