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So, I loved my Zephyr-playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 so much that I am totally incorporating it into my canon. Major thing being, Zephyr chose to transform into a Mind Flayer (so that no one else would have to). I spent a good long while trying to get this design as recognizable as possible, and this is probably the best it could be. Pretty happy with it. She looks bonkers with her eyebrows, in a good way, I think.

Based the pose on this image, and we will be picking up her story from what I've written there.

Zephyr didn't get the adventure she wanted when she was 15. No one wants to take a kid into a battle, dungeon, whatever. No guild wants to recruit someone with no experience. No arcane college wants a kid with no experience and questionable schooling. She found work though. The temple her mother serves is a small one, with a small network, dedicated to what is considered a lesser deity (Deneir). Unless you are dealing with their main library in Waterdeep, it can be difficult to find a cleric with enough free time to travel to other branches. For errands where a teleportation spell won't do, Zephyr has become the person to call. Whether it's transporting magical items, trading tomes, or occasionally tracking down an artifact, she will take any excuse to get out of the house for a few weeks.

This continued for a long while, into her early twenties. Zephyr was pleased enough with the arrangement, sorta, kinda. She always traveled alone and stayed with her mom in between jobs. She never made an attempt to stray from that path. She felt that if she were to, she would be letting too many people down, rendering herself useless. This is where I imagined where Zephyr was at going into BG3.

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So, spoiler, in BG3 while going on a certain route, you will reach a point where one of a select few characters have to make a sacrifice in order to continue forward. Zephyr took the hit. The hit being, becoming a Mind Flayer. She did not want to become a Mind Flayer, as she did not want to lose her soul, she did not want to die, and she did not want to be a goddamn cephalopod. But she also did not see the worth in letting anyone else suffer in her place, so the choice was made.

Now, I could get into all my schizoid ramblings about whether a Mind flayer is the person they were prior, whether they have a soul, whether they can function as people, ect, but I'll keep it short. Spoiler again, if you have your Mind Flayer character kill themselves at the end of BG3 it is pretty directly stated that your character has somehow managed to, if not retain their soul and personhood entirely, has retained just enough of themselves to have the remnants of their soul judged in the afterlife. Between being a sorceress (Mind Flayers hate the arcane), having no colony, and simply believing that she has a soul, there is enough to support that Zephyr can be Zephyr. I think this new Zephyr is maybe, 80-90% who she always was. She can't express emotions quite like she used to, she has horrible cravings for brains, and her body is unrecognizable, but it's her in there. Maybe she will become less Zephyr in the future, but for now, it's her. And right now her loved ones are happy to have her. And she is happy to be had.

As I stated long ago, I always saw this character as someone willing to throw away her humanity for the sake of potentially being a better version of herself, finally being "Good" so that she can feel worthy of others' love. Having her lose her humanity only for the sake of selflessness wasn't what I expected from her but I am so pleased with it. There is a whole new chapter to explore here and I AM PUMPED.

Description
So, I loved my Zephyr-playthrough of Baldur's Gate 3 so much that I am totally incorporating it into my canon. Major thing being, Zephyr chose to transform into a Mind Flayer (so that no one else would have to). I spent a good long while trying to get this design as recognizable as possible, and this is probably the best it could be. Pretty happy with it. She looks bonkers with her eyebrows, in a good way, I think.

Based the pose on this image, and we will be picking up her story from what I've written there.

Zephyr didn't get the adventure she wanted when she was 15. No one wants to take a kid into a battle, dungeon, whatever. No guild wants to recruit someone with no experience. No arcane college wants a kid with no experience and questionable schooling. She found work though. The temple her mother serves is a small one, with a small network, dedicated to what is considered a lesser deity (Deneir). Unless you are dealing with their main library in Waterdeep, it can be difficult to find a cleric with enough free time to travel to other branches. For errands where a teleportation spell won't do, Zephyr has become the person to call. Whether it's transporting magical items, trading tomes, or occasionally tracking down an artifact, she will take any excuse to get out of the house for a few weeks.

This continued for a long while, into her early twenties. Zephyr was pleased enough with the arrangement, sorta, kinda. She always traveled alone and stayed with her mom in between jobs. She never made an attempt to stray from that path. She felt that if she were to, she would be letting too many people down, rendering herself useless. This is where I imagined where Zephyr was at going into BG3.

-----

So, spoiler, in BG3 while going on a certain route, you will reach a point where one of a select few characters have to make a sacrifice in order to continue forward. Zephyr took the hit. The hit being, becoming a Mind Flayer. She did not want to become a Mind Flayer, as she did not want to lose her soul, she did not want to die, and she did not want to be a goddamn cephalopod. But she also did not see the worth in letting anyone else suffer in her place, so the choice was made.

Now, I could get into all my schizoid ramblings about whether a Mind flayer is the person they were prior, whether they have a soul, whether they can function as people, ect, but I'll keep it short. Spoiler again, if you have your Mind Flayer character kill themselves at the end of BG3 it is pretty directly stated that your character has somehow managed to, if not retain their soul and personhood entirely, has retained just enough of themselves to have the remnants of their soul judged in the afterlife. Between being a sorceress (Mind Flayers hate the arcane), having no colony, and simply believing that she has a soul, there is enough to support that Zephyr can be Zephyr. I think this new Zephyr is maybe, 80-90% who she always was. She can't express emotions quite like she used to, she has horrible cravings for brains, and her body is unrecognizable, but it's her in there. Maybe she will become less Zephyr in the future, but for now, it's her. And right now her loved ones are happy to have her. And she is happy to be had.

As I stated long ago, I always saw this character as someone willing to throw away her humanity for the sake of potentially being a better version of herself, finally being "Good" so that she can feel worthy of others' love. Having her lose her humanity only for the sake of selflessness wasn't what I expected from her but I am so pleased with it. There is a whole new chapter to explore here and I AM PUMPED.