Vlaakith: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 20:28, 26 June 2024

Vlaakith CLVII is the current and undying ruler of the githyanki. She oversees their operations in all the planes, and at the time of the events of Baldur's Gate 3, is actively seeking the Mysterious Artefact that was stolen from her. She can also be chosen as a patron deity by githyanki clerics.

	“	We are githyanki. We move mountains, we stuff out stars, we shake the planes.	„
		— Vlaakith

Background

Vlaakith is the imperious queen of the githyanki. A deathless lich of nearly-divine strength, she has used the prior millennia to fashion githyanki society around her image, imbuing in her gith subjects a loyalty bordering on fanaticism.

Being chosen by Vlaakith to "ascend" is the ultimate reward for the conquest exacted by githyanki warriors. In reality, however, this "ascension" is the utter absorption of the warrior's soul into Vlaakith's own life essence, providing the fuel that allows her to maintain undying life and divine power.

Through commonly accepted lore, Vlaakith is the blood descendent of Vlaakith I, herself the successor of the original gith leader Gith. Vlaakith I built her inheritance on the claiming to possess the prodigious psionic powers that allowed Gith to liberate her people from Illithid slavery. However, this was just a convenient fable; Gith's son Orpheus was the only inheritor of her unique powers of Illithid suppression. To cement her power, Vlaakith I had Orpheus imprisoned in the Astral Prism and erased all mentions of him from githyanki histories.

The Lich Queen Vlaakith continues on her ancestors' legacy by doing all in her power to prevent the truth about Orpheus from becoming known, thrusting into motion the opening events of Baldur's Gate 3.

Involvement

Act 1

After producing the Artefact for Ch'r'ai W'wargaz or slaying him in combat, Vlaakith appears as a massive planecaster projection before the party in Crèche Y'llek. She orders the party to venture inside the Artefact, which she calls the Astral Prism, to kill its inhabitant, claiming they have corrupted the Prism.

Defying the deity by asking her to kill the being inside the prism herself, or treating her with enough continuous disrespect, results in her casting a Wish spell on the party, wishing for the party to end, resulting in an instant Game Over.

If the party entered the Prism with W'wargaz still alive, they will find that Vlaakith ordered him to execute the party, naming Lae'zel a traitor if she is present. This betrayal has a significant effect on Lae'zel's companion quest The Githyanki Warrior.

Act 3

If Lae'zel is chosen as origin or kept as a companion, Vlaakith will project herself to the party once more during a long rest after they discover the truth about Orpheus. She reiterates the request to kill Orpheus, this time promising Lae'zel to anoint her as Baht t'Vlaakith, Vlaakith's Chosen. The decision Lae'zel makes at this point will, with finality, result in her embracing or rebuking Vlaakith.

Related characters

Ch'r'ai W'wargaz, Inquisitor of Vlaakith
Ch'r'ai Tska'an, Avatar of Vlaakith
Ch'r'ai Har'rak, Paladin of Vlaakith
Lae'zel
Orpheus, Prince of the Comet
Voss

Quotes

	“	Vlaakith herself. She is both the sun that blinds us and the void that contains us. Praise be.	„
		— Lae'zel, when observing a portrait of Vlaakith in Crèche Y'llek.