Commoner (Beregost)

: Currently,2019-04-23 this article is written from an Enhanced Edition only point of view.
The streets of Beregost are teeming with male and female commoners, some of whom even staying out the whole night; the town's numerous inns and taverns are full of them; and each and everybody also seems to have their own home here. All of them are true neutral humans in Baldur's Gate, all of them are innocents.
==Background==
Less focussed on all those troubles in the region and more concerned with local issues, such a big town as Beregost can offer, the commoners here show great diversity in conversation topics and interests. Paired with manners of city dwellers, Beregost appears more light-hearted and less strained and somber than the Friendly Arm Inn.
==Involvement==
None of the commoners in Beregost carries anything that could be pickpocketed. None of them reacts in any way to the party's reputation or their leader's charisma.
Talking with them reveals much information about the surrounding locations and adventures those might offer, important current events, some thoughts about the iron crisis and bandits – and some more personal attitudes towards traveling people in armor. Some journal entries will be noted from this. Later, the events around Nashkel, fears about an Amnian invasion, but foremost the bandit problems become important.
===Females' quotes===
====Chapter One and Two====
Talk with female commoners in Beregost during Chapter One and Two is all about the town, personal matters and the "adventurers" just met – respectively the "mercenaries", depending on attitude –, and only randomly about the iron crisis, bandits or politics. That will changeFTOWBEZ.bcs after the events down in Nashkel.
*"You ain't a mage are ya? You got some fancy clothes on ya, so you could be a mage. I don't trust mages, you know. Especially not that Thalantyr fellow west of Beregost. He's mean, he is. Has his minions attack anyone that disturbs him."FTOWBE.dlg; State 22
*"You look the sort that like flashy weapons and trinkets. You should go see Thalantyr west of town. Sure he's grumpy, and he might even have his "pets" attack you, but he usually calls them off if you take the time to talk to him. He's got a lot of magical wares for sale, though he acts like he's doing you a favor taking your gold."FTOWBE.dlg; State 23
*"About time someone dealt with the monster Bassilus! He has killed so many! It's disgraceful he has been allowed to continue so long! Hopefully the reward will speed his capture."FTOWBE.dlg; State 0
*"I cannot talk now; my children are waiting for me at home. Not good to leave them alone for long, but both the husband and me must look for a way to keep gold coming in. Hard to keep food on the table when there is no work to be had."FTOWBE.dlg; State 1
*"Did you come from down south? Do you know anything about the rumors about Amn? My sister tells me that they're gonna invade. I don't like to believe it, but what else could be happening?"FTOWBE.dlg; State 2
*"You're those mercenaries that the whole town's been talking about. Well, get out of my way. We don't need the likes of you causing trouble. Don't you go and irritate those bandits. It just makes them all the more vicious."FTOWBE.dlg; State 5
*"Filthy mercenaries. They won't get away with their raiding. Duke Eltan will send the Flaming Fist, and that'll be that. Nobody with any sense wants to risk fighting with the Flaming Fist. They mean business, they do. You get an enforcer on you, and best you run like the dickens."FTOWBE.dlg; State 6
*"I don't know why supplies of iron ore are dwindling. Can't a simple increase in trade solve the crisis? Baldur's Gate is a major route between Waterdeep and Amn. I suppose the bandits have the whole area almost completely cut off and it would cost a lot to send troops out this way. Don't they realize how serious this is?"FTOWBE.dlg; State 9
*"I've merchant relatives that routinely make the trip along the Coast Way road. They have said that the route they travel is normally bustling. Surely this could be a veritable floodgate of iron if the need were great."FTOWBE.dlg; State 10
*"Tensions are high all across the coast. Many a person's livelihood depends upon the iron that is now in such short supply. I sure wish I could get my hands on whoever is behind it all. So do a lot of folks around here. Heh, nothing like a common enemy to bring people together."FTOWBE.dlg; State 11
*"It's Amn, I just know it! Spies are poisoning the ore to weaken our borders. Everything points to them. I bet they are behind the bandit raids too! Why don't the Grand Dukes just invade? That would show them!"FTOWBE.dlg; State 12
*"Oh, I wish I could be an adventurer like you rather than a simple scullery maid like me. My sister and I would hold off a thousand Amnian soldiers, standing back to back, our arms tiring as twilight falls and mists begin to rise from the moonlit lake..."FTOWBE.dlg; State 16
*#"Ah, the choice 'tween scullery and skullduggery then, is it? Well, a woman's arms are as strong as a man's and your courage seems stronger yet. You are welcome to join us and your sister, too, should she be willing."FTOWBE.dlg; Response 17
*#:"A tempting offer but I guess I should wait for more peaceful times. There's plenty of time to dream and think of pretty pictures when scrubbing floors. Laid in a cold and shallow grave, I doubt I'd have the luxury."FTOWBE.dlg; State 17
*#"I'm afraid it often lacks the romance with which you have imbued it. Kill a single Amnian soldier, and all of Amn is after you. Stand back to back, and your flanks are unprotected. Those mists that rise from your moonlit lake are pretty to behold, but they bring rust with them and the chill of damp steel against your flesh..."FTOWBE.dlg; Response 18
*#:"You've got some nerve wrecking a woman's pretty illusions like that. In times of trouble they're all we have. And without them, our children will grow up to be petty bureaucrats and mindless cogs in some Gondish machine, all harsh and bitter, never realizing that a world of wonder is still out there, somewhere just beyond their walled horizon!"FTOWBE.dlg; State 18
*"Wow. You guys are real adventurers. Ain't too often that country girls like me get to see a real 'venturer. It must be pretty excitin' to go to far-off places and meet so many different people."FTOWBE.dlg; State 19
*"You people must be crazy to travel the roads these days. With all the bandits about, you gotta be rather foolhardy to leave the safety of town."FTOWBE.dlg; State 20
*"I think my husband may take it the wrong way if he saw the bunch of you talking to me in the street. He's got a real nasty temper, and he's real jealous too. Sorry to be so rude, but it's for your own good."FTOWBE.dlg; State 21
*"Pleasant day to you all. My, my, you all look rather handsome decked out in your adventuring garb. That's what you are isn't it, adventurers? Well, I don't know what you're doing in our little town, from what I hear, the real excitement's happening down in Nashkel."FTOWBE.dlg; State 13
*#"What's been going on down in Nashkel?"FTOWBE.dlg; Response 13
*#:"From what I've heard, there's some sort of trouble happening at the mines southeast of there."FTOWBE.dlg; State 15
*#"Where we go, excitement follows."FTOWBE.dlg; Response 14
*#:"Why, aren't you the most arrogant people I've come across in a long time. I guess it don't matter, your type's always been that way."FTOWBE.dlg; State 14
*"I'm just a simple little lady, I don't know much at all."FTOWBE.dlg; State 7
====Chapter Three====
Once Chapter Three has begun, the number of available topics when talking with Beregost's female commoners is far smaller, and more centered on current events and politics, but with no journal entries.
*"You're the adventurers who killed all them monsters at Nashkel, aren't you? You must be really brave. If we had more like you, we'd never have to worry about things like this again."FTOWBEZ.dlg; State 0
*"I've merchant relatives that routinely make the trip along the Coast Way road. They have said that the route they travel is normally bustling. Surely this could be a veritable floodgate of iron if the need were great."FTOWBEZ.dlg; State 1
*"Messengers have brought news that whatever the trouble in the mines was, it's been cleared up by a group of adventurers. Good to hear, but it's still too dangerous to travel, and caravans won't risk the roads."FTOWBEZ.dlg; State 2
*"The Grand Dukes in Baldur's Gate are sending troops to fortify Beregost and the area around Amn. I think it's because the heroes that cleared the Nashkel mines revealed a huge plot, but not who was behind it. Lots of people still think Amn wants to weaken the coast for an invasion. I don't know though..."FTOWBEZ.dlg; State 3
*"You... I know you. You're the adventurers that saved the Nashkel mines, aren't you? I just know it. Leader was named, um, , wasn't it?"FTOWBEZ.dlg; State 4 – Commoner: "You... I know you. You're the adventurers that saved the Nashkel mines, aren't you? I just know it. Leader was named, um, <CHARNAME>, wasn't it?"
*#"Why yes, that would indeed be us. Thank you for noticing."FTOWBEZ.dlg; Response 4
*#:"Oh, how could I not? Saviors you are! Nashkel will recover soon enough, and then the rest of the area will follow. Hey, THAT must be what you are doing here! You've come to get rid of the bandits! Of course that must be it! You'll be scouting around just north to find and defeat those nasty brigands! I should have known heroes such as yourselves wouldn't be just wandering aimlessly, no […]!"FTOWBEZ.dlg; State 5 – Commoner: "Oh, how could I not? Saviors you are! Nashkel will recover soon enough, and then the rest of the area will follow. Hey, THAT must be what you are doing here! You've come to get rid of the bandits! Of course that must be it! You'll be scouting around just north to find and defeat those nasty brigands! I should have known heroes such as yourselves wouldn't be just wandering aimlessly, no, <SIRMAAM>!"
*#"Maybe, maybe not. If we were them, perhaps we'd want to keep a low profile."FTOWBEZ.dlg; Response 5
*#:"Oh? OH! Of COURSE, how foolish of me! You'll be keeping quiet, so as to catch the bandits in the area by surprise! Brilliant! That means you'll be heading north to the last ambush sites. Don't worry, I won't tell a SOUL! Well, maybe Shallie. She'll never believe I met you. Oh, and maybe Dilben and Wadsworth too. I'll HAVE to tell them, just to show them up. Don't you worry though. Not a soul other than them!"FTOWBEZ.dlg; State 6
*"I heard rumors that the mines in Nashkel have produced their first ore in quite some time. It don't mean a thing though. It'll be weeks before even an ounce gets through to us, what with bandits everywhere. They're exceptionally bad to the north, though."FTOWBEZ.dlg; State 7
===Males' quotes===
====Chapter One and Two====
During Chapter One and Two, the male commoners of Beregost seem to care more about the usual everyday problems, such as the effects of the iron crisis, than their female counterparts. Similar as for the latters, their range of available topics will change later,MTOWBEZ.bcs after the events down in Nashkel.
*"If the city watch cannot protect us from raids, what am I paying tax for?! I would be better off hiring mercenaries than trying to rely on the city guards. Nobody is fool enough to want to guard my caravans though. Cowards all. Guess I'll just wait out the crisis here."MTOWBE.dlg; State 0
*"A right evil man, that Bassilus! He don't just kill people, he makes them into zombies and pretends they're his family. What would make a man do that, exceptin' evil?"MTOWBE.dlg; State 1
*"Where did Bassilus come from? No one's sure, but I heard he may have lived at Zhentil Keep before it was destroyed. I thought everyone died when it crumbled. I curse the fates that he lived through it."MTOWBE.dlg; State 2
*"I hear that to prove you have actually taken his head, you have to produce Bassilus's holy symbol. Not that I would ever touch it of my own free will. He's one of Cyric's boys. They are just not right in the head."MTOWBE.dlg; State 3
*"A more puzzling thing I've never heard. I was left for dead by the raiders, and a stranger healed me. Had the worst visage I ever hope to lay eyes on, but his bearing I cannot question."MTOWBE.dlg; State 4
*"I was attacked outside the city last week. Weren't by bandits, but by a man who dissolved into slime when he died! It's enough to make a man never leave the house!"MTOWBE.dlg; State 5
*"Blasted halflings talk in circles! I know not which is more treacherous, Firewine Ruins or Gullykin north of it. Keep an eye on your purse strings if you wander through that area."MTOWBE.dlg; State 6
*"I still feel their arrows' sting in my haunches! Mind you be polite to the small folk, lest you limp home as I did! Halflings may look small, but they sure hurt when they attack in numbers and keep their distance."MTOWBE.dlg; State 7
*"It will be a cold day in the lower planes before I risk my neck in the elven ruin o' Firewine! Who knows what lurks around in those tight passages. You can barely stand two abreast in there. Tight enough to be a tomb, and for many a man it is a tomb."MTOWBE.dlg; State 8
*"That Ulcaster School was a storehouse of knowledge and magic, but them that haunt the place are no better for it. Being dead longer than you were alive must tend to addle the mind."MTOWBE.dlg; State 9
*"Simple logic says there must be magic treasure in the ruins of a magician's school such as Ulcaster, but 'tis a treacherous task to get to it. Dead wizards are not known to sleep soundly, nor to wake jovial."MTOWBE.dlg; State 10
*"Rumor tells of a magical gate in the bottom o' the school ruins, but no one knows where it leads. Anywhere is better than that accursed place, if ye ask me!"MTOWBE.dlg; State 11
*"'Twas some three hundred years hence, but folk still cringe at the mention of the destruction at Ulcaster School. I've not met a soul who claims to know why it occurred, and none that were there are alive to say."MTOWBE.dlg; State 12
*"Iron's been pretty rare these days, what with the supply from Nashkel drying up. Trade routes are all but shut down from bandit activity. I ain't heard from Waterdeep for a month now."MTOWBE.dlg; State 13
*"Our smith Taerom's been hit pretty hard by the iron shortage. His prices have only gone up because of it. Normally he is so reasonable, and better work you won't find anywhere. If ya need any weapons or armor, he's the man to see."MTOWBE.dlg; State 14
*"I've heard that Amn is going to invade. Those damnable, war-mongering mutton-heads. Shoulda seen it coming too. This iron thing has to be all their doing. You ain't from the south, are ya? If you are, then I don't trust ya!"MTOWBE.dlg; State 15
*"My cousin from Nashkel tells me that Amn has a huge army gathered there. They'll get the fight of their lives if they press for Baldur's Gate. The Flaming Fist are among the best soldiers around."MTOWBE.dlg; State 16
*"Have you heard about the trouble down in Nashkel? The mines are supposedly tainted, and all the ore coming out is useless. I think Amn is just holding it back, trying to weaken our guards and troops. They've got another thing coming, they do."MTOWBE.dlg; State 18
*"You look a lot like the bandits that raided my caravan! No, maybe it wasn't you. This crisis just has me on edge. I see bandits wherever I look. Hope it all ends soon, one way or another."MTOWBE.dlg; State 19
*"Nashkel is a rotten town, run by a bunch of priggers. Betcha this iron shortage is just another Amnian plot. They would love to get a hold of Baldur's Gate, I just know it."MTOWBE.dlg; State 20
*"Hey! Shut your potato trap and give your tongue a holiday. I don't want strangers in my business. Shove off before I take offense to your face."MTOWBE.dlg; State 21
*"My damn shovel broke today, then my hoe, and then, to top it all off, my scythe. They're all new tools too, bought from that flam, Taerom. He's getting a piece of my mind."MTOWBE.dlg; State 22
*"I hear the Zhentarim have been spotted about lately. I bet ya them riff raff are up to no good. Can't trust a single one of them, you can't. They'll step over their own mother just for the sake of doing it!"MTOWBE.dlg; State 23
*"All the iron that comes from Nashkel has been tainted. It's those Amnian, up to their bottle-headed tricks I bet. We should just march over that little mine of theirs. I bet they are just faking all the trouble so as to weaken our guards and soldiers. Well, we will be ready when they come."MTOWBE.dlg; State 24
*"I bet those rank-ridin' bandits are hired by the Amnian. It'd be like those moneygrubbers to pull something so low. Got to the point where an honest man can't travel the roads."MTOWBE.dlg; State 25
*"My son was on one of the caravans that didn't make it to Baldur's Gate. I pray to Tymora that he's all right. May the Lady guide him safely home, and may she make the bandits trip on their swords. It's more humane than they deserve."MTOWBE.dlg; State 26
*"There should have been a merchant caravan through here just yesterday. Odd that they have not arrived yet. They were supposed to bring iron ore down from the north. I bet they suffered the same fate as all the rest."MTOWBE.dlg; State 29
*"The shortage of iron has been gradually building for some time now. People have had plenty of opportunity to get paranoid. Not me though, no […]. Nope. Eh, could you stand a little back from me, please?"MTOWBE.dlg; State 30 – Commoner: "The shortage of iron has been gradually building for some time now. People have had plenty of opportunity to get paranoid. Not me though, no, <SIRMAAM>. Nope. Eh, could you stand a little back from me, please?"
*"There were stores of iron ore stockpiled to get us through lean times, but something is wrong with it. Anything smelted becomes brittle within days. It's like the metal is diseased somehow. It makes it impossible to keep weapons and armor in good repair."MTOWBE.dlg; State 31
*"What with this iron crisis tensions are really on the rise. People want someone to blame: a target for all their fears. A common enemy is great for raising unruly mobs. I just hope I'm at home with the door locked when it happens."MTOWBE.dlg; State 32
*"Good day to you. So have you heard of all the trouble brewing in the south? Awww, you probably don't care, you don't look like the political type."MTOWBE.dlg; State 33
*#"I think you've misjudged us, we're as interested in politics as the next person. So what's this trouble you were just talking about?"MTOWBE.dlg; Response 35
*#:"Well, from what I've heard, there's some tension between the nation of Amn and the city of Baldur's Gate. I've heard that the Grand Dukes of Baldur's Gate think that Amn's behind all of the iron troubles along the coast. Some people have even gone as far to say that Amn might be preparing to invade. I think it's just the usual rumormongering that goes on from time to time, but then, you never know."MTOWBE.dlg; State 35
*#"You're right, we don't give a damn about any politics."MTOWBE.dlg; Response 36
*#:"Well, I guess that's yer choice, eh? See ya."MTOWBE.dlg; State 34
*"Aye, the world is falling apart around us and here before me lie a band of groveling adventurers, preying on my every word to hear rumors of the latest dungeon fad..."MTOWBE.dlg; State 36
*#"Sorry to bother Your Highness..."MTOWBE.dlg; Response 39
*#:"Stuff your sarcasm and get out of here, lout."MTOWBE.dlg; State 37
*#"Dungeons...?"MTOWBE.dlg; Response 40
*#:"You're pathetic... Okay, I'll rattle it off for you like I did for the last adventurer and the one before that. I have no doubt you'll share their fate. Let's see, there are the ruins of an old mage school to the southeast. Traps, dead things that try to kill you, you know the schtick... Then there's the Firewine Bridge: ghosts, winding narrow passageways, some poetry, blah, blah, blah... Honestly, I can't think of a life more tedious than that of an adventurer. Personally, I get far more out of wandering around aimlessly and scratching my arse like this."MTOWBE.dlg; State 38
*"Sorry, buddy, but I'm just simple folk and don't know anything about politics and such."MTOWBE.dlg; State 27
====Chapter Three====
Once Chapter Three has begun, the number of available topics when talking with Beregost's male commoners is smaller, and no journal entry can be obtained from them.
*"Hey, ain't you the mercenaries who saved the mines of Nashkel? Well, good fer you; we need more people like you. I suppose you're going to give those bandits some trouble now? Good for you if you are. You'll make a lot of people happy, you will."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 0
*"A right evil man, that Bassilus! He don't just kill people, he makes them into zombies and pretends they're his family. What would make a man do that, exceptin' evil?"MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 1
*"A more puzzling thing I've never heard. I was left for dead by the raiders, and a stranger healed me. Had the worst visage I ever hope to lay eyes on, but his bearing I cannot question."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 2
*"Have you heard about those adventurers from Nashkel? They killed a thousand kobolds, they did. They must have been twenty feet tall, at least. Ehhh, I know that's ridiculous, but stories get so much better each time they are told."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 3
*"You look a lot like those mercenaries from down south I've been hearing about. Brave work, battlin' those dog men and such. I guess Amn wasn't faking the trouble in the mines after all. They could've staged the whole thing though. I wouldn't put it past them."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 4
*"There should have been a merchant caravan through here just yesterday. Odd that they have not arrived yet. They were supposed to bring iron ore down from the north. I bet they suffered the same fate as all the rest."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 5
*"Come from down south, did ye? See any fifteen-foot heroes? Hahhaw! I almost believe the Nashkel mines are back in operation, but those tales of a single group of adventurers saving the day are a load of hogwash."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 6
*"A runner made it through from Nashkel the other day and said that the mines were ready to return to operation. Pity we won't see the benefits until the bandits are all driven from the trade routes. It doesn't matter who has iron if it can't get through."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 7
*"I done heard that the mines in Nashkel are up and running again, but we still ain't got no iron because of the bandits. I bet those snakes are just using the bandits as an excuse, staging raids themselves. I knows it's all a big plot by AMN. Never did trust them. Well, if it's war they want, they'll get it!"MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 8
*"The bandits are worse than ever now. Once the Nashkel mines started up again, attacks on caravans went through the roof. The blasted brigands have to be in cahoots with the kobolds killed in the mines. There's no other explanation for it!"MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 9
*"You been down south recently? You see them heroes everyone is talking about?"MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 10
*#"Did I see them? You could say that. Allow me to introduce myself. I am ."MTOWBEZ.dlg; Response 10 – Gorion's Ward: "Did I see them? You could say that. Allow me to introduce myself. I am <CHARNAME>."
*#:"? That supposed to mean something to me? Anyway, if you DO see them heroes, tell 'em thanks and all, but could they do something about all the bandits now? Seems like the mines and the bandits is linked somehow. Maybe Amn is behind 'em both or something. I don't know, but something should be done."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 11 – Commoner: "<CHARNAME>? That supposed to mean something to me? Anyway, if you DO see them heroes, tell 'em thanks and all, but could they do something about all the bandits now? Seems like the mines and the bandits is linked somehow. Maybe Amn is behind 'em both or something. I don't know, but something should be done."
*#"Well, I did hear about them. Supposedly real brave, and damn good-looking too."MTOWBEZ.dlg; Response 11
*#:"Yeah yeah, whatever. I just want to know if they can do something about the bandits and such. Our weapons and tools are just about falling apart now. Never stand up against an assault from Amn in this condition."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 12
*"I got customers screamin' for iron, but I don't care if the dukes themselves need ore. I'll not risk my neck on them roads until I'm sure it's safe."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 13
*#"I arrived in town with not too much trouble. If I could get through, why not you?"MTOWBEZ.dlg; Response 14
*#:"Were you laden with ore? If not, then you aren't a worthy target for them. I tell ya, they ain't after gold or jewels, only iron. You travel with a pack full of ore, and you'll be lucky to outlive the day."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 14
*#"Aw, quit your bellyaching. With no risk, there's no profit. If you don't go, someone else will."MTOWBEZ.dlg; Response 15
*#:"You show me a merchant that will risk the roads these days, and I'll show you a man who's dead but doesn't know it yet. No, the brigands are too well organized to risk it. Who but another nation would have the resources to back them, though? Has to be an Amnian plot."MTOWBEZ.dlg; State 15
==Notes==
*The following similar creatures exist in its code, but don't appear anywhere in the game: FTOWBE.cre and FTOWBESN.cre.
==See also==
*Tourist from Beregost – A unique commoner – with common topics, though –, currently visiting the "Black Dragon Gate" in North Baldur's Gate.
==References==
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Category:Females
Category:Males
Category:Beregost
Category:Lists