Do you want the short version, or the long version of the speech?
[ Shadowheart doesn't look like any of other arrivals and that's because she's not. Her robes are a little nicer, for one, and she's wearing clothes underneath them and shoes. She doesn't look disheveled, and some people call her Sister instead of novitiate which suits her just fine.
Shadowheart has been here for three years. Three years of toiling in the cold. Three years of wondering if she'd ever see Faerun again. For the first two, she'd railed against their cult and screamed curses at them and prayed to her Lady to guide her. And then, when it became obvious that Shar would never take her home and, indeed, that Shar was not even listening, Shadowheart finally decided that it was futile.
The terms were laughably simple--ironic, really--when they'd offered. A few memories for power. Whether she was hoping that in this trade she'd feel Shar's grace again and be able to channel Her divinity or if she really had bought into these Old Ones it was hard to say. But after a year of pretending, she'd become pretty committed to the cause. Indeed, Sister Shadowheart tended to livestock as well as her neighbors and was a frequent participant in the community garden.
But her trade off had been for almost nothing.
Still, if nothing else she's standing here now, watching initiates come out naked and confused and in pain. Something in her heart stirs as it always does, as if her healing magics might be just a word away. But they aren't, of course. And all she can do is offer what little information she has. ]
Welcome to the village.
Forbidden Knowledge.
[ Shadowheart puts herself to the letter of the task--collect the pages, don't read them, turn them in. She knows nothing good will come of disobeying and nothing good will come of magic that falls from the sky in this place.
But...if they want a full tome, doesn't she have to look a little? Make sure she's collecting the same ones from the same book?
And, says some part of her that's been frozen away for three years, don't you want to know? Isn't there knowledge in power? Isn't that what She--
Shadowheart stifles that thought and instead, when she sees someone trying to read a page calls over: ]
shadowheart | baldur's gate 3
Do you want the short version, or the long version of the speech?
[ Shadowheart doesn't look like any of other arrivals and that's because she's not. Her robes are a little nicer, for one, and she's wearing clothes underneath them and shoes. She doesn't look disheveled, and some people call her Sister instead of novitiate which suits her just fine.
Shadowheart has been here for three years. Three years of toiling in the cold. Three years of wondering if she'd ever see Faerun again. For the first two, she'd railed against their cult and screamed curses at them and prayed to her Lady to guide her. And then, when it became obvious that Shar would never take her home and, indeed, that Shar was not even listening, Shadowheart finally decided that it was futile.
The terms were laughably simple--ironic, really--when they'd offered. A few memories for power. Whether she was hoping that in this trade she'd feel Shar's grace again and be able to channel Her divinity or if she really had bought into these Old Ones it was hard to say. But after a year of pretending, she'd become pretty committed to the cause. Indeed, Sister Shadowheart tended to livestock as well as her neighbors and was a frequent participant in the community garden.
But her trade off had been for almost nothing.
Still, if nothing else she's standing here now, watching initiates come out naked and confused and in pain. Something in her heart stirs as it always does, as if her healing magics might be just a word away. But they aren't, of course. And all she can do is offer what little information she has. ]
Welcome to the village.
Forbidden Knowledge.
[ Shadowheart puts herself to the letter of the task--collect the pages, don't read them, turn them in. She knows nothing good will come of disobeying and nothing good will come of magic that falls from the sky in this place.
But...if they want a full tome, doesn't she have to look a little? Make sure she's collecting the same ones from the same book?
And, says some part of her that's been frozen away for three years, don't you want to know? Isn't there knowledge in power? Isn't that what She--
Shadowheart stifles that thought and instead, when she sees someone trying to read a page calls over: ]
Hey! You're just wasting time.