Astarion

Overview

Astarion presents himself as effortlessly elegant: sharp-tongued, quick to laugh, impossible to rattle. The charm is entirely real and the wit is entirely real; what he conceals is everything else. He was a magistrate in Baldur’s Gate before Cazador sank his teeth into him, and he has spent roughly two centuries since as a vampire spawn, bound to his master’s service and his master’s city. The life he had before is something he rarely touches. It is easier to pretend there was nothing worth keeping.

What he has instead is an acute understanding of how people work, what they want, what they fear, and a talent for becoming whatever a given moment requires of him. He is not safe. He is not honest. He is, despite everything, still very much himself, and that particular self is compelling enough that people keep making the mistake of trusting him.