Bug? Flooding/Not Flooding the Cloakwood mines

Headbomb

In the Cloakwood Mine, a couple of people want you to flood the mine. However, some other people make a compelling argument that the mine is valuable and shouldn't be flooded. I usually flooded the mine, but on this playthrough, I decided the mine was valuable and should be kept intact.

Current behaviour:

Normally a slave appeared outside the mine to thank me for freeing them. The text is

"You saved us! The rest of us have fled ot the north toward Baldur's Gate, but I elected to stay so as to thank all of you. Without your heroics, who knows how long we'd be working in that horrible mine. I'm just glad we didn't end up in the watery grave down there like the rest of the Iron Throne mercenaries."

If I don't flood the mine, the slave isn't there, and I don't get the +2 rep and 2000 XP.

Expected behaviour:

If I don't flood the mine, the thankful slave should be there, giving me the +2rep and 2000XP, with a dialogue similar to

"You saved us! The rest of us have fled ot the north toward Baldur's Gate, but I elected to stay so as to thank all of you. Without your heroics, who knows how long we'd be working in that horrible mine. I'm just glad we didn't end up in the watery grave down there like the rest of the Iron Throne mercenaries. [With possibly some other comment about the Iron Throne being defeated?]"

Headbomb

The journal entry would also have to be updated accordingly.

Aristillius

Not a bug I think. Who are these people who make an argument about keeping the mine? I thought I talked to everyone down there (just finished the quest).

I was under the impression that there were guards and people around that you weren't able to kill, and withoutflooding the mine they would take control again once you left, and maybe hunt the slaves. Hence, you should flood the mine.

Darkovan

Its your own PC that says the mine is too valuable, its a dialog option when talking to someone on the way down (cant remember who), i remember this because i didn't want to flood the mine either, my pc made quite the compelling argument against it, like you though, i didn't have a choice.

Headbomb

Yeah that could be the PC doing the argument. It was during a dialogue with some miner on level 1, the one that didn't know that the Nashkel Mines were making crap iron.

Jalily

This isn't a bug, but a feature request. <_<

If you don't flood the mine, the slaves are still down there, waiting for you to give them the key so they can open the plug. The decision to just leave isn't acknowledged by the game at all. It would be neat if it were, but I don't know if Overhaul's contract would allow for such a change. There would have to be additional dialogue where you explicitly tell the slaves you're not going to flood it, otherwise people with full inventories wouldn't be able to leave and come back later to grab all the loot from those last few rooms. Maybe something a mod could flesh out.

Regardless of the feasibility, I don't believe that leaving the mine intact should earn you the same reward. The dialogue you quoted hints that there are more Iron Throne mercenaries in the mine than you actually encounter, implying that runaway slaves would simply be recaptured or killed. Flooding the mine not only drowns most of the mercenaries who would hunt them down, but removes the Iron Throne's motivation for enslaving people in the region. That's why your reputation boost is so high.