Quote: Originally posted by fable
Aren't you told the same thing regardless of your PC's profession? I played a good cleric once (just for a short while; mage types are my metier), and fooling Sir Sarles didn't appear to hurt his alignment. I suspect this kind of moral ambiguity is not exactly within Bioware's frame of reference.  |
Non-clerics are approached by the temple of Helm so they would not get the message from the priest of Lathander. I presume clerics of Talos are given specific instructions to lie to Sarles. I doubt any alignment change would occur, I am just worried about sabotaging the cleric stronghold. When you played a good cleric, did you do the stronghold quest?
@VonDondu: As usual, we are on the same page with regard to the philosophical issues. However, there are some complications with my character who is a CG Cleric dualed to Thief at level 3. My take on the matter is:
As a young girl Lorelei was groomed for the priesthood, but very early on her willful and independent nature thwarted her commitment to any particular deity. (This probably gave rise to the vicious rumors that she was tainted with the blood of Bhaal -- a rumor that Sarevok, and later Irenicus, evidently took all too seriously.) After leaving Candlekeep she attempted to continue her profession, using her clerical powers to disperse the undead of the fallen priest Bassilus. However after encountering Mulahey, she began to lose heart. Evidently her sheltered life in Candlekeep had not prepared her for two encounters with wicked priests in such a short time. She abandoned her faith and began to practice the ways of the thief, eventually entering the guild at Baldur's Gate. There followed a dark period in which she was unable to practice the skills of her old profession, but somewhere along the line she found that she could still manage a few minor healings and had retained her power over the lesser undead.
Shortly before her abduction by Jon Irenicus (or perhaps coincident with it, her memory is understandably cloudy on this point) she had a vision in which she seemed to see her personality laid out as a series of charts. She seemed to be given a choice between maintaining her old agnosticism or clinging to the god Lathander. She chose the latter and received some minor spiritual blessings, but still could not commit herself to renewing her priestly vows. Shortly after escaping from Irenicus' dungeon, she encountered the proud knight-in-training Anomen, and seems to be falling for him. (One is not quite certain what she sees in him, but perhaps she is atoning vicariously by supporting his priestly advancement which she abandoned in her own life.)
Having witnessed the despicable rantings of the false prophet Gaal, she was accosted by the High Priest of Lathander (whose name and precise title she cannot recall at the moment, but it will come to her). He seemed to be under the impression that she was still a practicing cleric, perhaps because of the manner of her dress or by some more mystical discernment. In the course of her discussion with him, she found herself agreeing to aid in destroying the heretical cult and there was a hint that perhaps a place could be found for her on the staff of the temple. This idea is attractive to her as she really does want to help people and has confined her thieving to the wicked and undeserving (...well, for the most part, anyway). But she is understandably embarassed at admitting to the professional path she has taken and which she is not quite ready to abandon just yet. (In fact she is strongly tempted to try to find out what is hidden in that safe in the East wing of the temple -- just out of curiosity, you understand.)
In her moral confusion, she turned for advice to Dawnbringer Sain and found herself even more deeply compromised. She now has been asked to commission an idol from the technically brilliant but morally ambiguous Sir Sarles. While she would like to honor the god who so recently delivered her from the hands of the evil Irenicus, she is not quite sure this Sarles is the fellow to do it. She feels reasonably sure she could find a way to use that illithium to better purpose, and has a vague suspicion that there is a craftsman in town that will help her do it. However, she is not sure that the rigid priests will see it that way. They often seem not to reason morally as human beings but to be following some sort of Script. She just cannot tell if her actions will be interpreted by that Script to be dishonoring to the deity. She really does not want to bring scandal to the temple and would not willingly jeopardize what may her last chance to serve in an official capacity in her original vocation.
Her current idea is to follow her own instinct and simply delay telling anyone about any problems that arise until she has done all the good that she can. She recognizes that her stay in Athkatla will be limited in any event, and she feels reasnoably certain that her great wisdom (the previously mentioned vision indicated 20 out of a possible 18, whatever that means) will allow her to deal with any complications. However, she would hate to forgo the Experience of providing a new image for the temple and any subsequent quests that might result, if such delay is not really necessary.