The Dark Urge: Difference between revisions

Prior to their amnesia, the Dark Urge was a much more cold and calculated individual than their bloodkin, {{CharLink|Orin|Orin the Red}}.{{ref|The Dark Urge's dialogue with Gortash during his coronation. <br>''"Unlike you, [Orin] cannot control herself. [...] Look at you - cold-blooded as ever."''|act3}} They believed in killing for killing's sake, preferring practical and simple methods over flair and grace, and took issue with extravagant or needlessly creative killings.{{ref|name=kidnapdialogue|Possible dialogue with Orin, when she reveals she has kidnapped Halsin. <br>''"A mind-mangled beast, no talent, no beauty in your atrocities."''|act3}}{{ref|name=orinletter|[[Concerning Orin the Red]].|act3}} They were usually deeply loyal to Bhaal,{{ref|name=colonyletter|[[Prayer for Forgiveness]].|act2}} but sometimes would nonetheless stray from their intended purpose.{{ref|name=oathbreakeract3|Dialogue with the Oathbreaker Knight in Act Three after asking if the Dark Urge has broken their oath before. <br>''"Yes, and not for the first time. We have met before. I expect we will meet again."''|act3}}

The Dark Urge is a Bhaalspawn, but unlike other Bhaalspawn, they weren't born – they were created from the dead flesh of {{CharLink|Bhaal}} himself.{{note|The Dark Urge can tell [[Naaber]] that they have no birthdate due to the nature of their creation.{{ref|name=Naaber|Encounter with Naaber.|act3}}}}{{ref|name=felchosen|Dialogue with [[Sceleritas Fel]], after becoming Bhaal's Chosen.|act3}}{{ref|name=Devella|Dialogue with Gauntlet [[Devella Fountainhead]], after saving her and completing the [[Murder Tribunal]]|act3}}

The Dark Urge grew up outside the [[Cult of Bhaal]], and was at some point taken in by a couple in Baldur's Gate. They had a relatively peaceful childhood for a time, before succumbing to the urge and murdering their loved ones and foster parents.{{ref|Memories regained after casting Heal on the Dark Urge after rejecting Bhaal.|act3}}{{ref|Memories regained from casting Heal on the Dark Urge without rejecting Bhaal.|act3}}

Eventually, the Dark Urge became the leader of the Cult of Bhaal, and pledged to end all life in existence for their father Bhaal. At some point fellow Bhaalspawn Orin the Red joined and became their second-in-command.{{ref|name=memoirs|[[Memoir Notes with Recent Addenda]].|act3}}

After receiving dreams of Bhaal, the Dark Urge – in correspondence with {{CharLink|Enver Gortash}} – hatched a plan to steal the Crown of Karsus in a heist at Mephistopheles' Vault, so that they could fulfil their pledge to their Lord: They would create an army of soulless mind flayers, and with the help of this army they would exterminate all life — including, as the last being alive, their own. Fully intent on eventually betraying them, the Dark Urge joined forces with Gortash and {{CharLink|Ketheric Thorm}}, {{CharLink|Bane (God)|Bane}} and {{CharLink|Myrkul|Myrkul's}} chosen, respectively.{{ref|name=colonyletter||act2}}{{ref|name=memoirs||act3}}{{ref|The Dark Urge's dialogue with Gortash during his coronation. <br>''"We understood that if we were to unite, no one could stand in the way of the Dead Three. So unite we did. First we obtained the crown; then we enslaved the brain. From there, it was but a small step to the most successful religious hoax ever perpetrated."''|act3}}{{ref|name=parentnotes|[[Scrapbook of Letters]].|act3}}  

After the heist, Gortash suggested that they use the Crown on the elder brain located in the illithid colony below [[Moonrise Towers]]. The Dark Urge agreed to the plan, and joined Enver Gortash and Ketheric Thorm at Moonrise Towers.{{ref|name=memoirs||act3}}

At Moonrise Towers, the three Chosen initiated a raid on the mind flayer colony, and successfully used the Crown on the colony's elder brain, enslaving it to their will.{{ref|name=memoirs||act3}} At some point during this, the elder brain came to respect the Dark Urge and intended to go along with their plan, impressed by their unmatched cruelty.{{ref|name=elderbraindialogue|Dialogue with the Elder Brain, throughout the game.|act3}}

For a time, the Dark Urge was treated like a god at Moonrise Towers,{{ref|The narrator's statements when the Dark Urge enters the throne room in Moonrise Towers. <br>''"In another lifetime, you were greeted in this throne room like a God, not the living wreck you are now."''|act2}} but during a visit to the mind flayer colony beneath the towers, during or after the raid,{{note|Conflicting information in Orin's notes and Gortash' memoirs.}} they were betrayed by their sister Orin the Red, who was jealous of Bhaal's favouritism.{{ref|name=orinnotes|Notes written by Orin, found in her quarters.|act3}}{{ref|name=orinduel|Dialogue with Orin, when she is confronted by the Dark Urge in the Temple of Bhaal.|act3}}

The Dark Urge had their skull pierced and opened with a dagger, and was infected with a tadpole that began to eat their liquidating brain, resulting in their amnesia, as well as them becoming the first True Soul.{{ref|name=orinnotes||act3}}{{ref|name=orinduel||act3}}{{ref|name=memoirs||act3}}{{ref|name=kressadialogue|Dialogue with Kressa Bonedaughter.|act2}}{{ref|name=kressanotes|According to journals found in the Mind Flayer Colony and dialogue.|act2}}

 

 

Noticing his wife's obsession and hoping to snap her out of it, Kressa's husband, {{CharLink|Maghtew Budj}}, arranged for the broken and amnesiac Dark Urge to be sent off on the [[Nautiloid|Nautiloid Ship]], where they would soon wake up with no memories of themself, or of their past.{{ref|name=kressanotes||act2}}

The Dark Urge commanded great respect, admiration, and devotion from the devotees at the Temple of Bhaal in Baldur's Gate. They inspired them with their sheer ruthlessness, staggering amount of victims, and the intelligence of their schemes and planning. {{CharLink|Bhaal}} himself loved the Dark Urge the most of all his children as he had personally handcrafted the Dark Urge's body from his own flesh, and filled them with blood directly from his body, thus making them the perfect child in his eyes. This also stands in contrast to the other Bhaalspawn who were born from myriad dalliances with mortal women of various races during the [https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Time_of_Troubles Time of Troubles], as such the Dark Urge was considered a pureblood Bhaalspawn. Bhaal's uncharacteristic level of love and concern for the Dark Urge is shown in the amount of attention that the Dark Urge receives from Bhaal, even after losing their memories. Most chaotic evil gods (including Bhaal) would discard a Chosen if it was no longer useful such as Myrkul did with Ketheric after his defeat, but Bhaal went to great lengths to restore the Dark Urge to their former place, and made sure to guide and reward them until they returned to the Temple.  

This seems to indicate that Bhaal felt an amount of paternal pride and love for his child, at least as much as the malevolent deity was capable of displaying.

* The Dark Urge is a cannibal.{{ref|Eating a Noblestalk Mushroom prior to meeting Sceleritas Fel. Can eat food such as cooked dwarves.|act1}}

* According to [[Sceleritas Fel]], the Dark Urge is a necrophiliac.{{ref|name=necro|Possible dialogue in first encounter with Fel.|act1}}

* Even if the Dark Urge gets rid of their father's blood, the [[Netherbrain]] still refers to the Dark Urge as "murder incarnate". This may be in reference to Ed Greenwood's - the creator of the setting - revelation, prior to the game's release, that a Bhaalspawn can never fully remove Bhaal's essence. (https://twitter.com/TheEdVerse/status/1396624159363448832){{ref|Potential dialogue near the end of the game.|act3}}

* In a campaign where the Dark Urge isn't chosen as an Origin Character, the player can find the corpse of an NPC with the default appearance of the Dark Urge Origin, simply called "Fallen Bhaalspawn", tortured and murdered by [[Orin]].{{note|Assuming this is the Dark Urge, it is likely that this version of the character was abandoned by Bhaal, as their death would not make much sense otherwise. It is also possible that Orin betrayed and killed the Dark Urge with the latter's involvement with the Absolute intact, but simply chose not to send them to the Nautiloid Ship, instead keeping the Dark Urge's corpse for herself. It is not directly confirmed if this version of the Dark Urge was still the original True Soul or not.}}{{note|The [[Journal of Magthew Budj]] still references Kressa's obsession with the "pet" she used for her experiments, and the plot to have it sent to the Nautiloid Ship. Likewise, notes penned by the Dark Urge themself that refer to their collaboration with Gortash and a letter that berates Orin for her incompetence can be found regardless of whether the Dark Urge Origin has been chosen.}}

* If he is recruited, [[Minsc]] considers himself to be the Dark Urge's uncle.{{ref|Dialogue with Minsc at camp.|act3}}