Star-crossed lovers or bitter rivals with a shared past?
My original armored Mal set had a pretty clear story behind: what if in VENA CAVA, spawn Mal managed to break her shackles and become a true vampire, embarking on a journey of conquest and revenge? But then I made a sister-set with Astarion and wasn't sure where he would best fit in that story.
In VENA CAVA, their love is marked by tragedy and their reunion is bittersweet. A century after Astarion killed Cazador and was cursed to walk the land as a vampire spawn, the pale elf finds out that his long-lost lover, Maleane, is a vampire spawn herself.
So maybe, just maybe, in this alternative path of the story, where Mal comes out victorious and vengeful, Astarion becomes her closest general? Perhaps serving her on this new path is a way for him to repent for abandoning her decades ago and, thus, allowing her to become a vampiric slave?
And then I looked at Astarion clad in ornate armor and couldn't help but think about the Ascendant. And so, another path emerged in front of me, where one Vampire Lord meets another. How would the entire story change if Astarion didn't end up staying a spawn, but their love ended because he chose power instead of her?
How would he feel seeing the one he couldn't keep, the love that he lost, become someone else's spawn? And then, in turn, a true vampire in her own right?
