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| “ | There's a gust of Weave about you, but it's a mere breeze. I need a tempest. | „ |
| ~ Gale's hunger for powerful magic. |
Gale Dekarios, also known as Gale of Waterdeep, is one of the main protagonists of the 2023 fantasy video game Baldur's Gate III. He is the titular main protagonist of his storyline the Wizard of Waterdeep and one of the two overall tritagonists (alongside Lae'zel) of the game's story.
He is a scholar and prodigy wizard who is committed to discovering the secrets of the Weave. He was also once a Chosen of Mystra, the Goddess of Magic, but lost her grace due to his quest to prove himself to the goddess of magic resulted in him being cursed with a long-forgotten form of magic, a ticking time bomb with an all consuming hunger. Sometime later, he was captured and inflicted with a tadpole by the Illthid Empire.
He was voiced by Tim Downie.
Appearance[]
Gale is a handsome and youthful human, with a simple, yet refined style to him, with clothes well-made but never ostentatious. He has mousy brown hair that is straight and shoulder-length, swept back with an elegant flair and eyes that are chestnut brown, his gaze soft but confident, and his facial hair neatly trimmed. On his left ear, Gale wears a silver earring shaped in the form of a star, holy symbol of Mystra, representing perhaps his former relationship with the goddess or just his affinity with magic.
Personality[]
Gale is one of the most friendliest and kindest characters in the entire game, next to the likes of Karlach Cliffgate, as well as one of the wisest ones yet. He's incredibly well-mannered and friendly towards other people, and is always willing to help others. He is also an intelligent and thoughtful wizard, who is proud of his arcane knowledge and feats achieved as an erstwhile Chosen and has a pompous way of speaking. Gale also prefers to use pragmatic but peaceful methods instead of always resorting to violence, believing that there shouldn't be bloodshed unless there is a strong reason to do so. He is good and loyal to his companions, being attentive to their problems and taking care of them however he can, often by assuming cooking duties for the camp. He even shows approval towards his harsher companions' change such as in the case of Astarion and Lae'zel.
That being said, despite his wise and friendly demeanor, Gale carries the physical and emotional wounds of his former relationship with Mystra and the consequences of dabbling in forbidden magic. As such, he is heavily sensitive about criticism, and often reacts defensively when confronted by his past actions. All of this leads him to be willing to do anything to earn Mystra's forgiveness, even if it means sacrificing his life to do so, which can lead to him making rash decisions from time to time.
Story[]
In his youth, Gale was a prodigiously talented practitioner of the Art. He likened his skill as a wizard to that of an actual artist, who manipulated the Weave in the same manner a virtuoso did music.
Gale studied as an apprentice in Blackstaff Academy. He was already confident about his arcane skills and decided to use the Blackstaff to open a portal to his dorm. However, the portal he opened led not to his dorm but to Limbo with an annoyed slaad standing right in front of the portal. Fortunately, the then Blackstaffmanaged to intervene and seal the portal in time. After becoming a chosen and spending time with Mystra, Gale sought more recognition from her and wished her to reveal more arcane secrets to him so he could serve her better. However, his request was declined by the goddess, and Mystra only smiled and told him to be contented. To prove himself worthy, he sought out an ancient "tome of gateways" that contained within it a portion of the Astral Plane, described as a "fragment of primal Weave locked out of time" that had been separated from the former goddess of magic. He wanted to reunite Mystra with her missing piece of magic, but failed in his endeavor.
As a result of his failed labor of love, Gale's body became the host to a Netherese destruction orb. The orb would continuously beat, absorbing energy from the Weave, counting down to an ultimate destruction that was capable of tearing down cities. Unknown to him, the orb did indeed contain a piece of ancient Weave—but it was the Weave of Karsus, which still sought to supplant the original Weave as its maker once intended. The orb could only be stabilized by allowing it to break down parts of the Weave around it, and as it began by draining Gale's own connection to the Weave he found his magical abilities greatly weakened. After his folly, Gale isolated himself in his tower for a year. His tressym Tara figured out the solution of absorbing the Weave from magic items and went looking for suitable items for the depressed wizard.
In the Year of Three Ships Sailing, Gale was taken prisoner by illithids upon a nautiloid. A mind flayer tadpole was inserted into him through his eye, an act that would normally begin the process of ceremorphosis. However, the spelljammer was taken down by a host of devils and crashed into the Sword Coast, on the northern bank of the River Chionthar.
Rather than become a mind flayer himself, Gale was granted limited psychic powers, akin to those others referred to as True Souls of the Absolute. Plummeting from the crashing ship, he spotted a teleportation sigil drawn on a boulder near the riverbank, and reached out to it with his magic in an attempt to save himself from the fall. The attempt malfunctioned however, and he instead was trapped in the arcane sigil, until another passenger of the ship, who shared his mysterious new psychic power, happened upon the sigil.