Let's talk about Aerie...
Pantalion
Member Posts: 2,137
Okay, so I was going through my Baldur's Gate 2 game, and thanks to a minor mod glitch, Aerie's romance track froze forever. When I finally fixed it by removing the mod, all of her banters came out in a big rush (possibly because I leave the game running to work on journal entries). Because they came out so close together, I got to thinking about her backstory more than I usually do, and this got me thinking about Aerie in a way I usually don't.
It also had Jaheira start downright hitting on me twenty-four hours after finding her husbands corpse. Brr. But anyway, back to Aerie.
1: When was Aerie captured by slavers?
Aerie says she's been away from home so long, she can't properly remember it. She also has a pretty childlike view of her home, was still in the care of her parents. Now, Elves generally are considered too young to gad around the countryside until a fairly advanced age (Bhaalspawn notwithstanding), but if she was even physically mature when she was caught, that's around two decades worth of memories.
Is Aerie being melodramatic about not being able to remember? Or was she taken while still extremely young, especially for an elf? Even if she was captured the moment she reached physical maturity (~25 according to splatbooks), where elves are concerned, that's the equivalent of being taken at five years old.
2: How old is Aerie? And how long has she been in showbiz?
She never mentions any particular dates, which to me suggests shorter, rather than longer (even an elf would be likely to mention a century or so in captivity as a handy reference point). A week is a long time in showbusiness, so perhaps it was just a few short decades?
This potentially leaves Aerie still mentally well short of adulthood, while still having spent the majority of her life inside a cage, being gawked at and abused by strangers.
3: How recently did she get out of the cage?
According to Aerie, she was comforted while still in her cage by Quayle. According to Quayle, he became the wisest, kindest gnome she ever met because of his interactions with Aerie.
Now, according to Baldur's Gate, the first game begins on the 1st of Mirtul, 1368, while BG2 begins in 1369 on the same day. Assuming Charname rushes through like a bunny rabbit on speed, that means that Quayle, in all his jerkass original glory, can reasonably be assumed to be in Baldur's Gate until at least nine months prior to BG2, and presumably Aerie remained in the cage until Quayle arrived at the circus.
And why was Aerie released from her cage? Presumably because her wings were cut off. There's no benefit to having a caged "winged elf" who doesn't have any wings, so she was released into Quayle's care sometime between Baldur's Gate I and Baldur's Gate II.
4: How does this get even worse?
A: Since we know that Quayle is probably post BG Quayle, we know that in all probability he was a level 6/5 Cleric/Illusionist, since the average player is likely to be at least level 5 before encountering him.
Cure Disease is a level 3 cleric spell. He could have saved Aerie's wings at any time, but he, not knowing that the Kalah incident was imminent, chose not to so that she could eventually leave the circus and have her liberty, an important principle to him as Chaotic Neutral.
B: Aerie's eventual fate, if romanced, is becomes an elf-teen mother, having barely even known her own parents, and only for the last year at the most having known anything even close to a family existence in the least appropriate child-rearing environment possible - slaying dragons and otherworldly abominations left right and centre. And if CHARNAME is human, not only is she destined to watch her beloved wither and die before she even hits middle age, she's going to outlive both of her children too.
So we have an elven teenager and recent amputee, kept in a cage for at least half her life, only regaining her freedom in the last year, and even then not until her wings, her personal symbol of freedom and fundamentally important trait to all avariel, became so diseased and atrophied that they were literally cut out of her body.
... I think I'm going to cut Aerie a bit more slack from now on.
It also had Jaheira start downright hitting on me twenty-four hours after finding her husbands corpse. Brr. But anyway, back to Aerie.
1: When was Aerie captured by slavers?
Aerie says she's been away from home so long, she can't properly remember it. She also has a pretty childlike view of her home, was still in the care of her parents. Now, Elves generally are considered too young to gad around the countryside until a fairly advanced age (Bhaalspawn notwithstanding), but if she was even physically mature when she was caught, that's around two decades worth of memories.
Is Aerie being melodramatic about not being able to remember? Or was she taken while still extremely young, especially for an elf? Even if she was captured the moment she reached physical maturity (~25 according to splatbooks), where elves are concerned, that's the equivalent of being taken at five years old.
2: How old is Aerie? And how long has she been in showbiz?
She never mentions any particular dates, which to me suggests shorter, rather than longer (even an elf would be likely to mention a century or so in captivity as a handy reference point). A week is a long time in showbusiness, so perhaps it was just a few short decades?
This potentially leaves Aerie still mentally well short of adulthood, while still having spent the majority of her life inside a cage, being gawked at and abused by strangers.
3: How recently did she get out of the cage?
According to Aerie, she was comforted while still in her cage by Quayle. According to Quayle, he became the wisest, kindest gnome she ever met because of his interactions with Aerie.
Now, according to Baldur's Gate, the first game begins on the 1st of Mirtul, 1368, while BG2 begins in 1369 on the same day. Assuming Charname rushes through like a bunny rabbit on speed, that means that Quayle, in all his jerkass original glory, can reasonably be assumed to be in Baldur's Gate until at least nine months prior to BG2, and presumably Aerie remained in the cage until Quayle arrived at the circus.
And why was Aerie released from her cage? Presumably because her wings were cut off. There's no benefit to having a caged "winged elf" who doesn't have any wings, so she was released into Quayle's care sometime between Baldur's Gate I and Baldur's Gate II.
4: How does this get even worse?
A: Since we know that Quayle is probably post BG Quayle, we know that in all probability he was a level 6/5 Cleric/Illusionist, since the average player is likely to be at least level 5 before encountering him.
Cure Disease is a level 3 cleric spell. He could have saved Aerie's wings at any time, but he, not knowing that the Kalah incident was imminent, chose not to so that she could eventually leave the circus and have her liberty, an important principle to him as Chaotic Neutral.
B: Aerie's eventual fate, if romanced, is becomes an elf-teen mother, having barely even known her own parents, and only for the last year at the most having known anything even close to a family existence in the least appropriate child-rearing environment possible - slaying dragons and otherworldly abominations left right and centre. And if CHARNAME is human, not only is she destined to watch her beloved wither and die before she even hits middle age, she's going to outlive both of her children too.
So we have an elven teenager and recent amputee, kept in a cage for at least half her life, only regaining her freedom in the last year, and even then not until her wings, her personal symbol of freedom and fundamentally important trait to all avariel, became so diseased and atrophied that they were literally cut out of her body.
... I think I'm going to cut Aerie a bit more slack from now on.
Post edited by Pantalion on
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Comments
There is also no real evidence that BG2 Quayle and BG1 Quayle are one and the same. Maybe the name "Quayle" just happens to be very popular among gnomes. His personality is also somewhat different from the Quayle you meet in Baldur's Gate. In that case events in the circus might have taken place over a much longer period of time.
Middle age for half elves is 62 years old, and I wouldn't place Jaheira more than 40-50 years old (mid-thirties equivalent in a human) given her BG1 portrait, so for Aerie to say: That means that you're right, she's probably around 50-60 years old.
I was under the impression this was widely accepted canon? Has anyone Ctrl+Q'd him into the party to compare stats?
Incidentally, converting Aerie certainly seems in keeping with his BGI profile. She was literally a captive audience.
He says that he apprenticed in the arts of magic and the worship of Baravar under a gnome named Gifos, though it was not long before this teacher also sent him on his way. Since then, Quayle has wandered the Sword Coast looking for people who were willing to accept his "his wisdom and instruction."
When asked about her past, Aerie becomes silent for a time, obviously saddened by the memory. She lived among the Avariel, the winged elves, and was captured by slavers when she was still very young. She shudders when she speaks of her first years in the circus, on display in a cage that restricted her movement to the point that her wings atrophied. They became infected... and Aerie can barely speak about the night when she was taken out of her cage and her wings were sawn off brutally to keep her alive. She was no longer of use to that circus, and were it not for the kindness of Quayle she surely would have died. He restored her to health and gave her a reason to continue living, and out of respect and generosity she learned the devotion of the Gnomish god Baervan Windwanderer. She speaks of Baervan with affection, yet still pays tribute to Aedrie Faenya, and approaches life outside the circus with a combination of wide-eyed innocence and wonder mixed with an inborn determination to fight against injustice.
So, from here it's obvious:
1) Aerie was captured while still very young.
2) There were "years" in the circus.
3) During these years her wings first atrophied and then became infected.
4) After she was no longer of use to that circus (because of not having wings, as @Pantalion suggested) Quayle helped her.
And of course Quyale from BG2 is the same Quyale from BG1, wait... Better look at this thread: https://forums.beamdog.com/discussion/26639/inconsistent-quayle
I am going to assume that he stopped going on adventures when he took Charname in, that would mean 15 to 20 years ago, depending on which age Charname was back then.
If anything, though, acrotomophilia is involved...
Staying away from the firepit and focusing on a thirty year old. Maturity or rather a nebulous label like wisdom, applying intelligence to experience for example, is of course high variable when it comes to that 30 year old applying what they know to differing areas of their life.
I think the vampire romance trope is quite literally so well defined it makes the former question however just odd.
Let the fear consunme you!
But no fighting. All good fun here. Paraphilia or not.
That said, I like Aerie, missing limbs and all.
She may be the only character I ALWAYS take along in my parties, now that I think about it.
You spelled Viconia wrong.