immediately thought of those questions to flesh out your ocs. who would your tav have behind them? maybe no one at all? maybe multiple people? a concept, a feeling rather than a person?
If you don't mind me asking, where in the game do all of the prompt quotes come from? (I've had complicated dialogue happenings in my runs and am definitely missing so much.)
[Prompt list post]
No problem at all! I was actually planning to do this sometime either before or after the week itself, since part of my intent was to get some more obscure or easily missed quotes in the mix. It was so hard to narrow down the selection and lose some faves, as well.
A run down of all the quotes with some context is under the cut.
Day 1
Aylin: I adored her from the moment I beheld her sweet face, her great, wise eyes.
From Aylin's end of Act 2 exposition when she first comes to your camp, when she's asked about her and Isobel having "a lot of history". Slightly different wording happens depending on if Isobel is alive or not.
Aylin: A century of it, by now. I loved her from the moment I beheld her sweet face, her great, wise eyes.
Aylin: Isobel was - is - the love of my eternal life. I adored her from the moment I beheld her sweet face, her great, wise eyes.
The "adored" version is in the prompts because it just looked better, honestly. But I love how the delivery and shift in context changes those same words from lovely to heartbreaking.
Isobel: I fell in love with Aylin swiftly. It was as easy as breathing.
This is from Isobel's bit of that camp exposition dialogue, but from a currently unreachable branch (excepting glitches and exploits) where Isobel is the only one in camp. It's part of her famous "do you believe in love at first sight" exchange.
Day 2
Aylin: True, we live at the mercy of the gods. But we get to choose to whom we yoke our fate.
This is a really niche one, I think, but such a banger of a quote. It's from Origin Shadowheart's version of the reunion with Aylin in Moonrise right after Ketheric's defeat, if Isobel didn't survive and you let Balthazar take Aylin in the Shadowfell. This is the full exchange:
Aylin: Isobel is dead. But you live - you who were content to leave me in the thrall of foul Ketheric Thorm.
Player: I may not live long - Lady Shar wanted me to kill you. Now I've failed her, and spited you.
Aylin: Failure is disquieting. But you are lucky - for you have failed at a destiny that was not yours to fulfil. True, we live at the mercy of the gods. But we get to choose to whom we yoke our fate. I will join your camp tonight. There is much you should know. About the Moonmaiden, about your past. Your future.
Interestingly, Aylin uses the "yoke" phrasing in a convo in the Shadowfell prison as well, presenting it as a bit of advice, "be careful to whom you yoke your fate".
Isobel: Maybe she [Selûne] was waiting for one of us to find this place ourselves. Free will, and all that.
This is dialogue with Isobel in the Last Light Inn that you can have at any point after you've resolved the kidnapping, if you're a cleric or paladin of Selûne. She gives it as an answer to "Why has the Moonmaiden waited until now to take an interest in this curse?" and her pseudo-casual delivery is very amusing.
Day 3
Aylin: The Moonmaiden's silver light can cut as sharp as any sword. I wield it this day.
Isobel: The Moonmaiden's silver light is a shield in dark times. Today, it is mine to wield.
These are both from the Gather Your Allies moment before the final battle. If both are your allies, Isobel will say her line and Aylin will chime in right after with "And I hold her sword!". If only Aylin is there, she says her full line.
Day 4
Aylin: A paladin's fatigue, no doubt.
Part of the conversation with Aylin in the wizard's tower in Act 3, immediately after defeating Lorroakan, when she's wondering why the most recent application of righteous violence didn't do anything to lift her malaise and then immediately downplays her feelings/trauma in three separate dialogue branches. A good bit of angst on its own, but I also find it very interesting that this implies there is a well-known-enough concept of "paladin's fatigue" in-universe.
Isobel: I cannot get it out - it will never out, this death that reeks within me.
Isobel writing out her grim post-resurrection thoughts in her diary (full text here), found in her room in the Last Light Inn. Related, her pained statement of "he resurrected me with magic so foul I nearly retch just thinking of it" if you talk to her when she's in your camp later.
Day 5
Aylin: Reject the moon, if it be your will. It will not stop her from lending you her light.
This is from the Act 2 Moonrise debrief if only Aylin is around and if you tell her you don't want her in your camp. I love the full exchange, so here it is:
Aylin: I will join your camp, that we may discuss what must needs be discussed.
Player: I don't think so. Our journey together ends here.
Aylin: You would deny Dame Aylin, daughter of the Moonmaiden, paladin of the selfsame Selûne?
Player: I would.
Aylin: Reject the moon, if it be your will. It will not stop her from lending you her light. Good day.
The way she says good day is devastating. I love it.
Isobel: All things with her [Selûne's] strength. You know the litany.
This is from the conversation upon first meeting Isobel at Last Light, and another cleric/paladin of Selûne exclusive. More of the exchange (and the devnote that explains the amazing line delivery):
Player: I must say, it was incredible to see the Moonmaiden working through you.
Isobel: Needed here more than anywhere. This place is thick with Shar's curse. Can't be easy for our Lady to penetrate, but she finds a way.
Player: Are you faring all right? It can't be easy holding a lone candle in such darkness.
Isobel: All things with her strength. You know the litany. [A little sarcastically. She's got a bone to pick with Selûne but isn't being too overt.]
Day 6
Aylin: Your intuitions are my lodestar, darling.
This is from the Act 3 camp conversation with Aylin when you tell her a wizard called Lorroakan is looking for her. Another rare one, I think, since it requires you to have full knowledge of Lorroakan's plans and then outright lie to Aylin about it instead of just being kinda cagey.
Player: I think he just wants to talk. We should go find out what he wants. [Deception roll, success branch]
Isobel: Aylin, I'm not sure about this. Something doesn't feel right.
Aylin: Your intuitions are my lodestar, darling. But consider: now that Dame Aylin has returned to the fold of time, she could use allies and interlocutors.
Isobel: I'll come with you, then. Just in case.
Which then resumes with the standard "Isobel is going to scout the enclave" stuff. But I personally love any showcase of Isobel's insight and wisdom, however small.
Isobel: An experienced cleric can tell such things.
This is said during a Dark Urge-exclusive conversation with Isobel at Last Light, after resolving the kidnapping attempt.
Player: My blood... it's telling me to kill you.
Isobel: And yet you hesitate.
Narrator: She doesn't believe you will do it. You can see, she wants to believe there is mercy in all, even in the worst.
Isobel: You aren't the first to threaten me. But I know the eyes of a killer when I see them. You mean me no harm. Do you? An experienced cleric can tell such things.
Day 7
Aylin: Shar herself could not dim her [Selûne's] face. And you will never dim mine.
This one comes from the fairly intricate conversations you can have with Aylin in the Shadowfell prison if you don't have Shadowheart in the party. At several points you can ask her:
Player: You say you're immortal. How is that so?
Nightsong: I'm sure you've met my mother. You've seen her pale face in the night sky - Selûne, the Moonmaiden.
And then there's two options for Aylin's line right after that, the regular one:
Nightsong: There is no moon in this black sky, Sharran - no. There is only your mistress - the void of her. The shadow.
And a different, more angry and defiant one, that you get if you've tried to kill Aylin yourself at any point up to then:
Nightsong: Shar herself could not dim her face. And you will never dim mine.
Chilling.
Isobel: I don't fear death. But this is not our day to die.
Post-Gather Your Allies intros, if you speak to Isobel in the High Hall. The other line she has here is the one about how she will have "something very strong indeed" when all this is over.
BONUS/ALT
Aylin: We will hie us to the Hill of the Headless Dancer and bare our flesh beneath the cleansing light of the moon's soft gaze.
End of Act 2 Moonrise debrief with both Aylin and Isobel, if you tell them you don't want them in your camp:
Player: You go your way, and I'll go mine.
Aylin: We are not welcome, my love. No matter. We will hie us to the Hill of the Headless Dancer and bare our flesh beneath the cleansing light of the moon's soft gaze.
Isobel: A hundred years hasn't changed you at all, my love. As for you - if we aren't to meet again, I'll say my thank-yous. And my goodbyes. If we meet again, it will be my pleasure.
Aylin's outrage if you're rude to Isobel just before that and Isobel's ongoing attempts at diplomacy are amazing to see as well and well worth a quick reload.
Isobel: You should've seen her [Aylin] before... before everything. When she'd step off the battlefield, oh how she glowed. Literally.
Camp dialogue with Isobel when Aylin returns after killing Lorroakan, in which she's worried about Aylin being subdued and asks you to explain what happened. This, and the conversation right after Aylin leaves for the tower, had some really strong contenders - ultimately, I went for this bit. The delivery is simply amazing.
Player: I noticed she seemed a little unlike herself by the battle's end.
Isobel: You should've seen her before... before everything. When she'd step off the battlefield, oh how she glowed. Literally. But the years - the decades, the century - have taken their toll. She's seen more hurt than we can dream of. She needs cherishing, now. And I'm up for the task.
And there you have it! Hope this was fun, interesting and/or helpful. I love uncovering some of the more niche options in the game, there's some real writing and characterisation gems buried in there.
titsay
baratheonpilled
romaincrisis
izzy806
kianamaiart
theartofmadeline
