Sir Ajantis for BGII - General Description [Thread in English]

[jastey]

Thank you very much for your interest! Especially to those who take on the burdon of registering here under a foreign language to let me know. It is very much appreciated. (For all others: You can use this thread at G3, or PM me at G3 or PPG regarding this, if you have any questions or comments!!)

Sir Ajantis for BGII

Canon-Information
Family Name: Ilvastarr
Prominent Members: Patriarch: Ulguth Ilvastarr, Consort: Mara Ilvastarr,
Heir: Gotom Ilvastarr (second son)
Trade & Interests: beast-taming and breeding, cooking of exotic meats
Arms: field: gold minidragon: metallic green (body), orange (eye)

Extended family information (made up by me)
brothers and sisters:
Envin (deceased)
Gotom, married to Sinna, daughter of another Waterdeep's noble family, two children.
Elina
(Ajantis is the youngest child.)

Father: business man, breeds and trades rare/ exotic animals and creatures. Breeding occurs on an estate in the South of the city gates.
Mother: assistance in her husbands animal trades. Likes to cook exotic meals.

The Ilvastarr's family, compared to other Waterdeep nobles, seems to be rather liberal in their attitude. Ajantis spent quite a lot of his youth listening to discussions of invited intelectuals, poets and artists. This open minded approach goes back to Ajantis' great-grandfather who is said to be one of the Masked Lords of Waterdeep at his time.

Nevertheless the Ilvastarrs are bond to their family traditions. A bride or groom to the Ilvastarrs' children is only to be chosen in consent with the family.

BGII Biography
Sir Ajantis is paladin of Helm and Knight of the Order of the Most Radiant Heart. He belongs to the noble family of Ilvastarr in Waterdeep, and has studied swordplay under such luminaries as Myrmith Splendon. His skill and devotion apparently brought him to the attention of the paladin Keldorn one of the most respected of the order, who decided to take Ajantis under his wing as a squire. Due to his heroic achievements on your side at the Sword Coast he gained enough honour and glory to be knighted by the Order. He is now an active knight of the Order, fighting in the name of Helm for the Good and Righteousness.

More comments about Ajantis
Ajantis comes from a noble family of Waterdeep. He is utterly devoted to his god Sir Helm and lifes by his dogmas such as fulfil your duty, be vigilant and protect the weak. He takes the duties of a paladin very serious and has a strong feeling of what is right and what is wrong. Creatures of evil alignment are to be condemned in his eyes and he will fight them until his own death, if need be. He lost a great deal of his youthful naivity by your travels on the Sword Coast, though. Even with still dividing the world in good and evil, black and white, he learned that often the reality is a shaded grey.

Attributes: SAme as in BG1, only WIS is raised by 4 points because of knighting (similar to Anomen)

Str 17
Dex 13
Con 16
Int 12
Wis 17
Chr 17

Kit: Paladin, Cavalier. No special reason. I wanted to use the BGII-kits and thought Cavalier fits fine.

General mod description
First my sincere apologies. I started writing this mod because my PC of good alignment, romancing Ajantis at the Sword Coast couldn't grab the truth that he should have come to death by her own hand in the Windspear Hills. Then, while designing this mod I realised that there are actually other players out there, who just could enjoy playing this mod - but only if I integrate reactions to all sort of other PC choices my PC would never even dream of. So I thought about PCs not romancing Ajantis... evil aligned PCs... Good aligned PCs that do evil things none the less... Reply options that have to be there to make the choices complete, even if they are only tried once to see what jastey made out of them... And I really tried to be really, really good at this. Because if not I would have to state "for good-aligned, romancing PCs only" in the readme, and such restrictions is actually the opposite to what I wanted to make come true.

Still, when playing this mod, keep in mind that there is one big assumption: Ajantis and the PC already met at the Sword Coast, and they spent some time together, if not the whole way.

General things:
The mod can installed and played at any time during a running game. A new game does not have to be started. And yes, it does make sense story-wise.
The main quest happens before Ajantis can join the group. If players do not want to make the quest it can be skipped. (Yes, it does make sense story-wise.)
At the beginning of the a new game or at the Windspear fight, there are some possibilities to define the relationship the PC and Ajantis shared. Mainly: Was there a romance in BGI, meaning Ajantis and PC are engaged at the beginning of SoA or not.
If intalled mid-way or after the Windspear fight, there is a possibility to make the engaged romance active in the game, by talking to squire "Roman" in the Order (note the name.. note the name )
There is one romance path for engaged romance, which is the continuation of the BG1NPC mod romance (at G3). This includes wedding, several rings to choose from, special presents from Ajantis etc.
There will be a friendship path, including two quests (in addition to the main quest).
There is the possibility to start a new beginnings romance, for PC of the right Match. I am trying hard to make it sound like an all new romance, too. But since I assume that the PC and Ajantis already met it's more a "revival" romance, I fear. The PC has to work hard if she wants Ajantis to (re)consider giving in to his feelings for her, since now she has to convince Ajantis despite her Bhaal heritage... For this new beginnings romance, I assume Ajantis' romance was either stopped in a polite way (PC wasn't rude to him but didn't show enough interest to make him overcome his insecurity / realise his feelings), or that the Bhaal heritage was discovered before the proposal (which makes him stop courting instandly in shocked silence. He will be waaaay wiser when they meet again in BGII!)
And, now she has a rival, too. There will be an Ajantis-non-joinable NPC romance available with the (newly introduced) niece of Garren Windspear.

Ajantis banters with all BioWare NPCs.
PIDs include unique dialogue options.

I hope that answers most of the questions. Anything more of interest I forgot right now will be added as soon as I think of them.

[jastey]

I just realised the big difference in engaged romance path and new beginnings romance.

In BG1, Ajantis falls in love with what he thinks is just an encouraged, strong and beautiful woman. He does know nothing about Bhaal there. When it comes to the point where the PC discovers her heritage, it comes like a shock - Will he be able to perform his duty? Will his family accept her as his wife? I feel sometimes like he is somehow trapped; He proposed (unknowingly) to a daughter of Bhaal, now he will stick to her because of - what? His duty? Somehow, yes, because there are duties connected to a proposal. He wouldn't stay at her side if he couldn't reconcile their bond with his paladin duties, so the PC can be ensured that it *is* love. And yet...

In BGII new beginnings romance, this is completely different. He knows she is a daughter of Bhaal. He will know whether Helm, the Order and his family will give their blessings for this bond. When he proposes, he does it in full awareness of these facts. It is a matured, determined decission. I think that is very appealing.

[jastey]

I want to add something to the above said, stressing the fact that Ajantis is not reluctantly staying with the PC. He just experiences a time of great fear and confusion.

Ajantis feeling "trapped" is only one side of the whole thing, and the question is, whether the PC wants to see it that way. I stressed this thought in my above post to make the difference in the two romance paths clear. The overall picture, like I see it, is a bit more complex, though. Ajantis is no coward, he would never let her down just because he thinks the relationship would be too "complicated" to pursue. Yet he is a tiny little bit too young and unexperienced as a paladin to see clearly that being bonded to a daughter of Bhaal does not equal to having to choose between her or his paladin duties. Another man, another paladin could have seen it right away that these two points are no contradiciton, but Ajantis is not as wise as necessary yet. So it leads him into troubeling himself, and the Bhaal LTs are the expression of an albeit fast but very deep learning process from his side. As he stated in his final Bhaal-heritage dialogue: "[I give the Bhaal heritage] the vigilant attention reserved for a well-known enemy. I feel strong enough to walk the path with you, my love.". As I said, another paladin, maybe Keldorn at this age, would have seen it right away. It's Ajantis personality to see trouble, based on his black-and-white view of the world. This reality, that the possible evil you can foresee doesn't mean it is bound to happen and vice versa, is something Ajantis has to learn yet. Keldorn's family situation is a good example for the opposite: He chose a woman that most probably didn't have any evil heritage of any sort, and yet he experienced "evil" in his marraige.

So, I'd say it's up to the PC how she wants to interprete it. I will think about adding an "Let us end our engagement, Ajantis, as I do not wish to put you into so much trouble" to the BG1 romance. But: although it might seem the right choice at that time, it actually would prevent Ajantis of making a really big step foreward in growing wiser and relaxter indeed. And, above all, of staying with the woman he truly loves.