Commoner (Beregost)


 * Currently,2019-04-23 this article is written from an Enhanced Edition only point of view.

"You'll get nothing from me!"

The streets of Beregost are teeming with commoners, some of whom even stay out the whole night; the numerous inns and taverns are full of them; and each and everybody also seems to have their own home in town. All of them are true neutral humans in Baldur's Gate, all of them are innocents.

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.

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 change 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."


 * "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."


 * "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."


 * "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."


 * "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?"


 * "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."


 * "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."


 * "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?"


 * "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."


 * "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."


 * "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!"


 * "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..."
 * "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."
 * "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."
 * "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..."
 * "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!"


 * "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."


 * "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."


 * "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."


 * "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."
 * "What's been going on down in Nashkel?"
 * "From what I've heard, there's some sort of trouble happening at the mines southeast of there."
 * "Where we go, excitement follows."
 * "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."
 * "I'm just a simple little lady, I don't know much at all."

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.


 * "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."


 * "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."


 * "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."


 * "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..."


 * "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?"
 * "Why yes, that would indeed be us. Thank you for noticing."
 * "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 […]!"
 * "Maybe, maybe not. If we were them, perhaps we'd want to keep a low profile."
 * "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!"


 * "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."

Males' quotes
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 * "Travelers, huh? You're the first group to come into town all day. Not many have braved the roads since all the trouble started up. We've seen only ten new faces in the last month. Found a lot of bodies, unfortunately."


 * "Damn it, my plow broke apart like it had rusted-out in a single overnight. How's a man supposed to get any work done and make his living? Can't keep prices down if I have to plant everything by hand."


 * "All those new tools I bought turned brittle as clay. I'm starting to believe the tales about this faulty iron that's been being sold. We're going to be in a sorry state when all our old tools and weapons wear out."


 * "I'm moving out soon, what with all the rumors about Amn going about. I hear they have an army down in Nashkel. Gonna use the Friendly Arm to launch against the Gate, I hear. Hopefully I'm gone by then."


 * "You don't go believing every little thing being bandied about. A lot of it is just people getting worried 'bout nothing. Those gossips in Beregost are always coming up with new rumors to tell travelers. Us here at the Friendly Arm, we should have more sense."


 * "I think it's those Zhentarim who've been causing all the problems 'round these parts. Amn don't have a real reason to invade, so it don't make any sense thinking they are behind it. Zhents don't need a reason though, and a lot of clues point to them too."


 * "Lots of work in Nashkel I hears, but I says no 'cause I ain't going down no mine. You gotta be a fool to work underground at the best of times, but you would be completely crazy to do it now."


 * "Tain't even safe to travel to Nashkel no more. I've been stuck here for weeks upon weeks. Nothing to do but sit and drink. Not that I'd do much different anywhere else, but I'd like to have the option."


 * "Now I canna even afford a sword to do the fools work o' adventuring. Weapons ain't cheap like they used to be, and chances are they would break pretty quick too. Something seems to be wrong with the metal."


 * "I'm in no mood to speak with you. Get out of me face."


 * "I've troubles enough without strangers in my face. If I want to chat I'll come see you first thing, but for now I just want to be left alone."


 * "Unless you're buying the drinks I'd suggest you leave me be. I ain't got nothing to say to you."


 * "I had me a friend that asked one o' them smarty-pants mages why they didn't just conjure great walls o' iron out o' the air. That there mage looked my friend square in the eyes, and asked him how secure he'd feel if the guard were outfitted in weapons and armor that was dispellable with nary a wink. I hate magic. Makes me nervous."


 * "The iron crisis has taken everybody off guard. Why plan for a shortage when the resource is nearly unlimited? I guess we're paying for it now. I guarantee that if we survive through this it will never happen again. People will be hoarding metal for months."


 * "My father's farm is at a standstill. One by one his tools break, and replacements are priced incredibly high. If we don't get a good stock of ore before harvest, crops will be rotting in the fields. Can't manage a farm with your bare hands."


 * "Used to be a bandit, I was. More money there than in the mines at Nashkel, that's fer sure. Probably less danger, too, from the sounds of it."
 * "You were a bandit, were you?"
 * "That I was, and I ain't afraid to say it neither. But those bandits out there now, they're different, I tell ya. They've got a mean streak in 'em and their minds set on taking over the whole area... Most of my old pals have gone missin', and I don't like it one bit. That's why I'm holed up here. I've been good to Bentley and Gellana in the past, so now it's their turn to look after me."
 * "What's so dangerous about the Nashkel mines?"
 * "Well, if you believed every tale you heard, you'd have to say the King of the Nine Hells himself were down at the bottom of it, smoking a pipe and making the place comfortable. To be honest, I don't know what's down there. All I know is that a lot of the folks who work in that infernal place don't ever make it back up to the surface."


 * "Hey there, newcomer. You'll do fine here at the Friendly Arm, as long as you don't get on the bad side of Bentley and Gellana. Just a friendly bit of advice fer the bunch of you."
 * "We don't intend to get on anyone's bad side."
 * "That's good, pal. I'm glad ye're not the troublemaking kind that mercenaries usually turn out to be."
 * "Who are these people, Bentley and Gellana?"
 * "Gellana and Bentley are husband and wife. They've run the Friendly Arm for as long as anyone can remember. Bentley likes to tend the bar in the inn, while his wife Gellana is the high priestess at the temple to Garl Glittergold. They're real good people."


 * "Sorry, buddy, but I'm just simple folk and don't know anything about politics and such." -->