Author Topic: Archived Posts - Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation  (Read 14901 times)

Offline icelus

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This is another thread from the old Studios workroom.  I'm still not big on the transformation tangent, but the kidnapping might be interesting.

Here's what we know:
"IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE SET THEM FREE
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Ahhh, yes. Poor Aerie. Poor, poor Aerie.

Originally, the Aerie romance was also supposed to have a third possible branch. Although assigning this to the romance isn't exactly true...it's something that would come up regardless of whether or not you were romancing Aerie. The effect on the romance could be pronounced, however.

Ordinarily, Aerie has an initial period where she simply can't get over the loss of her wings. She talks about her people and what it was like to be an avariel...and if you're not in the romance, she never quite gets over this (although she's considerably more quiet about it).
Now, if we all recall, there was a place in the game where people knew how to turn others permanently into bird, right? You know what I'm talking about...the Xzar and Montaron quest involving the Harpers. Their polymorph ability was supposed to be no joke, and the player was supposed to be able to find, originally, a ritual scroll that would allow a subject to be permanently transformed into a bird. As a ritual, it's not a learnable spell...but it is castable by anyone (although it takes several hours, apparently, so it's not a combat spell).

Once the quest is over, if Aerie was in the party (or joins the party later), she would inquire about the scroll, wondering if the player would be willing to use it on her. Being a bird wouldn't be the best thing, but she would do almost anything to have her wings back. If Haer'Dalis is about and has been interacting with Aerie, he'll be all for it...it would seem very fitting to him for Aerie to become an actual bird (and he does have that fondness for thinking of everyone as birds anyway). The conversation with Aerie was supposed to revolve around whether or not the PC romance was active.
If there was no romance, the player had several options. He could refuse her out-right, saying that being a bird isn't the answer or she's an idiot or whatever. She will be hurt and upset and leave the party to return permanently to the circus. The player could also promise to turn her into a bird later, saying that he needs her right now...but she will require a promise that once Imoen is rescued that he do so. She thinks that this is, indeed, what she wants.

If there is a romance, the player has the same options as above...although he also has the option of convincing Aerie that what she really needs is to adjust to life as it is now, to see the good things she has and not throw them away simply for a pair of wings. Aerie will be unconvinced, and will ask for the player to give her the scroll...in case she changes her mind. If the player doesn't give the scroll, she leaves...obviously he doesn't trust her. If he does, the issue doesn't come up until later.

NOW...for those of you who have actually played the Haer'Dalis/Aerie romance, you probably know the effect that Irenicus has on Aerie...the hatred that she has for him after seeing what he's done at Spellhold.

This was actually a much-shortened version of the original story. Besides the Suna Seni thing, Irenicus was supposed to have other lieutenants. One of these was a struggling Thayvian mage named Thraxis Gall (I think...at least, this is the name that pops in my head, though my memory may be off). Before Spellhold, Aerie was supposed to have been stolen by Gall. The player can found out where he is, but when he gets there Aerie has been tortured terribly. Gall knew that avariel wings are incredibly valuable for spell components...and he wanted the opportunity to study an avariel closely to see if anything else was as valuable. When the player frees Aerie, she kills Gall and is shaking with rage and utter disbelief at the kind of evil that exists in the world. The player has two choices: encourage Aerie's new vigilanteism, in which case she commits herelf to a campaign against evil and tears up the scroll (she was originally supposed to take on a new voice set in this case). Or the player could believe that this world isn't for Aerie...she will breakdown and agree and say her tearful good-byes before turning herself into a bird (if she has the scroll) or begging the player to do so (if he promised he would). If the player refuses at this point, Aerie will be heart-broken and leave permanently."


Questions? Comments? Ideas?
« Last Edit: March 24, 2008, 06:09:46 PM by icelus »
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Offline icelus

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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #1 on: May 29, 2004, 11:50:46 PM »
This is a PM log between Barren Fischa and deganawida, who was originally working on some ideas for the quest:

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Ok, here I am. Let the Aerie Transformation Brainstorming Session (ATBS) begin.

The first thing we'd need to change would probably be the Harper plot. Th scroll could be placed in the southeast corner of the upper floor, near the letter that explains what happened to Monty. The thing is, a player could easily miss it, and you can't go back there unless you do the Jaheira romance (and since the scroll is for the Aerie romance...) Maybe Xzar could say he needs the scroll that turned Monty into a bird in order to come up with the cure, since the Harper hold stays accessible until that point

But then again, a player might throw the scroll away after that, either to avoid dealing with Aerie later or just out of stupidity. I was thinking a check for the scroll could be used as a trigger to some of Aerie's lovetalks, stopping the romance if you get rid of the item. (She realizes you don't trust her).

Then, there's the encounter with Thraxis Gall. I actually kind of like the idea that he's the child Aerie saved years ago. The kidnapping would probably require a new area for Thraxis' laboratory or something. We could probably use the Ramazith's Tower map (you know, the guy in BG1 who wanted to kidnap a nymph and use her hair as a spell component), and it could be accessed through one of the many unused doors in the city. Alternatively, it could be connected to no place in particular, and accessed only via magical means.

Of course, Aerie adopting this vigilante attitude would mean altering most of her dialogs, maybe even give her new dialog files altogether. We should also search for the new soundset she was supposed to get, I heard it was still in the game somewhere.

Anyway, those were my first ideas about this quest. I'd also like to point out that my dialog writing ability is pretty poor, since English isn't my first language, so I'll leave that part strictly up to you. Anyway, e-mail me with any feedback. Oh, and since you can't send attached files with a PM, here's my address: barren50@hotmail.com




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Barren--

I like your ideas thus far. If I may, I'd like to expound upon them somewhat.

1. I think you're right about stopping the romance if you don't have the scroll. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I think that the romance should be a bit like Jaheira's, in that if you do not meet Condition X (getting the scroll and having Aerie mention it) the romance should not continue past the point where she tells you to go away and leave her alone. This way, her romance is directly tied to the transformation, and no one can romance her without having to deal with her issues.

2. I agree that it would be best if Xzar sends CHARNAME back into the hold to get the scroll. This would give the player the chance to see that this scroll is important; we could say that Xzar needs to see how it was worded in order to break the enchantment. Or, it could be that we you find the note from the Harper assassin, Aerie pops up and says something like, "W-what is this? A scroll of polymorphing? It-it will transform a person into a bird! O-oh, CHARNAME, I must have it! Maybe, maybe this can help me fly again!", and then she gets an item similar to Edwin's Nether Scroll. This way, she automatically gets it, the character can't throw it away, and anytime that you bring her into the Harper Hold she finds it.

3. I think that Thraxis Gall being the child that she saved is a great idea! This would help bring closure to Aerie's pre-CHARNAME life, enabling her to get past many of her issues. It's always bothered me that such a powerful character with a high intelligence and wisdom is so immature and doesn't really grow up. But, I digress, this section is about Thraxis Gall. Aerie's rescue of him could be the spark that lights his obsession with Avariel, and Irenicus may have promised him an Avariel for his service. How would Aerie deal with this? Well, weak Aerie (the one that you allow to turn into a bird) would be broken and just want to fly away from her past failures, never again having a worry. She would think just how much was taken from her by a rescue of a child who was so evil that he would then use his rescuer for magical experiments, and think just how much she failed by rescuing him, and never want to deal with people again. Strong Aerie would probably see it somewhat as a test of faith or a trial by fire, once she is convinced by CHARNAME, and see that her good deed resulted in some sacrifice, but now she is stronger, more able to combat evil, and has CHARNAME in her life.

4. Post-transformation Aerie: I see such an experience that Aerie goes through as causing a major alignment shift. Aerie, Gaider said, would become more like a vigilante, and I see Chaotic Good fitting that role better than Lawful Good. Baervon Wildwanderer is Neutral Good, and the Avariel god is Chaotic Good, so I see this change as more in line with her clerical needs as well. We may need to alter her to Neutral Good in the beginning, though, so that it won't offend too many people. I also see her dialogs become more forceful, more self-assured, and I see this being shown in the lovetalks as well (or primarily, if you like). She would no longer be so needy, as she has grown up and found her place in the world (smiting evil). She would be more assertive in lovetalks than before, and be more open to new things. Her relationship with Minsc would most likely change, and I would love to include a new Minsc dialog where he would say something to the effect of "Look to your laurels, Evil, Minsc's witch Aerie is putting the boot of Righteousness to your butt and taking names!" (put in Minsc's own unique way of talking, of course). I also think that perhaps a new portrait might be in order. If you go to http://nwvault.ign.com/Files/portraits/dat...339911620.shtml, you'll see what I think is a good portrait to reflect her new resolve. The old portait looks too innocent to really fit her new, harder personality, but I think that this one does just fine. Also, I think perhaps either some small stat increases or a custom item is called for, as she has just changed quite a lot.

5. I do agree that many of her dialogs will need to be redone to reflect her new attitude, and I think that the areas where this most needs to be done is in her romance with CHARNAME, Jaheira (she'll no longer take kindly to being treated as a child), Valygar (she now knows that there is a dark side to magic, and urges him to fight it while protecting the good side), Edwin (will remind her too much of Thraxis Gall), Viconia (she'll no longer associate at all with her, and will attempt to kill her if she's in the party too long), and Haer'Dalis (his advances are transparent to her now, and his desire for entropy conflicts with her desire to combat evil). Jan could probably have a dialog or two commenting on her new change, and mentioning how Baervon Wildwanderer would approve ("Aerie, my dear, did I ever tell you about the time Baervon Wildwanderer came to have some of Ma Jansen's Realms-renowned turnip soup? Why, I can remember it just like it was yesterday. Wait, it WAS yesterday..."). As I previously said, I think the biggest change will be in the lovetalks, as she now knows what she wants. I think that she should be more assertive, engaging in flirts, at some point just coming up and kissing CHARNAME fiercely, and then changing the sleeping with her dialog (she really wants it this time).

Oh well, these are just a few ideas that I've had. Let me know what you think.

deganawida


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1- Gaider once mentionned that we shouldn't base new romances on Jaheira's... Heh, that'll show him

2- The problem with that is, Aerie may not be in that party when you first enter the Harper Hold, and the door gets locked after that. Also, she shouldn't get it automatically, since some of the new lovetalks revolves about asking the PC to give her the scroll. But when he does, it'd be something like the Nether Scroll indeed.

3- Yeah, but the thing is, Aerie has her personnality change just after slaying Thraxis, if you read Gaider's post. We'll really need to show her rage building up at that point.

4- I still see Aerie as Lawful Good after her alignment change, as a paladin is actually not very diffferent from a vigilante. I don't like altering NPCs' stats too much, but a custom item would be great indeed. If we need a new portrait... There was this concept art portrait of Aerie, it's black and white but I asked Karse Soze from the Portrait Portal) to color it. She still looks like herself, only a little harder.

5- These all sound like great ideas to me, except maybe the part about HD. He's not evil at heart, and Aerie knows this.


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1- Gaider once mentionned that we shouldn't base new romances on Jaheira's... Heh, that'll show him

2- The problem with that is, Aerie may not be in that party when you first enter the Harper Hold, and the door gets locked after that. Also, she shouldn't get it automatically, since some of the new lovetalks revolves about asking the PC to give her the scroll. But when he does, it'd be something like the Nether Scroll indeed.

3- Yeah, but the thing is, Aerie has her personnality change just after slaying Thraxis, if you read Gaider's post. We'll really need to show her rage building up at that point.

4- I still see Aerie as Lawful Good after her alignment change, as a paladin is actually not very diffferent from a vigilante. I don't like altering NPCs' stats too much, but a custom item would be great indeed. If we need a new portrait... There was this concept art portrait of Aerie, it's black and white but I asked Karse Soze from the Portrait Portal) to color it. She still looks like herself, only a little harder.

5- These all sound like great ideas to me, except maybe the part about HD. He's not evil at heart, and Aerie knows this.

2- Hum, an undroppable item does take up one valuable inventory slot. You know how people complaned about Boo at a time. I'd rather have Zxar request it, really.

3- Well, we could just cut the pear in half and make her NG.

4- I'd still like to keep the drama rehearsing dialogs, only she would be much more confident in her role and Haer'Dalis couldn't approach her like he used to. But if they're already in a romance by the time she has her personnality change, they should maybe stay together (she could just dropping later on at Suldannesselar, since he dies anyway)

5- Sure, she could loot something from Thraxis' body, but it should be something that only her could use. Maybe an amulet crafted by Aerie's mother, and retrieved by Thraxis when he was saved? That could also be why he recognizes her...

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1- Gaider once mentionned that we shouldn't base new romances on Jaheira's... Heh, that'll show him

2- The problem with that is, Aerie may not be in that party when you first enter the Harper Hold, and the door gets locked after that. Also, she shouldn't get it automatically, since some of the new lovetalks revolves about asking the PC to give her the scroll. But when he does, it'd be something like the Nether Scroll indeed.

3- Yeah, but the thing is, Aerie has her personnality change just after slaying Thraxis, if you read Gaider's post. We'll really need to show her rage building up at that point.

4- I still see Aerie as Lawful Good after her alignment change, as a paladin is actually not very diffferent from a vigilante. I don't like altering NPCs' stats too much, but a custom item would be great indeed. If we need a new portrait... There was this concept art portrait of Aerie, it's black and white but I asked Karse Soze from the Portrait Portal) to color it. She still looks like herself, only a little harder.

5- These all sound like great ideas to me, except maybe the part about HD. He's not evil at heart, and Aerie knows this.


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1. Yup. Problem with what Gaider is saying, though, is that it's really the only way to have a satisfying change in a character. This lets the player feel that there really was a reason for a change.

2. Yeah, about her not being with you when you enter the Harper Hold, that's why I mentioned any time she enters there with you she will "find" the scroll. I suppose that it could be done differently, but I don't see any compelling reason for a player to keep the scroll if Aerie isn't in the party. Maybe make it an item that can't be removed from CHARNAME's inventory? That would solve the Aerie problem (Drat! Can't believe I missed that! ToEE must be affecting my mind! Love that game!). You're right, though, I completely flaked on the fact that CHARNAME has it and Aerie wants it. Um, as far as it being an item that can't be removed, there could be a check whenever Aerie enters your party (after a certain dialog is reached) where she notices it for the first time.

3. I figured that the changes would occur after she explodes Thraxis. I didn't intend for them to occur before them, as Thraxis and his death are the impetus that cause Aerie to rise from the chrysalis of her shattered life into the new world that needs her as she is. As far as alignment goes, I would disagree somewhat. A paladin is supposed to be like the ultimate knight; rangers are more often vigilantes (like Valygar, Minsc, Batman, the Justicar), and they are more often Chaotic Good. This doesn't mean that they are not honorable, but just that they prefer direct action to messing around with long trials, etc. If you can, check out the entry for Trithereon in the Living Greyhawk Journal. If you can't find it, I'll tell you what it says, but it helped give me some of my ideas. The alignment change may not be necessary, as you say, but I think it would help to show just how much she has changed. Custom item is what I prefer, too. And Aerie in a rage? Whew, scary! I can't wait to do that part.

4. Yeah, but don't forget that Icelus is talking about having the Imoen/Slayer portion in UB (Haer'Dalis subsection), and HD is all for letting Suldanesselar be destroyed. I don't think it's that HD is evil, just that the two of them would no longer be compatible after Aerie's transformation. For instance, his pick-up lines on her would no longer work, as she would now have the self-assurance herself that he offers her through the "coaching" in drama. Also, I think that his flightiness would bother her, as well as the bird references, in that she seems to be much more dedicated to wiping out evil (at least, that's the impression that I got from Gaider).

a) So, what should we do for a custom item? Maybe something she takes off of Thraxis' corpse as a sovenier?
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1. Yup. Problem with what Gaider is saying, though, is that it's really the only way to have a satisfying change in a character. This lets the player feel that there really was a reason for a change.

2. Yeah, about her not being with you when you enter the Harper Hold, that's why I mentioned any time she enters there with you she will "find" the scroll. I suppose that it could be done differently, but I don't see any compelling reason for a player to keep the scroll if Aerie isn't in the party. Maybe make it an item that can't be removed from CHARNAME's inventory? That would solve the Aerie problem (Drat! Can't believe I missed that! ToEE must be affecting my mind! Love that game!). You're right, though, I completely flaked on the fact that CHARNAME has it and Aerie wants it. Um, as far as it being an item that can't be removed, there could be a check whenever Aerie enters your party (after a certain dialog is reached) where she notices it for the first time.

3. I figured that the changes would occur after she explodes Thraxis. I didn't intend for them to occur before them, as Thraxis and his death are the impetus that cause Aerie to rise from the chrysalis of her shattered life into the new world that needs her as she is. As far as alignment goes, I would disagree somewhat. A paladin is supposed to be like the ultimate knight; rangers are more often vigilantes (like Valygar, Minsc, Batman, the Justicar), and they are more often Chaotic Good. This doesn't mean that they are not honorable, but just that they prefer direct action to messing around with long trials, etc. If you can, check out the entry for Trithereon in the Living Greyhawk Journal. If you can't find it, I'll tell you what it says, but it helped give me some of my ideas. The alignment change may not be necessary, as you say, but I think it would help to show just how much she has changed. Custom item is what I prefer, too. And Aerie in a rage? Whew, scary! I can't wait to do that part.

4. Yeah, but don't forget that Icelus is talking about having the Imoen/Slayer portion in UB (Haer'Dalis subsection), and HD is all for letting Suldanesselar be destroyed. I don't think it's that HD is evil, just that the two of them would no longer be compatible after Aerie's transformation. For instance, his pick-up lines on her would no longer work, as she would now have the self-assurance herself that he offers her through the "coaching" in drama. Also, I think that his flightiness would bother her, as well as the bird references, in that she seems to be much more dedicated to wiping out evil (at least, that's the impression that I got from Gaider).

a) So, what should we do for a custom item? Maybe something she takes off of Thraxis' corpse as a sovenier?


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2. Maybe just make it a Global Variable or Affect, like is done for Edwin? That way it cannot be lost until the transformation is played out and it doesn't take up space.

3. That's cool. Puts her more in line with her god, and both of our points meet in balance (Ha!).

4. Hmm, didn't think of that. But didn't Gaider say that if HD was romancing her and she found the scroll, he'd encourage her to use it? And if CHARNAME doesn't romance her she'd use it anyway after Thraxis? Wouldn't that change too much from what Gaider wanted? I could see them being friends, and I could see them doing the theater bits with the more confident Aerie, though (and that's a good idea!)

5. That sounds cool. I was also thinking of a manacle removed from a slaver's chain that Thraxis has kept all those years, that Aerie wears on a chain. Or, to go back to your amulet idea, what if it is her mother's necklace, but was never given to Aerie? That would lead well into the Wraith's dialog in ToB.

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2- Hum, an undroppable item does take up one valuable inventory slot. You know how people complaned about Boo at a time. I'd rather have Zxar request it, really.

3- Well, we could just cut the pear in half and make her NG.

4- I'd still like to keep the drama rehearsing dialogs, only she would be much more confident in her role and Haer'Dalis couldn't approach her like he used to. But if they're already in a romance by the time she has her personnality change, they should maybe stay together (she could just dropping later on at Suldannesselar, since he dies anyway)

5- Sure, she could loot something from Thraxis' body, but it should be something that only her could use. Maybe an amulet crafted by Aerie's mother, and retrieved by Thraxis when he was saved? That could also be why he recognizes her...

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If we need a new portrait... There was this concept art portrait of Aerie, it's black and white but I asked Karse Soze (from the Portrait Portal) to color it. She still looks like herself, only a little harder.

Man, I've been looking everywhere for that portrait. It was great! That's what I originally wanted to use, but couldn't find it. By the way, did you see Keldorn's? Awesome!


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Sorry for the delay
...but things have been a little hectic lately, what with the doctors appointments, work, and all. I have some dialog written that I will send your way tomorrow night or Friday. By the way, I asked my best friend if he would be willing to assist in this, I hope that you don't mind. There are a couple of characters (mostly minor evil types) that I'm having some difficulty in making consistent with their Bioware-written personalities, and I asked him if he could render assistanc (he's also a writer as well as an English teacher). If this is a problem, I'll tell him, I just want to make sure that this feels like something that we just "found"; i.e., something Bioware cut, not something that we added.

Any story, plot, or dialog ideas, please send to me. Also, please send me a list of where we should insert/replace dialog in the normal game, as my ideas may differ from yours, and you're doing the coding (you're a brave man, BTW). Anyway, my email address is johngeerdes@frontiernet.net.

Thanks


John


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Barren--

I really hate to do this, but so much has happened in the last month (the pregnancy, work, and negotiations with my editor) that I feel that I must withdraw myself from the writing chores. I really do apologize, as this was completely unexpected and disappointing (as Aerie is my favorite romanceable NPC). Once again, my sincerest apologies.

John
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Offline icelus

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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #2 on: May 29, 2004, 11:52:03 PM »
Bibbi
Posted: Mar 2 2004, 10:42 PM


well, in regards to the harper building, have some sort of check to see if aerie's in the party at the time. if she is, have her "discover" a scroll on xzar's body after he dies, like the nether scroll where the player can't see it. i don't think having it be undroppable is good, because what if the player never wants aerie/? s/he's forced to lose an inventory space? i would say have her find it on xzar's body since the player won't know necessarily to explore the entire hold with aerie so she can make the trigger and find the scroll herself. she's more likely to be near xzar when he's killed than be at every point in the hold. i suppose in the hold, the best placement would either be in one of those chests where montaron's body is later found or in the aviary. you could make it automatic that whenever any of the characters opens one of these, aerie speaks, to ensure that she gets it.

anyway, if she isn't with the party, maybe have a timer start whenever she DOES join the party. when it expires, have her mention something about a ritual she heard of (who knows, maybe kalah told her, or quayle, since he's been adventuring before) that might help her grow wings. she wouldn't know that it only turns someone into a bird, of course. so she bugs the pc to try to find it until s/he gives in, maybe going to temple of oghma to research. they tell the party that the harpers have been known to hold such an item and aerie begs them to check it out. this would have to be before the majority of the harper quests, i suppose. aerie would beg the guard (rylock?) to let her in and she manages to persuade him (maybe he doesn't want to listen to her anymore hehe) and the above happens here.

when she discovers that the scroll makes her a bird, she reconsiders, but keeps it just in case. then, have the events in brynnlaw, and aerie either using the scroll or tearing it up, depending on what the pc says. doesn't she have a new soundset in ToB? can't you just switch her to that once this occurs? as to the portrait, i couldn't open that link you gave, so i'm not sure what it looks like. i don't know if it's necessary; anomen doesn't change pictures. i think an alignment change might be good, changing to NG would be less drastic than chaotic. i think aerie would still think in terms of following society's regulations to a point. she wouldn't be afraid to cross societal lines, but she wouldn't resort to that initially.
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Offline Barren

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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2004, 11:55:28 PM »
We also pondered whatshisname... Thraxis Gall? Anyway... to be the child Aerie saved years ago.
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Offline Grim Squeaker

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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2004, 06:04:52 AM »
If this actually gets worked on then I suggest the scroll be like Edwin's Genderbending scroll.  We just set a variable saying <CHARNAME> or Aerie has it and don't bother sticking it in their inventory.
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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #5 on: June 01, 2004, 05:55:00 PM »
To avoid people dropping it at Brynnlaw or in the demon world?
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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #6 on: June 02, 2004, 05:44:30 AM »
To avoid people dropping it at Brynnlaw or in the demon world?

Yeah to prevent people losing it. 

I mean, if you accidently lost Eddy's genderbending scroll then that whole quest/plotline would be ruined!
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Offline jcompton

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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #7 on: June 02, 2004, 10:16:14 PM »
I still think this is one of those things which was dropped for a good reason.
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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2004, 10:19:04 PM »
I still think this is one of those things which was dropped for a good reason.

The transformation, or the kidnapping?  I agree on the former, but the latter I'd consider if a plausible storyline could be created, I suppose.
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Offline Kish

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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2004, 10:54:42 PM »
I don't know about Jason...but I think the kidnapping idea sucks.  (Not that that should stop you from putting it in, of course.)  The transformation idea sounds a lot more interesting to me, if I have to pick one.
« Last Edit: June 04, 2004, 03:36:14 AM by Kish »
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Offline jcompton

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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #10 on: June 03, 2004, 09:18:25 AM »
Well, I was looking at it as one idea, but if you want to break it down that way, I'm more strongly anti-transformation. The kidnapping runs the risk of overplaying the "abduct an important NPC" card concept, and then there's the "does it make sense for Aerie as she ended up, or as she was conceived of being back when she had clown makeup?" issue, etc.

The transformation thing, in my mind, weakens a lot of Aerie's learning process if we're expected to believe she would want to go ahead with it. I don't know, maybe in a Rep 4 party that's killed Quayle, or maybe on hour 23 of Aerie's "ditch Korgan" ultimatum, maybe then Aerie would see becoming a bird as superior to being a grounded humanoid, but beyond that...

Again, I just don't see it as nearly as compelling as the other stuff UB's restored.
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Re: Aerie's Kidnapping and Transformation
« Reply #11 on: June 07, 2004, 06:51:37 AM »
Another argument against the transformation part is that turning into a bird forever just to get the chance to fly again doesn't really seem like something a mage, however desperate, would do when Fly is a third-level spell...

(no, the spell isn't possible to implement in the game, but I would hate to see a character I like driven to madness by a limitation of the game engine :p )
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To let birds fly...
« Reply #12 on: June 15, 2004, 05:09:28 AM »
Fist of, thank you for this wonderful mod. I downloaded version 9 and installed most components. Very nicely done! To expand and keep the spirit of the game is something very difficult and this mod manages it perfectly well.

This brings me to the point: I remember having heard that Aerie was supposed to have a dialogue concerning a transformation into bird. Does anybody know somthing about this? Would this be something interesting for the UB mod?

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Re: To let birds fly...
« Reply #13 on: June 15, 2004, 05:48:14 PM »
It's on our to-do list, but we're pondering whether it should be restored after all.
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Offline Eltharodo

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Re: To let birds fly...
« Reply #14 on: June 16, 2004, 02:10:16 PM »
Pondering?  Surely there is nothing here to ponder?  To me, the Aerie was always the weakest romance, something that appealed to my wish to do good, but ultimately pittering out into nothing.  I've read about this elsewhere, and i'm sure i'm not the only one who feels this way.  It seems to be a romantic, classical end to the romance, and should be restored.  I understand that there is much effort involved in endeavours like this, but to not restore this would be to keep an ingenous game component under wraps.
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Re: To let birds fly...
« Reply #15 on: June 16, 2004, 07:13:56 PM »
It would involve some pretty big changes, though, including a non-stuttering soundset. And I doubt Katie Soucie works for free...
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Re: To let birds fly...
« Reply #16 on: June 19, 2004, 07:57:22 PM »
This seems to be one of those would be nice to have....but I always imagined that this might fit better after the BG II saga or towards the end of it (for instance it's too bad the PC before choosing to become a god says something to Aerie like 'you know if I become a god I could give you your wings bacK" and in Aerie's epilogue this never seems to happen)
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Re: To let birds fly...
« Reply #17 on: June 28, 2004, 12:50:27 AM »
Hmmm... Perhaps it would be good. But then again, isn't the whole point of the Aerie Romance to convince her she doesn't need her wings to be happy? Or sumthin.
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The cut Aerie kidnapping
« Reply #18 on: March 08, 2005, 09:37:12 AM »
Any chance of it ever being added? I just read about it and the fact that no one's really working on it, and I for one would really like to see it, especially the being turned into a bird thing. A sad end to a romance sounds pretty awesome. I know it would be a lot of work, but maybe it'll get added one day...?

Offline Andyr

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Re: The cut Aerie kidnapping
« Reply #19 on: March 08, 2005, 11:02:32 AM »
I don't remember a cut Aerie kidnapping... where were you reading this?

(note: it could just be me being dense)
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Offline Caswallon

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Re: The cut Aerie kidnapping
« Reply #20 on: March 08, 2005, 11:22:41 AM »
http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php?topic=16879.0
Aerie gets kidnapped amd all kinds of nasty things done to her.
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Re: The cut Aerie kidnapping
« Reply #21 on: March 08, 2005, 11:32:24 AM »
I get this message following that link: " The topic or board you are looking for appears to be either missing or off limits to you."

Searching on "Aerie kidnap" I got a number of links like that.  This thread has it listed as an item but the item's link is dead: http://forums.pocketplane.net/index.php?topic=15584.0
« Last Edit: March 08, 2005, 11:38:31 AM by Xiao »

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Re: The cut Aerie kidnapping
« Reply #22 on: March 08, 2005, 11:38:53 AM »
It had been moved to the UB Workroom awhile back, but, seeing as how no one was too big on the idea, it's been all but dismissed. 

The link should work now, however.
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Re: The cut Aerie kidnapping
« Reply #23 on: March 08, 2005, 11:54:05 AM »
Oh, right, heh. I will have a read.
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