tendermiasma
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First lore dump 10.02.24
🕑 Added 2024-10-02 19:34:34 +0000 UTCI realized I've been answering a good number of lore-related questions about Clover and Halsin's relationship and Clover's life that are important to them as characters. I thought it might be a nice addition since there's been some interest. Some things I plan to draw, but also it's nice to be able to just talk since I think about these two endlessly. I'll collect from my tumblr, retrospring, twitter, and anything interesting I find in your patreon comments and put them in a lore post periodically :) I can write a lot but I never promise to be good at it. Without further ado:
Did Clover help Halsin with the Shadow Curse?
He did, in time. In the Shadowlands he felt exposed and vulnerable with nowhere to run. When the party started ordering him down from taking extra watches he exhausted himself with concealment spells. Halsin in particular seemed concerned with his welfare, encouraging him to rest, which made Clover vow never to close both eyes again. Halsin's entanglement with the Fey made him, in his eyes, his greatest threat. Halsin's want to keep him close felt like a hound guarding his master's kill, waiting for his return. He'd walked in darkness before and braved the Shadowfell when the little thing inside him that his whole life kept him alive, that screamed and screamed to run or die, reached a fever pitch. It ended poorly.
It pained Halsin more and more that Clover looked at him with such confused mistrust, that he shrank from him. He should let someone alone who clearly wanted nothing to do with him. A sting was natural, but knowing that it was what one wanted had always made it easier to part ways in the end. Not this time. It made him restless. A pit opened in his stomach when he'd reach to relieve Clover of the heavy water pail to douse the fire and watch his gaze immediately struggle to find its sharpness under a bleary sleeplessness thick with nights spent holding up wards. Halsin's eyes roamed the treeline but he only thought of how Clover froze at his approaching footfalls at the change of watch. Halsin felt childish, selfish even. Why couldn't he just let this be? He knew why. Something wasn't right-- he was a healer and saw in Clover an injury of a different kind. He wished he could convince himself it was the only reason. He had never been a good liar, but this was the first time he cursed himself for it.
It was he who carried Clover from the Shadowfell back to the firelight and kept him in his own tent to recover. As kind as Halsin was, it was unwise for anyone to keep Clover from him then.
In its unfamiliar warmth was the first time Clover ever spoke of what happened to him. He spoke in the weight of forests holding lost years and spells and a man in the bones of an owl. It all lay about in a half-light, a moonlight throwing long shadows on what he could not say, what he could not remember, what choked him from fear to even whisper.
While he was unable to leave-- due to his physical state and later Halsin's strong insistence-- they had many hushed hours to spend together. It was the first time Clover noticed the heaviness in Halsin's eyes that would part like clouds for the sun when there was something to be done. Clover softened under Halsin's murmured conversation and learned not to pull from his hands. He was only able to stand so much though; Halsin's intentioned touch was overwhelming. It was gentle and mindful and consumed his entire senses and made him want to bolt for the Shadowfell once more. He wanted to cut out every part of him that Halsin's hands had touched because he wanted to think of anything else besides the memory of them lingering on his skin. He wanted Halsin to never stop touching him. He wanted to set the tent on fire.
The warm and deep scent of the blankets and furs that Halsin piled around him was intoxicating and dangerously comforting to Clover. He put nettles under his cheek to keep himself from falling asleep. Sometimes it wasn't enough. When Halsin drew close, Clover was enveloped in the same scent.
It took a great amount of trust for Clover to finally help Halsin lift the Shadow Curse and rescue Thaniel. He began to see Halsin's true heart when he very nearly made the whole world stop for him, just by giving him a place to be and a little bit of care without Clover having to look over his shoulder. Even if he still watched, he watched him differently. He defended the gateway with a ferocity and sense of purpose he could never remember feeling before; that something had meaning now. He knew the thing that Halsin would carry back with him. He did not know what he would do. But the little animal that lived in him that always told him to run was waiting for him, too.
Comments
Sundrop_tea
Did you write a fanficfion for these two? I would totally read it
Suzanne Sharp
That's such high praise, thank you!! I just can't resist talking about him and it brings me joy to tell his story! It's such a wonderful thing that happens when you've developed enough structure that things about him just reveal themselves to you, like they were there all along waiting to be discovered almost. I'm glad you enjoy it too.
TheAnxiousPan
*incoherent screeching* I absolutely adore this and is seriously one of the most fleshed out OC's for Baldurs Gate that I've seen that feels like a real person. Keep feeding us the good lore!! πππ
Suzanne Sharp
π β€οΈ
kat
I have read this over and over so many times. Gobbling this lore up
Suzanne Sharp
I love them very much ;; way to go Halsin on not giving up
rits
Fuck me this is so cute and fucking tragic
Suzanne Sharp
hehehe
pooka
LORE LORE LORE LORE
Suzanne Sharp
thank you π I had the big strokes of Clover's story worked out before the game really got going so when Halsin started talking about the Fey I almost fell out of my chair. We leaned hard into that and it worked out so well!
Tia Solita
This is beautifulπβ€οΈβ€οΈβ€οΈ
Siyana Ivanova
*Crying. Sobbing* I love them so much! Clover fits so seamlessly into the world, and his dynamic with Halsin is so well thought out!
Suzanne Sharp
thank you so much π I have a bit of a backlog so I will have lots!
Dani
I have wanted more details on their story for so long- please keep this coming, your writing and depth with them is incredible β₯οΈ
Suzanne Sharp
That's so nice to hear, thank you!! I'm glad I can do it well enough to get across how much I love them at the very least!
Suzanne Sharp
glad you're here for it β¨β¨
Suzanne Sharp
Thank you so much, he's really going through it. Love and be loved little guy
Rayne Stringfellow
Ohhh this is so lovely. You really have a beautiful way with words, particularly in this sort of lyrical fairytale kind of narration!
Puugu
I love these two so much! Thank you for the lore dump!
Morningroserising
Oh this is good stuff!! The way you write his conflicting feelings about touch (the "set the tent on fire" line) has me all twisted up. So, so well done.
Suzanne Sharp
I would be so honored!!
x3no9
Beautiful π
Megan Ritchie
Ohmigosh I love how deeply lush this backstory is. I would love to do some art of Clover π π
Suzanne Sharp
well happy birthday! π
Suzanne Sharp
thanks for your interest π₯Ή
Suzanne Sharp
π«Άπ«Άπ«Άπ«Ά
Suzanne Sharp
Thank you so much! He does absolutely fall completely for him but it took more time. I love a slow burn.
Anita Tee
Ooooh, birthday treato!
xBratPrincex
I'm so excited to get more Clover lore! ππ thank you for compiling it for us
Empress
YESSSSS CLOVER LORE!
x3no9
So poetically written and what a fiercely conflicted love he feels for Halsin. Will he ever love him wholly? Or will his mistrust linger? It would be heaven for them both if he surrendered his heart fully right? Beautiful story. I hope you write a book!
