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Name: Valerie Lysander
Race: Human (home nation: Amn)
Alignment: Lawful Good
Class: Sorcerer
Stats
STR: 10
DEX: 14
CON: 8
INT: 16
WIS: 14
CHA: 17
Total: 79
Starting Spells (assuming level 2): Magic Missile, Sleep
Background:
Valerie is a member of one of the most enigmatic and most distrusted organizations in her home nation of Amn: the Cowled Wizards. Often regarded as corrupt if not outright sinister and malevolent, Valerie represents a very different side to the organization. Magic is dangerous, and so are those who wield it. For the good and safety of everyone in Amn, the Cowled Wizards control the use of magic in that nation and strive to protect the citizens of Amn from magic and those who wield it. Mad necromancers, ill-considered experiments, and deadly arcane beasts are all very real dangers. Even among the Cowled Wizards, however, Valerie is unusual. She is a sorceress, born with the native ability to manipulate and channel magical energy. Unlike many such people, Valerie seeks to understand and control her condition, and use it to defend a people that distrust her almost as much as the things she fights.
Insofar as sorcerers are typical among the Cowled Wizards, Valerie's background is not uncommon. Born to a middle-to-lower-class family in Athkatla, Valerie was cast out of her family in fear when her magical abilities manifested, and she was subsequently taken in by the Cowled Wizards as a ward, later an apprentice. Intellectually capable in her own right, Valerie excelled at her studies and arcane tests, and has recently completed her apprenticeship to be granted the mantle of a true Cowled Wizard of Amn. Her first assignment has been to accompany the Amnish forces sent to Nashkel. There are rumors of demons in the mines, and Valerie is there to lend arcane support to the troops. More importantly, she is there to confirm or deny the rumors that the creatures in the Nashkel mines are demons. The Cowled Wizards doubt that there actually are demons in the mines, but if there are, the Cowled Wizards and potentially the Order of the Radiant Heart will move in and purge the mines by force.
Unfortunately, with the garrison paralyzed in the absence of Commander Brage, Valerie has been left to wait in Nashkel. Yet people are dying in the mines and relations between Amn and Baldur's Gate are continuing to decline. An adventuring party willing to approach a Cowled Wizard of Amn is liable to find a willing ally in solving the crisis in the mines, and perhaps the crisis on the Sword Coast beyond...
Personality:
The place of the strong is between the weak and those who would prey upon them. A Cowled Wizard may not be the classic image of a follower of Torm, but Valerie has a strong sense of loyalty, duty, and obligation to the people of Amn - an obligation that she acknowledges can be difficult, given how wary the Amnish are of magic in general and sorcery in particular. Valerie herself isn't certain whether her gifts are a blessing or a curse, and her feelings about magic are deeply conflicted. All the same, she tries not to dwell on it, and is, in all honesty, an introvert and a bit of a bookworm - Valerie is methodical and studious, a far cry from the usual stereotype of a sorceress. Likewise, her personality tends towards the even-tempered in most circumstances, preferring to try to understand people rather than condemn them.
Friendship:
Valerie has a friendship track of 15-17 talks for a PC with a reputation of at least 10 - her first talk skips if you recruit her after clearing the Nashkel Mines, and a later dialogue will only occur if she was present to see something unusual and disturbing in the Cloakwood Mines that she will promise to research in her own time. Valerie's friendship is phased with the plot, and certain plot events must occur for the next phase of the friendship to proceed - it begins with clearing the Nashkel Mines, then clearing the bandit camps, clearing the Cloakwood Mines, and escaping the return to Candlekeep trigger additional arcs. This keeps the friendship at pace with the plot to a degree and ensures Valerie has something to contribute throughout the game. As a whole, the friendship arc primarily covers Valerie learning about life outside Amn, her own observations of and research into the potential source of the PC's powers (not to worry - her best guess is that the PC is a latent sorcerer or warlock whose powers are emerging), and ultimately, reflections, hopeful and otherwise, on just how deep the rabbit hole goes...
Romance:
Valerie is not a romance option. She is planned to be in Baldur's Gate 2, but for now she is not ready for a relationship. The PC can flirt with her in many of the friendtalks to mostly little avail, though a female human, half-elf, half-orc, elf, or dwarf PC will meet with greater interest from her.
Planned Components
1. Valerie NPC for Baldur's Gate 1 Tutu/Trilogy/EE. A Baldur's Gate 2 extension of her and further developments are intended later.
2. Friendship track for PCs regardless of race or alignment, though reputation must be kept above 10. Valerie will not befriend someone she judges to be of poor character.
3. Extensive banters with the Bioware characters and interjections.
4. Just to clarify, there will be no romance with Valerie. At least, not in Baldur's Gate 1. There will be opportunities to flirt with her, but they will go nowhere. Things may change in Baldur's Gate 2, however...
For her part, Valerie is intended to fit into a predominately good-aligned party. She does not get along well with the majority of evil NPCs.
Edited by Tempest, 06 January 2013 - 06:27 PM.
