Obviously you would have the chance, in this very hypothetical mod, to probe her in camp about her backstory if you don't already know it:

AERIE: About me? Well, I grew up in the mountains, in an Avariel city called Faenya-Dail. I was an inquisitive and adventurous child, to my parent’s chagrin; always being caught in places I’d been warned not to go, always trying to push a little further beyond the boundaries they’d set, when not getting into scraps with children twice my size – that kind of thing.

TAV: Sounds like you haven’t changed much.

AERIE: Oh – I’ve changed. And then I've changed some things back again. *sighs* I used to watch caravans winding their way through the valleys below, wondering who they were and where they went. One day I got too close. I saw a battle and tried to help a boy who was running away, only to be caught in his stead.

TAV: You never said what happened to your wings.

AERIE: I got sick. A long time ago. And I lost them.

TAV: Not such a long story.

AERIE: Well, that’s the very abbreviated version; there was a lot leading up to it. Years of abuse, neglect… y-you’ll, forgive me, if I’m not keen to recount all the details. Suffices to say that I was a slave, and any defiance met with swift and harsh punishment.

TAV: Where were you a slave?

AERIE: I was sold to a circus, in Amn. Stuffed into a tiny cage and put on display for all the world to gawk at. When I started to get sick, I tried to hide it at first – I was actually afraid of making things worse for myself. But worse they got anyway, and when my owners did notice I suppose they figured I wasn’t worth spending any more gold on for a healer. I was left to rot, until a Gnome – Uncle Quayle – took pity on and saved me. But my wings - they were disease-ridden, atrophied – it was too late to save them.

TAV: I’m sorry.

AERIE: There's no need to be. This was all a long time ago.

TAV: You’re remarkably good-natured, considering all that’s happened to you.

AERIE: I just don’t want anyone else to go through anything like that. Have I ever been angry about it? Lashed out at people who didn’t really deserve it? Of course I have. I try my best, but I’ve never claimed to be an angel… there are other Avariel that do do that.

TAV: Really?

AERIE: Uh-huh. They’ll find some isolated village and land in the middle of it claiming to be messengers sent by Ao or something, then start demanding that people offer up their valuables in exchange for blessings. All rather childish, really.

TAV: You must have had or come across some power that could restore your wings.

AERIE: Several, but… sometimes you live with something for so long it just becomes a part of who you are, and hard to imagine ever changing back. I am a grounded Avariel, a wingless wonder, a cripple in the eyes of my people yet I have flown farther than any of them. Anyway, that’s all I have to say about my first life. My new life really began with an illusionist named Kalah, but that’s a story for another time.

Last edited by JPCoutelier; 20/06/24 01:27 AM.