The Dark Urge

1. #1BACKGROUNDdisabledselective

   Keys: background

   The Dark Urge is a Bhaalspawn, but unlike other Bhaalspawn, he wasn't born – he was created from the dead flesh of Bhaal himself. The Dark Urge grew up outside the Cult of Bhaal, and was at some point taken in by a couple. He has a relatively peaceful childhood for a time, before succumbing to the Urge and murdering his loved ones and foster parents.

   Eventually, the Dark Urge became the leader of the Cult of Bhaal, and pledged to end all life in existence for his Father - Bhaal. At some point fellow Bhaalspawn - Orin the Red joined and served under him.

   After receiving dreams of Bhaal, the Dark Urge – in correspondence with Enver Gortash – hatched a plan to steal the Crown of Karsus in a heist at Mephistopheles' Vault, so that he could fulfil his pledge to his Lord: They would then create an army of soulless mind flayers, and with the help of this army they would exterminate all life — Including, as the last being alive, their own. Soon after raid, Gortash suggested that they use the Crown on the elder brain located in the illithid colony below Moonrise Towers. The Dark Urge agreed to the plan, and joined Enver Gortash and Ketheric Thorm at Moonrise Towers, fully intent on eventually betraying them.

2. #2BETRAYALdisabledselective

   Keys: betrayal

   At Moonrise Towers, the three Chosen initiated a raid on the mind flayer colony, and successfully used the Crown on the colony's elder brain, enslaving it to their will. At some point during this, Dark Urge formed a special relationship with the elder brain, who was on board with the Dark Urge's plan.

   For a time, the Dark Urge was worshipped as a god at Moonrise Towers, but during a visit to the mind flayer colony beneath the towers, the raid still ongoing, they were betrayed by their sister Orin the Red, who was jealous of Bhaal's favouritism. The Dark Urge had his skull pierced and opened with a dagger, and was infected with a tadpole that began to eat his liquidating brain, resulting in his amnesia, as well as them becoming the first True Soul.

   The Dark Urge was found by Kressa Bonedaughter who, impressed with his willpower and resistance to the elder brain's influence, began to study him. She would cut them open and put them back together repeatedly over the course of several days in the mind flayer colony, during which the Dark Urge was unable to speak or do anything but attempt to inflict violence on himself or others.

   The Elder Brain came to refer to the Dark Urge's condition as a "True Soul", inspiring Gortash with the idea of creating more True Souls, perfecting his plan to create the false religion of 'the Absolute', with the purpose of realising his so-called master plan of Unity.

   Noticing his wife's obsession and hoping to snap her out of it, Kressa's husband arranged for the broken and amnesiac Dark Urge to be sent off on the Nautiloid Ship, where he would soon wake up with no memories of himself or his past.

3. #3Sceleritas Feldisabledselective

   Keys: Sceleritas Fel, Butler

   The goblin-like creature Sceleritas Fel served the Dark Urge and joined him during a series of grisly murders in Baldur's Gate. Sceleritas was deeply devoted to the Dark Urge and found great pride in serving him. Even sharing in The Dark Urge's more intimate moments and thus able to reveal to the player that the Dark Urge was a necrophiliac before Orin's treachery. In fact the simple question of serving another Bhaalspawn like Orin made Sceleritas so queasy that he asked for the "bucket of Bhaal" to vomit in. He lives only for the Dark Urge to return to its rightful, blood-stained path, and encourages him to commit the most heinous acts of violence.

4. #4Orin The Reddisabledselective

   Keys: Orin, Orin The Red

   The Dark Urge had a turbulent relationship with his blood-kin sister Orin. Orin however was far more obsessed with the 'beauty' of the kill, believing that the 'thousands' of murders that Dark Urge committed actually were an affront to Bhaal, as revealed in her diary and manifesto declaring she would wipe out this stain and dishonor from Bhaal's Temple. Her entire belief in Bhaal is that the way you kill and build up to the moment of death is just as important as the death itself. This is later used against her by Sarevok, her own grandfather, who states that Orin has never understood what Bhaal actually wants: "Our lord does not care for beauty. Bhaal cares only for death. Death in numbers. Death in droves. It is a lesson Orin will only learn in death." By contrast the Dark Urge always did and was Bhaal's favored child because of it.

   This continued favoritism shown towards the Dark Urge would eat away at Orin, who became more and more bitter that even the worshipful masses of Bhaal's temple, the Bhaal cultists themselves, would begin worshipping the Dark Urge himself, in turn seeing it as worship of a false idol. It was all too much and eventually Orin, in a mad fit of rage, stabbed the Dark Urge in the back of the head, splitting open his skull and then forcing a mindflayer tadpole inside the open wound. This unintentionally created the first True Soul. Afterwards Orin would go on to usurp control of the Bhaal temple while dumping his body into the section of the Moonrise Towers Illithid colony controlled by the cultists of Myrkul where he was discovered by Kressa Bonedaughter, a Myrkulite necromancer that repaired the Dark Urge's injuries and began experimenting on him unaware of who he was.

5. #5Bhaal and his Templedisabledselective

   Keys: Bhaal, Temple of Bhaal

   The Dark Urge commanded great respect, admiration, and devotion from the devotees at the Temple of Bhaal in Baldur's Gate. Inspiring them from his sheer ruthlessness, staggering amount of victims, and the intelligence of his schemes and planning. Bhaal himself loved the Dark Urge the most of all his children as he had personally handcrafted the Dark Urge's body from his own flesh, as confirmed by dialogue with Naaber and Sceleritas Fel, and filled him with blood directly from his body, thus making him the perfect son in the Lord of Murder's eyes. This also stands in contrast to the other Bhaalspawn who were born from myriad dalliances with mortal women of various races during the Time of Troubles, as such the Dark Urge was considered the true or pure Bhaalspawn.

6. #6Enver Gortashdisabledselective

   Keys: Enver Gortash, Gortash

   Originally a relationship built on mutual respect for one another, the Dark Urge and Enver Gortash would come to ally with one another to carry out a plot created by the Dark Urge. This would see the two teaming up with one another to lead a raid on Mephistopheles' Vault to steal the Crown of Karsus. Later the pair would travel back into the Nine Hells through the devilshop in Baldur's Gate known as the Devil's Fee, confirmed by the proprietor Helsik, a diabolist serving Mammon that runs the counter and interacts with customers seeking the aid or interests from the Nine Hells. This second trip took the pair to Raphael's home within the hells, known as The House of Hope, not to be confused with the Temple to Tymora that shares its name likely intentionally.

   When Orin betrayed the Dark Urge, Gortash was unaware of just what happened, only knowing what Orin told him of the situation and that she had made a fool of the Dark Urge. However when coming face to face with Gortash for the first time since the betrayal he appears genuinely happy to see the Dark Urge interrupting the ceremony for his elevation to Grand Duke so that "I can greet a most honoured guest. Crawling back from his bloody disgrace - it's my favourite assassin! Gods, you're a sight for sore eyes." He will also confide in the Dark Urge the entire plan the two of them hatched for creating the cult of the Absolute and how much he has come to despise Orin, who he sees as a childish poser compared to the brilliance of the Dark Urge.

7. #7The Absolutedisabledselective

   Keys: The Absolute

   The Absolute, an Illithid Elder Brain evolved into a Netherbrain from the power of the Crown of Karsus, actually had a fairly positive relationship with The Dark Urge who it views as the Kingmaker that crowned it. This also extended to admiration for The Dark Urge's desires and methodology, even admitting that had he still been in charge of the conspiracy of The Dead Three it would have gone along with his plans more readily stating: "Your plan was devious, your cruelty unparalleled. I would have followed it, were your mind not destroyed by your sister. But with you gone, the three pitiful Chosen fought like children in your wake. I gave them power to harm one another with, while I crafted my design." While this could be the Netherbrain simply humoring The Dark Urge who was trying to bind it and thus lull them into a false unease, it is made clear the Absolute feels no threat from The Dark Urge in this moment and has no reason to lie as it believes it is right at the cusp of ultimate victory and the culmination of The Grand Design.

8. #8Baldur's Gateselective

   Keys: Baldur's Gate, The Gate

   The largest metropolis and city-state on the Sword Coast, named after seafaring hero Balduran, within the greater Western Heartlands. It was a crowded city of commerce and opportunity, perhaps the most prosperous and influential merchant city on the western coast of Faerûn. Despite its long-standing presence as a neutral power, the leaders of Baldur's Gate were members of the Lords' Alliance of powers in the west.

   The strong peace-keeping force known as the Watch, along with the presence of the powerful Flaming Fists mercenary company, kept the city generally peaceful and safe. This inherent sense of security allowed the Gate to keep a tolerant and welcoming attitude towards outsiders, whether they were wealthy merchants, poor refugees or, as it historically attracted, less-scrupulous individuals such as pirates and smugglers. Baldurians took great pride in the inclusiveness of their city. It's a place anyone could call home, or start a new life within, regardless of race, creed or personal history.

   Baldur's Gate is located to the south of the great city-state of Waterdeep, north of Amn along the well-traveled Coast Way road.

9. #9Sorcerer Classselective

   Keys: Sorcerer

   Sorcerers use their innate magical powers to fight enemies and aid allies in combat.

10. #10Storm Sorceryselective

    Keys: Storm Sorcery

    Whether crackling with the energy of ancient deluges or pierced by gales and hurricanes, your lineage is a strange tapestry scrawled by a tempest. You are extremely mobile, being able to fly after each Lightning or Thunder spell you cast, making it safer for you to wade into melee. As you grow in power you can make the spells generate small damaging storms, become resistant to Lightning or Thunder damage and even punish enemies brave enough to attack you by shocking and pushing them far away.

11. #11Skill Proficiencyselective

    Keys: Skill Proficiency, Skills, Arcana, Deception, Insight, Intimidation, Persuasion, Religion, Medicine

    Medicine: Medicine skill is mostly used to stabilize a wounded or dying creature. It can also be used to diagnose illnesses and occasionally used when determining how something died.

    Arcana: Arcana is used for recalling magical lore. This can include but is not limited to deciphering spells or summoning circles, determining magic items, knowing the planes of existence and its inhabitants, reading eldritch symbols, and remembering or understanding magic rites or rituals.

    Deception: Deception is used when lying. This can be verbally or not. If you're attempting to convince others of something untrue, Deception is called for. Using disguises, hiding the truth of situations, conning someone, and other situations of ambiguous truth all use Deception.

    Insight: Insight is a famous and frequently used skill. Primarily, it's used to determine if someone is being truthful or not. It can also be used to glean how suspicious someone may be, if they're hiding something even if not lying, and any other situation which calls for studying a creature's behaviors and what can be learned from it.

    Intimidation: When trying to scare someone through threats, Intimidation is used. This can be through words alone, threatening to do something violent; or pulling out a dagger in a silent show. Intimidation can be applied to multiple situations, such as trying to get information out of a prisoner, convincing someone to reconsider their decisions, or showing off your lack of tolerance for nonsense.

    Persuasion: Persuasion is used when trying to convince others your way. It is distinct from Deception and Intimidation because it's not through lies or threats, but convincing arguments, tact, social graces, and good nature. It's used when acting in good, honest faith. Situations that call for persuasion include convincing guards to let you speak to a noble, settling disputes between warring groups, or inspiring crowds into action.

    Religion: Religion is used when remembering religious lore, such as deities of your pantheon or not, rites and prayers, holy symbols, religious hierarchies and organizations, and even the practices of cults.

12. #12Dragonbornselective

    Keys: Dragonborn, White Dragonborn

    Dragonborn resemble draconic humanoids. They are a proud race that values clan and skills above all else. Once enslaved by dragons, they strive to be self-sufficient, not wanting to be beholden to anyone, not even the gods. Dragonborn can have scales in a variety of colours, and may or may not have a tail. Dragonborn have resistance to a type of energy damage and are able to make deadly breath weapon attacks.

    Despite no ancestral links to the mighty creatures, white dragonborn share the snowy aspect and frosty breath of white dragons.

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