Editing The Pale Elf

''Objectives and journal entries may vary pending story decisions.''

Astarion {{Coords|174|287}} can be recruited immediately after the [[Prologue]] by moving northwest of the [[Nautiloid]] wreckage to the [[Ravaged Beach]]. Astarion is by the cliffs and shouts to the party for help as they approach. He states that one of the "brain things" is nearby and he needs help killing it. The party can either agree to help him (they'll realize it was just a boar) or turn away and tell him he seems strong enough to handle himself. Either way - Astarion pulls a knife on the player character. If a Perception check is failed, Astarion sneaks behind the player character and pulls them to the ground, holding the knife to them. If the Perception check is passed, he simply holds the knife out in a defensive stance.  

[[File:Astarion Knife Intro Quest.jpg|thumb|Astarion holds the player character at knifepoint.]]

He asks the player character what they did to him and what they know, saying he saw them walking around freely on the Nautiloid. The player character can attempt to deny they are a servant of the Mind Flayers, but ultimately the tadpole power connects the group and clears up the misunderstanding. Astarion puts his knife away and apologises for nearly gutting the player character. The player character can either leave Astarion on the beach or offer for him to join them, as they have a better chance of finding a cure for their tadpoles as a group. If offered, Astarion happily joins the party.

=== Astarion's Secret ===

During a Long Rest at camp, the player character can notice Astarion can slinking off somewhere in the night, though is unable to question him on this. After this event occurs, a boar drained of blood appears before the bridge to the [[Blighted Village]]. With {{Ability Check|Medicine|10}}, the party can learn it has two puncture wounds in its neck. If Astarion is in the party, he can be Persuaded or Intimidated (DC 10) into revealing that it seems to have been drained of blood by a vampire. Astarion apparently didn't want to say anything as he didn't want to frighten the party.

There are two ways the party can learn about Astarion's condition. The first is a scene at Long Rest where the player character awakens to Astarion crouching over them. He admits he is a vampire spawn who is weak from hunger, and asks to drink some of the player character’s blood. The player character can either hear him out or drive a stake through his chest. If the player character hears him out, they can either agree to let him drink their blood or tell him to go elsewhere. If they agree to it, Astarion must be Persuaded (DC 5) or shoved off with {{Ability Check|Strength|7}} to get him to stop. Letting him drink a little more instead requires a {{Ability Check|Persuasion|15}}. If this check is failed, the player character dies and must be resurrected. Astarion pretends not to know what happened, but can be confronted by the player character after the fact.

The second way the party can learn about Astarion is by adventuring with him and gaining his approval while not triggering the blood drinking scene. Eventually, when the player character talks to Astarion in the party, he reveals he has something to share that hasn't come up naturally. He's a vampire. The player character can either act shocked or say they knew all along.

Once Astarion's secret has been revealed, he gains the {{SAI|Vampire Bite}} ability. The player character can tell Astarion he can drink on their enemies or stick to only non-intelligent creatures. Through dialogue at camp or in the party, Astarion can reveal more about his past, such as information about his master, [[Cazador Szarr]], who tormented him for two hundred years. Astarion was one of seven spawn created by Cazador, and Cazador insisted on calling them a 'family.' Thanks to the mind flayers, he's been lost, granting him his freedom. Even better, the tadpole has stopped his vampire weaknesses, such as being unable to walk in the sun or enter homes uninvited.

=== The Monster Hunter ===

If Gandrel knows the camp's location, he unsurprisingly arrives to take Astarion away, losing him forever as a party member (unless returning to warn him beforehand). Otherwise, Astarion remains unscathed. Astarion greatly approves of being able to kill Gandrel, and expresses his concern about his former master sending hunters after him. If [[Speak with Dead]] is used on Gandrel's corpse, the party can learn he was sent by someone named [[Ulma]].

=== Astarion's Scars ===

Player characters who romance Astarion can learn more about Astarion's scars by having a tryst with him in the forest. Astarion can propose this through speaking with him in the party/at camp after gaining high approval, or he can propose it during the Goblin/Tiefling party if [[Save the Refugees]] was completed. After a night of passion, the player character wakes up to see Astarion bathing in the sun with his back to them, showing strange scars. Asking about them, Astarion explains they're supposedly a poem carved into his flesh by Cazador in a single night, with heavy revisions. He refuses to elaborate more.

If the player character has high approval with Astarion, a scene occurs at camp during a Long Rest. Both romanced and unromanced player characters can witness this scene, although romanced player characters can see this as early as [[Act One]], while it triggers in [[Act Two]] for unromanced player characters. Astarion is shirtless and tracing his fingers against his back. The player character can ask him what he's doing; he can be coaxed to explain that he's trying to determine what the words on his back mean. With a {{Ability Check|Arcana|10}}, the player character can attempt to decipher the runes and ascertain that they are Infernal. Characters who can understand Infernal, such as tieflings, can read the sigils as a bunch of jumbled Infernal legalese that's part of a contract.

Player characters who do not have a high enough approval with Astarion cannot ask about his scars, but he can still have a scene in camp where he is eager to speak to [[Raphael]] again. He will not elaborate on why but asks the party to look out for him.

=== A Deal with Raphael ===

There are two places where Astarion can negotiate a deal with Raphael. The first is the [[Last Light Inn]], where Raphael is playing lanceboard with [[Mol]] near the staircase. Raphael only remains until [[Resolve the Abduction]] is triggered by speaking to [[Isobel]] on the upper floor. After this, he leaves. If Raphael is spoken to with Astarion in the party, Astarion asks him about his scars and Raphael says he'll think up an agreement in time before disappearing.

The enemy in question is an orthon named [[Yurgir]], who is trapped deep within the [[Gauntlet of Shar]] located under the Mausoleum. If Astarion is in the party, he disapproves of anything other than immediately killing Yurgir, even if the party plans to trick Yurgir into killing himself. Additionally, if the party attempts to help Yurgir as part of [[Break Yurgir's Contract]], Astarion becomes upset that they haven't killed him and questions the party. If the party breaks Yurgir's contract instead of killing him, Astarion is furious and asks why he should remain in the party at all. He requires either a {{Ability Check|Persuasion, Deception|14}} to remain in the party.

An optional scene that is important to Astarion's story arc can be found in [[Moonrise Towers]]. [[Araj Oblodra]] is a blood alchemist and trader, who has a particular interest in vampires. If Astarion is in the party, she asks the player character if Astarion is their spawn. She explains that she's always dreamed of having her blood drunk by a vampire since she was a little girl. She is willing to give a legendary [[Potion of Everlasting Vigour]] to the party if Astarion drinks her blood. Astarion is visibly disgusted and, if asked why, explains that her blood smells foul and that he doesn't want to do it. The player character can insist he get over it or insist to Araj that Astarion doesn't have to do it if he doesn't want to.

Later at camp, if the player character stood up for Astarion, he thanks them and explains that he didn't know how to say no. If Astarion was pushed to drink Araj's blood, then he tells the player character how disgusted he feels and that he can't use his body as a tool anymore. The player character can remain in good standing by apologizing to Astarion for pushing him to drink Araj's blood and saying he doesn't have to do that again. If the player character is romancing Astarion, pushing him to drink Araj's blood leads him to say he'll sleep alone from now on, unless the player character chooses the right dialogue options (which means avoiding the subject and saying the player character does actually care about him and wants to continue dating him).

=== Potential Abduction ===

=== Cazador's Palace ===

==== The Signet Ring ====

==== The Passphrase ====