@0    = ~Finch~
@1    = ~Hmm. Let's see... 'The Lord of Murder shall perish...'~ [SUFINC0A]
@2    = ~Oooh! I just can't take this anymore! Fleeeee!~ [SUFINC01]
@3    = ~I am learning so much! This is the best adventure ever! And, one day, generations will have read of your grand acts!~ [SUFINC02]
@4    = ~*sigh* It's times like this, I miss scribing in Candlekeep.~ [SUFINC03]
@5    = ~My quill will tell the truth of what has transpired here, but I struggle to remain objective.~ [SUFINC04]
@6    = ~It pains me to write of some of the things you've done! I feel history will judge you harshly.~ [SUFINC05]
@7    = ~This is a strange turn of events!~ [SUFINC06]
@8    = ~Can we not rest? I would like to write a few secrets in my diary.~ [SUFINC07]
@9    = ~You know things are slow when a scribe runs out of subjects to write. Look! I'm doodling!~ [SUFINC08]
@10   = ~Yikes!~ [SUFINC45]
@11   = ~You wouldn't hit a girl wearing glasses, would you?~ [SUFINC10]
@12   = ~Stand down, and I won't get hurt!~ [SUFINC11]
@13   = ~Oh! We're in trouble now!~ [SUFINC46]
@14   = ~Finch NPC~
@16   = ~The blood! On my scrolls! Nooo!~ [SUFINC15]
@17   = ~Why, I wager I've read more books than there are blades of grass here!~ [SUFINC16]
@18   = ~While we're here... I need quills and parchment and some Thayvian ink!~ [SUFINC17]
@19   = ~Shhhhh. Let us use our quiet voices here.~ [SUFINC18]
@20   = ~Ooh! Sometimes I spend so much time in a cloister, I forget how bright the outdoors can be!~ [SUFINC19]
@21   = ~The dark... is kind of cozy.~ [SUFINC20]
@22   = ~There are few occupations that can compare to living with your nose in a book.~ [SUFINC21]
@23   = ~Oh, if only I was taller.~ [SUFINC44]
@24   = ~Hmm. Didn't I read about that somewhere?~ [SUFINC23]
@25   = ~Oh, goodness! Why are you paying so much attention to ME?~ [SUFINC24]
@26   = ~The pen is mightier than the sword, and much easier to write with!~ [SUFINC25]
@27   = ~Don't judge a book by its cover!~ [SUFINC26]
@28   = ~I will!~ [SUFINC27]
@29   = ~Oh, no. I couldn't. I couldn't! Oh, okay!~ [SUFINC28]
@30   = ~Mmm-hmm.~ [SUFINC29]
@31   = ~I shall make a note of that.~ [SUFINC30]
@32   = ~I'd be happy to!~ [SUFINC31]
@33   = ~You always know exactly what you want to say!~ [SUFINC32]
@34   = ~This should be fascinating!~ [SUFINC33]
@35   = ~O Great Deneir, what I've seen here will fill a library!~ [SUFINC34]
@36   = ~You can capture the wisdom of the world with a quill.~ [SUFINC35]
@37   = ~Ooh! That was very well done, indeed!~ [SUFINC36]
@38   = ~Oh, dear.~ [SUFINC37]
@39   = ~No effect? Time for more research!~ [SUFINC38]
@40   = ~Blagh! Inkblot!~ [SUFINC43]
@41   = ~I've got it... I've got it....(crash)...*sigh*. I HAD it.~ [SUFINC39]
@42   = ~I really don't think I should be doing this.~ [SUFINC40]
@43   = ~Where am I?~ [SUFINC41]
@44   = ~Watch out! That's very dangerous!~ [SUFINC42]
@45   = ~When asked about her past, FINCH BLOOMWHIFFLER is quick to enthuse about stories she has read, libraries she has visited and tomes that she has had the honor to copy. You sense that, for all her knowledge, Finch has never truly experienced a life of adventure outside the pages of a book until joining your travels. She wavers between trepidation and enthusiasm at each new turn, keeping her quill ever at the ready.~
@46   = ~Trask~
@48   = ~Finch's Bookbag~
@49   = ~Finch's Bookbag
  
  This neat leather satchel provides ample room for a healthy bundle of scrolls, tomes and writing supplies. What's more, it has pretty blue trim to match Finch's robes. This bag is one of the gnome's favorite possessions, and she rarely lets it leave her sight.~
@50   = ~Primer of Faerun~
@51   = ~Primer of Faerun
  
  "Abelia ate an apple in Athkatla.
   Brunold bought a button in Baldur's Gate.
   Caiyiffah caught a cold in Calimport.
   Dannica dropped her doll in Deepwater."
   
   This alliterative reader was very popular in the tutorial profession when it was first published in 1344 because of its usefulness in instructing the new reader in the Common alphabet as well as instructing in Faerunian geography. It suffered from a brief, but intense, political backlash when its author, Fenedriel Boscoe, was accused of encouraging anarchy and cultural lassitude among the young. The uproar resulted in Boscoe's imprisonment for six years, a period during which the author produced his most respected work as an essayist and poet, his ensuing popularity forcing his release for, ironically, fear of further uproar.~
@52   = ~Metallurgy Today~
@53   = ~Metallurgy Today
  
  The name is perhaps misleading, for the content of this tome was scribed centuries ago by dwarves of Delzoun, then translated much later into Common. The principles outlined within include land surveying, mining principles, smelting and the casting of iron and fortunately remain timeless. ~
@54   = ~The Tailor of Calimshan~
@55   = ~The Tailor of Calimshan

  This libretto faithfully reproduces the treasured story of Faruk, a cloth merchant who battles wits with genies, pashas, thieves, wicked magicians, and a beholder until he ultimately becomes the wealthiest and most powerful man in the desert realm. Calimshites are taught these tales and songs from the cradle, for the stories illustrate many of the values and desires of that culture, while the populace of colder climates admire the tales as a window into understanding an exotic and mysterious land.
  
  Each chapter is beautifully illustrated - a few of the portraits a bit too racy for younger eyes - and the pages are edged in gold. Truly, a precious find that Davaeorn must have been hoarding.~
@56   = ~Nashkel: A Folk History~
@57   = ~Nashkel: A Folk History
  
  Nashkel, isolated in a lonely pass gauntleted by the Cloudpeaks, has long been the home of a strong-willed, hardworking legacy of people. This compendium of stories gathered from the local residents a good century ago faithfully illustrates the challenges and joys of living in this small town on the Amnish border, including tales of the Trade Way, wolf hunting, search and rescue, as well as the opening of the mines.~
@58   = ~Library Books~
@59   = ~Library Books
  
  This is a collection of books and scrolls, a crucial assortment needed for the library Finch hopes to establish in Nashkel. ~
@60   = ~Finch's Glasses~
@61   = ~Finch's Glasses
  
  Finch is not shy to point out that she is nearly blind without her glasses. Poor vision seems to run in certain gnome families, and she is not an exception. While perhaps not as stylish as some, this pair of lenses does  assist Finch in her pursuit of knowledge and lore, and the ability to see items in focus certainly can aid the young Priest in having a sudden brainstorm of information at her fingertips.
  
  Bonus: Allows the spell Identify three times per day.~
@62   = ~I'll show you fiesty!~ [SUFINC47]
@63   = ~Don't you bully me!~ [SUFINC48]
@64   = ~I'll teach you a lesson you'll not soon forget!~ [SUFINC09]
@65   = ~Let's get ready to rumble!~ [SUFINC12]
@66   = ~I am a hero, and I am a librarian.~ [SUFINC22]
@67   = ~Finch's Quest to Start a Library in Nashkel
Finch has completed the arrangements for the new library and delivered all of her books safely. She seems rather pleased at the success.~
@68   = ~Finch's Quest to Start a Library in Nashkel
We should visit the manor house in the north of Nashkel once we have all of Finch's books for the new library and hand them over to a man named Trask. The mayor hinted the other residents of the manor are nervous about strangers in the house, so it would be best to avoid speaking with them.~
@70   = ~<CHARNAME>! 'Tis a devilish turn of events! Attacked by an assassin in a public house!~ [SUFINC49]
@71   = ~Do I know you?~
@72   = ~I wish I could say it was my first assassin, but such events grow common for me as of late.~
@73   = ~Your name is Finch, isn't it? Thank you for your timely assistance. The locals seem happy enough to stand around and gape at strangers being hacked to death.~
@74   = ~Hail and well met, Finch! 'Tis good to see you again outside the walls of Candlekeep!~
@75   = ~With or without the support of friends and strangers, Finch, I can defend myself when needed.~
@76   = ~You? Of all the useless bookworms to run into outside of Candlekeep!~
@77   = ~'Tis a devilish turn of events when you can see good folk accosted by assassins in a common taproom before you can even have a cup of tea!~ [SUFINC50]
@78   = ~I would not boast of being good folk, but thank you for your assistance, all the same.~
@79   = ~I appreciate your help. Most locals seem happy enough to stand around and gape at strangers being hacked to death.~
@80   = ~I did not require your interference, gnome. The last thing I need is a clumsy busybody squatting in my path. Get back to your tea.~
@81   = ~You were helping? Oh, I confused you with a footstool!~
@82   = ~With or without the support of friends and strangers, I can defend myself when needed.~
@83   = ~Hail and well met! May I have your name, so I can thank you for your assistance properly?~
@84   = ~<CHARNAME>, is that you? Why, fancy meeting you again!~ [SUFINC51]
@85   = ~I would have fancied some help fighting off that assassin more.~
@86   = ~Your name is Finch, isn't it? Like the locals, you seem happy enough to stand around and gape at strangers being hacked to death.~
@87   = ~Don't mind me. I am just having a pot of tea before I set out on the road again. Life as an adventurer: busy, busy!~ [SUFINC52]
@88   = ~Is that so? If you're an adventurer, it would have been nice for you to set aside the tea long enough to help fighting off that assassin that just attacked me.~
@89   = ~An adventurer, huh? You seem no different than the locals who stand around and gape at strangers being hacked to death.~
@90   = ~I have no time for the likes of you, gnome, adventurer or not. Get back to your tea.~
@91   = ~An adventurer? Oh, I confused you with a footstool!~
@92   = ~Hail and well met! May I have your name, so we can share a drink properly?~
@93   = ~Oh, it's you. Dare I hope your manners have improved?~ [SUFINC53]
@94   = ~No, runt. Out of my way! Quit hogging the bar!~
@95   = ~Your opinion does not signify to me. Begone!~
@96   = ~I was gruff before, and I allowed the stressors of my journey to affect my disposition. I apologize. Can we not start afresh? My name is <CHARMNAME>. What is yours?~
@97   = ~I was gruff before, and I allowed the stressors of my journey to affect my disposition. I apologize. Permit me to make amends, Finch. How do things fare with you?~
@98   = ~Oh, I had hoped I would see you again! You... you are still traveling, yes? Perhaps you could use my skills? Journeying the Sword Coast seems to grow more treacherous with each passing day.~ [SUFINC54]
@99   = ~I do not need the aid of a cleric in my travels just now, Finch. I will leave you in peace.~
@100  = ~Exactly, Finch. I could use some more help with healing on the road, and I am certain we will run across an exotic tome or two to satisfy your work for your god.~
@101  = ~Oh, I thought that maybe you had reconsidered my usefulness...~
@102  = ~Never the matter. If you change your mind, I shall be here a while longer. Goodwife Oglestrope has asked me to teach her how to cure vellum. It is such a handy skill to know, I would feel bad refusing her.~
@103  = ~How quickly they forget!~
@104  = ~Though I suppose there is little memorable about me to brand a memory upon such short acquaintance.~
@105  = ~My name is Finch Bloomwhiffler. We met briefly when I visited Candlekeep to study and copy some the the citadel's literature for my temple. I am a Deneirrath, you see, and my god encourages the spread of the written word.~
@106  = ~To that end, I have traveled here. I have a list of works to collect for a new library in Nashkel. With all the focus on the mines there, the people are woefully illiterate. I have my latest book in hand, and I am now free to continue my journey searching for the others.~
@107  = ~You... you have recently come from the road. Perhaps you could use my skills? It is a dangerous time to travel the Sword Coast alone, and I confess I have not enjoyed my solitude this trip as much as in the past.~
@108  = ~A kind offer, Finch. I could use some more help with healing on the road, and I am sure we will run across an exotic tome or two.~
@109  = ~How terrible for you! I cannot imagine why an assassin would plague one such as you! You seem a fair enough sort!~
@110  = ~If you recall, my duties for the temple of Deneir charge me to establish a new library in Nashkel. With all the focus on the mines there, the people are woefully illiterate, and it is my duty to provide them with the tools to gain knowledge.~
@111  = ~I have a list of future works to collect and my latest book in hand. I am free as a bird to continue my journey searching for the others.~
@112  = ~You... you have recently come from the road. Perhaps you could use my skills if more assassins give you trouble? It is a dangerous time to travel the Sword Coast alone, and I confess I have not enjoyed my solitude this trip as much as in the past.~
@113  = ~I could use some more help with healing on the road. Say, Finch, would you like to join me in my travels? I am sure we will run across an exotic tome or two.~
@114  = ~I try to be more useful than that, though opportunities outside wielding a quill and ink can be slow to present themselves. That gives me a thought...~
@115  = ~If you recall, my duties for the temple of Deneir charge me to establish a new library in Nashkel. With all of the focus on the mines there, the people are woefully illiterate, and it is my duty to provide them with the tools to gain knowledge.~
@116  = ~Things have proven more peaceful for my shoes than yours, I can see. If you recall, my duties for the temple of Deneir charge me to establish a new library in Nashkel.~
@117  = ~With all of the focus on the mines there, the people are woefully illiterate, and it is my duty to provide them with the tools to gain knowledge. I have a list of future works to collect and my latest book in hand. I am free as a bird to continue my journey searching for the others.~
@118  = ~You can defend yourself, <CHARNAME>, but there is no sense in fighting alone out of pride. If I had friends, I would be happy to accept their help and goodwill! That gives me a thought... if you recall, my duties for the temple of Deneir charge me to establish a new library in Nashkel.~
@119  = ~A fair offer, Finch. I could use some more help with healing on the road, and I am sure we will run across an exotic tome or two. Perhaps you could even gain a friend?~
@120  = ~What a rude beast you are! I was right -- books make better company by far! I shall take my tea alone.~
@121  = ~Whether 'tis modesty or a strange choice in boasting, there is something of a hero about you. Something illustrious, yet undefined. You will think me quite forward, but allow me to introduce myself.~
@122  = ~My name is Finch Bloomwhiffler. I have recently come from Candlekeep to study and copy some the the citadel's literature for my temple. I am a Deneirrath, you see, and my god encourages the spread of the written word.~
@123  = ~Candlekeep? I grew up there, and I have only recently left.~
@124  = ~I just recently left Candlekeep, and good riddance! That place was too cloistered for the likes of me!~
@125  = ~It looks like you remember Candlekeep as fondly as I. I grew up there, and only recently circumstances forced me to leave.~
@126  = ~'Tis a wonder we never met! I was there a good tenday. Then again, Candlekeep is not the smallest outpost, and I do often have my head buried in scrolls and other documentation. I do not roam socially, as much as I do for the church.~
@127  = ~How can you say that? What wondrous knowledge the halls of Candlekeep held! If only I could have remained longer! Then again, I like cloisters and the solitude of study. I so often have my head buried in scrolls and other documentation, that I cannot understand someone with more gregarious needs. I do not roam socially, as much as I do for the church.~
@128  = ~What I shame! I hated to leave those lovely halls, and I hope to return one day. There is so much I left unread!~
@129  = ~On that note, I have traveled here directly from Candlekeep. I have a list of works to collect for a new library in Nashkel. With all the focus on the mines there, the people are woefully illiterate. I have my latest book from the list in hand, and I am now free to continue my journey searching for the others.~
@130  = ~A kind offer, Finch. I could use some more help with healing on the road, and I am certain we will run across an exotic tome or two.~
@131  = ~A footstool? Oh, dear! Please do not underestimate footstools in the future! Why, adventurers have documented deadly creatures knowns as "mimics," that disguise themselves as ubiquitous objects then bite off the knees of the tall and unwary when they come into range!~
@132  = ~Thanks for the tip. You seem to know a great deal of lore. My name is <CHARNAME>. Who might you be?~
@133  = ~Thanks for the tip, Finch. What brings you here?~
@134  = ~Mimics...? Did you just make that up?~
@135  = ~All right! All right! I should not have joked about footstools! I apologize, Finch!~
@136  = ~All right! All right! I should not have joked about footstools! I apologize!~
@137  = ~You can defend yourself, but there is no sense in fighting alone out of pride. If I had friends, I would be happy to accept their help and goodwill! That gives me a thought...~
@138  = ~I am Finch, Finch Bloomwhiffler. So grand to make your acquaintance! I have recently come from Candlekeep to study and copy some the the citadel's literature for my temple. I am a Deneirrath, you see, and my god encourages the spread of the written word.~
@139  = ~How nice of you to say so, <CHARNAME>! You can certainly be charming when you choose to be. I am glad I ran into you again!~
@140  = ~How nice of you! You can certainly be charming when you choose to be. Please allow me to introduce myself.~
@141  = ~Not at all! More than one monstrous manual makes mention of mimics! They are quite deadly! Besides, I am not in the habit of spreading tall tales like those with bardic talent. I am a Deneirrath, remember? My god encourages the spread of truth and the written word. That gives me a thought...~
@142  = ~If you recall, my duties for the temple of Deneir charge me to establish a new library in Nashkel.~
@143  = ~Not at all! More than one monstrous manual makes mention of mimics! They are quite deadly! Besides, I am not in the habit of spreading tall tales like those with bardic talent.~
@144  = ~My name is Finch Bloomwhiffler. I have recently come from Candlekeep to study and copy some the the citadel's literature for my temple. I am a Deneirrath, you see, and my god encourages the spread of truth and the written word.~
@145  = ~There was an assassin? After you?! Why, I heard the ruckus, but I thought it was a drunken tussle over a pony race. They happen so frequently in establishments such as this. Everything is so noisy to me!~
@146  = ~If I missed aiding you in fighting any adversary, please blame my eyesight, not my will. I would have helped, had I realized you were in danger. Honest! That gives me a thought...~
@147  = ~I try to be more useful than that, though opportunities outside wielding a quill and ink can be slow to present themselves. If I missed aiding you in fighting any adversary, please blame my eyesight, not my will. That gives me a thought...~
@148  = ~There was an assassin? After you, good stranger?! Why, I heard the ruckus, but I thought it was a drunken tussle over a pony race. They happen so frequently in establishments such as this. Everything is so noisy to me!~
@149  = ~If I missed you fighting any adversary, please blame my eyesight, not my will. I would have helped, had I realized you were in danger. You seem a fair sort, worthy of assistance. Honest! Hmm. That gives me an idea...~
@150  = ~I try to be more useful than that, though opportunities outside wielding a quill and ink can be slow to present themselves. If I missed aiding you in fighting any adversary, please blame my eyesight, not my will.~
@151  = ~There is something of a hero about you, I must say. Something illustrious, yet undefined. I am certain you are worthy of assistance!~
@152  = ~You... you will think me quite forward, but please allow me to introduce myself.~
@153  = ~Oh, that is a bit of a disappointment. I had such high hopes...~
@154  = ~If you reconsider, I may be here a while longer. The barkeep's son has been having trouble learning his alphabet. Reading and writing are fundamentals, you know!~
@155  = ~That sounds like a most propitious proposal! Let us be off!~
@156  = ~I happily accept your apology! I am not accustomed to being at odds with people -- it is so uncomfortable! I get nervous!~
@157  = ~You... you want our association to end? Why, my journal is hardly full! Please reconsider.~ [SUFINC55]
@158  = ~You are right. We cannot stop before that journal is filled with adventures!~
@159  = ~No, I have had enough of your bookish ways. I need someone more exciting in this party.~
@160  = ~Oh! I am so glad you agree, <CHARNAME>!~
@161  = ~Oh. And I thought I was coming out of my shell... How disappointing!~
@162  = ~Why, <CHARNAME>! I had hoped to see you again! Do you wish for us to travel in tandem once more?~ [SUFINC56]
@163  = ~Certainly! It was just not the same with the constant scratching of a quill in the air! ~
@164  = ~No, I need different company than you at the moment.~
@165  = ~Oh! It is so nice to have one's strengths appreciated. (blush)~
@166  = ~Oh. I hate it when you tease me this way!~
@167  = ~You remember, silly! She's that cleric, Finch, who visited Candlekeep just before we left. Not much fun, either. When I short-sheeted her bed at Winthrop's, she gave me a how-to guide for better pranks. As if short-sheeting a bed isn't one of the classics! Ha!~
@168  = ~Otherwise, she knows lots of trivia and stuff about healing. It probably wouldn't be too horribly yucky if you invited her along. Besides, I've been savin' up squirmies to slip into the right bedroll. Whaddya say, <CHARNAME>?~
@169  = ~We do not need a cleric just now, Imoen. Let us leave this girl in peace. It was good to see you again, Finch. Farewell.~
@170  = ~You make a good point, Imoen. We could use more help with healing. Say, Finch, would you like to join us in our travels? I am sure we will run across an exotic tome or two.~
@175  = ~I could criticize ye for yer lack of labor girl, but to be fair, I've been giving you a proper study.~
@176  = ~Studying? Me? What an odd thing to study!~
@177  = ~You needn't ruffle yer feathers, girl. I mean ye no ill will. I considered upon the notion -- I got pretty good with the ruminating in my cell -- and I see ye aren't the stranger to hard work.~
@178  = ~Ye furrow yer brow, grit yer teeth, squint for all yer worth, and ye wield that quill with a vengence. Pity the effort is wasted on flimsy paper and blots of ink.~
@179  = ~Wasted? What do mean, Yeslick? Surely you understand I make more than scratchings on parchment. I record ideas! I propigate knowledge!~
@180  = ~But there be nothing solid in it. Not like rock and iron -- ye build with bricks, not words. Ye forge with metal, not ideas.~
@181  = ~But someone who hasn't a shred of skill building with bricks or metal, and no one to guide them, they rely on words and ideas to make a start!~
@182  = ~And that is where ye've earned my credit, girl. There's little of substance to yer worship, but ye make a start.~
@183  = ~One would think that a holy warrior of your size would blow away with the first gust of wind.~
@184  = ~I haven't yet!~
@185  = ~But you are sturdier than you look. You are a blessing the group.~
@186  = ~Oh, do not give me too much credit. I probably would blow away if I didn't carry so many books!~
@187  = ~What was it like being in an acting troupe, Garrick? Beautiful music in the air? Oratory at all hours? Cheering wherever you trod? Dancing? Was there dancing in the wings?~
@188  = ~Finch, hold there! You sound as though you imagine a non-stop revelry!~
@189  = ~You perform as we travel, you write your songs... It seems logical that, were you traveling with more companions of a like mind, there would be constant singing. And dancing! Yes, dancing!~
@190  = ~You are transfixed by the thought of the dancing, aren't you?~
@191  = ~That is because all the dances suited to the gnome frame are nothing like the ones I've seen tall folk perform. The things I have proven that I cannot do well grow all the more exotic when I see them accomplished by others.~
@192  = ~Why, if I had a harmonic voice like yours, I would be not half so quiet. Oh, I would sing instead of speaking. "Yes, <CHARNAME>, can I help you?"~
@193  = ~Ha! "Judge a book not by its cover."~
@194  = ~Precisely!~
@195  = ~The Dale Wind Troubadours were not so exotic and merry-making, Finch. The mood offstage was often secretive and cold, and, in the end, their motives nefarious.~
@196  = ~But a troupe such as the one of which you speak? 'Tis a lovely dream.~
@197  = ~My, there are so many different trees here! Faldorn, if you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?~
@198  = ~You would do as well ask which is superior, grass or weeds.~
@199  = ~Mmm... grass? It's so pretty when it's green, and it smells clean! Then again, you can make a nice salad out of dandelion fronds, and that's a weed...~
@200  = ~No! Every growing thing is a child of the Earth, and The Mother has no favorites. I would not dare pick, for I am a lowly human, kin to the destroyers of vale and forest.~
@201  = ~Oh.~
@202  = ~If I were a tree, I'd be an elm. They're so tall and graceful. If I were graceful like an elm, maybe I would be better at prickly conversations.~
@203  = ~Excuse me? Eldoth?~
@204  = ~Ugh, who are you?~
@205  = ~Or, better I ask, WHAT are you?~
@206  = ~I am Finch! We have been in this party together for ages!~
@207  = ~So you say.~
@208  = ~Yes, I do. You are posing your foot on my bookbag. 'Tis not a rock or pedestal! Please pay better attention!~
@209  = ~Finchy, my squab... you are neither connected, wealthy or beautiful enough to justify a talent such as mine noticing your existence. The same applies to your moldy heap of leather scraps. Solve your own problem. Clear out of my way.~
@210  = ~I shall, right after you MOVE!~
@211  = ~It growls? Fine. No need to push.~
@212  = ~What? There's something slimy in my bedroll!~
@213  = ~Heh-ha!~
@214  = ~Ugh! Worms... and honey!~
@215  = ~Get a lookit your face! Ha-ha! Ol' Puffguts never boggled his eyes so!~
@216  = ~Imoen? You put this mess in my bedding?~
@217  = ~Sure I did! Who else would?~
@218  = ~But... but why?~
@219  = ~I had to settle the score, what with you sockin' me back in Candlekeep. Some people get so testy about a little prank!~
@220  = ~You glued my favorite bookmark to a volume of Netherese archaeology! Do you realize how rare those works are? If I had given you up to the monks, you'd have felt a sore spot worse than me losing my temper and throwing a wild punch!~
@221  = ~Yeah, well, I kinda thought of that. That's why I didn't dump anything in your bookbag, and went for your bed-- hey!~
@222  = ~Not a fun feeling?~
@223  = ~My hair! Honey and yuck!~
@224  = ~Now we're even, ha! I'll wash my feet and blankets while you soak your head.~
@225  = ~I have noticed that you laugh little with the others in the group, Finch. You have a solemn disposition, as befits your studious path.~
@226  = ~I cannot help but wonder that you squander your youth. Have you always been so reticent among company?~
@227  = ~This feels like a strange lecture to receive from you, Jaheira.~
@228  = ~Nonsense. There is always time for laughter... in moderation.~
@229  = ~Especially for the young of heart. What age has your spirit become, shutting yourself off from comrades by surrounding yourself with a wall of books and maps depicting the lives of strangers?~
@230  = ~I think... I think I have always been this way. Old and squandered. At times I may be wistful for things I have never done or lonely for lack of close friends and bright laughter, but I have such love for my books. They are my world, Jaheira. You underestimate the joy they bring me.~
@231  = ~As you underestimate the availability of close friends and bright laughter. They are in your reach, child.~
@232  = ~But for every friend, there is a foe to guard against. You stand up to foes with a sharp tongue; I choose to shield myself in a barrier of written words.~
@233  = ~You converse well when you choose to do so. We should talk more often.~
@234  = ~Finch, I have witnessed how you hesitate sometimes as we charge into battle.~
@235  = ~Can you blame me? It is one thing to rout kobolds and gibberlings, but an ankheg? A wyvern? They are just so mammoth! So towering! I have to steel myself. Sometimes the things we have to do are simply terrifying!~
@236  = ~Stay your course, little one. You may not be a warrior, but know that virtue lies with all who would vanquish the scourge of this land.~
@237  = ~Yes, that will be of great comfort. Virtue lies with me, even when I am squashed!~
@238  = ~Is it a hardship being married, Khalid?~
@239  = ~Is this about Jaheira? I've really heard qu-qu-quite enough complaints! From you, I expected b-better!~
@240  = ~Oh, I meant no disparagement! I meant, well, Jaheira and you are the only adventurers I have met as of yet who ARE married.~
@242  = ~Kivan WAS married, and that ended tragically.~
@243  = ~I just have to wonder -- are you the exception to the rule? Are most heroes doomed to a lonely life with only transient company?~
@244  = ~It is true the life of an adventurer is a d-d-difficult one. There are always risks, and few are as lucky as I, to have a wife so t-t-talented in the land and defense.~
@245  = ~But you underestimate the importance of your other companions, Finch. The bonds of f-f-friendship forge strongly on the road. The p-p-people you meet now can change your life many years later!~
@246  = ~Like your old friendship with Gorion led you to <CHARNAME>?~
@247  = ~Yes! Quite so!~
@248  = ~Little Finch, you toil so diligently over your journal. It makes me burn to know what you write about me.~
@249  = ~Oh! I couldn't let you read it... it's... it is not ready yet! My notes require indexing and transcribing to a more orderly form and...~
@250  = ~And the drawings...?~
@251  = ~I... oh! They... they are just doodles. You... you have an interesting...~
@252  = ~Yes?~
@253  = ~An interesting profile.~
@254  = ~Your blushes are sweet wine that go straight to my head!~
@255  = ~Now, see this part of the staff? After "Brave, brave, Sir Garrick," you need a quarter-rest, not an eighth. It's the tempo, you see? Tap it with me.~
@256  = ~Garrick, are you certain this wouldn't be more efficient without my help?~
@257  = ~If I scored this tune alone, it would not be nearly as much fun!~
@258  = ~Then I thank you for your patience in tutoring me. I declare it was not this much effort learning my first glyphs!~
@259  = ~You're catching on fast enough. Writing the language of music is just like any other tongue -- symbols matching sounds.~
@260  = ~But the creativity behind it... Yes, the musical staff is a language of its own, but it is also like drafting a map to a country where I have never traveled!~
@261  = ~You! Carry my documents. Don't drop them, you oaf!~
@262  = ~Really, Edwin, I am not your personal bookshelf.~
@263  = ~Taking into consideration your long ears and snout coupled with your braying protests, I was more of a mind you were my mule. If <CHARNAME> does not keep you in this group to serve as a pack animal, I fail to see your purpose.~
@264  = ~Your studies are pointless. You have no skill in arcane magic, and any fool can pick up bandages and antidotes at the nearest temple.~
@265  = ~You shall not always be near a temple traveling with <CHARNAME>, Edwin. You had best hope I am not overly burdened when you need healing in the next dank dungeon.~
@266  = ~Come on, Finch. You can tell me. Nobody can be such a dull bookworm all the time. What kind of secrets are you hiding?~
@267  = ~Secrets? What kind of secrets could I possibly hide?~
@268  = ~A hidden crime, a mystery lover, your darkest fear...~
@269  = ~I am vocal of all my fears, it is no mystery I have no lovers, and hidden crimes? Crime is not to my liking. I saw too much of it around the docks growing up in Waterdeep.~
@270  = ~So you ARE an unbearably dull bookworm.~
@271  = ~ Perhaps, but observing you is very educational. I am acquiring all manner of new expertise in nefarious behavior!~
@272  = ~Too bad you don't have the tools to use it.~
@273  = ~Hey, Finch! Make a face like I'm doing!~
@274  = ~Make a face? Why?~
@275  = ~Because it's fun!~
@276  = ~First you wrinkle your nose, like you just smelled <CHARNAME>'s socks. Then you hold your breath in your cheeks like you're a bullfrog. Then you blink really fast, blinkity-blinkity-blink.~
@277  = ~Ha-ha! That IS amusing!~
@278  = ~Then how come you aren't doin' it, huh?~
@279  = ~I want to draw a picture first, just so I do not forget. Ha!~
@280  = ~Yeslick, do you ever have doubts about...?~
@281  = ~Cough it out, girl. At my age, I haven't time to waste on stammer and dust-kicking.~
@282  = ~I have been considering our battles and the foes we face. Does it ever give you pause, being so small, wielding your hammer against some of the giant creatures? I confess, I feel like a speck looking up at a gnoll or an Ogrillion.~
@283  = ~There's a dwarven saying: small frames falter after small courage. Ye've the skill to swing that flail home and more learning of strategy than any gnoll. Why do ye let yer spine tremble at the thought of a battle cry?~
@284  = ~I simply do not believe I have the gift of fierceness with which Clangeddin blesses you.~
@285  = ~Oh, don't ye? Not a bit of the righteous fight? In that case, I'll be taking yer bag of useless books and throwing them on the next campfire. Ne'er saw such a waste of effort. It'll do me good to see 'em burn.~
@286  = ~Burn them?! My books?! Why, I gave you my trust! How dare you! How dare you threaten my books! Give them back to me. or... or!~
@287  = ~Or ye'll what?~
@288  = ~I'LL TAKE THEM BACK!~
@289  = ~Heh. Whew. Scream like the banshee ye have. My beard's on end from the brunt of it. Take back yer bag and learn yer lesson as I tell it.~
@290  = ~You... you were testing me?~
@291  = ~Ne'er doubt ye've been blessed fierce in battle, child. Ye've just a need to remark what yer fighting for.~
@292  = ~Next time ye face a tall beastie, remember: 'tis yer books at stake. If ye fall at their hand, yer pretty pages will be plundered as wiping paper the next time the ogre relieves itself.~
@293  = ~A word in thine ear, good scribe?~
@294  = ~Yes, Dynaheir?~
@295  = ~Thine charming air of scholarly devotion is spoiled with thy nibbling thy quill like a rodent. Fidgeting doth not bespeak the refined mind.~
@297  = ~Not true, Dynaheir! Boo fidgets all day, and he is the smartest of hamsters! He nibbles to keep his teeth fighting sharp to bite the buttocks of evil!~
@298  = ~Dost thou plan to bite anyone, Finch?~
@299  = ~Oh, no!~
@300  = ~Then mine case rests soundly.~
@301  = ~Xan, were you devastated to be stranded in the Nashkel Mines, all alone and weaponless?~
@302  = ~It was bound to happen. The only surprise was that I escaped before I wasted into a pile of bones and dusty rags.~
@303  = ~But surely being captured was a terrible disappointment? I know that I would feel just awful if I failed my mission so thoroughly. Just awful!~
@304  = ~Life is but a failure to die. Your chance will come soon enough.~
@305  = ~Oh, dear!~
@306  = ~Minsc, were you terribly afraid to lose Dynaheir to the Gnolls?~
@307  = ~There was no time to feel fear, only rage that my witch was forced to smell the stinky breath of evil!~
@308  = ~Boo says he was a little scared. Were Dynaheir to be harmed, the shame of failure would be an intolerable burden for his tiny shoulders.~
@309  = ~And equally intolerable to your broad ones, I suspect.~
@310  = ~But Minsc and Boo are on the job! And you, too, Finch! You will take the names of villainy. You will write them in your book, and we will kick their buttocks!~
@311  = ~Xzar, you're so pale! And shaking! What happened?~
@312  = ~In my sleep, I saw an entire village razed to the ground, the bodies of its inhabitants flayed open, lying in neat rows among the ashes. I sunk my hands into their entrails, and my arms ran red with their blood!~
@313  = ~Oh, no!~
@314  = ~Oh, yes, it was so beautiful! Please, please, I hope I have it again!~
@315  = ~What's the word on yer books, chickadee? Any o' the heap got some value?~
@316  = ~Oh, they have enormous value!~
@317  = ~Don't be shy, lass! Give us a figure. How many gold would they pawn fer, say, if an axe fell on yer head?~
@318  = ~Pawn?! Never! I was not speaking of monetary value, but educational! There's a wealth of knowledge within these bindings, so you just stop thinking whatever mercenary thoughts you are thinking!~
@319  = ~Be not lecturin' me, gnomelette! Never saw such a lot to haul around bags o' garbage as this party. ~
@320  = ~Shar-Teel, I have been wondering...~
@321  = ~If you do not know how to read, I would be more than happy to teach you.~
@322  = ~Of course I can read! What gave you the bumbling idea I couldn't?~
@323  = ~You favor brawn above all things, so it seemed likely you had missed the opportunity to enjoy knowledge that did not involve cleaving something in two.~
@324  = ~Mrrgh, what use is reading a flimsy book about dismantling a door when I could break it down with my head and be done with it?~
@325  = ~Reading. It's a stinking waste of time. A man probably invented it.~
@326  = ~Say, Finchy, you like to copy the work of artists with actual talent... Have I got the job for you.~
@327  = ~Here is one deliciously persuasive poem, a masterpiece penned by yours truly. All you need to do is scribe a duplicate for each person on this list, substituting their name in the blanks, of course. Simple enough for even a squab to figure out.~
@328  = ~You expect me to do all that work for you because...?~
@329  = ~ Darling, you'd be doing a service to the profession, spreading my words to these lovely, lonely ladies with their fat purses just aching to help an artist in need.~
@330  = ~Would I? Spreading empty, insincere flattery?~
@331  = ~Finchy, there is no other kind.~
@332  = ~I do not think I would be inclined to assist in your scheme, Eldoth. 'Tis unsavory, and are you not aligned with Skie Silvershield?~
@333  = ~Details, details.~
@334  = ~Fine. Go on being a useless pimple on the backside of this party. I should have known you were too dull-witted to recognize an opportunity when it is thrown in your lumpy lap.~
@335  = ~Your reputation precedes you. <CHARNAME> may tolerate your empty words, but I shall not be duped into playing your lackey!~
@336  = ~Dynaheir, were you terribly scared when you were held prisoner by the gnolls?~
@337  = ~Thy lips tremble to speak of it! Rest thy brow, little scribe. With my bonds shattered, mine odorous captors fade to a distant memory.~
@338  = ~But at the time, when you were alone, without aid, and at their mercy, were you not fearful?~
@339  = ~The power of the mind makest the most fearsome weapon. Were a gnoll to have a clever thought, 'twould surely bemuse the brute into a stupor. I bid my time with calm and patience, until opportunity for escape presented itself.~
@340  = ~Still, I cannot help but have bad dreams of those gnolls cleaving you in two with a halberd and lancing your head on a pike! A powerful mind has its limitations!~
@341  = ~Thine imagination harkens most greusomely, child. Let it be.~
@342  = ~I don't like this place. Can we leave?~
@343  = ~Over there! A monster! Kill it! Kill it!~
@344  = ~Skie, stop! It's me! Finch!~
@345  = ~You looked like one of those ugly, creepy things from my father's wine cellar! It was a natural mistake, with you being a gnome and all.~
@346  = ~Oh. Of course.~
@347  = ~Did I say something wrong?~
@348  = ~What does anyone else have to be sensitive about?~
@349  = ~Can we leave?~
@350  = ~Branwen, what was it like being turned to stone?~
@351  = ~Your morbid question suprises me, Finch. I did not perceive you to be a glutton for such ghoulish torture.~
@352  = ~It's not that I will enjoy learning, as I am sure you did not. So few people ever escape the predicament as you did, Branwen, it seems a crime to not make the experience known.~
@353  = ~The crime was what Tranzig did to me!~
@354  = ~My temper storms at the memory, but I shall try to calm my fury and explain my imprisonment. I remember only the shock and helplessness as granite overtook my limbs, then the bewilderment when sunlight met my eyes once more. In between the two, I felt nothing. I was reduced to a perch for wildlife and a side show attraction.~
@355  = ~There. Is that description sufficient for your library mind?~
@356  = ~Yes. Thank you, Branwen. I appreciate your sacrifice in sharing your knowledge.~
@357  = ~You've been writing in that book. What are you writing? What does it say?~
@358  = ~I am recording observations of what we do. Information documenting our path, listing what we've seen and who we've spoken to...~
@359  = ~Spies! SPIES EVERYWHERE! But who does she spy for? The dragons? The rabbits? Or -?~
@360  = ~No, not them! Anyone but them! Keep away from me, fiend!~
@361  = ~But-~
@362  = ~I'll never tell! I'll never tell! Back!~
@363  = ~The dirt! The smells! I cannot understand why some people don't make more of an effort with how they look!~
@364  = ~Look at you, Finch! Why, you're positively going gray, and you don't seem to care a bit!~
@365  = ~But... it is the normal thing for a gnome's hair to turn gray. It is a sign of maturity!~
@366  = ~Who wants to be mature? I shudder to think of how ancient I'd have to be to look half so frumpy as you!~
@367  = ~Why think about it at all? You shall never resemble a gnome, Skie, and I shall never be so grand as you.~
@368  = ~Boo-hoo all you like, but a conscientious girl would dye her hair in a minute! For the good of the group!~
@369  = ~After all, we're the ones who have to look at you.~
@370  = ~Let the unworthy take note of the impending rule of Tiax!~
@371  = ~This means you, scribe. Write the words of Tiax!~
@372  = ~Please, Tiax. I am trying to read. Your ravings are disturbing my study.~
@373  = ~When Tiax rules, all scrolls will quote the will of Tiax! All art will adorn the walls with the face of Tiax! There will be a new book, the one book that tells only the glory of Tiax!~
@374  = ~The glory of Tiax? That will make for many a blank page.~
@375  = ~I have noticed you look at my hamster with cautious eyes, little scribe. He tries to be brave, but Boo notices, too. I think your wariness saddens him.~
@376  = ~I do not mean to cause offense, Minsc. I have seen rodents do terrible damage in libraries. It is the paper, you see. They chew it compulsively, shredding irreplaceable works into fibers for their nests!~
@377  = ~I worry that your hamster's primal instincts will overtake him, so I keep on the lookout, just in case his teeth start to look itchy.~
@378  = ~You need not worry over Boo's itchy teeth, little scribe. He keeps them honed sharp to chew holes in the nests of our foes, not nice books!~
@379  = ~Remember that Boo may be a tiny hamster, but he has a giant heart! Believe in him, good lady, for he believes in heroes and librarians!~
@380  = ~Then, to be fair, I promise I shall try harder to trust in heroes and hamsters!~
@381  = ~Growing up in Waterdeep, I witnessed countless ships calling port, but I have never set foot on deck. What was it like traveling on the open sea, Safana?~
@382  = ~The crash of waves against the hull, the wind in your hair... were you ever seasick?~
@383  = ~When you finally start talking, you just spit it out, don't you?~
@384  = ~I thought you liked talking about yourself.~
@385  = ~I do. I am a delicious topic of conversation, darling. Too often I have to pretend I'm interested in what other people give a damn about, but, at the same time, that can be a wonderful game, too. I'm just surprised you caught on to the trick.~
@386  = ~There's no trick. I really am curious about your life on the sea!~
@387  = ~Sure you are, sweetie.~
@388  = ~Get yourself comfy, forget about the wind in your hair, and let me spin you a few details about life below decks, hmm?~
@389  = ~Tell me, bookworm. Have you read many tales of the Underdark?~
@390  = ~You should know the tales of your kind that have spread to the surface are rare.~
@391  = ~Aye, and those that are written are filled with lies that only serve to make me a hunted animal among you rivven.~
@392  = ~If you listened to me, I could tell you a history that would make you a legend among scribes.~
@393  = ~But I have watched you, Viconia, and I have no trust that your words would be less filled with deceit.~
@394  = ~Suit yourself, jalil. Embrace your ignorance.~
@395  = ~It boggles my huge intellect that any gnome worth her brain would choose to become a Deneirrath.~
@396  = ~How so? My dedication is to knowledge, all the wonder the glyphs have to offer. My brain is my worth!~
@397  = ~No, my dear. You've made the classical error of mistaking just how smart you really are!~
@398  = ~The Deneirrath are just wanna-bes. Humans really can't help being so long-boned and clueless, and it's awfully cute when they try to be clever.~
@399  = ~But by joining them, you're just giving the humans hope that they have a teaspoon of amazing thought in their heads, rather than beansprouts and dung, which all gnomes know is the true composition of human brains.~
@400  = ~Thank you for your opinion, Quayle, but I prefer to retain an open mind where the intellect of longlimbs is concerned.~
@401  = ~The ignorance! The fallacy! Next you'll want to start a land war in Rasheman in winter!~
@402  = ~A quill for your thoughts, finchling.~
@403  = ~That's my quill!~
@404  = ~I suspected that you're not the type of woman to be charmed by flowers and poetry.~
@405  = ~Not if a man gave me cuttings from roses that I had tended myself, no! But-~
@406  = ~What would bring passion to those verdant and magnified orbs of yours? Cartography? What if I could draw a map to your heart with this quill...?~
@407  = ~Oh! Why are you trying to charm me? I-I am not lovely, nor refined.~
@408  = ~You have a bounty few woman can boast.~
@409  = ~I... I do?~
@410  = ~You, my dear, have a beautiful mind.~
@411  = ~Oh, dear! Oh, DEAR! I can't find my glasses!~
@412  = ~H-h-here they are.~
@413  = ~Oh, thank you, Khalid! I would have been in a terrible predicament had they been lost. I am blind without them!~
@414  = ~But b-b-blind, at least our b-breakfast of leftovers would look more appetizing!~
@415  = ~...So I answered her, "Madam, this is my lute, recently procured from the finest of Neverwinter's mercantiles," and she immediately called the watch!~
@416  = ~No! She thought you'd called it loot?~
@417  = ~Blatantly! I had to do a fair helping of quick spelling to get out of that one, let me tell you.~
@418  = ~Ha! I... I like you, Garrick. You are not like the other men I have met.~
@419  = ~What aren't the other clerics telling me?~
@420  = ~Nothing terrible! It's just... you remind me of a book of literature.~
@421  = ~I'm stuffy? Dusty-headed?~
@422  = ~No! Neither! You can read through a book once, and it's entertaining. Then, if you read it a second time, you can notice entire passages that did not register before.~
@423  = ~So you read it again and again. After a while, you have pored through that entire book from cover to cover enough that it's like an old friend, but yet, each time, it remains different and enjoyable. I suppose that means... unlike other people, I am comfortable around you.~
@424  = ~I am comfortable around you, too, Finch. You are like...~
@425  = ~You are like an old pair of boots. Just above the knee, so you're not in fashion, but you're warm, and you keep my toes from getting wet.~
@426  = ~Then again, perhaps you don't fit that last part unequivocally.~
@427  = ~Oh. I'm like boots.~
@428  = ~Say, that's what I'll call you! Ha! My old pal, Boots!~
@429  = ~Well... if it makes you happy.~
@430  = ~Jaheira, what is it like to be in love?~
@431  = ~Why do you ask me mooning questions, child?~
@433  = ~If you want to gossip about romance, go giggle behind your hand with the foolish Silvershield girl.~
@435  = ~If you want to gossip about romance, go ask the Calimshite wench for one of her lurid tales.~
@436  = ~I want to learn about you, Jaheira. About your love.~
@437  = ~It seems a rare thing to my eyes. I know of lovers that shout and make broad poetic claims, but your relationship with Khalid is different.~
@438  = ~You mean it has substance? Yes, ours is a rare love. It is perceptive of you to recognize the value of a partner can be more than winning smiles and the songs of a bard.~
@439  = ~I wonder that so many seem blind to it.~
@440  = ~Perhaps it is a form of self-defense. Love requires patience and compromise, the likes of which not every spirit can offer.~
@441  = ~True. I have met few men as kind and patient as Khalid.~
@442  = ~I was speaking of myself.~
@443  = ~Oh, of course! You as well, Jaheira.~
@444  = ~Ugh. I don't feel so good. My tummy's jumping around like a sack of puppies.~
@445  = ~Your stomach? Where is that huge bag of honeyed cherries you pocketed in the last town?~
@446  = ~I ate them.~
@447  = ~Oh, Alora, that's the trouble! You ate too many sweets!~
@448  = ~Now you're just talking the crazy talk! There's no such thing as too many sweets! If the world was made out of candy and the rivers flowed with custard, everybody would dance and sing and be happy all the time!~
@449  = ~Until their bellies ached.~
@450  = ~Aw, no worries! You'll fix me, 'cause you wouldn't let a pal suffer a tummy full of puppies. No way! So, come on, Finch! Turn that frown upside-down, and make me sparkle!~
@451  = ~Ye can be mincey n' tickle yer nose with the pages o' yer book all ye like, but I've seen yer type before. Get a few ales in yer gullet, an' yer a wild woman.~
@452  = ~I drink as little as possible; I have to be careful, even with water. A spilled drink all over my books and papers? Those beautiful words reduced to inkblots?~
@453  = ~Or... or... to spill something worse, like you do after a few flasks of that homemade concoction you keep tied to your belt. Oh, I hate to remember it!~
@454  = ~Remember it, do ye? So Mistress Goody-Goody has taken off 'er robes 'afore and danced on the table? Mebbe ye be less of a waste of space than I be thinking.~
@455  = ~Quit frothing, Montaron. Unlike some, I learn from my mistakes.~
@456  = ~Hushing me be the hard kind of mistake to wake up from, four eyes.~
@457  = ~Not if you continue drinking that fuming swill. You may move in silence, but I can smell you coming!~
@458  = ~Look out, evil! Here's comes the birdie!~
@459  = ~Minsc! Minsc, what are you doing?!~
@460  = ~I am picking you up, little scribe. You are small, like Boo. It is no trouble. You can perch on my shoulder and see the monsters coming from far, far away. Then, you can throw rocks!~
@461  = ~DID YOU HEAR THAT, EVIL? THIS BIRDIE IS LOOKING FOR YOU!~
@462  = ~Oh, no! Please, please, put me down!~
@463  = ~If you say, Minsc will do, but you are no trouble to carry.~
@464  = ~No. No, thank you. I'd really rather keep my feet on the ground.~
@465  = ~You see as well as I in the dark, yet you scowl like a human when the sun sets.~
@466  = ~Glowing eyes only aid me in seeing wolves in a grove or thieves in the shadows, not my parchment or inkwell. Nighttime bespeaks the end of all my favorite activities until the dawn.~
@467  = ~You obviously have not tried the right kind of amusement in the dark.~
@468  = ~You know, my dear, if your nose was half an inch longer, I'd forget my age and pitch you the woo!~
@469  = ~When your hair goes completely white, you'll be quite the looker!~
@470  = ~I'm sure you mean well, in some deluded fashion, but you don't have to say such things to flatter me, Quayle. I am fully aware how attractive my bulbous nose and wiry hair are.~
@471  = ~Now, now, nobody likes a vain know-it-all.~
@472  = ~But you aren't aware, are you? No, I can see with my razor-sharp wit that this is another poison byproduct from spending so much time cloistered among tall folk!~
@473  = ~Wake up, and smell the bark biscuits, girl! You're a gnome's gnome!~
@474  = ~You speak as if gnomish folk fit me like a kid slipper, when I match them just as well as an orc for a dance partner!~
@475  = ~You do not know me, Quayle. You do not understand me, even with your huge brain. Let it be!~
@476  = ~Tiax, I must ask you a question! This business of ruling that you constantly ramble about is a curious conundrum.~
@477  = ~Tiax sees no confusion, only the dawning era when Tiax rules all!~
@478  = ~All shall bow before Tiax; do I understand you correctly?~
@479  = ~She hears the word of Tiax and wonder fills her brain! Convert to the will of Tiax!~
@480  = ~Not exactly. I have to wonder, if Tiax is going to rule all, does that mean Tiax will rule Cyric?~
@481  = ~Tiax shall rule the world as liege to Cyric! Tiax will crush all who would oppose Cyric with his own black hand! Tiax was promised!~
@482  = ~So you will not actually rule all. You shall just be a toady to your heartless god. Rather like you are now.~
@483  = ~Thank you for explaining, Tiax. It makes so much more sense to me this way.~
@484  = ~When Tiax rules, your sneaky tongue will make his first sandwich!~
@485  = ~My reputation precedes me... You made an interesting comment earlier, Finchy. Quite the accomplishment for you.~
@486  = ~Not so much. You did all the work becoming notorious in Waterdeep.~
@487  = ~ Oh. That. Scandalous fabrications, etcetera.~
@488  = ~Where does a scrap like you monger such filthy gossip, anyway?~
@489  = ~I grew up in Waterdeep. Word of dalliances with the daughter of Lord Piergeiron tend to spread down to even my low-level ears. I gave you the benefit of the doubt...~
@490  = ~Until I met you.~
@491  = ~Rabble, then. Some beggared rat from Lackpurse Lane with a dozen grubby littermates. Coming from the gutter, you should demonstrate more appreciation for the gifted and penniless exploiting an opportunity.~
@492  = ~I can. I did. Becoming a Deneirrath was the grandest opportunity I have ever encountered, and I took it gladly.~
@493  = ~You can take the rat out of the docks, but you can't teach it the difference between cottage curd and Luiren spring cheese. My squab, you just haven't the brains or talent to live a life of style. You've caught on to that, though, haven't you? That's why you'll be such a perfect, dusty, old maid.~
@494  = ~Careful of the mud, Finch. It only reaches m-m-my ankle, but for you, it could be more treacherous. I c-c-can help you if you'd like.~
@495  = ~I have never met someone so polite or as thoughtful as you, Khalid. Why, if I fell into a river, I wager you would ask my permission before scooping me out!~
@496  = ~One c-c-cannot assume these things, I have found. You might like the swim, or want to help yourself.~
@497  = ~But I gladly welcome your help, Khalid. Thank you for the offer.~
@498  = ~Montaron, must you be so loud? We should use our quiet voices here, lest we catch the ear of something unsavory.~
@499  = ~It's a bellow 'er nuthin'. Stuff yer naggin', four eyes, 'less ya lookin' fer a fight t' settle the matter.~
@500  = ~Then again, there are unsavory beasts in this party. I would hate to keep them from their kin with whispers.~
@501  = ~Feel the power of my brain! It tingles!~
@502  = ~Quayle, must you do that?~
@503  = ~I, of course, know exactly what you are talking about, but please specify for the ignorant behemouths who may be eavesdropping.~
@504  = ~The quirks, the foolish boasting! It's so... so typical!~
@505  = ~It's just like my family back in Waterdeep, the dozens of them. I love them dearly, understand, but why must life be filled with tall tales and silly schemes and noise to the rafters?~
@506  = ~There was never a moment's quiet, always one brouhaha after another. And the talking! If gnomes could live off chatter, my family would have owned the city! Get-rich ploys and how brilliant they were, that was the talk!~
@507  = ~You're ashamed? I had calculated the theoretical possibility, of course, but I never accepted the hypothesis that you would be so dumb as to be ashamed of your gnomehood!~
@508  = ~A gnomish gnome-hater! The infamy!~
@509  = ~I don't hate gnomes! I just... I do not fit! Why are the gnomes I meet never quiet and reflective? Just one solemn and meek brethren with whom I'd have something in common, that's all I ask! But, no! I meet the gnomes with tingling brains!~
@510  = ~Trust me, my dear. You're getting less meek by the second. It's a fascinating evolution.~
@511  = ~You never hear humanfolk talk about exploding fish incidents! Elves don't boast about making oatmeal for the gods! Hin don't sing songs about romancing root vegetables! Dwarves don't huzzah about their overpowering intellects!~
@512  = ~There's a reason for it. They'd have to lift their knuckles off the ground.~
@513  = ~All protests aside, my dear, you have a definite gnome bias. You don't appreciate the gift of your heritage, and, until you accept who you are, you'll always be that much dumber than me.~
@514  = ~This is amazing, really amazing! I feel so tiny and overwhelmed!~
@515  = ~I do not question your admiration, but you act as though you have never seen trees before, child.~
@516  = ~You scoff, Jaheira, but this is still a new experience for my eyes. I'd never been in a forest until I left Waterdeep. I'd never walked on the grass, or picked a flower before, or...~
@517  = ~Calm your excited exaggerations. Waterdeep has gardens, though overly cultivated ones. Surely you had the chance to experience these things before?~
@518  = ~In Waterdeep, the gardens are for the wealthy. I wouldn't have had the nerve to step a foot wrong on someone else's lawn, for fear of their guards' wrath.~
@519  = ~Whereas outside the confines of city walls, nature offers equal treasure to all. I see. By all means, Finch, resume your gaping in awe. It is justified and well-deserved in this place.~
@520  = ~You are so lucky, Dynaheir.~
@521  = ~Which of my fortunes gives thee cause?~
@522  = ~You have Minsc and Boo as protectors. That must be a splendid boon!~
@523  = ~My power needs no protection. The warrior and his rodent serve to make conveniences on the journey, freeing me to concern mine thoughts with higher puzzles than clearing brush and trapping hare. I could fare mine own way 'twere the effort required.~
@524  = ~As someone frequently left to her own thoughts for companionship, I imagine it would be delightful if someone defended me with such devotion. Just think! Company wherever I went!~
@525  = ~Child, you see not thy blessings when they stand before thee! Should you choose to lift thine eyes beyond thy books, you would see thou art housed in caring company.~
@526  = ~No offense, Dynaheir, but I do not think your care is the same thing.~
@527  = ~Faldorn, the Shadow Druids raised you, correct?~
@528  = ~That is so. My birth mother offered me to the earth when I was an infant.~
@529  = ~Is it not unnatural for an animal to forsake their young like that? I know that snakes do not nurture their offspring, but rather leave them to hatch and fend for themselves. But... a person?~
@530  = ~(grunt) Your perceptions are tainted by the city. The wolf will foster a cub, raising it as its own when necessary. I was cared for and fortunate that the Shadow Druids showed me their path.~
@531  = ~How's yer birdbrain with the numbers, lass?~
@532  = ~If you must ask me a question, Kagain, you COULD ask it in a kind manner.~
@533  = ~What're ye on about? Did I belt you about the ears? Did I seize ye by the throat 'til ye squealed for mercy? How namby-pamby must I be to get an answer out o' yer squawkbox, woman?~
@534  = ~Bah, to the Abyss with ye! I've better to do than talk with the likes of a prosy preacher!~
@535  = ~Edwin, were you in Nashkel long before joining <CHARNAME>'s journey?~
@536  = ~Don't be nosy. Go mind your own business.~
@537  = ~I was simply curious about the state of education in the border town. The well-being of the people there is of great concern to the temple of Deneir.~
@538  = ~And none of mine. I will not tell you of my purpose on the Sword Coast, nor do sufficient monosyllabic utterances exist capable of communicating the magnitude of my importance to one of your floundering intellect, so quit twittering. Go pick a daisy!~
@539  = ~Oh, my! I thought gnomes had the market cornered where boasting their intelligence was concerned, but you write the book!~
@540  = ~Lord Ilvastarr, I have a copy of a history detailing the Order's recent maneuvers in the Cloudpeaks. Would you like to read it?~
@541  = ~Lord Ilvastarr? Many a moon has passed since I became a squire and anyone called me that. What is your cause?~
@542  = ~Cause of habit, it must be. Your family is renowned in the area where I grew up, and I would have been sheltered, indeed, to have never heard talk of you.~
@543  = ~What an unexpected coincidence! So you hail from Waterdeep as I?~
@544  = ~No, not as you. You come from a noble and famed lineage. My family is your typical gnomish brood.~
@545  = ~Meaning the children were ubiquitous, the coffers empty, and the house much too small.~
@546  = ~Ah. How many children make up a gnomish brood, nowadays?~
@547  = ~Well... I was the ninth of seventeen.~
@548  = ~Seventeen?! Helm protect them!~
@549  = ~Crowded among such a number, did you suffer the fate of the overlooked middle child?~
@550  = ~Why, yes! But it is not so difficult for me to be forgotten, and I make no complaints. Not everyone can remember things like I do. I recall people very well.~
@551  = ~As you have demonstrated admirably.~
@552  = ~Oh, Jaheira, be careful!~
@553  = ~Must you quiver over every squirrel darting out of the bushes as if it was an ogre?~
@554  = ~Yes, yes. I know I must seem silly to you, but... animals have never seemed to have much of an affinity for me. They... they seem to actively dislike me, actually.~
@555  = ~Nonsense. Animals do not strike against others without motivation or provocation. Perhaps if you encountered a creature that saw you as food... But, no. This is a foolish notion you have, Finch.~
@556  = ~When I was a girl, I briefly had a pet rat-~
@557  = ~A rat? That is hardly a match for a young girl. What were your parents thinking?~
@558  = ~They weren't. I mean, they didn't have to. Get me a pet rat, you see. Not on the wharf. They were free company...~
@559  = ~And the rat did not suit you, I suspect.~
@560  = ~It wasn't just a lack of suitability. Boscoe hated me! For a month, I would try to feed him bits of cheese and build him a nest, but whenever I got too close, he'd hiss at me! Have you ever seen a rat hiss? Eep!~
@561  = ~Perhaps the reaction was not a judgment of you, but the name 'Boscoe.'~
@562  = ~But... but...~
@563  = ~(sigh) I was teasing, Finch. There is no need to look so stricken.~
@564  = ~Truly, I suspect 'he' was a 'she,' venturing indoors to nest. No doubt your rat felt no antipathy for you, personally, but fear you were a threat to her litter.~
@565  = ~Oh. Oh, that is such a relief!~
@566  = ~In your company, Finch, one can be confident of the constant scratch of a quill against parchment.~
@567  = ~I'm sorry, I did not think it would bother anyone. Does my noise disturb you?~
@568  = ~Your effort to break the silence reigns meekest among the potential disturbances. Compared to giggles and chatter, unwelcome songs of love and joy, boasting, sniping, twittering and insults...~
@570  = ~Better a man stay silent. They never have anything to say worth hearing.~
@572  = ~Laughter is a happy sound, and there's nothing better than being happy! You should try it!~
@574  = ~Silence, fools! When Tiax rules, Tiax will speak for everyone!~
@575  = ~...Your noise is a welcome relief.~
@576  = ~Oh, no! Garrick!~
@577  = ~That last blow... I saw it coming, but I couldn't do anything! It was terrible!~
@578  = ~But I made it through, didn't I? I'll be fine as soon as the world stops spinning.~
@579  = ~And I stop bleeding. That... that can't all be mine!~
@580  = ~Don't you fret! I can help you now!~
@581  = ~Thanks, Boots. It's much better to see only one of everything.~
@582  = ~Even the ants bow down to Tiax!~
@583  = ~Ants always walk that way.~
@584  = ~And so, Tiax shall spare the ants when he rules, for they were made to serve Tiax!~
@585  = ~Made to bite Tiax in his bedroll, I hope!~
@586  = ~Heya, Finch. Would you have really stayed in Candlekeep if you'd been given the chance?~
@587  = ~I could have remained there the rest of my days, had I the luxury. No life with responsibilities is so simple, I am afraid.~
@588  = ~Responsibilities, nuthin'. You were lucky to scram when you did, else you may not have run into <CHARNAME> and me again. If I'd missed out on this adventure, I know I'd have been a sad sack!~
@589  = ~But isn't there anything about Candlekeep you miss? You grew up there!~
@590  = ~Like you're achin' to skip back to Waterdeep, huh?~
@591  = ~When you put it like that...~
@592  = ~Nah, I don't miss makin' beds at Winthrop's. There were laughs enough while I was there, but I'm not missin' out. I've got <CHARNAME> to remind me of the musty old place, kinda like you've got your books!~
@593  = ~I can't figure out your face, Finch. It's a real brain-pretzel.~
@594  = ~I do not understand any mystery. My face is rather plain and straightforward.~
@595  = ~That's just it! You don't smile happy-shiny joy like me, but you aren't one of those pruney-wrinkly-frowny heads that give me a tummyache, either. You're stuck in the middle, all bland like a piece of toast without butter or jam!~
@596  = ~I cannot help it if I am unremarkable to look at, Alora.~
@597  = ~Nah, you're just out of the habit of being remarkable like me. Smile more! It'll fix your face jiffy-quick!~
@598  = ~I will... but I feel very self-conscious with you staring at me like that.~
@599  = ~Ta-da! That's it! Showtime for the teeth!~
@600  = ~It's bad enough you waste your time with weakling pursuits like reading and writing, but what makes me spit is how you sink to worshipping a man.~
@601  = ~All your hate and fury... that is what seems a waste of time to me. Books and their study offer me only contentment, not your malice. I have no regrets in following Deneir.~
@602  = ~You enslave yourself, praying to manhood, depending on a male to empower you with magic! If you swung your flail without mercy and stood alone, for yourself, maybe I'd have a crumb of respect for you.~
@603  = ~Perhaps I believe in my own gifts enough to not feel threatened by men as you do, Shar-Teel.~
@604  = ~Threatened? The only threat I face is your runtish attempts at being funny making me ill!~
@605  = ~Your expression never used to bring me such misery.~
@606  = ~But... I am smiling more! I was told that a cheerier expression would make me more remarkable.~
@607  = ~I speak of it, don't I? Your newfound grinning shines a futile beacon of hope. It plagues my eyes.~
@608  = ~Oh, Xan! I didn't mean to cause your grief! I was convinced my smile would be pleasant!~
@609  = ~She weeps, as she should in this cold, doomed world.~
@610  = ~Yeslick, I wish you could see the value of the scribing I do.~
@611  = ~The only thing of value in this world is people, child. Ye need 'em to share a wealth of love and friendship, and their loss makes ye ache a vein of sadness.~
@612  = ~But, in a way, writing can make people and places live again, long after they are gone. I keep my journal, and, sometimes, when I long for my parents or my siblings, I read my old entries about the times we had together, and it is like they are with me again.~
@613  = ~It makes me think of your family, Yeslick.~
@614  = ~My clan is long gone.~
@615  = ~And you barely speak of them. Their history is buried within you. One day, when you have passed on, they will be truly dead, the story of their lives and deaths lost forever.~
@616  = ~Knowledge should not be lost like that, not when people could learn, appreciate and remember. That is what I do. Not scribbles on paper, but legacies. My service is to spread histories and reflections, so that they might live forever among those who would understand.~
@617  = ~Ye mean well, girl, but there are stories better off forgotten. These loose lips have done their damage this lifetime, and I'll not be persuaded from that end.~
@618  = ~You may be firm and stubborn, your family lost -- that troubles me, by Deneir, that does -- but you will not escape remark, Yeslick.~
@619  = ~I have written of you in my journal. Time and away from this place, when we no longer travel this road together, I will read my words, and I will remember you. Yes, my gruff friend. I will remember you.~
@620  = ~Hmph. Keep it to yerself, girl.~
@621  = ~Gaaaarrrgh! This damnable city!~
@622  = ~What's the trouble, Faldorn?~
@623  = ~The inferior paved roads of man plague me. A chip from the cobblestones has lodged next to my toe.~
@624  = ~An amazing complaint! Have you not experienced a stone in your shoe while treading in the forest?~
@625  = ~That is different.~
@626  = ~I do not see how. A rock between your toes in the city is just as uncomfortable as a rock between your toes on the plain.~
@627  = ~Ah, well, you have reason to be cranky, and a bad mood is hard to reason with in one place as much as another. Here, I will help you pull off your boot. We will have your foot sorted in no time!~
@628  = ~Oof! If I was more like you, Kivan, I'd have a lot less trouble.~
@629  = ~Foolish words, Finch. You should consider your aspirations more deeply.~
@630  = ~I apologize. That must have sounded like a shallow comment to make in the light of... well, your past.~
@631  = ~But, thinking on it, it IS a shallow envy. I... sometimes I hate being so small. Between constantly looking up at longlimbs and monsters, then bending my head in the study of a scroll, I am tired of soothing my aching neck!~
@632  = ~You can read the stars as well as tracks on the ground, yet constantly you look straight ahead, aiming for your target. How often do you have the luxury of looking a foe in the eyes when we face evil?~
@633  = ~But it is the times when I have been struck down to my knees that have made the difference in my life. Do not bemoan having to lift your chin to stare down your enemies, Finch. You will not grow over-confident and be caught off-guard that way.~
@634  = ~Yet it seems a shame to have to look at friends alike and ache.~
@635  = ~There are worse pains to bear.~
@636  = ~More notes in your journal, Finch? What occupies your study now, in a place such as this?~
@637  = ~I am sketching a map of these caverns and tunnels in the event another group may one day have to navigate this perilous trail.~
@638  = ~If we do our duty, evil will be purged from this place forevermore. Those following in our footsteps will have no need to fear during their journey.~
@639  = ~Yes, yes, I hope so, but it never hurts to be prepared.~
@640  = ~Heya, Finch! You settle this! See that cloud up there? The big, fluffy one that is the same shape as a pie? Alora says it looks more like a kitten wearing a hat. She's wrong, right?~
@641  = ~That cloud can't be a pie! Pies don't wear hats!~
@642  = ~Kittens don't wear hats, either, stupid!~
@643  = ~Imoen, Alora, calm down! That cloud is clearly a kitten wearing a hat eating a pie!~
@644  = ~Ohhhh. Nifty super fun!~
@645  = ~Huh. Who'd have thought a kitten wearing a hat would eat a pie?~
@646  = ~Boy, clouds sure make me hungry.~
@647  = ~Must you take enjoyment each time we survive a battle? It is only a fleeting victory.~
@648  = ~But we are alive against all odds! I cannot help but be proud of what this group accomplishes when we work together!.~
@649  = ~Pride goeth before the fall. You'll die soon enough, probably in some slow, unspeakable way that will make me rend my ears to stop the echo of your bloodcurdling screams. We should all be prepared for the worst.~
@650  = ~You'll not make me sorry, Xan! I'll cheer if I want to! And even if I were to fall, it would be while fighting for a good cause!~
@651  = ~Poor, deluded girl.~
@652  = ~Kagain, let us make amends. Why did you want to know if I was good with numbers before?~
@653  = ~Well, are ye?~
@654  = ~Why do you want to know?~
@655  = ~Is it too much fer ye to answer the damn question?~
@656  = ~Very well. Yes, Kagain, I do a fair job with sums and subtractions. Your question continues to surprise me. 'Tis a skill in which I would think a man with your love of gold would excel.~
@657  = ~I can count the coin, sure as I've a beard, but I need a scribin' sort to do me business a service. Second set of books, inscrutable as ye please for the taxman.~
@658  = ~Not a collector breathin' would suspect yer prissy face of sneaking money under the table!~
@659  = ~A prissy face such as mine wouldn't dream of engaging in such a crooked scheme!~
@660  = ~Yer really starting to piss me off.~
@661  = ~You! Gnome girl! You are only a slave to the filth and corruption of civilization!~
@662  = ~My, Faldorn! How loud your voice can be!~
@663  = ~Hear me, hear me well. I see your poison acts, and I know your god for the violator he is!~
@664  = ~Violator? Faldorn, I worship Deneir. You do understand what that means, don't you? I love knowledge, and all of the items that bring and record knowledge. There's no poison involved!~
@665  = ~I understand that means you encourage the woodsmen that fell trees for their pulp so that you may draw on your civilized paper. You employ the peasants who rob the reeds from the riverbank to make your parchment for your civilized scrolls. You support the herder who slaughters the lamb to cure your civilized vellum. You enable the farmer who rips the flowers and indigo from the earth to distill your civilized ink.~
@666  = ~You disgust me. Your god disgusts me. Know that you will pay for your crimes against nature.~
@667  = ~Could you repeat that part after the word 'vellum'...?~
@668  = ~What? You write what I say? Grrr, you've branded my words with your foul perversions!~
@669  = ~Oops. Usually people want their opinions recorded for posterity.~
@700  = ~Let's see... "The Lord of Murder shall perish, but in his death, he shall spawn a score of mortal progeny..." Hmm.~ [SUFINC0A]
@701  = ~Ooh! I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going!~ [SUFINC0B]
@702  = ~It is of no consequence. What is that you are reciting? It sounds intriguing.~
@703  = ~Haven't I seen you wandering around Candlekeep the past tenday? Who are you?~
@704  = ~I suggest you start watching, squirt.~
@705  = ~Move on, little one, lest you want me to kick you out of my way.~
@706  = ~Oh, it's you, Finch. I thought you were leaving Candlekeep soon. Or was that wishful thinking?~
@707  = ~It's okay, Finch, old pal! What's new in the world of literature?~
@708  = ~Oh, that? I simply scribed the monks' singing. I am fairly certain their words come from the volume of Alaundo's writings inside the citadel.~
@709  = ~How I wish I had found the opportunity to study them first-hand this past tenday! Alas, such a rare edition proves popular among the curious. I never had a chance!~
@710  = ~If you could not study the rarest books, what did you do instead?~
@711  = ~Tough break, but I am pleased to meet you! My name is <CHARNAME>. What's yours?~
@712  = ~You came to Candlekeep to study? On purpose?~
@713  = ~That was from a book of prophecies? How disappointing. The past and future are inconsequential. I like living in the here and now.~
@714  = ~That was from a book of prophecies? Yuck. From the way it started, I was hoping for one of those wild stories filled with violence and sex. The best parts of life, know what I mean?~
@715  = ~I do not suppose you could have reached the top shelf, anyway.~
@716  = ~I am Finch, Finch Bloomwhiffler. So grand to make your acquaintance! I must say I am truly envious of you having the good fortune to live here in Candlekeep.~
@717  = ~Why do you say that? It is a simple walled village, hardly filled with the wonders of cities such as Baldur's Gate or Waterdeep.~
@718  = ~I cannot imagine why.~
@719  = ~I agree. The people are kind, if a bit regimented, and the weather is always nice.~
@720  = ~I am a lucky <PRO_MANWOMAN>, yes, but my time in Candlekeep is coming to an end. I have recently gotten word that I must soon take a trip away from here.~
@721  = ~Oh! Oh, I promise that I regret my inattention. I did not meant to cause offense! Please! Accept my apology!~
@722  = ~Do not get so flustered; I should not have made such an issue of a slight bump. Consider it forgotten. Say, what is that you are reciting? It sounds intriguing.~
@723  = ~Worry your head no further. I accept your apology. Say, haven't I seen you wandering around Candlekeep the past tenday? Who are you?~
@724  = ~I accept nothing. Move on, little one, lest you want me to kick you out of my way.~
@725  = ~Oh, it's you, Finch. I did not recognize you with your head out of a book. I thought you were leaving Candlekeep soon, or was that wishful thinking?~
@726  = ~Hmmph. For all the wealth of books and knowledge Candlekeep has to offer, your manners make me begin to appreciate the end of my pilgrimage here. May Deneir guide my journey so that, if we meet again, you have learned a lesson or two about a kind disposition!~
@727  = ~Hmph. If you must be rude, better to write down your insults for posterity. Then generations can learn how <CHARNAME> was a jerk.~
@728  = ~You try my patience. Move on, little one, lest you want me to kick you out of my way.~
@729  = ~I was just kidding, Finch, old pal! Don't be so sensitive! What's new in the world of literature?~
@730  = ~Or they can learn just how thin-skinned you can be. You really should spend more time with people and less with books, Finch. Perhaps then, you wouldn't take a joke so seriously.~
@731  = ~No, I really want to know. When are you leaving Candlekeep? I take a trip soon with my foster father, Gorion. I am anxious to venture outside these walls, but it might be nice to have additional familiar company.~
@732  = ~No, I really want to know. When are you leaving Candlekeep? I take a trip soon with my foster father, Gorion, and I'd hate to wind up traveling the road alongside a bore like you.~
@733  = ~I have been scribing the monks' singing, <CHARNAME>. I am fairly certain their words come from the volume of Alaundo's writings inside the citadel.~
@734  = ~If you could not study the rarest books this tenday, what did you do instead?~
@735  = ~Those are the breaks! Still, you have managed to add a number of works to your copy book over your visit, correct? I have hardly seen you with your head out of a cloister.~
@736  = ~I still find it amazing that people like you come to Candlekeep to study on purpose. Lessons are not the same as living, to my mind.~
@737  = ~Scribing a book of prophecies? How disappointing. The past and future are inconsequential. I like living in the here and now.~
@738  = ~Scribing a book of prophecies? Yuck. From the way it started, I was hoping for one of those wild stories filled with violence and sex. The best parts of life, know what I mean?~
@739  = ~Of course you never had a chance, Finch! You couldn't reach the top shelf!~
@740  = ~Well, I copied a treatise on Tethyrian border history, duplicated a few volumes of Lliiran hymns, and transcribed an entire Hin cookbook with the most illuminating recipe for stewed goat. All things considered, a successful amount of information to share across the land. I have high hopes Deneir will be proud of the efforts of his new initiate, even if I did not copy the entire works of Alaundo.~
@741  = ~Deneir? Who is that?~
@742  = ~Ah, you are a cleric of Deneir. No wonder you love this place.~
@743  = ~What else would a cleric of Oghma's Scribe do? The halls of Candlekeep are a paradise for lovers of the written word! Why, in the past tenday, I have copied a treatise on Tethyrian border history, duplicated a few volumes of Lliiran hymns, and transcribed an entire Hin cookbook with the most illuminating recipe for stewed goat. All things considered, a successful amount of information to share across the land. I have high hopes Deneir will be proud of the efforts of his new initiate, even if I did not copy the entire works of Alaundo.~
@744  = ~Then how can you possibly learn from your past so as to forge your future? There is more than just this moment, but a legacy a knowledge to be passed down for generations to come!~
@745  = ~Ah, enough of my tittering! If you live in the moment, my sentiments are of no consequence to you. I have dallied in Candlekeep longer than I should have in service of my temple, though I am certain Deneir would understand.~
@746  = ~No, not really. I have seen violence, of course -- one must in the world in which we live. As for the other... I have read things. I do not leave my cloisters much, unless it is a mission of educational importance.~
@747  = ~Ah, enough of my tittering! If you appreciate earthly passions so greatly, my faith is of no consequence to you. I have dallied in Candlekeep longer than I should have in service of my temple, though I am certain Deneir would understand.~
@748  = ~Making sport out of another's race or stature is one of the lowest forms of humor. The shortcomings of that comedic strategy are well-documented in Sir Feliks Jongleur's compendium on the subject, "Funny Stuff, Volumes One through Twenty-Nine and Three-Quarters." I highly recommend them to anyone short on wit.~
@749  = ~Shortcomings? Did you just make a pun?~
@750  = ~Congratulations. You have succeeded in sucking all sense of humor and fun out of me in five seconds flat.~
@751  = ~Sir Feliks Jongleur...? Did you just make that up?~
@752  = ~All right! All right! That was a lame joke! I apologize!~
@753  = ~The wondrous books! Rows and stacks of scroll casings and leather-bound volumes covering every subject under the sun and stars! I can imagine no greater joy than the opportunity to learn something new with each passing day. Perhaps that explains why I found my heart's home in the service of Deneir.~
@754  = ~How could you leave out the wondrous books? Rows and stacks of scroll casings and leather-bound volumes covering every subject under the sun and stars! I can imagine no greater joy than the opportunity to learn something new with each passing day. Perhaps that explains why I found my heart's home in the service of Deneir.~
@755  = ~Not as soon as I, I wager. I have dallied in Candlekeep longer than I should have in service of my temple, though I am certain Deneir would understand.~
@756  = ~Anyhoo, I leave with all haste. I have a list of works needed to establish a new library on the Amnish border. I located a likely seller of one volume in Beregost, so off I go!~
@757  = ~Perhaps we shall meet again. I bid you a fair journey!~
@758  = ~I enjoy life as I am, <CHARNAME>. Truly, I can imagine no finer occupation than living with my nose in a book! Alas, I have dallied in Candlekeep longer than I should have in service of my temple, though I am certain Deneir would understand.~
@759  = ~I am sorry, <CHARNAME>, but I leave even now. Alas, I have dallied in Candlekeep longer than I should have in service of my temple, though I am certain Deneir would understand.~
@760  = ~Anyhoo, I have a list of works needed to establish a new library on the Amnish border. I located a likely seller of one volume in Beregost, so off I go!~
@761  = ~I do appreciate our brief acquaintance. Perhaps we shall meet again? I bid you a fair journey!~
@762  = ~Yet living without care for the lessons it teaches is a wasted opportunity for wisdom! I can imagine no greater joy than learning something new with each passing day. Perhaps that explains why I found my heart's home in the service of Deneir.~
@763  = ~Deneir is the Scribe of the Great Oghma, Lord of All Glyphs and Images. How ever did you manage to grow up in a treasure house of such wondrous books and not learn of my deity? Amazing!~
@764  = ~I would love to speak on the subject longer. Alas, I have dallied in Candlekeep longer than I should have in service of my temple, though I am certain Deneir would understand.~
@765  = ~Anyhoo, I leave with all haste. I have a list of works needed to establish a new library on the Amnish border. I located a likely seller of one volume in Beregost, so off I go!~
@766  = ~Truly, my brief time here in your home town has been a great joy. I can imagine no finer occupation than living with my nose in a book! Alas, I have dallied in Candlekeep longer than I should have in service of my temple, though I am certain Deneir would understand.~
@767  = ~Oh, I was actually trying to be funny, myself. I made a pun, you see...? Though not a very good one, I admit. (sigh) I am not very skilled at talking to people.~
@768  = ~Alas, I have dallied in Candlekeep longer than I should have in service of my temple, though I am certain Deneir would understand.~
@769  = ~I must leave with all haste. I have a list of works needed to establish a new library on the Amnish border. I located a likely seller of one volume in Beregost, so off I go!~
@770  = ~Perhaps we shall meet again. Mayhaps I will be more entertaining next time. I bid you farewell!~
@771  = ~Yes. I am sorry. Puns are a poor sort of humor, as well. I really should know better. Still, it was fun to talk to you!~
@772  = ~Perhaps we shall meet again. I bid you farewell!~
@773  = ~How nice of you! You can certainly be charming when you choose to be. I am so happy we part on kind terms. I have dallied in Candlekeep longer than I should have in service of my temple, though I am certain Deneir would understand.~
@800  = ~Couldn't you have been polite just a little longer? You've ruined it! What will the priests think of me now?~ [SUFINC57]
@801  = ~Oh, I hope I never see you again!~ [SUFINC72]
@802  = ~Finch's Quest to Start a Library in Nashkel
I have managed to insult the owners of the manor that was to house the new Nashkel library, resulting in the couple calling off the project. Finch has left in a disappointed fury. I do not think I can depend upon seeing her again any time soon.~
@803  = ~My goodness! Fenedriel Boscoe's primer for children! What a find! He's my favorite author, you know, and a gnome to boot! There aren't many of such a prosaic persuasion as the Great Boscoe.~ [SUFINC58]
@804  = ~This will be a perfect addition to the library in Nashkel. I wonder why the bandits had it? I suppose a bandit might need to learn how to read, or... or they robbed a caravan with children.~
@805  = ~Anyhoo, let us be sure to keep close tabs on this volume from now on. I'd hate to misplace it!~
@806  = ~Interesting. An educational volume about mine work and metals, translated from Dwarven. That's not something you see every day. I wonder why it's here?~ [SUFINC59]
@807  = ~No matter. This is just the kind of thing the people of Nashkel would find interesting, and relevant to their economy. We should keep it safe for their library!~
@808  = ~Oh, this tome is beautiful! I've never seen such an ornate copy of 'The Tailor of Calimshan' before! Surely it is a crime to keep it hidden away on these shelves when there is an entire village that could share the wonder?~ [SUFINC60]
@809  = ~Let us give this to people of Nashkel to enjoy, <CHARNAME>. A true luxury for their library!~
@810  = ~Ah! A history of Nashkel! What more fitting piece of work could I find for their library? We should hold on to this volume. Yes, indeed!~ [SUFINC70]
@811  = ~Success! I think we have gathered every possible book we could need to start the library in Nashkel. Let us return there as soon as we are able. May Deneir be proud of our efforts!~ [SUFINC71]
@812  = ~Finch's Quest to Start a Library in Nashkel
We have located the final book needed to start a new library in Nashkel. Finch desires to return there as soon as possible.~
@813  = ~Relax, he says. We're surrounded by menacing criminals! I'm keeping my bookbag close at hand, thank you.~
@814  = ~An interesting story he tells, though incomplete. I shall make a note of it!~
@815  = ~What a lot of bullies this place has! We are only here to help!~
@816  = ~Trackless Sea... south of Chult... I should chart this place so that others may know, but these estimations are so vague!~
@817  = ~Eeep!~
@818  = ~Isn't that nice of them? Deneir willing, we shall stay in one piece!~
@819  = ~Candlekeep? They have gone to Candlekeep? Oh, can we... can we follow? I would love to return to Candlekeep! *ahem* For business!~
@820  = ~<CHARNAME> has seen <PRO_HISHER> share of twisted minds at work and met the challenge. This ruin will be no exception.~
@821  = ~Surely we can spare the coin for this, <CHARNAME>? Such unique contents as the docent promises must be viewed and documented for the sake of those who cannot travel to Baldur's Gate.~
@822  = ~(Little do they know, we have concerns enough for all of them.)~
@823  = ~Oh, dear. This is the most troublesome part of being a cleric: theological disagreements with other clergy!~
@824  = ~From the mouths of babes... do stop scaring the children, Finchy. They don't realize that's supposed to be a smile.~
@825  = ~Oh, High Scrivener! Sir, 'tis such an honor to meet you! Imagine! Cadderly, builder of great libraries, standing in front of me! Eep! I'm blushing. I'm babbling. Oh... oh... Can you sign my journal? To preserve the memory of this grand day?~
@826  = ~Ah, a priest of the faith? Certainly! What is your name, child?~
@827  = ~Finch, sir. Finch Bloomwhiffler.~
@828  = ~I shall make a note of it. And your friend?~
@829  = ~This is so different, traveling with someone like you, <CHARNAME>. No one would ever feel the need to follow the simple likes of me!~
@830  = ~Explain how respectful we are of books! And dedicated! And how we know the Book of Wisdom is a precious sacred thing! And... and how I'll make a ton of copies to make up for stingy people who do not share holy books!~
@831  = ~Hmm. Maybe you had better skip that last part.~
@832  = ~And here I was, all grouchy over a broken quill nub! If he can cheer up, so can I!~
@833  = ~Oh! I should be writing all this down!~
@834  = ~(sigh) I have a stout heart! I just also happen to have an itty-bitty ground clearance. Wyverns! Oh, my!~
@835  = ~Oh, I hope I can write fast enough to get all this down! It's so exciting, <CHARNAME>! Knowledge, once lost, now rediscovered!~
@836  = ~A scroll of wisdom? Lost? <CHARNAME>, this is an unbearable act of thievery! I hope we can help this man.~
@837  = ~Oh, my! Now that I think about it, there is a family resemblence, isn't there? They look identically unhappy to see each other...~
@838  = ~Oh, my! That troll is... (gulp) ...very tall!~
@839  = ~This is definitely one of the creepier things I have documented!~
@840  = ~You don't have a full set of books for the library, yet?~
@841  = ~No, sir, but we're getting there!~
@842  = ~Best not to linger here until you have the lot, then. The lord and missus are a might prickly yet towards strangers.~
@843  = ~I can see by your excitement that you have the full lot of books for the new library.~
@844  = ~Yes, sir! It will be official now! Here. I have included an index of the most precious works.~
@845  = ~Deneir's blessings upon us, I thought I'd never see the day. 'Tis a wonder you managed before the master and missus had second thoughts about opening their home and put their slippered feet down!~
@846  = ~There's no point in speaking with me. The lord and missus have decided there is to be no library. Deneir curse the louts that made it so!~
@847  = ~Don't mind me. I'm just the hired help.~
@848  = ~That's enough! I shall bear no more pestering! Bah, if a handful of you commoners cause this much stink, how can I endure the entire town milling about my foyer?~
@849  = ~Out! Out, I say! There will be no library under my roof!~
@850  = ~Hmm. I suppose. I dare say 'tis too much to expect the rabble throw a parade or tug a forelock to show their appreciation, but what can you expect from peasant miners?~
@851  = ~Now, now. You've taken enough of my time. Move along, that's a good <PRO_GIRLBOY>.~
@852  = ~Oooooh! Won't they? That's a good point, young <PRO_MANWOMAN>. Here, go buy yourself some soap.~
@853  = ~I must say, I most certainly am not! Trask is a dusty sort. Perfect man for a library, even if he is a commoner.~
@854  = ~Stinking rich. Isn't it fabulous?~
@855  = ~Still... (sniff) ...there are other manners of stink. Move along, <PRO_GIRLBOY>. Mind the rugs.~
@856  = ~Not under my roof! Out, out!~
@857  = ~(sigh) 'Tis not a riddle! I have very few commoners loitering about my books yet, and I am not convinced I want to endure more. Shoo!~
@858  = ~That's enough! My floors! My walls! My virtue! It is too much to bear for a lady of my delicate nerves!~
@859  = ~I banish you! There will be no library under my roof!~
@860  = ~Aren't you the charmer? You may kiss my hand.~
@861  = ~Why, I never!~
@862  = ~When you put it that way... one does like being appreciatied and admired.~
@863  = ~In my own home? The nerve!~
@864  = ~Trask is the one with the broad shoulders, tending the books. (sigh) I hired him myself!~
@865  = ~Now, now. Let us not dabble in crass topics as if we were merchants. Wealth is to be envied, not discussed.~
@866  = ~The brass of the <PRO_MANWOMAN>! You'll go where I say in my home! I say LEAVE ME BE!~
@867  = ~You're here about Mumsy and Daddy's library? You should be downstairs, talking to Trask.~
@868  = ~The new library is so exciting! I do hope there is something romantic to read!~
@869  = ~It's one thing to permit common folk into my home until the new library is built. It's quite another for my daughter and me to suffer their lustful gazes!~
@870  = ~I am sure <CHARNAME> meant no offense, ma'am.~
@871  = ~Of course not. I cannot help it if I am mesmerized by your beauty, my lady.~
@872  = ~Lady, don't flatter yourself. I'm more attracted to your rug.~
@873  = ~I am sorry if I offended, madam. I was simply admiring your home. It is quite impressive.~
@874  = ~Perhaps you would feel a bit more comfortable if you made yourself absent?~
@875  = ~Pardon us. We did not mean to disturb you. It is simply our first visit here, and we need directions. Where is Goodman Trask?~
@876  = ~It is one thing to permit common folk into my home until the new library is built. It is quite another for my daughter and me to suffer rabble sweating and smelling up my upholstery!~
@877  = ~Oh, pardon, ma'am! We mean no offense!~
@878  = ~I suppose it is difficult to grow accustomed to strangers in one's home if it has not always been thus. You are making an admirable sacrifice for the sake of the library. We do appreciate it, madam.~
@879  = ~And it is another thing entirely to expect us to suffer the outrageous insults of some snobby cow!~
@880  = ~Are you speaking to me again? Harrassment! Constant harrassment at the hands of the peasantry!~
@881  = ~Oh, dear, <CHARNAME>... Please! Let us not pester her further! It could ruin everything!~
@882  = ~Your fine manor simply entrances me, madam. Are you very rich?~
@883  = ~She is extrememly rude! But I do not want to wreck anything in a pointless argument with an unreasonable woman. Let us move along.~
@884  = ~I have little use for you or your snobbery, and I will go where I please.~
@885  = ~Err, where did you say Trask was, again?~
@886  = ~Do I espy the symbol of Deneir? Are you the cleric who wrote of establishing a library in our hardworking town?~
@887  = ~Yes, oh, yes! That would be me! Finch Bloomwhiffle at your service, sir!~
@888  = ~The library will be housed in the northern part of town until we can construct a new building. Lord and Lady Fenric have agreed to open a wing of their manor for the time being, and their servant, Trask, will oversee the administration. You will need to speak with him to complete the arrangements.~
@889  = ~Do not trouble the hosts too much, please. They're a bit squeamish about the prospect of the common folk treading mud on their floors and such. I'm afraid too much pestering will make them call the project off altogether.~
@890  = ~Do move along. I'll not stand drooling on the rugs!~
@891  = ~Bah, I have to wonder that opening the manor to the public for a new libary was such a fine idea, even if Mayor Berrun's promised to name the new building after Mimsy and me when it is done.~
@892  = ~Oh, sir, you are doing a great thing! By Deneir, spreading the written word, making it accessible to the citizens of Nashkel, is a fine and noble deed! The noblest!~
@893  = ~Finch is right, sir. I am certain the whole village will appreciate your example and benevolence.~
@894  = ~Nashkel may benefit from a new library, Finch, but that doesn't give this fellow the right to be so condescending.~
@895  = ~You'll be getting a building named after you? Lucky, lucky. Few people ever accomplish such an achievement. All the finest figures in the Realms are bound to be jealous!~
@896  = ~I think it is a fabulous idea! Just think: droves of commoners getting to observe snobbery in its natural habitat. It's just like the zoo!~
@897  = ~Pardon us. We did not mean to disturb you. It is simply our first visit here, and we need directions. Are you Goodman Trask?~
@898  = ~Don't you have a home? Enough! If you are here about the library, speak to my man Trask, else get out!~
@899  = ~Oh, dear, <CHARNAME>... Please! Let us not pester him further! It could ruin everything!~
@900  = ~I was simply admiring your fine manor, sir. Are you very rich?~
@901  = ~He is extrememly rude! But I do not want to wreck anything in a pointless argument with an unreasonable man. Let us move along.~
@902  = ~If this is the kind of affront I shall have to endure on a daily basis once the library is open, perhaps I should reconsider!~
@903  = ~Oh, sir! Pardon us, do! I certainly appreciate your... dignified assistance!~
@904  = ~Then scamper along like a good girl, and take your loutish friends with you.~
@905  = ~A book shortage? Yikes! I hate to even think of it! I would much rather think about troubles with metal, not parchment!~
@906  = ~Please, sir. Perhaps I have something worthy enough in my bookbag?~
@907  = ~No, child. Most of these volumes are scribed work, not the originals. What tomes you have do  not carry the value of the entrance fee. You have traveled here before. You should know this.~
@908  = ~I am sorry, <CHARNAME>. I wish that I could have been of help here. I do not know what to say -- every book is precious to me!~
@909  = ~Finch trudges beside you, a shy but earnest presence. Would a few questions bring her out of her shell?~
@910  = ~You decide Finch is better off left to her books.~
@911  = ~So, Finch, where are you from?~
@912  = ~I am curious, Finch. How did you become a cleric?~
@913  = ~Finch, why do you want to start a library in Nashkel?~
@914  = ~Finch, what kind of books will the library in Nashkel need?~
@915  = ~Don't you have interests other than books and reading, Finch?~
@916  = ~Since you have read so much, Finch, do you have a favorite author?~
@917  = ~Oh, surely that isn't important. Why would you want to know?~
@918  = ~Because we are nearly strangers. You already know that I am from Candlekeep; it is only fair that I know as much about you.~
@919  = ~Oh course, it is important! If we are to travel in this group together, defending each other's lives, I would like to know a thing or two about the people on whom I am depending.~
@920  = ~Nevermind. I am not in the mood to twist your arm for a simple conversation.~
@921  = ~It isn't a big deal. I was just making conversation.~
@922  = ~I am curious about you. For instance, why are you so shy over a little question?~
@923  = ~Since you put it like that...~
@924  = ~I grew up in Waterdeep, near the wharf. Like many gnome families, mine was very loud and boisterous. They would make merry and talk constantly while I... I always faded into the background. Studious quiet has always suited me best.~
@925  = ~Stepping forward, using a shouting voice -- that is for matters of life and death. Traveling with you, <CHARNAME>, requires courage of the likes I have never employed before, but I will do my best.~
@926  = ~I still like the quiet moments best, though.~
@927  = ~I... I'm sorry. Talking about myself makes me nervous. I don't know what to say!~
@928  = ~I... I'm sorry. I am shy because no one has ever seemed very interested in who I am and where I come from before. I am not accustomed to talking about myself, but if you really want to know, I will make an effort.~
@929  = ~Yes, I would like to know more.~
@930  = ~No, I do not want to have to twist your arm just to have a simple conversation.~
@931  = ~It was quite the happy accident! I come from the typical poor, but large, gnome family. On yet another day without breakfast, I went for a stroll, because keeping busy always helped me forget how hungry I was.~
@932  = ~Just as I happened past the great library, a calligrapher was arriving on pilgrimage in a grand horse-drawn carriage. Being a young gnome, I was awestruck -- perhaps awestruck a bit too closely to the animals. The horses took a dislike to me, they reared, and I was trampled!~
@933  = ~Fortunately the calligrapher was full of mercy; he took me to the other priests of the library, and they cared for me until I recovered. They fed me, and I got to read stories of the like I'd never seen before! Even once I was fit again, I did not want to leave, so every day I would return to the library to learn more. Becoming an applicant of Deneir felt like what I was meant to do!~
@934  = ~A happy accident, indeed! It is strange how life can strike us with tragedy and disaster, but those very things can set us upon our true path.~
@935  = ~So a few horses stomp you outside a library, and suddenly you're meant to be a Deneirrath? I suppose if you'd been drowning outside a temple of Umberlee, you'd have taken up that faith, instead.~
@936  = ~Trampled by horses at a young age... Some of the larger creatures we have encountered must make you especially nervous.~
@937  = ~Meant to be a librarian? Humph. I think you liked the free soup.~
@938  = ~That is just the kind of story I expected from you.~
@939  = ~Yes! Yes, that is the wonderful strangeness of life exactly, <CHARNAME>!~
@940  = ~Why didn't I think of that? You... you always know exactly what to say!~
@941  = ~No, if I had drowned outside a temple of Umberlee, the waveservants would have clapped and cheered. I'd have been fish bait! Eeek!~
@942  = ~I try to be brave, but I do have a healthy respect for things that might smoosh me. I see an ogre, and my chest hurts!~
@943  = ~To be honest, you rather make me nervous, <CHARNAME>. You're so tall! If you do not watch where you sit, I could get squished!~
@944  = ~But it is not your fault that you are so large, just as I cannot help being small. In any case, I am glad we are comrades.~
@945  = ~What a mean thing to say! I was baring the dearest story of my history, and all you can think of is greed and soup! Sometimes, I am convinced you are not a nice person, <CHARNAME>.~
@946  = ~I am not certain what you mean by that. Am I so predictable? (sigh) Probably.~
@947  = ~Because there isn't one in Nashkel already! Libraries spread knowledge and ideas, enhancing the people's freedom of thought. It is my duty to spread the wealth of wisdom and wonder that books and etchings bring to all those who currently go without!~
@948  = ~Starting a new library is like building a shrine to Deneir's work. It is a very important goal. Oh, I hope everything goes well! I shall be devastated if it does not!~
@949  = ~Hmm. I have a few copies of things already, but it would be nice to include something suitable for children, something relevant to the local industry, and something of historical relevance to Nashkel. We should not forget a cookbook, either. People love cookbooks! Oh, and it would be delightful if we found something special for them to enjoy. You know, romantic and entertaining enough to escape the humdrum of everyday life!~
@950  = ~I know I am not being terribly specific, but when we find a book that matches what I need, I shall be sure to let you know! I promise!~
@951  = ~Other interests? I do not need other interests. I can find out more about anything I desire through books!~
@952  = ~Hmm, but I do like to watch dancing, and you cannot capture movement in an unenchanted glyph. Yes, dancing. Tall folk dancing, mind you. Ooh, and acrobatics! It's amazing what feats long limbs can accomplish!~
@953  = ~Why, Fenedriel Boscoe, of course. He is the greatest gnome author to have ever lived! Now, some would argue in favor of M. Jansen's 'Sins of the Flesh Golem,' but Boscoe's work had cultural and historical impact! 'Sins of the Flesh Golem' is silly smut in comparison. Then again, many gnomes are very silly.~
@954  = ~And smutty. That's why gnome families are so large.~
@955  = ~Greetings! I am Trask, soon to be keeper of the new library, Deneir willing.~
@956  = ~I know a cleric of the faith when I see one. Tell me, good priest, have you collected all the books for the new library yet?~
@957  = ~No, Goodman Trask, not yet. We are doing our best, though!~
//Finch-Mur'Neth banter
@960  = ~No eyes, no vision... I feel sorry for those who cannot read, nor write their thoughts, the blind and illiterate. Why, when I lose my glasses, I'm just miserable! I can't imagine how I would live if I could not enjoy my books forever!~ [SUFINC65]
@961  = ~Your dependency upon crippled methods of fleshling communication demonstrates your weakness. Ghaunadaur's blessed creations have no need for your awkward speech or your limited vision beyond teaching the wisdom and glory of That Which Lurks.~ [SUFMURN1]
@962  = ~You... you are the crippled one! You cannot understand the joy and wonders to be found in turning the pages of a book! All we, err, fleshlings need to learn can be found in the written word. By Deneir, the Gods would never allow it otherwise! Reading is a gift!~
@963  = ~You are imprisoned by these objects, these books, and by the squawking of your throats to make these carcasses of ideas known. Your paltry exchanges of knowledge can only aspire to mimic the divine form.~
@964  = ~The air thrives with secrets, yet you fleshlings are blind to the web of scents that reveal all. You know nothing of the total awareness that comes from being absorbed by the will of the great Ghaunadaur. This will change. Gggghhhhaaarrr...yes.~
@965  = ~I don't like the sound of that. I want no part of your slimy master!~
@966  = ~You shall... sssggtthhh...see.~
@967  = ~Imoen, psst! Imoen!~ [SUFINC66]
@968  = ~What'cha want?~ [IMOEN28]
@969  = ~What do you think of Mur'Neth?~
@970  = ~He's a bit of the creepy customer. It's like he looks at us all cross-eyed, you know, only without any eyes. Spooky!~
@971  = ~He's a friend of mould, you know. Mould! Mildew! Creeping black bookeaters! What kind of creature is kin to infamy such as that?! Surely this Mur'Neth is the most scribbly sort!~
@972  = ~Probably doesn't even like cookies. The fiend!~
@973  = ~Then again, that leaves more cookies for me, and who am I to question more cookies?~
@974  = ~Hey! Do you think he knows we're whispering about him?~
@975  = ~Oh, I hope not!~
@976  = ~Skkkkllllllllrmmm...~
@977  = ~Yikes!~
@978  = ~Thhhhhhhrmmmmmmm... the odour you emit in battle isss pleasing to my senses, fleshling. Hkkkkkkkkmmm... pure terror.~ [SUFMURN2]
@979  = ~You have a malicious tone and a nefarious touch, creature! I'll not have you near my bookbag, so keep your contamination at bay!~ [SUFINC67]
@980  = ~As isss your fear invigorating when I am in your proximity.~
@981  = ~Back! Stay back, you! Away with your ooze... before I... I... ~
@982  = ~Before what? You cannot hide your fears from me... know this. I await their familiar taste; I doubt I shall be waiting long.~
@983  = ~Ggrrrrrahaha! The favour of my Master hones my instincts. Something delicious is near!~ [SUFMURN3]
@984  = ~Hmph! You mention that pretty often, how you're a blessed creation, and so superior to all us fleshlings. It's becoming clearer to me now.~ [SUFINC68]
@985  = ~Yes! You now comprehend that you are a lesser being? Your admiration of Ghaunadaur will please him!~
@986  = ~'Tis not admiration, but awareness. Your god has his blessed creatures, his chosen creations, and like him, you are an elistist. The bony hides of the fleshlings should bend to the will of Ghaunadaur, isn't that correct?~
@987  = ~Ggllluukkkk... the breaking of spines to please The Elder Eye isss an inconsequential sacrifice in the service of That Which Lurks.~
@988  = ~So the spineless are the privileged ones to your deity. To my god, Deneir, the gifts of knowledge and literacy, should be shared equally to all who desire to take part. Without suffering.~
@989  = ~Deneir is no more than a servant to icons of fleshling babble. A puny scribe compared to the majesty of Ghaunadaur.~
@990  = ~Yes. A scribe! Isn't it wonderful? Deneir is so... so enlightening! And helpful! And diligent! And has such excellent penmanship! And-~
@991  = ~Aaaaaarrrrkkkkkkk! The blather of sheep! You are no obstacle for the rightful destiny of Ghaunadaur!~
@992  = ~It's... it's not my place to tell you how you should manage this party, but... ooh! I just can't take it anymore! The time has come, even if it means folding a few pages. If that Ghaunadan doesn't go right now, I will!~ [SUFINC69]
@993  = ~Can't you see? Mur'Neth is the creation of a murderous lord! He's a horror! An abomination!~
@994  = ~Look! Look at my journal! There's slime creeping onto pages one through twenty! He's... he's a a contagion! A threat to every library in the land!~
@995  = ~Sssskrlllmmm... this creature is a prisoner of her sight and fears, <CHARNAME>. Her frenzy and impatience are bloated flaws that fail to serve us. If you can comprehend the wonder of my creator, you will recognize the unimportance of her protests. She means little to the work of Ghaunadaur.~
@996  = ~I'll say! Who do you think you are, Finch, giving me ultimatums? I'll keep Mur'Neth over you any day.~
@997  = ~What I understand, Mur'Neth, is that she's being unreasonable. Come on, Finch. You're pretty overwrought, all because of a little ooze on a book.~
@998  = ~But she is pretty useful to me. You, however, have overstayed your welcome.~
@999  = ~Maybe she's not the most effective of adventurers, but she makes a valid point. You are far too shady to keep around. I'm going to have to ask you to move on, Mur'Neth.~
@1000 = ~I don't care which one of you leaves. Just cut out the squabble. You're giving me a headache.~
@1001 = ~Well!~
@1002 = ~If that's all you have to say, I'm gone! Good riddance to bad bindings!~
@1003 = ~If that's you're choice... I hope you live long enough to enjoy it! And... and I hope I, too, can live to forget this disappointment! Farewell!~
@1004 = ~Overwrought? This creature speaks of suffering and servitude day after day! The blessings of the written word, the joys that such knowledge brings to people far and wide, noble and commom, mean nothing to him! Like I mean nothing, just another inconsequential fleshling folly.~
@1005 = ~Maybe you find my dismay unreasonable, but I will not fail my duty to Deneir in this. I cannot share a path with that foul ooze. I must bid you farewell.~
@1006 = ~You choose incorrectly. You will pay for this blasphemy! Ghaunadaur will bring your destruction to you...~
@1007 = ~Your callow judgment proves your unworthiness to serve That Which Lurks. May you live to feel your flesh rot on your bones!~
@1008 = ~Slllrrggggggrrrhhhhh.~
//Finch-Indira banter
@1009 = ~I wonder, Indira. What was it like to be alone and wounded in the Firewine Ruins?~ [SUFINC61]
@1010 = ~Like strolling through a field of daisies. What do you think?~ [SUFINDI1]
@1011 = ~Oh, I'm sure it was terrifying. I can only imagine how traumatized I would be if I witnessed wizards and kobolds soundly eviscerating every one of my travelling companions!~
@1012 = ~I... could've done without that reminder, thanks. From where I'm standing, I've gotta really hope you never find out.~
@1013 = ~Oh, yes. That would make a very sad account. Just terrible!~
@1014 = ~It's funny how the mundane things remind me of home. Like that last inn...~ [SUFINDI2]
@1015 = ~Fleas and rats remind you of home? It certainly works for me.~ [SUFINC62]
@1016 = ~No, nothing so verminly. Remember how they offered forks with our meal? Real tableware!~
@1017 = ~Very haughty for an establishment with fleas and rats. Not much like my home in that respect.~
@1018 = ~And when we got to the last slice of beef on the platter, it was all I could do to not poke someone with my fork and challenge them to a duel for the final piece. That's what my sister and I would always do--fork battles for the last crumb of cheese! Seiges by spoon for the remaining biscuit!~
@1019 = ~We would have thrown knives for the extra pudding cup, but Mother... well, mothers just don't understand what's fun.~
@1020 = ~Come to think about it, my brothers used to slap me with fish. I don't miss that about them at all.~
@1021 = ~You mean to tell me that you had rowdy siblings, too, and you never enjoyed playing with them? Ever?~
@1022 = ~It wasn't for me. All that shouting and leaping and playing dead...~
@1023 = ~But that's the best part!~
@1024 = ~...And the smell of fish guts on my hair! Yick!~
@1025 = ~Ugh. Maybe that wouldn't have been fun. But fork battles, trust me, fork battles are supreme! I'll show you at next inn. It'll be great!~
@1026 = ~Will it?~
@1027 = ~The greatest!~
@1028 = ~If you say so...~
@1029 = ~So you're writing down our adventures, right, Finch? I rather like listening to the tales the bards spin at taverns and inns I've been to.~ [SUFINDI3]
@1030 = ~What's it gonna be? A sonnet? Something lyrical?~ [SUFINDI6]
@1031 = ~Oh, goodness! I could never write a song, Indira. I'm terrible with rhyming, and I couldn't conjure a tune to save a book!~ [SUFINC63]
@1032 = ~More of an epic, then? I've heard the folks up north like those quite a bit.~
@1033 = ~Oh, no, no. A bit more like a... a narrative.~
@1034 = ~That could be kinda epic. A chronicle of legendary heroes!~
@1035 = ~I suppose... it IS a history. A detailed accounting presented in chronological order, without authorial interpretation or comment as to the motivations or morality of the parties therein mentioned, cross-referenced, footnoted, indexed, and...~
@1036 = ~Completely unbiased. 'Tis not my role to judge, but the reader's. They'll decide if we are legendary.~
@1037 = ~I dunno. A sonnet sounds way more interesting, if we're aiming to please the tavern crowd.~
@1038 = ~But histories are fascinating!~
@1039 = ~I'll be the judge of that. Let me see what you've got quilled in this rousing ditty about me.~
@1040 = ~Hey! Middle of the scroll here! You call me 'a bedraggled tart'! Unbiased, my boots!~
@1041 = ~It IS unbiased! That's not a description; someone called you a bedraggled tart. I am merely reporting a factual event!~
@1042 = ~Hmph. Don't do me any favors.~
@1043 = ~Oh, Indira, you're so bold! You stand up to creatures ever so much bigger than you, then you growl, and you spit in their faces--in a ladylike way--then you really show them who's tough! Snicker-snack, slice them into pieces! Sizzle-pop, zap them into history! It's very impressive!~ [SUFINC64]
@1044 = ~I'm glad you think so, but what else am I gonna to do? I wouldn't be cut out for adventure if my knees wobbled like a jelly every time we, uh, ran into a jelly!~ [SUFINDI4]
@1045 = ~You're very practical about fearsome fiends. I should make a note of that. "Don't tolerate nonsense. Quiver less. Treat beasts like beasts! Stand up to them! So sayeth the wise Indira."~
@1046 = ~I hope you're spelling my name right. No one'll recognize me, otherwise.~
@1047 = ~If only I was taller. It would make the philosophy of feisty so much easier to execute!~
@1048 = ~We're finally here! An inn! Time to show you the joys of fork battles, Finch, just like I was talking about!~ [SUFINDI5]
@1049 = ~Wait a second! Awww, there's no forks!?~
@1050 = ~What's that noise? Something clanky and metallic! Oh. It's just your bookbag.~
@1051 = ~Right. I guess there's nothing we can do. We'll have to give up on a fork battle!~
@1052 = ~Where's the table setting? How am I supposed to eat under these conditions! My nails will get dirty!~
@1053 = ~But Eldoth!~
@1054 = ~Now, sweeting. No one wants to hear your whining.~
@1055 = ~So shut it.~
@1056 = ~I would have expected greater civility in an establishment such as this, but it appears we must all break fast with our hands.~
@1057 = ~Primitives! It's bad enough none of these monkeys grasp the rudimentary skills of seasoning a broth, now I must slurp it from the bowl? (I bet Elminister never goes without spoons. Pfah!)~
@1058 = ~Now, now, they're probably just getting a wash. Let's not make a fuss.~
@1059 = ~(Shhhh!) It's just my inkwells, Imoen! (Which'll be in your hair if you don't keep quiet!)~
@1060 = ~Oh, please, Garrick! It's nothing! Just my inkwells. Please say nothing more about it. Please, please, please?~
@1061 = ~Yes, just my dusty tomes and very, very noisy inkwells in there!~
@1062 = ~Oh, Indira. I'm sorry! I know you were looking forward to it. (Whew!)~
@1063 = ~Say, Finch! How come your bookbag is jingling like that? Awfully noisy your library's gettin'.~
@1064 = ~Why, Finch! There's a most curious clanket coming from your bookbag!~
@1065 = ~Well, since you said 'please,' it would be ungallant to not comply, eh?~
//New interjections
@1066 = ~He's frightened of us, <CHARNAME>, and shouldn't he be? We're strangers, stomping about his home!~
@1067 = ~Please, do let us leave. I am not accustomed to bullying simple folk. It's quite intimidating!~
@1068 = ~Oh, I do feel sorry for that farmer! Full of palpable worry, he is! Palpable! I hope we can help!~
@1069 = ~What wonder! I do not think anyone has ever had cause to call me 'big' before, even a child! 'Tis probably the grand company I keep nowadays. Yes, indeed!~
@1070 = ~I'm not blushing. I am not blushing! (People will say anything to you, won't they, <CHARNAME>?)~
@1071 = ~Oh, dear! 'Tis best not to enrage a cook with a cleaver. I'm sure I've read about that somewhere!~
@1072 = ~I am certain we will follow your advice, ma'am. I know I hate to aggravate anyone!~
@1073 = ~Oh, this sort of riddle makes me very nervous. The words 'trembling and weeping' do not encourage me to awaken anything!~
@1074 = ~Destroy us? I don't like the sound of that at all!~
@1075 = ~I am not a brat, ma'am. I am a gnome!~
@1076 = ~Same difference. Now, scram!~
@1077 = ~I sort of, kind of, maybe, REALLY do not like it when we bully people, <CHARNAME>! Spine-cracking is not my strong suit!~
@1078 = ~The rise and fall of a dwarven legacy! This is ripe for documentation. Oh, we should research Durlag's Tower further!~
@1079 = ~'...Guarded by thousands of deadly traps.' Oh. On second thought...~
@1080 = ~Oh, how romantic! And how lucky your lady is to have a swain who adores her so!~
@1081 = ~Oh! "History of the Dead Three"! I have heard about this volume. The content is a bit murky, but 'tis still interesting. Yes, indeed!~
@1082 = ~What a nice man. Deneir bless him!~
@1083 = ~Oh! "History of the Unicorn Run"! I have heard about this volume. I've been just itching to get my hands on a copy!~
@1084 = ~What a nice man! Deneir bless him!~
@1085 = ~'Tis wonderful to see such an enthusiast of the written word again. May your pages never be torn, sir!~
@1086 = ~I am sure we will! Thank you for the suggestion, sir.~
@1087 = ~Oh, do you have to? Couldn't you just frown at us harshly?~
@1088 = ~From Waterdeep, but I bet his sort has never set a slipper in the wharves! Not all of it is full of splendor, 'tis well documented!~
@1089 = ~What a rude man! He probably only knows how to write dirty limericks, anyway.~
@1090 = ~Hmph! What manner of scrivener cannot make a story from the truth!? A poor sort, I say!~
@1091 = ~You shock me sometimes, <CHARNAME>. I fear history will judge you harshly if you insist on robbing defenseless ladies!~
@1092 = ~We've terrified them! Yikes!~
@1093 = ~Mass murderers? Eep! Where?!~
@1094 = ~Oh. She means us. Sometimes I forget that we're infamous.~
@1095 = ~I used to dream of being popular, but since I have met you, I realize that popularity is not all smiles and admiration. I'd best keep a keen spectacled eye out for shady types. I am not the best of guards, mind you, but I can point and squeal with the best of them!~
@1096 = ~What a fascinating scholar! If only he had talked longer. Then again, I might not have had enough parchment!~
@1097 = ~I am so glad you did not listen to that wicked man, <CHARNAME>. Beyond the needless bloodshed, this Charleston person has the right of it -- artifacts should be in museums, where the entire populace can peer through the window of history they offer.~
@1098 = ~The wickedness! We shall thrash these kobolds, sir, so they do not hurt anyone else!~
@1099 = ~At least, I hope we will. Oh, my!~
@1100 = ~In that case, I shall be as quiet as a mouse while we are here. Axes have such a limited vocabulary: Hack! Chop!~
@1101 = ~Ugh! Keep him away from my bookbag!~
@1102 = ~Oh, I promise that I would miss my head very much! However would I read without it? Please. Don't try to kill us.~
@1103 = ~Just once, I would like us to meet a bounty hunter with a sense of humor who isn't primed to kill everything in sight.~
@1104 = ~A scroll of protection! Such generosity! Not everyone is looking out for your health, <CHARNAME>, but at least there a few kind souls on your side.~
@1105 = ~If all Amnish soldiers are so abrasive, I am not looking forward to meeting more, even if I HAVE heard of fine libraries to the south! Though... I do not suppose his sort understands the value of libraries.~
@1106 = ~Oh, my!~
@1107 = ~I wish I could be that polite AND threatening! It would be ever so useful!~
@1108 = ~Yes, if anyone made improper advances toward me. Ever.~
@1109 = ~(sigh)~
@1110 = ~Pity, indeed. Of course, we are sure to go there and face certain death and dismemberment.~
@1111 = ~Not necessarily in that order. Yikes!~
@1112 = ~Inkblots! He speaks of lyricists, not historians. 'Tis the naked truth a Deneirrath scribes, not constructed folly.~
@1113 = ~Inkblots! That's a disappointment. Where should we go now?~
@1114 = ~And, you there--the one with her nose in a book. Look at your elders when they speak to you, dearie.~
@1115 = ~Um, yes, ma'am? Sorry, sorry.~
@1116 = ~No need to look so worried. I won't bite you. Not like those spiders in my cellar! Heh!~
@1117 = ~Now, tell me, dearie. You haven't been living fast traveling with this band of adventurers, have you? Drinking, dancing in fountains, sowing your wild oats?~
@1118 = ~Oh, no, ma'am! I wouldn't! I wouldn't!~
@1119 = ~That's a crying shame. Youth is for being rowdy and foolish. The gnome girls of today! What a bag of dull socks!~
@1120 = ~Meeting with this man would be the cooperative thing to do, but I don't know that associating with people called Scar is all that wise. It's a very intimidating name!~
@1121 = ~Oooh! Possession! 'Tis a rarely documented subject. We should investigate this man's condition -- from a safe distance, of course. I can take copious notes!~
@1122 = ~He looks to be in a terrible state, <CHARNAME>, one much too dire for the likes of me to help him. Oh, dear! We must do something, but what?~
@1123 = ~I wonder what one feeds a Duke? I bet it's not fish and turnips!~
@1124 = ~Though 'tis strange to agree with a servant of Umberlee, I echo the woman. If we trust neither side, let us leave them to battle amongst themselves. If the wicked forces of the Bitch Queen and the Storm Lord destroy each other, 'tis better than serving one for the sake of a few coins.~
@1125 = ~That's what I feel, anyway, for what it's worth.... but I am not in charge. I cannot know all the details you must consider in a situation such as this.~
@1126 = ~(Tug Finch's hair.)~
@1127 = ~Say, Finch, what are you reading?~
@1128 = ~(Finch squints her discomfort as you give one of her braids a pull, but studiously ignores your presence.)~
@1129 = ~Quit doing that, you... you... bully!~
@1130 = ~Ow! You remind me of my siblings. They always used to pull my hair when I was trying to read, too.~
@1131 = ~(Finch waves one hand about her head as if to shoo away a fly then returns to her studies.)~
@1132 = ~(Finch peers at you, unsure how she should react.)~
@1133 = ~I am reading a volume I picked up off of a peddler in the last town--"Volo's Guide To Staying Home." I suspect it is a terrible forgery.~
@1134 = ~I am reading a pamphlet announcing my hometown's annual Miss Turnip contest.~
@1135 = ~I am reading the biography about the clan that rules the Hillgnasher giants. It's called "Standing Tall."~
@1136 = ~I am reading a study of weather patterns in the Calim Desert. The narrative is rather dry for my tastes.~
@1137 = ~This? Oh, this is an abandoned shopping list someone must have dropped on the ground. I ran out of anything better.~
@1138 = ~Oh, this? This is nothing. (Finch quickly hides the book inside her bag.) Certainly nothing frivolous like a romance novel!~
@1139 = ~That's not a compliment.~
@1140 = ~You make it difficult to live quietly, <CHARNAME>.~
@1141 = ~*sigh* I could never win a gnomish beauty contest. I haven't the nose for it!~
@1142 = ~I am reading the label on this jar of fruit preserves I picked up in the last village. My! If I ate the whole thing, I'd plump up like a dumpling!~
@1143 = ~I am reading a copy of an Amnish almanac. Did you know that it rains almost as much in the South as it does along the Sword Coast?~
@1144 = ~A cookbook? This volume looks like a yummy addition for the Nashkel library. Or should I say a yummy edition?!~ [SUFINC73]
@1145 = ~Finch requires Tutu, BG:EE or BGT~
@1146 = ~Transcribed Volumes~
@1147 = ~Transcribed Volumes
 
Finch is carrying several copies of simply-bound works such as this that she transcribed during her recent visit to Candlekeep.~
@1148 = ~The Joy of Pudding~
@1149 = ~The Joy of Pudding
 
This well-thumbed volume is a cookbook comprising of various sweet and savory recipes such as:
 
Turnip Whip
 
Scald and stir in a saucepan (may substitute bucket if saucepans not in season) over low heat (may substitute Burning Hands if heat not in season):
 
2 cups wyvern's milk (cow's milk may be substituted if the local wyverns are cranky)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup mashed turnips
 
Pour part of these ingredients over:
 
1 beaten wyvern's egg yolk (if local wyverns still cranky, may substitute 4 yolks of the chicken variety)
 
Return the sauce to the pan. Stir custard constantly over low heat until it thickens slightly or angry wyverns show up for supper. (Do not offer them a portion.) Strain custard if desired. (Picky, picky.) Cool by placing pan in cool water. (If water not in season, the author humbly suggests that the cook has bigger problems than making the perfect pudding and should stop mucking around with turnips and wyverns.) In a separate bowl, whip until stiff:
 
3/4 cup whipping cream
 
Add:
 
1 teaspoon vanilla
 
Fold the cold turnip custard into the whipped cream mixture. Chill thoroughly before serving. Serves 6.~
@1150 = ~Thank you!~

//Finch
@5000002 = ~Bring me Finch, the gnome cleric.~
