u/ArtieChuckles

The question I am concerned with isn't about characters such as Astarion and Karlach, who are clearly part of the Realms lore, now.

I am more curious about (marking for major spoilers to the game, fair warning) --

>!The fact that Balduran was an adventurer who became enslaved to the Dead Three and thus came to be the mind flayer known as 'The Emperor' who in turn murdered his fellow adventurer-lover Ansur, a Bronze Dragon who later became the undead Level 17 Dracolich sleeping under the city, known as The Heart of the Gate.!<

or

>!The history of Orpheus and the githyanki conflict with their Undying Queen Vlaakith (number 157 if memory serves, which would make Orpheus tens of thousand of years old by standard time, although I do understand the flow of time in the Astral Plane is more or less non-existent) and what that means for the future of the githyanki as a whole.!<

or

>!The buried Temple of Bhaal under the sewers of the city (from where Orin, as a known Bhaalspawn, would have once run her Murder Cult, in 1492.)!<

or

>!The destruction of the Temple of Shar and subsequent abandonment of it that would have occurred in approximately 1392 when the Emerald Enclave battled Ketheric, leading to the downfall of Moonrise Towers and the appearance of the Shadow Curse. And about a hundred other details related to those events, but let's just assume they are all bundled together.!<

Realms time is 1501 as of 5.5e so these events would now be fully in the past, nearly a decade.

And yes, I know the basic answer is "A DM can choose whatever parts they want, it's all part of D&D" -- but some of these are truly huge pieces of history (particularly the first one, having major implications to the origins of Baldur's Gate itself.)

I feel tricked. ;p It is my second full play through, the first one being back in 2023.

>!At the end of Act 2 (or start of Act 3, I guess) I met the Emperor, and he handed me the Astral tadpole. I failed my saving throw (I think it was Wisdom) and was left with two options: Eat the tadpole, or accept it. I did not choose "Eat" because I read the line to mean that would be absorbing it, which I did not want to do. So I had no option but to accept it (I cannot remember the exact wording, but it was the only other option after I failed the roll) -- and now I am horribly disfigured and partial illithid (because being the child of Bhaal wasn't enough for me, apparently, lol.)!<

>!So ... if I had "eaten" the tadpole ... would that have actually destroyed it, instead? ;p !<

Because I feel like I definitely thought it meant something else!