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.
I know; none of the Bioware romances go with shorties. But I mean, since Aerie already romances gnomes, why not dwarves and halflings as well?
Ahhh. And IIRC Viconia will romance Half-Orc's, so it's just dwarves who are denied any loving (At least in the original; I don't know about Beamdog NPC's).
I forgot to include the altered dialogues for an encounter in Umar Hills, which I will post more about in due time (In spoiler tags, in case you'd rather find out for yourself).
But I will say that this would have been where Aerie would have acquired her familiar, if I figured out how to make it work.
So, the Umar Hills encounter I mentioned. Other than the main quest I’m working on, this is the largest encounter there is. So enter the hills with Aerie in your party, and just head a bit north, and a girl will talk to you:
Lilian: Who are you all?
CHARNAME: Didn't your parents teach you not to talk to strangers?
Lilian: Nah. I mean, we don't get many strangers round here anyway. But talking of strange, they don't get much stranger than that Deva.
CHARNAME: Deva?
Lilian: Well, that's what he says he is. His name's Raptair. A little while ago, he appeared to this charcoal maker in the woods. And now, there's a bunch of folk practically worship him. Even... even mom... Ask me though, and no one has, something ain't right about him. I mean, he's got wings and he can fly, but otherwise, he just don't seem very Deva-like to me. *sigh* My brother's been really sick though, so mom hopes the Deva can cure him. She's taken him to see Raptair, just north of here.
CHARNAME: You haven't gone with them?
Lilian: Uh-uh. No way. I mean, I hope mom's right and he can help my brother, but I... I don't trust him. I think he knows it, too. I've never seen him really help anyone. He just keeps asking for things like food and money and jewels, and everyone keeps giving them. But that's not right, is it? If he was really good and powerful, he would just help people, right? And Devas don't need to eat, do they? No one wants to listen to me, though. They just wanna believe him... but it ain't right.
So, head just a bit further north, and:
Raptair: Oh, blessed be, my children! Come, gather round, and hear thee the word of the true lord, Ao, who hast sent me to guide you. Come to me with your questions, your petitions, and through me may the overgod hear your pleas... in exchange for some small offering, of course. One at a time, now. Just queue up there and I promise I'll listen to what you have to say.
Commoner: Oh, Deva! I just humbly ask a blessing for my baby...
Raptair: Of course... let me look... *wretch* (Gawds... how was this abomination not destroyed?)... Er, I mean... what a beautiful child. Does... it, have a name?
Commoner: Rose, me'lord.
Raptair: (By any other name, she'd still stink.) But, what's in a name? You have a coin? Good. So, er... canis, canum... baggio... lusconi. There. She's blessed. Next?
Aerie: Oh... my... it... i-it can't be... but, what is he doing? No, this... t-this is wrong!
Commoner: Kind Deva... I hate to ask, but, my crops have been failing, and I got seven mouths to feed! Is there anything you can do?
Raptair: Oh, my poor, dear child! Never be ashamed to ask for aid when times are hard. But, remember what's important - give, and ye shall receive. Ao may yet grant a rich and bountiful harvest... if you were to offer a little gold.
Commoner: I... I don't have no gold, me'lord...
Raptair: Well... gemstones, jewelery... you must have something valuable to offer...
Commoner: All I have is a tiny bit of silver my gran left...
Raptair: Silver is good. You just run that over here, and I'll fly on up to Ao and I'll make sure he knows about the problem. Next?
Commoner: I--I...
Raptair: Hm? Well out with it. Ao can't hear you if you don't speak up.
Commoner: I-it's... it's my boy. He... he went missing in the hills near a month ago...
Raptair: Oh... I... I see...
Commoner: I just... please, I need to know. Is he... is he still with us?
Raptair: I... I-I don't... I mean, yes... yes! I... yes, he was taken away, to... Athkatla! Don't lose hope... He lives, still. Now, if... if you'll excuse me, using my clairvoyance like that always leaves me a little drained.
Now, this really ain’t right. So go and talk to that guy (remember you need to have Aerie all through this, or he'll pretty much just ignore you).
Raptair: Yes, child? What is your need?~
Aerie: How... h-how could have lied to him? To that poor man... t-to all of them!
Raptair: Oh? (Has that brat been spreading her malicious doubt again? I really must show her what the ground looks like from very high above). I don't know of what you speak, child. All I'm doing is bringing these people hope.
Aerie: But w-what if his son isn't alive? What if he finds him, dead. O-or what if he goes to Athkatla and just spends the rest of his life searching for someone who isn't there? Ha--have you any idea of the pain you're causing?!
Raptair: And who are you to say the boy isn't alive?
Aerie: But you don't know! Y-you don't know anything! All you are doing is exploiting these people!
Raptair: And how would you know that?
Aerie: Oh, I know. I know exactly what you are, avariel, and this... th-this has to stop! Now!
Raptair: Ahhh! Now I see, yes... some time ago I did hear whispers of one of my kind being caged in some circus around here. So, that was you? And now, look at you... how you've fallen. A poor, broken, cripple, doing... what? Scurrying around in the dirt? Blending in? Pretending you're one of them? But you know you never will be. You can look like them, but they'll never understand you. Your feelings, instincts, the way you view the world...
Aerie: I--I... I don't care! If you don't stop this, I'll tell them all the truth!
Raptair: Go ahead. See if they believe you. I doubt it. See, they've invested too much in the lie to be made to look foolish by some wretched slip of a girl.
Aerie: Ohhhh... y-you...!
Raptair: Ah! Careful, now... You may not believe in me, but these people all do. You raise a hand against me, you'll have to fight them as well. Do you really want to hurt these poor peasants you apparently care so much about? Why don't you just run along, hmm? As fast as your little legs can carry you?
Aerie: Grrr!
Aerie leaves the party and runs off to about where the first girl you met was. You should go after her.
Aerie: I'm sorry, CHARNAME. I know I shouldn't have ran off like that. I-I... I just... I... I thought about my own parents, and... t-the pain I must have caused them when I... when I left... I always wonder what happened to them. How--how long did they look for me? Are they still home, now, hoping, waiting, or, d-did they put me to rest and move on with their lives? Honestly, I don't know which I'd be happiest with. O-or if I'm better off just not knowing at all, or if they're better off not knowing about me...
CHARNAME: In my experience, I've found it's always better to know the truth, rather than spend your life wondering.
Aerie: Yes. I think you're right, CHARNAME. Even if you have to bury someone, a-at least then you can grieve for them and move on.
Lilian: Hey, did you fellas see that Deva?
Aerie: Y-yes... we did...
Lilian: I've warned people about him... there's something about him I just don't trust.
Aerie: You were right, little one. He... he isn't what he says. He's... an avariel. A winged elf. He's lying to everyone.
Lilian: I knew it! Well, not about that winged elf stuff, but I knew he was lying! He's been taking everyone's stuff and not really giving them anything back... and now my mom's taken my brother to see him. She's going to give him the only things my father left so that Phil'll be cured... but he won't do that, will he? We have to convince everyone that he's fake! But how?
Aerie: I... I-I won't let that happen! Don't worry, child. CHARNAME and I will convince him to stop and leave this place before he does any more harm. You just stay here and wait for us to be done, okay?
Lilian: Okay, lady! I'll keep an eye on things here!
Aerie: Good. Let's go, CHARNAME. First, I-I want to talk to him again. I think I know how to convince him, and everyone else as well. Hopefully, no one will have to get hurt.
Aerie rejoins. So now, go confront the guy again:
Raptair: *sigh* Not you again. Can you not see I'm busy? What do you want?
Aerie: Don't... don't you think what you're doing is, well, a bit... immature?
Raptair: Oh, you're as boring as all the elders back home. What's wrong with having some harmless fun, and making a little profit, hm?
Aerie: But y-you must know you'll be found out, eventually.
Raptair: Then I'll fly and find some more ignorant peasants to play with. Such a pity you won't be able come with me.
Aerie: I see... So, Deva... what god did you say you served?
Raptair: (You really want to play this game? *sigh* Fine...) Why... the greatest of all gods, the overgod, Ao, of course!
Aerie: Oh. But, for--forgive my ignorance, but, I always thought that Ao shunned worship. That he never listens to or answers prayers, and never accepts offerings of any kind.
Commoner: 'Ere, what's all this about?
Raptair: Please. Children, who will you believe? This mortal girl, obviously just here to spread fear and doubt into your hearts? Or I, who have spoken to the gods in person? True, Ao once did turn his back from this world. But, after we talked it over, he agreed with me that it was time to get his name back out there. And so, he asked me to visit you as his messenger.
Aerie: So then, surely you'll have been granted great powers?
Raptair: Y-yes... yes, of course.
Aerie: Oh! Then, you... y-you'll be able to heal that boy?
Philip: *cough**cough**hack*
Kathy: Please, Deva! Please... m-my son is very ill, getting weaker by the day. I don't have much, but I know with your power, you... please!
Aerie: Go ahead, Raptair. Help him... if you can.
Raptair:I... o-of course... Listen, child, listen closely to my words. There is... a corruption inside you. In your chest, covering your lungs. Can you picture it? It's like a carpet of ash. Now, imagine it all crumbling away, revealing your healthy pink lungs underneath, and breathe the ashes out through your mouth...
Philip: I-I... *cough**hack**cough*
Raptair: Heh... I-I, eh... usually I just say a few words like that and they make themselves feel better...
Aerie: That might work with a headache, o-or a sprained ankle. But this boy is very sick. He needs real help, Raptair, not just your words. Try to hold still, child. I-I'll... I'll try to heal you.
Aerie casts a healing spell on the boy.
Philip: I... I'm feeling a little better. Thanks lady!
Aerie: It's alright, little man. Y-you should get better now, but you should go home and rest.
Kathy: I... don't know how to thank you! I brought this to give to the deva...
Aerie: N-no... please, you don't have to give me anything! Please, e-everyone... please listen! That man has been lying to you. He--he hasn't been sent by Ao, or any god. He's... just an elf, like I am. He's... just learnt a few little magic tricks, is all.
Commoner: I suppose, now that I think about it, the ears are a bit of a giveaway...
Raptair: W-well, you see, Ao often chooses to use others to do his work, even non-believers... Oh, and, s-speaking of ol'A... yes, I think I can hear him summoning me! Gotta fly, now. So long, peasants!
Aerie: W... w-wait!
Raptair: I don't think so. Bye!
Raptair takes off, and shortly after…
Commoner: He's buggered orf. Well, guess there'll be no more of us chanting or dancing naked around the fire for him, then.
Commoner: Aye. Pity, really. I know we were being abused and exploited and all that, but... some of it was fun while it lasted. *sigh* So, what now?
Commoner: Pint?
Commoner: Yeah, alright.
Aerie: Ohh! He... h-he's gone! *sigh* I... I'd hoped to be able to talk to him some more... I-I may never encounter another...
CHARNAME: That was quite a performance out there.
Aerie: T--talking like that, in front of all of those people... I think it was the most frightening thing I've ever done! But, I knew you were there, , right behind me. I don't think I'd have managed if you hadn't been. Thank you.
But wait! We’re still not quite done. Talk to the girl again and she’ll suggest which direction to go next. Do so, and eventually come to:
Raptair: One thousand eleven... one thousand twelve... one thousand... hm? Oh. It's you.
Aerie: Wait, please! D-don't fly away again. I just want to talk. Y-you... you can help me...
Raptair: Well, what an intriguing idea! I mean, I had a very sweet thing going on here, which you ruined. And now you want my help. Are you sure your density isn't the reason you can't fly?
Aerie: What you were doing was wrong. I'll not apologize for putting a stop to it. But, I'm offering you a chance to do something right for a change. Please... I-I can't go home, like I am, but... I-I have to know if my parents are okay! Y-you... you could find out, and, i-if they are, maybe get word to them that I'm alive. Please!
Raptair: Suppose I could. What city are they in?
Aerie: Faenya-Dail.
Raptair: Never heard of it.
Aerie: B-but, there must be avariel in other cities who would know how to find it!
Raptair: Oh, I'm sure there are. But, the time and expense involved just isn't worth it for me. I have other things to do.
Aerie: I-if... if you want payment, I'm sure I could get you something. Please!
Raptair: Even if I was at all interested in your offer, which I'm not, but even if I was, have you thought about your parents feelings at all? Even if they are alive, don't you think they would have given you up for dead long ago? Do you think it would really be fair to reappear after all this time and them moving on? And crippled, no less. You really want to break their hearts all over again? Best just forget about them and try to get on with your own life, such as it is.
Aerie: I-I... *sniff* I never imagined one of my own people could be so cruel and heartless!
Raptair: When was the last time you met one? Anyway, sticks and stones and all that.
Aerie: Stones... yes, I... I-I have a few, as it happens. You know you can't possibly get away burdened with all those bags. I-I demand you return all that to the people you took it from!
Raptair: Like I hadn't thought of that. These are... pets. You all have fun playing with them. I'll... see you out there. Maybe…
Raptair calls some Air Elementals, then takes off again, leaving a couple of pets to fight you. And that’s the last we see of him, for now.
As I mentioned in a previous post, this would have been the point at which Aerie acquired a familiar:
One of the creatures summoned by Raptair would have been the phoenix. After you killed it, Aerie would have spoken up again, then picked up a peculiar stone from it’s remains. After a few days, the new Phoenix would hatch from the rock, and immediately imprint on Aerie. It would have been functionally similar to a normal familiar, obviously with fire based magic. If it died, it will just go and rest in Aerie’s pack for a day before he can be summoned again. And maybe he would have interactions with her and possibly even other party members, and new things to say depending on what events have transpired in the game.
Additionally, the lovetalks I mentioned I'd copied, I changed from checking if the PC was female, to checking the AerieMatch variable was 0. I think that should mean that any character not able to romance Aerie will still be able to have those talks.
Additionally additional, I'm experimenting with adding banters so that if you choose another romance over Aerie, or she chooses Haer'Dalis over you (I'll have to add one for when she dumps Haer'Dalis as well, if I can remember where that was in the game files), you'll get the option of still being able to be friends with Aerie. I'll probably add it at some point so that if you ever set AerieRomance to 3 for any reason, it'll still be possible to switch to friendship instead.
Some time in the future, I might add far more of an Aerie friendship track where she talks more generally about her life and thoughts and dreams than in the romance, and maybe the bhaalspawn can actually teach her a useful thing or two.
You'll have to read back through spoiler tags I think, if you want to know exactly where to find it, otherwise it's a surprise. Aerie gets the same benefit the PC does from having a familiar, except that hers can't technically be killed. Otherwise, it acts more or less the same. Other than the initial meeting, he currently just basically all the same dialogue choices as a PC familiar, except that he'll only converse with Aerie right now. Perhaps more can be added in the future.
Obviously it's not yet all fully tested. I know he doesn't rest when the party does in order to restore spells, health, etc (he has quite a few fire-based spells), but he should rest every time he's put back inside his gem, either through dialogue or him or Aerie dying. And I haven't done anything for ToB yet, so I doubt it'll yet fully work there.
For the next update, I'll try to add more of a friendship path for Aerie. I think it's a good idea. Initially I had the idea of just adding three new banters preceding her romance (but allowable for non-romancable characters as well), as kind of getting to know you sessions, but I think I was always trying too much information into those. A friendship path will allow me to spread it out more and have some more fun/cute/interesting banters with the PC who can take her under their wing, so to speak, and maybe teach her some stuff about the world, as a friend.
This seems to break Aerie for me. She stops moving every 3-4 steps and just stands still to do nothing, and follows no AI commands.
I don't know why that would be. She seems to be working fine for me right. Did you get the scene where her familiar first appears to her? If you tried to add it via console or EEKeeper it won't work, as Ammale needs to be made a GlobalObject, while normally happens during that cutscene.
It seems there are problems if Ammale is killed, you stop being able to control him when he returns. That in itself isn't hard to fix, but then it looks like the TransformItem command on his gem stops working for some reason... I'll have to investigate some more.
Looking forward to a longer Aerie friendship. I hate that you can only be able to be 'friends' with someone if your romancing her: I'd love for my CHARNAME to act like a big sis to Aerie, or for my characters that let Haer'Dalis have her still be able to be a bro to her.
(But I still like that Hexxat banter and Aerie going after her. )
Looking forward to a longer Aerie friendship. I hate that you can only be able to be 'friends' with someone if your romancing her: I'd love for my CHARNAME to act like a big sis to Aerie, or for my characters that let Haer'Dalis have her still be able to be a bro to her.
(But I still like that Hexxat banter and Aerie going after her. )
I haven't done anything with Hexxat. At least not yet. I still think it's a problem and not really at all believable that almost NPC's would want her around, especially after admitting what she does to Aerie. It's just a problem with vampires, I suppose. Spike and Angel, and even those blasted sparklepires, can all survive off bloodpacks and that in our world. I can't think of anything Hexxat could live on... unless she can eat pigs, or at least restrict herself to only sucking the blood of enemies. But I haven't really given much thought to any alternative banters or anything at this time.
As for Aerie friendship, I've already had a few ideas. When it's done, then theoretically you could get maximise the amount of interaction with Aerie by romancing her until near the end, finish it, and then switch over to the friendship (if the romance with Aerie ends for any reason I'm putting in a banter where she'll ask if you can still be friends).
This is basically just a few more rewrites and script changes etc. Ammale's melee attack now does a small amount of fire damage (but why would you send a familiar into melee anyway?)
To clarify about Ammale, he's technically a controlled creature in the game. He can't open doors or interact with containers. The main way he's noticably different from a normal familiar though is that he can't leave or enter any area by himself (if you're inside an inn, you can't send him to look around upstairs. But if Aerie goes up or enters new area while he's out of his gem, he'll teleport to beside her). Otherwise though, he's can roam freely on whatever map he's in. And he can cast spells and you can talk to him (Well, Aerie can). Right now he just has essentially the same dialog as normal familiars, but I might add more stuff in the future. If he dies, after one day you'll be able to summon him again. If Aerie dies while he's outside his gem, he'll vanish and you'll be able to summon him again if she's resurrected. To restore his spells, making him go back inside his gem will rest him.
Oh yes, one change I added was that in the CC, accepting the key from Lehtinan and then making Hendak your enemy should now turn Aerie hostile as well.
But mainly the rewrites in this version though are around the first part of her main quest.
- Aerie proves no match for the slaver, Amra, in their first encounter.
I was thinking I should add something more with Minsc and Aerie as well, as she's his witch. She tells him he hasn't failed and restores his sense of purpose after losing Dynaheir, even though she's obviously not an actual Rashemi wychalarn. So I thought, how about Minsc running into some actual Rashemi who would point that out to him and demand that Aerie prove herself worthy of the title witch, sending them both off on some jokey mini-quest?
So I wrote a bit on Tumblr about why I'm making this mod, so figured I might as well share it here too:
There’s only really one major issue I have with Aerie’s characterization in the game. If you look at how she interacts with all the other NPC’s in the game, one thing stands out - she never actually talks about her wings. Obviously she’s sad and anyone who knows a little of her history wouldn’t need Quayle’s magnificent brain to work out why. The whole being shot and taken away by slavers, tortured by them, sold, undergoing daily abuse and humiliation in the circus and then the final blow if severing her wings and also severing her from any chance she might have had of returning home to her family any time soon - that’s enough to get anyone down. But Aerie’s character is actually very quiet and introspective, and she never really talks about her own past with anyone. Even when you first meet her, you only find out she’s a winged elf who lost her wings if you press her, and then she quickly changes the subject. Understandable in the circumstances - she has other things on her mind at that moment. But even after that, all the dialogue she intitiates with an NPC is her asking about them and their lives and beliefs. She admires and respects Jaheira, comforts Minsc, tries to comfort Anomen, asks Nalia/Mazzy/Keldorn about their beliefs and feelings. She’s very concerned and interested in the people around her. But when they ask her about her wings, like Jan or Mazzy who are characters she likes, she effectively mumbles or changes the subject again.
Yet, the meme about her is that she constantly whines about her wings, even though that’s empirically untrue because she hardly ever does. And she doesn’t complain about much else. After all, she’s been a laboror in a travelling circus for a while, so she’s used to hard work and roughing it. And before, when she was still in her cage, it was hardly luxurious. In fact it nearly killed her.
But it’s because of her romance, the very first line of which is ‘My wings have been clipped’, and then goes on to have her get gradually more and more depressed and snappy, until she reaches her low point but then, having gotten it all off her chest, starts feeling a lot better. Maybe she feels she can trust the bhaalspawn because of the similar experiences they’ve had of being forced from their homes and unable to return and of being locked in a cage and abused and tortured. But still, it really makes little sense that someone who is usually very shy and quiet about herself would suddenly jump in like that with someone she’s just met.
Now I could have rewritten her whole romance of course, but I decided didn’t want to change any original game content. So I decided instead to try adding a few banters before her romance begins so that she and the PC build up more of a friendship before she starts confiding all that stuff. In my first attempts, I think I was trying to cram too much information into those talks however, about her parents and childhood and her life in the circus. So now it’s evolved to being a new friendship track for her character as well. There’ll still new banters before the romance, but she’ll be enquiring more about your character at first, about growing up in Candlekeep, how they feel about the whole Irenicus business… basically more like the way she is with other NPCs.
The other thing is, lots of other characters have quests that give them unique rewards. Especially in the EE, all the new characters have long sidequests attached to them and even new areas you can only get by having them in your party. So, why not a quest for Aerie? As a former slave, it makes total sense she'd want to be more involved in the slaver quests in the game and prevent the kind of things that happened to her happening to anyone else, since Aerie's primary motivator is helping people. And then I thought giving her actual antagonist of her own, or nemesis (or actually whatever the plural of nemesis is in this case - nemesi?) would provide her impetus to grow stronger and we might get to see her growing more confident and becoming hardened as she is in ToB.
Obviously, the mod isn't nearly finished yet. I've added some banters (the ones with CHARNAME will be rewritten again when I add a full friendship path as well), some NPC's and encounters, a familiar of sorts. It's mainly up so that people can test things. Everything seems to work fine for me so far, but I've not been able to test every permutation of what might happen.
Only the beginning of her main quest has been added so far, up to the bit in the screenshot above and the later aftermath. Next up I'll be doing the friendship path for her, and I mentioned maybe another miniquest involving her and Minsc (which is an idea I only really had yesterday, so I'm open to any ideas about it or any possible Aerie/Minsc interactions).
Ammale should now transfer into ToB, although I've only been able to test it if you summon Aerie. Due to teeny little mistake, I actually don't have any saves in Chapter 6 of SoA in order to test the transition if Aerie in the part. I'll get there eventually.
More interaction and possible mini-quest involving Minsc.
Interactions with Ammale and other party members, or do to with Ammale. Obviously I can write banters when other NPC's talk to him, and possibly some banters if you talk to him while other creatures are nearby (like the PC's familiar, or Cespenar).
Friendship. This is what I'm doing now, so if you have any good ideas for what kind of conversations and interactions you'd like to have with Aerie as a friend or big brother/sister, now's the time to suggest them.
New version exactly the same as the last one, except that I added an optional component to restore some missing banters in the game (you can read about that furthe back in this thread, or here.
I'm usually wary about changing what's already in game (that's one of my problems with the Hexxat thing- if you do end up altering it, please just disable it rather then deleting it to avoid conflicting with any mods who also alter it, which some may touch on), but what I'm going to request is that. Funny, huh?
I'd like options to interfere with Aerie's arguements with Krogan, and her potentially lethal fight with CN Anomen. I don't think Krogan or Anomen would stop even with the Bhaalspawn yelling at them (Krogan hardly respects your authority and can't resist poking, and Anomen is practically insane with grief and rage at that point) but options to basically say "Get the hell away from her and leave her alone" (as well ass the usual stay silent) would be appreciated.
If Haer'Dalis has taught her acting and she's began to enjoy that (which I think she actually does- at first, he's pushing her, but I think she does come to enjoy it), it's something I'd like to discuss with her. Would she like a small part in the bard stronghold's play? Does she think she'd like to do that as a career or maybe a hobby when adventuring is done? In general, what does she want to do with her life after adventuring? Does she want to return to Rashemen with Minsc?
And- I think it has to come up in any mod involving Aerie. Fly is a 3rd level mage spell. Why does she not learn it and use it? Why is it that the wings in specific are so important to her rather then the flying?
I don't know how new you are to the BG games, @Coutelier, but way back in BGII, there was a lot of conversation with David Gaider, and there was an uncut quest for Aerie. In it, she would find a permanent ritual that would turn herself in to a bird and allow her to live life free and untouched like that (I think it was associated with the Harper quest and 'Monty' the bird). If you were early in a romance, not romancing her, or she was romancing Haer'Dalis, she would choose that path and exit the party forever (or so it was designed, I think- there should have been options to talk her out of it). If she'd become stronger (later in the romance, or dumped Haer'Dalis), she'd antagonize about it for a while but eventually rip the ritual up and decide against it. You may wish to do something with that.
I'm usually wary about changing what's already in game (that's one of my problems with the Hexxat thing- if you do end up altering it, please just disable it rather then deleting it to avoid conflicting with any mods who also alter it, which some may touch on), but what I'm going to request is that. Funny, huh?
Anything I may do that actually changes anything in the game will be optional. But I haven't decided anything about that yet, but it would have been more along the lines of changing the banter between them slightly.
I'd like options to interfere with Aerie's arguements with Krogan, and her potentially lethal fight with CN Anomen. I don't think Krogan or Anomen would stop even with the Bhaalspawn yelling at them (Krogan hardly respects your authority and can't resist poking, and Anomen is practically insane with grief and rage at that point) but options to basically say "Get the hell away from her and leave her alone" (as well ass the usual stay silent) would be appreciated.
If Haer'Dalis has taught her acting and she's began to enjoy that (which I think she actually does- at first, he's pushing her, but I think she does come to enjoy it), it's something I'd like to discuss with her. Would she like a small part in the bard stronghold's play? Does she think she'd like to do that as a career or maybe a hobby when adventuring is done? In general, what does she want to do with her life after adventuring? Does she want to return to Rashemen with Minsc?
I don't know - rehearsing with Haer'Dalis is obviously a bit different from having to perform in front of people. The idea of having your NPC's perform in plays though sound like fun though - I might look into that at some point.
And- I think it has to come up in any mod involving Aerie. Fly is a 3rd level mage spell. Why does she not learn it and use it? Why is it that the wings in specific are so important to her rather then the flying?
Anything like that though would again involve having to make some alterations to her romance, so I doubt it's going to happen at least in the SoA portion.
I don't know how new you are to the BG games, @Coutelier, but way back in BGII, there was a lot of conversation with David Gaider, and there was an uncut quest for Aerie. In it, she would find a permanent ritual that would turn herself in to a bird and allow her to live life free and untouched like that (I think it was associated with the Harper quest and 'Monty' the bird). If you were early in a romance, not romancing her, or she was romancing Haer'Dalis, she would choose that path and exit the party forever (or so it was designed, I think- there should have been options to talk her out of it). If she'd become stronger (later in the romance, or dumped Haer'Dalis), she'd antagonize about it for a while but eventually rip the ritual up and decide against it. You may wish to do something with that.
I read about it a while ago, but I think it was cut for pretty good reason. The whole idea that Aerie would want to live her life as a bird is just silly. And it ignores the fact that it's not just her wings and flying that Aerie is sad about. Losing her wings is a convenient thing for her to focus on, but it was just the culmination of a whole bunch of bad stuff that happened to her, beginning with her capture by slavers. Losing them has also severed her from her people and more importantly her parents, but she knows deep down that even if she could go back to Faenya-Dail (it would still take her a long time for her to find her home, even if she had wings), she's changed and her home will have changed and not be the place she remembers.
Hm... some other stuff I'd like to see with Aerie.
~~ Just some generic talking about both your pasts. She's lost her parents, you've lost your (foster)father. Bonding over that and trying to find strength in the loss for both of you. ~~ After her relationship with Haer'Dalis is over, being able to ask her about it. Does she not want to travel with him anymore (honestly, I think by that point Aerie is strong enough to be fine to travel with an ex, but it would be courteous to ask if she minds it)? Does she regret anything (oddly, I don't think she does- she grew a lot from the romance)? How does she feel about it? ~~ An opportunity to flirt with her as a female. As is, Aerie's straight, but that shouldn't stop a lesbian or bi Lady Bhaalspawn from flirting with her... and, alas, being turned down. ~~ Does she have any siblings? It's never mentioned, but it's something I'd like to ask her. Also, maybe an oppertunity to become 'blood siblings' with her (Dorn does something similar on his strange romance path): spill blood together and then vow to protect each other and look after each other like real siblings do. ~~ An opportunity to ask her to travel with you after your ToB travels are done in ToB. It doesn't have to change her epilogue or anything, but I know my Bhaalspawn would have liked to say "Aerie, you're like a sister to me, if you'd like to stay with me and (probable love interest, plus redeemed Sarevok who also seems to want to travel with you) after we're done with this, I'd love to have you" ~~ On that note, a PID (player initiated dialog, something you would get when you clicked talk then clicked on her). It would be nice to ask her what she thought of the other companions, how she was doing at the time, if her feet hurt, if she had any advice on the current situation, if she thought you should side with the Shadow Thieves or Bodhi- the sort of questions most romancable mods have in their PID, basically. And other random questions- whats her favourite colour, favourite food, favourite animal... ~~ More discussion about her relationship with Quayle. How Quayle turned from that Smarter Than Thou gnome in BG1 to Aerie's loving guardian in BG2 is a question in many peoples minds, and I'd love to see how that worked out and how they changed each other. (And if he's told Aerie any horrible tales about his nemesis Tiax.)
Hm... some other stuff I'd like to see with Aerie.
Those are all good ideas! I've never really played with Flirt Packs, but I'll have to look into them to find out how all that's put together (which I probably should do anyway, just to check for compatability).
The illusion of her mother that appears in ToB does mention that she's an only child. I wrote a short story once where it transpired that she did have a sister born after she was captured. Although I can't really use that, her relationship with her parents and her feelings about not knowing what's happened to them and the different possibilities is worth looking at. It's touched on a bit in the Umar Hills encounter that I've already written in the mod.
I've already got in mind of course writing more about her parents, her hobbies and interests as a child, the various jobs she used to do when out of her cage in the circus, her relationship with Quayle and why she wanted to leave there, what she wants to achieve by adventuring and her plans for when this is all over.
PC's not eligible to romance Aerie will be able to pursue the friendship, which should work much the same as the romance, in terms of having a timer that triggers dialogues every so often.
PC's who are eligible to romance Aerie should, if things are all working right, get three new banters preceding the usual romance. Then, if you ever end the romance with Aerie for any reason but she's still in the party, you'll be presented with the option of pursuing friendship instead.
The friendship is about the same length as the romance. About six or seven of the banters have been copied from the romance. If you're a male character and already had them it should, I hope, skip over them.
No Player Initiated Dialogues yet, but that will likely come. Just if you're involved in a friendship with her though, as that seems the safest way to avoid conflicting with flirt packs (although other mods that add PID's to Aerie... well I don't really know of any anyway).
Quite a few corrections. I suppose I should have checked with Infinity Explorer or something first to make sure all the banters flowed the way they should. I was just tired.
Hmmm, are you perhaps going to expand the PC, Aerie and Haer'Dalis love triangle? Either by restoring some content(if there is such) or maybe writing some new stuff. Granted that this is not a romance mod but I think Bioware missed a chance here as love triangles with one of the character not being romanceable and being the PC's rival is kinda unheard of. It would also help expand Aerie's thoughts on what she wants in a relationship and how her past traumas affect her decision/s. Also a shame how Throne of Bhaal does apparently no longer reference her being in a relationship with Haer'Dalis if he choose him nor any banters between him, Aerie or the PC even if it were just some friendship kind of talks(after all the one who lost for Aerie's love could still be her friend, right?).
And speaking of restored content I really liked how you decided to restore some of her banters. Do you plan maybe to restore a few more of those if there are any?
Nice project BTW, I always though that Aerie should get more love and development. A friendship track and new quest/s for her are definitely a good thing. Good luck!
Comments
From BALDUR.BCS Also, Jaheira, Anomen, and Viconia all romance halflings.
Jaheira: Humans, Half-elves, Elves, Halflings
Viconia: Humans, Half-elves, Halflings, Half-orcs
Anomen: Humans, Half-elves, Elves, Halflings
Dwarves get no love, however. :-(
I forgot to include the altered dialogues for an encounter in Umar Hills, which I will post more about in due time (In spoiler tags, in case you'd rather find out for yourself).
But I will say that this would have been where Aerie would have acquired her familiar, if I figured out how to make it work.
CHARNAME: Didn't your parents teach you not to talk to strangers?
Lilian: Nah. I mean, we don't get many strangers round here anyway. But talking of strange, they don't get much stranger than that Deva.
CHARNAME: Deva?
Lilian: Well, that's what he says he is. His name's Raptair. A little while ago, he appeared to this charcoal maker in the woods. And now, there's a bunch of folk practically worship him. Even... even mom... Ask me though, and no one has, something ain't right about him. I mean, he's got wings and he can fly, but otherwise, he just don't seem very Deva-like to me. *sigh* My brother's been really sick though, so mom hopes the Deva can cure him. She's taken him to see Raptair, just north of here.
CHARNAME: You haven't gone with them?
Lilian: Uh-uh. No way. I mean, I hope mom's right and he can help my brother, but I... I don't trust him. I think he knows it, too. I've never seen him really help anyone. He just keeps asking for things like food and money and jewels, and everyone keeps giving them. But that's not right, is it? If he was really good and powerful, he would just help people, right? And Devas don't need to eat, do they? No one wants to listen to me, though. They just wanna believe him... but it ain't right.
So, head just a bit further north, and:
Commoner: Oh, Deva! I just humbly ask a blessing for my baby...
Raptair: Of course... let me look... *wretch* (Gawds... how was this abomination not destroyed?)... Er, I mean... what a beautiful child. Does... it, have a name?
Commoner: Rose, me'lord.
Raptair: (By any other name, she'd still stink.) But, what's in a name? You have a coin? Good. So, er... canis, canum... baggio... lusconi. There. She's blessed. Next?
Aerie: Oh... my... it... i-it can't be... but, what is he doing? No, this... t-this is wrong!
Commoner: Kind Deva... I hate to ask, but, my crops have been failing, and I got seven mouths to feed! Is there anything you can do?
Raptair: Oh, my poor, dear child! Never be ashamed to ask for aid when times are hard. But, remember what's important - give, and ye shall receive. Ao may yet grant a rich and bountiful harvest... if you were to offer a little gold.
Commoner: I... I don't have no gold, me'lord...
Raptair: Well... gemstones, jewelery... you must have something valuable to offer...
Commoner: All I have is a tiny bit of silver my gran left...
Raptair: Silver is good. You just run that over here, and I'll fly on up to Ao and I'll make sure he knows about the problem. Next?
Commoner: I--I...
Raptair: Hm? Well out with it. Ao can't hear you if you don't speak up.
Commoner: I-it's... it's my boy. He... he went missing in the hills near a month ago...
Raptair: Oh... I... I see...
Commoner: I just... please, I need to know. Is he... is he still with us?
Raptair: I... I-I don't... I mean, yes... yes! I... yes, he was taken away, to... Athkatla! Don't lose hope... He lives, still. Now, if... if you'll excuse me, using my clairvoyance like that always leaves me a little drained.
Now, this really ain’t right. So go and talk to that guy (remember you need to have Aerie all through this, or he'll pretty much just ignore you).
Aerie: How... h-how could have lied to him? To that poor man... t-to all of them!
Raptair: Oh? (Has that brat been spreading her malicious doubt again? I really must show her what the ground looks like from very high above). I don't know of what you speak, child. All I'm doing is bringing these people hope.
Aerie: But w-what if his son isn't alive? What if he finds him, dead. O-or what if he goes to Athkatla and just spends the rest of his life searching for someone who isn't there? Ha--have you any idea of the pain you're causing?!
Raptair: And who are you to say the boy isn't alive?
Aerie: But you don't know! Y-you don't know anything! All you are doing is exploiting these people!
Raptair: And how would you know that?
Aerie: Oh, I know. I know exactly what you are, avariel, and this... th-this has to stop! Now!
Raptair: Ahhh! Now I see, yes... some time ago I did hear whispers of one of my kind being caged in some circus around here. So, that was you? And now, look at you... how you've fallen. A poor, broken, cripple, doing... what? Scurrying around in the dirt? Blending in? Pretending you're one of them? But you know you never will be. You can look like them, but they'll never understand you. Your feelings, instincts, the way you view the world...
Aerie: I--I... I don't care! If you don't stop this, I'll tell them all the truth!
Raptair: Go ahead. See if they believe you. I doubt it. See, they've invested too much in the lie to be made to look foolish by some wretched slip of a girl.
Aerie: Ohhhh... y-you...!
Raptair: Ah! Careful, now... You may not believe in me, but these people all do. You raise a hand against me, you'll have to fight them as well. Do you really want to hurt these poor peasants you apparently care so much about? Why don't you just run along, hmm? As fast as your little legs can carry you?
Aerie: Grrr!
Aerie leaves the party and runs off to about where the first girl you met was. You should go after her.
CHARNAME: In my experience, I've found it's always better to know the truth, rather than spend your life wondering.
Aerie: Yes. I think you're right, CHARNAME. Even if you have to bury someone, a-at least then you can grieve for them and move on.
Lilian: Hey, did you fellas see that Deva?
Aerie: Y-yes... we did...
Lilian: I've warned people about him... there's something about him I just don't trust.
Aerie: You were right, little one. He... he isn't what he says. He's... an avariel. A winged elf. He's lying to everyone.
Lilian: I knew it! Well, not about that winged elf stuff, but I knew he was lying! He's been taking everyone's stuff and not really giving them anything back... and now my mom's taken my brother to see him. She's going to give him the only things my father left so that Phil'll be cured... but he won't do that, will he? We have to convince everyone that he's fake! But how?
Aerie: I... I-I won't let that happen! Don't worry, child. CHARNAME and I will convince him to stop and leave this place before he does any more harm. You just stay here and wait for us to be done, okay?
Lilian: Okay, lady! I'll keep an eye on things here!
Aerie: Good. Let's go, CHARNAME. First, I-I want to talk to him again. I think I know how to convince him, and everyone else as well. Hopefully, no one will have to get hurt.
Aerie rejoins. So now, go confront the guy again:
Aerie: Don't... don't you think what you're doing is, well, a bit... immature?
Raptair: Oh, you're as boring as all the elders back home. What's wrong with having some harmless fun, and making a little profit, hm?
Aerie: But y-you must know you'll be found out, eventually.
Raptair: Then I'll fly and find some more ignorant peasants to play with. Such a pity you won't be able come with me.
Aerie: I see... So, Deva... what god did you say you served?
Raptair: (You really want to play this game? *sigh* Fine...) Why... the greatest of all gods, the overgod, Ao, of course!
Aerie: Oh. But, for--forgive my ignorance, but, I always thought that Ao shunned worship. That he never listens to or answers prayers, and never accepts offerings of any kind.
Commoner: 'Ere, what's all this about?
Raptair: Please. Children, who will you believe? This mortal girl, obviously just here to spread fear and doubt into your hearts? Or I, who have spoken to the gods in person? True, Ao once did turn his back from this world. But, after we talked it over, he agreed with me that it was time to get his name back out there. And so, he asked me to visit you as his messenger.
Aerie: So then, surely you'll have been granted great powers?
Raptair: Y-yes... yes, of course.
Aerie: Oh! Then, you... y-you'll be able to heal that boy?
Philip: *cough**cough**hack*
Kathy: Please, Deva! Please... m-my son is very ill, getting weaker by the day. I don't have
much, but I know with your power, you... please!
Aerie: Go ahead, Raptair. Help him... if you can.
Raptair:I... o-of course... Listen, child, listen closely to my words. There is... a corruption inside you. In your chest, covering your lungs. Can you picture it? It's like a carpet of ash. Now, imagine it all crumbling away, revealing your healthy pink lungs underneath, and breathe the ashes out through your mouth...
Philip: I-I... *cough**hack**cough*
Raptair: Heh... I-I, eh... usually I just say a few words like that and they make themselves feel better...
Aerie: That might work with a headache, o-or a sprained ankle. But this boy is very sick. He needs real help, Raptair, not just your words. Try to hold still, child. I-I'll... I'll try to heal you.
Aerie casts a healing spell on the boy.
Philip: I... I'm feeling a little better. Thanks lady!
Aerie: It's alright, little man. Y-you should get better now, but you should go home and rest.
Kathy: I... don't know how to thank you! I brought this to give to the deva...
Aerie: N-no... please, you don't have to give me anything! Please, e-everyone... please listen! That man has been lying to you. He--he hasn't been sent by Ao, or any god. He's... just an elf, like I am. He's... just learnt a few little magic tricks, is all.
Commoner: I suppose, now that I think about it, the ears are a bit of a giveaway...
Raptair: W-well, you see, Ao often chooses to use others to do his work, even non-believers... Oh, and, s-speaking of ol'A... yes, I think I can hear him summoning me! Gotta fly, now. So long, peasants!
Aerie: W... w-wait!
Raptair: I don't think so. Bye!
Raptair takes off, and shortly after…
Commoner: He's buggered orf. Well, guess there'll be no more of us chanting or dancing naked around the fire for him, then.
Commoner: Aye. Pity, really. I know we were being abused and exploited and all that, but... some of it was fun while it lasted. *sigh* So, what now?
Commoner: Pint?
Commoner: Yeah, alright.
Aerie: Ohh! He... h-he's gone! *sigh* I... I'd hoped to be able to talk to him some more... I-I may never encounter another...
CHARNAME: That was quite a performance out there.
Aerie: T--talking like that, in front of all of those people... I think it was the most frightening thing I've ever done! But, I knew you were there, , right behind me. I don't think I'd have managed if you hadn't been. Thank you.
But wait! We’re still not quite done. Talk to the girl again and she’ll suggest which direction to go next. Do so, and eventually come to:
Aerie: Wait, please! D-don't fly away again. I just want to talk. Y-you... you can help me...
Raptair: Well, what an intriguing idea! I mean, I had a very sweet thing going on here, which you ruined. And now you want my help. Are you sure your density isn't the reason you can't fly?
Aerie: What you were doing was wrong. I'll not apologize for putting a stop to it. But, I'm offering you a chance to do something right for a change. Please... I-I can't go home, like I am, but... I-I have to know if my parents are okay! Y-you... you could find out, and, i-if they are, maybe get word to them that I'm alive. Please!
Raptair: Suppose I could. What city are they in?
Aerie: Faenya-Dail.
Raptair: Never heard of it.
Aerie: B-but, there must be avariel in other cities who would know how to find it!
Raptair: Oh, I'm sure there are. But, the time and expense involved just isn't worth it for me. I have other things to do.
Aerie: I-if... if you want payment, I'm sure I could get you something. Please!
Raptair: Even if I was at all interested in your offer, which I'm not, but even if I was, have you thought about your parents feelings at all? Even if they are alive, don't you think they would have given you up for dead long ago? Do you think it would really be fair to reappear after all this time and them moving on? And crippled, no less. You really want to break their hearts all over again? Best just forget about them and try to get on with your own life, such as it is.
Aerie: I-I... *sniff* I never imagined one of my own people could be so cruel and heartless!
Raptair: When was the last time you met one? Anyway, sticks and stones and all that.
Aerie: Stones... yes, I... I-I have a few, as it happens. You know you can't possibly get away burdened with all those bags. I-I demand you return all that to the people you took it from!
Raptair: Like I hadn't thought of that. These are... pets. You all have fun playing with them. I'll... see you out there. Maybe…
Raptair calls some Air Elementals, then takes off again, leaving a couple of pets to fight you. And that’s the last we see of him, for now.
As I mentioned in a previous post, this would have been the point at which Aerie acquired a familiar:
BG2EEWings06.
Added these guys:
Additionally, the lovetalks I mentioned I'd copied, I changed from checking if the PC was female, to checking the AerieMatch variable was 0. I think that should mean that any character not able to romance Aerie will still be able to have those talks.
Additionally additional, I'm experimenting with adding banters so that if you choose another romance over Aerie, or she chooses Haer'Dalis over you (I'll have to add one for when she dumps Haer'Dalis as well, if I can remember where that was in the game files), you'll get the option of still being able to be friends with Aerie. I'll probably add it at some point so that if you ever set AerieRomance to 3 for any reason, it'll still be possible to switch to friendship instead.
Some time in the future, I might add far more of an Aerie friendship track where she talks more generally about her life and thoughts and dreams than in the romance, and maybe the bhaalspawn can actually teach her a useful thing or two.
That is to say, I made Aerie a familiar that follows her around (when not resting in her pack) and generally does her bidding:
BG2EEWings07.
You'll have to read back through spoiler tags I think, if you want to know exactly where to find it, otherwise it's a surprise. Aerie gets the same benefit the PC does from having a familiar, except that hers can't technically be killed. Otherwise, it acts more or less the same. Other than the initial meeting, he currently just basically all the same dialogue choices as a PC familiar, except that he'll only converse with Aerie right now. Perhaps more can be added in the future.
Obviously it's not yet all fully tested. I know he doesn't rest when the party does in order to restore spells, health, etc (he has quite a few fire-based spells), but he should rest every time he's put back inside his gem, either through dialogue or him or Aerie dying. And I haven't done anything for ToB yet, so I doubt it'll yet fully work there.
For the next update, I'll try to add more of a friendship path for Aerie. I think it's a good idea. Initially I had the idea of just adding three new banters preceding her romance (but allowable for non-romancable characters as well), as kind of getting to know you sessions, but I think I was always trying too much information into those. A friendship path will allow me to spread it out more and have some more fun/cute/interesting banters with the PC who can take her under their wing, so to speak, and maybe teach her some stuff about the world, as a friend.
BG2EEWings07a.
(But I still like that Hexxat banter and Aerie going after her.
As for Aerie friendship, I've already had a few ideas. When it's done, then theoretically you could get maximise the amount of interaction with Aerie by romancing her until near the end, finish it, and then switch over to the friendship (if the romance with Aerie ends for any reason I'm putting in a banter where she'll ask if you can still be friends).
But that'll be version 0.8.
This is basically just a few more rewrites and script changes etc. Ammale's melee attack now does a small amount of fire damage (but why would you send a familiar into melee anyway?)
To clarify about Ammale, he's technically a controlled creature in the game. He can't open doors or interact with containers. The main way he's noticably different from a normal familiar though is that he can't leave or enter any area by himself (if you're inside an inn, you can't send him to look around upstairs. But if Aerie goes up or enters new area while he's out of his gem, he'll teleport to beside her). Otherwise though, he's can roam freely on whatever map he's in. And he can cast spells and you can talk to him (Well, Aerie can). Right now he just has essentially the same dialog as normal familiars, but I might add more stuff in the future. If he dies, after one day you'll be able to summon him again. If Aerie dies while he's outside his gem, he'll vanish and you'll be able to summon him again if she's resurrected. To restore his spells, making him go back inside his gem will rest him.
Oh yes, one change I added was that in the CC, accepting the key from Lehtinan and then making Hendak your enemy should now turn Aerie hostile as well.
But mainly the rewrites in this version though are around the first part of her main quest.
- Aerie proves no match for the slaver, Amra, in their first encounter.
There’s only really one major issue I have with Aerie’s characterization in the game. If you look at how she interacts with all the other NPC’s in the game, one thing stands out - she never actually talks about her wings. Obviously she’s sad and anyone who knows a little of her history wouldn’t need Quayle’s magnificent brain to work out why. The whole being shot and taken away by slavers, tortured by them, sold, undergoing daily abuse and humiliation in the circus and then the final blow if severing her wings and also severing her from any chance she might have had of returning home to her family any time soon - that’s enough to get anyone down. But Aerie’s character is actually very quiet and introspective, and she never really talks about her own past with anyone. Even when you first meet her, you only find out she’s a winged elf who lost her wings if you press her, and then she quickly changes the subject. Understandable in the circumstances - she has other things on her mind at that moment. But even after that, all the dialogue she intitiates with an NPC is her asking about them and their lives and beliefs. She admires and respects Jaheira, comforts Minsc, tries to comfort Anomen, asks Nalia/Mazzy/Keldorn about their beliefs and feelings. She’s very concerned and interested in the people around her. But when they ask her about her wings, like Jan or Mazzy who are characters she likes, she effectively mumbles or changes the subject again.
Yet, the meme about her is that she constantly whines about her wings, even though that’s empirically untrue because she hardly ever does. And she doesn’t complain about much else. After all, she’s been a laboror in a travelling circus for a while, so she’s used to hard work and roughing it. And before, when she was still in her cage, it was hardly luxurious. In fact it nearly killed her.
But it’s because of her romance, the very first line of which is ‘My wings have been clipped’, and then goes on to have her get gradually more and more depressed and snappy, until she reaches her low point but then, having gotten it all off her chest, starts feeling a lot better. Maybe she feels she can trust the bhaalspawn because of the similar experiences they’ve had of being forced from their homes and unable to return and of being locked in a cage and abused and tortured. But still, it really makes little sense that someone who is usually very shy and quiet about herself would suddenly jump in like that with someone she’s just met.
Now I could have rewritten her whole romance of course, but I decided didn’t want to change any original game content. So I decided instead to try adding a few banters before her romance begins so that she and the PC build up more of a friendship before she starts confiding all that stuff. In my first attempts, I think I was trying to cram too much information into those talks however, about her parents and childhood and her life in the circus. So now it’s evolved to being a new friendship track for her character as well. There’ll still new banters before the romance, but she’ll be enquiring more about your character at first, about growing up in Candlekeep, how they feel about the whole Irenicus business… basically more like the way she is with other NPCs.
The other thing is, lots of other characters have quests that give them unique rewards. Especially in the EE, all the new characters have long sidequests attached to them and even new areas you can only get by having them in your party. So, why not a quest for Aerie? As a former slave, it makes total sense she'd want to be more involved in the slaver quests in the game and prevent the kind of things that happened to her happening to anyone else, since Aerie's primary motivator is helping people. And then I thought giving her actual antagonist of her own, or nemesis (or actually whatever the plural of nemesis is in this case - nemesi?) would provide her impetus to grow stronger and we might get to see her growing more confident and becoming hardened as she is in ToB.
BG2EEWings07c.
Obviously, the mod isn't nearly finished yet. I've added some banters (the ones with CHARNAME will be rewritten again when I add a full friendship path as well), some NPC's and encounters, a familiar of sorts. It's mainly up so that people can test things. Everything seems to work fine for me so far, but I've not been able to test every permutation of what might happen.
Only the beginning of her main quest has been added so far, up to the bit in the screenshot above and the later aftermath. Next up I'll be doing the friendship path for her, and I mentioned maybe another miniquest involving her and Minsc (which is an idea I only really had yesterday, so I'm open to any ideas about it or any possible Aerie/Minsc interactions).
In the encounter in Umar Hills, all the characters had their own script but three of them were identical so I trimmed that.
I'm working on the friendship now, so I'll be adding timers and things to her banters with CHARNAME, similar to the romance timers.
BG2EEWings07d.
Still to do:
Main Quest
More interaction and possible mini-quest involving Minsc.
Interactions with Ammale and other party members, or do to with Ammale. Obviously I can write banters when other NPC's talk to him, and possibly some banters if you talk to him while other creatures are nearby (like the PC's familiar, or Cespenar).
Friendship. This is what I'm doing now, so if you have any good ideas for what kind of conversations and interactions you'd like to have with Aerie as a friend or big brother/sister, now's the time to suggest them.
BG2EEWings07e.
I don't know if any other mods restore any of banters as well (like any of the Yoshimo mods), which is why I made it optional.
I'd like options to interfere with Aerie's arguements with Krogan, and her potentially lethal fight with CN Anomen. I don't think Krogan or Anomen would stop even with the Bhaalspawn yelling at them (Krogan hardly respects your authority and can't resist poking, and Anomen is practically insane with grief and rage at that point) but options to basically say "Get the hell away from her and leave her alone" (as well ass the usual stay silent) would be appreciated.
If Haer'Dalis has taught her acting and she's began to enjoy that (which I think she actually does- at first, he's pushing her, but I think she does come to enjoy it), it's something I'd like to discuss with her. Would she like a small part in the bard stronghold's play? Does she think she'd like to do that as a career or maybe a hobby when adventuring is done? In general, what does she want to do with her life after adventuring? Does she want to return to Rashemen with Minsc?
And- I think it has to come up in any mod involving Aerie. Fly is a 3rd level mage spell. Why does she not learn it and use it? Why is it that the wings in specific are so important to her rather then the flying?
I don't know how new you are to the BG games, @Coutelier, but way back in BGII, there was a lot of conversation with David Gaider, and there was an uncut quest for Aerie. In it, she would find a permanent ritual that would turn herself in to a bird and allow her to live life free and untouched like that (I think it was associated with the Harper quest and 'Monty' the bird). If you were early in a romance, not romancing her, or she was romancing Haer'Dalis, she would choose that path and exit the party forever (or so it was designed, I think- there should have been options to talk her out of it). If she'd become stronger (later in the romance, or dumped Haer'Dalis), she'd antagonize about it for a while but eventually rip the ritual up and decide against it. You may wish to do something with that.
Hm... some other stuff I'd like to see with Aerie.
~~ Just some generic talking about both your pasts. She's lost her parents, you've lost your (foster)father. Bonding over that and trying to find strength in the loss for both of you.
~~ After her relationship with Haer'Dalis is over, being able to ask her about it. Does she not want to travel with him anymore (honestly, I think by that point Aerie is strong enough to be fine to travel with an ex, but it would be courteous to ask if she minds it)? Does she regret anything (oddly, I don't think she does- she grew a lot from the romance)? How does she feel about it?
~~ An opportunity to flirt with her as a female. As is, Aerie's straight, but that shouldn't stop a lesbian or bi Lady Bhaalspawn from flirting with her... and, alas, being turned down.
~~ Does she have any siblings? It's never mentioned, but it's something I'd like to ask her. Also, maybe an oppertunity to become 'blood siblings' with her (Dorn does something similar on his strange romance path): spill blood together and then vow to protect each other and look after each other like real siblings do.
~~ An opportunity to ask her to travel with you after your ToB travels are done in ToB. It doesn't have to change her epilogue or anything, but I know my Bhaalspawn would have liked to say "Aerie, you're like a sister to me, if you'd like to stay with me and (probable love interest, plus redeemed Sarevok who also seems to want to travel with you) after we're done with this, I'd love to have you"
~~ On that note, a PID (player initiated dialog, something you would get when you clicked talk then clicked on her). It would be nice to ask her what she thought of the other companions, how she was doing at the time, if her feet hurt, if she had any advice on the current situation, if she thought you should side with the Shadow Thieves or Bodhi- the sort of questions most romancable mods have in their PID, basically. And other random questions- whats her favourite colour, favourite food, favourite animal...
~~ More discussion about her relationship with Quayle. How Quayle turned from that Smarter Than Thou gnome in BG1 to Aerie's loving guardian in BG2 is a question in many peoples minds, and I'd love to see how that worked out and how they changed each other. (And if he's told Aerie any horrible tales about his nemesis Tiax.)
The illusion of her mother that appears in ToB does mention that she's an only child. I wrote a short story once where it transpired that she did have a sister born after she was captured. Although I can't really use that, her relationship with her parents and her feelings about not knowing what's happened to them and the different possibilities is worth looking at. It's touched on a bit in the Umar Hills encounter that I've already written in the mod.
I've already got in mind of course writing more about her parents, her hobbies and interests as a child, the various jobs she used to do when out of her cage in the circus, her relationship with Quayle and why she wanted to leave there, what she wants to achieve by adventuring and her plans for when this is all over.
BG2EEWings08.
PC's not eligible to romance Aerie will be able to pursue the friendship, which should work much the same as the romance, in terms of having a timer that triggers dialogues every so often.
PC's who are eligible to romance Aerie should, if things are all working right, get three new banters preceding the usual romance. Then, if you ever end the romance with Aerie for any reason but she's still in the party, you'll be presented with the option of pursuing friendship instead.
The friendship is about the same length as the romance. About six or seven of the banters have been copied from the romance. If you're a male character and already had them it should, I hope, skip over them.
No Player Initiated Dialogues yet, but that will likely come. Just if you're involved in a friendship with her though, as that seems the safest way to avoid conflicting with flirt packs (although other mods that add PID's to Aerie... well I don't really know of any anyway).
BG2EEWings08a.
And speaking of restored content I really liked how you decided to restore some of her banters. Do you plan maybe to restore a few more of those if there are any?
Nice project BTW, I always though that Aerie should get more love and development. A friendship track and new quest/s for her are definitely a good thing. Good luck!