Bjorn

Hopefully by the time you guys are done I will be done with at least 1 of my mods as well - and will have time to play BG1 NPC and write Eldoth romance.

Eldoth romance would be great!

I usually do Watcher's Keep in SoA, but with a new character joining I'd do it in ToB so that Jon didn't miss out on the XP.

But I would say it would be better to make it optional, so that people who don't have an end of SoA saved game with uncompleted Watcher's Keep won't have to go the whole way through SoA again before being able to play the mod.

Sorry for my sudden dissappearance. Just to let everybody know - I am alive and working on the Longer Road project again actively. After the long and interesting discussion of the Dreams - thanks to everybody - I now have a very good idea of how I am going to explain these, I have another discussion in mind. If you suddenly feel interested or inspired please stop by and share your opinion on the few interesting facts.

For what it's worth here's my take on things:

(1) What is exactly Bhaal taint and what is it relationship to your soul?

I see your soul as being something that is inherently 'you', not passed down from either parent. So I would say that Bhaal taint is a separate thing from your soul, but that it inhabits the same sort of part of you, and that it is constantly trying to corrupt your soul. So it is sort of like a war between the Bhaal taint and your soul - if you are strong and try to resist the taint, your soul will remain relatively pure and you will stay 'you'. But if you give in to the taint, your soul will become more and more corrupt until it is eventually taken over by the taint and then you will gradually cease to be 'you', and become the essence of murder (maybe eventually turning into the Slayer for good).

(2) Is your *divinity* and your *taint* one and the same?

I think the taint is a part of your divinity, but not the whole of it. The divinity is in your whole self, including your soul. So the divinity can be turned towards 'good' or 'evil' as the PC chooses - for example, getting different special abilities in BG1 depending on whether you choose the 'good' or 'evil' path, and becoming a benevolent or evil god at the end of ToB. But the taint is always a force for murder, no matter what. The divinity cannot be fought against - it is simply a part of you, and you will gain abilities from it whether you want them or not. But the taint can be resisted, although it may not be easy to do so.

(3) How come Irenicus removes your 'soul' but leaves you the 'instinct' and the Bhaal taint that later 'takes over the void' and produces Slayer?

See my explanation for the first question - Irenicus takes your soul, removing all resistance to the taint. So basically with your soul gone the taint replaces it, and the 'Slayer side' of you begins to grow stronger and stronger. After a while you would cease to be able to control tyhe Slayer, or possibly it would take you over so thast you would think you were controlling it when actually you were just doing its bidding.

(4) How is it that Irenicus is able to assume the Slayer Form himself later on after you have already had it?

When Irenicus steals your soul, it has already been slightly corrupted by the taint. Since Irenicus actually tries to become the Slayer during your final battle and isn't fighting against this corruption, this is enough to allow him to change. But because he isn't actually tainted himself, he has no difficulty controlling the Slayer.

(5) If you chose to become mortal you give up the divinity and the 'taint' but obviously not the soul - does it mean you give up your 'instinct'?

Hmm - that's a tricky one. Your divinity and the taint are obviously removed, but I would say that any corruption to your soul would remain - although with the taint gone, it would no longer continue to grow more corrupt. So a PC who had been strongly corrupted by the taint might retain some of the instinct.

(6) If so - what is the point in Jon taking the 'other' part and leaving the instinct to you?

I would say that Jon is just interested in your divinity, which he can access through your soul - he doesn't really care about anything else. And he may not understand how the whole thing works, either - he doesn't finish his experiments on you, after all.

Well, I hope these ramblings were of some use to you .