If you explore the Cloister of Somber Embrace in Baldur's Gate 3's third act, you'll likely meet Nocturne – the order's tiefling quartermaster, and a childhood friend of Shadowheart. She's a pretty minor character, but a new interview with the actor who voiced her shows just how much consideration goes into bringing even an RPG's tertiary characters to life.
Abigail Thorn, who you may also recognize from her roles on shows like The Acolyte or House of the Dragon, or her massive YouTube channel Philosophy Tube, worked with voice director Beth Park for her role as Nora in Don't Nod's Harmony: The Fall of Reverie. As Thorn tells The Gamer, that's how she landed the role of Nocturne in Baldur's Gate 3.
"After a few days on that project, [Park] said, 'Oh, by the way, Abigail, I like what you're doing here. I've got this other part in this other video game, and the character is a sexy demon,' and that sent me in a particular Mephistophelian direction," Thorn explains. She knew she was recording for Baldur's Gate 3, which she figured was a "pretty big deal" since she'd heard of the series, but didn't know anything about Nocturne herself until she showed up to record her lines.
With no finalized design for Nocturne available, Thorn was shown a generic image of a tiefling, which she recalls as "someone with horns and smoke and a tail, and it was very, very sensual." With that in mind, she prepared a "sexy demon voice that was very smoky," only to find it didn't really work once she was recording her lines.
"I went into the booth, and I must have spent the first hour or so giving sexy demon, and it just wasn't really working, because it clashed with the lines," Thorn explains. "I told them, 'This isn't sexy demon. This is like your friend from school who you've not seen in years,' so I asked if I could try a different way, drop the demon thing, and play her as a friend from school who you haven't seen in years. Beth said yes."
Thorn "found Nocturne on the spot" with that change in direction. "We ended up re-recording all this stuff from the first chunk of the session, and she ended up becoming much more girl next door."
I'd argue that Mizora already has the "sexy demon" quota for Baldur's Gate 3 fully filled, though I guess you could say Karlach similarly had the market cornered on the "tiefling girl next door" vibe. You know, assuming your girls next door like to behead things with an axe. Listen, I don't know what your neighbors are like.
