What happens to NPCs when they get petrified? *possible spoilers*

SharGuidesMyHand

I was in the basilisk area and Montaron was hit by a gaze. He seemed to disappear completely, both from the battle area and from the portrait side bar. It's probably been years since I've seen someone get petrified, but IIRC, the char should still be visible somewhere so you can cast stone to flesh on him. I know if someone takes a hit when petrified, they shatter and are lost forever, but I didn't see Montaron take any hits here after being petrified.

Could this be a bug, or am I just missing something?

BelgarathMTH

You have to target the scroll on his "statue". He will then be standing there with a blue circle around his feet, and you have to talk to him to get him to join back up. The game behavior you've described is the normal petrification routine. Yes, they disappear from your party. And, if it happened in Mutamin's "garden" of statues, and you lost track of which one is Monty, it may be a little hard to find the right one again.

SharGuidesMyHand

belgarathmth said:

You have to target the scroll on his "statue". He will then be standing there with a blue circle around his feet, and you have to talk to him to get him to join back up.

So there's no circle around the statue before you "un-stone" it? I suppose that's my mistake - I thought I remembered circles around the statues the way there are for Branwen and Tamah when they are petrified.

Incidentally, if I have to talk to the char again, is there a chance he won't rejoin my party (i.e: if my rep is unfavorable to his alignment)?

BelgarathMTH

No, there's no circle around the statue, and yes, the character may refuse to rejoin if you've displeased them with reputation. In BG2, it can also break romances, which is why many people choose to avoid the problem by reloading if somebody gets petrified. Needless to say, if it happens to charname, it's game over.