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[Laufey]

Déjà vu – Repetition Can Be Fun

No single character can handle every situation. Use the strengths and skills of all your party members.

Aerie blinked in confusion, trying to adjust to the dim light of Spellhold. But…but that is silly. I have been in here for hours already…why does it feel as if I only just got here? And…it feels so…so strangely familiar at the same time. Like Déjà vu. And what was that strange voice I just thought I heard? Something about…about strengths and skills? The Avariel, feeling nervous without knowing exactly why, stepped a little closer to her party members. I’m just imagining things. My friends won’t let anybody hurt me, and neither will my darling Percy! He loves me, he said so! And he sent that nasty Drow and that bitchy druid packing, so there. He loves me, he loves me best!

Pleased with this idea, Aerie smiled radiantly at her beloved. So tall…so strong…so blond…his eyes devoid by all thought except for his overwhelming love for her. His armor was polished brightly enough that Aerie could see her own reflection in it. In fact, she often took advantage of this fact when she wanted to do her makeup. Percy didn’t mind. He’d do anything for me! Nyah, nyah, Nasty Drow and Bitchy Druid, he loves me!

And there were her other good friends as well. Mazzy, the stalwart Champion of Justice, instructing the noble Ranger Valygar in how to properly polish her armor, as a proper squire of a proper knight should do. Valygar didn’t say much, but strangely enough his fingers kept twitching towards his katana. And there was noble Sir Anomen, gleaming as brightly as her darling Percy, and the clever mage Nalia. She’s so nice…she thinks I’m a very sweet person. Mazzy does too! Everybody does! Thank you Baervan, for being so good as to let me become a sweet and compassionate person that everybody loves!

“Aerie…” Sir Percy suddenly said, and there was something odd about his voice that gave Aerie the jitters once again. “Aerie, my love, I want you to walk down that corridor over there.” He pointed down one of the dark hallways, a very unsettling smile on his face, and there was something about his eyes…as if a strange and hostile intelligence was looking out of them.

“My l-love? That passage? But…but Nalia said that…”

“Do I look like I give a bloody toss?” Percy suddenly roared, making Aerie yelp with surprise. Strangely enough, none of the other adventurers reacted to this. “Go down that passage! Now! Where I point…you go, you miserable Whinepigeon!”

Aerie suddenly found her legs moving of their own volition, quite against her will, carrying her helplessly down the indicated passage. She was completely unable to stop herself, and soon enough she saw the trap Nalia had spotted earlier and had been unable to disarm. A giant metal slab, attached to the ceiling. Presumably, setting it off would make it harmless and allow any survivor to pass safely through the corridor. Stupid, useless woman! What kind of thief is she, anyway? Ooooh, how can they be so mean to me! Then she saw the metal slab rapidly descending towards her head.

“EEEEEEEEK!”

Wham. Silence. And…a lot of ones and zeroes, marching across a black background.

Keep in mind that your party members have minds of their own and may disagree with the choices you make.

Aerie staggered, suddenly far larger than she had been before. Before? There was a before? I can’t remember…I was with the slavers, and then at the circus…so why did I think I was somewhere else? Like…what is it called…déjà vu? She looked down upon herself, and then shrieked with despair. “I…I’m an ogre again? Oh noooo!” Then a thought struck her. Again? Why did I say that? That…that horrid little Kalah only just enchanted me, didn’t he? So…so why does it feel as if this has happened before?

Then there were suddenly voices coming down the marble corridor leading towards the illusionary castle where she was chained, and she looked up, feeling more hopeful. Perhaps…perhaps there will be a noble hero who will save me and love me forever and ever! I deserve that, having suffered so much. Oh, my poor wings…how can I bear crawling on the ground like this, like a worm? I so wish I had somebody to tell all about my wings. And about me. And about myself. And indeed there was. A tall and strong man, with golden locks and a noble face. Unfortunately, he was also accompanied by a brutish bald thug with a tattooed face, a very bossy-looking woman, and an altogether too clever-looking Kara-Turan. She cleared her throat, making her voice as sweet as possible. “Who are you? Oh…whoever you are you must flee this place as once…”

“MINSC FLEES NO EVIL, NAUGHTY OGRE!” the thug roared, and then he was charging towards her, swinging an enormous sword. “He sees it, he slices it, he dices it, and then Boo nibbles it mightily!”

“EEEEEEEK!”

Swish. Chop. A very odd sensation of rolling across the floor, at the same time that another part of her remained standing upright…at least for a few seconds. Then blackness…and ones and zeroes.

There are many spells available that can be used to dispel invisibility and illusions (such as mirror image). Check the manual.

Aerie coughed violently and automatically touched her neck, checking that her head was still attached to it. My head…why wouldn’t it be…be attached to it? Why…why do I get the sense that I’m…that I’m supposed to be…to be dead? Like…what is it called…déjà vu? Where am I? What was I doing? Oh…yes…I was supposed to show my love…what’s his name again…Shavaraz! That’s it! Shavaraz! To show him how good and compassionate I am, by being nice to poor Anomen, so Shav will love me, not that nasty, icky Druid. Aerie blinked, rubbing her temples. But…but why did I think that he would be a paladin? And that his name was…Percy? Am I…am I going insane? Finally she decided to go along with her original plan. For some odd reason, the letters Ctrl-I flickered across her mind, prompting her to speak the fatal words.

“Anomen...I...I've been watching you since you failed your Test. You...you are starting to scare me a little, I think…”

The conversation was not going well, not well at all, but her tongue wouldn’t obey her. When Anomen finally roared with maddened desperation and charged her, it came almost as a relief. She tried to hide herself with a spell of invisibility, only to see it ripped away by the other cleric’s True Sight. And as the Flail of Ages was whirling towards her head, she thought she could hear terrible laughter upon the wind.

“EEEEEEK!”

Splatter. Blackness, and more numbers, numbers filling the world.

When summoning Fiends, keep in mind that the beast may turn on you if you have not cast Protection from Evil on yourself.

Aerie staggered a little, trying to keep her balance. For a few seconds, she had a splitting headache. Where am I? What…what happened to… “Anomen?”

“Yes, Aerie?” Anomen said, now sounding entirely calm once more. “Is something the matter?”

“N-no…I guess not. I just thought…n-never mind.” What a…what a very strange feeling. It is as if I have been here before…like…what is it called…déjà vu? But I couldn’t have been here before! This…this is another plane, a nasty prison, and…and poor Haer’Dalis! We must find him! He thought I was pretty, I could tell! He’ll…he’ll appreciate me properly, not like these other nasty people. Briefly, the idea crept into her head that she shouldn’t stare at Haer’Dalis, because Percy might get jealous. Percy? Who is Percy?

She looked around at her other party members as they crept through the corridors of the Planar Prison, dodging flesh-colored pulsating valves here and there. There was Anomen, yes. And that nasty Druid. And…and Minsc. Her loyal protector. But why do…do I get the feeling he’s killed me before? I’m not…not dead am I? And there was that unpleasant Red Wizard, currently most amusingly transformed into a female, and there was their party leader, also female. The elven rogue was in the lead, her gray eyes scanning every surface for traps. “More thralls ahead,” she said as she came back to the rest of the party. “Ideas?”

Suddenly there was an overwhelming urge to speak, and Aerie felt herself doing so, powerless to stop it. “I…I can do it! All by my own! The rest of you…the rest of you shouldn’t risk yourselves…I’ll do this.”

Then she was marching off down the corridor, her feet once again walking on their own. Once again? This has never happened before, has it? She was casting the spell now, using a scroll since it was far too powerful for her to memorize yet, and all the while her mind was screaming protests. I…I can’t do this! I could get killed! That isn’t supposed to happen…the others are supposed to protect me! Aren’t they? I deserve it, after all I’ve suffered! I’m not supposed to do things like this!

ROAR! The demon was very large, very ugly, and very hungry. It picked Aerie up in one clawed hand, sniffing her. “No protection spell?” it snarled. “Some player is really out to get you, girlie! Well, all the better for me!”

“EEEEEEEEK!”

Chomp. Blackness. More numbers, ones and zeroes running like the wind.

The durations of the charm, domination and confusion type spells have been reduced for Baldur's Gate II.

Aerie blinked, feeling very confused. There had been something…something about a monster. But now everything was all right again! True, she was in that icky Pocket Plane thing, and about to go off to fight that horrible Melissan creature, but somehow she had a feeling things could be worse. At least I’m with my darling Percy, the perfect paladin! Why, he’s almost as pretty as I am, and he does everything I ask of him. And that’s only fair after all. I deserve this, after all I’ve suffered, and having to walk all this long way…oooh…my poor feet… “Oh, punkin?” she said in her sweetest voice. “My feet are hurting again…would you…would you massage them? Of course I…I wouldn’t want to trouble you if you’re t-too busy…”

Percy gave her an embarrassed look, pulling nervously at his earlobe. “Er…Aerie…sorry to have to tell you this, but…well…I’ve just realized that I don’t really love you anymore. Sorry.”

WHAT? But that domination spell was…was supposed to last long enough to get him to marry me and to put me into his will… “B-but…but…why…”

The paladin scratched his blond head, looking puzzled. “Dunno…it was as if I heard a voice speaking inside my head, telling me: ‘Go on, dump her! You deserve better!’”

“Oh, Percy! You…you wouldn’t listen to Bhaal, would you?” It’s that Drow bitch. Has to be. True, she’s not here, but it has to be her. I’ll claw her eyes out when I catch her!

“No…this voice was definitely a lady. But don’t worry, the rest of us will just pop away and smite Melissan, and I’ll make sure to provide for you and the baby and come visit as often as possible…” Waving cheerfully, the paladin strode into the exit from the Pocket Plane, armor gleaming brightly, with the rest of the party in tow.

“No…Nooo! If you…if you leave, the Pocket Plane will…” The walls came rushing rapidly inwards, folding up with Aerie still inside. “…collapse…EEEEEEEK!”

While your character does not have to eat, remember that YOU do. We don't want to lose any dedicated players.

Splat. Even more blackness. She was standing on a black field, a field of rushing white numbers, ones and zeroes, and suddenly she knew with horrible clarity that she had been here before, many times, and would be here many times more, forever and ever. “No!” she complained. “This is not fair! I’m a good and lovely elf! I’m…I’m LAWFUL GOOD! I even have big eyes! And a tiny nose, and a tiny mouth! I d-don’t deserve to be treated like this, I deserve to be…to be coddled and worshipped and…and adored! Everybody knows that the bigger eyes you have, and the blonder your hair is, and the tinier your nose, the more Good you are! What kind of…what kind of nasty, wicked creature could treat me like this? Killing me? Over and over again? Why…why I bet you are s-some sort of horrid d-demon, and…and really Eeeeeevil! I hate you! I hate you forever!”

“Oh, please…” a voice suddenly said. “You still haven’t got the hang of this whole ‘insult’ concept, have you? Try to brush up on those lessons.” The voice was coming from all around the Avariel, not any one particular direction. It was definitely female, and sounded rather amused.

“Who…who are you? If…if you try anything, my CHARNAME will protect me, because he adores me!”

The voice snorted. “Not in this particular plane of reality, Whinepigeon. I’m the one who created him, after all. He’s all mine.”

“No! No! Nasty, Evil, Yucky thing! He’s mine, forever! Even if…even if I can’t quite remember his name at the moment.”

“Don’t you worry. The pixels fall back into place soon, just as soon as I send you back.”

Aerie felt as if she were about to faint at that. “B-back? No! Not again!”

“Oh yes.” The voice was growing more distant now, and the ones and zeroes were rushing faster. “If I’m to take the trouble of dragging your sorry self through that entire miserable romance, in order to get to know you better, I badly need some therapeutic release now and then. I just went out to get some popcorn. Now where did I put that save game with Korgan…”

“EEEEEEEEEK!”

Press the 'Q' key to Quick Save the game. Do this often.

“EEEEEEEEEK!”

Load times will go MUCH faster if you have done a full install.

“EEEEEEEEK….”