232 replies to this topic

[Tempest]

I hope that doesn't mean Alexandria's going to become a follower of Shar!

You'll see what I'm planning in time.

Just got around to reading the latest chapter, and it was enjoyable as ever. I like the balance Alexandria strikes between angsty and noble-she reminds me a lot of Fade, actually, being a tiefling with temper issues, skillful with a blade, and openly critical of the gods, yet nonetheless noble of sorts. As always, looking forward to more!

Here's a cookie. Alexandria is indeed heavily inspired by Fade, though she's developing on her own, and will eventually head down an entirely different path. I've always seen characters who were either purely noble or purely angst-ridden as being rather boring. Alexandria is a mix of both.

I cannot believe I did not notice this one sooner.
Tempest, you are a natural at writing.

/blush
Thank you very much.

I particulary liked the chapters during and after the Nashkel mine, and can't wait to see the take on events with Tazok and eventually Sarevok. And the last chapter is my current fav, I agree wholeheartedly with Alex's rant at that Lathander priest.

The Nashkel Mines chapters are my personal favorites of the bunch as well. I enjoyed writing the whole thing with the Lathander temple, though. No offense to Berelinde and Gavin, but I've always had a bit of a grudge against the Lathandrites for being terminally happy/bright/cheerful/optimistic. Lathander is the generic good deity in many games/tales (see: BG2 if you play a cleric), and I liked introducing his clergy to someone like Alexandria, who has no use for the Lathandrite philosophy or its practictioners. I don't like the more simplistic deities-my ranger and cleric in a PbP campaign are followers of Istishia and Kelemvor, respectively.

The class that Alexandria is unique, and she certainly seems in touch with the spirtual side more than the factual, charming nonetheless.

I knew making Alexandria a psionic character (even if she's not one of the more overtly psionic classes) set her apart from virtually every fanfic version of Charname out there. But a simple fact of things is that I am incapable of writing characters *not* in touch with the spiritual, introspective sides of things. Alex's mind blade made an excellent jumping point for her introspection-she has killed men and is changing the destiny of the Sword Coast with a weapon that is nothing less than the physical extension of her mind. When your mind is literally the deadliest weapon in your arsenal, that tends to make you think about things.

I particulary liked the way you handled the other characters, especially Imoen. I got tired of seeing her being treated like the village idoit in other fanfics, she does have a head on her shoulders people. Sheesh.

I've always liked Imoen, and I see her as a young woman who by BG2 (and especially ToB) is a force to be reckoned with. If there's any village idiot in this party, it's Ajantis.

And Xan, who could forget "We're all doomed!" quotes from him, glad you mentioned that within his first few lines.

Xan fans, you'll like the next chapter, I think. I don't like him that much, and have a somewhat hard time writing him, so he rarely gets his time to shine. But he will definitely get his chance.

Suprised however that you allowed Tranzig to live, intriguging though.

Alexandria isn't going to murder a man in a bar. Whether this will come back to haunt her or not will, of course, remain to be seen.

Anyway I dare say that the return to Candlekeep chapter should be highly interesting, seeing on how Sarevok and his goons utterly screwed the place and killed most residents there, replacing them with doppleganglers. Can't wait to see how you handle it.

Oh, yes, I'm looking forward to writing that one. But first, there's a chapter that I've had written for a month now whose time still hasn't come. It's a heavy one.

Keep up the good work buddy.
And beware the void...

Thank you and I will. Going to be busy all day tomorrow, though.

[Solstice]

Not to prod, but when's the next one?

[Tempest]

Prodding's no problem, but classes have started again, and my fall schedule is fairly busy. I'm hoping to finish the next chapter tomorrow, but we'll see. Rate of chapters coming out will probably be slow across the board, I'm afraid. College > writing.

[Solar's Harper]

I wonder how many times I must say, 'we're all doomed' before I sound like Xan

Not too bad Tempest, still liked it so don't get my tone wrong.

And that discussion with a brick like Xan is the one thing Alexandria should avoid in the future I think, I know I would because I act on impulses much the same, he's lacking em so much Imoen can't stand around him for long.

Or at least enough to pick his pocket or snatch his spellbook of course

Can somebody tell me though if it is actually possible to miss those goons at all tho, its been awhile since I last went through BG1 and for some reason I never found them until muuuch later.

Meh, then again i have a talent for avoiding the boys in red robes so maybe thats why

Flirting with Ajantis eh? I wonder what happens when Coran gets involved

Keep up the good work Tempest!

[Tempest]

Not too bad Tempest, still liked it so don't get my tone wrong.

Understandable. This was another chapter that diverged significantly from its original vision. The encounter with the Flaming Fist was supposed to have turned violent, and Alexandria would have found two prisoners with the patrol-Viconia and a captured bandit. Alexandria would have considered allowing Viconia to join them, but ultimately being dissuaded by her personality, and Xan would have used a charm spell on the bandit to find out where their camp was. As it is, things just worked out differently.

And that discussion with a brick like Xan is the one thing Alexandria should avoid in the future I think, I know I would because I act on impulses much the same, he's lacking em so much Imoen can't stand around him for long.

Unfortunately, in a party with Jaheira, Ajantis, and Xan, Alexandria really doesn't have all that many people she can talk to, minus hitting on Ajantis.

Can somebody tell me though if it is actually possible to miss those goons at all tho, its been awhile since I last went through BG1 and for some reason I never found them until muuuch later.

It's possible, yes. But this encounter served other purposes-Alexandria will see Officer Donos again, and of course she'll eventually meet Commander Angelo.

Flirting with Ajantis eh? I wonder what happens when Coran gets involved

SPOILER WARNING!

Spoiler

Coran isn't going to make a significant appearance in the story, and Alexandria's ultimate love interest is going to be Nalia, not Ajantis.

Keep up the good work Tempest!

Thank you, and the next chapter will finally get the plot moving again-it's the assault on the bandit camp. Action junkies, rejoice.

[Shadowhawke]

Good new addition as always, Tempest. . I liked how Angelo got woven in here, as well as how Donos grew character when Ajantis stepped up. All very realistic, and it's nice to see that the philosophical discussions are still occurring, even if they're with Xan .

[Tempest]

Don't be surprised if the philisophical discussions never stop entirely. Next chapter should be done tomorrow, hopefully.

[Solar's Harper]

Now that chapter was good

If only it was that easy to deal with the Bandit Camp in the game.
Well, not easy, but you get my point

Anyway, look foward to the venture in twisting, giant spider infested and wyvrm patrolled Cloakwood Forest.
And it is bound to be an interesting time for Jaheria.
Also look foward to seeing another in party socialising away from business sequence soon.

Good work Tempest! Keep'em coming.

[Tempest]

Having a wizard in the party capable of brewing alchemist's fire does make dealing with encounters like that somewhat easier, yes.

It will be all I can do to keep myself from rushing through the Cloakwood, though-there's a chapter set in Baldur's Gate that I've had written since almost the beginning (albeit edited to keep up with changing events, such as Ajantis living through the Nashkel Mines, which wasn't originally intended) that I'm looking forward to finally posting, and I've otherwise got some serious plans in mind for Baldur's Gate that have nothing to do with the actual events of the game and everything to do with other subplots I've been weaving into the story. Rest assured, however, that there are a couple of major plot points that I have planned for the Cloakwood, and I won't skip over them.

[Solstice]

As usual, I have nothing to say that hasn't already been said. Always looking forward to reading more!

[Tempest]

Chapter 17 should be done in a couple more days, but I'd like to say now that I'm going to deviate significantly from the established script of the game in some areas. The Cloakwood and Baldur's Gate and the Iron Throne and whatnot will all happen on schedule, but subplots of my own devising are going to start coming into their own.

For instance, I'm going to delve into the question of who Angelo and Semaj are. We all know Angelo was an officer in the Flaming Fist who somehow fell in with Sarevok, but not much else. And we don't know anything about who Semaj was-he was just a mage who showed up for the final battle at Sarevok's side. I'm going to head into seriously non-canon things about them, because in my opinion, everyone at Sarevok's side in the Temple of Bhaal should have had a damn good reason. Tamoko and Tazok, I think the game explored adequately enough. But Angelo and Semaj, as well as several other bit characters from Baldur's Gate, I'm going to be putting faces on. So my apologies to any purists for when Alexandria's adventure works out somewhat differently than it should have in canon.

[Solar's Harper]

Just a quick suggestion before I fly out the door.
Imoen picks up magic at some point before BG2, and it is viable for her to become a magic user in BG1.
I won't ask for spoilers as that would spoil events ahead
But just thought you might want to take this into consideration if you so desire.
That is particularly relevant if you're planning consistency
Look foward to the next chapter as always, Tempest.

[Tempest]

Well, Imoen's still got her hands on Tarnesh's spellbook, and she's been taking peeks at Xan's, so we'll see how far her magical interest goes. On the subject of changes like that, though, here's a teaser, albeit a bit spoilerish, concerning things to come. Read if you wish...

Spoiler

Imoen isn't the only will-be-dual-classer in the party. Alexandria will always rely on her mind blade, but in time, she will also come to explore and rely on abilities of an entirely different nature.

[Solstice]

Can't say I ever thought much about Angelo or Semaj, but I'm glad to hear you're making them more than just henchmen of Sarevok. Next chapter. Now.

Oh, and concerning the teaser...

Spoiler

Why do I get the sneaking suspicion she'll become a cleric?

[Solar's Harper]

Actually if you ask me Angelo and Semaj always appeared to be doing more their own thing, Sarevok was simply a means to an end.
But then again, I suppose such thinking runs with the territory, they were all evil like characters anyway.
Plots within plots, plans within plans... look closer...

[Tempest]

Actually if you ask me Angelo and Semaj always appeared to be doing more their own thing, Sarevok was simply a means to an end.

Bingo. But my question is: just what were those ends? Angelo in particular, though, is going to be involved in a plot I've been hinting at since the get-go, and will only really take off near the end of the BG1 portion. He's one of the biggest cases of creative license I'm taking with the tale-you'll see why in the next chapter as soon as his surname appears. For him, Sarevok is most definitely a means to an end. And as you may have guessed, Angelo and his designs are going to be a fairly important part of the next chapter. The real meat with Semaj, on the other hand, will mostly take place after his death.

As for the other characters I'll be developing... let's just say you'll see some familiar faces when Alexandria hits Baldur's Gate.

[Solar's Harper]

I knew Nathaniel would sneak in again sooner or later

Noticed a few possible typos in the passage Tempest, I'll point them out.

They say you cleaned out the Nashkel Mines, fighting off a thousand kobolds.?

Alexandria laughed. ?A hundred?

Kinda obvious inconsistency there.

The passages also regarding Angelo's ambition for 1st place in the Flaming Fist also seem a bit reptitious, telling the same thing all over again, but then again if that's intentional its understandable, as real conversations came be like that.

At any rate a more down to earth chapter is a welcome addition away from the action, so good work Tempest.
And I've noticed that there always seems to be a lot of time spent on travelling or waiting in fics, usually I'm in Baldur's Gate before the 30 day month system the game employs. (eg: every month 30 days in BG timeline according to manual)

Must be a trend thing.
Anyways, again good work!
Another long positive review to your collection now.

[Tempest]

Thanks as always. The inconsistency's been fixed.

Alexandria is enjoying a brief but well-deserved interlude now, though it's far from peaceful as the plot begins to thicken. Unfortunately, she's also experiencing a severe dichotomy at the moment. Tales of her deeds are spreading, and like any such tales, they're growing in the telling. She's also starting to truly flourish, in her own way, thriving on action intrigue. But at the same time, she's starting to realize that no matter how powerful she thinks she is, she should not be alive. I wanted to make it fairly clear that Alexandria would have died, either in the Nashkel mines or at the hands of Ardenor Crush, if it were not for the void. Evil as she knows it is, she also owes it her life, and is starting to become all too aware of the fact that there are others in the world stronger than she is, tougher, more capable. She is far from immortal, and that knowledge is only now starting to sink in.

Just what this means for her, only time will tell.

[Choo Choo]

Ooh, I like it. Keep up the good work!

[Tempest]

A heads-up for anyone interested in the next chapter: it's another philosophy-heavy chapter starring Ajantis and Jaheira, but Imoen will take center stage for one of the few light-hearted moments in the story as well.