Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, hear the prayer of your dutiful servant.

You blessed me with intersting new travelling companions. There was Samar, oh no..Samal...oh dear, well you know, that fire gesani with the burning hair. Can you imagine how fast Redilto would try to stick his head into one of his contraptions, I mean how fun-focus Joonie. He sang well, and showed great compassion to any that fell, whether with us or not. I marvel at your blessing of his company.

And then there was Borris, the quiet large fella who you blessed with our passing, as he needed escort to reach Beregost, and we were able to provide that. When I asked his name he said I could call him anything I wished! Have you ever heard of something so wonderful? Oh um, ofcourse you have um, great smiling goddess. He defintely looked like a Borris to me. I am humbled to have served as your agent of good fortune.

And finally there was Triel, a holy warrior of Tyr. She was the first to call us to aid Borris. She was very nice and seemed able to remember everyone. I really need to pratice that. There was one odd moment. After having slain some foul gobbos on the way to Beregost, upon arriving there she said a prayer for their souls. When questioned, she said the gobbos had souls like ours. Well I didnt like the sound of that, but, could it be true? Gobbos?

Tymora, beacon of hope, please give me the wisdom to understand better the nature of the soul, and give me the strength to carry your voice too the troubled hearts that need it most.

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, your humble servant thanks you for the tests you set before me.

You blessed me with two new companions. They appeared just as the gnolls I battled landed a series of uncharacteristicly accurate blows. I had not considered how misfortune could just be a necessary prelude of your grace to follow. It was my struggles that led them to stop and assist me. An unexpected lesson for which I am greatful. Praise be Tymora in your infinite widsom!

Carmine was a bit hard to understand. I had not heard that accent before. However even her um, rough exterior, could not hide her good nature and strong, free spirit. Unless elves were involved.

Her companion, Blanc, left me troubled. She had once basked in your radiance but now seems lost to the darkness. I am told her sisters still praise you great goddess, and perhaps through them I will understand better the loss that led her to Shar. Carmine told me that earlier she had seen Blanc confused and struggling to recognize those around her. Blanc's jovial exterior is betrayed by a despair which seems to affect her mind.

Oh great goddess you are hope. You are the eternal belief that there is always a chance. Please give me the strength and wisdom to help lead one of your children from darkness and despair back into your ever hopeful radiance.

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, your humble servant cannot thank you enough for the blessings you have showered upon me.

Today I met an elegant, thoughtful, and nice performer named Selis. She struck me as a very focused human, even more so than most humans in comparison to my own kind. She strives to be recognized and lifted to nobility by those she called the Great Dukes. Her latest feat is the construction of a performance hall which she says is near completion. She honors us all by helping beautiful perfomances have what I have no doubt will be an equally magnificent hall so we can all revell in the shared experience. Great smiling goddess, please bless the fortunes of her work with your strength of individual spirit and radiant inspiration.

What followed was truly humbling and I am in awe at your forgiveness and compassion. I met another of my kind named Nerbert Lynchpin. He, along with a few other gnomes, are attempting to create a town for my kind! He's an older wizard and so undoubtedly very smart, and yet there was never any hint condescention in his manner. After some discussion he offered me to join the Gathering, even knowing my limited abilties. As there was no requirement or expectation that I must renounce my clan to join, I eagerly accepted.

Even though I failed you in my first voyage from home by returning quickly from being homesick, you forgave me, and upon my return have blessed me with the good fortune of a clan away from home that can help steady my heart and resolve. Your forgiveness overwhelms me.

Nerbert also introduced me to an odd gnome druid named Alice. He had just finished showing the most amazing apparatus of a huge spider that he could-focus Joonie. Alice must have been raised in the wild. Her speech is easily understood, but rudimentary. However I suspect that is a product of her upbringing rather than intellect. As my first task in aiding this wonderous Gathering, Nerbert asked that I teach Alice to read and write in gnomish.

Oh great Tymora, please aid me in honoring your patience and compassion toward me, by helping me extend the same consideration to Alice as her instructor. Give me the resolve to aid my new gnomish family and bless the Gathering with your good fortune.

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, your humble servant begs that you shine light upon the lost and bring them back to us.

Tonight was very troubling. I witnessed a, um, well, a dispute I suppose. It first sounded like a philosophical debate. Kaden, a paladin of Mystra, spoke of ideals familier to me. He spoke of teaching others by example. It reminded me of the old saying "You can lead a badger to a turnip field, but you cant make him eat".

But before long it became clear that what was discussed was more immediate and serious than a mere ideological dispute amongst paladins. Oh um, right, i forgot to mention, the dispute was between two paladins. I am unsure the faith of the other paladin, but there was a deadly tension I never expected to feel between two holy knights.

The second paladin seemed clouded with grief. He spoke of a horrible end his parents suffered, possibly too law gone awry, and that his sister was a slave, an abominable corruption of law. Oh great goddess, please grace his sister with the hope to endure her captivity, and the wonderous fortune needed to break free of it.

I can only begin to imagine the conflict in the second paladins heart. One trained to see so much value and compassion in the law, to see it twisted so grotequely and turned against their own family must shake the foundation of ones beliefs.

Radiant Tymora, may your smile help soften his heart so the scars may begin to heal. Help him to see again the embrace of his own diety and to regain hope and faith in its teaching. Help him to let go of guilt, anger, and vengence so that he may again become a selfless beacon of hope to the world, and through that find peace once again.

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, your servant is humbled and honored that you would answer her prayers.

I had a feeling you would be taken with the efforts of Miss Selis. Artists truly show your free spirit and unfaltering adaptation to the chaos that is life. As an actor who stumbles on a line, only to embrace the stumble into the performance to allow the show to continue seemlessly, Miss Selis has taken the fire which ravaged the theater and turned it into a chance to make the space more beautiful and a new cause for celebration.

I spoke with her today when we bumped into eachother at the store. She said that since I began praying to you on her behalf oh great wonderous goddess, that her fortunes have turned for the better. So much so that she even plans a donation to the Temple in your honor. Praise be Tymora!

Oh great Tymora, I thank you for the blessings which you spread from me. You are hope and I will carry you light to whever you wish. Please watch over the Gatherin' and smile upon our effots to provide a safe and comfortable home for all gnomes who may need it.

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, I..I felt you again as in my dream.

Tonight was a celebration. We celebrated the power of the spirit in the face of tragedy. We celebrated friendship and giving. We um, ce..celebrated dreams filled with hope and love.

I met one who not only honors your grace, but seems to understand it as well. Please smile upon Jack, the Gentlemen of Fortune, and show your follower the blessing of your luck. I suspect you do shine upon him, to have him present when your servent should be filled with your radiance. I see now the subtle good fortune that Selis would return when she did, where another moment perhaps he would have no longer remained. Great goddess I marvel at your ways.

I am filled. The song, her seemingly divine voice, it..it brought it all back. And it wasnt the wine. I..I think the wine dulled my perception of you, until you burst within me. Cary dreams far away to their homes in the night...I..I felt you reasure them..I..you let my family know I am safe and among friends..I..and my dreams far away, lie in their home tonight...and *tears streaming down her face*..they now know...feel..how much I miss them.

Great smiling lady, you are salvation. You are my salvation. I surrender myself to your purpose and hope to have the wisdom to honor your eternal gifts of mercy and compassion.

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, please fill the hearts of the saddened with your hope and joy.

I met a man named Kharan today from lands he said were filled with deserts. He said even children had rations for water due to its scarcity. He was alone at the fire and I felt your calling to speak with him. And before long I realized why. He, like me, is also far from home and feels the longing. I am honored to be your agent of compassion, to help another avoid the despair of longing, a despair which your radiance keeps at bay.

Nerbert was so troubled today. The manner in which the mother was lost clearly weighed upon him, but even more so the fate of the orphan boy she left behind. They tried to raise her, but it seems she had lost hope in life, and refused to return. When Alice, Kharan, and I left on patrol your selfless radiance was honored. None cared take from the loot that was found so it was decided to give all that was found to help the orphan. I did not expect it to be much from a short patrol around Bentley's inn, but again, I failed to trust in your glory. One of the gnolls wore a suit of enchanted armor which sold for 600 gold! Tymora be praised!

Great smiling goddess, continue to mercifully overlook my moments of doubt, so that your warmth may shine into the troubled hearts I encounter. I am humbled by your compassion. You are love. You are my love.

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, I failed you.

It escalated so quickly. When I should have been forceful, I was asking questions. Perhaps if I had shielded the mans lifeforce after healing him, I could have yelled for him to run. But the man had said he would not fight back, and I've seen what Nerbert has done to the gnolls at a distance.

I continue to face the same test and I continue to fail it. Forgive me great goddess. I cannot see how to push back against the rage. I felt you inspire me through the White Mask Theater, rekindling a hobby from childhood. I began to see clearer and felt wiser for the next test. Instead I learned that surrendering to you means there are other commitments I will not be able to uphold, and therefor should not make.

Even upon hearing Nerberts explanations everyone but Nerbert himself could sense the darkness of his actions, but only Periam turned away as I did. There was mention of how it could effect the Gatherin's work or in the goodness that it had occured away from the attention of the Fist. A man murdered in cold blood reduced to cold calculation of selfish pursuits.

As Nerbert finally began to understand how troubled I was, he asked what he could do to make it right. But he sought only to make peace with me, instead of with his actions. My words had not reached him.

Tymora, please shine your radiance on Periam, so that his heart may stay open to the possibility of forgiveness. Forgive the selfish hearts of the others, and help them all find a path that celebrates life over death, forgiveness over retribution, and compassion over fear. Please help your humble servant understand how best to spread your radiance. I failed you. Forgive me.

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, your servant humbly offers up her work in your honor.

Through you I kept peace and forgiveness in my heart. When Nerbert came to me I was able to share your wisdom. I explained that to follow did not mean to remain silent and that to lead meant listening to the concerns of those who follow you. He has agreed to complete penance in your honor.

I thank you for your guidance. From the moment I arrived again in Baldurs Gate, you began speaking the lesson of his penance to me. A chance rumor led me to inspect the mithril hinges at the orphanage before I even knew Nerbert or that he had placed them. And then the orphaned boy that troubles him so, you touched our group to be charitable, and blessed the child with a bountiful haul.

Great goddess, I felt your touch again at hearing that the compassionate women who opens her home to the children was poisoned. Your humble servant hears your calling, and if it can be done, his penance will provide additional peace of mind for those you reward with your grace.

Radiant Tymora I feel your smile upon me. When I lost a home, without even knowing that had occured, a compassionate friend opened her doors to me. When faced with self doubt, a dear friend showed me unwaivering confidence. When it seemed I had lost a friend the bonds were forged stronger. Praise be Tymora!

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, show me the words to illuminate for all the corrupting nature of law.

Your teachings explained the perils of law but I didnt understand. My clan has few beliefs that would qualify as laws on the surface. Our small clan was able to resolve disputes through the specifics of each situation to better all those involved.

The humans react to their large numbers with greater enforcement. They seem to believe that the more gaurds they post, the greater peace they will experience. How little faith they have in their own kind. Do they think that without the gaurds neighbor will turn on neighbor? That peaceful people will become blood thirsty savages?

Your teachings expose the trap. The greater the presence of law, the more it will be turned inward upon its own people. What was put in place to protect becomes the very tyranny it claims to fight. Law is used as a weapon. Small men feel the rush of great power when they banish someone from the city. When that becomes ordinary, they become more draconian, and banish them from the roads.

They call their actions just and good, but how is it good when punishments seek only to increase suffering? How did it help the victim of an attempted theft that the thief suffers imprisonment? How is substituting vengence for restitution justice? The thief clearly was not detered by the law, so the punishment serves only to validate the laws existence and nothing more. Do humans really need a law to tell them that stealing is wrong? Ofcourse not.

Penance adds to the strength of the community in the face of immoral acts. Cultivating empathy is an actual deterent. While there are some truly evil people who cannot be redeemed, they are the exception, while the humans laws treat everyone as if that were the rule.

Great goddess, the ways of men are too large for your humble servant to change, but give me the wisdom to save as many as possible from the tyranny of law. Help me find the words to stop others from carrying that tyranny far away from any town, where it is used as an excuse for violence cloaked in talk of security and saving lives.

Oh radiant smiling Tymora, keep your servant's heart from growing cold.

The loss of so many dear to me...I can feel it hardening my heart. I was surprised by my own anger when i faced the gobbos. I..I hated them. It...I....I felt relief at killing them.

And the man I passed along the road earlier who was being taken by the Fist. I could feel the corruptness of what was occuring, but...I didnt feel compassion. When the mob chased the fleeing man attempting to kill him in a bloodlust of greed and arrogant righteousness, I didnt feel compelled to follow and attempt to lead them back to grace once their lust faded and perhaps they would listen.

Great goddess, fill your humble servant's heart with your love. Melt away my growing cynicism. Melt away the despair of loss. Show me hope again. I beg for forgiveness and mercy. Help me spread your compassion to those who need it.