Lara

Lara has little memory, only the Dark Urges compelling her to do horrible things. When these Urges become too costly, she realizes she must resist. Now she is challenged with fixing herself in more ways than one.

Before losing her memories, Lara took pride in being the pure spawn of Bhaal, believing it made her superior in every way. She lorded it over everyone, including Orin. Lara was a cold, sharp edge in the form of a person. She let her faith in Bhaal guide her in everything, seeing herself as his instrument of murder rather than a real person. As such, she denied herself any pleasures outside of killing. However, this started to subtly change when she began to form an alliance with Gortash; the first person outside of the cult she ever got somewhat close to. Lara dangerously began to think for herself, and this scared her. She prayed for forgiveness and reassured both herself and Bhaal that she was committed to his demand for the world’s slaughter.

After losing her memories, Lara woke up with only her Dark Urges to guide her. Since they served her well in escaping the nautiloid, for the most part she succumbed to them without a fight. That is, up until she woke one night to discover she had brutally murdered Alfira. Horrified of not having control over herself, Lara vowed to find a way to master her Urges. And in doing so, along her journey she discovered she had more inside her than just darkness. She was capable of kindness, patience, and affection for those around her. Ultimately, losing her memories gave her freedom to start anew, and after eventually remembering some of her origins, Lara decided to see it as a blessing. She chose not to let Bhaal define her.

Appearance

As a changeling, Lara is capable of shifting appearances. However, due to her memory loss, she is afraid of using this ability and losing what little of herself she has left. She typically remains in her true form. In this true form, Lara has chalk white skin with swirling red marble markings, dark brown hair to her shoulders, and solid white eyes. The one adaptation she likes to maintain is bloody red lips. She is 165cm (5'4") tall and slender.

History

Even when Lara was a newly-created infant, her foster parents knew there was something different about her. When she was in a fit, she would not cry; instead she would lash out and claw at herself or others. But while her parents raised many children, a changeling was new, so they dismissed it as that. Their minds were put to ease for a time as Lara grew and learned to better control herself… or so it seemed. Until she was age seven, when the last thing they saw before death was Lara standing over them, soaked in the blood of their already dead foster siblings, ready to pounce.

Lara was a resourceful child though, and managed to fend for herself on the streets well enough for the next three years. During this time, she also honed her murderous craft, feeding her Urge without question or remorse. Lara would often pose as a poor human girl to draw sympathy from kind souls, only to slay them. The Cult of Bhaal received a missive from their lord, identifying Lara as his pureblood spawn and ordering them to collect her. It was also around this time that Orin killed her mother Helena, and Sarevok was ordered by Bhaal directly to protect the child. Tension sprouted between the two changeling Bhaalspawn children, over who was better at everything. Yet at the same time, they had an understanding of each other that no one else in the world could possess. This made for a turbulent sisterhood that only worsened after they both completed the steps of the Unholy Assassin, with Lara clearly coming out on top as Bhaal’s favourite. Lara took control of the cult at just age eighteen, with Orin becoming her second-in-command.

Lara was a resourceful child though, and managed to fend for herself on the streets well enough for the next three years. During this time, she also honed her murderous craft, feeding her Urge without question or remorse. The Cult of Bhaal received a missive from their lord, identifying Lara as his pureblood spawn and ordering them to collect her. It was also around this time that Orin killed her mother Helena, and Sarevok was ordered by Bhaal directly to protect the child. Tension sprouted between the two changeling Bhaalspawn children, over who was better at everything, Lara clearly coming out on top as Bhaal’s favourite. Lara took control of the cult at just age eighteen, with Orin becoming her second-in-command.<

Over the next ten years under Lara’s control, the cult of Bhaal had a resurgence in Baldur’s Gate both in numbers and power. This caught the attention of Enver Gortash, who was responsible for reestablishing worship of Bane in the city. Curious, Gortash went out of his way to forge a reason for them to meet, by arranging Bhaalist torture racks be put on display in the Hall of Wonders, then offering to assist in recovering them. At first, Lara was only interested in recovering the ancestral property and dealing out revenge, but could not help but be somewhat impressed with how Gortash conducted himself during the mission. This drove an even bigger wedge between her and Orin, who saw Gortash as a blossoming distraction that made Lara weaker.

Lara’s alliance with Gortash only strengthened when they were each named Bhaal and Bane’s Chosen respectively, and ordered by their gods to seek out Myrkul’s Chosen, Ketheric Thorm, as well. Soon, Gortash presented his plan for the three of them to conquer an elder brain using the Crown of Karsus. He and Lara succeeded in stealing the Crown from Mephistopheles, but during their raid on the illithid colony to enslave the elder brain, Orin saw her chance to size control. Orin stabbed Lara in the head and inserted a mind flayer tadpole, then declared herself Bhaal’s new Chosen.

Relationships

• Orin: Orin was only a couple years younger than Lara, and their similar backgrounds meant they had an understanding of each other that no one else in the world could possess. But growing up, they were also in constant competition, making for a turbulent sisterhood that only worsened after Lara was the one to take the Cult of Bhaal’s leadership. Orin was jealous of Lara being Bhaal’s favourite, believing herself to be more deserving.
• Gortash: Lara developed a respect for Gortash in a very short amount of time, for his charm and his cunning. She didn’t even mind his flirtation, though she refused to reciprocate his obvious desires for her. Lara would try to tell herself that she was only using him, but truthfully, he was becoming her very first semblance of a friendship.
• Ketheric: Lara saw Ketheric as the weak link in their alliance, because of how he let his emotions for his family get the better of him. Ketheric saw Lara as a poor excuse for a leader. Had Lara made it all the way to witness the fruition of their plan, she would have been stunned by his planned betrayal.
• Astarion: Lara deeply appreciated Astarion’s non-judgemental approach to her Dark Urges. She felt like even at her worst, she could at least count on him to have her back. Lara suspected from the start that Astarion was trying to use her, but wanted to help him voluntarily just as he helped her. So when he confessed to this, she was not surprised by it – instead, Lara was surprised by how her own feelings had shifted romantically just as his did. They agreed to see where the feelings took them, and still remain together.
• The Emperor: Lara somewhat related to the Emperor, because of the way it spoke of how it's not just a mindless monster. She also saw no problem with the revelation it had been using a fake appearance at first, what with being a changeling; to Lara, it changed nothing about who the Emperor was as a being. They formed a strong bond that lasted all the way to the end of their fight against the Netherbrain.

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