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Rhygar, Murder’s Progeny

CW: Blood, vivid violent imagery

You told them you needed to mediate. Perhaps there was truth to that, but your depraved mind knew to withhold the crucial pieces of information. You have performed this ritual many times, at least that’s what you suspect. Though your memory fails you, the act is so natural that no other explanation seems sensible.

The cold rush of the waterfall initially shocks your system awake, but your practiced body is quick to quiet the impulse as you sit down cross-legged on the rocky formation and begin to center your mind.

It’s happened once again. When you woke up in the early hours of the morn, you found yet another corpse beneath you. Your arms were sore with the exertion from the many, numerous wounds inflicted upon the poor creature long after the light had left their eyes. Just as before, you had managed to dispose of the body before your companions stirred from their rest, but how many times can you manage this before they start to catch on?

And catch on to what? You don’t even know what drives you to such bloody ends. You surmise that you’ve trained yourself well, such that you can resist these foul impulses in your waking hours, albeit with some difficulty. However, it is clearly not enough for your subconscious, sleeping mind.

As the blood washes away from your hands, into the flow of water engulfing you, you smile. You have gotten away with murder once more, and despite all the resistance you muster, the act fills you with a sense of sick satisfaction.

Outer peace belies the war you wage with your own mind. When you slip, and your companions inevitably discover the horrors you’ve wrought, will they still stand by you?

As many of you know, Baldur’s Gate 3 was released in 2023 to both critical and commercial acclaim. A friend of mine had already purchased the game for me as a gift during it’s earliest access period. I didn’t play for more than ten hours or so: Not because I disliked the game, but rather because I fell in love with it enough to know I had seen all I needed to before it hit full retail release. My character was a Dark Urge Dragonborn Monk named Rhygar, and through the months to come I became attached both to him, my second character, and the rest of the cast.

I had already started drafting up poses and loose concepts for a piece of art and card depicting my monk, but then I saw another one of LittleBadWolf‘s incredible YCHs. The pose was perfect for him, so I immediately jumped at the opportunity. And to their immense credit, once I told them my intent for the character, they were kind enough to add the blood and really sell the darkness of the scene.

With regards to the card, normally MTG cards have a rule where they can’t depict blood. Fortunately, I’m not an employee at Wizards and my cards are not official, so I was able to get away with bending the rules a bit.

Inspired by the Battle of Baldur’s Gate set, which features many of the playable cast of Baldur’s Gate 3, I opted to use the “Choose a Background” mechanic for this one. It’s a simple effect, but one that will always be relevant. And with Backgrounds providing a second color, there’s room for someone aside from me to take this in a different direction that my own.

For maximum flexibility, I also decided to make a version of the card that was just a Background so that someone could theoretically pair it with one of the existing Choose a Background commanders.