I should that I have hit a bit of a writers block at this point though. In the first part of the quest, stranger appears and tells you to go somewhere where you find slavers, one of whom Aerie remembers and they're all 'muahahaha' we're evil, as you would expect slavers to be.
The next part is meant to be slightly different; you're sent again to a location, where again there is someone from Aerie's past who was a slaver and you go in expecting there to be another fight... but this time, he's haunted and torn up by guilt about his past. But I've not really figured out the best way to get all that across in game is. Although I'm thinking I might involve Hendak and the Copper Coronet again. So maybe they've captured this other slaver and you can go to the cells and talk to him... and then maybe some other exciting stuff can happen there as well.
I'm still working on this; sorry I haven't updated for a while but I have other things to do as well. Still, expect a few more updates shortly after easter.
I've been rewriting some of the banters between Aerie and the PC and Aerie/Imoen, since I kind of rushed through them originally to test it worked. I've a few more characters put in place to breathe some life into the circus and some more amusing scenes/banters. And I think there will be stripped down version of Aerie's romance for female Charnames; the bits that tell you relevant things about her past anyway, like how she was captured, with any lovey dovey or sexual stuff removed.
And I managed to get over the block I had, so Aerie and her companions will be become more embroiled (reluctantly, at first...) in the schemes of the evil slave lord (as if there was any other kind of slave lord), Praxis.
I've been molling over the idea of potentially giving Aerie her wings back... I'm thinking, she may not get actual wings back, buy maybe some magical wings she can turn on and off. But aside from having to work out the mechanics of how flying would work at all in game, I would like there to be more practical benefits for the whole party, like places, switches, or even treasure that only Aerie can reach by hopping over there.
Also, I think I'm going to go ahead and remove the fight between Hexxat and Aerie, as it's probably necessary anyway, or at least change the conversation in such a way so that Hexxat doesn't just blithely admit to carrying on murdering innocents while she's with the party, leaving Aerie with just a tiny bit of doubt so that she won't attack. It's not out of character that Aerie would feel quiet strongly that was bad, although it is a bit OOC that she would randomly, much later, attack without talking to the PC about it first. But the bigger problem is that lots of other NPC's, Nalia, Imoen, Minsc, Cernd, Jaheira etc, would also take notice of that revelation and definitely try to Hexxat themselves before Aerie got a chance to anyway. Even if any of them could somehow be convinced that killing Clara was an impulse she couldn't control because she'd been asleep so long, the whole 'yeah, so what if I sneak out while you're all asleep and snack on the odd child?' (That's hyperbole of course, but not that much), is just stretching the realms of plausibility too far, so that it snaps and wallops you in the face.
Obviously Hexxat creates many problems as an NPC which haven't been resolved IMO. And to be more completely realistic, every NPC would know what a vampire is and what they need to do to continue to exist and rather not have to sleep in the same multiverse as one. But at least if that banter with Aerie is taken out, we can imagine that she's convinced to only eat baddies.
Anyway, it's easier to just change a couple of lines than it is to have to write and script a conflict with everyone.
I would strongly recommend making any component where you deliberately take out canon actions/delete the game developers original content an optional component. In general, once you decide you know better what a character would do then the original creators of the content do, you're heading down a slippery slope. Personally, I wouldn't touch a mod that does this (which is why I'm sort of leery of the Sarevok romance mod, as well). Which is a shame, because I'd love a mod that expands Aerie- but not at the price of removing what's already there for her.
I agree with you for the most part but it sounds like hes modifying content added by BGEE. This isn't saying he knows the character better then the original creator, Hes saying he doesn't agree with how the new content handles her and to be honest the more I hear about Hexxat the more I think every NPC interaction with her is terribly stupid. I might be wrong, having not read everything on this thread, but modifying her reactions to added NPCs is not really changing the creator's view of her, but rather changing the devteam's view of her.
I agree that changing any vanilla BG2 dialogue is pushing it, but I don't think that Beamdog's character interpretations and additions should be held as sacrosanct. They're very very good, but I don't feel such a minor change would detract from the quality of either character. As long as you replace it with more banters to make up for it, I'm all for it!
My aim was always to expand, but not change any original lines or content. But in the case of the Hexxat and Aerie exchange, I'm afraid it really doesn't seem thought through at all, and doesn't just affect Aerie; it makes a whole bunch of other characters look extremely weak and dumb. I might do it separately or as an option, but of course it is just a couple of lines and not like the two would suddenly become friends or anything. Aerie doesn't like vampires, but I doubt she would physically attack a party member unless she's 100% sure they're up to no good; so all Hex has to do is make sure she's 1% not sure and it'll be fine.
It's more changing Hexxat then changing Aerie that's the issue to me, I think. It is in Hexxat's (evil, remember) character to calmly admit she's murdering innocents. The creators of Hexxat intended for her to be stupidly blunt about it (in my opinion- but Hexxat is almost always incredibly blunt and honest, as well as superficially polite about things, so it fits her character even if it's a spectacularly stupid move). Having other characters react to that if you feel it's truly out of character that Nalia/Jaheira/Minsc to ignore it (one could say Hexxat and Aerie are talking in private conversation tones to get around that), or having Aerie confront CHARNAME immediately- "Hey, CHARNAME, Hexxat just told me she slaughters innocents. I'm not okay with this. I want to attack her. Why should I not?"- I think would be perfectly in tune with this mods aims.
But altering Hexxat to be different then her original creators wanted her to be, that's what I have an issue with. Am I making myself clear here? I'm pretty bad at making points.
The private tones doesn't really work for me; when you've got a group of six people who spend almost all their time traveling together, there are going to be few secrets, and really no way Aerie is going to keep that to herself for that long. Even if they did, some of the others would see it for themselves eventually.
I thought about having Aerie confront right away, but it still leaves the problem that there's no way every other good or druid character wouldn't react to it as well. Like I mentioned, it is far easier just to change a couple of lines so that Aerie is still doesn't like Hexxat, but will choose to trust Charname enough to tolerate it for now, than it is to add reactions from everyone else. I don't think the few lines they have and a fight to the death really add anything to either character anyway; there's plenty of Hexxat having fights and being stupidly blunt and honest (just not quite that stupid), and if you need to show Aerie has gotten much tougher in ToB... well, we'll be creating plenty of opportunities to do that.
Hexxat's a fine character by herself, but unfortunately I think her interactions with other NPC's are just plain bad. Imoen 'the eternal child; sure, she's a bit silly, but she's not supposed to actually be an imbecile, which is how she's portrayed when talking to Hexxat. But I think at least I think if the others don't all know exactly what Hexxat gets up to when she creeps away from the group while they rest, it's just slightly more believable they'll tolerate having a vampire around. Of course, they would all know... what else is a vampire going to do at night? But then Jaheira, Nalia etc would all try to put a stop to it... the problem is that Hexxat is a vampire and unless a way can be found to deal with her need to feed on blood, there's just no believable way to keep her around any group. But I think the best that can done for now is for her to just not say where she finds that blood and leave it to the players imagination.
I've been a bit unwell lately. Well, for the last week I was. Anyway, like I mentioned before, I kind of rushed through the first stages of this mod. But, a writer I like, Graham Lineham (a TV comedy writer, admittedly, and Aerie's obviously not really a comic character but I think what he said can just as well be applied to any other writing), once said that when you write something, what you should do is shut it in a drawer for three months, then take it out and read it and if you still it's good then carry on. So I've done that, and more. I mean, I left it slightly more than three months.
And yeah, the basic premise is alright I think, but like I mentioned before I've been rewriting the banters and putting together a few new banters with other characters (so far, they've all been with the bhaalspawn and Imoen). There are some things that I drafted originally that I changed or abandoned almost immediately. Like Praxis (the main villain in this mod), was supposed to appear disguised as monk or something... I couldn't decide what kind of monk, or why he would do that anyway. I guess I thought he should antagonise the bhaalspawn a bit so you have more of a reason to go after him. But really, even if he was curious to learn that the avariel he broke and sold a long time ago was still alive and with an adventuring party who had shut down some of his colleagues, he'd still consider himself too important and busy with his own affairs right now to bother going after you in person. So that went.
And there are things I look at now and wonder what I was thinking of at the time. Like there's a couple in the Copper Coronet, a man who is obviously quite domineering and abusive toward his spouse/partner, and Aerie ends up shooting an acid arrow into him. Not really sure where that was going. Maybe it's just Aerie sympathising with anyone abused or who feels trapped in any situation. Or maybe I just thought it would be funny if Aerie started a barroom brawl. I'm not really sure.
And Raptair in the Umar Hills. I don't know if I should go into that since it might spoil things for people... but, maybe that part needs more jokes added to it. There is a serious side to the encounter and that character might return at a later date (by which I mean maybe as a part of a quest in ToB), but basically he's like the Teasers in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
With the next proper update I'll start making a list of all the things I've added or changed so that people will have some idea of what I'm talking about here. There's a lot of stuff that I need to 'encode' to add it to the game, and a few other little bits I might write before then.
What I might do later is post the 'bible', which is a pretty grandiose term, but basically TV shows often have a bible which contains all the background information about the setting and the characters. Sci-fi shows might have stuff in there about all the technology and what can and can't be done... it's all supposed to help the many writers maintain some kind of consistency.
In this case, I'm writing a mod which is focused mainly on one character. Before I started this mod I already had a longer version of her biography written up that I referred to. Everything I could find out from the game is in there, and a lot of other stuff I had to extrapolate and fill in myself. From the game, we basically know the city she was born in, the fact that avariel society is split into hunters and warriors on one side, artists, philosophers and intellectuals on the other, and Aerie's class is the later. Her mother's name, how she was captured, was neglected, met Quayle and had her wings cut off. There's quite a few gaps, like obviously the slavers wouldn't have captured her and immediately sold her to the circus. Avariel are rare, so they would have taken time to arrange an auction and invite all the rich people they could contact to come and bid, and in the meantime Aerie would have taken to some kind of fort. That's obviously the major focus of this mod, the time inbetween being captured and being sold. Also, whatever happened to that boy she almost, well, practically did, give up her life for? Lot's of possible answers to that, but I've had to choose one.
In the bio I mention what skills she might have learnt at various stages in her life that could be applied later. For example, you might have noticed that the tent that Quayle resides in has a lot of gambling going on. Aerie, being a people watcher anyway, may have seen or had shown to her just about every trick in existence as she went about her chores. So, as naive as she can be in the ways of the world, maybe not a good idea for anyone to try and hustle her.
Aerie: I don’t really know how to ‘mingle’. I—I’ve been trying, but… I just don’t think I’ve really mastered small talk.
Imoen: Would you feel better if there was only BIG talk? Huge, massive talk, like that stuff you were saying about why are there so many different types of animal and where do they all come from?
Aerie: O-or, who decides what is ‘good’? A-and how do they know? And if the world had a beginning, then will it one day end…
Imoen: Yeah, that’s… probably too big for the kind of party we’ll be having. Let’s just practice the small stuff. It’s not so hard. I’ll just ask you something like, what did you do last night?
Aerie: Well… I-I was playing Deep Holes and Daggers, by myself, a-and I rolled six eighteens…
Imoen: No! What’re you doing?!
Aerie: I… I-I’m sorry?
Imoen: That’s less than small talk! You’ve gone from big talk, to… to tiny talk! That’s talk no-one’ll even pretend to give three flying rat-monkeys about!
Aerie: Oh… I’m sorry…
Imoen: You gotta be more general. Stuff like the weather, what foods you like, things costing more than they used to...
Aerie: They do? I-I wouldn’t know…
Imoen: It’s okay. Y’know, some folks devote decades of their lives to building a big temple. You’re a long term project like that for me. You’re what I’m going to leave behind for the world; a fully adjusted, rounded individual. Just like me.
Aerie: Like… like you?
Imoen: You can wipe that smirk off yer face. This is serious. We’re sticking at this until you get it right…
So the trouble is, Imoen and Aerie are so fun and easy to write banter for. They've got all the things it takes to have a really great partnership or double act together. There's common ground, since they're both good and affectionate and loyal individuals, and both have shared similar experiences of being wrongfully taken and horribly treated and imprisioned/tortured. Yet at the same time they're very distinct and contrasting. Aerie is obviously quite shy and insecure, for example, whereas Imoen is a lot more carefree and outgoing and doesn't care so much about making herself look silly. And you need those differences in a partnership because both characters are supposed to either learn from each other and both end up as better people, or they don't really learn but just become a unit, both functioning at their best when they're together.
Imoen gets very protective of Aerie and probably sees herself as a big sister. Aerie gets exasperated by Imoen sometimes, but I think really does just enjoy being around her and has fun, and I think really wishes she could be more carefree like that herself.
Thing is, I could easily write hundreds of banters between those two. But obviously I have to reign it in a bit and have just a few. Maybe a few in SoA and a few in ToB. So now I have to pick which ones to pick. Maybe the previous one is too silly. So, maybe one where Aerie introduces herself. I think the one where Imoen reads Aerie's journal is still quite good. And one where you see the two are starting to rub off on each other bit. Then in ToB, it'll basically be Aerie getting her own back for the cinnamon cookies thing.
So I said I'd share some of the background stuff I did. It's a document that's been kicking around for quite a long time, and basically divided into three. The first part is just some brainstorming I suppose, observations and a little speculation about Aerie's character. Then there's the biography I mentioned before. And finally there are some outlines and little bit of background for some of the other characters who will appear in this mod.
So here's the first part. Like my other streams of consciousness I don't know how this is to follow, and I've left out any actual quotes from the game, probably because I assumed people would know them, but I can certainly dig all those out as well:
Aerie is quiet. Partly just shy and perhaps naturally prone to introspection, but obviously a great deal of the anxiety and nervousness she feels around people is due to the way she’s been treated in the past. Typically, she will be furtive when she speaks, particularly with people she doesn’t yet know or feel comfortable with. She has fallen into the habit of stuttering and pausing when she talks (sometimes she’ll display the typically elven trait of using poetry and metaphor to communicate), although that might change when the subject happens to turn to something she feels and/or passionately about, or keenly interested in, like magic or philosophy, for example. Although lacking confidence as she does, in most cases she’s not likely to state a definite opinion, and more likely to inquire what the person she’s speaking to believes.
Aerie’s insecurity and low self-esteem is quite understandable, considering she was pretty much literally told she was worthless when she lost her wings and the circus would have just cast her aside and left her. Only Quayle’s intervention saved her life, becoming her adoptive father-figure. Important to note that Aerie in fact very rarely discusses her past; in fact, the player is the only character she ever opens up to about it, although in the first meeting with the player she only reveals her identity as an avariel who had lost her wings when pressed about it and is trying to earn Charname’s trust. Likely, she never really discussed her feelings even with Quayle, perhaps out of gratitude for all he’d already done for her, but also not wanting him to worry and knowing his perspective on the circus was quite different to hers. He enjoys entertaining crowds and making folk happy, but Aerie knew too well what the crowds didn’t see, the callous and cruel behaviour and abuse behind the scenes. Of course, being as close as they were and knowing her past, Quayle of course would have known she was unhappy anyway and it wouldn’t have taken even his magnificent brain to work out why.
Aerie is shy, but not really aloof, although when asked about herself she will normally just give short, factual answers. Conversations she initiates usually show her curiosity in the people around her, wanting to know about their beliefs and past and views about the world. Being fairly quiet and unassuming on the whole, there are few characters she won’t get along with to some degree. It takes a lot to illicit a negative response from her. Korgan has to harass her a great deal, and like almost everyone on the surface Aerie has been taught all her life that drow are evil and not to be trusted (as a gnome worshipping elf, Aerie is likely open minded enough that she could be convinced otherwise, although Viconia before her alignment shift is not likely to achieve that). Otherwise, only in her romance as she sinks into greater anxiety and depression does she start to become snappy and say hurtful things, but once things are all off her chest she soon reverts to her normal self.
The reason Aerie is slow to anger is likely due to very developed defence mechanisms, and learning to channel her negative feelings into something more productive and useful than starting fights, which as a slave or a captive in the circus she would certainly have always lost anyway. So instead all that energy goes elsewhere, like chores and study. And more chores. And study. It’s no wonder she became restless in the circus, as Quayle observes. But despite this, she naturally will bubble over occasionally.
As an adventurer, Aerie gains a new outlet for her negative feelings - bad guys. She is also very protective of her friends, refusing to let her friends be hurt, although in battle she can be not very frugal (perhaps aware of her own low stamina, when she perceives a threat to the party she goes all out to try and end it quickly, but needs to learn to pace herself as Jaheira suggests). Of course, Aerie’s very strong protective instincts are what led to her initial capture and obviously is a very key part of her make up. As in the first encounter in the circus, it seems whenever there is a crisis or emergency going on, Aerie is able to push aside all her thousand other problems and focus on the crisis (in fact a battle may even be quite a relief for her). Indeed, although when suffering depression in her romance she expresses being tired of the fighting, in other conversations when she's calmer and more herself she expresses enjoying the rush and thrill of combat.
Aside from her traumatic past, Aerie has little else to complain about. At first she’s not used to walking long distances, although she’ll quietly persevere anyway regardless of what the player tells her. She’s also mildly claustrophobic, although even in the Underdark despite being uncomfortable she manages to endure it without much incident. It would likely only become a serious issue if she was on her own in a very tight space.
But otherwise, her life in the circus will have likely in fact prepared her quite well for life as an adventurer. Even the cheapest rooms at the inn would be positively luxury compared to what she was used to, since it’s an actual bed and the rooms don’t bound about. She won’t mind getting her clothes dirty or torn, since that happened to her all the time. She’d be used to making necessary repairs herself. And knowing that cats are afraid of chairs could even be useful.
(Of course Aerie knows that cats are not afraid of chairs. What she in fact knows is that the cats in the circus are all quite heavily drugged, but trained to look fierce in response to certain gestures, and therefore already tame long before the lion tamer gets to them).
I said I would post a bit of expanded biography of Aerie, and I probably will at some point, but you can piece it together from that last post and from this next bit (all the parts that are really relevant anyway). I'll definitely post some of the outlines and background stuff for the other characters, that you might not learn through playing the mod.
But here again is the plot for the main quest, a little revised from how it was originally. If you want to wait until it's all done, then don't read since I'm about to go through everything that will happen in this mod. But I think it's a good idea again, in case anyone who's interested has any other ideas, suggestions, etc. It's not really as long as it looks, I don't think. It's a few encounters and a dungeon.
A few days after the party helps the slaves in the Copper Coronet and wipes out the slaver's base in the slums, Aerie is approached by a mysterious stranger. He directs the party back to the slums, where he claims slavers have returned to find what happened to their fellows. Aerie feels certain they won’t find anything of value, but then he tells her ‘There shall be wings’, which she remembers was a quote from an ancient gnomish mage and inventor that she someone used to say to her.
In the slums, the party encounters a group of slavers led by an elven woman named Amra, who spots the party eavesdropping (she mentions they need to finish here so they can resume searching for something), and begins a conversation with Aerie, who seems to be trying to avoid trouble. But Amra senses that the other elf is nervous and afraid of her, and perhaps trying to hide something (originally, Amra recognised Aerie pretty much right away, but along with a lot of other dialogue I’d rustled up originally that’s changed now and no longer the case), so she orders her followers to attack, while she approaches and knocks Aerie down before legging it out of there. Aerie later explains that Amra was part of the group that originally captured her, and that it was the elf’s arrow that brought her down, and that she was then taken, by boat and land, to some kind of fortress (she didn’t get to see the outside very much, and spent most her time there in the dungeon). There she was held, for how long she didn’t know, while the slavers contacted their richest customers to arrange an auction. In the meantime, a man named Praxis explained to her the situation she was in, and employed various methods of torture to break her spirit and make her compliant.
Later, the stranger appears again outside the Copper Coronet. When quizzed about his motives for sending the party to Amra, he explains that he was hoping word of Aerie’s existence might somehow lure Praxis out of wherever he was currently hiding – most slaves would have meant nothing to him, but an avariel was something different as it’s not every day you catch a myth. He admits however that it was probably a long shot, but while the slavers in the street were distracted, he was able to get his hands on another lead. Aerie is angry. She was trying to begin a new life the way she wanted, and not have all her thoughts and energy consumed and dominated by the past. The stranger tells her she could no more turn her back on people suffering than she could forget who and what she was and where she came from – it was instinct. He then asks the party to meet him at the very back of the Copper Coronet.
Go there, and the party discovers that the freed slaves have captured a dwarf, Kimbul, who Aerie also recognises as someone from her past. He had been a jailer in the fort she had been held in. She remembers he drank a lot then, but it now it seems even that isn’t enough for him to drown his guilt. While the former slaves discuss what to do with him, some wanting to execute him, some wanting to make him fight in the arena, while Aerie worries that any of these things might make them no better than the slavers themselves. Kimbul says very little, and seems prepared to just accept whatever is decided.
But then, more dwarves arrive – Kimbul’s brother and other members of the his break into the coronet to try and rescue him. Either fight the dwarves, or help Aerie convince Kimbul to convince them to stand down, and not allow his family to be punished for his crimes. But whether out of gratitude or stricken with grief, Kimbul will explain that Praxis has long been obsessed by that ancient gnome, Oz Olly. Supposedly, the gnome once built an extremely powerful but then hid it away. Praxis believes he’s found the hiding place, but he needs some sort of key to open the entrance. He has no idea where it could be, but he remembers that Praxis once hired a ship captain with one arm and one leg to help him find it. Leave Kimbul to the slaves (Aerie will suggest the imprisonment is an appropriate enough punishment; not necessarily out of kindness or mercy, but she knows what it’s like to be encaged and treated like an animal) and next stop, the docks.
But Aerie will also suggest that it would be a good idea to find out more about Oz Olly, either from Quayle or from a library. It’s a very good idea that might save some trouble later. Whichever one you go to, you get a book about him. Aerie will remember the important details, so you can throw the book away if you want. Oz Olly was a mage and inventor who was well known at the time for his flying contraptions, none of which ever actually flew. But he knew they wouldn’t; he built all kinds of ridiculous and impractical mechanical birds primarily to entertain children. He was said to have been generous and kind hearted and liked to make people laugh, having a reputation as a bit of a trickster. ‘There shall be wings’ was from a speech he made in which he was trying to encourage his peers and convince there were no limits to what was possible if they put their minds to it. His other inventions did work, but his best work however came about when he was imprisoned for twenty years not paying taxes. But all the time he was in there he spent thinking about and refining his ideas. When he was released he quickly became known as one of the most brilliant gnomes ever to live, and seemed to have retained the same kindness and generosity and desire to make others happy that he’d always had. His inventions were all made to help people. However, when he was visiting Amn, he got talking to a lord who asked if it was possible for him to build a weapon so powerful that none would dare challenge him. Oz didn’t know about that, but he believed it was certainly possible to build a weapon with such power that it would rival that of the gods, but that only a fool would build it. This lord was such a fool. He captured Oz and brought him to his castle, where he demanded the weapon be made for him. Oz reluctantly agreed and began work, letting it be known that this new weapon would be his greatest and most dreadful achievement. What exactly happened next is Sketchy, but the story went that Oz, when completing the weapon, had done his job too well and it’s power would be devastating to the whole world in the wrong hands. And so, he placed the weapon in a maze and hid the weapon in a maze and concealed the entrance. What then happened to him, or the lord, is unknown as they both just disappeared from history.
In any case, find the captain in the docks. He’s quite willing to help. He once trained to be a paladin, but failed the test and fell into piracy (you’ll learn more of his backstory if you have Keldorn in your party), but now the years are catching up with him he’s quite keen for a chance to restore honour to his name. When Aerie tentatively asks him why he didn’t have his limbs restored, he explains that although he greatly missed them at first, by now his hook and peg had simply become a part of who he was – a pirate. In any case, he’ll take you straight to where the entrance is located, or agree to meet you there. But you still need the key to get in. The only clue he has to that was a diviner who told him it was located to the east, where a child of the feather would have to do battle with a child of the scale. In other words, go to a place where there be dragons. Since the entrance is in Windspear Hills, you won’t have far to go. So go there, kill some Yuan-Ti, get a note with some music written on it. The music is the key, of course. So you need a bard. But, if you don’t have that, the captain happens to have a fiddle.
So go with him to the right spot and open the portal. But when you do, Praxis himself will appear with a contingent, including Amra. He greets Aerie, thanks you, kills the captain, and then typically leaves you to his goons while he and some others step through the portal to their destiny. Now obviously, after dealing with the foot soldiers, you have to go after him so he can’t use the weapon. So do so. Once through, you’ll find yourself in some familiar surroundings. The barrier Oz Olly put around his weapon is a maze constructed from the memories of those who come in (which is convenient, because it means I don’t have to actually make any new maps, just reuse some other ones but with different enemies, items etc). Usual dungeon crawl; fight enemies, solve some puzzles. Along the way, you’ll encounter some of Aerie’s memories of conversations with Praxis, as well as her younger selves. You may encounter one or two blasts from your own past as well. If you read the book, Aerie might start to question why Oz Olly would ever have agreed to make a weapon, even with his own life at stake, since by all accounts he was tremendously moral and only ever wished to help people. But in notes found while making your way through the dungeon, left by Oz, he describes the weapon as being a gift to the people of this world, one that would purge it of woes and enable him to have the last laugh. But in any case, what’s important is finding a key, as it’s needed to enter the final area.
There you find Praxis, next to the weapon and surrounded by goons. But he has a problem; he got one key, but the weapon needs two to activate. He sent Amra out to find the other, but now he sees that you have it, and demands you hand it over. A very tough fight will then ensue, as Praxis and his men are very powerful and well equipped. But, if you read the book, then while Praxis is bragging to you, Aerie will quietly put all the pieces, noticing that among the charred remains in the room is the very Lord mentioned in the story. And so, Aerie implores you to submit to Praxis and surrender the key, and to trust her. Either agree and think you should surrender, because obviously Charname had worked it out ages ago, or say ‘WHAT THE HELL AERIE!’ Or just fight Praxis anyway. But if you hand over the key, a scene will ensue in which Praxis and all his men are killed anyway.
Yes, Oz never built a weapon. Instead, he built a trap for anyone who would actually crave the kind of power he promised. The weapon will ask if you want its power also. Best say no. It will then open a portal and allow you to return to the hills.
But we’re still not done, because waiting for you outside is Amra, and she’s very angry, and now has an army at her disposal. She orders it to attack. They’re not tough, but they keep coming. But don’t worry; after a bit, a pack of werewolves will appear and chase them away, including Amra who swears revenge on Aerie.
One of the werewolves transforms back into human, after asking if you can hand him the clothes from over there, and is revealed to be the stranger who had approached Aerie in the first place. Further, he reveals himself to have been the boy she had rescued years ago, and given up her own freedom for. He had been found and taken in by this pack, and now he was a man he was trying to find the rest of his family who were also taken that day, as well as hunt some slaver scum along the way. Aerie regretfully has no memory of what could have happened to them, as she was separated from all the others early on. Nevertheless, he thanks you anyway and you get your final reward.
Aerie gets +1 to INT, WIS (if you did it all the smart way) and DEX, and a cool item. If you’re romancing Aerie, you get a second cool item to help you take good care of her. And then that is the end of that.
In addition, there's couple of minor encounters and some new characters hanging around the circus. Like Tira, who is a star performer, but obviously a bit of a bully to those poor saps used to slaving away behind the scenes, like Aerie.
I’ve also thought about some other things, but I don’t think it would be possible to implement them. For example:
Restoring Aerie’s wings. I thought while investigating Oz Olly or looking around the dungeon, Aerie might stumble on a scroll that would give her wings. Not actual wings, but a magical substitute that can appear and disappear when not needed. Maybe they would enable her to basically teleport to any area of a map that’s been revealed, at least when outdoors. And maybe a less powerful wing buffet attack that can knock down or back enemies close to her. Aerie would stick with the party of course, aware that the place she remembered as a child will have changed, and she’s changed, and can’t turn away from a world that has so much suffering in it, and she has the power to help. Besides, there are still a lot of things she wants to learn and places to see.
The trouble is of course, I would have to make it fit around her current romance. So unlikely to occur. But maybe when Amra returns for revenge, probably in ToB.
Like I mentioned, I've rewritten most of the dialogue I wrote originally, since most of it was rushed since I just wanted to check if things worked (if I could get three extra banters in before her romance banters started, without changing her scripts, for example). The question is whether to carry on releasing in parts, whenever a new section of the quest is added, for example, or wait longer until most of it is done, which will likely still take a while.
You are obviously putting a lot of work into this. I look forward to trying it in my game one day when I keep Aerie in my party.
I have lots and lots of ideas anyway, but it's matter of picking the ones that can be made to work. These last few months I've been experimenting to try and find what modding stuff I can actually do with my skills and resources. Another thing I considered, but probably won't do, was Aerie acquiring a familiar, like a mini-Phoenix which I think is a creature very appropriate to her character, the way it always rises from the ashes... but that would be much too complicated I think. I have to bear in mind as well that I've only so much time I can spend on this, and if I tried to do everything I wanted it would never be done. Even if it was done, it would be huge and really inappropriate for one character to take over so much of the game like that. So trying to keep it as simple, short and straightforward as possible while still being a good story is foremost on my mind, which might be surprising considering what a wordy response this was, but... meh.
Giving Aerie a familiar sounds quite cool (always wondered why Charname was the only one who could make use of such a popular class feature) but I can see that it could be tricky to implement. You could make it a crippled phoenix so it stays in the 'usable items slot' like Boo if adding a full-fledged familiar is too difficult. Just give it the powers of a Wand of Fire except it regains charges after rest. It could also make for interesting interactions-on the one hand, the phoenix can regenerate from mortal wound, but on the other it'll always be flightless. It'd be interesting to see how Aerie would react to that.
Here's a proper sample banter that'll probably be included (none of that Deep Holes and Daggers silliness, which sounds like a porno version of DnD), between Aerie and CHARNAME. Obviously they'll be other options that'll take the conversation in slightly different directions, or you can just be rude or nasty to Aerie in which case she'll just stop talking to you and you won't be able to romance her (since she needs to trust you a lot):
Aerie: *sighs*
CHARNAME:Aerie?
Aerie: Oh… um, h-hello? Yes?
CHARNAME: Did you want to say something?
Aerie: Er… n-no. No. I’m fine.
CHARNAME: You’ve been very quiet.
Aerie: I’m sorry. There’s just… so much to take in. The world is so much bigger than I had ever imagined. So many different kinds of people and ways they live. I-I used to watch people all the time in the circus, but never this many. It’s exciting, but… a-also frightening, I suppose.
CHARNAME: Did you ever learn anything from watching people?
Aerie: No… I don’t know. It would just help me to pass the time. I-I would invent stories about some of the people I saw. I saw a man and woman, and he had his arm around, protecting her, while always glancing and checking every direction. S-so I guessed he was probably a soldier or mercenary, someone used to being in danger. Or I saw woman in the finest dress and jewels, but, y-you could tell by the lines on her face that none of her riches made her happy. Or I saw a girl, sitting by herself, silently crying, unable to stop, m-maybe hoping someone would notice and help her because nothing she tried herself made the pain go away… Um, things like that…
CHARNAME: Did you help?
Aerie: I was in a cage. I couldn’t reach her… a-and anyway, she might have just twisted her ankle for all I knew. I’m sure she was fine. But, w-what about you, CHARNAME? Are you okay? You were in a cage as well…
CHARNAME: To be honest, I don’t really remember much of it.
Aerie: I-I see. That’s… t-that’s maybe as well. But, i-if you ever… I mean, I-I don’t know if there’s really much I can say, but, I am good at listening, as well as watching.
Here, Aerie talks about life in the circus with CHARNAME:
Aerie: Y-you’ve got a tear, there. I-I could fix it for you, if… if you want me to.
CHARNAME: It’s hardly anything.
Aerie: It wouldn’t be a problem. I-I used to fix costumes in the circus, a-and my own clothes. I want to do everything I can to help everyone.
CHARNAME: Maybe later. How are you holding up?
Aerie: Oh, y-you don’t have to worry about me, . In the circus, I was being kicked and bitten all the time.
CHARNAME: You worked with animals as well?
Aerie: Animals? Well… they could be pretty rough too, I suppose…
CHARNAME: Uh… that’s, um…
Aerie: I… I-I was joking, CHARNAME. People… people didn’t really treat me that badly. Not once I was on the same side of the bars as them, anyway.
CHARNAME: That’s terrible…
Aerie: It’s just, in the circus, people are… everyone is always in a hurry. Always a rush to get the next show ready. And sometimes someone’s frustrations build and they have to let it out on something. But I… I-I’m sorry. I was trying to be light-hearted but now I’m getting you down. Honestly, i-it wasn’t bad there all the time. There was Quayle and several other people who were nice.
CHARNAME: What else did you do there?
Aerie: For a long time, not much. B-but then it was all sorts. E-everyone had to work all the time. I-it was mostly cleaning up after every show, shovelling the manure, picking up the rubbish and property people sometimes left behind… i-it had to all be done very fast so the tent was ready for the next crowd to come in. When the shows were on, I-I would often be making sure each costume and prop was ready for whoever would be performing next. Sometimes I would feed the lions before the lion tamer act… y-you see, lions aren’t actually that afraid of chairs. I would have to mix something with their food to make them drowsy. Too much and they’d fall asleep. Too little, and… well, there’d be no more lion tamer.
CHARNAME: You never made a mistake, right?
Aerie: I was… I-I was tempted to, once, after he’d been very rude to everyone. But no, I didn’t. The only thing I really enjoyed doing was helping Uncle Quayle design new tricks and illusions and machines that made bubbles and funny noises… h-he was always looking for some new way to entertain the crowd, and I liked solving problems and being creative. It… i-it was fun.
CHARNAME: So why did you want to leave?
Aerie: Uncle Quayle, he… he loved the circus. He loved making people happy. I-I think he thought, for a long time, that I would learn to love it the same way he did. But I… I-I couldn’t. The crowd sees these women dancing in their costumes, and they all look so beautiful and glamorous… but I see those women up close, and their bodies are taut and wiry and their legs are covered in bruises. It’s all an illusion. I loved Quayle, but… I-I think he knew, and accepted it in the end that I had too many bad memories there.
CHARNAME: So what do you want to do now?
Aerie: The world has been passing me by and I’ve been standing still in the middle of it for so long. There’s so much I have to see and learn, and I-I know it won’t be easy, but… I-I hope you’ll continue to have patience with me.
What Aerie describes near the start is pretty much exactly why those kind of circuses are banned now in most wetern countries and states. The treatment of animals in them was terrible... just truly horrific.
I'll probably a release a version of the mod with just revised versions of all the dialogue that I've already included. But then I'll wait until the rest of it is much closer to completion before releasing the next. In the meantime, I'll continue posting the dialogue and banters etc so that at least it's out there and people can see it if they want.
So, here's another pre-romance conversation between CHARNAME and Aerie (these will be available for female PC's as well, and I might include revised versions of some of her lovetalks just for female and non-romancable CHARNAME's, like the one where Aerie talks about how she was captured):
Aerie: What was it like to grow up in Candlekeep?
CHARNAME: Why do you ask?
Aerie: I… I don’t know. I’d just like to learn more about you, a-and it’s a place I’d dreamed of visiting myself one day. Is it true that every book ever written is there?
CHARNAME: It’s what they claim. The monks are always looking for new manuscripts to copy and preserve.
Aerie: I imagine it would be easy to become lost among the shelves. But, w-what a place to be lost in! Where every tome is a whole new world to explore…
CHARNAME: Sure; you could spend your life there. Provided you can develop a taste for papyrus and leather.
Aerie: Heh! But, don’t… d-don’t you miss it? I-I can’t imagine ever being bored in such a place.
CHARNAME: You… you like books, I take it?
Aerie: Always. I used to go to the library and read all the time as a child. I… h-haven’t been able to visit them as much I’d like lately, but Quayle used to read to me, a-and then he and others in the circus all had books they would let me have sometimes. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an author.
CHARNAME: Really?
Aerie: Well, t-that, or an actress. Or a general. O-or an astronomer, or warrior princess, o-or someone who looks after animals… or a warrior princess general who owns a telescope and lives in a grove writing plays performed by animals…
CHARNAME: Ambitious.
Aerie: I-I was a child, then. I had… well, I-I don’t imagine this is how you thought your life would be either.
CHARNAME: Not exactly.
Aerie: I’m sorry. I-I was just trying to make conversation, but I-I keep dragging you down, don’t I? I’m sorry.
CHARNAME: Aerie, maybe there’s just something you need to say? Something you have to tell someone?
Aerie: M-my… no, I’m sorry, CHARNAME. You’ve already helped me so much and have so much else to worry about right now. I’ll be fine, and I’ll do the best I can to help.
CHARNAME: It’s okay, Aerie. I don’t mind listening.
Aerie: I-I… you never really answered my question. Do you miss Candlekeep?
CHARNAME: Of course. It was my home. I left a lot of friends behind. But there’s no way I can go back there now.
Aerie: I understand. But, m-maybe there is, in a sense.
CHARNAME: What do you mean?
Aerie: Well… all you’d have to do is write a book. Then the monks would have to preserve it, a-and so that way, there would always be a piece of you left there.
When the circus is up and running again, you might encounter these guys outside:
White Knight: Hold, brothers! Yonder lies the lair of the foul wyrm, and in his vile clutches the three fair virgin priestesses awaiting daring rescue by the bravest knight’s in the land! Which is we.
Black Knight: Finally…
Green Knight: Wait… three? But there are four of us…
Aerie: *sigh* The Spectrum Knights… about to go and fight a very tacky and unconvincing dragon named Dwayne. Dwayne the Dwagon. The White Knight, The Black Knight, The Green Knight, and…
Pink Knight: Wait… why do I always have to be The Pink Knight?
White Knight: What’s wrong with it?
Pink Knight: Well, it’s hardly manly, is it…
Green Knight: It’s fine. You look adorable.
Pink Knight: Look… we’re The Spectrum Knights, right? That means there’s a whole spectrum to choose from, so couldn’t we just pick our own colours?
White Knight: It’s the only other armour we have.
Pink Knight: Well, couldn’t we swap once in a while? Look… we all know The Black Knight is more a Knight of The Garter anyway…
Black Knight: What does that mean?
Pink Knight: I mean you can’t hold anything up.
Black Knight: How dare you sir! That’s it… I demand satisfaction!
Pink Knight: You can demand it, but you’ve never given it.
Aerie: Ugh… l-lets go, CHARNAME.
CHARNAME: Isn’t there anyone else you’d like to say hello to while you’re here?
Aerie: No… I just want to leave. This is a very silly place.
You can speak to them again, and get stuff like:
Black Knight: Have at you!
Pink Knight: You don’t even have a sword.
Black Knight: Then… I shall have at you with my wit!
Pink Knight: What, you’re going to cut me down with your Sword of Satire, are you?
Black Knight: Hmph. While you, coward, hide behind your Shield of Sarcasm, as usual.
Pink Knight: Yup. Then I’ll finish you off with my Ironic Hammer.
After the whole episode with Kalah, if you talk to the circus workers with Aerie in your party, they'll have generally nice and apologetic things to say to her (apart from one, who we'll get to later.)
Circus Worker: Aerie... I'm sorry for the way some of us treated. If you hadn't kept your head in there, then... well, a lot more wouldn’t have made it. So, er, thanks, I guess.
Circus Worker: Oh, Aerie, I never knew you were so brave! I'm so sorry if we've ever been mean to you.
Circus Worker: Are you leaving then, Aerie? We already lost so many. But if you think you might find happiness out there, then I can’t begrudge you for wanting to go. Especially considering… well, everything…
Circus Worker: You take care out there, Aerie, d'ya hear? Don’t let anyone take advantage of ya.
Circus Worker: Aerie: I-I’ll try my best. T-thank you.
And then they'll resume saying the usual things. If you go back later with Aerie when the circus is up and running again, there are a few more:
Circus Worker: Hey Aerie, you still remember all the tricks we taught you, right?
Circus Worker: I'd ask you for a game, Aerie... but, well, we’ve got to stay in business.
Circus Worker: We might be leaving the city soon, Aerie. I hope you get a chance to come say goodbye to everyone.
Circus Worker: Oh, Aerie... you were always so shy and quiet and sad. It's great to see you're doing better now.
But then there's a bitch. A new character in the circus tent who has a far less friendly attirude toward the party and especially Aerie:
Tira: Suppose you think you’re really something now, don’t you?
Aerie: Well, I… I-I think I’m not nothing, yes.
Tira: Whatever. Don’t expect me to thank you. You’re still just another gopher as far as I’m concerned, and that’s all you’ll ever be.
Aerie: I… I don't understand you, Tira. Why are you always like this? I’ve never done any harm to you.
Tira: What is there to understand? I'm a star, and you’re a slave. I’m strong, you're weak. Unless you want that fact proven again, I suggest you run along.
Again, go back later after the circus is working again for more:
Tira: What? Did you miss me already? Oh, very well; I have been a bit bored lately.
Aerie: Yes. I-I suppose I never considered how tough it would be for you. How… how can a bully survive if she hasn’t any victim?
Tira: Well, haven't you gotten bold. You take a knock to the head out there or something?
Aerie: Tira, the… t-the only reason I never stood up to you before was because everyone here thought you were more valuable than me. But I’m not part of the circus anymore.
Tira: Really? So then, what now?
Aerie: Now, you... y-you're just not worth it.
Tira: Ha! Nice try, wimp. Next time, try not to tremble so much.
Finally, talk to her again:
Tira: Back again? You really looking for me to beat you senseless and throw you in a cage with the lions?
Aerie: Please, Tira, just... l-leave me alone. I’m not here to fight you.
Tira: Why do you keep coming back? I don’t like you, Aerie.
Aerie: I… I got that…
Tira: Do you want to know why I don't like you?
Aerie: I’m sure you have your reasons…
Tira: Because you're nice.
Aerie: I’m… sorry?
Tira: All you good, nice girls, always trying your best, aren’t you? But you’ll never be a winner, Aerie. Girls like you are never finish better than second place. Because, you just don’t have the guts to do what it takes to be on top.
Aerie: *sigh* I'm… I’m not a coward, Tira.
Tira: No? Well, why don’t you prove it?
Tira tries to attack Aerie, who responds by casting anti-chickenater, which in this case turns Tira into a chicken.
Tira: *cluck*
CHARNAME: Aerie… when did you learn to do that?
Aerie: I… I-I didn’t. She lunged and I-I didn’t want to hurt her, so I just… I improvised.
CHARNAME: Is she going to stay like that?
Aerie: No… it should wear off after a while. I think…
CHARNAME: I guess she’s learnt not to ruffle your feathers, right?
Aerie: Please, CHARNAME. Puns are… puns are the lowest form of wit. Although, i-it would be nice if she could eventually learn from this and become less fowl of a person. Er… we--we should probably make sure the others don’t eat her. Or throw her in with the lions.
There's just a few minor encounters scattered around.
There's a drunk hanging around near Cromwell's smithy. Speak to him with both Aerie and Imoen in your party, and the following takes place:
Joe: Here, lass. C’mere. Let me - *hic* - let me tell you something…
Aerie: Ugh… ex… ex—excuse me, sir. Please… I… I have to catch up to my friends.
Joe: No, no. Listen… never, I say, never, trust a dwarf. Only thing those bastards love is gold.
Aerie: Okay… I—I need to go now…
Joe: Huh? Where you trying to go?
Aerie: Over there… to my friends…
Joe: Oh, what? Prissy little elf thinks she’s too good to talk to talk to the likes of me, huh? That it?
Aerie: No! N-not at all, sir… I just… please leave me alone…
Joe: Bollocks! I tell ya, no one has any freaking respect these days…
Aerie: I do! I just don’t want any trouble. Please let go of my arm…
Imoen: There are a problem here, fella?
Joe: Damn right there is! That crummy Cromwell went and cheated me!
Imoen: No! That’s bad. That’s real bad. Shame on him. What’d he do?
Joe: Stove… damn stove got busted in robbery, so I brought it to Cromwell. He says it’ll be ready today, but now he says tomorrow on account of too much work on… short limbed swine!
Imoen: That’s awful. I mean, you had an agreement, right? He shoulda fixed your thing first.
Joe: That’s right. We did. How’s he expect to stay in business if he don’t keep his word?
Imoen: Ah, well. What can you do, huh?
Joe: About what?
Imoen: Whatever it was.
Joe: Don’t know. Feel a bit… a bit dizzy… figure I’ll just go home and lie down.
Imoen: Alrighty then. You take care now. Bye! *sighs* You okay, Aerie?
Aerie: I… y-yes, I am. Thank you, Imoen.
Imoen: No problem. See, what you gotta remember is, folks like that, most the time, they just want someone to listen to them.
Aerie: Most the time… b-but not always? How can you tell?
Imoen: I just… ah, I ran an inn with old Puffguts for years, back in Candlekeep. I guess it’s just experience. Don’t worry. You stick with me and you’ll pick this stuff up in no time.
Aerie: Thank you, again. I… I do have one other question though…
Imoen: Sure. What is it?
Aerie: Wh-what… what does ‘bollocks’ mean?
Imoen: Testicles, Aerie. It means testicles.
Aerie: Oh… I see…
Imoen: And now you know, never let me catch you saying it again.
This version mod just contains rewrites of what was in the previous version. The pre-romance banters have been completely redone, and... well, just about everything has been rewritten to some degree.
Are you doing an Aeire friendship track of sorts with this one? For a girl who is well, female, or for a guy who leaves her with Haer'Dalis or romances something else? I think that's something Aerie could really use, and personally, I think it would be useful for her to bond with someone like a female CHARNAME. She could use a more confident friend in her life, there's already one cute female PC-Aerie banter about the covers, and I don't always pick up Imoen.
Are you doing an Aeire friendship track of sorts with this one? For a girl who is well, female, or for a guy who leaves her with Haer'Dalis or romances something else? I think that's something Aerie could really use, and personally, I think it would be useful for her to bond with someone like a female CHARNAME. She could use a more confident friend in her life, there's already one cute female PC-Aerie banter about the covers, and I don't always pick up Imoen.
At the moment, I've copied about six of her lovetalks and made them for female CHARNAME's. I thought I might have to edit and remove a lot of lovey-dovey stuff, but actually I hardly had to change anything at all. To be honest, most of Aerie's romance would work just as well if she was just talking as a friend with a female PC, at least until the end (and ToB). But maybe I'll consider building a slightly different friendship track sometime in the future.
In the meantime, maybe I should also make those banters I copied available for... is it dwarves and halflings she won't romance? Shorties are looked down on by all the females it seems. Although Aerie will romance gnomes, and so I can't really think of any reason why she wouldn't go with any of the others.
AFAIK, she will romance a gnome because her father-figure (Quayle) is a gnome and she is a cleric of a gnome god. If it weren't for that, she'd probably be limited to elves, humans, and half-elves.
Comments
The next part is meant to be slightly different; you're sent again to a location, where again there is someone from Aerie's past who was a slaver and you go in expecting there to be another fight... but this time, he's haunted and torn up by guilt about his past. But I've not really figured out the best way to get all that across in game is. Although I'm thinking I might involve Hendak and the Copper Coronet again. So maybe they've captured this other slaver and you can go to the cells and talk to him... and then maybe some other exciting stuff can happen there as well.
I've been rewriting some of the banters between Aerie and the PC and Aerie/Imoen, since I kind of rushed through them originally to test it worked. I've a few more characters put in place to breathe some life into the circus and some more amusing scenes/banters. And I think there will be stripped down version of Aerie's romance for female Charnames; the bits that tell you relevant things about her past anyway, like how she was captured, with any lovey dovey or sexual stuff removed.
And I managed to get over the block I had, so Aerie and her companions will be become more embroiled (reluctantly, at first...) in the schemes of the evil slave lord (as if there was any other kind of slave lord), Praxis.
I've been molling over the idea of potentially giving Aerie her wings back... I'm thinking, she may not get actual wings back, buy maybe some magical wings she can turn on and off. But aside from having to work out the mechanics of how flying would work at all in game, I would like there to be more practical benefits for the whole party, like places, switches, or even treasure that only Aerie can reach by hopping over there.
Also, I think I'm going to go ahead and remove the fight between Hexxat and Aerie, as it's probably necessary anyway, or at least change the conversation in such a way so that Hexxat doesn't just blithely admit to carrying on murdering innocents while she's with the party, leaving Aerie with just a tiny bit of doubt so that she won't attack. It's not out of character that Aerie would feel quiet strongly that was bad, although it is a bit OOC that she would randomly, much later, attack without talking to the PC about it first. But the bigger problem is that lots of other NPC's, Nalia, Imoen, Minsc, Cernd, Jaheira etc, would also take notice of that revelation and definitely try to Hexxat themselves before Aerie got a chance to anyway. Even if any of them could somehow be convinced that killing Clara was an impulse she couldn't control because she'd been asleep so long, the whole 'yeah, so what if I sneak out while you're all asleep and snack on the odd child?' (That's hyperbole of course, but not that much), is just stretching the realms of plausibility too far, so that it snaps and wallops you in the face.
Obviously Hexxat creates many problems as an NPC which haven't been resolved IMO. And to be more completely realistic, every NPC would know what a vampire is and what they need to do to continue to exist and rather not have to sleep in the same multiverse as one. But at least if that banter with Aerie is taken out, we can imagine that she's convinced to only eat baddies.
Anyway, it's easier to just change a couple of lines than it is to have to write and script a conflict with everyone.
But altering Hexxat to be different then her original creators wanted her to be, that's what I have an issue with. Am I making myself clear here? I'm pretty bad at making points.
I thought about having Aerie confront right away, but it still leaves the problem that there's no way every other good or druid character wouldn't react to it as well. Like I mentioned, it is far easier just to change a couple of lines so that Aerie is still doesn't like Hexxat, but will choose to trust Charname enough to tolerate it for now, than it is to add reactions from everyone else. I don't think the few lines they have and a fight to the death really add anything to either character anyway; there's plenty of Hexxat having fights and being stupidly blunt and honest (just not quite that stupid), and if you need to show Aerie has gotten much tougher in ToB... well, we'll be creating plenty of opportunities to do that.
Hexxat's a fine character by herself, but unfortunately I think her interactions with other NPC's are just plain bad. Imoen 'the eternal child; sure, she's a bit silly, but she's not supposed to actually be an imbecile, which is how she's portrayed when talking to Hexxat. But I think at least I think if the others don't all know exactly what Hexxat gets up to when she creeps away from the group while they rest, it's just slightly more believable they'll tolerate having a vampire around. Of course, they would all know... what else is a vampire going to do at night? But then Jaheira, Nalia etc would all try to put a stop to it... the problem is that Hexxat is a vampire and unless a way can be found to deal with her need to feed on blood, there's just no believable way to keep her around any group. But I think the best that can done for now is for her to just not say where she finds that blood and leave it to the players imagination.
And yeah, the basic premise is alright I think, but like I mentioned before I've been rewriting the banters and putting together a few new banters with other characters (so far, they've all been with the bhaalspawn and Imoen). There are some things that I drafted originally that I changed or abandoned almost immediately. Like Praxis (the main villain in this mod), was supposed to appear disguised as monk or something... I couldn't decide what kind of monk, or why he would do that anyway. I guess I thought he should antagonise the bhaalspawn a bit so you have more of a reason to go after him. But really, even if he was curious to learn that the avariel he broke and sold a long time ago was still alive and with an adventuring party who had shut down some of his colleagues, he'd still consider himself too important and busy with his own affairs right now to bother going after you in person. So that went.
And there are things I look at now and wonder what I was thinking of at the time. Like there's a couple in the Copper Coronet, a man who is obviously quite domineering and abusive toward his spouse/partner, and Aerie ends up shooting an acid arrow into him. Not really sure where that was going. Maybe it's just Aerie sympathising with anyone abused or who feels trapped in any situation. Or maybe I just thought it would be funny if Aerie started a barroom brawl. I'm not really sure.
And Raptair in the Umar Hills. I don't know if I should go into that since it might spoil things for people... but, maybe that part needs more jokes added to it. There is a serious side to the encounter and that character might return at a later date (by which I mean maybe as a part of a quest in ToB), but basically he's like the Teasers in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
With the next proper update I'll start making a list of all the things I've added or changed so that people will have some idea of what I'm talking about here. There's a lot of stuff that I need to 'encode' to add it to the game, and a few other little bits I might write before then.
What I might do later is post the 'bible', which is a pretty grandiose term, but basically TV shows often have a bible which contains all the background information about the setting and the characters. Sci-fi shows might have stuff in there about all the technology and what can and can't be done... it's all supposed to help the many writers maintain some kind of consistency.
In this case, I'm writing a mod which is focused mainly on one character. Before I started this mod I already had a longer version of her biography written up that I referred to. Everything I could find out from the game is in there, and a lot of other stuff I had to extrapolate and fill in myself. From the game, we basically know the city she was born in, the fact that avariel society is split into hunters and warriors on one side, artists, philosophers and intellectuals on the other, and Aerie's class is the later. Her mother's name, how she was captured, was neglected, met Quayle and had her wings cut off. There's quite a few gaps, like obviously the slavers wouldn't have captured her and immediately sold her to the circus. Avariel are rare, so they would have taken time to arrange an auction and invite all the rich people they could contact to come and bid, and in the meantime Aerie would have taken to some kind of fort. That's obviously the major focus of this mod, the time inbetween being captured and being sold. Also, whatever happened to that boy she almost, well, practically did, give up her life for? Lot's of possible answers to that, but I've had to choose one.
In the bio I mention what skills she might have learnt at various stages in her life that could be applied later. For example, you might have noticed that the tent that Quayle resides in has a lot of gambling going on. Aerie, being a people watcher anyway, may have seen or had shown to her just about every trick in existence as she went about her chores. So, as naive as she can be in the ways of the world, maybe not a good idea for anyone to try and hustle her.
Aerie: I don’t really know how to ‘mingle’. I—I’ve been trying, but… I just don’t think I’ve really mastered small talk.
Imoen: Would you feel better if there was only BIG talk? Huge, massive talk, like that stuff you were saying about why are there so many different types of animal and where do they all come from?
Aerie: O-or, who decides what is ‘good’? A-and how do they know? And if the world had a beginning, then will it one day end…
Imoen: Yeah, that’s… probably too big for the kind of party we’ll be having. Let’s just practice the small stuff. It’s not so hard. I’ll just ask you something like, what did you do last night?
Aerie: Well… I-I was playing Deep Holes and Daggers, by myself, a-and I rolled six eighteens…
Imoen: No! What’re you doing?!
Aerie: I… I-I’m sorry?
Imoen: That’s less than small talk! You’ve gone from big talk, to… to tiny talk! That’s talk no-one’ll even pretend to give three flying rat-monkeys about!
Aerie: Oh… I’m sorry…
Imoen: You gotta be more general. Stuff like the weather, what foods you like, things costing more than they used to...
Aerie: They do? I-I wouldn’t know…
Imoen: It’s okay. Y’know, some folks devote decades of their lives to building a big temple. You’re a long term project like that for me. You’re what I’m going to leave behind for the world; a fully adjusted, rounded individual. Just like me.
Aerie: Like… like you?
Imoen: You can wipe that smirk off yer face. This is serious. We’re sticking at this until you get it right…
So the trouble is, Imoen and Aerie are so fun and easy to write banter for. They've got all the things it takes to have a really great partnership or double act together. There's common ground, since they're both good and affectionate and loyal individuals, and both have shared similar experiences of being wrongfully taken and horribly treated and imprisioned/tortured. Yet at the same time they're very distinct and contrasting. Aerie is obviously quite shy and insecure, for example, whereas Imoen is a lot more carefree and outgoing and doesn't care so much about making herself look silly. And you need those differences in a partnership because both characters are supposed to either learn from each other and both end up as better people, or they don't really learn but just become a unit, both functioning at their best when they're together.
Imoen gets very protective of Aerie and probably sees herself as a big sister. Aerie gets exasperated by Imoen sometimes, but I think really does just enjoy being around her and has fun, and I think really wishes she could be more carefree like that herself.
Thing is, I could easily write hundreds of banters between those two. But obviously I have to reign it in a bit and have just a few. Maybe a few in SoA and a few in ToB. So now I have to pick which ones to pick. Maybe the previous one is too silly. So, maybe one where Aerie introduces herself. I think the one where Imoen reads Aerie's journal is still quite good. And one where you see the two are starting to rub off on each other bit. Then in ToB, it'll basically be Aerie getting her own back for the cinnamon cookies thing.
So here's the first part. Like my other streams of consciousness I don't know how this is to follow, and I've left out any actual quotes from the game, probably because I assumed people would know them, but I can certainly dig all those out as well:
Aerie is quiet. Partly just shy and perhaps naturally prone to introspection, but obviously a great deal of the anxiety and nervousness she feels around people is due to the way she’s been treated in the past. Typically, she will be furtive when she speaks, particularly with people she doesn’t yet know or feel comfortable with. She has fallen into the habit of stuttering and pausing when she talks (sometimes she’ll display the typically elven trait of using poetry and metaphor to communicate), although that might change when the subject happens to turn to something she feels and/or passionately about, or keenly interested in, like magic or philosophy, for example. Although lacking confidence as she does, in most cases she’s not likely to state a definite opinion, and more likely to inquire what the person she’s speaking to believes.
Aerie’s insecurity and low self-esteem is quite understandable, considering she was pretty much literally told she was worthless when she lost her wings and the circus would have just cast her aside and left her. Only Quayle’s intervention saved her life, becoming her adoptive father-figure. Important to note that Aerie in fact very rarely discusses her past; in fact, the player is the only character she ever opens up to about it, although in the first meeting with the player she only reveals her identity as an avariel who had lost her wings when pressed about it and is trying to earn Charname’s trust. Likely, she never really discussed her feelings even with Quayle, perhaps out of gratitude for all he’d already done for her, but also not wanting him to worry and knowing his perspective on the circus was quite different to hers. He enjoys entertaining crowds and making folk happy, but Aerie knew too well what the crowds didn’t see, the callous and cruel behaviour and abuse behind the scenes. Of course, being as close as they were and knowing her past, Quayle of course would have known she was unhappy anyway and it wouldn’t have taken even his magnificent brain to work out why.
Aerie is shy, but not really aloof, although when asked about herself she will normally just give short, factual answers. Conversations she initiates usually show her curiosity in the people around her, wanting to know about their beliefs and past and views about the world. Being fairly quiet and unassuming on the whole, there are few characters she won’t get along with to some degree. It takes a lot to illicit a negative response from her. Korgan has to harass her a great deal, and like almost everyone on the surface Aerie has been taught all her life that drow are evil and not to be trusted (as a gnome worshipping elf, Aerie is likely open minded enough that she could be convinced otherwise, although Viconia before her alignment shift is not likely to achieve that). Otherwise, only in her romance as she sinks into greater anxiety and depression does she start to become snappy and say hurtful things, but once things are all off her chest she soon reverts to her normal self.
The reason Aerie is slow to anger is likely due to very developed defence mechanisms, and learning to channel her negative feelings into something more productive and useful than starting fights, which as a slave or a captive in the circus she would certainly have always lost anyway. So instead all that energy goes elsewhere, like chores and study. And more chores. And study. It’s no wonder she became restless in the circus, as Quayle observes. But despite this, she naturally will bubble over occasionally.
As an adventurer, Aerie gains a new outlet for her negative feelings - bad guys. She is also very protective of her friends, refusing to let her friends be hurt, although in battle she can be not very frugal (perhaps aware of her own low stamina, when she perceives a threat to the party she goes all out to try and end it quickly, but needs to learn to pace herself as Jaheira suggests). Of course, Aerie’s very strong protective instincts are what led to her initial capture and obviously is a very key part of her make up. As in the first encounter in the circus, it seems whenever there is a crisis or emergency going on, Aerie is able to push aside all her thousand other problems and focus on the crisis (in fact a battle may even be quite a relief for her). Indeed, although when suffering depression in her romance she expresses being tired of the fighting, in other conversations when she's calmer and more herself she expresses enjoying the rush and thrill of combat.
Aside from her traumatic past, Aerie has little else to complain about. At first she’s not used to walking long distances, although she’ll quietly persevere anyway regardless of what the player tells her. She’s also mildly claustrophobic, although even in the Underdark despite being uncomfortable she manages to endure it without much incident. It would likely only become a serious issue if she was on her own in a very tight space.
But otherwise, her life in the circus will have likely in fact prepared her quite well for life as an adventurer. Even the cheapest rooms at the inn would be positively luxury compared to what she was used to, since it’s an actual bed and the rooms don’t bound about. She won’t mind getting her clothes dirty or torn, since that happened to her all the time. She’d be used to making necessary repairs herself. And knowing that cats are afraid of chairs could even be useful.
(Of course Aerie knows that cats are not afraid of chairs. What she in fact knows is that the cats in the circus are all quite heavily drugged, but trained to look fierce in response to certain gestures, and therefore already tame long before the lion tamer gets to them).
But here again is the plot for the main quest, a little revised from how it was originally. If you want to wait until it's all done, then don't read since I'm about to go through everything that will happen in this mod. But I think it's a good idea again, in case anyone who's interested has any other ideas, suggestions, etc. It's not really as long as it looks, I don't think. It's a few encounters and a dungeon.
In the slums, the party encounters a group of slavers led by an elven woman named Amra, who spots the party eavesdropping (she mentions they need to finish here so they can resume searching for something), and begins a conversation with Aerie, who seems to be trying to avoid trouble. But Amra senses that the other elf is nervous and afraid of her, and perhaps trying to hide something (originally, Amra recognised Aerie pretty much right away, but along with a lot of other dialogue I’d rustled up originally that’s changed now and no longer the case), so she orders her followers to attack, while she approaches and knocks Aerie down before legging it out of there. Aerie later explains that Amra was part of the group that originally captured her, and that it was the elf’s arrow that brought her down, and that she was then taken, by boat and land, to some kind of fortress (she didn’t get to see the outside very much, and spent most her time there in the dungeon). There she was held, for how long she didn’t know, while the slavers contacted their richest customers to arrange an auction. In the meantime, a man named Praxis explained to her the situation she was in, and employed various methods of torture to break her spirit and make her compliant.
Later, the stranger appears again outside the Copper Coronet. When quizzed about his motives for sending the party to Amra, he explains that he was hoping word of Aerie’s existence might somehow lure Praxis out of wherever he was currently hiding – most slaves would have meant nothing to him, but an avariel was something different as it’s not every day you catch a myth. He admits however that it was probably a long shot, but while the slavers in the street were distracted, he was able to get his hands on another lead. Aerie is angry. She was trying to begin a new life the way she wanted, and not have all her thoughts and energy consumed and dominated by the past. The stranger tells her she could no more turn her back on people suffering than she could forget who and what she was and where she came from – it was instinct. He then asks the party to meet him at the very back of the Copper Coronet.
Go there, and the party discovers that the freed slaves have captured a dwarf, Kimbul, who Aerie also recognises as someone from her past. He had been a jailer in the fort she had been held in. She remembers he drank a lot then, but it now it seems even that isn’t enough for him to drown his guilt. While the former slaves discuss what to do with him, some wanting to execute him, some wanting to make him fight in the arena, while Aerie worries that any of these things might make them no better than the slavers themselves. Kimbul says very little, and seems prepared to just accept whatever is decided.
But then, more dwarves arrive – Kimbul’s brother and other members of the his break into the coronet to try and rescue him. Either fight the dwarves, or help Aerie convince Kimbul to convince them to stand down, and not allow his family to be punished for his crimes. But whether out of gratitude or stricken with grief, Kimbul will explain that Praxis has long been obsessed by that ancient gnome, Oz Olly. Supposedly, the gnome once built an extremely powerful but then hid it away. Praxis believes he’s found the hiding place, but he needs some sort of key to open the entrance. He has no idea where it could be, but he remembers that Praxis once hired a ship captain with one arm and one leg to help him find it. Leave Kimbul to the slaves (Aerie will suggest the imprisonment is an appropriate enough punishment; not necessarily out of kindness or mercy, but she knows what it’s like to be encaged and treated like an animal) and next stop, the docks.
But Aerie will also suggest that it would be a good idea to find out more about Oz Olly, either from Quayle or from a library. It’s a very good idea that might save some trouble later. Whichever one you go to, you get a book about him. Aerie will remember the important details, so you can throw the book away if you want. Oz Olly was a mage and inventor who was well known at the time for his flying contraptions, none of which ever actually flew. But he knew they wouldn’t; he built all kinds of ridiculous and impractical mechanical birds primarily to entertain children. He was said to have been generous and kind hearted and liked to make people laugh, having a reputation as a bit of a trickster. ‘There shall be wings’ was from a speech he made in which he was trying to encourage his peers and convince there were no limits to what was possible if they put their minds to it. His other inventions did work, but his best work however came about when he was imprisoned for twenty years not paying taxes. But all the time he was in there he spent thinking about and refining his ideas. When he was released he quickly became known as one of the most brilliant gnomes ever to live, and seemed to have retained the same kindness and generosity and desire to make others happy that he’d always had. His inventions were all made to help people. However, when he was visiting Amn, he got talking to a lord who asked if it was possible for him to build a weapon so powerful that none would dare challenge him. Oz didn’t know about that, but he believed it was certainly possible to build a weapon with such power that it would rival that of the gods, but that only a fool would build it. This lord was such a fool. He captured Oz and brought him to his castle, where he demanded the weapon be made for him. Oz reluctantly agreed and began work, letting it be known that this new weapon would be his greatest and most dreadful achievement. What exactly happened next is Sketchy, but the story went that Oz, when completing the weapon, had done his job too well and it’s power would be devastating to the whole world in the wrong hands. And so, he placed the weapon in a maze and hid the weapon in a maze and concealed the entrance. What then happened to him, or the lord, is unknown as they both just disappeared from history.
In any case, find the captain in the docks. He’s quite willing to help. He once trained to be a paladin, but failed the test and fell into piracy (you’ll learn more of his backstory if you have Keldorn in your party), but now the years are catching up with him he’s quite keen for a chance to restore honour to his name. When Aerie tentatively asks him why he didn’t have his limbs restored, he explains that although he greatly missed them at first, by now his hook and peg had simply become a part of who he was – a pirate. In any case, he’ll take you straight to where the entrance is located, or agree to meet you there. But you still need the key to get in. The only clue he has to that was a diviner who told him it was located to the east, where a child of the feather would have to do battle with a child of the scale. In other words, go to a place where there be dragons. Since the entrance is in Windspear Hills, you won’t have far to go. So go there, kill some Yuan-Ti, get a note with some music written on it. The music is the key, of course. So you need a bard. But, if you don’t have that, the captain happens to have a fiddle.
So go with him to the right spot and open the portal. But when you do, Praxis himself will appear with a contingent, including Amra. He greets Aerie, thanks you, kills the captain, and then typically leaves you to his goons while he and some others step through the portal to their destiny. Now obviously, after dealing with the foot soldiers, you have to go after him so he can’t use the weapon. So do so.
Once through, you’ll find yourself in some familiar surroundings. The barrier Oz Olly put around his weapon is a maze constructed from the memories of those who come in (which is convenient, because it means I don’t have to actually make any new maps, just reuse some other ones but with different enemies, items etc). Usual dungeon crawl; fight enemies, solve some puzzles. Along the way, you’ll encounter some of Aerie’s memories of conversations with Praxis, as well as her younger selves. You may encounter one or two blasts from your own past as well. If you read the book, Aerie might start to question why Oz Olly would ever have agreed to make a weapon, even with his own life at stake, since by all accounts he was tremendously moral and only ever wished to help people. But in notes found while making your way through the dungeon, left by Oz, he describes the weapon as being a gift to the people of this world, one that would purge it of woes and enable him to have the last laugh. But in any case, what’s important is finding a key, as it’s needed to enter the final area.
There you find Praxis, next to the weapon and surrounded by goons. But he has a problem; he got one key, but the weapon needs two to activate. He sent Amra out to find the other, but now he sees that you have it, and demands you hand it over. A very tough fight will then ensue, as Praxis and his men are very powerful and well equipped. But, if you read the book, then while Praxis is bragging to you, Aerie will quietly put all the pieces, noticing that among the charred remains in the room is the very Lord mentioned in the story. And so, Aerie implores you to submit to Praxis and surrender the key, and to trust her. Either agree and think you should surrender, because obviously Charname had worked it out ages ago, or say ‘WHAT THE HELL AERIE!’ Or just fight Praxis anyway. But if you hand over the key, a scene will ensue in which Praxis and all his men are killed anyway.
Yes, Oz never built a weapon. Instead, he built a trap for anyone who would actually crave the kind of power he promised. The weapon will ask if you want its power also. Best say no. It will then open a portal and allow you to return to the hills.
But we’re still not done, because waiting for you outside is Amra, and she’s very angry, and now has an army at her disposal. She orders it to attack. They’re not tough, but they keep coming. But don’t worry; after a bit, a pack of werewolves will appear and chase them away, including Amra who swears revenge on Aerie.
One of the werewolves transforms back into human, after asking if you can hand him the clothes from over there, and is revealed to be the stranger who had approached Aerie in the first place. Further, he reveals himself to have been the boy she had rescued years ago, and given up her own freedom for. He had been found and taken in by this pack, and now he was a man he was trying to find the rest of his family who were also taken that day, as well as hunt some slaver scum along the way. Aerie regretfully has no memory of what could have happened to them, as she was separated from all the others early on. Nevertheless, he thanks you anyway and you get your final reward.
Aerie gets +1 to INT, WIS (if you did it all the smart way) and DEX, and a cool item. If you’re romancing Aerie, you get a second cool item to help you take good care of her. And then that is the end of that.
In addition, there's couple of minor encounters and some new characters hanging around the circus. Like Tira, who is a star performer, but obviously a bit of a bully to those poor saps used to slaving away behind the scenes, like Aerie.
I’ve also thought about some other things, but I don’t think it would be possible to implement them. For example:
The trouble is of course, I would have to make it fit around her current romance. So unlikely to occur. But maybe when Amra returns for revenge, probably in ToB.
Like I mentioned, I've rewritten most of the dialogue I wrote originally, since most of it was rushed since I just wanted to check if things worked (if I could get three extra banters in before her romance banters started, without changing her scripts, for example). The question is whether to carry on releasing in parts, whenever a new section of the quest is added, for example, or wait longer until most of it is done, which will likely still take a while.
CHARNAME:Aerie?
Aerie: Oh… um, h-hello? Yes?
CHARNAME: Did you want to say something?
Aerie: Er… n-no. No. I’m fine.
CHARNAME: You’ve been very quiet.
Aerie: I’m sorry. There’s just… so much to take in. The world is so much bigger than I had ever imagined. So many different kinds of people and ways they live. I-I used to watch people all the time in the circus, but never this many. It’s exciting, but… a-also frightening, I suppose.
CHARNAME: Did you ever learn anything from watching people?
Aerie: No… I don’t know. It would just help me to pass the time. I-I would invent stories about some of the people I saw. I saw a man and woman, and he had his arm around, protecting her, while always glancing and checking every direction. S-so I guessed he was probably a soldier or mercenary, someone used to being in danger. Or I saw woman in the finest dress and jewels, but, y-you could tell by the lines on her face that none of her riches made her happy. Or I saw a girl, sitting by herself, silently crying, unable to stop, m-maybe hoping someone would notice and help her because nothing she tried herself made the pain go away… Um, things like that…
CHARNAME: Did you help?
Aerie: I was in a cage. I couldn’t reach her… a-and anyway, she might have just twisted her ankle for all I knew. I’m sure she was fine. But, w-what about you, CHARNAME? Are you okay? You were in a cage as well…
CHARNAME: To be honest, I don’t really remember much of it.
Aerie: I-I see. That’s… t-that’s maybe as well. But, i-if you ever… I mean, I-I don’t know if there’s really much I can say, but, I am good at listening, as well as watching.
CHARNAME: Thanks, Aerie.
Aerie: You… you’re welcome...
CHARNAME: It’s hardly anything.
Aerie: It wouldn’t be a problem. I-I used to fix costumes in the circus, a-and my own clothes. I want to do everything I can to help everyone.
CHARNAME: Maybe later. How are you holding up?
Aerie: Oh, y-you don’t have to worry about me, . In the circus, I was being kicked and bitten all the time.
CHARNAME: You worked with animals as well?
Aerie: Animals? Well… they could be pretty rough too, I suppose…
CHARNAME: Uh… that’s, um…
Aerie: I… I-I was joking, CHARNAME. People… people didn’t really treat me that badly. Not once I was on the same side of the bars as them, anyway.
CHARNAME: That’s terrible…
Aerie: It’s just, in the circus, people are… everyone is always in a hurry. Always a rush to get the next show ready. And sometimes someone’s frustrations build and they have to let it out on something. But I… I-I’m sorry. I was trying to be light-hearted but now I’m getting you down. Honestly, i-it wasn’t bad there all the time. There was Quayle and several other people who were nice.
CHARNAME: What else did you do there?
Aerie: For a long time, not much. B-but then it was all sorts. E-everyone had to work all the time. I-it was mostly cleaning up after every show, shovelling the manure, picking up the rubbish and property people sometimes left behind… i-it had to all be done very fast so the tent was ready for the next crowd to come in. When the shows were on, I-I would often be making sure each costume and prop was ready for whoever would be performing next. Sometimes I would feed the lions before the lion tamer act… y-you see, lions aren’t actually that afraid of chairs. I would have to mix something with their food to make them drowsy. Too much and they’d fall asleep. Too little, and… well, there’d be no more lion tamer.
CHARNAME: You never made a mistake, right?
Aerie: I was… I-I was tempted to, once, after he’d been very rude to everyone. But no, I didn’t. The only thing I really enjoyed doing was helping Uncle Quayle design new tricks and illusions and machines that made bubbles and funny noises… h-he was always looking for some new way to entertain the crowd, and I liked solving problems and being creative. It… i-it was fun.
CHARNAME: So why did you want to leave?
Aerie: Uncle Quayle, he… he loved the circus. He loved making people happy. I-I think he thought, for a long time, that I would learn to love it the same way he did. But I… I-I couldn’t. The crowd sees these women dancing in their costumes, and they all look so beautiful and glamorous… but I see those women up close, and their bodies are taut and wiry and their legs are covered in bruises. It’s all an illusion. I loved Quayle, but… I-I think he knew, and accepted it in the end that I had too many bad memories there.
CHARNAME: So what do you want to do now?
Aerie: The world has been passing me by and I’ve been standing still in the middle of it for so long. There’s so much I have to see and learn, and I-I know it won’t be easy, but… I-I hope you’ll continue to have patience with me.
What Aerie describes near the start is pretty much exactly why those kind of circuses are banned now in most wetern countries and states. The treatment of animals in them was terrible... just truly horrific.
So, here's another pre-romance conversation between CHARNAME and Aerie (these will be available for female PC's as well, and I might include revised versions of some of her lovetalks just for female and non-romancable CHARNAME's, like the one where Aerie talks about how she was captured):
CHARNAME: Why do you ask?
Aerie: I… I don’t know. I’d just like to learn more about you, a-and it’s a place I’d dreamed of visiting myself one day. Is it true that every book ever written is there?
CHARNAME: It’s what they claim. The monks are always looking for new manuscripts to copy and preserve.
Aerie: I imagine it would be easy to become lost among the shelves. But, w-what a place to be lost in! Where every tome is a whole new world to explore…
CHARNAME: Sure; you could spend your life there. Provided you can develop a taste for papyrus and leather.
Aerie: Heh! But, don’t… d-don’t you miss it? I-I can’t imagine ever being bored in such a place.
CHARNAME: You… you like books, I take it?
Aerie: Always. I used to go to the library and read all the time as a child. I… h-haven’t been able to visit them as much I’d like lately, but Quayle used to read to me, a-and then he and others in the circus all had books they would let me have sometimes. When I was a little girl, I wanted to be an author.
CHARNAME: Really?
Aerie: Well, t-that, or an actress. Or a general. O-or an astronomer, or warrior princess, o-or someone who looks after animals… or a warrior princess general who owns a telescope and lives in a grove writing plays performed by animals…
CHARNAME: Ambitious.
Aerie: I-I was a child, then. I had… well, I-I don’t imagine this is how you thought your life would be either.
CHARNAME: Not exactly.
Aerie: I’m sorry. I-I was just trying to make conversation, but I-I keep dragging you down, don’t I? I’m sorry.
CHARNAME: Aerie, maybe there’s just something you need to say? Something you have to tell someone?
Aerie: M-my… no, I’m sorry, CHARNAME. You’ve already helped me so much and have so much else to worry about right now. I’ll be fine, and I’ll do the best I can to help.
CHARNAME: It’s okay, Aerie. I don’t mind listening.
Aerie: I-I… you never really answered my question. Do you miss Candlekeep?
CHARNAME: Of course. It was my home. I left a lot of friends behind. But there’s no way I can go back there now.
Aerie: I understand. But, m-maybe there is, in a sense.
CHARNAME: What do you mean?
Aerie: Well… all you’d have to do is write a book. Then the monks would have to preserve it, a-and so that way, there would always be a piece of you left there.
When the circus is up and running again, you might encounter these guys outside:
Black Knight: Finally…
Green Knight: Wait… three? But there are four of us…
Aerie: *sigh* The Spectrum Knights… about to go and fight a very tacky and unconvincing dragon named Dwayne. Dwayne the Dwagon. The White Knight, The Black Knight, The Green Knight, and…
Pink Knight: Wait… why do I always have to be The Pink Knight?
White Knight: What’s wrong with it?
Pink Knight: Well, it’s hardly manly, is it…
Green Knight: It’s fine. You look adorable.
Pink Knight: Look… we’re The Spectrum Knights, right? That means there’s a whole spectrum to choose from, so couldn’t we just pick our own colours?
White Knight: It’s the only other armour we have.
Pink Knight: Well, couldn’t we swap once in a while? Look… we all know The Black Knight is more a Knight of The Garter anyway…
Black Knight: What does that mean?
Pink Knight: I mean you can’t hold anything up.
Black Knight: How dare you sir! That’s it… I demand satisfaction!
Pink Knight: You can demand it, but you’ve never given it.
Aerie: Ugh… l-lets go, CHARNAME.
CHARNAME: Isn’t there anyone else you’d like to say hello to while you’re here?
Aerie: No… I just want to leave. This is a very silly place.
You can speak to them again, and get stuff like:
Pink Knight: You don’t even have a sword.
Black Knight: Then… I shall have at you with my wit!
Pink Knight: What, you’re going to cut me down with your Sword of Satire, are you?
Black Knight: Hmph. While you, coward, hide behind your Shield of Sarcasm, as usual.
Pink Knight: Yup. Then I’ll finish you off with my Ironic Hammer.
Circus Worker: Oh, Aerie, I never knew you were so brave! I'm so sorry if we've ever been mean to you.
Circus Worker: Are you leaving then, Aerie? We already lost so many. But if you think you might find happiness out there, then I can’t begrudge you for wanting to go. Especially considering… well, everything…
Circus Worker: You take care out there, Aerie, d'ya hear? Don’t let anyone take advantage of ya.
Circus Worker: Aerie: I-I’ll try my best. T-thank you.
And then they'll resume saying the usual things. If you go back later with Aerie when the circus is up and running again, there are a few more:
Circus Worker: I'd ask you for a game, Aerie... but, well, we’ve got to stay in business.
Circus Worker: We might be leaving the city soon, Aerie. I hope you get a chance to come say goodbye to everyone.
Circus Worker: Oh, Aerie... you were always so shy and quiet and sad. It's great to see you're doing better now.
Aerie: Well, I… I-I think I’m not nothing, yes.
Tira: Whatever. Don’t expect me to thank you. You’re still just another gopher as far as I’m concerned, and that’s all you’ll ever be.
Aerie: I… I don't understand you, Tira. Why are you always like this? I’ve never done any harm to you.
Tira: What is there to understand? I'm a star, and you’re a slave. I’m strong, you're weak. Unless you want that fact proven again, I suggest you run along.
Again, go back later after the circus is working again for more:
Aerie: Yes. I-I suppose I never considered how tough it would be for you. How… how can a bully survive if she hasn’t any victim?
Tira: Well, haven't you gotten bold. You take a knock to the head out there or something?
Aerie: Tira, the… t-the only reason I never stood up to you before was because everyone here thought you were more valuable than me. But I’m not part of the circus anymore.
Tira: Really? So then, what now?
Aerie: Now, you... y-you're just not worth it.
Tira: Ha! Nice try, wimp. Next time, try not to tremble so much.
Finally, talk to her again:
Aerie: Please, Tira, just... l-leave me alone. I’m not here to fight you.
Tira: Why do you keep coming back? I don’t like you, Aerie.
Aerie: I… I got that…
Tira: Do you want to know why I don't like you?
Aerie: I’m sure you have your reasons…
Tira: Because you're nice.
Aerie: I’m… sorry?
Tira: All you good, nice girls, always trying your best, aren’t you? But you’ll never be a winner, Aerie. Girls like you are never finish better than second place. Because, you just don’t have the guts to do what it takes to be on top.
Aerie: *sigh* I'm… I’m not a coward, Tira.
Tira: No? Well, why don’t you prove it?
Tira tries to attack Aerie, who responds by casting anti-chickenater, which in this case turns Tira into a chicken.
Tira: *cluck*
CHARNAME: Aerie… when did you learn to do that?
Aerie: I… I-I didn’t. She lunged and I-I didn’t want to hurt her, so I just… I improvised.
CHARNAME: Is she going to stay like that?
Aerie: No… it should wear off after a while. I think…
CHARNAME: I guess she’s learnt not to ruffle your feathers, right?
Aerie: Please, CHARNAME. Puns are… puns are the lowest form of wit. Although, i-it would be nice if she could eventually learn from this and become less fowl of a person. Er… we--we should probably make sure the others don’t eat her. Or throw her in with the lions.
There's a drunk hanging around near Cromwell's smithy. Speak to him with both Aerie and Imoen in your party, and the following takes place:
Aerie: Ugh… ex… ex—excuse me, sir. Please… I… I have to catch up to my friends.
Joe: No, no. Listen… never, I say, never, trust a dwarf. Only thing those bastards love is gold.
Aerie: Okay… I—I need to go now…
Joe: Huh? Where you trying to go?
Aerie: Over there… to my friends…
Joe: Oh, what? Prissy little elf thinks she’s too good to talk to talk to the likes of me, huh? That it?
Aerie: No! N-not at all, sir… I just… please leave me alone…
Joe: Bollocks! I tell ya, no one has any freaking respect these days…
Aerie: I do! I just don’t want any trouble. Please let go of my arm…
Imoen: There are a problem here, fella?
Joe: Damn right there is! That crummy Cromwell went and cheated me!
Imoen: No! That’s bad. That’s real bad. Shame on him. What’d he do?
Joe: Stove… damn stove got busted in robbery, so I brought it to Cromwell. He says it’ll be ready today, but now he says tomorrow on account of too much work on… short limbed swine!
Imoen: That’s awful. I mean, you had an agreement, right? He shoulda fixed your thing first.
Joe: That’s right. We did. How’s he expect to stay in business if he don’t keep his word?
Imoen: Ah, well. What can you do, huh?
Joe: About what?
Imoen: Whatever it was.
Joe: Don’t know. Feel a bit… a bit dizzy… figure I’ll just go home and lie down.
Imoen: Alrighty then. You take care now. Bye! *sighs* You okay, Aerie?
Aerie: I… y-yes, I am. Thank you, Imoen.
Imoen: No problem. See, what you gotta remember is, folks like that, most the time, they just want someone to listen to them.
Aerie: Most the time… b-but not always? How can you tell?
Imoen: I just… ah, I ran an inn with old Puffguts for years, back in Candlekeep. I guess it’s just experience. Don’t worry. You stick with me and you’ll pick this stuff up in no time.
Aerie: Thank you, again. I… I do have one other question though…
Imoen: Sure. What is it?
Aerie: Wh-what… what does ‘bollocks’ mean?
Imoen: Testicles, Aerie. It means testicles.
Aerie: Oh… I see…
Imoen: And now you know, never let me catch you saying it again.
BG2EEWings04.
This version mod just contains rewrites of what was in the previous version. The pre-romance banters have been completely redone, and... well, just about everything has been rewritten to some degree.
In the meantime, maybe I should also make those banters I copied available for... is it dwarves and halflings she won't romance? Shorties are looked down on by all the females it seems. Although Aerie will romance gnomes, and so I can't really think of any reason why she wouldn't go with any of the others.