/* c#sococX.baf */
@0  = ~This is one of the drider cocoons. You can force it open, if you wish.~
@1  = ~You force the cocoon open with your weapon.~
@2  = ~To examine this cocoon, move closer.~
@3  = ~The cocoon is empty.~
@4  = ~This is the viciscamera that is providing the drider cocoons with nutrition. Its hard ensorcelled hide cannot be damaged by your weapon.~

/* c#sopass.baf */
@5  = ~The rune stone allows you to bypass the magic that sealed the entrance. You may now enter.~
@6  = ~You take a quick peek through the entrance and see enough to guess that this is the way to the drider brood chambers.~

/* c#solau.d */
@7    = ~(growls) Finally! I started to doubt you would be true to your word and actually come for me after that lengthy talk you had with those surface elves.~ [UDSOLA07]
@8    = ~You recognize me?~
@9    = ~Good to see you again!~
@10   = ~The elves were suspicious of us too, Solaufein.~
@11   = ~Watch your tone!~
@12   = ~I waited here alone long enough for sure.~
@13   = ~And the accursed sun is up, too!~
@14   = ~Yes, they are very mistrustful. Quite understandable from their point of view, I can't hold it against them.~
@15   = ~I expressed my discomfort, nothing more.~
@16   = ~I already regret waiting here for you. After the distraction you caused, sneaking by the elves was simple enough.~
@17   = ~I already told you I was unsuccessful in obtaining the surface armor I mentioned before. And my drow equipment has turned to dust... as expected.~
@18   = ~That's no problem. I will equip you properly.~
@19   = ~Calm down. You are understandably ill at ease.~
@20   = ~Are you coming, or do you plan on standing around talking?~
@21   = ~Two lousy knives is all you got? You've got to be kidding.~
@22   = ~Hmph. We'll have to see how surface equipment holds up. I have still yet to see surfacer gear that can match the equipment I am accustomed to using.~
@23   = ~Come on, let's go.~
@24   = ~Proud words!~
@25   = ~Feel free to spread that dust you've got there over your torso, if you prefer.~
@26   = ~I am afraid you'll have to wait a bit longer.~
@27   = ~You are right. I apologize for my arrogance. Here even the lousiest leather armor provides more protection than the adamantine plate mail I am accustomed to. I will call myself lucky to have whatever armor you can provide.~
@28   = ~With pleasure.~
@29   = ~You should not leave me waiting too long here in the sun. Unless you prefer me well done!~
@30   = ~Can I join you now?~
@31   = ~No.~
@32   = ~Hm, truth be told, this opportunity is far too tempting. Let's see how long you can last with only two silly knifes!~
@33   = ~Hmph.~
@34   = ~(snort) Sure, it isn't a good joke unless it puts my life in danger.~
@35   = ~There you are again!~
@36   = ~You are attacking me? I can't believe my own naiveté. No, I do not have to fight all battles. Especially one that puts the odds against me!~
@37   = ~You are even more perfidious than I thought. We will not meet again, surfacer.~
@38   = ~Yes, 'Veldrin'. I already took a good look at you, when the silver dragon led you to the exit.~
@39   = ~May I rejoin you?~
@40   = ~Hmph. I'll let you know when I'm well done.~
@41   = ~Hmph. If you say so.~
@42   = ~You want us to go separate ways?~
@43   = ~Wait for me here.~
@44   = ~No, stay with the group, Solaufein.~
@45   = ~Veldrin! If you choose to attack me, then so be it!~
@46   = ~Veldrin! ...Or whatever your name would be. You made it out of the temple and the city alive! You are indeed impressive.~
@47   = ~You are on your way to the silver dragon now, are you not?~
@48   = ~Is this an ambush?~
@49   = ~Why do you want to know? Your question arouses suspicion!~
@50   = ~I felt the shock going through the city. House Despana fell, even if not everyone has noticed yet.~
@51   = ~I could not remain in the shadows. The more I see of you, the more amazing I realize you are.~
@52   = ~That is what I suspected.~
@53   = ~You fooled the whole city... And yet again a megalomaniac Matron Mother was felled by her own arrogance and pride, and the drow were once again put in their place.~
@54   = ~You know, we are preparing for war... War against the surfacers. Ha! I needed to make sure that you were working for the silver dragon. You are her masterstroke to show my fatuous people their limits.~
@55   = ~May your escape from the Underdark be a successful one... or wherever you wish to go from here. I am curious to see your true form, but I should not linger, leastwise in the open. So, I will go back to...~
@56   = ~Wait, who is approaching? Curses! I was too careless! Veldrin, quick, draw your weapons, it's the...~
@57   = ~Solaufein! Treacherous spy! So it was you who was sneaking around the dark corners and streets of our city like a maggot!~
@58   = ~You were following *me*? ...You are not aware of what happened in the city since you left in pursuit of me, are you?~
@59   = ~I know the Matron Mother carries out a dangerous ritual for which the doors were sealed. But I also know that the protection of your house has lapsed!~
@60   = ~...Indeed. Veldrin, stay out of this. She was so determined to catch me, the renegade, that she seems oblivious to anything else.~
@61   = ~Well then, Imrae, you found me. I laugh in your face, because you are as badly off as me - only you are still ignorant of your situation!~
@62   = ~Be quiet, little maggot! How do you dare speak to me? But it is unimportant. You will come with me. Your fate is sealed! You will make a fine drider, indeed!~
@63   = ~...Drider? No! No!... Kill! You are supposed to kill me! Feed me to the spiders!...~
@64   = ~Now you squirm properly, male!~
@65   = ~Veldrin, do not let this happen. Follow us! Look into the crevice beside the bridge, you will find a...~
@66   = ~Silence, maggot! I have listened to your voice long enough!~
@67   = ~Solaufein's Rescue

Solaufein, the male fighter captain whose life I spared, waited for me outside the drow city. Unfortunately, he was discovered there and arrested by a Handmaiden of Lolth. She seemed unaware of the recent events inside the city, much to my advantage. However, she overpowered Solaufein and took him to the drider chambers located somewhere down here. 
If I want to spare Solaufein the fate of being turned into a drider, I should follow them and free him! He tried to tell me something about a hidden crevice beside the bridge near Adalon's lair. I should search the area for an entrance to the drider chambers.
I also need to decide what to do with the Silver Lady's eggs as soon as possible. How long does a transformation into a drider take...?~
@68   = ~Vel'uss zhah gaer? *Kivvin*! Ulu da'rex!~ 
@69   = ~Who is this? What are you doing here? You are not supposed to be here!~
@70   = ~Veldrin!~
@71   = ~I... I thank you. You freed me from the drider cocoon! You found the rune stone, as I hoped.~
@72   = ~How are you?~
@73   = ~Indeed. I hope to be rewarded for this!~
@74   = ~I just happened to passing by.~
@75   = ~Ol zhah dos...? It is you, is it not? Surfacer... Now I see your true appearance.~
@76   = ~If a pair of rusty knives and a rather old set of surface armor is to your liking - because that would be all I could offer you in my current situation.~
@77   = ~What a friendly question... after you had to rescue me from my own stupidity. To answer it: I am well, considering the circumstances, Veldrin.~
@78   = ~You were just passing by? So, you found the rune stone allowing you to enter the drider chambers, killed the present drow, and opened my cocoon all by accident? What a lucky accident for me, indeed, Veldrin.~
@79   = ~That name is not appropriate any more. I should not use it. Forgive me.~
@80   = ~Dear Imrae was so focused on capturing me she had indeed missed the recent happenings inside the city. As soon as we arrived here she was ordered back to her house. I assume we won't see her again too soon, if ever. Everyone belonging to the former House Despana is currently occupied by other problems now!~
@81   = ~You freed me just in time. The transformation had not started yet, as they did not put me into a cocoon right away, but... Never mind. It is over. You saved me from becoming an abomination, and I have nothing but my thanks in return. (snort) Gratitude of a drow, what a great reward.~
@82   = ~We already agreed to meet on the surface. I will go there now, if you still want me to join you.~
@83   = ~Yes, Solaufein. I will expect you there, my decision has not changed from what we agreed upon in front of the Ust Natha's city gates! (Choose only Weimer's Solaufein)~
@84   = ~Yes, this experience may have affected you, but my invitation still stands. (Choose also jastey's Solaufein)~
@85   = ~I will await you there. Be assured, you will not hear of what happened here ever again.~
@86   = ~Is that so?~
@87   = ~I would like to give you a reward, but I have nothing of value... I will return to hiding into the shadows. My hopes are high that the fall of House Despana has stirred so much tension and conflict my existence will no longer be of interest.~
@88   = ~On second thought, I hope you can be as you were before, back when we first agreed to meet each other on the surface. (Choose only Weimer's Solaufein)~
@89   = ~I would like you to join me, Solaufein, no matter how the events here in the drider chambers may have affected you. (Choose also jastey's Solaufein)~ 
@90   = ~I would like you to join me, Solaufein. Come with me!~
@91   = ~I wish you luck, Solaufein. Fare well!~
@92   = ~Well, then be off!~
@93   = ~I would come with you?~
@94   = ~You... you are not serious, <CHARNAME>?~
@95   = ~Think carefully about taking a drow into the group, <CHARNAME>.~
@96   = ~Hmm, dark elf has dark skin of evil drow, but Minsc is not sure if this one needs butt kicking. What do you think, Boo?~
@97   = ~Hmm, dark elf has dark skin of evil drow, but Minsc is not sure if this one needs butt kicking.~
@98   = ~Oh yes, wonderful idea. We 'strengthen' this group by taking on a weakened, unarmed renegade.~
@99   = ~Well, his character seems to be different from most drow. But we shouldn't take the "helping others" too far, you know...~
@100  = ~Bah! Don't fool yourself that a drow on his first trip into the surface sunlight will be of much use! This male won't be anything more than a nuisance, and a liability.~
@101  = ~I am undecided on this matter.~
@102  = ~Are you sure, <CHARNAME>? I know he was helpful and all, but still...~
@103  = ~Are you seriously considering taking this drow on?! Keep in mind that his presence will make us a target for all kinds of hostilities - being hunted by his own kind included!~
@104  = ~Ha! You are truly the savior of renegades and the fallen. I won't be party to any of the complications his presence will undoubtedly result in!~
@105  = ~Consider this decision well, <CHARNAME>. His presence will raise tensions - and with that I am not only referring to the ones we will encounter from others.~
@106  = ~No, <PRO_RACE>. Your true nature is no secret. Even with your help up to now you represent what I am trying to leave behind me.~
@107  = ~Why would you want me to join you? Because I proved to be such a good and vigilant warrior?~
@108  = ~How did you imagine this happening? Do you expect me to leave my realm because I am being hunted - and go to the surface, unprotected, unable to blend in, to be hunted there?~
@109  = ~And yet, your offer is intriguing. I have no doubt my chance of finding like-minded drow in Ust Natha is currently very small, with all of us goaded by recent events and full of blood thirst... And travel to other drow cities is long, with no proof I will be more successful in hiding there, as I failed to do so miserably here.~
@110  = ~I... am inclined to take you up on your offer. I have heard much about your world, yet I have never journeyed there. Not like this, accompanying a surfacer. Leaving the Underdark offers so many possibilities...~
@111  = ~I could meet with the few drow who turned their back on our evil siblings. I... I could meet true followers of Eilistraee. Yes. This is what I want.~
@112  = ~This would be my only condition for you, surfacer. That you grant me this.~
@113  = ~Come again? Do you think *I* could organize a meeting with Drizzt Do'Urden? How about a reality check?!~
@114  = ~Finding true followers of Eilistraee? If we get to know about their whereabouts that should be possible.~
@115  = ~It's not up to you to make demands, drow. Join me or leave it.~
@116  = ~Of course not. I spoke of followers of Eilistraee that exist on the surface. Starting from there I will find what I seek.~
@117  = ~I thank you!~
@118  = ~Before you join up I should tell you that I am chasing a mighty enemy. Maybe you saw him. He was an ally of House Despana in your war against the surface elves.~
@119  = ~I am chasing a mighty mage who took my soul.~
@120  = ~Well then!~
@121  = ~Very good. This will suffice.~
@122  = ~Your soul? I have certainly heard and had poorer reasons for giving chase in the past!~
@123  = ~I will regain my strength and be of use to you. But I have no illusions: Travelling with you on the surface, I will be in need of your shelter. Are you willing to grant it to me?~
@124  = ~Yes, Solaufein.~
@125  = ~Do you need my protection? You can leave and go elsewhere any time, you know.~
@126  = ~I am not doing this out of charity, Solaufein. I expect you to fight for my goals while you are travelling under my protection.~
@127  = ~No, I don't need anyone burdening me. Better we go our separate ways!~
@128  = ~You showed here as well as in Ust Natha readiness to support me even if doing so would put you at risk - although why is still a mystery to me.~
@129  = ~Hmph. I will be very vulnerable where you are going. Never would I risk such a thing without your company! But you are right, I wouldn't need your protection to survive, not here, not at the surface, either.~
@130  = ~So I will join forces with a surfacer, then.~
@131  = ~But you are still under the spell of the Silver Lady. She won't want to see me...~
@132  = ~When do you want me to meet up with you?~
@133  = ~I want you to come with me right away.~
@134  = ~Could you follow us unobtrusively until we are at the surface?~
@135  = ~Are you asking because of my recent successes in concealment? But yes, I should be able to do that.~
@136  = ~I wish the same to you, surfacer.~
@137  = ~I will not go with you. As fascinating as the idea sounds, it will not work out well.~
@138  = ~I will.~
@139  = ~I thank you. Shall you find yourself in trouble in the Underdark and I am nearby, I will not forget your mercy!~
@140  = ~And if the silver dragon returns you to your original form, are you ready to explain my presence to her? I have no intention of facing this mighty creature. None of my seemingly good deeds of the last few days can ever undo the cruelty we brought upon her.~
@141  = ~I do not wish to accompany you right away, <CHARNAME>. Do not worry. I have learnt my lesson. No Handmaiden of Lolth will catch me again.~
@142  = ~I will take a quick stroll and collect the things I hid in the caves. I do not intend to join you without any equipment!~
@143  = ~You go ahead. I will meet with you then.~
@144  = ~Keep them distracted with your noisy surfacer trampling. This will give me enough opportunity to follow you unnoticed. We will meet again on the surface. I will wait for you there!~
@145  = ~<CHARNAME>! Wait. I know we agreed to meet on the surface, but I have thought about it and changed my mind. I wish to join you now.~
@146  = ~Here I am, <CHARNAME>. Your way of passing through the drow posts was impressive. I would have caught up with you sooner, but you were surprisingly fast - or I was too slow. You did not need my help, so much is clear.~
@147  = ~Sneaking past the elf posts unnoticed wouldn't be a problem, not for me as one single drow used to hiding in the shadows. But I want to enter the surface honestly and openly - do you see? I am sick of hiding. If the elves won't have me, at least this pathetic play would come to a quick end.~
@148  = ~But I was not successful in obtaining the surfacer armor I mentioned previously. I should have refrained from making bold proclamations about my preparedness.  I stand in front of you as defenseless as I was after climbing out of that drider cocoon.~
@149  = ~Of course, you are welcome to join.~
@150  = ~I like this. Join us then.~
@151  = ~A quick ending? It would cause *me* trouble if the elves grew suspicious or hostile due to you!~
@152  = ~I am sorry, but I can't take you with me now.~
@153  = ~Which is the reason why I would like to go in your company - because I am intelligent enough to know that I wouldn't last a minute were I to step into their arms on my own.~
@154  = ~No thanks, I have fought enough battles already. I have no interest in risking another due to a misunderstanding. You'll need to find your own way to the surface.~
@155  = ~This is a step you'll need to take on your own, Solaufein.~
@156  = ~(snort) So much for my noble approach. But I understand your answer - I would have done the same, in your place. I will follow you discretely then.~

//c#solauJ.d
@157  = ~So I emerged to the surface with you. I left a society where I could be ordered to and fro, humiliated without reason, and punished for naught. I have left all this behind, or so I hope. Tell me, what are your plans for us from here?~ [c#ablank]
@158  = ~I am chasing a powerful mage who stole my soul.~
@159  = ~I'm in search of the man who helped incite the drow into war against the surface elves. He did terrible things to me.~
@160  = ~Pfeh. I point, you fight. You don't need to know anything more.~
@161  = ~You think so?~
@162  = ~Well, I will follow you then, <CHARNAME> from the surface.~
@163  = ~Yes, so you told me before.~
@164  = ~Your soul?!~
@165  = ~Hm, and in these circumstances you want to burden yourself with a drow?~
@166  = ~And more than one.~
@167  = ~You seem confident in being able to handle the problems arising from travelling with drow.~
@168  = ~Terrible things?~
@169  = ~Yes, he stole my soul!~
@170  = ~Torture, to be precise.~
@171  = ~You don't need to know the details.~
@172  = ~I have need of your protection, and I will show my appreciation for the aid you grant me by fighting by your side.~
@173  = ~But let me phrase it plainly: I expect during my time here with you that I will become familiar with life on the surface. I wish to find supporters for my personal goal: to lead the drow back to the right path. I was weakened and I fled. But I will regain my strength, and I will return.~
@174  = ~That is a noble goal, Solaufein. I feel honored by your presence and I hope that you will succeed in your efforts.~
@175  = ~That is alright - I do something for you, you do something for me.~
@176  = ~Be warned, drow. Don't think you will be able to abandon me if you find what you are looking for. Remember, I will be watching you.~
@177  = ~These are very friendly words... I lack experience to know whether they are truly meant.~
@178  = ~Then we are of one mind.~
@179  = ~That is wise of you, I don't blame you. It is a great risk you are taking, traveling with a drow.~
@180  = ~I thank you for the protection you are providing. I do not plan on imposing on your kindness.~
@181  = ~My magic has lessened significantly since I left the Underdark, <CHARNAME>. It is... unsettling, if not frightening.~ [c#ablank]
@182  = ~Which abilities did you lose?~
@183  = ~Your honesty surprises me. Doesn't this contradict the drowish way of never to show a weakness?~
@184  = ~I think you are still very strong, Solaufein.~
@185  = ~You'll have to get used to it.~
@186  = ~You call it frightening?~
@187  = ~Recall how I drew the illithids out of the astral plane, or teleported out of the city when Phaere sent us to fight the *svirfneblin*...? Deeds I am no longer capable of. To list all that I can no longer do is pointless, but it is enough that I am feeling the loss for what I once took for granted.~
@188  = ~No, it doesn't, because you are my leader and you will notice my weakness in the next fight, <CHARNAME>, and so it is wiser to tell you about it now.~
@189  = ~In addition to my lost magic there is my blindness in this bright sunlight. I... did not exaggerate when I asked for your protection, <CHARNAME>.~
@190  = ~You still have it, I assure you.~
@191  = ~This honesty is one of the things I like about you, Solaufein.~
@192  = ~Get a grip on yourself, would you?~
@193  = ~I do not plan on remaining this weak! Are the followers of Eilistraee who live on the surface weak and blind? I will overcome these impairments, too... Eventually.~
@194  = ~But it is fitting, you know. The moment I am able to actually *see* our enemies, they are so close that fighting them with magic would be of no advantage!...~
@195  = ~Fortunately, I know you are a skilled fighter; else I might be worried about our combat capabilities.~
@196  = ~It's not like I could hide it. And I do not think it wise to pretend that I am unaffected. I am an experienced fighter and used to deprivation of multiple sorts. I can handle the restrictions the sun puts on me, but losing my magic is something else entirely.~
@197  = ~Even a drow knows when false bravado is a bad idea!~
@198  = ~So, you are a child of Bhaal? I know Alaundo's Prophecies. The ones that say the Bhaalspawn will bring chaos...~ [c#ablank]
@199  = ~Yes, I am.~
@200  = ~Sounds familiar, yes...~
@201  = ~Seems like everyone learns of them sooner or later.~
@202  = ~Why would it be of importance?~
@203  = ~It should not be surprising that Alundo's Prophecies found their way to the Underdark. There are Bhaalspawn among the drow, too... and second, we drow wouldn't be who we are if we didn't try to use such times to our advantage.~
@204  = ~But I was asking about you. I know the one we are pursuing stole you soul. A Bhaalspawn without <PRO_HISHER> soul...~
@205  = ~Did he do it to weaken you, or to gain power for himself?~
@206  = ~He wanted to strengthen himself.~
@207  = ~He definitely wanted to weaken me.~
@208  = ~Both, I suppose. He seemed to like experimenting. It's very well possible that he enjoys watching my struggles.~
@209  = ~Whatever, Solaufein. What is your point?~
@210  = ~I never would have imagined living as I do now; no longer in the Underdark, but at the side of the Bhaalspawn named as the Chosen One from Alundo's Prophecies - by a Solar no less...~
@211  = ~I knew it was the search for a mighty foe that led you to Ust Natha, but to discover that you were also a Bhaalspawn in pursuit of your soul... A Bhaalspawn without a soul would be an unsettling thought, were they anyone but you.~
@212  = ~I won't give in to my heritage's evil influence, Solaufein.~
@213  = ~Oh, there have been... rather unfortunate incidents for bystanders, you should know.~
@214  = ~What is your point?~
@215  = ~Since I will be one of the first affected by it this information holds some interest for me!~
@216  = ~I have to admit I am somewhat unsettled by my present circumstances. If I were writing my own story, I would have likely chosen a companion with a slightly lower profile for my escape to the surface.~
@217  = ~I don't mean to sound ungrateful. If you were not who you are, you wouldn't have come to Ust Natha; events would not have happened as they did; and I wouldn't be here where I am now.  I would instead still be down there trying to decide whether living is worth the pain.~
@218  = ~Let's go and regain your soul, then.~
@219  = ~Let's go and continue shaping your destiny, then.~
@220  = ~I am sure he achieved his goal - if he can handle my soul, that is.~
@221  = ~I start to grasp the situation into which I have chosen to insert myself.  If you are as powerful as you demonstrated during your time in the Underdark without your soul, I see why your foe sought to weaken you by stealing it!~
@222  = ~Even better if he watches because that means he is likely closer and we have yet another way to track him down!~
@223  = ~So, I am travelling under the command of a surfacer named <CHARNAME> now.~ [c#ablank]
@224  = ~Not long ago, my only reaction would have been disbelieving laughter if commanded to do so. Although we might cooperate with surfacers, we drow believe ourselves to be a superior race. Having to obey the commands of a surfacer would have been an unspeakable degradation.~
@225  = ~To be commanded by a <PRO_RACE>... I never would have imagined so. I still find myself having to adjust to the thought.~
@226  = ~Is it that bad?~
@227  = ~Still, you yearned to travel on the surface, did you not?~
@228  = ~It's the difference between being ordered to take an action versus choosing to do so of your own free will?~
@229  = ~Yes, sometimes life surprises us.~
@230  = ~You really should try to rid yourself of these drow attitudes and biases, Solaufein.~
@231  = ~Great we talked about it. Let's move on.~
@232  = ~Bad? No. But very different.~
@233  = ~Different from what you imagined, or different from what your life was like before?~
@234  = ~I didn't imagine being here. Not as a real option. I didn't dare to.~
@235  = ~Yes, I did. But yearning is merely a feeling, without specifics.~
@236  = ~Depending on situation and opportunities. I know, <CHARNAME>.~
@237  = ~It is different from everything I experienced before, <CHARNAME>. But... not necessarily worse. Nor did I mean to imply it was.~
@238  = ~You shouldn't forget that I was taught about the superiority of the drow for centuries. Up until recently, these lessons have been the crystal I've viewed the world through...~
@239  = ~This of course is all the past, from which I wish to make a clean break. I only mentioned it because I can't stop thinking about my current situation, <CHARNAME>. Given the remarkable direction my life has taken, it is no wonder I can't stop my thoughts from racing!~
@240  = ~As you wish!~
@241  = ~That's a nice name for centuries of indoctrination, but yes, I am working on it.~
@242  = ~I still recall the drow you were in Ust Natha. Some part of you was preserved by the spell of the Silver Lady. But being a <PRO_RACE> makes you seem much more authentic, much more genuine.~ [c#ablank]
@243  = ~Were I not fooled by your appearance and distracted by the circumstances, I should have noticed that there was no way you were from the Underdark when I first met you in Ust Natha.~ [c#ablank]
@244  = ~You were very convincing, and yet your... difference was palpable.~
@245  = ~'Difference'?~
@246  = ~I'll take that as a compliment, Solaufein!~
@247  = ~I beg your pardon?~
@248  = ~(snort) If you say so.~
@249  = ~What I meant was your surfacer way of behaving. You may have acted all tough and fierce, but compared to a drow you were quite... soft.~
@250  = ~Soft?~
@251  = ~Maybe I am.~
@252  = ~So, where's the problem?~
@253  = ~That sounded like an insult. This conversation ends here.~
@254  = ~Kind.~
@255  = ~Kind equals soft?~
@256  = ~Well, here on the surface you should remember that politeness is important for social interactions, Solaufein.~
@257  = ~It was only a comment. I am not implying your fighting skills are poor or that you are unable to lead. It's only that... I need to become accustomed to the fact that here, this is the normal way of interaction.~
@258  = ~It is difficult for me to embrace your open and friendly mannerisms. Sometimes I am overcome by the suspicion that you are only playing me... that you might let me fall and leave me to the mob, or maybe just dispose of me yourself.~
@259  = ~I wouldn't do that.~
@260  = ~Same here, I keep wondering if you will drop your friendly facade and turn against me at some point, Solaufein.~
@261  = ~I would call that a healthy mistrust.~
@262  = ~Yes, something like that is within possibility. You are drow, after all.~
@263  = ~Where I come from, politeness is a sign of weakness and submissiveness on the part of the speaker. For drow, kindness is weakness, and weakness means death. It... is hard for me to separate from my feelings and experience that this is how the world works, even though my intellect tells me here it is otherwise.~
@264  = ~(snort) You are far easier to irritate than I thought if you take offense to such a remark.~
@265  = ~Healthy mistrust, indeed.~
@266  = ~That's what most would say, <CHARNAME>.~
@267  = ~Despite my inquietude I am deeply impressed by your friendly interactions, <CHARNAME>. It is so... much less strenuous not having to worry every moment about a knife in the back.~
@268  = ~But I am most impressed by the laughter of you surfacers. The joyous, lighthearted, laughter with a playful sparkle in the eyes... All I knew was the taunting jeer, the triumphant grin, the humiliating mocking laughter.~
@269  = ~But no wonder the drow never learned to laugh the way you surfacers do. There is no light down there that could be reflected as a friendly twinkle in the eye and what illumination there is casts shadows and causes doubts rather than exposing one for all to see and making empathy possible.~
@270  = ~I can only shake my head at the thought of you, disguised as a drow, bringing about the downfall of a whole city. Yet another proof of the blindness of my race, to have been deceived so easily.~ [c#ablank]
@271  = ~What do you mean 'easily'? The magic of the Silver Lady was not insignificant!~
@272  = ~It was a chaotic time. I think some saw what they wanted to see.~
@273  = ~The way you say it, it sounds uncomplimentary.~
@274  = ~Let's end the conversation here.~
@275  = ~This is true. Her power is unmatched. Adalon has guarded the exit to the surface since time immemorial and withstood or outwitted the drow of Ust Natha countless times.~
@276  = ~(sigh) But now she's dead. You've done what the drow have been unable to do in centuries... I will not ponder the reasons you had for your action, but then perhaps her time was limited.  We were about to force the guardian of the exit to abandon her post.~
@277  = ~I remember too well the recent events that led to the fall of an important House in Ust Natha... (One side of his mouth twitches grimly.)~
@278  = ~Even without the false dragon eggs I provided, you found a way to cheat Phaere and Matron Mother Ardulace. Maybe your deception was already detected, I do not know. The important thing is that House Despana has fallen!~
@279  = ~Thanks to you. How much I would have liked to see Phaere's face!~
@280  = ~Why? Just because I said 'easily'?~
@281  = ~Yes, exactly that. You used the word to make clear that my success was not my doing, but rather it was due to the 'blindness of your race'.~
@282  = ~Hmph. Maybe I exaggerated a bit, but you have to recognize that the behavior of you surfacers is very different from that of the drow. Looking back I am surprised we didn't see through your disguise sooner.~
@283  = ~<CHARNAME>, when you were turned into drow by Adalon's spell, could you tell you were speaking drow?  Did you have to change the way you spoke or did the magic of the dragon make it seem to you as though you were still speaking and thinking in your native tongue?~ [c#ablank]
@284  = ~Why are you asking?~
@285  = ~No, I couldn't tell. I was speaking drow like I am now speaking common.~
@286  = ~The illusion was extremely thorough. Even our own minds were fooled.~
@287  = ~I don't want to talk about it, Solaufein.~
@288  = ~Because I remind myself that you were the drow who showed kindness to me in the Underdark. I do recognize you as the same person, but you are a <PRO_RACE> now, and I am speaking to you in your native tongue. In Ust Natha you spoke the drow language with a flawless Ched Nasad accent.~
@289  = ~From my perspective nothing has changed. I didn't even notice I was speaking drow at first.~
@290  = ~Is it unusual for you to speak surfacer common, as a drow?~
@291  = ~I do speak drow well enough, though not with the proficiency the Silver Lady's spell allowed me.~
@292  = ~Solaufein, please spare me your babbling about accents!~
@293  = ~Indeed? I am surprised to hear that. How did you come to study my language and what drove you to persist with it long enough to learn it?.~
@294  = ~But I understand what Drizzt meant, <CHARNAME>. Do not take this amiss, but I would rather not hear my native tongue any time soon.~
@295  = ~A pity. I would have liked practicing with you.~
@296  = ~I don't wish to talk about it, Solaufein.~
@297  = ~Maybe I'll feel up to it later, <CHARNAME>, when I am more accustomed to surfacer ways of life.~
@298  = ~Why don't you try the priestess?~
@299  = ~Now we are talking yours, and I am glad to have learnt it so well.~
@300  = ~Yes. All drow are taught to speak it. And yet, my former matron would be surprised if hearing me talk like I do now. I am much more articulate and can express myself far more eloquently than my tuition would allow.~
@301  = ~Now I am curious. How did you learn to speak our language so well?~
@302  = ~Well... I practiced it wherever I could, mostly with some of the slaves.~
@303  = ~I wanted to be able to speak your language perfectly. I told myself I did it because of the advantages it would give me if confronted by surfacers...~
@304  = ~I think I never admitted to myself and probably never would have until recent events, but the real reason was a yearning, a desire to explore your world.~
@305  = ~And now I am here, speaking words in the language I could formerly only practice in secret for so many years... and I feel... joy!~
@306  = ~I don't know what is the matter with me, I barely recognize myself. I am speaking to you of things that I never would have spoken in my own tongue. Somehow it is easier to speak the things that are on my mind in this language...~
@307  = ~Even now, at this very moment!...~
@308  = ~Let us move on.~
@309  = ~Babbling? I thought I was conversing in a normal manner... But as you wish, I will stop giving voice to every foolish thought that passes through my mind!~
@310  = ~I didn't mean it like that. I just don't want to talk right now.~
@311  = ~What a wonderful idea. Please stick to it in the future!~
@312  = ~Hmph. The typical surfacer weapons are of poor craftsmanship compared to what the drow smiths make for the lowest of our house soldiers.~ [c#ablank]
@313  = ~I had some weapons from the surface back in the Underdark, but I never really used them. They didn't compare with the ones we used normally.~
@314  = ~I am sorry that the craftsmanship of 'typical surfacer weapons' displeases you.~
@315  = ~I beg your pardon? Our weapons are by no means that bad.~
@316  = ~Don't be silly. Our weapons might be forged differently, but they aren't less effective at separating fools from their life than drow weapons.~
@317  = ~You know what they say: 'A weapon is as good as the one wielding it', hm?~
@318  = ~Except for the tiny little problem that they turn to dust when exposed to the sun?~
@319  = ~Drow, keep your mouth shut and spare me your whining in the future!~
@320  = ~Forgive me. You equipped me with what weapons and armor you could come by and I should be thankful for it.~
@321  = ~That was merely a matter of course.~
@322  = ~In return you are fighting with me.~
@323  = ~You are handling them well, Solaufein. Your fighting skills are impressive.~
@324  = ~They're spare weapons I have no other use for.~
@325  = ~Hmph. Are you trying to mock me?~
@326  = ~(snort) Well, having weapons does help with my combat capabilities.~
@327  = ~You admit it?~
@328  = ~Pah! I'm complaining like an old male. We've lingered long enough.~
@329  = ~I... I spoke poorly of surfacer weapons recently. I know it is not my place to do so and that it is a foolish complaint considering what would happen to my precious drow weapons if they were exposed to the sunlight!~ [c#ablank]
@330  = ~Thank you for the admission, Solaufein.~
@331  = ~You would do well to be a little less arrogant, you know..~
@332  = ~Just stop whining, and everything will be fine.~
@333  = ~Even I am able to recognize when I'm making a fool of myself.~
@334  = ~You are right to scold me. I am... lamenting things that cannot be changed and are the consequence of decisions I made for myself.~
@335  = ~Also, it isn't... true that I dislike these weapons as much as my whining would suggest. On the contrary, maybe they aren't as mighty as some I wielded in the Underdark, but they are reliable and effective.~
@336  = ~It is the reason surfacer items always fascinated me - they seamed to be different. More blunt... and yet more real. Even the writing, on paper made to endure sunlight.~
@337  = ~You mentioned writing? Did you have some from the surface?~
@338  = ~Where from did you get your surfacer items?~
@339  = ~Aha. Let us move on.~
@340  = ~Yes. Drow attach importance to the education of their young. We were taught everything that would increase our capability to act. I wasn't only taught your tongue, but also your lettering.~
@341  = ~There are merchants from the surface who have dealings with those who dwell in the Underdark. But mostly... the items were not given to me, <CHARNAME>. I paid for them with blood.~
@342  = ~Mostly, they originated from raids to the surface I took part in as a young male. Later, I didn't need to go on them to impress my matron, but I went nonetheless. It was the only way I could visit the surface and... obtain the books and items I sought.~
@343  = ~Tell me about these raids, Solaufein. I always thought their only reason was to bring chaos and destruction to the surface.~
@344  = ~*You* participated in raids to the surface?! Innocent people were murdered!~
@345  = ~Well, that is what the surfacers see, and it's indeed a desired outcome. However, one important reason young males go on raids to the surface is to impress their matron. Going on surface raids is very dangerous for us drow. Anyone who manages to come back with a... trophy proves his courage and fighting prowess.~
@346  = ~What kind of 'trophy' are we talking about here?~
@347  = ~The actual trophies were... surfacer heads, other proof of their deaths, or living surfacers for the slave pits - for the honor of Lolth.~
@348  = ~Did you collect... 'trophies' yourself as well?~
@349  = ~You are different than other drow, Solaufein.~
@350  = ~Of course I have!~
@351  = ~What do you expect? I am drow! Do you think my weapons were never soaked in surfacer blood?! Be it <PRO_RACE> or other surfacer races, it didn't matter. Wasn't this plain to you when you allowed me into your group? How do you think I was raised by my people?!~ //the token gives a word starting with a small letter so I needed something in front of it.
@352  = ~It would be foolish of you to forget about this. Better keep it in mind, and consider whether you want me around!~
@353  = ~I swore myself never to be so incautious as I was back there at the entrance to the silver dragon's lair. Imrae caught me unaware even though I was vigilant... I was about to become a drider! Only thanks to you am I here now, unscathed.~ [c#ablank]
@354  = ~I see why this would be frustrating.~
@355  = ~You will be better prepared next time.~
@356  = ~It all worked out well, though.~
@357  = ~You should take care that something like that never happens again. It would endanger not only you, but us all.~
@358  = ~Ha! Better prepared? Where, here?!~
@359  = ~Worked out well?! Having to cut me out of a drider cocoon is something you would say 'worked out well'?~
@360  = ~You do not understand what I am saying. I swore to myself never to be so unprepared - and now I am here.~
@361  = ~If a Handmaiden of Lolth caught up with me *here*, she still empowered with the magic of the Underdark whereas I am so weakened - I wouldn't have the slightest chance!~
@362  = ~If you expect me to fight at my full capabilities, then it was a mistake to bring me here to the surface. I am a drow, trained for unending combat. But here, the sun drains my strength a little bit more every day!~
@363  = ~I draw solace from the knowledge that the Handmaidens would have more important things to do than to hunt for renegades - if they were to come to the surface at all.~
@364  = ~(snort) Well, for that they have their little helpers, the servants of the drider queen...~
@365  = ~I did not exaggerate when I said that the sun takes the strength out of me, <CHARNAME>. I am able to wield a weapon, and sometimes even manage to hit a foe if they are standing close enough...~ [c#ablank]
@366  = ~But my magic seems to have vanished. What is left is a meager semblance of the magic I was able to wield in the Underdark. So... it is indeed true...~
@367  = ~What do you mean by 'it is true'?~
@368  = ~Would it help if we returned to the Underdark for a while?~
@369  = ~It seems as though drow magic is connected to the Underdark.~
@370  = ~You've mentioned this before, recently. Has it gotten worse?~
@371  = ~Do not concern yourself with what you have lost. Right now I need you as a fighter, nothing more.~
@372  = ~From childhood on the Handmaidens tell us that we drow are only strong in the Underdark, in the Spider Queen's realm. I never doubted that we would be more exposed and therefore more vulnerable on the surface, but I completely underestimated just how much we are weakened.~
@373  = ~I do not know what gives me more unease: that my magic diminished as much as it has... or that I have to agree with what *Handmaidens* taught.~
@374  = ~You'll be fine.~
@375  = ~Many a drow may have regretfully returned to the Spider Queen's realm after experiencing this weakness on the surface. Many a renegade may have doubted Eilistraee's words in the blinding light and heat of the sun...~
@376  = ~I... I mean to be strong. Drizzt's words that 'the sun would not be my foe' bother me more than anything. I don't understand them!~
@377  = ~I'm not telling you merely to lament my fate, <CHARNAME>. My words are meant as a warning as well. No longer I am one of the powerful drow you knew from the Underdark. I might still be a capable fighter... Yes, as a fighter and pack lizard I might still serve well.~
@378  = ~By Eilistraee! You want to lead me back into the Underdark while I am trying to leave the Spider Queen's realm behind me? No, if it is the gods' will then I will be weak, here on the surface!~
@379  = ~And even if we were to return, I doubt you would want to wait the time it would take my magic to recover. I, at least, would have no desire to remain that long!~
@380  = ~Indeed. Our whole existence and strength is because we gave ourselves to the Spider Queen in the deep darkness. It is only natural that we would lose most of our power upon returning to the surface.~
@381  = ~No... But it didn't improve, either.~
@382  = ~(snort) I can only guess as to why you would have me come with you, <CHARNAME>. Are you content with what I have become?~ [c#ablank]
@383  = ~What do you mean?~
@384  = ~Yes, I am.~
@385  = ~No, I'm not.~
@386  = ~I have you with me because I think you are worth it.~
@387  = ~I lost my magic, I am blind for most of the day, my concentration is strained by all the unfamiliar sights and sounds around us, I still am not entirely comfortable with my new weapons, and my appearance causes hostile reactions wherever we go.~
@388  = ~I am sorry you are feeling so insecure and unsafe, Solaufein.~
@389  = ~That's a good list.~
@390  = ~Good gracious, calm down!~
@391  = ~You think so?!~
@392  = ~I am not surprised!~
@393  = ~There are only two possibile reasons I can think of why you would do such a thing. The first is that you welcome my weakness and rejoice in parading me about as a tamed monster at your side.~
@394  = ~Or maybe you are more naive and kind hearted than I imagined possible, and might even feel responsible for my wellbeing!~
@395  = ~Hmph. The way I see you behave I fear it is the latter. You seem to believe you can overcome your foes with kindness. I guess I am a good example of your success!~
@396  = ~Not your empathy on top of it all!~
@397  = ~That's what you meant, isn't it?!~
@398  = ~<CHARNAME>, I regret the words I spoke earlier, they put me to shame. I *am* thankful to you for rescuing me and taking me into your group. Your ways of living and interacting are... unfamiliar, but not unpleasant. I spoke in anger.~ [c#ablank]
@399  = ~Then tell me what angered you so, Solaufein.~
@400  = ~You owe me an explanation, I would say.~
@401  = ~I don't care, Solaufein. Best you stop confiding in me altogether, then I won't have to listen to any of your insults again.~
@402  = ~Perhaps you can relate, <CHARNAME>. My senses are still very dull. They don't recover as fast as I thought... as fast as I had hoped - in my naiveté...~
@403  = ~And that is why you were angry?~
@404  = ~I can relate to your frustration.~
@405  = ~You are a lot of things, but naive isn't one of them, Solaufein.~
@406  = ~Naive, indeed.~
@407  = ~It seems I tend to hope against all odds... Only weeks ago I would have called myself completely naive for my dream of leaving the Underdark forever.~
@408  = ~I am angry about my shortcomings... and at my own impatience because of them.~
@409  = ~I am drow. Until only recently, I was part of a society of merciless hierarchy with punishments both frequent and deadly.~
@410  = ~But now I am here, and my reflexes are slowing, my senses are dulling, and my eyes are still blinded by the sunlight. I feel myself weakening and becoming an easy target, my fighting prowess dwindling. This is not good!~
@411  = ~I can't agree with that assessment. You fight well.~
@412  = ~That is exactly why we combined forces. So we can cover each other's backs!~
@413  = ~Whoa!  If things are as bad as you say, then that is alarming news indeed.~
@414  = ~You should focus on maintaining your fighting prowess or I won't have much use for you anymore.~
@415  = ~Don't let your frustrations with your current impairments overwhelm you.  Have some respect for yourself!~
@416  = ~I am! Be assured, that is what I am doing.~
@417  = ~(snort) I'm lamenting like an old male. I should keep my mouth shut, least you decide to get rid of me like the drow do with their old and useless males!~
@418  = ~I guess it will take a while before I become comfortable here on the surface... if I ever do. Until then, I fear you will have to put up with the occasional outburst from me.~
@419  = ~It doesn't change the fact that my fighting prowess is diminished compared to what it once was... And that I shouldn't just be trying to maintain my skill, but actually improving.~
@420  = ~Indeed, and I appreciate your support.~
@421  = ~You mean my current behavior goes against how I was raised to behave as a drow male? Yes, I guess you are right. But everything about my current life goes against the way I lived before!~
@422  = ~We have travelled as companions for a while now, <CHARNAME>.~ [c#ablank]
@423  = ~I admire how you have treated those that have sought our aid on our journeys.~
@424  = ~And also, the care you've shown me during, or should I better say despite my constant lamentations, flatters me endlessly. I have to admit: the way you comport yourself is an ideal I try to emulate.~
@425  = ~So, and now it's your turn to tell me that you never intended to take such a weakling into your group and that I am no longer the drow you met in Ust Natha. And you would be right, but I... I am strangely content about it.~
@426  = ~It's understandable that you have no interest in my constant lamentations about my circumstances, no matter how much I wish you'd been willing to offer a shoulder and a friendly ear.  But I can't blame you for it, you have a lot to deal with. I will take your example for how to treat others, though.~
@427  = ~No, I'm afraid you've taken my comments the wrong way. I am interested and willing to talk about your experiences and what you are going through, but it hasn't always been the right time or place for a lengthy conversation.~
@428  = ~Do what you want, and do it quietly. I didn't take you along for talking.~
@429  = ~Indeed? If this is the case, then I am glad to hear it.~
@430  = ~I got that, <CHARNAME>.~
@431  = ~You are friendly with me, but the way you act towards others does not always show the same charitableness. Your profit appears to be a major driver of your actions in your dealings with others. I have to assume that profit plays a part in why you have been friendly to me, as well.~
@432  = ~No, Solaufein. I truly like you.~
@433  = ~I am afraid I've long learned to judge others by their deeds, not their words, <CHARNAME>. I'm willing to talk whenever you want, but forgive me if I do not follow your example of how to treat others seeking our aid.~
@434  = ~Well, there is no use talking around it. Your behavior towards others makes it very clear it is your own advantage you seek.~
@435  = ~And you haven't shown any interest in my own concerns.  Not that I blame you for that.~
@436  = ~But although I do not see a reason to feel overly attached to you, I will stay by your side as long as you find me useful, in payment for your assistance with my flight from the Underdark. What comes after, we will have to see.~
@437  = ~<CHARNAME>, I'm not sure... (growls).~ [c#sola10]
@438  = ~What?~
@439  = ~Is something wrong?~
@440  = ~I don't want to hear any more from you, Solaufein. Get back in line and be quiet!~
@441  = ~You mean I won't have to deal with your friendliness act anymore? That is... good.~
@442  = ~Definitely.~
@443  = ~I turned my back to you. Did you notice?~
@444  = ~Er, no?~
@445  = ~Yes, I did.~
@446  = ~What of it?~
@447  = ~I didn't notice right away. You were behind my back, and I didn't see you at first.~
@448  = ~So?~
@449  = ~Do you have to see me at all times?~
@450  = ~What is your point? Make it quick.~
@451  = ~Only when you are within easy reach. Do you see what this means?~
@452  = ~It is exactly what we discussed recently! I didn't keep an eye on you... For only a small instant, but long enough for you to have taken advantage of my lapse in attention and kill me.  And I was the one who gave you the opportunity! I'm growing weak! I'm losing my vigilance, my strength, everything that once defined me!~
@453  = ~No, spare me your words. Do not comment on this! I wish neither to be rebuked nor comforted by your words!~
@454  = ~Well, <CHARNAME>. Do you wish to know why I have been so short with you as of late?~ [c#ablank]
@455  = ~Yes, please tell me what is bothering you.~
@456  = ~Is this the beginning of an apology?~
@457  = ~No, not really, to be honest.~
@458  = ~You want me to keep quiet, then? That we stop sharing our thoughts?~
@459  = ~No, please speak, if it is important to you.~
@460  = ~Yes, please! You are here to fight by my side and that is it. I am not interested in a conversation.~
@461  = ~That... it might very well be.~
@462  = ~That I would turn my back to you - unconsciously, do you understand why it scared me so much?~
@463  = ~Because you fear that you are losing your wariness?~
@464  = ~Because you don't trust me?~
@465  = ~No, I don't know.~
@466  = ~It is no surprise you would suspect this to be the reason, as frequently as I have spoken about it.~
@467  = ~Ha! If only...~
@468  = ~I was afraid that although I was here on the surface with you, my reduced vigilance would decrease my survival chances.~
@469  = ~But it is not only my diminished combat prowess that concerns me. It is also my... feelings.~
@470  = ~Your way of living, of treating with one another - the friendly words and gestures, the trust you grant each other... At the beginning, I was thrilled. It filled me like a rush, it felt like being on a surge of excitement. I was willing to endure the infirmities caused by the sun and separation from the Underdark. I knew I had to pay a price and expected to adjust to it after some time.~
@471  = ~Well my physical weakness persists, as you well know. But... that alone wouldn't be such a problem if I didn't feel like I was actively compounding them!~
@472  = ~I notice myself mimicking your friendly ways. I am... relaxing - even though my physical restrictions still persist, my mind seems to relax, as absurd as this sounds. My vigilance is lacking. I am turning myself into easy prey if I don't watch out!~
@473  = ~My harsh words came from a sudden feeling of... uncertainty. I felt like I was being knocked off my feet. Being here is far more overwhelming than I would have ever expected, <CHARNAME>.~
@474  = ~You are starting to trust in others, Solaufein.~
@475  = ~You are not alone. We'll have your back.~
@476  = ~You've said several times that you do enjoy the feeling of camaraderie and are glad not to have to watch your back all the time.  Why is it you now feel like it is all too much?~
@477  = ~Is complaining all you are capable of?~
@478  = ~Do you not find it understandable that there can be a great difference between an idea and actually living it? I have to surpress many of my instincts to be so close to you. The other half of my vigilance is preoccupied by the restrictions caused by the sun. It is exhausting!~
@479  = ~Trust? Drizzt mentioned trust... as a basis for friendship.~
@480  = ~Everything that is happening currently feels like I am weakening myself. If this is what is needed to live among you surfacers, then it is a high price to pay! Do I have to lose my trust in my own abilities before I am able to learn how to be open and friendly? How does that make sense?~
@481  = ~You will understand once you are ready to trust in others.~
@482  = ~A lot, Solaufein. Trusting others means putting your wellbeing into their hands.~
@483  = ~None, but that's how it is.~
@484  = ~We've talked long enough about your feelings.~
@485  = ~Well, I *had* to do that in the past, and I didn't like it at all!~
@486  = ~I expected learning to trust to be difficult. I was not, however, prepared to have to give up every bit of confidence and self-reliance.~
@487  = ~It shouldn't surprise you. You are fighting to undo centuries of conditioning to mistrust others.~
@488  = ~That's not what it takes. You have to learn to look at it from a different perspective is all.~
@489  = ~I expected better of myself.  Not to behave like a toddler and let go of my last bit of self-respect and vigilance just because I am overwhelmed by everything!~
@490  = ~I told you, because you are my leader and should know my status.~
@491  = ~Also, you *are* my mentor for life on the surface... Whether you like it, or not.~
@492  = ~Is all? You speak of great achievements with great confidence. I don't have the magic of a great wyrm supporting my attempt to assimilate into the surface world, <CHARNAME>!~
@493  = ~I... have struggled internally this past while, <CHARNAME>. I thought I could ignore my worries and wait for them to pass, but my recent behavior makes it very clear that this is not an option.~ [c#ablank]
@494  = ~Do you know what I considered last night? I reviewed my skills to see which of my abilities is still at full strength. One discipline which has not suffered diminished capabilities. Where my century-long training would pay off and allow me to impress you, despite my current pathetic state.~
@495  = ~I sought for the one thing I could excel at and could perform better than any surfacer. And the only thing that came to mind, the only thing I think of that would fit the description, is the lust services we males are trained from childhood to be able to perform and allow us to satisfy our Matron Mothers. The lust services!~
@496  = ~I dislike nothing more than these skills! But I seriously considered offering them to you - so you'd have to agree that I am better than any of your lovers... better than you. So you would have to respect my skilled performance...~
@497  = ~That was the moment I realized I have to open up and tell you how I feel or I will lose my mind. Will you listen?~
@498  = ~...Lust services?~
@499  = ~You do not have to prove anything to me!~
@500  = ~Of course, Solaufein, speak!~
@501  = ~No, I do not care about your problems. Be quiet and stop annoying me with them.~
@502  = ~Yes, lust services, but that is not what I wanted to talk to you about. Please, will you let me speak?~
@503  = ~Of course, Solaufein, speak!~
@504  = ~Only, if you tell me about your idea concerning the lust services again, Solaufein.~
@505  = ~Not to you - it was me I needed to prove something. I need your... guidance.~
@506  = ~Young <PRO_RACE>, I do not seek your physical intimacy. It does not mean to me what it seems to mean to you surfacers. It is a connection... of minds I am looking for.~
@507  = ~I spoke recently to you about my difficulty to give in and trust...~
@508  = ~Denying it doesn't work. Trying to either distracting myself from it, or ridiculing it only increased my confusion. Because the strongest feeling filling me, shaking my drow self to the core of its very being, is the connection, the closeness I feel towards you, <CHARNAME>.~
@509  = ~Do you hear me, strong <PRO_RACE>? Never I have spoken like this to anyone.~
@510  = ~Connection? What exactly do you mean by that?~
@511  = ~Is this a love confession?~
@512  = ~Then maybe you shouldn't start talking like this now.~
@513  = ~I do not wish to hear any more, Solaufein. Get back in line.~
@514  = ~Love? For you surfacers, the term includes physical closeness if used for unrelated adults. Do you know how old I am? How young you are in comparison? No, that is not what I am looking for.~
@515  = ~I feel safe in your presence. Safe, and... comfortable. I do not startle if you take steps towards me. I turn my back towards you - without even noticing.~
@516  = ~I feel a strange urge for you to acknowledge my feelings. Not because I expect advantage for myself, but because I want you to feel a similar way towards me.~
@517  = ~Why am I allowing myself such dependence on you if all I aim for is independence and the ability to prevail on my own? Does this make any sense?~
@518  = ~You want a friend. This is what you are feeling.~
@519  = ~Solaufein, it was a love declaration. Admit it!~
@520  = ~I hear you babbling, weakling, and I am appalled. I might have enjoyed you as a lover, but this I have no use for. Get a grip on yourself!~
@521  = ~I have difficulties to understanding your definition of love, <CHARNAME>. It includes physical aspects I would never combine with it myself. It claims the other person to oneself in a possessive way that I don't wish for myself. No, it was no love declaration as you see it.~
@522  = ~Is there no chance at all to win your heart?~
@523  = ~Of all the things! I can't believe how you can open your heart to me the way you did and then shy away from the last, logical step. Keep your thoughts to yourself from now on!~
@524  = ~A friend... Yes, I think you are right. It is an emotional and intellectual connection I yearn for. Like a slack-jawed child I stand here staring at everything around me in this new life I have been thrust into while I stand alongside you... What a fool I am!~
@525  = ~Why do you call yourself a fool?~
@526  = ~You are not a fool, Solaufein! I would be happy to call you my friend.~
@527  = ~If you feel like a fool, maybe you should keep your mouth shut in the future!~
@528  = ~But you have it already! You have it right in your hands. I opened my heart to you like I never did before to anyone. Only what you call love - boundless devotion, physical commitment - this I cannot give you!~
@529  = ~Hrmph. Not even the cruel Handmaidens had the power to shut me up just like that.~
@530  = ~I had hoped things would be different, but if this is what you wish, then so shall it be.~
@531  = ~But I will show you my respect and be quiet from now on, as you wish.~
@532  = ~Is this true? Then... then I will be your friend. I am proud to have a surfacer call me so.~
@533  = ~I am drow... What else would I call myself for thinking I could have friends?~
@534  = ~I was quite harsh in some of our earlier conversations. I feel ashamed to think of it, knowing you call yourself my friend.~ [c#ablank]
@535  = ~(snort) I call myself lucky you found something to like in me...~
@536  = ~But I still have difficulty understanding why. My behavior is that of an old male with nothing to lose, musing about life, chatting with you about pleasantries... I am drow and as weak as I currently am, my people would have killed me long ago!~
@537  = ~In the world I knew it would be a fatal mistake to tell you as much as I have about myself. To give away one's private thoughts the same as leaving your flank unprotected in a fight! How can I be sure you won't use what I've shared against me someday?~
@538  = ~You really think I would take advantage of you in this way? I am not like that!~
@539  = ~You need to trust me, Solaufein. That's how friendship works.~
@540  = ~And even if - are you so weak that you need to be afraid of it?~
@541  = ~Solaufein! Please spare me this whining.~
@542  = ~You are right, I am whining. You are a strong <PRO_RACE>, <CHARNAME>. Forgive me my weakness, I won't lose control again.~
@543  = ~I didn't imply that I expect you to take advantage. I am trying to adapt myself to your way of living, but it is not easy! I feel torn between the feeling of friendship and camaraderie I so desperately desire, and the paranoia that allowed me to survive these past centuries.~
@544  = ~But you... you are *chatting* with me as if I don't present any danger to you! How can you be sure that *I* will not betray *you* one day, <CHARNAME>?~
@545  = ~I don't, but I trust you.~
@546  = ~I am prepared in case that happens!~
@547  = ~We will see how things go, Solaufein. Everyone's behavior also depends on the situation. Sometimes, even friends come to betray each other.~
@548  = ~I have no intention of betraying you, <CHARNAME>. But I am drow, so your precaution is justified. I am only trying to make it clear that you *should* not trust me. One can never know what foolishness you credulous surfacers will fall for next!~
@549  = ~But I do trust you, Solaufein! That's how friendship works.~
@550  = ~How lucky I am to have a suspicious drow with me then, eh?~
@551  = ~I see that you are serious about it although I do not understand why. Why do you trust me, a drow? Did you not listen to what I said? Did you not witness how we drow take advantage of trust? By still trusting me, despite what you've learned and seen first hand you appear incredibly naive!~
@552  = ~What does how 'the drow' do things have to do with how *you* do things? You are your own person.~
@553  = ~I've seen how *you* have handled my trust, and that is what matters.~
@554  = ~Well... I see what you mean.~
@555  = ~Your cordiality remains unchanged.~
@556  = ~Not long ago I would have spat at your feet. But now I am most grateful for your friendly words.~
@557  = ~It is... a completely new experience to be surrounded by friendly faces, <CHARNAME>.~ [c#ablank]
@558  = ~There weren't that many in In Ust Natha, I take it?~
@559  = ~It must be horrible.~
@560  = ~I don't want to talk about it, Solaufein.~
@561  = ~Horrible? Although I think that I understand your meaning I still would rather call the time I left behind 'horrible'.~
@562  = ~No, <CHARNAME>, none. Well, there was one, once... But it vanished a long time ago.~
@563  = ~...Phaere?~
@564  = ~Do you want to talk about it?~
@565  = ~Yes - Phaere.~
@566  = ~I mentioned recently how the laughter of surfacers still surprised and fascinated me. The friendly, jolly type of laughter that is completely alien to my kind...~
@567  = ~With Phaere I came close to being able to laugh like that. Close...~
@568  = ~But that is a story of long ago.  It is in the past.~
@569  = ~Tell me about you and Phaere.~
@570  = ~I'm not interested in hearing old stories.~
@571  = ~I told you Phaere and I were once in love. Well, do not mistake the term for what you surfacers mean by it.~
@572  = ~That I, the male, had to serve her, the oldest daughter of House Despana, was self-evident. No, our love manifested itself in her protecting me from most of the cruelest reprisals... and I could talk to her without having to weigh every word, without having to fear being punished for any careless remark. It was an unthinkable situation for a drow male.~
@573  = ~Some of the aspects of your relationship as you've described them are rather unsettling.~
@574  = ~Sounds like an exciting relationship.~
@575  = ~Please, go on.~
@576  = ~Solaufein, I do not wish to hear the details.~
@577  = ~Do you think so? And yet I am speaking of something wonderful, <CHARNAME>.~
@578  = ~She could trust me. I would never have harmed her in any way...~
@579  = ~...Upon returning from the Handmaidens' punishment, her behavior towards me was cruel even by drow standards. My house had to step in... We became prisoners of this destructive impasse. The protection of my house, keeping me safe from lethal cruelty, was at the same time the curse that bound my services to House Despana.~
@580  = ~As a male I should have been glad for this outcome.  I emerged from the situation having only lost Phaere and no further consequences. I shielded myself from her reprisals, carried out her orders and concentrated on raising my status as a male warrior. But that was on the outside. On the inside... in my anguish I found my way to Lady Eilistraee and came, like her, to the conclusion that my race had strayed from the right path.~
@581  = ~Do you want to hear the whole story?~
@582  = ~Are you kidding? That's what I was waiting for the whole time!~
@583  = ~I thought this was the long version, but yes, go ahead.~
@584  = ~I was her favorite male. Maybe the traces of opportunism I showed even then pleased her. I still believed myself to be a child of the spider queen then, but I lacked the will to play the game of intrigue to gain small advantages. I think she noticed this and liked it, back then.~
@585  = ~She kept me close by, and our contact was... friendlier than common. I was a strong male, protected by an influential house. A good choice, so to say. We spent time together, just the two of us. We enjoyed being with each other. It was, for drow, a very uncommon and dangerous exclusivity...~
@586  = ~The exclusiveness of our relationship did not go unnoticed. House Despana decided it went far beyond what was appropriate for drow. But they could not punish me, my house did not withdraw my protection - nothing inappropriate had happened but Matron Mother Ardulace became worried about the authority and leadership abilities of her eldest daughter. And so she sent the Handmaidens to Phaere.~
@587  = ~They rid her of any positive feelings towards me. Phaere understood perfectly well why she was punished so cruelly, and had no hesitation to make me suffer for it afterwards. Oh, how much she yearned for the chance to have her final revenge on me! But my status as a male was too high and my house was too powerful, so we were both damned to live on.~
@588  = ~I put all my efforts into my training and my service to Lolth, not having any other options, and gained the leadership of the male fighting guild not much later. You might say the devastation of my personal life caused me to throw all my efforts into my vocation. Back then, all I knew is that I lost the advantage the favor a first daughter of a powerful house had given me - and that life would be much more difficult.~
@589  = ~It was much later before I faced the fact that I had lost more... and so had Phaere. I focused on her as a partner in a way it is unfeasible for a drow. We males live to serve the higher ranked females... Many of my brethren would do anything to impress and be noticed by one of the higher ranked daughters or Matron Mothers, but to be favored by one of them? To enjoy being near her, without any schemes or ulterior motives...? It was unthinkable.~
@590  = ~My life got much more complicated after that. I was disappointed and disillusioned, and still alive out of mere luck. She who meant so much to me before was now my sworn enemy. It was but a matter of time until I realized my internal conflict and ambivalence and turned towards Eilistraee, my Lady Silverhair.~
@591  = ~It was during this time that I lead a raid to the surface. I remember very well how I stood there, looking at the light that foretold the sunrise, and how I considered running - running in the wrong direction, towards the rising sun...~
@592  = ~But I did not do that. I settled into my new life, functioning as a minion to the females vying for power, avoiding anything that did not help secure my position.~
@593  = ~I'm glad you did! Otherwise, you wouldn't have still been in Ust Natha when I arrived.~
@594  = ~I... was embittered and weary of life. I destested the drow... For the evil deeds they commit. For the evil deeds I did.~
@595  = ~I almost hoped you would kill me. But when we spoke in the male fighter's guild I felt something kindle inside of me, touching my soul, filling me with a tremor of anticipation. Up to that moment, I was convinced I had no choice but to accept my fate. At that moment though, I realized that there was another way.~
@596  = ~You opened a window in my heart, <CHARNAME>. The feelings that came through have surprised me with their strength - and also, that I... am talking to you about them.~
@597  = ~And now I am here with you. I thank the Lady Silverhair that it has worked out as it has. And I thank you, <CHARNAME>, for allowing me to take my first steps as a.... 'surfacer' under your protection.~
@598  = ~This is the whole story. I thank you for your patience. It felt good, telling it all for once.~
@599  = ~I watched you in our last fight, <CHARNAME>. You fight very well. You know your trade.~ [c#ablank]
@600  = ~Thank you, Solaufein.~
@601  = ~You mean it turns out we're not surfacer weaklings in need of your protection, in addition to everything else, hm?~
@602  = ~These compliments are unneeded, Solaufein. I know my skill and have proven it often enough.~
@603  = ~I'm not familiar with speaking like this.~
@604  = ~For a drow, insulting others is the norm. I look back with... with a slight shudder at the way I 'greeted' you in Ust Natha.~
@605  = ~Why?~
@606  = ~Haha, yes, the greeting was hilarious. Grounded me instantly in the common courtesies.~
@607  = ~Do you feel your way of talking has changed?~
@608  = ~Let us move on.~
@609  = ~And yet some of your actions could have betrayed you.~
@610  = ~You're right to reprimand me. I'm not familiar with your way of making conversation.~
@611  = ~Exactly that.~
@612  = ~Sparing my life was one such time, but even before that...~
@613  = ~When you apologized for causing me to be punished because of you. That was very undrow-like act! At first I was afraid you were too weak for the task that lay before us. But then I suddenly had another feeling. Your words touched me in a curious way. From that moment I looked at you with different eyes, <CHARNAME>.~
@614  = ~Something about you was different. You didn't... cave when Phaere dismissed you. It was as if you had one more card to play. As if you still had other options.~
@615  = ~But it never aroused my suspicions that you were not who you said you were. I had the feeling I was meeting someone who was like-minded. But duty called, and there was no time to discuss my feelings... And then when Phaere called us in again - (sigh) the feeling was forgotten. That witch! It makes me sad to think that she was once so different, that I once had those feelings in her presence. And I still shudder to think what Lolth's Handmaidens inflicted upon her to destroy those feelings...~
@616  = ~But Phaere gave me enough opportunities to loathe her in the decades that followed. Pah! My words are idle gossip. Let's not talk about it anymore. Let me just say that my opinion of you has changed considerably. In... in every sense.~
@617  = ~To travel with you here and now is overwhelming, <CHARNAME>. And I... note every one of your surfacers' friendly gestures that are frequently used as part of your normal interactions. I must seem surly and withdrawn in comparison.~
@618  = ~Because it seems so disproportionately contemptuous now. I don't want to talk like that anymore. Not if I don't know who I'm talking to. Or even do know the person - and have high regards for <PRO_HIMHER>.~
@619  = ~Absolutely! Or when was the last time I called you a fool, you fool?~
@620  = ~I must admit I deliberately chose unkind words. I had been waiting for the group from Ched Nassad for a long time, the window of opportunity for Phaere's rescue was becoming tighter and tighter, and when you finally arrived... you looked like a bunch of kids with poorly fitting armor.~
@621  = ~In retrospect, I think that I only misinterpreted your insecurity and unease at with your deception, because I soon saw your incredible fighting prowess. But when you stood in front of me, I saw in you only a bunch of young inexperienced drow who wanted to test their fighting skills and would give their lives for the self-righteous task of a Matron Mother or Handmaiden of Lolth...~
@622  = ~Since my well-being was linked to the successful completion of the task, I simply hoped that you could fight well. That's all I saw in you at first.~
@623  = ~That's understandable, you didn't know me then.~
@624  = ~I guess that impression has changed?~
@625  = ~That was probably a good thing. It provided a useful rationalization for any mistakes we made in our impersonations.~
@626  = ~I don't want to hear about it in so much detail, Solaufein.~
@627  = ~But I would never have thought it possible for our acquaintance to have developed into what it has, had someone told me.~
@628  = ~What I said to you the other day wasn't meant as a simple compliment, <CHARNAME>. To curry favor with someone is not what I do. I really can only admire your fighting style. You have to know that for us, the drow, you surfacers always seem soft at first...~ [c#ablank]
@629  = ~This is due to the friendly manners you cultivate with each other. A drow with these manners wouldn't survive the day.~
@630  = ~You already said something to that effect.~
@631  = ~Traveling with us seems a great challenge for you, Solaufein.~
@632  = ~Are you sure? You have to be friendly towards your Matron Mother, don't you?~
@633  = ~Maybe. Let's move on.~
@634  = ~Not like this. Polite, submissive, yes. But not friendly. Not in the sense that I meant.~
@635  = ~That is true.~
@636  = ~That's right! Did you come to this epiphany just now, or perhaps my innumerable lamentations and moanings of recent times gave you a hint...?~
@637  = ~Let me explain this... When I was young, your customs were foreign to me. I thought you were weak and gullible... For a drow to trust an equal is to be betrayed.~
@638  = ~Later I realized that you are strong precisely because of this trust and the community that you form amongst yourselves. I learned to respect your surfacers' way.~
@639  = ~And now I am here... and I envy you for it.~
@640  = ~You are part of such a society now as well.~
@641  = ~Well, since you are a drow the kind of society you seek may always be closed to you.~
@642  = ~I am drow. It is not only my past that makes me one, but my appearance will also always betray me. You are kind, but will you and your kind ever consider me as one of you? I doubt it.~
@643  = ~I trust you. Everything else is up to you.~
@644  = ~You can't change your looks, as you said yourself, but how people react to you will also be influenced by how you treat them and behave yourself.~
@645  = ~You don't seriously expect that, do you? You are drow after all.~
@646  = ~That's only too true.~
@647  = ~I am and will remain drow... at least for other people.~
@648  = ~And yet I have changed. To my kin I'm already nothing more than spider food...~
@649  = ~There is only so much I can do to influence how others will treat me. There will always be ones who draw a weapon first and ask questions later.~
@650  = ~Well, I am used to that. But here on the surface, there is the possibility that people can choose to do otherwise...~
@651  = ~Well, so do the drow, I suppose - if could manage to divert them from the wrong path the race has gone down!~
@652  = ~You... just say it like that! I sense that you mean it... I can only shake my head in disbelief!~
@653  = ~I... would like to tell you something, <CHARNAME>. I told you that slaves taught me your language. Well, that wasn't a lie, but the situation was a bit more complex.  You see, it wasn't *slaves* so much as it was *one* slave girl who served me as my teacher... Would you like to hear the story?~ [c#ablank]
@654  = ~Sure, tell me.~
@655  = ~I fear the worst, but yes, I would like to hear it.~
@656  = ~I don't want to hear that, Solaufein.~
@657  = ~She was granted to me as a play slave because my services had pleased the Matron Mother of my house. In general, play slaves do not survive long. Their purpose is to please their masters and mistresses in whatever perversities they can dream up, and the play slaves often die while doing so...~
@658  = ~Solaufein - on second thought, I'd rather not listen to this.~
@659  = ~Even then, I found no pleasure in carrying out senseless cruelty. Her fear and helplessness disgusted me. But instead of killing her or giving her to the Handmaidens, I spared her life.~
@660  = ~I began to see her as someone who could teach me your language, and soon we practiced almost every day. I never touched her. To my surprise, her eagerness to serve as my teacher increased with passing time.~
@661  = ~It was a noteworthy experience, <CHARNAME>: To realize that humans are even more willing to serve if treated well and *not* threatened with punishment. It was... a small but extremely fascinating insight into the surfacer mindset that I was lucky to experience.~
@662  = ~Yes, that must have been extraordinary.~
@663  = ~You could only experience it because you showed her mercy.~
@664  = ~The whole situation was strange. Her actions made me look at myself in a way I had never considered.~
@665  = ~But I couldn't protect her. Phaere - still my intimate then - discovered us and killed her. She did it for my protection. I was behaving like I was obsessed. Had a Handmaiden of Lolth discovered us, my fate would have been cruel.~
@666  = ~Did you love that woman, Solaufein?~
@667  = ~You left that time behind you.~
@668  = ~I feel very sorry for the woman, but maybe she was better off than some others down there.~
@669  = ~I thank you for the trust you bestow upon me by telling something so personal about your past, Solaufein.~
@670  = ~That is horrible!~
@671  = ~Do you love the dog that licks your hand?~
@672  = ~I felt something for that woman, something inappropriate and dangerous for a drow. But what do you call love? I was enthralled by the situation, our hidden game fascinated me - because of the forbidden treasures I found with it.~
@673  = ~She had a painless and quick death. Many slaves of the drow pray to their gods for this mercy.~
@674  = ~I will prove to you that the cruel rules of the Underdark no longer have power over me, <CHARNAME>. I... wanted to tell you this because I thought it might be of interest to you.~
@675  = ~Very well.~
@676  = ~And I listened.~
@677  = ~I... thank you for these kind and sensitive words. Yes, I'm still not used to talking like that.~
@678  = ~<CHARNAME>, I saw the slaves you sent to the exit. It was you who sent them to their freedom, wasn't it?~ [c#ablank]
@679  = ~Yes, that was me.~
@680  = ~Where did you see them?~
@681  = ~Is it important?~
@682  = ~On their way to the exit. By that time, I was already hiding in the shadows myself, so I only watched them briefly.~
@683  = ~If it is not important to you that you set them free, then that is your decision. But the sight of them made me ponder.~
@684  = ~How so?~
@685  = ~I don't want to talk about it.~
@686  = ~It was very gracious of you. They were... of lower quality. They probably would have ended as spider food.~
@687  = ~They were poorly equipped.~
@688  = ~You had equipped them exceptionally well. Not for the mission they were meant to accomplish, but in comparison to their... quality.~
@689  = ~It's a wonder the gatekeepers didn't become suspicious. The chaos caused by the war made a lot possible.~
@690  = ~Not everyone got through, but...~
@691  = ~It wasn't only the strongest and bravest that made it to the exit, <CHARNAME>. Some... some sacrificed themselves to allow others to flee - without obvious reason to do so.~
@692  = ~They decided to give their life for others.~
@693  = ~That's how a society works that builds itself on community, Solaufein. Sometimes, the strong may sacrifice themselves to protect the weak.~
@694  = ~The ones making the sacrifice may have just found themselves in the role where their actions made sense.~
@695  = ~What are you getting at?~
@696  = ~Perhaps. But not all of them. I could hear some of their words.~
@697  = ~That's what I didn't get.~
@698  = ~Countless drow sacrifice themselves, in every single fight, but they do it because they know that they have no choice but to praise the spider goddess with their deaths... Because death would await them regardless, but a painful, honorless one.~
@699  = ~Nothing of this is true for the slaves that stayed back, fighting, so the others could save themselves.~
@700  = ~Maybe they also did it in their god's honor, we don't know.~
@701  = ~Maybe it was a decision based on simple reasoning. If they hadn’t fought, all might have died.~
@702  = ~Maybe.~
@703  = ~The slaves were very lucky you were there and gave them the opportunity.~
@704  = ~If my siblings could hear your words, they would take it as an opportunity to praise the superiority of our race. In the beliefs of the drow, a society that lets the strong die and preserves the weak must inevitably become weak and perish.~
@705  = ~The drow would also become extinct if they did not protect their children.~
@706  = ~This only makes sense if the weak would be always weak and the strong always strong. But it's usually not like that. Neither over long periods of time, nor for every aspect of life. It is rare to find a person who excells in *everything* they do.~
@707  = ~You mean, everyone should contribute where he or she is best? It is a nice idea, but even here on the surface probably fails due to the vanity of some.~
@708  = ~But the motivation behind it is quite different. And so is the way it is done.~
@709  = ~Sending the slaves to freedom was a dangerous decision for you. It could have blown your disguise.~
@710  = ~It was worth the risk.~
@711  = ~Be kind to people on the way up because you never know who you'll meet on the way down, Solaufein.~
@712  = ~It didn't seem so risky to me.~
@713  = ~If that had happened, then so be it. I was ready to fight the moment I entered the city.~
@714  = ~Only you can talk like this. I know you well enough to believe you that you would not have shied away from such a fight.~
@715  = ~You mean... This saying is oddly wise. Yes, I do believe I understand the meaning. You also call it "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours", don't you?~
@716  = ~I am familiar with the concept of mutual aid and I am well aware that I have already benefited from it more than most.~
@717  = ~Also, I do see it as a superior concept for a society - but only, if the majority plays by its rules without giving in to behavior dominated by self-interest. Or refuses to play their part for other reasons, like... anxiety or fear.~
@718  = ~I... I did not help those slaves although I had the strength to do so. I did not feel responsible for them... and I was in hiding at that time myself and did not want to risk my cover.~
@719  = ~Believe me, this has given me a lot to think about.~
@720  = ~<CHARNAME>, you have changed me. Do you still recognize the drow you met in Ust Natha? I opened up to you. I... trust you, <CHARNAME>.~ [c#ablank]
@721  = ~It is a strange sensation... And I am constantly wondering whether it is okay to feel this way. Whether I should be warier. Whether I am being careless, reckless even. Why do I have these thoughts? Will it always be like this?~
@722  = ~Friendship grows, and it dies. Whether a friendship lasts is dependent on what we do.~
@723  = ~More for some, less for others. You are especially wary due to your past.~
@724  = ~Even friends can betray each other. It is normal to reassess relationships from time to time.~
@725  = ~Hm. If you are thinking about it that much, then you do not really trust me yet.~
@726  = ~I guess you can't expect anything else from a drow.~
@727  = ~Oh yes, I do, <CHARNAME>. I might contemplate whether it is wise to do so, but I do turn my unprotected back to you. That is trust. But it seems like every day it has to be... reevaluated.~
/* same as @723 */
@728  = ~More for some, less for others. You are especially wary due to your past.~
@729  = ~Yes, considering how careless I behave in your presence I should kill you just to be sure. At least that would be the drow way in cases like this.~
@730  = ~I am not planning on betraying you. Nor am I reevaluating our friendship. I'm only observing that trust is... complicated, because it includes a loss of control which could be fatal. At least that is what I learned and lived for several centuries.~
@731  = ~I slowly have to become accustomed to this new situation where trust is a different kind of strength. The strength of those who support each other out of their free will. How I envied you surfacers for this! And I still do, because to my mind it's a great effort.~
@732  = ~And yet it is a... pleasant sensation. I feel alive, as much alive as I haven't for a long time. Who would have thought that such a youngling as you could awaken such feelings inside of me!~
@733  = ~I told you I couldn't pick up my surfacer armor before rejoining you...~ [c#ablank]
@734  = ~The whole truth is that I couldn't get to it anymore because there were too many enemies in the vicinity. I... I didn't dare to risk it, fearing I might be detected. And I didn't have time to wait as you were approaching the exit.~
@735  = ~I didn't dare to! Just because some rotten drow were gathered near the crevice it was hidden in.~
@736  = ~You were already quite unsettled because of your decision to go to the surface.~
@737  = ~You had emerged from the drider chamber only moments before. It's not shameful to avoid a fight in such circumstances.~
@738  = ~You didn't want to risk your plan to search for followers of Eilistraee under my protection.~
@739  = ~That was wise. You were under time pressure.~
@740  = ~I'm not interested in this topic, Solaufein.~
@741  = ~Good armor would have been all the more important!~
@742  = ~Even if I knowingly placed myself in a risky situation, and without proper armor?~
@743  = ~My nervousness about your reaching the exit without me may have been understandable, but it was no reason to knowingly enter the unknown dangers of the surface without proper equipment!~
@744  = ~But somehow I preferred to join you on time, badly equipped, rather than risk being a well equipped renegade drow that got left behind. I trusted in my fighting prowess, naive as that was. And for my decision, found myself weakened and blinded in the rising sun and seriously doubting my sanity.~
@745  = ~You... you have no idea how impressed I was by your taking me on inspite of my unpreparedness and crippling weaknesses and then equipping me with proper weapons and armor! It was the third act of generosity you had bestowed upon me, only this time it was me who put himself into your hands... The foundation for my friendship with you was laid there, <CHARNAME>, even if I didn't realize it back then.~
@746  = ~Still, my anxiety, hiding between the rocks, not daring to fight for my belongings is a very unpleasant memory for me. I still don't know exactly what was holding me back. I should have stayed and fought for better armor! It is only now that I dare to tell you this. Never I would have admitted this before. I'd rather claim that the armor was stolen!~
@747  = ~Hmph. That is your right, and yet I feel strangely affronted; that you don't even want to hear my thoughts.  It has taken me a long time and consideration to be willing to share this with you.~
@748  = ~Well, life is full of surprises.~
@749  = ~<CHARNAME>, are you... content with my performance? I am unaccustomed to asking this type of question so directly, but I want to be sure.~ [c#ablank]
@750  = ~Yes, very.~
@751  = ~What do you mean by 'content'?~
@752  = ~Why is it uncommon for drow? Do you avoid asking questions like this directly due to fear of reprisals?~
@753  = ~No, not really.~
@754  = ~Thank you. And yet I need to ask...~
@755  = ~(sigh) Sometimes I wish you were drow. You would get angry and make your dissatisfaction known to me and I would know instantly that there was a problem. As it is now, I have no way of knowing except asking directly.~
@756  = ~Is our friendship at risk?~
@757  = ~No. You are and will be my friend.~
@758  = ~What? No, don't be silly.~
@759  = ~To be honest, it's been over for a while now. I can't believe I called a drow my friend.~
@760  = ~Reprisals? I know of more than one male who was killed in a cruel fashion for asking a *much less* direct question. So I enjoy, even relish, being able to ask you directly.~
@761  = ~I thank you for the kind words.~
@762  = ~I always thought life in the Underdark was difficult. Having to be extremely careful with how I acted in order to avoid anger. Never letting on that something wasn't right lest I anger someone with the power to make me suffer... I realize now that while the consequences are not as severe, the care needed in social interactions is not completely different here.~
@763  = ~It is worse, even, because here I completely lack experience. I could well have aroused your anger without even noticing, and I am afraid of doing so because of the consequences I fear should this ever happen. It scares me more than anything I ever had to endure in Ust Natha.~
@764  = ~Not because of any physical repercussions I might suffer. No, what I fear is to hurt you - mentally, and to lose your friendship. But as unusual and exhausting as I find it, I know that it is worth the effort!~
@765  = ~Let us travel on, my friend. Our tasks await.~
@766  = ~I finally understand what Drizzt Do'Urden meant.~ [c#ablank]
@767  = ~You do?~
@768  = ~What do you mean?~
@769  = ~In regards to friendship or the sun?~
@770  = ~Took you long enough!~
@771  = ~Regarding friendship.~
@772  = ~Friendship goes both ways, doesn't it? Even when I already had yours, I was blind to it. It took me until I was ready to give you mine before I could be your friend.~
@773  = ~Drizzt's statement about the sun will always be a mystery to me, although I can think of many ways to interpret it.~
@774  = ~But enough philosophy! We have the rising of a dead god to to prevent.~
@775  = ~You think? I think I was quite quick about it, especially considering the time it took as a fraction of my age.~
@776  = ~I am referring to his explanations about what friendship means.~
@777  = ~Let us move on!~
@778  = ~Certainly. I... should have noticed. I won't pester you with my thoughts any longer.~
@779  = ~I am a fool, thinking I should share my thoughts with you. Maybe it is better this comes to an end now.~

/* scenery_dialogues_soa.d */
@780  = ~The elves aren't aware how lucky they are. Now with House Despana fallen, there will be struggles to fill the power void it created. Many fighters will be called back to the city.~
@781  = ~In addition, you carved some large holes in the drows' ranks when fighting your way to the surface. The elves shouldn't have been so suspicious of you. You served them well in your time down there.~
@782  = ~You may be right.~
@783  = ~I didn't do it for them.~
@784  = ~The elves only do their duty.~
@785  = ~Still, they should be prepared for drow attacks. Now with the silver dragon gone, my kin will be uninhibited.~
@786  = ~I now stand where the megalomaniac House Despana was preparing to invade: the secret elven city. Only I am here to protect it.~
@787  = ~That's right.~
@788  = ~Yes, and I hope for your sake that you will do so.~
@789  = ~Well, considering good Elhan has unleashed his magic on me, I have no other choice.~
@790  = ~Do not doubt my loyalty to your cause.~
@791  = ~The thought alone of how angry Lolth's Handmaidens would be if they could see me here gives me so much childish joy that it is worth helping the elves.~
@792  = ~But not only that, but also the words of my Lady Silverhair shows me the justness of defending this city of surface elves.~
@793  = ~So we met the legendary Drizzt Do'Urden. Nobody talks about him, and yet every drow child knows his name.~
@794  = ~For the meeting? I didn't arrange it.~
@795  = ~What for?~
@796  = ~Indeed. Let us move on.~
@797  = ~I thank you for not stepping in as he reprimanded me like a youngling. I guess he was right. Neither my age nor my experience is of any value here.~
@798  = ~Well, your fighting prowess and magic is worth something, I would say.~
@799  = ~Don't take it to mean more than what he actually said, Solaufein.~
@800  = ~I would like to add something to his words.~
@801  = ~Of course. But you know what I mean.~
@802  = ~Ah?~
@803  = ~Between friends, none of that stuff about manners and language matters at all.  Friends trust each other and realize that there are times when a friend will use a language they do not understand, and that is alright.  With a solid bedrock of trust small rudeness becomes inconsequential.~
@804  = ~He was right about what he said to you. You still have a lot to learn.~
@805  = ~Well, I am sure you will succeed in finding what you are searching for.~
@806  = ~But yes, that is exactly what I am doing, and I think it is the right thing to do with his words, <CHARNAME>.~
@807  = ~That's all there is to it, I suppose.~
@808  = ~I... thank you. Yes, I see what you mean. It is all about how one's actions are perceived by others, isn't it? I wonder why he didn't tell me this as well. Maybe because I have to learn the lesson he told me before taking the next step?~
@809  = ~Indeed I still have a long way to go: In my irritation at being rebuked by him, I forgot to thank him for his advice.~
@810  = ~His words gave me enough to ponder, <CHARNAME>. Consider your promise to introduce me to like-minded people fulfilled. Let us continue our pursuit of your foes.~
@811  = ~Such peace...~
@812  = ~Not so long ago my only thought in this temple would have been how to best go about plundering it.~
@813  = ~Now I stand here in this quiet twilight and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.~
@814  = ~It's dawn. In my former life it meant discovery, betrayal and death. A drow who did not manage to return from a surface raid by the break of dawn was as good as dead.~
@815  = ~Not only does the light give advantage to the surfacers, the sun itself is enemy to the drow with its blinding, searing light.~
@816  = ~Now I am here and can examine the play of light. Only a moment ago it was a gentle glow from over the horizon... and now the low sun on the horizon is in some ways even more blinding that that of the mid-day sun.~
@817  = ~(snort) Let us get a move on and get through another scorching day.~
@818  = ~(Solaufein makes a suppressed grunt.) That sun!...~
@819  = ~(snort) Now I know how a Beholder's victim must feel, weakening with every glare... Am I supposed to get used to that?~
@820  = ~Even for us the direct sunlight can be too bright for our eyes. I can't even imagine how bad it must be for you!~
@821  = ~You'll have to.~
@822  = ~I surely hope so. I don't have a use for a fighter that I need to guide like a blind old uncle during battle!~
@823  = ~Of course not. How disparagingly the drow speak about their slaves who are almost blind in the darkness. Now I experience the same thing.~
@824  = ~You show much understanding where I would have expected spite.~
@825  = ~Your words are surprisingly matter-of-fact.~
@826  = ~How disparagingly the drow speak about their slaves who are almost blind in the darkness! Now I'm experiencing the same disability, but not the same reaction.~
@827  = ~And there is the sun again, shining directly into my face.~
@828  = ~You've changed Solaufein.  You don't avoid the direct sunlight like you used to.~
@829  = ~You can sunbathe another time, Solaufein, we have a lot to do.~
@830  = ~I try to endure the sun, <CHARNAME>. One day I will like the feel of him on my skin, at least I hope so. I realized that even when I am blinded by the sun I can rely on my other senses, much as I would in the darkness of the Underdark. It was the unusual, strange-sounding noises, and other sensations that confused me so much.~
@831  = ~And above all, drow feel uncomfortable in the sun, as it mercilessly exposes us to our enemies. I still fight against this feeling of absolute exposure when his beams hit me. But I'll get over it. I have no choice.~
@832  = ~Hmph. Your sense of humor is second to none!~
@833  = ~(Solaufein shakes off some of the rain.) Hmph. I never thought it would ever seem colder than in the depths of the Underdark, but here, soaked and in the wind, I shake like a naked toddler. The only advantage of this weather is it blocks the direct sunlight!~
@834  = ~I feel a strange longing for the warming rays of the sun. I do fear, however, that I won't remember my longing when he really comes out again.~
@835  = ~The moon!...~
@836  = ~Forgive me. I have never before had the opportunity to look at the sign of my revered goddess in peace.~
@837  = ~But surely you've seen the moon before?~
@838  = ~It's alright. You already said how much you want to see the moon. Now you have all the time you want.~
@839  = ~Indeed! As a true follower of Eilistraee you could take off your clothes and dance naked through the moon light.~
@840  = ~You still don't have it. We have things to do!~
@841  = ~The last time I could have looked at the moon I wasn't even half as old as I am today - an over-ambitious drow warrior, my head full of the Spider Queen's dogma. The light of the full moon would only have blinded and betrayed me.~
@842  = ~I didn't mean to seem idle... I will look up from time to time as we move forward. I can enjoy the gentle light it casts off, compared to the sun, without the worries it once would have held for me.~
@843  = ~That is alright. I didn't mean to seem idle. I will probably find more opportunities to admire the glowing disk in the sky.~
@844  = ~Not really. The full moon is much too bright for the drow to feel comfortable in its light. Not that it would dazzle us, but the moonlight permeates the darkness and makes it difficult to hide in the shadows.~
@845  = ~(snort!)~

/* c#solaufein_interjections.D */
/* #58981 for male drow/Solaufein */
@846  = ~They will pay close attention to your next statement, especially since you are already damned for having a drow traveling with you.~
/* #58982 for male drow/Solaufein */
@847  = ~Oh sure, I have Solaufein, don't I? That means I *must* be a servant of the drow.~
/* #58987 for male drow/Solaufein */
@848  = ~Especially since there is still the matter of the drow you bring with you. I will return to him later, rest assured.~
/* #59231 for male drow/Solaufein */
@849  = ~Keep that drow of yours under guard. None of his kind has seen the beauty of an elven city since their fall. I would blindfold him if I could. Others would put his eyes out.~
/* #59129 for male drow/Solaufein */
@850  = ~Unfortunately, I must bring up a final point of contention. I said I would return to the drow, and now is the time. I will not allow him to accompany you.~
@851  = ~You are back! But what do I see? Another drow, right in the middle of your ranks! Have you reneged on your promise, to let one of our enemies accompany you?!~
@852  = ~I am not here to put your city in danger, Elhan. I stand before you because I have turned my back on the drow.~
/* #59139 for male drow/Solaufein */
@853  = ~Well, just kill him then. That will solve your little problem.~
/* #59140 for male drow/Solaufein */
@854  = ~I cannot do this without my companions. He must go with me.~
/* #59141 for male drow/Solaufein */
@855  = ~Very well, there is one way that I will allow him to partake in our plans. He must first swear loyalty to you and your cause, <CHARNAME>.~
@856  = ~That I will do without hesitation, Elhan. I swear loyalty to <CHARNAME>, as long as <PRO_HESHE> needs my support.~
/* #59142 for male drow/Solaufein */
@857  = ~And he must agree to a geas. That is the only way.~
@858  = ~A... a geas? I know it is much to have trust in me, Elhan, but I will not betray you even without such a measure.~
/* #59144 for male drow/Solaufein */
@859  = ~With the casting of this spell, my doubts are assuaged. You are bound to the task, and I fear no treachery. Let death be the penalty if I am wrong.~
@860  = ~I swore loyalty to <CHARNAME>. Apply your geas to me then, if you think it necessary.~
@861  = ~I really hope that you're being sarcastic, <CHARNAME>.~
@862  = ~That should be sufficient... Although I would have preferred to not rely on your drow allies, <CHARNAME>, go, and bring the Lanthorn back to us!~
@863  = ~Moving on to your male drow companion... If my mages could not read your intentions so thoroughly, I would believe that you are working with the drow.~
@864  = ~Solaufein, you too are now bound to the task, and I fear no treason.~
@865  = ~No, I cannot support that, <CHARNAME>. This drow represents what I want to achieve!~
@866  = ~A drow fighting by my side! That hasn't happened in a long time.~
@867  = ~Ah. So you attacked because of the reputation of my people? Then why do you travel with a drow warrior? I do not see you attacking *him*.~
@868  = ~Solaufein is an outcast, and he has proven that he can be trusted.~
@869  = ~I don't trust him more than you. He is with me because I have a use for him.~
@870  = ~Solaufein is unique among the drow, and my trust in him is absolute.~
@871  = ~So even though he is drow you do not raise your hand against him. Then why did you attack me? I too have abandoned the drow... You will find that I am very different, even from your drow friend.~
@872  = ~Interesting. Maybe you're not the same <PRO_RACE> I met. A lot can change in a relatively short period of time... I know that well.~
@873  = ~Wait!~
@874  = ~You are Drizzt Do'Urden from Menzoberranzan? A renegate from Lolth! I have been searching for you... for drow like you.~
@875  = ~Hm, good to hear. But I see you travelling with this <PRO_RACE>. Are you sure you picked the right leader for this task?~
@876  = ~I do not know what has happened between you. <CHARNAME> has been generous towards me.~
@877  = ~That's what I like to hear. Do not despair. You're going to lose a lot of your abilities up here. But you will find a freedom you could not have imagined.~
@878  = ~But I don't want to raise any false hopes. You are the enemy of the surfacers, and the majority will always remain hostile to you and hunt you down no matter what you do. Remember this, and seek out the few who are well-disposed towards you.~
@879  = ~Never give up the search, friend. But do not forget to pay attention to the world around you while you do. Otherwise, you might miss a friend you didn't know you had, or could even have.~
@880  = ~I... Usstan ssrig'luin ulu joros dos folbol.  Lu'oh xun usstan u'thet folggash?~
@881  = ~My ears have not heard the sound of this language for a long time. Why do you ask me? Why don't you ask your companion?~
@882  = ~Isn't it obvious? We have more in common. You can explain it to me in a way that I can better understand.~
@883  = ~You have great confidence in me. How can I explain something in a few sentences that can only really be understood through extensive personal experience? But I don't want to leave you with nothing, so I will try.~
@884  = ~But first ask the question again so that your companion can understand our conversation.~
@885  = ~I... I asked how to recognize friendship.~
@886  = ~Friendship is based on trust. As long as you do not trust the other, you do not call him your friend.~
@887  = ~But friendship also means that you have no need to conceal your speech from your friend by speaking a language they do not understand.  You do not need to keep secrets from a friend.~
@888  = ~To make friends, you must be polite. And politeness, my friend, means that you do not address a stranger in a language he has tried to forget for decades.~
@889  = ~I...~
@890  = ~Forgive me.~
@891  = ~Well, I think I understand why you chose this language for your question. You may have left the cruel world down there behind you, but I can see that you are aware that this one can be at least as cruel. You are nervous, and you feel fear. Fear that your inexperience will be interpreted as weakness.~
@892  = ~But friendship also means that the other person does not take advantage of your weaknesses and stands by your side, whether in battle or providing a sympathetic ear to your toubles.~
@893  = ~Like I said, you have a long way to go to get there. You have shown great courage in leaving the underworld and the cruel world of the drow. I respect that.~
@894  = ~(snort) Courage? If you want to call it that. I *flew* from there, betrayed and defenseless.~
@895  = ~Yes, courage. Because only those who tame their fear are brave. And that's why I have good hopes that you'll be able to make friends. Never forget: the sun is not your enemy.~
@896  = ~But now, my friends, we have to move on.~
@897  = ~In case I complained about people's hostile *gazes*, I herewith take it back. Good man, I impose no threat to you. I came to the surface in search of those who are not evil.~
@898  = ~While I may not agree with the rather drastic actions you suggest... I do agree with your description of my people.~
@899  = ~I am afraid this is going to end badly.~
@900  = ~All my life I have been taught that the elves are my greatest enemy. And now it is an elf, a traitor to his people, who threatens us the most.~
@901  = ~Solaufein, the drow, who flees the cruel world of his people. He joined you after you saved him. Will he follow you here too?~
@902  = ~This is my fight, Solaufein. You do not have to come with me.~
@903  = ~You have seen how dangerous Irenicus is, Solaufein. You do not have to go any further.~
@904  = ~Are you ready and determined for this fight, Solaufein? I need to be able to count on you when we go down there.~
@905  = ~Nowhere you could take me would be as cruel as where you saved me from, <CHARNAME>. You saved me from being turned into a drider and provided me protection here on the surface. To support you in your fight for your soul is the right thing to do.~
@906  = ~(snort) It appears I must eat my words, and sooner than I thought possible.  Our current whereabouts is much worse than the drider caverns you freed me from, <CHARNAME>.~
@907  = ~But I am here, and I will support you as best as I can. And not only because you are probably the only way out of this place...~

/* C#SOLAUB.D */
@908  = ~Imoen, You are... a child of Bhaal as well.~
@909  = ~Looks like it, yes.~
@910  = ~Actually it should not surprise me that children of the Bhaal get together, at least temporarily.~
@911  = ~Only <CHARNAME> and I have known each other long before either of us learned of our heritages.~
@912  = ~That is exactly...~
@913  = ~Wait a moment, what do you mean by 'temporarily'?!~
@914  = ~Anomen, your god is the god of duty and vigilance?~
@915  = ~Yes, he is.~
@916  = ~He is also the god of Sir Ajantis, Solaufein. Why don't you ask him? I am sure he can explain Helm's dogmas even better than I can.~
@917  = ~Because it's so much more interesting to talk to you about him, Sir Anomen.~
@918  = ~Why do you ask?~
@919  = ~You're not really interested in asking me about the dogma of my god, are you?~
@920  = ~Indeed I am. I watch your daily internal struggles to follow the dogma of your god with great interest.~
@921  = ~How lucky for me to have a drow watching my every move. What makes you an expert on my 'internal struggles'?!~
@922  = ~Oh, I'm not an expert of your internal struggles in particular, but I am well able to recognize the bearing of someone who bears an inner conflict but does not wish to show it.  Sir Anomen, you could say that in this area I am definitely what you could call an 'expert' based on my life experiences.~
@923  = ~[Jaheira]Solaufein, stay more to my left and protect our flanks!~
@924  = ~[Jaheira]...It provides better coverage against enemy rogues.~
@925  = ~[Solaufein]Yes, Jaheira. I will do so right away!~
@926  = ~[Solaufein]...It... also gives you a better angle to keep an eye on me, the *drow*?~
@927  = ~[Jaheira]That... is true, but it was not my intention. <CHARNAME> obviously trusts you, so we should make the best of it. I was thinking about the best tactical formation against unexpected attacks.~
@928  = ~[Solaufein]You did, and I still agree. Yet, when you commanded me so sternly, I jumped to obey like you were one of the Handmaidens.  Who would have thought that though the Priestesses of Lolth always claimed that the elves were our natural hated enemies, I would still find so many similarities in your mannerisms.~
@929  = ~[Jaheira]You think I behave like a drow female? The comparison is ridiculous, Solaufein!~
@930  = ~[Solaufein]Considering my head is still attached to my body it was an inappropriate comparison, indeed. I do recognize that you are nothing like them, Jaheira. It was your tone - spoken by a female in a potential combat situation... It seems my conditioning to follow such commands without question in the heat of the moment runs deeper than I thought.~
@931  = ~[Jaheira]I wanted to communicate clearly and succinctly. A potential combat situation is no place for excessive wordiness. Yet... you are not the first one to tell me that my tone might sound harsh and commanding at times. I will... tone it down in the future.~
@932  = ~[Solaufein]You are probably not surprised that I find it difficult to name most of the plants we encounter, but it may surprise you that this is mostly because I am seeing them in the light of the day for the first time, not in the dim light of the night.~
@933  = ~[Jaheira]That, indeed, is a reason I didn't expect. Well, if you have any questions concerning the plants we encounter, especially the fruit-bearing trees, edible roots, and herbs then do not hesitate to profit from my knowledge.~
@934  = ~Solaufein, how much do you know about the surface world's flora?~
@935  = ~If <CHARNAME> allowed it, I would have challenged you openly and, if you accepted, I would have killed you in honourable combat.~
@936  = ~I see. I think I will enjoy my time in your company, Mazzy.~
@937  = ~[Solaufein]You would teach me? I am surprised and humbled, Jaheira. I thank you in advance for your offer.~
@938  = ~[Jaheira]It's not charity, Solaufein. <CHARNAME> decided we travel together, so I would prefer not to be accidentally poisoned at our next meal.~
@939  = ~[Solaufein]I see. I will try not to poison you accidentally, then.~
@940  = ~[Jaheira]That sounded... Never mind.~
@941  = ~My apologies, Solaufein, for staring at you repeatedly.~
@942  = ~I noticed, Mazzy. Do not worry, I am becoming accustomed to people taking a long look at me, the drow.~
@943  = ~Yes, I was being rude - I am trying to decide whether I should trust you.~
@944  = ~You have been honest with us so far, and I believe you are more kindhearted than you let on. I believe I shall.~
@945  = ~Bold words for such a small warrior, but I do appreciate your honesty. What if you had found me duplicitous?~
@946  = ~Mazzy, where did you learn to fight so fiercely?~
@947  = ~Why? Because I am a tiny halfling? Should I be witless and weak, needing your protection?~
@948  = ~You remind me of our svirfneblin, the deep gnomes. They are brave and fearless, but their warriors do not have the physical strength to stand against our fighters. But you are not only skilled and brave but also as strong as any I have known.~
@949  = ~(sigh) You are traveling in an unfamiliar culture, so I will forgive your impertinence. I was taught to fight first by my father and later by the local militia. There are many brave fighters among my people, but most stay near to and defend their homes.~
@950  = ~If the svirfneblin villages had warriors of your combat strength, the drow in the neighborhood would have lost sooner or later, Mazzy.~
@951  = ~I do like that idea.~
@952  = ~Jan, you're a droll fellow.~
@953  = ~Oh, such a start to a conversation rarely goes anywhere good.~
@954  = ~Your style, your stories, the fantastical whimsy of them...~
@955  = ~Fantasy? They all happened for real and are nothing but the truth!~
@956  = ~That is exactly what I mean. I never met someone like you in the Underdark. Of course, no one would expect to among the drow, but I have never encountered someone like you among the other races either. If there were any they did not show themselves, obviously.~
@957  = ~I know, everything in honor of the Spider Queen and all the fun for the Handmaidens of Lolth.~
@958  = ~Amusingly expressed, but very true.~
@959  = ~So, the elf with the dark skin wonders why Minsc carries a hamster with him?~
@960  = ~Well... To be honest, I wondered in Ust Natha why you don't have more than one.~
@961  = ~More? Is the dark elf saying that he thinks hamsters on a warrior are a normal sight?~
@962  = ~As I said... I would normally expect to see more than one.~
@963  = ~Is this true? Boo would like to know why the warriors the dark elves would take many hamsters with them.~
@964  = ~The same reason you would take small, plump animals that are easily transported on long journeys alongside weapons, munition, water, and other kind of equipment... Minsc, I don't think you want to know.~
@965  = ~Sarevok, I have never seen a person in pursuit of their goals as determined as you are.~
@966  = ~Determined... and successful!~
@967  = ~Successful? You mock me!  You speak as though I were still the most powerful Bhaal child and the world trembled in terror of my wrath.~
@968  = ~Life would be dreary if goals did not change in the course of it, Sarevok. The truly successful recognize the opportunities that exist in a situation and are able to seize them!~
@969  = ~Oh, I think I stepped on a spider... Did you hear that crackle?~
@970  = ~I've heard it said that every call of a tortured spider is heard by your goddess of spiders, Solaufein. Is it true?~
@971  = ~She is not 'my' goddess.~
@972  = ~I'm sure she has a different opinion on that. Do you not count on her vengeance for your defection?~
@973  = ~(snort) Try harder if you want to scare me, Korgan.~
@974  = ~Oh, I'm not trying to scare you elf, merely curious how soundly you sleep here on the surface.  I'd expect your elven arse to be quaking in your boots, what with you exposed to your goddess's vengeance here on the surface where you are weak and among strangers.~ 
@975  = ~I came to the surface in search of a less brutal society... And yet I discover that you lost your wings to the cruelty of humans, Aerie. I don't know if I should be disappointed that I did not leave senseless evil behind in the Underdark...~
@976  = ~Or whether I should be relieved that at least this cruelty was not committed by the drow.~
@977  = ~There... there is evil in every people, Solaufein.~
@978  = ~That is probably true, but there are varying intensities. If it had been drow, you would not be alive.~
@979  = ~I... I'm not sure that's a comfort, Solaufein.~
@980  = ~It wasn't meant as one.~
@981  = ~There may be more truth in your words than you realize. I lost my wings to malignant neglect, and yet the slavers chose to save my life even though I would rather have died... I know very well that I had great luck in my misfortune to be saved by Quayle.~ 
@982  = ~Solaufein, are you poking your food because you don't like it or because you are trying to find something that isn't there?~
@983  = ~Mazzy, I was taught to be suspicious for several centuries and I will not put aside those lessons now. And yet... so far, surfacers have not poisoned my food or drink.~
@984  = ~They detest me for sure; they look at me askance, with a mixture of fear and loathing; yet I have checked every meal and mug, but the food remains clean.~
@985  = ~Clean? That's what I'd rarely call human cooking. Most of the food we consume is barely edible. But yes, it is poison free.~
@986  = ~Humans may fear and hate what they do not understand, but most of them will not act on it. Someone may try to poison us yet, but it will likely be a targeted attack, not a random act of hatred.~
@987  = ~Valygar, I understand you have experience living a life of secrecy?~
@988  = ~Ha! If you want to phrase it like that, then yes. But it wasn't by choice, it was just the only way to survive my family. All I wanted was peace and safety.~
@989  = ~A goal shared by many... and I can well understand why.~
@990  = ~Keldorn, I notice your frequent glances in my direction. I can see that you are unsure what to make of me.~
@991  = ~Indeed. Your appearance repulses me as it reminds me of the wickedness and corruption of the society to which you belonged and which has shaped you for centuries. It's hard not to hold that against you.~
@992  = ~The normal reaction to the sight of one such as I. I do not blame you.~
@993  = ~I left all that behind when I left the Underdark, paladin. At least I am trying to.~
@994  = ~Someone who has abandoned everything he once possessed, the place he once called home, who has broken off all contact and connection to his roots gives me just as much concern. Such a person has nothing to lose, no more inhibitions, nothing to hold him back.~
@995  = ~A wise notion.~
@996  = ~Cernd, I see that you believe in your role as a protector of the wild natural world. How do you feel about the Underdark? Nature is very different there, compared to the surface.~
@997  = ~Nature is the blooming, the breathing variety of life in its multiple forms. I do not see this in the Underdark, drow.~
@998  = ~Oh, but the Underdark teems with life, oftentimes in places you wouldn't expect.~
@999  = ~It might be nature, Solaufein, but it is tainted. That is my belief.~
@1000 = ~Edwin, let me get this straight. You pursued rare magic which promised to give you unimaginable power and ended up transformed into a female?~
@1001 = ~By the...! (Even this idiot can't help bringing that up.) I think everyone is aware of *that* incident by now, but thanks for bringing it up one more time.~
@1002 = ~I was merely surprised to hear that some surfacer spells are granted in accordance with the hierarchical structure of drow society; linking the greatest imaginable power with being a female. It is something that I would have only expected from the most devious, powerful Handmaiden of Lolth.~
@1003 = ~The 'hierarchical structure of drow society' was about the last I was thinking of at that moment, drow!~
@1004 = ~Of course. I just thought the parallels were interesting.~
@1005 = ~Edwin, I don't understand your motives. Why are you still at <CHARNAME>'s side?~
@1006 = ~The bonds formed through shared adventures! Campfire romanticism! Deep personal bonds!~
@1007 = ~A man like you should be capable of friendship?~
@1008 = ~(Alright, now he's getting cocky.) Now you are getting cocky. Look who's talking, hm? Did you hear the rattling and clinking of your glass house when you threw the stone?~
@1009 = ~You... are right. I may not be the right person to call your motives into doubt.~
@1010 = ~Ha! I wasn't finished with my list. Helping to influence fate! Securing the biggest piece of the cake! Laughing in the face of the other Bhaal children! Becoming the most powerful mage in all of Faerűn!~
@1011 = ~Well, that sounds more like you.~
@1012 = ~My reasons could be manifold! Take your pick!~
@1013 = ~I see you, female.~
@1014 = ~Ah, so the male can talk. I was wondering if I should demand your respect.~
@1015 = ~Demand respect... oh yes. Aren't we both here to leave drow society behind?~
@1016 = ~That doesn't mean I have to take insolence from you.~ 
@1017 = ~Haer'Dalis, I apologize for the rudeness, but I have to say it...~
@1018 = ~So, you are a tiefling.~
@1019 = ~Well spotted! And I have to say, I do believe you are a drow.~
@1020 = ~Indeed!~
@1021 = ~And I was able to recognize you as a drow, despite one drow looking alike another, for the eye untrained to the subtleties of the Underdark! This sparrow is a most resourceful one, is he not...?~
@1022 = ~Solaufein, I have the distinct impression that you are looking at me.  Is it not so, my black wolf of the Underdark?~
@1023 = ~Solaufein, did you not encounter other tieflings in your city of black wolves?~
@1024 = ~I admit I did, Haer'Dalis. I could not help but wonder what my Matron Mother would have thought of you, should you and your troupe have appeared at her doorstep.~
@1025 = ~Does my black wolf of the Underdark doubt we could entertain a Matron Mother?~
@1026 = ~Absolutely not. I am just not sure the entertainment the Matron Mother would compel from your troupe would have anything to do with theatre, Haer'Dalis.~
@1027 = ~I did, but only a few. There are seldom any visits from the outer planes to the realms of the drow, and if there are the drow see to stopping it very quickly.~
@1028 = ~So, no story worth telling? No encounter that left an impression on you so great you would like to share it with the rest?~
@1029 = ~Whatever my experiences with tieflings' encounters in the past, Haer'Dalis, believe me when I say it's not a story that would make for amusing theatre.~
@1030 = ~Imoen, I didn't want to imply anything about your and <CHARNAME>'s relationship when I spoke recently. My choice of words was clumsy. I was referring to the arbitrary associations of Bhaal children, that form currently out of reasons of convenience.~
@1031 = ~I'm aware of that, Solaufein.~
@1032 = ~Although the choice of words was *really* inappropriate, considering that <CHARNAME> and I were temporarily... well, separated.~
@1033 = ~Stop wrinkling your forehead in self-recrimination! Your remark wasn't *that* bad. I won't accept blame for your wrinkles!~
@1034 = ~Mazzy, you seem amazingly unexcited about all the things that are happening around <CHARNAME> and those of us who follow <PRO_HIMHER>.~
@1035 = ~Should I act otherwise? One must be calm to be ready to act with courage and conviction. Panic would only lead to confusion and an ineffective response.~
@1036 = ~Wise words - ones that all fighters attempt to live by, though most do not survive long enough to succeed.~
@1037 = ~But you have. How did you achieve your level of calmness, Solaufein? No matter the opponent, you never waiver.~
@1038 = ~Practice, Mazzy. I have killed enough enemies to last you five lifetimes. Also, I know by now that getting flustered wouldn't be any use.~
@1039 = ~True.~
@1040 = ~Tell me, Anomen. Why Helm?~
@1041 = ~Why did you choose the god of duty, vigilance and protection when a god with... impulsive aggressiveness would suit you so much better?~
@1042 = ~'Suit me better'?! How should I react to such insolence?~
@1043 = ~That's what I mean. Your initial reaction is impulsive. Ah, yes, and now I see how your mind intervenes and you remember the dogmas of your god. Is it not a perpetual struggle to avoid giving into your first impulses?~
@1044 = ~Where is this stupid talk going? Are you accusing me of betraying my god?!~
@1045 = ~What? No, didn't you listen to what I said?~
@1046 = ~Solaufein, do you not understand why I choose to follow a god who demands that I act deliberately, attentively and wisely?~
@1047 = ~What is wrong with living your life according to the dogmas of your god, even if it requires effort and self-control, Solaufein? There is nothing wrong with it, as long as the dogmas embody what you strive for in your life!~
@1048 = ~To the contrary, I understand perfectly well why you have chosen this god.  And yet would your life not be plagued by far less self-doubt had you made a different choice?~
@1049 = ~This argument is spurious and pointless. I could just as well confront you with turning away from the most powerful goddess of the drow, and all the anguish and difficulties this decision has caused you. And yet you made the choice because you find yourself in agreement with Eilistraee's dogma.~
@1050 = ~True, and well spoken.~
@1051 = ~So you think a sense of duty is desirable?~
@1052 = ~Absolutely!~
@1053 = ~Absolutely? Well, I think it's desirable, but only if it doesn't lead to meaningless actions.~
@1054 = ~Meaningless? How could doing your duty be meaningless, Solaufein? Don't question the duty of a knight to sacrifice his own well-being for others! It is never pointless to fight for others.~
@1055 = ~I wasn't referring to that. No, I meant the knight who perseveres at his task that serves no end - out of a sense of duty. He achieves nothing, he accomplishes nothing, he exhausts his powers for nothing. Then it's meaningless.~
@1056 = ~But then your knight has neglected his duty to shepherd his own strength, to be prepared, to know where he should be!~
@1057 = ~If I didn't know better, I would accuse you of having a simple view of things.~
@1058 = ~Solaufein, I am surprised by your limited magic abilities.~
@1059 = ~Solaufein, calling my reason for traveling with <CHARNAME> 'adventuring' is not completely fair.~
@1060 = ~Well, <PRO_HESHE> helped me a great deal by fighting with me to retake my home, so I feel kind of... obligated to <CHARNAME>. But after all that happened... I just couldn't stay there any longer. Without the people I cared for, it no longer felt like the home I once knew.~
@1061 = ~Solaufein, can you not understand the urge to flee the limiting restrictions of what you once called home, a society full of rules and expectations about your appearance and behaviour?~
@1062 = ~Imagining my aunt's face when next we meet, after all that has happened!...~
@1063 = ~...You did notice my repeated complaints about how greatly they have diminished since I left the Underdark?~
@1064 = ~I am talking about your ability to throw spells. You don't seem to be able to chose which spells you use each day. I was taught that the drow are a magical race. I always... imagined every drow to be able to draw from a pool of magic spells, provided by their Spider Queen.~
@1065 = ~In the Underdark I could use quite a few magical tricks, but I am not a mage - I am a fighter.  I have never been able to switch between different spells like a mage can do.~
@1066 = ~But you had magical abilities far beyond any surfacer.~
@1067 = ~Indeed I did. In a way I still do... How common is it to encounter a fighter, not trained in magical traditions, with the magic I possess?~
@1068 = ~Well, I guess it still doesn't compare to what I imagined.~
@1069 = ~That, I am afraid, is a complaint you'll have to address somewhere else.~
@1070 = ~Nalia, you set out to seek help to rescue your keep from a monster invasion.~
@1071 = ~And then you remained at <CHARNAME>'s side for what? Adventuring?~
@1072 = ~Oh, but it is so much more than that. I took it as an opportunity to get out and help making this world a better place.~
@1073 = ~We have that in common, have we not? You are also here because you set out to make your society a better place.~
@1074 = ~With the little difference that I am mainly at <CHARNAME>'s side because I am a refugee, hoping to find likeminded drow while at the surface.~
@1075 = ~Well...~
@1076 = ~And from *there* I'll set out and try to bring my people a better society.~
@1077 = ~I can relate to the sentiment... But you can still return home, if you wish to.~
@1078 = ~Nalia, I fled from torture, brutality and death. The restrictions and rules you speak of seem rather small in comparison.~
@1079 = ~That is because you are not trained to see the different shades of a surface world's life, Solaufein. I assure you my reasons to leave my home are well justified.~
@1080 = ~I did not say I doubt it.~
@1081 = ~You mean all the blood on our hands? Or the sand of these faraway lands in our hair?~
@1082 = ~I *meant* the being at the center of divine interventions, the travelling at the side of the chosen one, the shaping of destiny!~
@1083 = ~Are we doing this?~
@1084 = ~Are we not?~
@1085 = ~So, what do you think she would say, your aunt?~
@1086 = ~(sigh) She would probably scold me for not wiping my boots in an appropriately lady-like manner upon entering.~
@1087 = ~Jaheira, what plant is this? It resembles a herb I saw in a book...~
@1088 = ~It's a herb. Adding three leaves to a pot of soup gives it a distinct but delicious flavor.~
@1089 = ~Three leaves of this? Do you add them whole, or in tiny pieces?~
@1090 = ~Three whole leaves, and when the soup is ready to be eaten, you take the leaves out.  They are not meant to be eaten.~
@1091 = ~So their spice is welcome but they themselves are not. I see. Thank you, druid.~
@1092 = ~Jan, there's another reason why there are none like you in the Underdark.~
@1093 = ~Because they were fed to the spiders a long time ago?~
@1094 = ~No. Because there are no turnips!~
@1095 = ~Wha... That was my line!~
@1096 = ~Valygar, did you become a ranger to hide in nature, or were you a ranger before circumstances forced you to go into hiding?~
@1097 = ~I always felt strongly connected to nature. I do not believe that a person on the run can learn to win the trust of wild animals if they didn't have that connection with nature from the start.~
@1098 = ~Everyone retreats to what they feel most comfortable with if they need to hide I suppose. Others might feel more at ease in the anonymity of a big city. That was never the place for me.~
@1099 = ~Yes, you have to hide where you feel most at ease... or flee completely, far away from the realm of your enemies. That is what I have done...~
@1100 = ~Great warrior from Rashemen.~
@1101 = ~Drow warrior from the Underdark!~
@1102 = ~You are right, addressing someone like this sounds dramatic.~
@1103 = ~Boo says he likes Minsc being addressed this way. He misses it from Rashemen where it was used more often!~
@1104 = ~Boo was with you back then already? I thought...~
@1105 = ~Boo says, that is not important.~
@1106 = ~As you wish, great warrior from Rashemen!~
@1107 = ~We will continue our conversation at a later time.~
@1108 = ~Sarevok, goals and possibilities change in life as I already said. Look at me: not two centuries ago I would have glady removed the head of any who dared to defile the Spider Queen's name, and I would have done it with the eagerness of a full believer. Now on the other hand...~
@1109 = ~We both travel at <CHARNAME>'s side.~
@1110 = ~Yes, but I was saved by <CHARNAME> from my imminent doom, or I wouldn't be here.~
@1111 = ~And that isn't true for me as well?~
@1112 = ~Pardon? Well, I suppose you could phrase it that way if it suits you. I, on the other hand, think receiving a fragment of Bhaal essence was the last step you needed to bring your plan to fruition.  You had everything prepared and laid out; you were able to set the conditions for this deal. <CHARNAME> had no choice but to restore you.~
@1113 = ~Presented like this it does indeed sound fantastic. But you have forgotten the despair and sense of hopelessness from which the whole thing was born.~
@1114 = ~Imoen, it is remarkable that you and <CHARNAME>, after growing up almost like siblings, now actually share the fate of the Bhaal children through the blood of your divine father.~
@1115 = ~(sigh) Tell me about it.~
@1116 = ~Actually, thinking about it it's more like <CHARNAME> is sharing with me, so to say. I feel like the dumb little sister coming late to the party... Doesn't mean I'd like to switch places, though.~
@1117 = ~Imoen, has your... heritage started to show?~
@1118 = ~I have dreams... It reminds me strongly of what <CHARNAME> went through.~
@1119 = ~Let's hope <PRO_HESHE>'ll finish <PRO_HISHER> destiny-shaping before I start turning into the slayer or some giant werechicken.~
@1120 = ~To answer your recent question, Korgan: Yes, Lolth guards her beloved spiders, and she likes to punish any misdeed against them.  Or rather, she likes to let them dole out the punishments to be precise.~
@1121 = ~Are you trying to scare me now?~
@1122 = ~What? No, I am simply answering the question you posed.~
@1123 = ~And yes, she most likely sees me as a renegade. But would a goddess bother to come after me personally... I don't think that's very likely. She can trust my kin to do the job for her.~
@1124 = ~But keep on squashing small spiders on our path. If you collect enough of them under your shoes it might attract her attention.~
@1125 = ~Aerie, it is indeed true that you endured a serious stroke of fate. However, when faced with such a burden it is important to not weaken oneself even further.~
@1126 = ~What... what do you mean by that? I might not be as physically strong as you, but I keep up quite fine.~
@1127 = ~Avariel, I never said you are weak. Your mastery of your profession and the skill and reliability with which you use it despite your evident anxiety indicates great mental strength.~
@1128 = ~But I also see a weakness, and it is largely due to a despondency of spirit. One that must be overcome by strength of will.~
@1129 = ~Are you referring to me and the suffering I went through because I lost my wings?!~
@1130 = ~Yes. Trying to hold on to what is irretrievably lost weakens the mind - always.~
@1131 = ~Th-That's easy for you to say! I have been cruelly mutilated and stolen from my home at a young age. You don't seem to understand that these scars are not easily shaken off, Solaufein.~ 
@1132 = ~Minsc, I have to acknowledge my respect for one of your strengths.~
@1133 = ~Minsc is used to his strength being noted.~
@1134 = ~Well, it's not directly related to that...~
@1135 = ~What I was referring to is your ability to provide for this animal who lives in your backpack despite all the things we do and encounter. I am impressed.~
@1136 = ~The drow warrior is referring to Boo? Minsc would never let Boo come to harm!~
@1137 = ~I know that, and I am impressed that your Boo doesn't get hurt accidently, either.~
@1138 = ~Boo can watch out for himself very well as well!~
@1139 = ~Always for the eyes, Minsc, I know.~
@1140 = ~Valygar, we visit forests only seldom of late. Do you miss the animals of your forest?~
@1141 = ~It is unfamiliar, indeed. But as a ranger I feel connected to all of nature, Solaufein.~
@1142 = ~You are far away now, though, which was never your plan.~
@1143 = ~I am not sure why I would tell you this, but yes, we are far away from my forest. I would prefer being back there, living a quiet life in my hut in the wild. But I also am quite aware that it is currently not an option!~
@1144 = ~There is nothing I could achieve while staying in my forest, Solaufein. I could spend my time tending to the frightened animals fleeing the conflicts that have errupted all around us, probably cursing destiny. No, there is more I can do for the nature I love and the return of tranquility to my forest in these foreign lands by helping shape destiny at <CHARNAME>'s side.~
@1145 = ~Keldorn, if I pointed out that I have not been able to leave all the indoctrination of my people behind - it is hard to cut all roots to what one has known all one's life, does that help you relax more around me in any way?~
@1146 = ~I beg your pardon? Of course not.~
@1147 = ~Of course not. Just checking.~
@1148 = ~It was worth asking, though.~
@1149 = ~I will continue to watch you closely, Solaufein.~
@1150 = ~You will do that, and I can't blame you.~
@1151 = ~[Solaufein]Cernd, do you believe every aspect of nature in the Underdark to be corrupted? There are... beautiful places. Just consider the vast variety in luminescent fungi...~
@1152 = ~[Cernd]Yes, those are beautiful as well as fascinating, and every cave that contains them is a wonder of nature on its own.~
@1153 = ~But the Underdark... It lacks the cycle of life caused by the cycle of day and night. It is always night in the Underdark, but there is no open sky, no stars, no moon to look at. The creatures of the underdark never know the beauty and pull of the moon, the symbol of the Silver Lady.~
@1154 = ~[Cernd Shapeshifter]I... I missed the soothing light of the moon myself, when I traveled the Underdark. Maybe that is why it feels so corrupted to me.~
@1155 = ~[Cernd]But there are only a few animals living in the Underdark. Most creatures down there I would call 'monsters'.~
@1156 = ~[Solaufein]I see what you mean. Yes, there are only a few of what you would call animals here on the surface native to the Underdark. Little wonder we drow would take in spiders and call them 'pets'... You do not need to convince me of the corrupted nature of the Underdark, Cernd. I think the drow and their culture is the best example about how right you are.~ 
@1157 = ~[Solaufein]Cernd, you... took your child from the man who hold him after his mother's death.~
@1158 = ~[Cernd]Yes, and I would do so any time again. I am his father, it is my responsibility that he will be raised in a good manner.~
@1159 = ~[Solaufein]But you will not raise him yourself, as it would be custom for a surfacer - because you are convinced that he will be better raised by your fellow druids in the grove.~
@1160 = ~[Cernd]Yes. I understand that people are criticizing my decision and expect me to take care of him myself, but I do it because it is best for him. I am not a good father, as I was not a good husband to my wife.~
@1161 = ~[Solaufein]If I would have to characterize this behavior, I would call it -~
@1162 = ~Sir Anomen, rarely I have seen someone as much in need of guidance as you are...~
@1163 = ~What insolence is this? Another attempt of telling me how inadequate I am?~
@1164 = ~Maybe. But my point is, that you are in need of guidance and so you chose well. Your god, your leader, both chosen wisely in support of your goal.~
@1165 = ~Wisely chosen? I did not 'chose' Helm, as it was he who accepted my prayers to become his priest. I did not chose <CHARNAME>, as <PRO_HESHE> welcomed me as <PRO_HISHER> comrade in arms when I approached <PRO_HIMHER>.~
@1166 = ~Oh, but you have not betrayed your god, nor have you abandoned <CHARNAME>, Sir Anomen, but let them guide and lead you. You have had far greater input into shaping your destiny than you let yourself believe.~
@1167 = ~T'is a strange way to tell me that I have had a say in my destiny, but... No, I do not believe you are truly complimenting me. I will turn your statement around until I find the insult that's hidden in it.~
@1168 = ~You are welcome.~
@1169 = ~Anomen, rarely I have seen someone as much in need of guidance as you are...~
@1170 = ~Maybe. But my point is, that you are in need of guidance and so you chose well. Your god, your leader, both chosen wisely to mirror your personality, to free you from any restraints and show your true colors.~
@1171 = ~Wisely chosen? I did not 'chose' my god, as it was he who accepted me after Helm abandoned me. I did not chose <CHARNAME>, as <PRO_HESHE> welcomed me as <PRO_HIMHER> comrade in arms when I approached <PRO_HIMHER>.~
@1172 = ~Oh, but you accepted the offer of your new patron god, and neither did you abandon <CHARNAME>, Anomen, but let <PRO_HIMHER> lead you. You have had far greater input into shaping your destiny than you let yourself believe.~
@1173 = ~Why did you insist on bringing up that accursed spell, Solaufein?~
@1174 = ~Do you suggest I try to sell it to the highest bidder in the Underdark? How sad we just left and won't return anytime soon. (A little bit of irony... Not that any of these cretins would notice.)~
@1175 = ~Not at all. You would only be laughed at. A male can always demonstrate and prove his worth in the spider pits and deeds of combat in honor of the Spider Queen. A female however, without connections, supporters, and males in her service is already practically dead.~
@1176 = ~Oh, what a *pity*. And here I was making plans for what I'd buy with the gold I got for selling it! (I hope my irony is not completely lost on this fool.)~
@1177 = ~Hm, on further consideration it does offer certain possibilities to cause harm to other houses, though. Maybe you wouldn't be laughed at as much as I thought.~
@1178 = ~(No, I will not answer. Enough talking about this!)~
@1179 = ~What is our purpose here, Viconia? Why are you accompanying <CHARNAME>?~
@1180 = ~You honor our origin with your mistrust but I have to disappoint you, Solaufein. I was saved by <CHARNAME> from brainless surfacers who tried to burn me at the stake.~
@1181 = ~Saved? Our <CHARNAME> finds great joy in saving drow in need it seems.~
@1182 = ~So this is the reason you are still here?~
@1183 = ~Where else should I be? Why are you still here?~ 
@1184 = ~Jaheira, look at this plant. Is it useful?~
@1185 = ~Its leaves are very useful.~
@1186 = ~They are big, and rather soft. What do you use them for?~
@1187 = ~Well... As you've noticed, they are soft. You use the leaves, to... Erm...~
@1188 = ~Well, *Ahem*, make sure to take some with you next time you leave for the bushes.~
@1189 = ~I... see. How very useful, and a much better option than what the rather limited options are available in the Underdark.~
@1190 = ~Solaufein, I really did not need that image.~
@1191 = ~Jan, although we spoke in jest, I was completely serious about one thing. There is no one like you in the Underdark.~
@1192 = ~Because every one of us is unique?~
@1193 = ~No, because down there are only few who have the wisdom to know when they can't change something and the willingness to accept this fact. And because down there no one can see the distinction between love and the desire to possess.~
@1194 = ~Oh, drow, now this is getting a bit too personal for me.~
@1195 = ~Besides, I'm pretty sure you stopped talking about me. 'Wisdom' is an attribute that hasn't been mentioned in connection with me for at least the last three quarters of my life.~
@1196 = ~Solaufein, your words the other day were amusing to consider. Ha! The idea that being bannished to hell could have been to my advangage, am I correct in understanding that this is what you were saying?~
@1197 = ~At least in your case it gave you a way to stay alive and with your Bhaalspawn siblings, a possible path out which seems to have worked out for you. As I said: the successful make use of the opportunities they are given.~
@1198 = ~And hopefully have the wisdom to see what they have achieved and be satisfied with it.~
@1199 = ~If that was a hidden warning - believe me, I gained a lot of wisdom haunting the shadows of the hells.~
@1200 = ~When we spoke previously, I didn't mean to imply it would be easy for you to leave the past behind, avariel. What I meant was your view of the present is very much dependent on your attitude towards it.~
@1201 = ~Take me as an example. I was taken from my familiar surroundings and placed in this awful bright sunlight. I am as good as blind and my skin develops blisters even if I stay in the shadows. And yet, I am not displeased with my fate.~
@1202 = ~D-do you seriously compare my situation with yours?~
@1203 = ~You say you are mutilated and robbed of your home. Well, I am deprived of my home as well, because even if I wanted to, I can't go back. And I feel mutilated, avariel, because the sun will forever blind me and scorch my skin. I feel like I am standing in a pool of lava with gouged out eyes. Admittedly, this would fade if I went back into the darkness, but there is no home left for me there.  So I will continue to stumble around like a mole, begging <CHARNAME> and others to heal my wounds.~
@1204 = ~Of course, the comparison to losing your wings is ridiculous, I know. But can't you imagine that another drow, forced to live here on the surface involuntarily, would find himself so limited that he would despair?~
@1205 = ~A drow despair? I-I always thought that impossible.~
@1206 = ~Drow do despair. I didn't say he would lose heart. But he *would* likely come to die sooner than he would otherwise, be it out of cockiness, desperation, or lack of caution because he felt it was pointless to fight his fate.~
@1207 = ~That is what I meant.~
@1208 = ~The belief that it is pointless to fight against one's fate... that is something I can understand, Solaufein. The rest completely fails as a meaningful comparison.~ 
@1209 = ~Keldorn, I am still almost completely ignorant of the laws and customs of surfacers in regards to living together in families.  I do however, find what I know about the bond between a man and a woman to be especially fascinating.~
@1210 = ~If I understood correctly, your wife did...~
@1211 = ~Be silent, drow. You will not talk about my family.~
@1212 = ~May I at least ask...~
@1213 = ~No! Not one more word.~
@1214 = ~Cernd, if you had the power to eliminate the Underdark, would you? Would you wipe it out and let the blooming, breathing life of the surface, as you called it, take it over?~
@1215 = ~[Cernd]That is a difficult question, Solaufein. I am no god - but I would... I would eliminate all the dark, hidden places by opening them up to the sky, and...~
@1216 = ~[Cernd]No, it's not that easy, it never is. Opening every cave, removing the evil taint from the Underdark - it would be such a change to the world that it would not be same world afterwards. There is balance in everything, and as a druid, I am bound to strive to maintain it. The open, the wild nature is what I yearn for, but the closed, the dark has a right to exit just as well.~
@1217 = ~[Solaufein]Then I hope that you are wrong. I am striving to guide my people off the path of evil they have chosen. I was hoping to be able to do so without having to fight the natural balance of the world - and without creating evilness elsewhere. This has to be possible...~
@1218 = ~[Cernd]As I said, I am no god, Solaufein. Who know what will happen if they decide that it should. I do believe though, that you will not succeed if the gods do not want you to - which is the fate of all mortals, even if they live for centuries like you do.~ 
@1219 = ~[Solaufein]I thank you for the sentiment, Jaheira. Although I'm the one who really needs to learn the lesson.  It is going to be a bigger effort than I thought to free myself from old habits and social conditioning.~
@1220 = ~Does that mean you think the Underdark serves an important role, as it is? Seeing how it hosts the evil and darkness needed to even out your beautiful surface nature?~
@1221 = ~Yes, I do.~
@1222 = ~You keep on moaning about your trials, male, although you haven't lived through half of what I did. Not only was I forced to flee my people. Surfacers also betrayed, tortured, and threatened me with death!~
@1223 = ~Are we playing 'who got it worse'? Then let me play my trump card: have you ever been inside a drider cocoon, Viconia?~
@1224 = ~As I said, moaning! You are whining like a child while <CHARNAME> smooths your entry into the surface world. I had to walk that path on my own!~
@1225 = ~Hmph. You are right that <CHARNAME>'s protection has made my time on the surface so far rather pleasant in comparison to yours. I am not denying that.~
@1226 = ~And yet you are too quick to judge me. After all, there were no witnesses to your moans and curses when you first wandered the surface lands alone!~ 
@1227 = ~Jaheira, this plant here resembles the one you showed me that is useful for... sanitary purposes, if you recall.~
@1228 = ~Don't touch it! That is not the same plant as the one I showed you. This plant is native to this part of the Realms and it will make your skin prickle and sting!~
@1229 = ~You mean I shouldn't have picked some to take with me the last time I went behind the bushes?~
@1230 = ~Did you...?~
@1231 = ~No, because as you said, it made my hands prickle and sting. I am not masochistic enough to try it elsewhere.~
@1232 = ~I am... relieved to hear that.~
@1233 = ~Jan, am I correct in assuming that were you in <CHARNAME>'s shoes you would refuse divinity?~
@1234 = ~Whoa? What an idea. I've never thought about it...~
@1235 = ~But you are right. I wouldn't want to take on that heritage with all it's hell enclave and everything else it entails.~
@1236 = ~No turnips!...~
@1237 = ~Heh, yes, you took the words right out of my mouth.~
@1238 = ~But in all seriousness, Jan. As droll as you may appear, I have rarely seen anyone so able to make calm decisions in the heat of the moment.~
@1239 = ~Ah? This reminds me of Aunt Lotty when she found uncle Eugen's slippers in the turnip vat. A very heartwarming story!...~
@1240 = ~I have also never met anyone so capable of driving listeners to fury with abstruse stories, and yet is still alive...~
@1241 = ~But please, tell me your story. Who knows how long we will have time for conversations like this one.~
@1242 = ~Aerie, I know my recent comparison of our situations was misguided. Not only is my blindness only temporary unlike your severed wings, but I chose to leave my home, though circumstances did somewhat force the decision.~
@1243 = ~To ask you to accept your fate as willingly as I accept mine is not appropriate.~
@1244 = ~Still, I... do understand what you meant, Solaufein. Even though your comparison was... unsound... there was a germ of truth to what you said. However, the last thing I want to hear is another person telling me that losing my wings isn't that bad.  You have no way to understand what it means for an avariel to lose her wings.~
@1245 = ~[Aerie]Solaufein, the avariel slaves you mentioned earlier must have belonged to the path of the aesthete. Did your fighters not tell you about the warriors they had to kill to get them?~
@1246 = ~[Solaufein]Warriors? Yes, I heard tales of fierce avariel warriors... but I always thought they were exaggerations by the daughters trying to impress their matron mothers about the challenges they had to overcome while leading a raid on the distant avariel lands.~
@1247 = ~I understand your reluctance.  The next time I try to "help", I will choose my words more wisely.~
@1248 = ~Keldorn, only one question to your family, if I may. Have...~
@1249 = ~Silence! I said we will not speak of this.~
@1250 = ~Not even as an abstract example to help me understand your customs?~
@1251 = ~Not even that. Not a word!~
@1252 = ~Why not?~
@1253 = ~Because... it is about my family. And it hurts.~
@1254 = ~I thank you. I think I have learned something about surfacer customs after all.~
@1255 = ~Viconia, you... have my respect. You are right to describe my situation as comfortable compared to what you had to suffer.~
@1256 = ~Be glad <CHARNAME> is our leader or I would have you kneel before me in the dirt!~
@1257 = ~I said you have my respect, not that I am begging for some kind of forgiveness. You deserve my respect for what you have overcome: the heat, the blinding light, the dwindling magical abilities.~
@1258 = ~Even then, you may have had some advantages being alone. Learning to ignore all my self-preservation instincts while suffering in this weakened state, just to avoid the risk of offending a "friendly surfacer" comes with its own stresses...~
@1259 = ~The iblith is whining again! Get out of my sight. My ears ache from your endless self-pity!~ 
@1260 = ~Aerie, I've given some thought to our recent conversations and have discovered an inconsistency in my previous position. I've realized that I was wrong to call you weak.  You've experienced incredible suffering and hardship and yet you've courageously stood back up and kept on pushing forward.~
@1261 = ~These... these words from you make me happy, Solaufein.~
@1262 = ~(snort) Which doesn't mean that I don't think you dwell on the past too much... based on your frequent conversations about it.~
@1263 = ~Really? I... I haven't said all that much recently, even though I wanted to.~
@1264 = ~You see, I couldn't get a word in edgewise. Someone... someone was too busy complaining about the bright sunlight.~
@1265 = ~I... see. Excellent counter, avariel.~ 
@1266 = ~Keldorn, I heard you praying not too long ago... You include your family in your prayers.~
@1267 = ~Does that surprise you? I pray for those I love, drow. Is praying for others so strange to you?~
@1268 = ~Well... We prayed for our Matron Mother and the Handmaidens, but because it was expected - not by choice.~
@1269 = ~The idea of praying for those you care for... I've never even considered it a an option.~
@1270 = ~You now have the opportunity to experience this, Solaufein. Making true friends you love and respect for their own sake.~
@1271 = ~You mean, I will if anyone remains after these chaotic times are through?~
@1272 = ~There will be many who survive and will be thankful for any help to return to a semblance of normalcy.~
@1273 = ~And that, Solaufein, is the very last time that I will talk to you of my family.~
@1274 = ~Up to now I felt relatively safe from divine intervention, since I figured my rebellion against the Spider Queen was of fairly little import. But the more "spiders" we crush in <CHARNAME>'s wake, the more I wonder if Lolth might be looking at this godchild after all... and at those who travel with <PRO_HIMHER>.~
@1275 = ~Getting scared after all?~
@1276 = ~No, I don't think so. But becoming involved in the machinations of the gods is always a double-edged sword. My small hope is that Lolth will get a divine headache from being frustrated so often in her plans and forget about me.~
@1277 = ~You still believe yourself better than me, don't you, Viconia?~
@1278 = ~What were you? A drow squad commander, letting himself being bullied around like a novice.~
@1279 = ~(snort) As if you don't know I had no choice. What were you, a daughter of a mighty house and yet you let yourself be cast out!~
@1280 = ~[Viconia]That... that is none of your business!~
@1281 = ~[Solaufein]Indeed it is not, and yet - your fall was even greater than mine, lest you forget.~
@1282 = ~[Viconia]You and your unbearable impertinence! Do you think I am not reminded of this every day under this accursed sun?~
@1283 = ~[Viconia]Hmph. At least you admit your insolence. You had a soft, easy fall to the surface, Solaufein. I had to claw my way out of the Underdark, and was betrayed by every surfacer I crossed paths with before I met <CHARNAME>. You wonder why I am still at <PRO_HISHER> side? Just think about why you chose <PRO_HIMHER> as your protector, and you have the answer as to why we are both still here.~
@1284 = ~[Aerie]Then there is much you still do not know, Solaufein. The avariel warriors are every bit as fierce as any drow, perhaps more so. Every avariel is trained in both the path of the warrior and the path of the aesthete, learning both martial skill and honor as well as the arts, knowledge, wisdom, and magic before deciding which path to devote their life to.~
@1285 = ~[Solaufein]You mean my knoweldge about other races is incomplete and biased by my culture's teachings of drow superiority...?~
@1286 = ~[Solaufein]But then now that I know more about your people it helps me understand something I thought was an inconsistency in your character, Aerie - although you seem to have for following peaceful path, there is a lot of a fighter in you, a hardness even.~
@1287 = ~[Aerie]You... you sound unexpectedly caring with that statement, Solaufein. I thank you!~
@1288 = ~Viconia, you are a renegade, just like me, on the surface. Yet you think you could intimidate me with your constant glares and your overbearing manner...~
@1289 = ~Ha, 'overbearing manner'! Just because I don't react to your whining with comforting words like <CHARNAME>?~
@1290 = ~You think I should actually feel at home in your presence?~
@1291 = ~I do, Viconia. You remind me of Ardulace and Imrae and how all of the cruel drow females were called who made my life unbearable!~
@1292 = ~I... I am no longer like this, Solaufein.~
@1293 = ~No, indeed, you are not. And it is better that way, or <CHARNAME> wouldn't bother with you.~ 
@1294 = ~Aerie, we had avariel among the slaves once... It was nice to watch them flutter about. Some of them had their wings clipped because the overseers got tired of catching them...~
@1295 = ~But none of them survived for long. They only lasted a few weeks... Then they were dead on the ground. They just passed away as the hopelessness in the dark consumed them.~
@1296 = ~Why... why do you always tell me such cruel things?~
@1297 = ~Because that's what I was, avariel. Cruel. And because it impressed me. Human slaves live for long years in even the most adverse conditions. Avariel wasted away in so little time. I only saw their weakness, Aerie. Proof of the drow's superiority...~
@1298 = ~[Solaufein]You embody what my Lady Silverhair describes as worth protecting. And my life has depended on your spells often enough to understand what she seeks to teach us: by protecting the weak, the weak will in turn protect the strong.  My people are blind to this truth and weaker for it.~ 
@1299 = ~But... please don't let hopelessness get the best of you, Aerie. I... I've seen how quickly you avariel fade away if you do.~
@1300 = ~Viconia, comparing you to the drow females I left behind was too harshly spoken. I do not need to see your burnt skin to know that you are different from them.~
@1301 = ~Don't think I've gone weak, male! I can still crush you with ease.~
@1302 = ~You do not make this easy, do you? Still, you have my respect and I apologize for my rude behavior. Let us get along, for <CHARNAME>'s sake.~
@1303 = ~[Aerie]If you say so... Solaufein, if you don't want me to lose hope, perhaps you should tell me encouraging things. They might help more than your tales of cruelty...~
@1304 = ~I've been thinking about our last conversation, Solaufein.~
@1305 = ~The mere fact that you reflect on what you once did with regret, shows that you are different.~
@1306 = ~But that you do not want to admit this change to yourself shows just this: That you are pondering it. This shows that you have left the customs of your people behind and changed.~
@1307 = ~Aerie, it may seem strange to you, but I am learning that not everyone gets a feeling of superiority and confidence from seeing others suffer.~
@1308 = ~Is this what you do!? Do you get pleasure from the misfortunes of others?~
@1309 = ~I used to, but now I don't know... maybe, but not in the same way. You must remember that I come from a society where one's failure is another's success. The punishment of another means being spared yourself. The suffering of another, no matter what caused it, was my secret joy because it helped my advancement.~
@1310 = ~Now I am here and I see your suffering, but it does not help me. It grants me no advantage.~
@1311 = ~To the contrary, your injuries and the the way they have limited you have been to my detriment.~
@1312 = ~Because I keep on moaning about them?~
@1313 = ~I see the mischievous sparkle in your eyes, Aerie. You give me a lot of credit if you think I will understand your jesting. You don't seem to be afraid of the drow in front of you. Not so long ago, I would have ripped your wings off without hesitation if circumstances demanded it.~
@1314 = ~It may not have been too long ago, but as you said yourself, it is in the past.~
@1315 = ~You seem to see this more clearly than even I do. Not so long ago, I would have called it naivety and sneered at you for it.~
@1316 = ~Not so long ago you would not have had discussions like this with me.~
@1317 = ~That's true, but I am and will always be drow. And so it is...~
@1318 = ~I... I wonder which one of us is holding on to his old self right now... drow.~
@1319 = ~You mean I apply a double standard to myself...? You may be right.~ 
@1320 = ~(snort) Yes, and it will bring me nothing but an earlier death.~
@1321 = ~An... an earlier death than which one? The one <CHARNAME> spared you in Ust Natha? Or the one as a drider?~
@1322 = ~Now you're mixing up different arguments. I talked about being even weaker and an easier target - through the considerations of good and evil, which reduce my power of decision. Even in your world, weakness is not always a strength.~
@1323 = ~But sometimes you have to go through a period of weakness to emerge stronger.~
@1324 = ~If you survive such a period, Aerie. If you survive it.~
@1325 = ~You are no longer in the Underdark, Solaufein. You... you have friends who will help you.~
@1326 = ~Not too long ago, this alone would have been a reason for my end as spider food.~
@1327 = ~But I see what you mean, and I thank you for your kind words. They mean... they mean a lot to me.~ 

/* C#SOLAU_ToB_fatesp.D */
@1328 = ~Bring me Solaufein, the drow fighter I saved from the drider cocoons.~

/* C#SOLAU_ToB.D */
@1329 = ~<CHARNAME>! If it is you who summoned me here, then I assume I can put away my weapons. Why have you summoned me to this place?~ [c#ablank]
@1330 = ~Solaufein, my friend! We spent time together during my travels. I need your help again.~
@1331 = ~I know we parted shortly after I rescued you from the drider cocoons, but I do need you now.~
@1332 = ~Then I will accompany you, if you wish.~
@1333 = ~Yes, join me.~
@1334 = ~Not right now. You'll have to wait.~
@1335 = ~I will.~
@1336 = ~Then I'll wait. At least I won't get a sunburn in this place.~
@1337 = ~This spirit brims with the desire to live. Rarely I have seen one cling to life as desperately and effectively as this one.~
@1338 = ~Tell me about Solaufein.~
@1339 = ~Ah, Solaufein. The neutral drow, cursed in his own world for having too much empathy, cursed in the surface world for his race. You spared him from a fate he considers worth than death...~
@1340 = ~Now he travels with the chosen Bhaalspawn, shaping the destiny of all who live both in the world from whence he came and the world he now resides to a measure he would once have never considered possible.~
@1341 = ~(snort) Shaping destiny indeed, good man, but not the way I wanted it.  Sadly I doubt my current deeds will have any noticeable impact on saving the drow from their evil nature? <CHARNAME>, let us go, before I start believing this babble and have my head filled with grand delusions of my impact on this world.~
@1342 = ~What a choice to make for a mortal! You need to be a god to understand *what* you are choosing. Until then, it's your own imagination and sense of morality that will tip the scales one way or the other.~
@1343 = ~With the power you now wield, you are already verging on the powers of a demi-god.  Taking the next step into full divinity may not be as big a step as it seems. Just remember that there is no going back. I will not forget your help, <CHARNAME>. I wish you well.~
@1344 = ~You know, I had given a lot of thought, worried even, whether my presence in your group would provoke disproportionate hostile reactions from surfacers.~ [c#ablank]
@1345 = ~After what has happened, I realize that I needn't have worried; you yourself provoke far stronger reactions than my presence ever could cause.~
@1346 = ~Are you referring to what happened at the oasis?~
@1347 = ~We both carry a difficult legacy, so to speak. However, mine is of divine origin and so it should not be surprising that it has had a greater effect.~
@1348 = ~You've only just noticed?  It's been happening all the time!~
@1349 = ~Is that all you have to say to this? We just had to kill all those soldiers!~
@1350 = ~Is that all you have to say to this? We just had to kill nearly all those soldiers!~
@1351 = ~Of course! What else would I be referring to? Conflict with the children of Bhaal is expected.~
@1352 = ~You just said it, <CHARNAME>: "had to." With their strength and numbers we had no other choice in defense of our lives.~
@1353 = ~Individual enemies, yes. Opponents who chose to fight you, yes. Monsters, yes. But an entire city, an entire country represented by an order of knights, that's a whole different level.~
@1354 = ~Your heritage does not show in your face, unlike mine. Perhaps this is the reason why your fellow surfacers react all the more strongly when they learn of it.~
@1355 = ~Are you taking the stubborn persistence of these self-appointed avengers personally? It's not your fault they chose death.~
@1356 = ~Free yourself from the idea that you could direct the destinies of individuals. You are playing with everyone's fate and your actions will have great influence, but you still do not have the power to stop individuals from making foolish decisions and no one is expecting you to.~
@1357 = ~Thank you for the encouragement.~
@1358 = ~Don't worry. I know it wasn't my mistake.~
@1359 = ~That's supposed to reassure me?~
@1360 = ~This is just my view of things.~
@1361 = ~But to return to the subject at hand...~
@1362 = ~It's more that *I* should consider whether I am putting myself in danger by being around you.~
@1363 = ~I guess you do.~
@1364 = ~Solaufein, it's not like this started yesterday. You should have noticed by now that I'm not the average surfacer.~
@1365 = ~So what?~
@1366 = ~That's right, and hypothetically had I understood the full implications of what your heritage would mean for my first steps into my new life on the surface... I'm not sure if I would have made the same decision had things been slightly different.~
@1367 = ~I'm not saying I'm reconsidering my position. I am too tightly tied with your story to be able to distance myself from it at this time and even if it wasn't I would assist you in your struggle out of gratitude for my rescue from the drider chambers.~
@1368 = ~Though, to be honest, the real reason I choose to stay with you is our friendship. I've you to thank for teaching me the value of honor and trust between friends and I am not going to betray that trust.~
@1369 = ~But it is the type of thing that would make a person stop and think for a moment, you must admit? I have not quite given up the lessons that centuries of experience drilled into me of weighing the personal benefits and risks of every situation, even if I don't act accordingly.~
@1370 = ~And even more spiders...~
@1371 = ~Just in case anyone wondered: no, I do not feel at home amongst them. Let us kill this vermin and move on.~

/* C#SOLAU_PID.D */
@1372 = ~Let... me be, <CHARNAME>.~
@1373 = ~Hmph. What is it, <CHARNAME>?~ [c#ablank]
@1374 = ~You are very quiet lately...~
@1375 = ~Are you talking to me now?~
@1376 = ~Do you think I want something from you?~
@1377 = ~Solaufein, can I help you in any way?~
@1378 = ~Never mind.~
@1379 = ~Am I imagining things?~
@1380 = ~Don't talk to me like that!~
@1381 = ~I asked because of your glances my way.~
@1382 = ~Do you miss my lamentations and whining about my surface adversities?~
@1383 = ~What exactly is troubling you?~
@1384 = ~If you want to call it that. You are unusually surly.~
@1385 = ~What are you trying to hide behind your sarcasm, Solaufein?~
@1386 = ~You are asking me this directly? Is this a sign of... sympathy?~
@1387 = ~Yes, I guess it is. I appreciate the gesture, <CHARNAME>, but there is nothing more to tell.~
@1388 = ~Well, I guess I will have to accept this answer for now.~
@1389 = ~Maybe I was wrong.~
@1390 = ~If you say so, Solaufein.~
@1391 = ~Let me return to training, <CHARNAME>. It will serve you better than interrogating me about my emotions!~
@1392 = ~The emotions you are confronted with are new to you. I can help you with this.~
@1393 = ~You are behaving differently than before... more dismissive. It worries me to see this!~
@1394 = ~Hmph!~
@1395 = ~I'm trying to cope with my inadequacies since leaving the Underdark. If you don't know what I am referring to, then you haven't been paying attention to what I've been saying recently!~
@1396 = ~You mean compared to the charming person I was before?~
@1397 = ~What do you want?~ [c#ablank]
@1398 = ~(You reach out to pick a piece of fluff from Solaufein's hair.)~ //this is supposed to be the moment before the PC reaches Solaufein's hair
@1399 = ~Would you die for me, Solaufein?~
@1400 = ~How could you secretly reject drow culture and yet rise to such a high rank inside the Male Fighters' Society?~
@1401 = ~Did you have to feign orthodoxy often to avoid revealing your true beliefs when you were still in Ust Natha?~
@1402 = ~When did you finally realize you detested drow traditions?~
@1403 = ~Did you have to do errands for Phaere all the time, Solaufein?~
@1404 = ~Solaufein, if one of us touches your arm to stress what they are talking about during casual conversation, how does it feel to you?~
@1405 = ~Solaufein, did you have any role models? Drow who assisted and supported you or whose actions helped you realize the cruelty of drow culture?~
@1406 = ~I guess you didn't expect to be sent to hell when you joined me?~
@1407 = ~I have a question about something that happened in Ust Natha.~
@1408 = ~Solaufein, you've said that in your years living in Ust Natha you had wanted to see the fall of House Despana.  I know you give me a lot of credit for bringing about House Despana's destruction, but I think it is important for you to remember that your ploy with the fake eggs played a major role allowing me to do so.~
@1409 = ~I can't stop thinking how you were considering offering me your "love services", Solaufein...~
@1410 = ~You mentioned that Handmaidens of Lolth will pursue renegades. Do you expect an ambush at some point?~
@1411 = ~Are you sure you do not wish us to look for more followers of Eilistraee's?~
@1412 = ~You said your magic is nearly gone. But you still have magical abilities!~
@1413 = ~Tell me something about drow culture, Solaufein.~
@1414 = ~So, what is your impression of life on the surface so far, Solaufein?~
@1415 = ~So, you are still travelling with me...~
@1416 = ~So, you are travelling with me...~
@1417 = ~So... You left the Underdark to come to the surface with me, and all I end up doing is dragging you into the depths of hell it seems.~
@1418 = ~Is there something on your mind?~
@1419 = ~Is the sun bothering you? Do you wish us to look for a shady spot and continue our travel tonight?~
@1420 = ~There will be many wary people in the cities. I expect you to wear a cape and hide your face as best you can.~
@1421 = ~Solaufein, I do not wish to be bothered by your blathering on any more. You are here as a fighter, nothing more.~
@1422 = ~Nothing, Solaufein.~
@1423 = ~Ask.~
@1424 = ~What did you know about Irenicus' and Bodhi's plans from back when you were still in the Underdark?~
@1425 = ~Why were you still in Ust Natha if most other fighters were busy preparing for the war on the surface?~
@1426 = ~Why did you expect me to rescue you from being turned into a drider?~
@1427 = ~About your almost becoming a drider...~
@1428 = ~I am so glad you told me about where the rune stone that unlocked access to the drider chambers was hidden. I couldn't have rescued you otherwise!~
@1429 = ~You said you would have liked to see Phaere's face when she realized our betrayal. Did you really hate her that much?~
@1430 = ~Nothing.~
@1431 = ~What do you want to know?~
@1432 = ~Tell me about your goddess Eilistraee.~
@1433 = ~Hm, dancing for Eilistraee means dancing naked in the moonlight, from what I know...~
@1434 = ~Why do you think Eilistraee's rites require her drow worshippers to dance naked?~
@1435 = ~Tell me about driders.~
@1436 = ~Tell me about drow, Solaufein.~
@1437 = ~Where do you think all the evil, all the cruelty of your people came from, Solaufein?~
@1438 = ~Solaufein, there's something I've been thinking about: upon entering Ust Natha we witnessed a mother kill her son.  She said 'sons I have enough, but where will I get a new well-trained slave from?'...~
@1439 = ~I understood very well, <CHARNAME>.~
@1440 = ~(snort) If you want to describe my personal game of revenge as such...~
@1441 = ~Did you mean what you said as a compliment? Believe me, House Despana would have fallen no matter what after the demon didn't get the eggs. I quickly saw that you would see to this.~
@1442 = ~Do not think too highly about my aims in this matter, <CHARNAME>. Why, do you think, I had the fake eggs made? Yes, it is true I gave them to you quite willingly after seeing you would have the opportunity to make the most of them, but it was as much because I wanted to see Phaere fall.~
@1443 = ~Oh yes I had many including Phaere, Ardulace, Imrae...~
@1444 = ~Oh, you weren't referring to that type of role model? But yes, <CHARNAME>, it was Phaere, Ardulace, and others like them who opened my eyes to the cruelty of my people. If there were any others secretly yearning for our Lady Silverhair, we did not dare to make ourselves known for fear of betrayal.~
@1445 = ~Remember that my beliefs are the result of centuries of experiences, discomfort, revulsion, and eventually sullen hopelessness for change to ever happen. I didn't start out this way and for many years I lived my life loyal to the dogma of Lolth.~
@1446 = ~Well, I try to keep my distance from people when we encounter strangers, but circumstances don't always allow.  Once they can see me clearly their behavior tends to be curt to hostile, which isn't too much different from what I am accustomed to in the Underdark, not that I blame them.~
@1447 = ~But I am travelling under your protection, which I appreciate.~
@1448 = ~Well, I guess it's the best I can expect.~
@1449 = ~So much life in your cities!~
@1450 = ~In Ust Natha all there were only drow, spiders, slaves, illithids... and spiders. No one shouted, except for angry Handmaidens or high ranked females. No laughing, just cries of pain and agony.~
@1451 = ~I hear cries here, too, but it's the shouting of many individuals, used to proclaim their opinions. And there is just as much laughter, too.~
@1452 = ~Especially from the children. I... didn't know children laugh so much.~
@1453 = ~<CHARNAME>, I have now been able to observe various other surfacers in the city. Some were impatient with each other and their children. Some were kind to each other, even tender...~
@1454 = ~A man kissed his wife. She smiled... Only the official partner can do that, right? It was a gesture of affection, but also of possession.~
@1455 = ~I... confess that I like this gesture much better than anything the drow have come up to mark another as theirs.~
@1456 = ~I only now realize that what I said was not true at all.~
@1457 = ~I had seen kindness as softness and therefore as a type of weakness. Only now do I see that open companionship requires a much greater strength.~
@1458 = ~You surfacers speak your mind even if it might be forward or downright offensive. You stand by it, even if it might be critical of someone else. This requires steadfastness, self-confidence, and a self-conviction that is driven from drow from an early age.~
@1459 = ~Oh, but you are no less direct, and by no means shy to speak your mind.~
@1460 = ~I don't know. Here, too, there are clear hierarchies that must be adhered to, otherwise your honour is in danger.~
@1461 = ~Don't the drow ever talk back?~
@1462 = ~So what is your conclusion?~
@1463 = ~What exactly do you mean by talking back? A drow will take care not to contradict his mistress, if he wants to preserve his honour.~
@1464 = ~We drow have no problem speaking overbearingly to those we think we are superior to, and by definition we are superior to all surfacers! At least that would be the answer that a confident drow would give you, I suppose.~
@1465 = ~But I also knew when I could talk back - and when it was best to remain silent. I was supported by a strong house for a long time, you get accustomed to that. I am no longer the youngest and have experienced a number of things that have lessened my fear of reprisals.~
@1466 = ~Maybe I'm just so old that I'm becoming senile, as happens with some males if they survive long enough. There were a few who could do and say what they wanted without being persecuted for it because they were no longer a danger and were treated as something of a joke to be mocked by others.~
@1467 = ~Kowtowing to the authorities, intimidation and lies I have seen enough on the surface as well, of course. But all in all, what I said is true.~
@1468 = ~The drow may be strong as a race and spread fear and terror through their merciless brutality. But surfacers taken as single individuals show far greater strength of character and conviction.~
@1469 = ~In the lower realm I could see by the warmth of the rocks and hide in the shadows cast by this gentle light. Here on the surface in the light of the sun everything is just hot, hot, hot!~
@1470 = ~I've seen the looks the others give me.~
@1471 = ~I will never be trusted by surfacers.~
@1472 = ~That's not the way I'm looking at you, Solaufein.~
@1473 = ~Maybe, maybe not.~
@1474 = ~Pfft. You jump to that conclusion based on strangers being wary of an unknown drow? Are you not perhaps being a bit unreasonable in your expectations?~
@1475 = ~I know I have your trust, and I'm honored. But will strangers ever regard me with anything but suspicion?~
@1476 = ~That is true, and you appear to have some care for my concerns.~
@1477 = ~So you say, but your dealings with me are clearly shaped by your prejudices against drow.~
@1478 = ~You accepted me as a travelling companion. Maybe I will find trust, but it will take a very long time.~
@1479 = ~The question is whether one human life is long enough. Even the long life of the elves might not be enough to overcome the deep mistrust.~
@1480 = ~The distrust of the surfacers or yours?~
@1481 = ~You have chosen a difficult path. But it could still be the more fulfilling one.~
@1482 = ~(snort) You see the problem.~
@1483 = ~We'll see what happens next.~
@1484 = ~I can't get enough of the families I see walking together in your cities, <CHARNAME>. It will always be a mystery to me what life is like in close contact with one's biological parents.~
@1485 = ~Yes, a stable family is a beautiful thing.~
@1486 = ~You'll find plenty of children who get mistreated here as well.~
@1487 = ~All that glitters isn't gold.~
@1488 = ~It is by no means the norm for everyone to grow up with both parents.~
@1489 = ~There is little I can relate to you from my own experience in this matter, Solaufein.~
@1490 = ~Sure. And yet there will be more who grow up protected and loved.~
@1491 = ~I'm not naive. I know that a supportive community would be ideal. Here, too, the individual must learn to stand up to others and assert his interests, I understand this much. Each family will have its own method of teaching this to their children.~
@1492 = ~Well, because of my divine father... I guess that makes me quite special.~
@1493 = ~I am a foundling raised by a foster father.~
@1494 = ~I had no family, Solaufein. My father is a dead god, my mother probably did not conceive me voluntarily, and I did not know her.~
@1495 = ~I had no family, Solaufein. My father is a dead god, and my mother... Well, I did not know her.~
@1496 = ~Both my parents and my foster father are all dead.~
@1497 = ~And yet, proportionally there will be more families in which the parents themselves raise their children than those in which this is not the case.~
@1498 = ~You are probably right that you did not have a family as is customary for surface people. But your story shows me more than you seem to realize. After all, you *were* taken in.~
@1499 = ~There are no foundlings with the drow, although our upbringing by the Handmaidens is well suited for it. But if no house protects you, you'll end up as spider food. The males even more so than the females. The daughters kill each other later in their quest for power.~
@1500 = ~You are right. I had a home.~
@1501 = ~Don't fool yourself. Gorion took me in because I carry Bhaal's heritage.~
@1502 = ~As a normal child I would not have had this chance.~
@1503 = ~No, that's not good enough. I'm sure there will always be foundlings raised for reasons other than charity.~
@1504 = ~Do you know that? As a normal child, you might have been born into a normal family.~
@1505 = ~You may be right. A child of Bhaal might have received special attention even amongst drow, but it would only have been to the benefit of a Matron Mother, and for as long as the child and his inheritance would have been of use.~
@1506 = ~And yet he can have many reasons that are not called charity, without his motivation being his own gain.~
@1507 = ~From my perspective, you had more family than I ever could have dreamed of as drow, young <PRO_RACE>.~
@1508 = ~My magic *has* diminished.~
@1509 = ~You can still use Dimension Door!~
@1510 = ~You still can envelope your enemies in Darkness.~
@1511 = ~You can still wreathe your foes in Faerie Fire!~
@1512 = ~You can still Dispel Magic!~
@1513 = ~It must have been impressive to see you fight with your full magical arsenal.~
@1514 = ~I saw you use magic in the Underdark, but it wasn't all that impressive.  It seems you are spending a lot of time complaining over only a minor loss, if you've lost anything at all.~
@1515 = ~So you say.~
@1516 = ~(snort) Yes. Once per day. And only within sight range. If it wasn't so pathetic compared to what I once had, I would laugh about it.~
@1517 = ~You call that darkness? I call that dusk. I could envelope my foes in darkness so thick they would not only lose their sight but also hearing - their complete orientation! They were *breathing* darkness, <CHARNAME>.~
@1518 = ~Now I call myself lucky if I manage to blind the enemy as much as your sun blinds me.~
@1519 = ~I am delighted you even notice the pathetic light I create with this. Maybe it is due to the brightness of your surface world, but to me it seems as though the ethereal flames have turned into sparks, at most.~
@1520 = ~Yes. That is the only ability that still works as it did before, but I have to focus everything into it. Before in the Underdark, I could upon nearly endless magical resources.~
@1521 = ~Probably, considering I would have fought you as an enemy of the drow, had we met differently.~
@1522 = ~You didn't see my full range of magical abilities in the short time we worked together for Phaere. There was no opportunity. And besides, why should I have bothered?  Against svirfnebli? Against devourers? The former are not worth the trouble and the latter immune to most of it.~ 
@1523 = ~Our society is organized in 'houses', each led by a Matron Mother. The females have the power. The males are there to please the powerful females and to fight for them.~
@1524 = ~We are evil and obsessed with power and killing or enslaving all beings of other races if we can.~
@1525 = ~The females plot and kill each other. The males serve the females and are killed by them when they arouse their displeasure.~
@1526 = ~That is all there is to say.~
@1527 = ~Families as you know them do not exist for the drow. The mighty females take males in their favor to sire children with them. The children of a house are raised by their older siblings... And sons are no more important to their mothers than slaves. We are the property of the Matron Mother and she decides our fate.~
@1528 = ~Pain, punishment, torture and death are our constant companions, <CHARNAME>. Lolth's Handmaidens are masters at it. The females may have more power, but in the end they are as much subject to this game as the males.~
@1529 = ~It's the Spider Queen, <CHARNAME>. Lolth is evil and power-obsessed. She is ever hungry for victims and insatiable in her cruelty.~
@1530 = ~But the drow themselves are evil. It is not without reason that the Spider Queen holds power over us. We have strayed from the right path. No wonder some drow turn to other gods... albeit mostly inwardly, for Lolth is unpredictable in her anger.~
@1531 = ~Driders are created by the fusion of a spider and a drow. They are created to honor Lolth and live as outcasts afterwards.~
@1532 = ~It's... the ultimate punishment, <CHARNAME> The cruelest thing that can be done to you in Lolth's name. Even being slowly butchered as living spider food is merciful in comparison.~
@1533 = ~I... I cannot put into words what it means to me that you have spared me this fate. Your decision in Ust Natha not to kill me was remarkable. But it was nothing compared to your mercy in sparing me the fate of a drider!~
@1534 = ~Eilistraee is the daughter of Lolth and Corellon Larethian and the sister of Vhaeraun. In order to balance the evil of the dark elves, she exiled herself from the circle of the elven gods.~
@1535 = ~She guides her followers to help everyone. She also enjoys music and dance, but not the way it was done in Ust Natha.~
@1536 = ~To fight for those who cannot do it for themselves, <CHARNAME>, how much does this run counter to the customs of the dark elves! I am very happy to be able to serve her better in this regard. I will strive to live up to her teachings.~
@1537 = ~Does this mean that at the next moonlit night you will roam the woods unclothed?~
@1538 = ~Thank you for the information, Solaufein.~
@1539 = ~Yes, sure, but be careful not to overdo it!~
@1540 = ~That's not what I meant.~
@1541 = ~As I said before, <CHARNAME>, the music and dances from Ust Natha would not be very... appropriate. I am eager to experience how my fellow believers pay homage to Eilistraee.~
@1542 = ~I think it is unlikely that someone from Ust Natha will be sent after me. It is more likely that I will provoke a spontaneous attack if servants of the Spider Queen notice me. This will be no different from the monsters we usually fight.~
@1543 = ~(snort) Don't worry, I will simply practice my reflexes and caution on our opponents here on the surface in case followers of the Spider Queen do track me down.~
@1544 = ~(snort) I had indeed not considered that your paternal inheritance could lead to this.~
@1545 = ~It may be a coincidence that your enemy has drawn us along with him... But it's really the only logical place for a Bhaal child without a soul to end up, don't you think?~
@1546 = ~It... was my hope that my impression of you was not mistaken. You had already spared my life in Ust Natha and shown some interest in me....~
@1547 = ~(snort) Before you get too excited: And you were my only chance, so I took it.~
@1548 = ~Yes?~
@1549 = ~The thought that you might have been turned into a drider makes me shudder. I would have given anything to save you!~
@1550 = ~I felt it was my duty after you were captured in my presence.~
@1551 = ~Nothing to it. Just don't do it again.~
@1552 = ~(snort) Not if I can help it!~
@1553 = ~If I didn't know better, I'd say you were deluded. But I thank you for the rescue, <CHARNAME>.~ 
@1554 = ~I'm glad you understood my hints.~
@1555 = ~And I am very glad that the accursed Imrae took her hunt so seriously that she obviously did not pay any attention to my words!~
@1556 = ~Anything? To save someone you didn't know? A drow?~
@1557 = ~Duty? To save someone you didn't know, a drow?~
@1558 = ~You mean after you already tasted me in Ust Natha?~
@1559 = ~M-Hm... Exactly.~
@1560 = ~Keep quiet about that, please.~
@1561 = ~I'm sorry that I forced you into the lust chambers in Ust Natha, Solaufein.~
@1562 = ~I... played the role I needed to in order to avoid standing out.~
@1563 = ~The memory of it is enough. What makes you think I'd want to do it again?~
@1564 = ~Perhaps we should not talk about this subject any further.~
@1565 = ~You mean after you already spared me in Ust Natha?~
@1566 = ~I'm sorry that I forced you into the lust chambers in Ust Natha, Solaufein.~
@1567 = ~After I eventually refused you in Ust Natha, you mean.~
@1568 = ~There will be no repetition.~
@1569 = ~You're uncomfortable with the subject?~
@1570 = ~You were disguised as drow and had to make sure that you would not be discovered.~
@1571 = ~Had you been more gentle with me, I might have seen through your masquerade.~
@1572 = ~Had you not requested me, I might still have had to be of service to you, who knows?~
@1573 = ~It's past, just like everything else I experienced down there.~
@1574 = ~Thank you for seeing it that way.~
@1575 = ~I... was impressed. You should know that.~
@1576 = ~Your reluctance was palpable, and it also spoiled my mood.~
@1577 = ~I'm glad it ended this way.~
@1578 = ~That's fine with me.~
@1579 = ~All right, let's drop the subject.~
@1580 = ~In Ust Natha you demanded a service from a drow to a drow.~
@1581 = ~What I was thinking of the other day would have been better suited for you surfacers...~
@1582 = ~(snort) You don't really want that, <CHARNAME>. Not from me.~
@1583 = ~Have you seriously considered it?~
@1584 = ~And... Just as an experiment, whether I'd be impressed as a surfacer...?~
@1585 = ~What makes you so sure I wouldn't find it pleasurable?~
@1586 = ~I hope so too. I have no desire for it.~
@1587 = ~Indeed. Never suggest such a thing if we're to remain friends.~
@1588 = ~It surprises me that you think you could impress me. After all, I served Phaere without her suspecting a thing. I am not that bad myself!~
@1589 = ~No. When I came to the conclusion that this is the only thing I could think of that I could offer that isn't done better by others, I decided I need to talk to you.~
@1590 = ~If it had actually happened, it would have been a service, <CHARNAME>, nothing more. I'm not sure you'd have liked that.~
@1591 = ~Aren't you at all curious to know what it would be like with me?~
@1592 = ~And... Not as a service, but as an expression of appreciation and affection? And, ahem, true desire?~
@1593 = ~I don't want it either. I'm just asking why it's out of the question for you.~
@1594 = ~And what if I told you I'm sure I want it?~
@1595 = ~Teach you?! (snort) How true. As the young <PRO_RACE> that you are, you would not have enough years left for the necessary amount of humiliation and torment.~
@1596 = ~Don't be a fool. You do not want to learn this, <CHARNAME>. Not the cruelties taught to the drow. And that is all I could teach you.~
@1597 = ~Cruelties? I'm shocked to hear that. It's the opposite of what I associate with physical love, Solaufein.~
@1598 = ~It sounds more like I have something to teach you - urgently!~
@1599 = ~Well, proposing to teach me might not have been a good idea. But other than that...?~
@1600 = ~Do you know how young you are compared to me, <CHARNAME>?~
@1601 = ~Is that a problem?~
@1602 = ~No, because you won't tell me your exact age.~
@1603 = ~All the more you could teach me.~
@1604 = ~Perhaps I need to replace the customs of the drow with something more pleasant. But if so, I have no desire for you to be my teacher in this.~
@1605 = ~And without doubt females and higher ranked males enjoy themselves. It is not torture for everyone involved...~
@1606 = ~You were a higher ranked male yourself, Solaufein...?~
@1607 = ~Not my whole life, <CHARNAME>.~
@1608 = ~And after becoming one, I was cursed with enough empathy to be unable to make others do what I hated doing myself.~
@1609 = ~I have very little desire for physical intimacies, <CHARNAME>. And even if I did, then I am old enough to not want them from a fledgling such as you.~
@1610 = ~You are too young, young <PRO_RACE>. Ask me again in 300 years.~
@1611 = ~Ha, I'll have been dead longer than alive at that point!~
@1612 = ~Oh, you are into necrophilia?~
@1613 = ~Very funny, Solaufein.~
@1614 = ~Hmm... you think I'll be interested in getting intimate with doddering old men at that point?~
@1615 = ~I could meet the wrong person and be spoiled and traumatized. Aren't you the least afraid, don't you feel just a tiny little bit responsible to save me from such a fate? (eye lash flutter)~
@1616 = ~I don't want it either, Solaufein.~
@1617 = ~(snort) I am afraid I would be the person to traumatize you, <CHARNAME>, believe me. No, I do not feel responsible, even though I don't think you were asking in earnest.~
@1618 = ~(The corner of Solaufein's mouth twitches briefly.)~
@1619 = ~I see you understand.~
@1620 = ~I only say this because I come from a culture that requires subordinates please their leaders in this way, <CHARNAME>. I follow your instructions, so you are my leader.~ 
@1621 = ~But I'm not your subordinate male. I'm your friend. I'm here voluntarily. We are equals.~
@1622 = ~And as a friend, I am entitled to refuse that service.~
@1623 = ~That's convenient.~
@1624 = ~Phaere was surprisingly blind in many ways about you. But, yes, you're right, of course.~
@1625 = ~As I said before, I never seriously considered approaching you this way. I realized the moment I had the thought that it would not bring me closer to my goal, to put it mildly.~
@1626 = ~It's like I said. Meeting Drizzt has given me enough to think about. I don't think it is the wrong choice to become more familiar with the surface before approaching other followers of Eilistraee.~
@1627 = ~I also know that we have to regain your soul first.~
@1628 = ~I also understand that your battle against the other Bhaal children must come first.~
@1629 = ~For your benefit, but also for the good of all others who are near you.~
@1630 = ~Yes, I heard that, too.~
@1631 = ~So, are you going to do it?~
@1632 = ~There doesn't seem to be much moonlight around at present, <CHARNAME>.~
@1633 = ~Not right now. I mean later when the moon is out.~
@1634 = ~Of course not! You're intentionally misinterpreting my words.~
@1635 = ~If you say so.~
@1636 = ~Why should I do that, alone? And while keeping you waiting?~
@1637 = ~Does it matter, if it is for the glory of your goddess?~
@1638 = ~So, no dancing in praise of your goddess?~
@1639 = ~Thank goodness. I would part with you, if I saw you doing anything so foolish.~
@1640 = ~Maybe she wants us to be defenseless. Defenseless and natural, like innocent children.~
@1641 = ~I haven't lost hope that in time the cruelty of my people can be overcome through reason. As much as I worship her and honor her dogma, I am not old enough to revert to childlike behavior.~
@1642 = ~I have Eilistraee's song in my heart, and that has to suffice until I meet other followers. I do not feel safe enough yet, <CHARNAME>, to strip all my armor and weapons.~
@1643 = ~You strip, and I'll watch your back. (Ahem)...~
@1644 = ~We could dance together... naked.~
@1645 = ~Oh, but you could strip your clothes and dance *with* the weapons. (giggle)~
@1646 = ~You don't feel safe with me?~
@1647 = ~You would watch over one of your fighters dancing naked through the moonlight? You are weirder than I thought.~
@1648 = ~Then neither of us would be prepared for an attack, <CHARNAME>.~
@1649 = ~Now you sound like a paladin.~
@1650 = ~You are taking me too seriously!~
@1651 = ~Indeed.~
@1652 = ~Not a paladin, but a highly unsettled drow.~
@1653 = ~I do not mind nudity. I do not mind nudity in front of others, either. But I do mind being unarmed. That is why I think dancing through the moonlight alone is rather silly, and should be done in a group of fellow believers, at the least.~
@1654 = ~(flutter your eyelashes) What a pity. I'd enjoy seeing you dancing naked.~
@1655 = ~(snort) You will be spared watching me perform this act of self-discovery for the near future, <CHARNAME>.~
@1656 = ~Isn't it obvious? She gave me every reason to over the last two hundred years. The Handmaidens' tentacle rods drove Phaere's feelings for me out just as they did mine for her.~
@1657 = ~I don't believe you if you say you hated her.~
@1658 = ~Didn't you feel sorry for her at all?~
@1659 = ~Do you feel guilty? For not being able to protect her from it, I mean.~
@1660 = ~But wouldn't you love her still, if circumstances had not been so cruel?~
@1661 = ~Very well, if you say so.~
@1662 = ~I felt sorry about the situation we were in, <CHARNAME>. I was sorry it wasn't possible for drow to live the way Phaere and I did for a short time.~
@1663 = ~But Phaere... With all sympathy I had for what was done to her, I understood very well that afterwards she saw me as a reminder of her flaw.  A sign of her weakness and would have preferred for me to vanish sooner than later.~
@1664 = ~Call it as you wish. Detest her, be disgusted by her, driven to avoid her, whatever! It was the intimateness that defined our connection, and nothing of it was left. I didn't love her anymore. I'm not a masochist!~
@1665 = ~Protect her... How was I supposed to spare her this fate? The only thing we could have done was try to run away into the unknown.~
@1666 = ~Do not think this was an option for Phaere! Or for me, for that matter. It was a game we were both fascinated by, and it worked as long as it did due to Phaere's high rank as a first daughter. We both profited by it. She called a strong and loyal fighter her own, and I had the favor of a high female.~
@1667 = ~Both our ranks and the advantages coming with them would have been without value if we fled. We weren't ready to leave behind the possibilities offered to us. Had we escaped, I suspect we would have found a reason to kill each other soon after!~
@1668 = ~All Phaere had left was her ambition; she never had good judgement. She ever only saw her goals and used every opportunity she could in pursuit of them.  This didn't change for the better afterwards her experience under the lashes of the Handmaidens. To the contrary, she became even more deeply absorbed by her ideas and couldn't be dissuaded from them unless there was no other choice. You remember what we had to free her from at your first meeting with her...?~ 
@1669 = ~I realized that this was the reason why she got so focused on you. A foreign group, presumably from Ched Nassad... and she allowed you to be present at the conjuration ceremony! It takes some impressive ignorance and blindness to the situation to hand that much power to a group of foreign drow, no matter how young and compliant.~
@1670 = ~But the daughter is a chip off the old block, as you surfacers say. Ardulace permitted your presence in the temple. Seems she fell victim to her own arrogance as well as Phaere's blindness.~
@1671 = ~Stubborn as Phaere was in pursuit of her goals, she blindly put all her efforts into you, being so conveniently available just as Ust Natha was preparing for war. And it worked out as I always expected: she tripped over her own arrogance.~
@1672 = ~(sigh) But that is the past now. Let us continue.~
@1673 = ~If the Handmaidens of Lolth hadn't ended our affair it would have ended differently, and probably to a less comfortable way, <CHARNAME>.~
@1674 = ~Believe me when I say: if there would have been any other ending to Phaere's and my relationship it would have included spiders, driders, and probably death. I don't expect you to understand, but the way it ended was fortunate for me. Considering the drow society I lived in, and being the male I am, for my survival and my position in my house it was more than fortunate this affair was ended the way it did. Even with the tortures I had to endure over the following centuries. Because I am alive.~
@1675 = ~You didn't answer my question, Solaufein.~
@1676 = ~In a way I did, <CHARNAME>. I answered your question by pointing out that it doesn't stand against the reality of the situation. But since you insist, I will answer: I do not know what I would have felt for Phaere, were our connection not be discovered by her house.~
@1677 = ~Maybe we would be lovers still. Maybe we would hate each other just the like. Maybe one of us would have killed the other, to eliminate a potential threat or get rid of a dangerous weakness.~
@1678 = ~But the highest probability is we would both be dead, betrayed by one of our brothers and sisters taking advantage of our secret and the vulnerability that comes along with it.~
@1679 = ~I knew that Matron Mother Ardulace had an ally from whom she hoped to profit in her war against the elves. But I neither knew his name nor did I see him.~
@1680 = ~Don't think House of Despana would have let me in on their schemes. (snort) Well, as commander of the Male Fighters' Society I was of course involved in the war preparations, but don't think they told me about their secret plans!~
@1681 = ~Hm. Wasn't it the other way around? It was only *because* I held such a high position that I was able to develop an inner rejection and feelings of revulsion without falling victim to them. As a lower male, such an attitude would have brought me death - or placed me in the drider chambers.~
@1682 = ~You have to understand: as a secret follower of Eilistraee who despises the customs of the drow, I could never have survived this long otherwise. I would have either been discovered or driven mad.~
@1683 = ~No. I haven't bent to fit in, <CHARNAME>. On the contrary, I became deeply absorbed in my secret task, because I had to hold on to something in order to bear the discrepancy.~
@1684 = ~I dove into my duties as a male fighter because it was the only way to suppress my feeling of dissatisfaction. Only rarely did it rise to the surface, when the disgust at what I encountered daily became too great. Then I longed for my Lady Eilistraee Silverhair.~
@1685 = ~Then I suppressed the feeling again with my drive to succeed. Otherwise I would have gone mad, <CHARNAME>.~
@1686 = ~You may think my change happened the moment the Handmaidens pulled Phaere away to abuse with the tentacle rods. After all, this was a significant moment in my life as Phaere had been my only relief from the everyday cruelties.~
@1687 = ~But at that time I was still too deeply rooted in the customs of my people. I took being deprived of the relief Phaere offered and sought another way to calm my thoughts.  This drove me to cling to and pursue my martial discipline and vocation as a fighter and made me long more for the ideals of Eilistraee.~
@1688 = ~All the thing that happened were little drops that continued to wear away the stone. I was growing discontent... and when you stood before me in the Male Fighters' Society and spared my life, I finally understood that I could turn my back on my people and their delusions. It wasn't just the fact that my life was forfeited and I had to hide. It was also finally the realization that I *wanted* to turn away from the evil practices of my people.~
@1689 = ~(snort) She would have liked that. Not all the time, fortunately. In fact, I had peace from her for a while before Ardulace's megalomaniacal plans thinned out the available fighters.~
@1690 = ~If the city hadn't been so short of fighters, I might not have had to free Phaere with you. Well, that must have given them a taste for pushing me around. Or maybe it was because her other favorites were busy preparing for war.~
@1691 = ~But maybe I should be grateful to her in some way. Even... even Phaere's bullying over the years has been good for distracting me. It gave me a channel, a direction for all my feelings of disgust and anger that would have otherwise burned me.~
@1692 = ~As commander my place was in the city, they probably didn't want to pull out all the able fighters.~
@1693 = ~Or House Despana just wanted to keep me close enough to be able to observe me better.~
@1694 = ~Usstan tlun naut yibin! – I am not weak! I... I will manage.~
@1695 = ~Do not worry about me.~
@1696 = ~Hmph. Only a weakling would give in like that.~
@1697 = ~So? Is the sun too bright? Does the poor drow need to take a break in the shadow?~
@1698 = ~I... confess I would prefer a short rest outside the sun, indeed.~
@1699 = ~Your tone is nothing compared to the disdain our slaves face, blinded as they are in the Underdark.~
@1700 = ~(Solaufein raises his eyebrows.) That's a question you want to test our friendship with, isn't it?~
@1701 = ~Dying is pointless. There's no reason to die for each other if you're strong enough to defeat the enemy. Kill! I would kill for you.~
@1702 = ~I think I understand the difference, yes. Thank you.~
@1703 = ~That's what you also did for the Matron Mother.~
@1704 = ~And what if I don't want you to?~
@1705 = ~No. For the Matron Mother I had to kill. For you I would do it voluntarily. It is a great difference.~
@1706 = ~If you don't want me to? You mean, if you were to ask me not to kill someone when I think it's the right thing to do? That's a very good question.~
@1707 = ~And a difficult one to answer. Because if it's very important to me to kill that person, wouldn't it be up to you as a friend to allow me to do so?~
@1708 = ~(Solaufein catches your hand before you can touch his hair.) Forgive me... You didn't mean to harm me, did you?~
@1709 = ~What? Of course not! I wanted to take something out of your hair.~
@1710 = ~Never mind.~
@1711 = ~I make a pathetic friend for a surfacer. Forgive me, <CHARNAME>.~
@1712 = ~Don't fret. You can't just throw off centuries of experiences and trained caution in the matter fo a few weeks.~
@1713 = ~I could have just told you. It's on me to apologize.~
@1714 = ~You and your drow culture are just exhausting.~
@1715 = ~It is no less exhausting for me to become familiar with your customs.~
@1716 = ~It is, indeed. You speak wise words, my friend.~
@1717 = ~Your apology confuses me. (sighs) I have much to learn, it seems.~
@1718 = ~I see what you tried to take out of my hair. Thank you, I will do it myself.~
@1719 = ~<CHARNAME>, I'm centuries old and I've felt everything that causes pain. But there is one thing I have never felt before: touches that serve no 'purpose'. Touches that speak of friendship and trust. There's so much you can teach me, young <PRO_RACE>.~
@1720 = ~And to answer your question... Nothing has ever filled me with more joy than your hand on my arm, assuring me that I am still your friend.~
@1721 = ~I will and would have, anyway. I will not gamble with the protection you are granting me, <CHARNAME>.~
@1722 = ~Yes, I ask myself how I survived our time with the elves without waking up with a knife in my back. They seem to have a lot of faith in their geas. Or trust you enough.~
@1723 = ~But you are referring to the fact that I did not leave when you had your soul back and your enemy was defeated, right? Well, the rapid development of events took us all by surprise. I lingered there out of a desire to get to know my bright surface siblings better, and now we are here.~
@1724 = ~Yes, I will continue to support you. You are my friend.~ 
@1725 = ~(snort) Moreover, now, amidst the chaos caused by the Bhaal children, may not be the best moment to make my people reconsider their evil ways.~
@1726 = ~Yes, I will continue to support you. These chaotic times caused by the Bhaal children might not be the best moment to make my people reconsider their evil ways.~
@1727 = ~Are you asking because I am now travelling with you instead of following my own plans?~
@1728 = ~Well, these times chaos with armies and Bhaal children on the march may not be the best moment to make my people reconsider their evil ways.~
@1729 = ~These are turbulent times. As long as the Bhaal children fight for their father's throne, the drow will not rest, either. We are all forced to choose one side or the other. I may as well spend this time in your company.~
@1730 = ~For a long time I thought I was already in hell, <CHARNAME>.~
@1731 = ~Then you came and pulled me into the real hell... and taught me, here of all places, the meaning of friendship.~
@1732 = ~Do you think I only cared about getting to the surface? You know my most inner desire: to seek out like-minded people.~
@1733 = ~If you're satisfied, it's fine.~
@1734 = ~Yes, but you won't find them here, either...~
@1735 = ~You think you can do that here?~
@1736 = ~That is true.~
@1737 = ~From your pocket plane we can reach faraway places faster than I ever dreamed.~
@1738 = ~And you like that?~
@1739 = ~It makes me feel like being under someone else's command.  It doesn't feel like freedom.~
@1740 = ~I can only go where I am supposed to, not where I want to go. I would have gladly taken you where you wanted to go in your search for other followers of Eilistraee if I could.~
@1741 = ~Your powers give us far more possibilities to reach places, faster and further than anything I would have imagined - even if it eliminates the impressions only a long journey can give.~
@1742 = ~I need neither open sky nor the sun to know that I left the hell you call Underdark.~
@1743 = ~And I need neither rain-wet nor murky sleeping places to know that I enjoy the comfort your so-called hell enclave provides.~
@1744 = ~I thank you for considering it.~
@1745 = ~Yes, it does.~
@1746 = ~I understand this Sarevok is a former enemy of yours, and you just restored him to life... I myself benefitted from the same behavior of yours: to spare your former enemies' life. Still, it takes me by surprise.~
@1747 = ~Considering you fought for your soul in hell itself only recently, I feel a little bit... deceived to see you hand parts of it over willingly.~
@1748 = ~That's how I am. If asked nicely, I do a lot for other people.~
@1749 = ~It was Imoen's choice, not mine.~
@1750 = ~The situation was completely different.~
@1751 = ~I don't really understand why I let this happen, either.~
@1752 = ~I had no choice!~
@1753 = ~I don't care how you feel about my decision, Solaufein.~
@1754 = ~That makes more sense than you are implying.~
@1755 = ~That may be.~
@1756 = ~I did criticize your action, but it is of no importance. This Sarevok is no match to you. He could turn into a nuisance, at most.~
@1757 = ~So, the times of Bhaalspawn fighting Bhaalspawn has begun.~
@1758 = ~So it seems.~
@1759 = ~Solaufein, not this topic from you, too!~
@1760 = ~Hm, I fear you'll have to bear it from all of us who fight alongside you.  We all need to understand what it means to you, and us.~
@1761 = ~So, does the throne of your divine father interest you?~
@1762 = ~Absolutely. The power is in me, and I have a right to it.~
@1763 = ~I'm not sure... It's hard to imagine what it would mean.~
@1764 = ~That is not an option for me. I wish none of this had anything to do with me!~
@1765 = ~Honestly, Solaufein, not you, too. I feel like I will have to have this discussion with everyone at least once.~
@1766 = ~Well, you asked for my thoughts. And even if you wrote it on a banner and carried it in front of you, I suspect you'd still be asked this question time and again.~
@1767 = ~Well, we will see how it turns out. I assume there will be quite a bit of work until then for you, though.~
@1768 = ~What is happening to us is the stuff of legends. Your divine powers... even the representatives of the gods are coming for you.~
@1769 = ~But it is a time when prophecy becomes fulfilled - Faerűn is filled with the bloodthirsty children of Bhaal. Everyone is living through legendary times. Even the Underdark will be caught up in them.~
@1770 = ~But most people are just trying to survive and not lose their lives to the chaos and conflict erupting around them. I prefer being with you on this side of things very much.~
@1771 = ~After what I see you doing here, creating this hell enclave, communicating with the gods - I am surprised you didn't just collapse the cavern around Ust Natha while passing through. You are very powerful, <CHARNAME>.~
@1772 = ~When you asked me to join your company, I was unsure you would be able to protect me against all dangers at the surface. That doubt vanished soon as I saw how you cut your way through the drow posts on your way to the surface.~
@1773 = ~When I saw you fight your way through the drow posts, I also knew you didn't spare my life in Ust Natha because you wanted to avoid a fight with a potentially dangerous opponent. I was no match for you even then.~
@1774 = ~Now you are more powerful than anyone I have ever met... and I am old, <CHARNAME>.~
@1775 = ~Maybe, but with my increase in power, even stronger enemies seem to seek me out.~
@1776 = ~Does that mean you would have fewer hesitations about joining me, would we be meeting now for the first time?~
@1777 = ~Yes, and I am not finished yet. We need to get going.~
@1778 = ~Now, I would hesitate even longer, <CHARNAME>.  Because I know that I would stand no chance against you should you wish me harm.~
@1779 = ~I didn't think of that.~
@1780 = ~You know I won't ever do that. We are friends.~
@1781 = ~I would never do that. We are allies.~
@1782 = ~Wise thinking.~
@1783 = ~I won't recite the saying about moths and the light.~
@1784 = ~I don't know that you wouldn't harm me. But I trust that you won't.~
@1785 = ~Isn't that what I said?~
@1786 = ~Then we should go.~
@1787 = ~You would, were you in my situation.~
@1788 = ~Not quite. You might not see a difference in our statements, but for me the concept of trust is new and I feel its power even more strongly.~
@1789 = ~This... town is different from what we encountered in Amn.~
@1790 = ~Overall, the behavior of the common folk in this town reminds me of the one I was used to. It is different, of course. All those individual monks oppressing people as they see fit, you wouldn't see that in a drow city. It would be done by the most powerful houses and Matron Mothers.  A random drow fighter who wanted to take advantage of their station over the oppressed townsfolk would have to step lightly to avoid the appearance of challenging the Matron Mothers.~
@1791 = ~But the townfolk are frightened, careful not to raise any suspicion. That is what I mean. This Balthazar knows how to terrorize a city, I have to grant him that. And he does it without leaving his monastery.~
@1792 = ~(snort) That's the advantage of a drow city. The leaders are generally so confident in their power, you don't have to spend a lot of time gaining access to the one responsible for oppressing the inhabitants.  Instead they tend to flaunt their power in public and none dare challenge them.~
/* c#solau.d */
@1793 = ~Solaufein! Is this how we meet again?~
@1794 = ~Yes. We have here the eggs of the Lady Adalon and will bring them to safety.~
@1795 = ~Solaufein's Rescue

I saved Solaufein from being turned into a drider.~
@1796 = ~Solaufein's Rescue

I saved Solaufein from being turned into a drider. I asked him to join me, but to avoid any complications his presence may cause on our way out he will leave the Underdark on his own to wait for me at the surface, southeast of the elf camp.~
@1797 = ~Solaufein's Rescue

I saved Solaufein from being turned into a drider. I asked him to join me, and he will come to me before we leave the Underdark.~
@1798 = ~Solaufein's Rescue

I saved Solaufein from being turned into a drider. Alas, he didn't seem interested in showing his combat skills with only a pair of daggers and departed. I will not see him again.~
@1799 = ~Solaufein's Rescue~

/* c#solauB_ee.d */
@1800 = ~I can't believe I am traveling with someone like you, Dorn... Evil, brutal, merciless.~
@1801 = ~I could easily rid you of your problem, drow.~
@1802 = ~Clever wordplay, but sadly your words merely underscore your nature.~
@1803 = ~[Solaufein]Hexxat, I am surprised to see you at our side. You are a vampire - a monster who sustains herself with the blood of the living.~
@1804 = ~[Hexxat]You would allow your prejudice against my kind to taint your views of me? I am here, I travel in daylight in support of <CHARNAME>, but my nature requires me to sustain myself with blood!~
@1805 = ~[Solaufein]That's exactly what I was referring to, Hexxat - you have no other choice than to behave evil. I would kill you, would it be my decision. The only reason I am not doing that is because I respect <CHARNAME>'s decision to travel with you - for now.~
@1806 = ~Dorn, when offering to spare me traveling with you, you didn't mean you would leave the group, by any chance?~
@1807 = ~No. You would be the one running with his tail between his legs, if you were still able.~
@1808 = ~So there is to be no getting along with each other? If we must spend our time exchanging threats - then so be it. No, Dorn, your little fantasy is not what would happen. You might be a fearless and merciless fighter, but you are not invincible, and I have spent multiple of your lifetimes thriving among rivals who make your petty cruelties seem like child's play.~
@1809 = ~We will see when the time comes, drow.~
@1810 = ~If you are so determined to embarrass yourself, then we will, indeed.~ 
@1811 = ~Hexxat, I must admit that there is a certain... satisfaction to travelling with a creature suffering under the sun even more than oneself.~
@1812 = ~Really? I couldn't tell.~
@1813 = ~A jest! I am stunned.~
@1814 = ~Great, maybe it spares us your whining for a while.~
//@1815 = ~##~
//@1816 = ~##~
//@1817 = ~##~
//@1818 = ~##~
//@1819 = ~##~
@1820 = ~[Solaufein]Hexxat, I am surprised to see you still among <CHARNAME>'s travel companions. Don't think I haven't noticed you slipping away at night to feed.~
@1821 = ~[Hexxat]You would prefer I wouldn't steal away to feed? Maybe I should change my diet. Maybe I should try drow, for a change. I have heard that the ones new to the surface still taste of magic and power, but without the moldered taste of those who dwell in the Underdark.~
@1822 = ~[Solaufein](scowls) Try that, and I assure you, the drow will be eagerly awaiting your attempt.~ 
@1823 = ~[Hexxat]Funny you'd say that, Solaufein. I've heard plenty of people make the same observation about you, the drow, traveling alongside <CHARNAME>.~
@1824 = ~[Solaufein]True, but I am not an undead being who shows no remorse for my nature.~
@1825 = ~[Hexxat]I show no remorse? Have you not been listening to my conversations with <CHARNAME>?~
@1826 = ~[Solaufein]I have, and all I have heard is self-pity and self-serving justifications.~
@1827 = ~[Solaufein]<CHARNAME> has the final say in this, Hexxat, so as long as <PRO_HESHE> choose, I will continue to travel alongside a creature of the night.~
@1828 = ~[Hexxat]Creature of the night, hmm? Seems that description would fit for you, too.~
@1829 = ~Ouch! Wilson, no offense, but that was my foot.~
@1830 = ~I do not mind you being close, at least not until now. If you continue to trample on my feet, I'll have to re-evaluate the threat you pose... and be it only to my toes.~
@1831 = ~It's funny how you surface animals seem to be all soft and fluffy.~
@1832 = ~Compare this hairy beast with what can be found in the Underdark. It's either scales or slime or carapace all over.~
@1833 = ~You-you are referring to Wilson, yes? Soft and fluffy? I mean, I-I see what you mean, but to call a wild bear soft and fluffy...~
@1834 = ~Oh, Wilson, if you look l-like that... Aren't you the *fluffiest* thing...?~
@1835 = ~Yes, fluffy. They were sought after in the Underdark because of their warm pelts.~
@1836 = ~AND of course obtaining a pelt was a sign of great drow-heroism. But I have to admit it was because the drow had to be on the surface to get the pelt, not necessarily because a bear was seen to be a great threat... Sorry, my good beast.~
@1837 = ~Only a creature of the Underdark could call one of the mightiest creatures of the forest soft and fluffy! Wait until the bear shows its teeth and claws!~
@1838 = ~These little pointy things?~
@1839 = ~Wilson, it is a sad truth that a bear's claws and teeth are no comparison to those of, say, a Cavvekan.~
@1840 = ~You mean any Cavvekan is far away, but you are near so I should watch my tongue? You do have a point there, Wilson.~
@1841 = ~Wilson, you are right. There is one thing where you match any Cavvekan...~
@1842 = ~The stench.~
@1843 = ~But I do admit that you are a fine beast. And I definitely prefer having you on my side than having you against me.~
/* Sendai's Lair */
@1844 = ~Ah, the Underdark... yes, it feels familiar.~ [c#ablank]
@1845 = ~I hope we don't have to stay here long enough for my powers to recover.  Our time is limited and I'd rather not linger here longer than we need to!~

/* c#solauj */
@1846 = ~(scoffs) Sometimes? Life must have been kind to you if you still think it only *sometimes* goes differently than imagined.~

/* c#solau */
@1847 = ~And you *are* drow? This is your true form? And yet...~

/* C#Solau_AR2100.baf */
@1848 = ~Drider Brood Chambers~

/* c#solau.D */
@1849 = ~And what about you, Veldrin... Did Phaere send you on another mission? It does not matter. I will come back to you, should there be the need for it!~
@1850 = ~And what about you, surfacer... wherever you came from. It does not matter. I will come back to you, should there still be the need for it!~

/* C#SOLAU_PID.D */
@1851 = ~Solaufein, come nearer, I need access to your inventory.~
@1852 = ~Solaufein, please warn me if your health gets too low in the next fight.~
@1853 = ~Solaufein, I want you to stop warning me about your health during combat.~ 
@1854 = ~With pleasure - if someone else moves away.~
@1855 = ~As you wish.~

/* C#solau.baf */
@1856 = ~I was nearly dead.~
@1857 = ~Now it is much better.~
@1858 = ~I need healing!~
@1859 = ~Ouch!~

/* c#solau.D */
@1860 = ~I just need to reorganize our formation. Fall in behind the others.~


/* C#SOLAU_PID.D */
@1861 = ~Is this really a serious question? I do not detect any mockery in it. How different from how we drow treat our darkness blinded slaves.~
@1862 = ~Is there something else you want to comment on about life on the surface, Solaufein?~
@1863 = ~Is there anything else you have on your mind?~
@1864 = ~Yes, I am surprised that I survived the time in that Elven city without waking up with a knife in my back. They didn't seem to expect much evil from me - or they trusted you well enough.~

/* C#solau.baf */
@1865 = ~I am ready to answer more questions, if you like.~

/* C#SOLAU_PID.D */
@1866 = ~(in a melodramatic voice) Oh, Drizzt, can I have some of your hair, too?~
@1867 = ~I sincerely hope a scene like these Drizzt admirers will not happen again.~
@1868 = ~(snort) And thinking I was afraid they would attack me... Let us move on, <CHARNAME>, or next I will be arrested for impersonating Drizzt.~ 
@1869 = ~This Drizzt-hair fencing is hilarious. You could have made some easy gold with it!~
@1870 = ~Thank you for not trading with that smuggler. Even if it's only small sums, I do not appreciate people being conned.~
@1871 = ~I can't believe how far this went! And I didn't even *do* anything! But then... maybe that was the problem. (mutters to himself) Surfacers...~

/* c#solauB_ee.d */
@1872  = ~Neera, please keep your distance.~
@1873  = ~What? Me? Why me? You're afraid of *me*?~
@1874  = ~Not you, personally. Wild magic is a powerful thing. Powerful, and... unpredictable. I do not wish to be caught up in one of your wild surges.~
@1875  = ~Well, who does... But really? You complained about your loss of magic. Shouldn't you be grateful if I lent you some of mine?~
@1876  = ~That doesn't make any sense and you know it.~
@1877  = ~Did you tell <CHARNAME> the same thing?~
@1878  = ~<CHARNAME> is our leader and freed me from the drider chambers. I knew what I was getting into when joining <PRO_HIMHER>.~

@1879  = ~Solaufein, you want me to keep my magic to myself?~
@1880  = ~Yourself and our enemies, yes.~
@1881  = ~Unless a wild surge changes my fireball into something good?~
@1882  = ~Unless that, yes.~
@1883  = ~Well, what can I say. At least I still *have* my magic?~
@1884  = ~(scoff) Very true. And well said.~

@1885  = ~Neera, I shouldn't complain about the unpredictability of your magic. With most of my magic lost, I can very much relate to one's magic being unreliable.~
@1886  = ~Was that an apology? I'll take it as an apology. The drow said 'I'm sorry' to me!~
@1887  = ~If you want to see it that way. It was a true statement, at least. Although I guess having powerful magic that is unpredictable is even worse than my condition. This is an interesting thought I will have to think on.~
@1888  = ~Ohh, and that sounded very much like you thanking me for my brilliant insight. I am thrilled! The drow said 'sorry' and 'thank you' in the same conversation!~

@1889 = ~Neera, how do *you* deal with the frustration the unpredictability of your magic causes?~
@1890 = ~Well, there was a time when I was searching for a way to make it more predictable. But life is tough and unfair, because there is none, really. So I braced myself and keep on telling myself that *every* spell tends to wear off after some time. Also, I always have some nuts and biscuits in my backpack, just in case...~
@1891 = ~And, what can I say - at least I still *have* my magic?~
@1892 = ~(snort) I remember that one. I see that your problems are different than mine, or at least your solution to them, if I can call it that, does not help me with my condition. I thank you for your answer, nonetheless.~

@1893  = ~Wilson, as much as I am surprised to find myself conversing with a bear, I have to set something straight. I may have complained about your stench, my good beast. But I've noticed that - given several days in a row on sunny, dusty roads following night camps in the wilderness... none of us has a right to complain to you anymore.~
@1894  = ~Exactly.~

@1895  = ~It is surprising to think of *how* convincing the silver dragon's illusion was.~ 
@1896  = ~I saw you fight in the Underdark, Rasaad, but it never occurred to me that it was monk's movements I was looking at.~
@1897  = ~I saw you and <CHARNAME> fight in the Underdark, Rasaad, but it never occurred to me that it was monks' movements I was looking at.~
@1898  = ~We were lucky then... This way of fighting never struck you as odd?~
@1899  = ~It did feel odd to me, but I thought you were a specially trained male some paranoid - or wise, depending on perspective - Matron Mother raised to have protection in a 'no weapon' zone, or that you yourself were aiming to impress a matron with your unarmed combat. I also noticed very quickly that you are good at what you are doing, so I didn't see a reason to talk about it.~
@1900  = ~It never occurred to me that I might be looking at an illusion.~
@1901  = ~Perhaps this was one of the reasons the illusion was so powerful - because it presented us in a way no one even considered there might be deception.~
@1902  = ~You mean if it looks like a drow and talks like a drow just correctly enough, even my people's racial paranoia doesn't suffice to make us question whether it actually is a drow? Well, that would fit nicely with my opinion that my race is blinded by its own arrogance.~

@1903  = ~Dorn, I am even more surprised finding myself *still* travelling with you.~
@1904  = ~You thought <CHARNAME> would choose between us?~
@1905  = ~Actually, I was more expecting that I would have to kill you at some point.~
@1906  = ~Pfeh. We could still see how that would turn out, drow.~
@1907  = ~To be honest, I'm not so sure anymore that it will come to that, if it hasn't yet. And - we do currently have other problems. But if it came to it... I am ready.~
@1908  = ~As am I.~
@1909  = ~I know.~

@1910  = ~Rasaad, I do say it still puzzles me how a man can fight with nothing but his fists.~
@1911  = ~It's power granted by the gods. In return, a monk hands himself to his god completely - including the vow to never wield a weapon other than his god's power.~
@1912  = ~I do understand that it is comparable with the magic a priest has at his disposal, but still - the combination of magic with your own body force still strikes me as unusual. I liked being able to wield magic, but nothing compares to a good weapon in my hand. Without it, I would feel naked.~

@1913  = ~Solaufein, you think me a lesser threat because I use no weapons?~
@1914  = ~On the contrary. I understand very well that you *are* your weapon. Thinking about it even makes me a bit uneasy - an armed man can be *disarmed*, at least. A mage can be stopped by antimagic or a dead magic zone. But you? You are unstoppable.~
@1915  = ~Unless I lose my god's blessing...~
@1916  = ~True, but that, my good monk, is a different thing altogether.~

@1917  = ~Rasaad, would it be appropriate to ask you to show me some of your fighting moves?~
@1918  = ~Well, I can show you some if you want, but I doubt you will be able to perform them with the strength necessary - the strength of a monk is granted by his god.~
@1919  = ~I agree, but nevertheless, a physically strong person should be able to use them effectively if fighting unarmed.~
@1920  = ~Very well. Put your feet like this...~
@1921  = ~You do have a lot of strength and do not hesitate to use it, but you are lacking some of the acrobatics needed, especially for the kicks.~
@1922  = ~Indeed, I do... How do you prevent the edge of the hand from burning after hitting with it repeatedly?~
@1923  = ~I don't, because mine doesn't burn any more - but before, I trained until it stopped.~
@1924  = ~I see. I always thought my body was used to being mistreated in every way possible, but I see now that there are still new ways to abuse my body if I want to become as hardened as you.~
@1925  = ~Only in this regard. Have me swing a sword and hold a shield for hours and I am very sure my muscles would ache and shake all over.~
@1926  = ~You mean it is always what we are used to that determines what we are capable of? This sounds like a very wise statement - and still leaves room for hope that we are capable of shaping our own lives if we invest enough dedication. I thank you for all you've done for me today, Rasaad: sharing your time, passing on some of your knowledge, and giving me something to ponder.~

/* c#solau_pid.d */
@1927  = ~I don't have a problem with you showing your origin while we are in the cities. The more people who see you the sooner they will get used to a drow at my side.~ 
@1928 = ~Well... I will try to cover myself a little, nonetheless.  I don't want to have my appearance provoke people into driving me away before they can get used to my presence... I will not gamble with the protection you are granting me, <CHARNAME>.~
@1929 = ~(snort) Don't you think this joke is getting old?~
@1930 = ~Solaufein, please talk to other group members as little as possible.~ //I want the player to be aware that this is not for the dialogues but the banters
@1931 = ~Solaufein, please feel free to talk to the other group members as often you would like.~
@1932 = ~Solaufein, please switch back to talking more often to other group members.~
@1933 = ~Solaufein, please switch back to talking less often to other group members.~
@1934 = ~[Solaufein]I know, but after I already had them made you were the logical choice to give them to. I quickly saw that you would see to House Despana's fall, and that was what counted.~
@1935  = ~[PC]Solaufein, although you gave me fake dragon eggs, I wouldn't have needed them to watch House Despana fall.~ 

/* C#solau.baf */
@1936 = ~Accursed sun!~
@1937 = ~Ah, that is much better.~

/* c#solaufein_interjections_ee.D */
@1940 = ~Are we finished *now*?~

/* detect_drowpc.d */
@2000 = ~(Truth) Since I'm a drow already, this shouldn't be so hard.~
@2001 = ~Indeed. But even without it, my illusion would be unbreakable.~

/* scenery_dialogues_soa.d */
@2010 = ~I thank you.~


/* C#SOLAUB.D */
@2500 = ~[Nalia]Solaufein, I know you are hurting over the magic abilities you lost when you left the Underdark. I would like to remind you of your own words.~
@2501 = ~[Solaufein]Which ones? Do you want to recite my lamentations for me to hear because I haven't made them often enough myself?~
@2502 = ~[Nalia](smiles) No - I am referring to what you mentioned when last we spoke. That in a way you still do have exceptional magic abilities. At least in comparison to a surface fighter! You are a "surface dweller", at least for now. I thought that the knowledge that you were *still* a superior fighter might give you some comfort in your misery.~
@2503 = ~[Solaufein](snort) You want me to take comfort from my diminished abilities by comparing myself to a magicless fighter, wrapping it into the same mindset of superiority that the Handmaidens use?~
@2504 = ~[Nalia]What you make of it is up to you, Solaufein! I was offering you comfort. It's your decision how you take it. Or perhaps should I say, *not* take it?!~
@2505 = ~[Solaufein]You are right. I am not ready to take comfort from these thoughts although there is much truth in them... And my view of them was narrow-minded, so your rebuke is well deserved. I thank you for giving me something to ponder upon.~ 
@2506 = ~[Solaufein]Keldorn, when I asked you about your family... No, do not scowl and turn away. I did not mean to talk about you. I wanted to talk about... me. You know I'm not a "normal" drow. I fit into the drow society because I wanted to survive, but I lived the life of an outcast - in the spiritual sense. I know my share of loss... losing a loved one. About betrayal, about trust being shattered by someone you thought you could rely on.~
@2507 = ~[Solaufein]And yet, what I experienced was completely different, because the conditions around my and Phaere's relationship were completely different from anything a surfacer would experience, or so I would assume at least.~
@2508 = ~[Solaufein]Asking about your family and what happened between you and your wife... I did not mean to pry, least of all I didn't mean to cause you to relive your torment. I sought to understand. Understand and learn about the bond surfacers share if they partner with someone - if they start a family.~
@2509 = ~[Keldorn]And to learn about this you thought you could use me and my turmoil as your example, poke my wound and gain knowledge from my pain?~
@2510 = ~[Solaufein]I... Yes, I did, and I now understand that it was wrong. I apologize, Keldorn.~
@2511 = ~[Keldorn]If you understand this then you've learned a lot about surfacers' ways, Solaufein.~
@2512 = ~[Keldorn]I will tell you this, so this whole exchange wasn't for naught. If you feel as if your heart breaks, as if the life-giving sun sets for eternity, if darkness and desolation took over your soul - but you still wish the other person well from the bottom of your heart. Then, Solaufein, then you loved the person who betrayed you.~
@2513 = ~[Solaufein]I... I do not think I will ever feel this way, Keldorn. Still wishing the other well...?~
@2514 = ~[Keldorn]Then this will be your test, Solaufein. The test whether you can truly leave your drow culture behind. Never stop striving for it.~
@2515 = ~[Solaufein]I will not, Keldorn. Your words could have been from my Lady Eilistraee herself, and I will take them to heart.~ 
@2516 = ~[Solaufein]Minsc, when I first saw you with... that hamster I thought you were a toy for <CHARNAME>, a crazed warrior <PRO_HESHE> tolerated because you were still a capable fighter. I now know that you are a warrior from Rashemen who came to these shores on a journey of self-discovery with your "witch" who you had sworn to protect.~
@2517 = ~[Minsc]Dynaheir! Minsc and Boo lost Dynaheir, and everyone responsible for it will fall to Minsc's wrath!~
@2518 = ~[Solaufein]You speak of her so affectionately - so full of grief over her loss. If drow warriors fail to protect their female superiors, they will jump on their own weapons and praise the Spider Queen while doing so. But they do not feel grief, they do it because they failed an order and know that the Handmaidens of Lolth will give them a gruesome death for their failure.~
@2519 = ~[Solaufein]You did not swear to protect your Dynaheir with your life because you were ordered to. It was your choice to do so.~
@2520 = ~[Minsc]Yes! Minsc was ready to give his life for Dynaheir! And we still are, right, Boo? We will go on and kick evil in the butt, because that is what she would have wanted!~
@2521 = ~[Solaufein]That is what she would have wanted. I understand. I... envy you the bond you had with your witch.~
@2522 = ~[Minsc]Boo says that he hopes that our drow warrior friend will never experience the grief of such a loss.~
@2523 = ~[Solaufein]Your "Boo" speaks much wisdom, warrior from Rashemen - I apologize for my words, they must have sounded insensitive.~ 
@2524 = ~We are among good people, Solaufein, though many of them do not know it yet. It is our job to model virtue so that they may copy us and thus find virtue inside themselves.~
@2525 = ~Yes, I see that you are living by these standards, Mazzy. I hope your high opinion of the good in people will not give you a bad surprise one day.~
@2526 = ~[Solaufein](snort) Your naivety knows no bounds if you call a drow caring. I speak because I will not be able to live by my goddess' dogma to protect you if you fade away out of despair, avariel.~ 
@2527 = ~[Cernd]The Underdark teems with its own kind of life, that is for sure. But it is tainted by the unnatural radiations and magical emanation, much of which was placed there by dark powers with the intent to corrupt.~
@2528 = ~[Cernd]Egoistic, self-serving.... I know, Solaufein.~
@2529 = ~[Solaufein]But not at all, Cernd. To me, this looks like a very sensible and caring decision. I understand that although you did it quickly, that you did not make it easy on yourself. Knowing when it is best not to raise a child yourself but give him to people who will care for him better than you could - to me, this sounds like a sensible thing a... loving father would do.~
@2530 = ~[Cernd]So finally I get affirmation for my deed - by the person coming from the most corrupted culture...~
@2531 = ~[Solaufein]Not the best reference you say? I know I need to learn a lot about surfacers' ways still. There is so much I still do not understand about inner familial dealings, intimate feelings, and the expectations that come with it. This gave me a lot to ponder, Cernd. I wish you and your son the best. I wish you that he will agree to your decision when he is older.~
@2532 = ~[Cernd]As do I, Solaufein. As do I.~ 

/* c#solauj */
@2600 = ~[PC reply]What do you mean by 'friendly'? Although he may have been a lying conman, Jarlaxle did speak in quite a civilized manner.~
@2601 = ~[Solaufein]Ah, but Jarlaxle is a special case. He has very powerful connections, and as you've noted he is a master of manipulation - possessing just the right amount of charm and power to get away with it. He may speak in a manner that you are accustomed to, but he is not friendly. Not in the sense that I mean.~
@2602 = ~[Solaufein]For drow, friendliness, gentleness is seen as a weakness. I have started to realize that this is not necessarily true.~ 
@2603 = ~[PC reply]You could go for a disguise of sorts if you are worried about people's reactions.~
@2604 = ~[Solaufein]I could, but that would only be a solution for brief contacts with strangers. It is not what I was referring to; on the contrary in the long run a disguise will likely make things worse.  Always being in a disguise that hides my true identity when interacting with surfacers means that I will never establish true bonds with surfacers and will leave me always vulnerable should my true identity be discovered.~ 
@2605 = ~[PC reply]Why are you complimenting me?~
@2606 = ~[PC reply]While your fluency is impressive, I do notice that you don't have a lot of experience speaking common daily, as your phrasings and use of sayings are obviously being translated from another language.~
@2607 = ~[PC reply]Solaufein, one reason surfacers are able to fight off drow is that while the individual drow warriors tend to be stronger and more skilled than the surfacers, the trust the surfacers have in their companions allows them to cover for each other and be more resilient as a group.~
@2608 = ~[PC reply]Trust works and is worthwhile learning, as no person is strong at all times in every way, Solaufein. A group of weaker individuals fighting together and covering for each other allows them to overcome the individually more powerful drow who all fight as though they are watching their back against the other drow. Have you ever seen a shield wall in combat?~
@2609 = ~[Solaufein]I... I see. It does make sense - for a surfacer trained in these ways. For me, it feels like I am giving up everything that defines my strength and fighting prowess.~ 
@2610 = ~[PC reply]Solaufein, consider this: The big secret is that everyone has fears and worries and most will give voice to them at one point or another.  The people that matter will judge you by your actions and not a worry you voiced in a moment of distress.~
@2611 = ~[PC reply]See, this is the difference between the Underdark and here. In many ways the fact that you have these worries and are struggling with them is something that will help win others over if they were to hear of them, since it turns you from a scary drow into a person.~
@2612 = ~[PC reply]Seriously, though - how would I use any of the things you told me against you? Even it I were to "betray" you and reveal your worries, it won't really help me all that much.~
@2613 = ~[Solaufein]You mean it was *advantageous* for me to speak as I did? I... I did sense I could do so without having to fear repercussions, but everything you've just said beyond that is still hard for me to understand.~ 
@2614 = ~[PC is still missing their soul.]I can relate on a personal level. I lost my soul, Solaufein. Every moment I am reminded of what I lost, how I feel incomplete and weak without my soul.~
@2615 = ~[PC refers to past events.]I can relate. I lost my soul, Solaufein. I can relate to feeling incomplete and weak.~
@2616 = ~[Solaufein]Of course. I seem to have forgotten who I am talking to.~
@2617 = ~[Solaufein]I thank you for your understanding. But my lost abilities are not the main reason I am so angry.~ 


/* c#solau.D */
@2700 = ~[Solaufein]Don't you already have this problem? Then again, *another* drow would probably increase the elves' suspicions even more.~
@2701 = ~[PC reply]Exactly. There will be enough problems convincing the elves as it is. You'll need to find your own way to the surface.~ 
@2702 = ~I'll fall in line in the back. Let me know if you need access to my inventory.~
@2703 = ~Search for me outside of the elven camp.~

/* c#solau_pid.d */
@2750 = ~Oh, you weren't referring to that type of role model? But yes, <CHARNAME>, it was Phaere, Ardulace, and others like them who opened my eyes to the cruelty of my people. There were others secretly yearning for our Lady Silverhair, as you know, but they left long before I was ready to make myself known.~
@2751 = ~Those of us who listened closely for signs of discontent or had an eye for deviations from the dogma of Lolth did hear or see things from time to time. I learned of the Lady Silverhair this way, though I was not receptive to the message or its bearer at the time.  Any deviations from Lolth's dogma were always quickly hushed up by the house of the deviant or else they risked the scandal becoming a pretext for the other houses to bring them down.~

/* c#solaufein_interjections.D */
@2800 = ~We need to move on, Solaufein. Make it short.~
@2801 = ~(You listen patiently to the two drows' conversation.)~