My Sexy Skill Has Increased! Let's Play A Dance with Rogues

What---I don't... why?

Feelings beyond "I want to castrate and then murder my love interest"?

I mean...how do I explain this?
...I have no way to explain this.

backing away from the world now.

Sorry for voting for apparently boring love interests everyone, but I just can't vote for Vico.

That's one of the reasons I voted Forever Alone. The other being that I'd rather see the story of How Riona Kicked All The Asses than Riona And The Very Boring Relationship.

...that's actually a very good point and since Forever Alone seems to have a better chance at winning now, I'll change my vote from Pia to Forever Alone. Riona doesn't need anyone, least of all Vico.

I honestly don't care how much content lies locked behind Vico's route. I want to see that self-satisfied smirk you know he has behind that mask wiped off his face.

WELP, I guess I gotta play through that file then. :T

ALL ABOARD THE KILL-VICO TRAIN.

This is a very good point. Hooking up with Vico'd be pretty off-base for this protagonist anyway. She can get herself a man on her own time, after she storms the castle and murders everyone who ever crossed her and buys herself a fancy pony made out of diamonds.

You guys, with the changing your votes!

Pia 1
Vico 5
Bran 4
Anden 1
Rizzen 0
Forever Alone 3

I think this is correct. Unless a bunch of Pia-supporting lurkers come out of the woodwork before I start playing tonight, Riona will remain Pia's platonic BFF (well, except for that one point where... I won't spoil it).

Not being involved with Pia when Part 2 starts will trigger the start of both Vico and Bran's romances, so I'll let them both go until the point where you have to choose between them and then call for another vote. That OK with everyone?

I actually rather like Pia, but it's just not gonna happen. My vote stays with Bran, because boring as he may be, he is still not a rapist. I may turn to Forever Alone later, but it sounds like you lose more than you gain in that case.

Is it weird that I'm more uncomfortable with the idea of voting than with either playing the game or reading this LP? It's not? Okay, good, glad we had this talk.

This is not the victory you promised Us.

That sounds good. Then I can see if Barn really is an insufferable bore.

BARN

He's already so boring I can't remember his name properly D:

One thing that really bugged me with BARN is that

But TRUE LOOOOVE! Eh.

What bugged me about Bran is

"Why are you sitting on the floor?"

"Well, there's only one bed."

"Don't be silly. There's room enough for two in it."



"Good nighty, then."

"Pia?"

"Yes, Riona?"

"Has Master Nathan told you about my past...?"

"It was Alfons who revealed your true identity to me. I think he did it so I wouldn't screw up in case a Dhorn gave us trouble at the inn or something. It must have been terrible what you had to endure..." She gently squeezes my fingers for a moment, then lets them go again, lying still.

"I wanted to tell you that I'm not mad at you or anything. I know that they set up our encounter at the Lion's Head Inn."

"It was a difficult test, yes..."

"Did you have to pass such a test as well?"

"Yes, but mine was different. You know, they try to find your weak spot, then they confront you with your weakness. They were probably concerned that you would shy away from a sexual situation."

"What was your test like?"

She doesn't respond for a while. I already think I should not have asked when she finally speaks. "I had to kill somebody. It was the first time I've killed a human being. It was terrible, and I still see his face before me at times..."

"Someone you knew?"

"No..." She doesn't say anything else. All I hear is her soft breathing.

I roll over and try to sleep.

"Well, good morning ladies. Baron Ravenstower wishes to speak with you. Come."





"Yes. Good morning."

"Well, Terek? Did you find out anything new?"



"Hrm. That 'accident' has provided us with some pretty women, at the very least." The Baron glances at Pia. "And what are you two planning to do now?"

"We were hoping to travel back to Betancuria as soon as possible, M'lord."

"I already told them that the passes will be inaccessible for months yet, M'lord."

"It looks like you will be my guests for a while."

"M'lord, we'll gladly pay for our safe return to Betancuria, if necessary."

"I offer you this. I'll assign one of my rangers to you, who'll help you cross one of the passes as soon as the weather allows it. In return, you'll stay with me and entertain me with your singing and your other... talents."

"You want to force Pia to bed you?"

"The same goes for you as well, of course."

"Gods, you're a pig."

I should know better by now. I should remember the lesson Pia tried to teach me. Instead, Pia has to protect me, calming the Baron down and going off with him to his room.

Pia, I'm sorry...

"If you guys want to be alone, that's not a problem. I'll wait outside."

"Very funny. How about you warm us a bit?" He runs his fingers along my arm. "The North is such a cold place..."

"Take your hands off me or I'll scream!"

"I don't think calling the guard will work for you." He laughs. "We're going to wait and see if the Baron wants you first, but as soon as he's done with you..."

Time passes. Suddenly, the Baron's door flies open.



next update

Well that's one way to deal with a problem.

"What did you do to Baron Ravenstower?"



"Maybe he had a weak heart."

"Baron Ravenstower is... was... a healthy man in his prime! And the last we've seen of him was when you went into his bedroom together! You'll pay for this, you filthy whores!"





"Don't say you're sorry that this old pig is dead."

"Stupid baron! Darn, darn, darn! The other people in the castle will notice what's happened, and they'll blame us. I don't care to find out what they'll do if they catch us." She gives me a miserable look. "I cannot say how sorry I am."

"It wasn't your fault that the Baron died..."

"It's all my fault. This all only happened because I let that stupid wizard catch me."

"I'm just glad that I've found you, Pia. Now let's get out of here in once piece, and back home."

But first, let's see if the Baron has anything interesting lying around.



"Don't you think we deserve some money after all these troubles?"

"Well, I suppose the Baron won't need those coins anymore, anyway."

There's some armor and a sword, too, which I give to Pia.



Now we just need to find a way out of here.

I'd rather not kill any more guards. Maybe we can talk our way out of this. I hope.

"The Baron is dead."

"What!? Dead? But how...?"

"We didn't do anything to him, you have to believe us!"









"He's dead. His heart isn't beating. But I see no wounds that may have caused his death."



"We didn't do anything to the Baron!"

"I think it's about time you two explain yourselves."





"Actually, that sounds exactly like what he would do."

next update

WAIT WHAT.
WHAT THE FUC-
WHAT

HOW DID YOU SKIP THE HORSETAIL?!

I'm sure the dead guards and stolen goods in your hands are real helpful there. Pia's new armor looks pretty darned boss, though. WORTH IT.

COMPLETELY BY ACCIDENT, I ASSURE YOU.

Seriously, I didn't think Riona would intentionally leave Pia alone with the Baron, so I was intending to get the scene where they go in together. But then I picked one rude response and it went downhill from there, and all of a sudden Pia was going off alone. It still made sense for the character, so I just went with it.

LOL, I know. Especially since they can see her wearing the armor and totally don't notice it. (Even better, though, was a line I cut early on when we arrived about whether we had gotten checked for weapons, and how clearly we're pretty girls and can't be any threat. Hello, I had my weapons out the whole time because I forgot to put them away.)

Pia's new armor is good enough, with upgrades, to keep her in for the rest of the game, and has the bonus of not being nothing but a bikini top like her default clothes are.

i am crying because this means
no one will understand why this entire portion of the game sends me into a weeping, shivering frenzy everytime I think about it.

no one will understand why I came to hate horses more than i did before mlp ruined my relationship okay

"We are very sorry for your loss, M'lady..."

"We still do not know what caused Baron Ravenstower's demise. Terek has examined the body, but there are no wounds. No clues. Nothing."



"But we didn't kill him!"

"That is not up to us to decide. We have also found evidence that you broke into Baron Ravenstower's private rooms and stole some of his belongings."

Evidence like PIA IS WEARING THE ARMOR WE STOLE? Heh.

"We panicked and didn't know what we did..."

Nice try. Pia.

"It is custom to burn the murderer of a nobleman together with his victim. However, as nobody actually has seen you commit the deed, your fate will be put into the hands of the Gods."



"Will you accept this verdict?"

"Yes, we do."



The guards lead us to a pit with a huge, reptilian creature in it.



Here you can reveal yourself as the Princess and get out of the trial. But you lose out on XP, so I'm not going to.

"We are innocent. No matter how this battle ends."



The guards lead us down into the pit. The worm crawls toward us. I can feel its icy breath, even colder than the winter air around us. I can only pray that we survive.

"I'll have to write a song about this battle!"



"Thank you, Lady Dana."

"From now on, you will be on your own. You may not have killed Baron Ravenstower voluntarily, but you have brought great grief to the barony. We will have nothing to do with you." Lady Dana looks at Captain Ashald. "Let us ride home, Captain."



"Yes..." I sigh.

"We'll probably have to check out those mountain passes the Baron spoke of, see if they are indeed impassable. But first we need directions. And perhaps buy some warmer clothes somewhere." She pulls her clothes tightly about herself.



"Oh, I'm freezing cold and would die for a warm fire! And some people willingly spend their days between all these trees and rocks and snow and what else there is in the wilderness? I don't get it."

"You've never thought about becoming a ranger, have you?"

"No." She grins. "Now let's see where we are. I think I smell a fire not too far away."

There's a village to the east: Ravenstown.



The guards let us in without argument, so I guess they don't know about our troubles with the Baron.

Ravenstown is the worst designed part of the game for numerous reasons, but a big one is that you need to talk to the guards each time you want to open the gate, and then try to run through before the guards on the other side close it. If you click on the gate, all the guards go hostile and try to kill you. Guess how easy it is to accidentally click on the gate?

They direct us to the town's only inn, the Ice Princess.





There's really nowhere else to go to get out of the cold. I just hope no one tries to hire us.

I don't know why the innkeeper is semi-transparent.

"That's right, we're not from here. You run this establishment?"

"Yeah. Say, you aren't by chance the bar who gave that magnificent performance at the castle two days ago? Wanna give another performance at the Ice Princess? I'll pay you fifty gold coins per evening. Another hundred if you take off your blouse."

"I think not. Thanks for the offer."

"Pity... So what can I do for you two lovely young ladies?"

"Is it true that there's no way to leave the Barony at the moment?"

"Aye, I'd say so, and for a good while to come yet. You chose an odd time to visit Ravenstower. Most travelers don't stay for the winter. The winds and the cold are too rough for their fragile bones, I guess." He grins.

"So we'll have to wait until spring?"



We get a room for the night; we can talk to the treasure hunters in the morning.



It's cold even inside. I build up a fire in the stove.



There's a crumpled, half-burned note inside.

"I don't think this bed is generally used for resting."

"I'm too tired to care..."



"At least there are no Dhorn around here."

"That's true, of course. But..." She glances at me. "Isn't there someone at Betancuria who you're going to miss...? Or who's going to miss you?"

"I miss Caron..."

"Oh? Caron?" She gives me a curious look.

"He was working at the Bearpit as well, but the Dhorn killed him..."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. You were close...?"

"He was there for me when I was alone all of a sudden."

"It must be very hard." She gives me a compassionate look.

"I'm alive. That's something, at least."

"Well..." She lowers her gaze. "Perhaps we could explore the mountains surrounding the village a bit more. In order to find a way home, I mean."

"Let's talk about it tomorrow. I'm tired..."

"Right. At the moment I'm just happy to get some rest."

The dwarf goes off on a tirade. The man who seems to be the leader of the group glances at me apologetically.

"Forgive them their manners. Lefur's lost two toes to the cold last week, and he's been in a bad mood every since."

"Understandable."

"So what do you want, girl?"

"The innkeeper said you were treasure hunters, and that you still venture up into the mountains every now and then...?"





"We should turn them over to the guards, Don. Might be they're worth something."



They want 20,000 gold. It's a high price, and I'd rather not spend more time around that dwarf, but it looks like our only way to get home. Selling some of the extra equipment from the Baron's rooms gives us just enough.



"I'll pay you once we've crossed the mountains safely."

"Okay, sure. But we should leave right away. I heard the innkeeper saying there was a storm about to come up. We should be sheltered in the woods when it hits the plains."

"Will be a great pleasure traveling with you, pretty girl."

"Don't talk to me."

next update

I foresee some dwarf ass kicking ahead. Or so I hope.

So, uh... I have a meta-question. Is this a game you can play windowed? And, does it request much for graphics?

I checked and didn't see a windowed option, but there might be some way to do it.

My PC isn't terribly good with graphics, but it'll run NWN very smoothly on the lowest settings in 800x600 resolution. I turned up the graphics settings to not quite the lowest for the sake of better screenshots, and now I get a bit of lag in large outdoor areas, particularly with weather effects.

I don't know if that helps. I'd say just check how your computer's graphics card and RAM matches up to the game's minimum requirements.

DEAR EVERYONE HERE,
i am drawing pia fanart and i can't stop
of all the things to draw fan art for

Reference (I don't remember the last time I used a reference image, lord.)
Actual size here

EDIT: i hate when i draw a thing and post it and then suddenly find myself going "oh lord look at all these little mistakes" OH WELL IT'S ADWR FANART I AM EXCUSED.

That pose. I love it. MulMizu you are still the best.

Aww shucks~

NOW IF YOU'LL EXCUSE ME
I'VE GOT A TERRIBLE RELATIONSHIP TO BUILD~

/skips away

I'm trying to play through the "Isle of Prisoners" part again.
I can't do this.
I can't do this.

A: Yes, see here
B: It's a game from 2002. If you have an actual computer and not a $100 netbook you can almost certainly run it (although it makes my laptop's fan run on high, which is...somewhat worrisome, since it shouldn't be taxing my system at all. Dunno what that's about). If you have a $100 netbook, well...maybe? I would have said "almost certainly" except Nerys reported it taxes whatever system she's using, so... /shrug.

For reference, in the bad old days the recommended specs were 800 MHz CPU, 256 megs of RAM, and a 32 meg GeForce 2 or equivalent GPU.

To be fair, I got a new computer about a year or two ago and I can't play this game on its highest resolution without getting miserable lag. :<

Well, that's just weird.

I revise my answer to: probably, but it's ten-year-old software so there's guarantee.