232 replies to this topic

[Solstice]

I'm certainly still reading, and you know I'm a sucker for romance, so I enjoyed this latest outing. I feel the need to quote something you said earlier:

A romance between Alexandria and Ajantis would rate just below Mazzy and Korgan on the WTF-O-Meter, but then again, there were some hints...

Apparently there's hope for Mazzy and Korgan after all. Meeting Moira was a nice touch, but please don't clarify what happened yet. I like my imagination running wild.

[Shadowhawke]

Sorry I haven't reviewed recently, Tempest, I've just been playing catch-up. I've enjoyed all of your latest chapters. . The philosophical touch is still very strong, and it works well in your piece. I'm looking forwards to seeing the result of Alexandria and Ajantis' interplay.

[Tempest]

The philisophical touch will probably never go away, Shadow, and I most certainly do have plans for Alexandria and Ajantis. Unfortunately, a bad case of writer's block is plaguing me and delaying the next chapter. Got the beginning and the end written, but I'm having trouble coming up with the middle. Still, it should hopefully be done this weekend.

[Solstice]

Why do I get the feeling you've written off Imoen and Xan purely as comic relief? Your Sarevok portrayal was interesting-definitely a different side of him than I'm used to seeing, and your weaving in the tales of Alexandria and company was a nice touch.

[Solar's Harper]

Wow I've been slipping with reviews, shame on me. Heh, love the new additions Tempest, never short on humour either, although sometimes I suddenly hate Jaheira's overbearing attitude (pretty odd since only her "omipresent authority figure" select talk in BG1 annoyed me.

Oh well, great to see how the plot's advanced, the scenic descriptions of Baldur's Gate in the latest chapter also gave a good feel as to how on edge the enviroment is in the current time of BG1.

Hmm, Sarevok the Diplomat or the Insidious?

Supporting a foe's name, only to further the war effort sure is one tactic I hadn't suspected, nice way of using his charisma to the civilian's tax coin, eh?

Anyways, loved the new chapters , and sorry for not reviewing earlier.

[Tempest]

Xan and Imoen most certainly are comic relief for the most part-unless I write a bit from one of their perspectives, you won't see anything going on between them other than what Alexandria sees/hears. But you can expect a suitably dark turn in their relationship in the BG2 section (which isn't terribly far off, now...)

Writing Sarevok's speech was by far the most fun part of the chapter, as a writer. By every indication in BG1, Sarevok is charismatic, popular, and ruthlessly intelligent, which is what I was really trying to display in this chapter. At the moment, Bhaal and the prophecies, while lurking in the background, haven't yet come out in the open, and no one but Rieltar, Tamoko, and a few others know who Sarevok's real father is. Though that isn't scheduled to last for much longer now...

And since I cannot resist the temptation to taunt, the next chapter is going to see the culmination of one of the biggest but most subtle subplots I've had going for a while-it was in fact the very first chapter I ever wrote for ASE, though I'm now extending it and preparing it for its full debut. It will be by far the longest chapter I've written thus far. Night is falling...

[Shadowhawke]

Hey Tempest... great new chapter, definitely keeping in line with your geopolitical bent. Sarevok's speech was mastery, as was Alexandria's reaction to it. The only thing I noticed that disturbed the reading were a few tiny grammatical errors. Everything else worked well, and as others have already mentioned, Xan and Imoen's banter was quite amusing.

Kudos also to the descriptions; you made the City of Baldur's Gate really come alive.

[Tempest]

Grammatical errors? *Goes off to find his Mace of Verbal Smiting +50, only to remember a message in MS Word saying its grammar/spellcheck would be unreliable at 180+ pages in length...*

As always, thanks for the reviews and the praise. I write mostly for fun, but y'all are doing a great job of casting an Enlarge Head spell on me.

Also, I've made a decision regarding the end of the fanfic-it's starting to build towards the conclusion, and to avoid clutter, I'm going to write the BG2 section in a separate thread, with a link to ASE in its table of contents. This part of Alexandria's tale is nearing the two-thirds point, but it is by no means finished.

[Dark-Mage]

Great chapter Tempest, the dialouge between Alex and Calanire was very well done. Good job :-)

[Tempest]

A Fire in the Night, up until Alexandria's return to the inn, was actually the very first chapter of ASE I ever wrote, albeit it was heavily edited to bring it up to date with the events of the tale. And from here on out, Alexandria will be essentially a dual-classed soulknife/cleric. Things are going to start to snowball as well-expect the pace of events to pick up.

[Dark-Mage]

A Fire in the Night, up until Alexandria's return to the inn, was actually the very first chapter of ASE I ever wrote, albeit it was heavily edited to bring it up to date with the events of the tale.

Blimey, that is actually pretty nifty to be honest. Guess you just had the idea of the epiphany first then just developed Alexandria from there.

And from here on out, Alexandria will be essentially a dual-classed soulknife/cleric. Things are going to start to snowball as well-expect the pace of events to pick up.

Take it your using the general mechanics of second edition then? Hope Alex can get enough xp to re-activate her soulknife ability before the big showdown

Looking forward to future events.

[Tempest]

Nope, using no general mechanics-just whatever fits the tale. Alexandria will retain her mind blade and all the abilities she's acquired so far with it, and there may be a couple of plot points where it acquires new properties, but she won't be developing any new soulknife abilities-she's going to be progressing as a cleric for the rest of the tale (though I may grant her some of the 2E spells normally restricted only to Silverstars).

ASE actually got started just as a short story for an entry in a fanfic competition at another site-I had been doodling with the start of a BG fanfic, but eventually decided to combine the two. When I started really planning ASE, I knew where I would start from with Alexandria, and this event in her life-everything else was filled in as needed.

[Solstice]

Quite possibly my favorite chapter so far. I saw Alexandria finding her faith coming a long way off, but wasn't expecting her to become a cleric. My guess on the deity was only a little off-I figured it would be either Selune or Lathander, for irony value.

[Tempest]

I can pretty safely guarantee you will never see a Lathandrite as a major character in anything I write. In my opinion, he is the most overused, boring, divine version of Gary Stu in all of DnD, and I am not-so-secretly hoping 4E kills him off. Irony is something I definitely appreciate, but that would have been pushing it.

[Kellen]

Tempest really doesn't like Lathander himself, so I doubt any character of his will ever worship Lathander.

EDIT: He beat me to it.

Edited by Kellen, 16 February 2008 - 06:42 PM.

[Dark-Mage]

Good chapter Tempest. Especially like the dream at the end, was very well done :-)

Think its safe to say that it sucks to be Edwin

Edited by Dark-Mage, 22 February 2008 - 04:35 PM.

[Tempest]

You can blame Edwin's death on Ilmatar-I had absolutely zero intention of involving him in ASE at any point, but as he happens to be her favorite romance in BG2, I felt obligated to kill him.

On a side note, when I was researching what the doppelgangers' shapeshifting ability could do-what its extents were and whatnot, I couldn't find any terribly clear answers to what limits existed, so I guessed.

And everything's starting to fall into place for the finale, but I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve before it's time for the end.

[Dark-Mage]

You can blame Edwin's death on Ilmatar-I had absolutely zero intention of involving him in ASE at any point, but as he happens to be her favorite romance in BG2, I felt obligated to kill him.

To be honest I think he was alot of people's favorite romance interest and prefered choice when it comes to NPC spellcasters, so chances are your gonna have a few frustrated readers

But hey, if he cant do the time then he shouldn't get caught lol

On a serious note, Edwin is going to have an important role in my story I think. Kind of a long term rival of my protagonist

On a side note, when I was researching what the doppelgangers' shapeshifting ability could do-what its extents were and whatnot, I couldn't find any terribly clear answers to what limits existed, so I guessed.

Should have asked and I could have looked it up - fair enough the info would probably be in third edition format but it would be something to work with.

And everything's starting to fall into place for the finale, but I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve before it's time for the end.

Looking forward to it

[Tempest]

To be honest I think he was alot of people's favorite romance interest and prefered choice when it comes to NPC spellcasters, so chances are your gonna have a few frustrated readers

I actually love Edwin-I just hate what the romance does to him (no offense, Laufey!). I feel it made him much too soft and "neutral". He's Lawful Evil. But oh well-Edwin wouldn't have played much of a role in ASE anyhow. He and Alexandria would have been diametrically and, more than likely, violently opposed.

Should have asked and I could have looked it up - fair enough the info would probably be in third edition format but it would be something to work with.

Looked it up in the 3.5 and 2E monster manuals, actually. Still didn't give me quite the info I was looking for. But the improvisation worked, I think.

Looking forward to it

Well, I've already started laying out my rough sketches of Chapter 31, The Mask Slips. We'll see what happens.

[Solstice]

Did you have to kill Edwin? Count me as a frustrated reader-I had been secretly hoping he'd join the party later, if not to romance Alexandria.

Still, I liked the chapter, and the dream sequence was great. Looking forward to whatever tricks you've got planned.