@1 = ~Korgan, why are you still hanging around? By now you could have cashed out of this company with a share bigger than even you could carry. So... "what gives?"~ [FWKL2500]
@2 = ~Oh, aye, we've collected a king's portion of loot and opened arteries, but I canna fade into the sunset just now. Firstly, I know ye would cry at the parting, ye tremendous pansy, and I could ne'er stand the sight.~
@3=~Part 'o the attraction is that <CHARNAME>'s wake keeps churnin' up a freak show that puts even you and the Wingless Wonder over there to shame.~
@4=~Oooohhh... l-leave me out of this, both of you!~
@5=~Part 'o the attraction is that <CHARNAME>'s wake keeps churnin' up a freak show that puts even you and that rodent-loving basket case to shame.~
@6=~Oooh! Did you hear that, Boo? We are an attraction now!~
@7=~Part 'o the attraction is that <CHARNAME>'s wake keeps churnin' up a freak show that puts even you and that dirt-loving nature boy to shame.~
@8=~As a crafty mackerel may avoid a fisherman who casts his lure too noisily, so I see the bait dangling before me... and will let it float by.~
@9=~Part 'o the attraction is that <CHARNAME>'s wake keeps churnin' up a freak show that puts even yer sorry hide to shame.~
@10=~Admit it. You want to know what happens to <CHARNAME>. Even you are past the money at this stage.~
@11=~Only a fool folds a hot hand when the killin' is easy and the rewards are plentiful. (sigh) But, aye, damn it all, I must know how this story ends. Even if it means lingerin' with a pink-lovin' coward.~

@12=~Here, smell this.~
@13=~What?~ [FWKL2501]
@14=~I said "smell this," ye nose-pickin' fruitcake! Yer the prancer in the robes, smell this here sash-ay, or whatever ye bloody fancy types call it, and tell me if ye think a lass or two would approve.~
@15=~(sniff) Urk...~
@16=~Where have you been keeping this?~
@17=~NO, wait, never mind, don't answer that.~
@18=~Twas in me breeches and I'll not shy from telling yer grandmam afore she goes to church! Even a hard man must try something new, from time to time.~
@19=~Perfume... doesn't strike me as the New Leaf for Korgan Bloodaxe to be turning over.~
@20=~Not that I'd expect a nancy to understand, but a lady acquaintance gave it to me, and sometimes a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.~
@21=~Kicked out of another brothel for stinking up the place, eh?~
@22=~That sort o' slander has been the death 'o bigger than ye, arsewart!~
@23=~These above-grounder waifs simply have no sense for a man who smells of his labors.~
@24=~But, Korgan, your "labors" usually involve bloody murder. Not many women I know want to go to bed with their nostrils full of slaughterhouse.~
@25=~Aye, that's as may be, but at least I'm makin' a livin'! Ask me to tell, I'll tell ye women don't know what they want and ask for it too bloody often!~
@26=~Maybe you're just not man enough to... give it to them, Korgan. Nudge nudge.~
@27=~I heard that, axebait.~

@28=~I imagine recent events have you more than a little scared, Kelsey. It's all right, you can admit it.~
@29=~I'm not sure what you're getting at, Anomen.~ [FWKL2502]
@30=~This messy business of warring Bhaalspawn. After all, the taint that gives you your strange sorcerous powers may not be all that different from <CHARNAME>'s. You may even be Bhaalspawn yourself, for all we know.~
@31=~Doubtful. Aside from the fact that my father was a very mortal man whom I knew very well and loved very much, you didn't see Irenicus chase me down, or me change into the Slayer, did you?~
@32=~Aye, but perhaps they simply have not worked their way down the list yet. Or perhaps your blot comes from an entirely different source, one whose bloody purges are still to come. I would be concerned for the future if I were you, Kelsey.~
@33=~Anomen, as much as I may have felt isolated at times, I'm hardly the first sorcerer to walk the earth.~
@34=~I survived a very high-profile trip through the very anti-magic Amn, and I think I'll be all right from this point forward.~
@35=~As you say, Kelsey. I would make quite certain to cast your protection spells at night, just in case they come for you when you sleep, if I were you.~
@36=~And if I were you, I would try to be less of a prig. Probably for the same reason.~

@37=~Hah! An embarrassment of riches!~
@38=~Counting your coins, bard?~ [FWKL2503]
@39=~Nay, mystical sandpiper. Counting my chapters! Fair truth is, mine journals are bursting at the seams with the strange and wondrous record of our journey... a tale that will be hard pressed to grow with the retelling!~
@40=~I thought nothing could compare to your home. Or so you keep telling us, night after night after night...~
@41=~Ah, yes. But my raven is truly the headline event of the multiverse, strange though it seems. This, truly, is the best seat, and the best stage, in all the worlds.~
@42=~But my Sigil is still dear. How could it not be? Why, in my Sigil, one may lunch with a glabrezu, sip tea with a succubus... the possibilities are endless.~
@43=~Dramatic license?~
@44=~Nay, fact. Fact stranger than fiction.~
@45=~Uh huh. I doubt that sort of a place is as romantic as you make it sound. I imagine the real truth is a little more like, "one may be lunched BY a glabrezu, or get sipped BY a succubus."~
@46=~Why, Kelsey, I see you emerging from your cocoon of good intentions a full-grown pessimist moth! I shall make a Doomguarder of yon sandpiper yet!~

@47=~You have done well for yourself, Kelsey. Not every young man given the magical gifts you wield would be able to resist temptation and walk the just path.~
@48=~You do realize that it's a little easier to behave when a paladin is looking over your shoulder, though, right?~ [FWKL2504]
@49=~Yes, that much is true, for a few hours. Perhaps for a day. True character tends to seep through a faade like bad ink, however.~
@50=~Then I am flattered by your expert judgement. I'll... try to keep up the good work, I suppose.~
@51=~I did not bring this up to give you a medal, Kelsey. I am concerned that while your heart is in the right place, your soul still lacks purpose.~
@52=~Worthy men must work towards a greater purpose, or they become idle, wasted, and watch impotently as the world passes them by. You must find the best exercise of your abilities.~
@53=~If you are suggesting I leave <CHARNAME>, forgive me, but you might wish to have a healer check your vision. I don't intend to leave her side. No offense, Keldorn, but the lifestyle you have chosen, away from your wife, would not suit me.~
@54=~I appreciate that the decisions I have made are not for everyone, young man. But you cannot live your life solely fighting battles for another... no matter how much you value them.~
@55=~I'm not sure what I can say that will make you feel any better, then.~
@56=~It is enough, for now. I am pleased that you and <CHARNAME> are happy together, but men of ability and purpose must do more than love. 'Twas a painful lesson to learn, but I have found that it is true.~
@57=~What are you getting at? You, yourself, seem content to pursue that greater purpose in <CHARNAME>'s company. Why should it be different for me?~
@58=~Yes, of course, you and I are in the right place today. But <CHARNAME>'s trials WILL end soon, one way or another. I will have the Order's principles, which I have lived by for decades, to guide me from that day forward. What will you have?~
@59=~If I struck you as vague or scattered in the past... well, I suppose I can see why. But the past few weeks have put the value of human life in a new perspective--for all of us, I would wager, and I think you should give me credit for seeing that.~
@60=~I don't know that I will need to belong to a club just to keep that perspective clear.~
@61=~I fear I have not exactly made my point. But, we can discuss this later. No doubt you, too, may begin to tune me out as the doddering father figure of the group.~
@62=~I doubt it would come to that. A little... fathering every once in a while is good for everybody.~

@63=~Kelsey, I make it my business to keep an eye on the group's behavior, and yours has been troubling of late. Do you need to talk about something? Are you... depressed?~
@64=~Not actively, not that I am aware of, Mazzy, why?~ [FWKL2505]
@65=~Well... several times, since we arrived in Saradush, I noticed you gazing at the ground, which is usually a sign that a human is emotionally distressed. I would like to help if that is indeed the case.~
@66=~Oh! I didn't realize anybody would notice. Sorry, no, I'm not upset about anything, Mazzy. Actually, I'm inspecting the local footwear.~
@67=~It's bizarre, I know, with everything that's going on around us, but I guess it's my merchant instincts. I've always been fascinated by the variations in what people put on their feet, based on where they live.~
@68=~Perhaps you should suspend your usual curiosity, Kelsey. We must all be alert, and I do not mean for fashion trends!~
@69=~I know, I know... but really, it is quite interesting. The thong sandals and light canvas of Saradush would never catch on in Athkatla, for example. The weather is too unpredictable, it wouldn't be practical.~
@70=~I fail to see the attraction, Kelsey. Please, try to be more focused.~
@71=~I think it says a lot about our different backgrounds that you aren't remotely interested. I suppose halfling footwear does not vary much from place to place...~
@72=~No. I should say there are few tradesmen more lonely than a halfling cobbler.~
@73=~Mmmmph. (giggle) My apologies. The image is... amusing.~
@74=~I must remember to lead with a cobbler joke if I'm ever trading with a halfling again...~

@75=~For a wizard who does not know anything about being a wizard, you know more about being a butt-kicking wizard than any wizard I have ever seen. Minsc and Boo salute you, Kelsey!~
@76=~That might be the most genuine compliment I have ever received from a man and his hamster.~ [FWKL2506]
@77=~Keep up the good work and it shall not be your last! If you are very good, Boo may deliver his next award personally! Right, Boo?~

@78=~Kelsey... what's wrong? You're bleeding! Did--oh no, did I forget to heal you after our last battle?~
@79=~No, Aerie, it's all right. It's just my nose, I get little nosebleeds from time to time. I have ever since I was a boy. I don't think it's anything you need to worry about.~ [FWKL2507]
@80=~Are you sure? A little curing spell really is no trouble... you know I like to help.~
@81=~No, it's fine. In a strange way, I kind of like them. They remind me of my father.~
@82=~Oh, did he have trouble with nosebleeds, too?~
@83=~No, but whenever I had one, he would say that it was because I was thinking too hard, and my brains were trying to shove through my nose.~
@84=~That was funny... the first dozen times, then I just thought he was dumb to keep making the same joke over and over. But I wish he was still around to say it.~
@85=~I understand what you mean. There were so many beautiful things about my home that I took for granted... until it was gone.~
@86=~But if we keep talking about this I'll probably start crying, while you bleed all over your shirt. That wouldn't... look right.~
@87=~That's okay, if <CHARNAME> asks I'll just tell <PRO_HIMHER> I owed you money, and you hit me until I paid up. Then you felt guilty about the whole thing.~
@88=~Don't you dare!~

@89=~Oh, Kelsey... I have been having the s-strangest dreams lately.~
@90=~So have I, now that you mention it.~ [FWKL2508]
@91=~In my dreams, you and <CHARNAME> return with me to Faenya-Dail. O-Only... only instead of wings and clouds, my people now live underwater and breathe through gills, except the water floats above the land...~
@92=~Uh huh...~
@93=~A-And... and instead of hating me for losing my wings, everyone is asking why I don't have gills. And we try to eat in the water but we don't know how and it just turns into a terrible mess.~
@94=~I guess it's kind of silly. I think I worry too much about what the Avariel would think of me now, when it doesn't matter... n-not really.~
@95=~Well, it's no sillier than the dream I had last night. You were in that one, as a matter of fact.~
@96=~Oh?~
@97=~Mine, uh, isn't quite as interesting as yours. I can't remember all the details, but I seem to remember that I was doing the "got your nose" trick on you for about 15 minutes and you got really mad at me.~
@98=~You said you wanted your nose back, and would never talk to me again.~
@99=~(laughs) Oh, Kelsey, that is ridiculous! I'd never fall for that trick, and even if I did, I wouldn't get that mad about it.~
@100=~I know. I think I need a vacation.~
@101=~Well, let's go somewhere where we don't have to eat underwater!~
@102=~Oh, Aerie... you really make me smile. If only things were a little different...~
@103=~Wh-what? What do you mean?~
@104=~Nothing. Forget I said anything.~

@105=~Kelsey, about last night... was that really the best you could do?~
@106=~Maybe I am a little out of practice, but I don't usually get complaints. You certainly didn't complain at the time, Viconia... you seemed quite relieved.~ [FWKL2509]
@107=~I am complaining now, weakling. Your efforts were so timid and halting. Just recalling your inept movements makes me physically ill.~
@108=~I was simply trying to be gentle with you, considering the circumstances.~
@109=~The thought of you glowering over me, scanning my exposed flesh, will haunt my daydreams for weeks.~
@110=~Viconia, you came to me! I made no promises. If you were so desperate and you wanted it done right, why didn't you just do it yourself?~
@111=~I mean, whoever heard of a high priestess of Shar who can't get a splinter out of her own foot?~
@112=~You will know suffering before our days together are through, Kelsey. Suffering, and blackness.~

@113=~Valygar, perhaps when things settle down a touch, you will let me buy you dinner.~ [FWKL2510]
@114=~I have been responsible for feeding myself for decades. I see no reason to turn that duty over to you.~
@115=~Then how about I simply buy you a drink?~
@116=~I won't be thirsty. I take care of that myself as well.~
@117=~Then what can I do for you that will end with us having a nice pleasant chat like friends should, rather than the usual one-way flow of growls and stares that would be all I would remember you for if you vanished tomorrow morning?~
@118=~I have no intention of letting you or anyone else buy my friendship.~
@119=~You mistake our service together as a reason for us to become close friends.~
@120=~What's wrong with you and I being friends?~
@121=~You should know by now how I feel about magic. I respect that you did not choose to be born with your curse, but you did choose to make it a part of you, rather than fight it.~
@122=~You know as well as I that you have embraced the powers. You know as well as I where they can lead.~
@123=~I think you have let your family's reign of terror cloud your vision. What about Elminster? He has tremendous power, and works for what I think you would agree is right. Is he the maniacal baby-eater you think I will become?~

@124=~Oh, Kelsey... you are a man of business, are you not? Well, Jan Jansen has a business proposition for you.~
@125=~Let me guess. Turnips Express. Ground-floor opportunity. Unlimited growth potential. Only needs 5000 gold to capitalize, and another few thousand to hire employees, build wagons, bribe local officials and build the catapults that will launch the turnips to customers all across the Sword Coast?~ [FWKL2511]
@126=~What? Have you been reading my diary?~
@127=~No, this isn't about turnips, my boy. I want you to think big, really big, like Alton Murahh's Great Turnip Harvest big. Kelsey, my boy, once we've wrapped up this Bhaal business, how's about we set our sights on elevating you to extra-planar power as well? I think you and I would make one heck of a team.~
@128=~Not that I'm taking you seriously, Jan, but I would think <CHARNAME>'s trials are a lesson to us all that some power just isn't worth the price.~
@129=~Tsk, tsk. Not at all. <CHARNAME> is going about this business the hard way.~
@130=~No offense, of course, your potential omnipotenceness.~
@131=~Okay. Enlighten me. What's the shortcut to godhood?~
@132=~Glad you asked. You see, it's all about having the portfolio. You get the portfolio, and you get the rest of the godly goods. How did Cyric become a god? He snatched Bhaal's murder portfolio. The gods are very sensitive about their important portfolios and they cling greedily to them and they won't even let you borrow them as a favor after you've let them use your summer home every year for five years running. I'm still not sure I'll ever speak to Selune again. Some people just have no sense of reciprocation.~
@133=~But let's face it, everybody and everything needs a deity, but not all of the portfolios are as sexy as the rest, or even deserve having their own gods to look after them. So--and this is the good part--the gods put these lesser portfolios into a pool, and every six months they hold a lottery to see who gets stuck moonlighting as the patron of smelly cheeses, or hangnail sufferers, or wombat breeders.~
@134=~So where do we come in?~
@135=~I should have thought it would be obvious to a career bureaucrat like yourself by now! Paperwork being what it is, some of it inevitably gets lost from time to time and and hardly anybody cares. It just so happens that I know a deva who's very dissatisfied with the paper-pushing grind. I don't think it would take much at all on our part to convince her to simply, ah, lose one of those portfolios, which will just HAPPEN to turn up in your possession a short while later!~
@136=~So this grand scheme is designed to make me the new lord of stubbed toes? Won't whoever drew that job make me fight to the death for it, like Bhaal and Cyric?~
@137=~Less chance of that than Golodon winning the "Man of the Year" award! Whoever drew it will be happy to let you have it, since he'll have more free time to spend at the astral craps tables. Some of your more stuffed-shirt types like Helm will probably cry foul once our brilliant ruse is inevitably detected, but possession is at least nine-tenths of the law even for the gods.~
@138=~I... see. So, what's your angle on this, Jan? You said it was a business deal.~
@139=~Well, a new god is going to need an advisor, an aide-de-camp, someone to manage the boring details... sorting through prayers, conducting long, in-depth interviews with candidates for High Priestess, and so forth. I've always admired great powers behind great thrones, and if you'll allow a compliment from your humble-servant-to-be, that melon on your shoulders has "friendly, pliable figurehead" written all over it.~
@140=~Wow. I've heard of social climbing, but really, Jan, that's ridiculous.~
@141=~Can't blame a gnome for trying.~
@142=~Let me know soon if you want in, otherwise I'm going to have to offer this opportunity to my second choice, Binky over there. This time the plan will be simpler... less chance of gumming up the works with those finer details, eh, Binky?~
@143=~I hope you enjoy eating your lunch through a straw, gnome.~
@144=~Let me know soon if you want in, otherwise I'm going to have to offer this opportunity to my second choice. Say, Aerie, ever considered the advantages of godhood? You'll never have to do your own laundry again.~
@145=~Oh, Jan. Sometimes I think you're just too silly for your own good.~
@146=~Was that a "maybe"?~
@147=~Let me know soon if you want in, otherwise I'm going to have to offer this opportunity to my second choice, Our Lady of Poison Sumac over there. How about it, Jaheira? You, me, and the celestial expanses?~
@148=~If I could only go to heaven with a Jansen, I might choose not to go at all. Somehow I do not find appealing the prospect of enduring your yammering for eternity.~
@149=~Don't knock it until you try it, my dear.~
@150=~Let me know soon if you want in, otherwise I'm going to have to offer this opportunity to my second choice, Korgan, who I'm sure will jump at the opportunity.~
@151=~Aye, and we'll nay be having talk o' "figureheads" unless you figure on losing yours, gnome! Ahhh, but yer heart is in the right place, even if yer mouth be full o' the usual manure.~

@152=~You. I don't know you, sorcerer. You were not with my dear sibling when we... settled our differences.~ 
@153=~No, I wasn't. Our acquaintance is more... recent. Why don't I get the impression you're pleased to know me now?~ [FWKL2512]
@154=~Your service to <CHARNAME> is between you and <PRO_HESHE>. I simply find it interesting that <PRO_HISHER> cast of supporting players has changed somewhat.~
@155=~Well, you would have to ask <PRO_HIMHER> for the precise details, but it's my understanding that a fair number of <PRO_HISHER> former companions turned up dead in Amn. Irenicus murdered some, and I believe things went downhill from there.~
@156=~Fascinating. Truly fascinating, that my <PRO_BROTHERSISTER>'s wake of death and destruction crushes even those who seek refuge in <PRO_HISHER> shadow. Does that not trouble you?~
@157=~Only when you put it in such an over-dramatic fashion. Some of us are still alive. And the premium <CHARNAME> seems to place on your well-being cannot help but inspire us all.~
@158=~<CHARNAME> needs me more than you can know, sorcerer. Do not presume to consider yourself my equal, on any level.~

@159=~Sarevok...~ [FWKL2513]
@160=~Before you ask your question, be aware that I punish stupid questions with sharp edges.~
@161=~(ahem)... having been... dead for a while, was there anything you... you know... missed?~
@162=~You mean, did I long for the sound of chirping birds, the smell of flowers, that nonsense?~
@163=~Yes, that nonsense, if you like.~
@164=~The experience was not something I care to explain to you. You have no frame of reference, and mine is rapidly fading from memory.~
@165=~But surely there was something different? Something memorable?~
@166=~I missed... I realized, very early on, that I missed breathing. As will you. And once you start missing it, it will be very difficult to stop thinking about.~
@167=~Now take a deep breath, and leave me be.~

@168=~... come on, Jaheira. There must be something.~ [FWKL2514]
@169=~Leave it be, Kelsey. I have no time for this.~
@170=~Poker? Hearts?~
@171=~No, and no.~
@172=~Bridge? Canasta?~
@173=~... no.~
@174=~Fizbin? Double Fanucci?~
@175=~No!~
@176=~Come on, something. Anything. Three-card monty? Who can't spare a few minutes of their life to play three-card monty? I'll even let you win, I'll make them ALL the queen.~
@177=~Stop.~
@178=~I don't understand why you're so opposed to relaxing and having fun. I'm not making an indecent proposal, here, just trying to find a card game you might enjoy playing this evening. Who doesn't like playing cards?~
@179=~Kelsey, I am not your playmate. Take up juggling if you need to be entertained.~
@180=~I'm lousy at it. I'm lousy at cards, too, but at least that's something people can be lousy at together.~
@181=~Aaaagh! Enough.~
@182=~Enough what?~
@183=~... Very well. IF I am not too tired, we can play poker this evening. Knaves or better to open, chase the ace. And I deal.~
@184=~Ahah! I knew it!~

@185=~I cannot believe that the power you have accumulated still has provided you no vision or purpose.~
@186=~Oh, I don't know, Edwin. It has given me the vision to see what a nasty little grub you are, and renewed my purpose not to end up that way myself.~ [FWKL2515]
@187=~(Peasant trickster.) Just stand there grinning and say "thank you, sir, may I have another?"~

@188=~Kelsey, do you have time for a... philosophical question?~ [FWKLNA00]
@189=~I have time for a lot more than that for you, Nalia.~ [FWKL2516]
@190=~Oh, please.~ [FWKLNA01]

@191=~I don't know that I'm one of the great thinkers of our time, but... sure.~ [FWKL2517]
@192=~Define the word "enough." As you prepare your answer, please consider your position both as a mage and as a member of the petty bourgeoisie.~ [FWKLNA02]
@193=~Enough as in what? Enough food, enough happiness, enough sex, what?~
@194=~Just "enough." What does "enough" mean, to you?~
@195=~Well, enough is having more than you need, but not so much that you appear greedy. Enough is being satisfied... maybe even a little complacent. It's good to have enough.~
@196=~I see. Fascinating. Anything else?~
@197=~Enough... well, it would be nice if everybody had enough of everything, although I think that might get pretty strange since wanting is sometimes better than having.~
@198=~Yes, all very interesting.~
@199=~So how does Miss deArnise define "enough"?~
@200=~That would be telling.~
@201=~What? If that's the way you're going to be, next time you're paying by the hour for my insights.~