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

Late during the night, a strange, cloaked figure can be seen walking back and forth from the farm lands pulling a small wagon by hand. Traversing over the bridge, the wagon seems considerably full of cargo, covered in a white sheet. When returning, it is always empty. If one were to follow him and see were he goes, or happen upon it by chance when trekking through the forested area, opposite the camp fire, this is what they would stumble upon:

A large throng of people stand in a circle, facing something in the center. They all seem impossibly still and focused. As strips of moonlight emerge from behind the clouds and penetrate the canopy above, it casts an eerie glow over the crowd and illuminates them. A grotesque and unsightly scene unfolds as the mysterious crowd comes into view. Repulsively scary and hideously deformed people cast long silhouettes of shadow across the ground. Frozen on their faces is an eternal expression of horror. Despite warped characteristics, many of the people seem oddly familiar and if inspected, they all seem to be part of an elaborate exposition of wax work statues.


A work of Arivain, with many scars and stitched over cuts. One hand seems to be missing several fingers, which are being held in the other one.

A work of Barrek with hollow, empty eye sockets. The eyes are held in both outstretched palms.

A work of Rhorry Kincayd, missing half of his lower visage and exposing the skull's jaw.

A work of Effelin of the Mark, with elongated features singularly on the face and severe burn marks.

A work of Kayla Wilkins, she seems to be left untouched, instead, a look of curiosity adorns her face as she looks around at those surrounding her.

A work of Valerius, with a claw-like arm forcing its way through the top of his skull.

A work of Skazz Stormforge, with a massive over-bite and large, lower canines that run half way up his face.

A work of Nano, with ragged flesh that seems to be blowing away in the wind. Patches of bone and muscle are visible everywhere.

A work of Soresin, with pasty white skin and pitch black eyes. The features seem sunken and sickly.

A work of Jonas Rokranon, with a gaping, circular mouth and four, large, razor sharp teeth inside. Much like a squid.

A work of Victor Grey, with large, unslightly tusks. Both hands seem to be pulling at them in despair.

A work of Seadin, looking horror-struck as he looks upon his hands. Both which seem to be morphing before his eyes. Thick, black, matted fur covers them and claws seem to be growing.

A work of Markus Cutler, as he struggles to hold his face together. His features seem to ooze and fall apart as if they were composed of goo.

A work of Magnolia George, seemingly aged a thousand years. Her hair is white. All her features are wrinkled and withered.

A work of Farid, with a mutated beard of tentacles, which seems to be in the process of strangling him.

A work of Anton, frozen in the appearance of a grass-hopper hybrid. The top section of his torso remains the same, safe for a set of feelers atop his head. His legs seem to be bent painfully backwards.

A work of Leokul Bearcharger, with spines protruding across his body.

A work of Jorn, impaled with several ears of corn and a tiny wolf cub hanging by the muzzle from his wrist.

A work of Tomar The Black, with a cowl drawn completely down over his face, hiding his features safe for a beard of snakes. Large, gruesome spikes protrude from his head, and through the hood.

A work of Matlz, with large, pustulating sores across any exposed skin.

A work of Abby Winters, covered in patches of frost bite. Large icicles hang from every limb.

A work of Isabella, clawing at her face, with hundreds of of tiny, black, squirmy spiders forcing their way out from within through the ears, eyes and nose.

A work of Irini, with a red complexion as if her skin was splashed with scolding water. Large, bubbly patches seem to be forming everywhere.

Situated in the center of the wax statues, lies an ivory plaque with the engraving: "Beauty, seen through the eye of the Beholder".

// serial killer alert

Arivain is seen moving amongst the waxworks, exclaiming on some detail or another of each of them. While he mostly seems to enjoy the works and holds them up as examples of art ("Albeit unusual!" he's quick to explain) he does seem a little crestfallen that his likeness is not among them.

Later having walked upon the scene, a helmed man known as Zelkor remarks about how one seems to have fallen over in the underbrush and retrieves it. He carefully repositions the wax work of Arivain amongst the others.

Tomar walks into the clearing late at night. Looks from each to each statue with a smirk on his face as he takes in the crowd of demented figures. He comes to Jonas's statue and lets out a soft chuckle at the Paladin being depicted as such. Finally he approaches his own likeness. He carefully studies the figure thoughtfully... an evil grin then forms on his mouth as he considers the piece, he moves then on to the next...

Strolling between the trees as bear with the fuzzball in tow, Eleanor comes across the weird and lifeless grotesque statues. She is both fascinated and horrified at the unnatural objects, studies each one in turn, recognising but a few, snuffling at the material and nudging a hand or two with her black nose. Decha keeps a safe disinterested distance and as they do not smell of anything fishy or honey-like and therefore does not approach.

She bumbles away, shaking her heavy head, shudders and shakes fur the once, relieved that her likeness is not amongst this spectacle that marrs the beauty of the woods.

She then heads to the grove to leave message with the dryaads to the Circle Elders letting them know of her thoughts and feelings of these unnatural statues in the woods.

// Eugh. Looks like those first impressions aren't always deceiving. //

Word would eventually reach Valerius in Candlekeep apropos to the wax exposition in the woods. His first reaction is one of mild confusion, followed by a general nonchalance.

"Sounds creepy." He intones, shrugging his shoulders, as he walks quickly from the barracks to the citadel, hurrying on to his next chore. "Doesn't concern Candlekeep."

The door to his office closed with a click, and he moves on to more important things. He doesn't have the spare time to visit the wax figurines himself.

By the time Jonas comes to find the statues in the woods, he in a mood beyond foul by the recent events of the siege on Baldur's Gate and the Herald of Darkness. For a few minutes he contemplates destroying every last disturbing statue, then thinks better of it. He gazes on his own grotesque depiction.

"I suppose it is art, whether I like it or not, and it is not my place to act on this. I have more troubling things to worry about. If this is how others see me...so be it."

With that he departs quickly, not even bothering to give a backwards glance.