Talk:Jaheira

Bias
The language used in the wiki article describing the novel is hardly unbiased. I've never read the novels and I could tell whoever wrote it had an intense dislike and their personal feelings were getting involved. I'd just want to raise some polite reminders about professionalism and keeping things objective.

Not that the novels sound amazing to me, but my feelings on the topic is irrelevant. This is a neutral source of knowledge, so let's leave our outraged cries at the door. --124.171.47.176 06:36, September 27, 2011 (UTC)

Order
Would anyone mind terribly if I switched the order of the "games" and "novels" subsections so that that the infobox/portraits could be more appropriately placed at the top? Johnnyriot999 08:50, 25 September 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm happy to have an excuse to have the games first. Ville V. Kokko 17:36, 25 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I'd like to start putting the game subsections first on the other Baldur's Gate articles as well, well those that appeared in both the game and novel. I mean, I just have no liking whatsoever for that novel series. It would have been so easy to include an ambiguous adventurer instead of the completely uninspired Abdel Adrian. Anyways I'm done ranting and I dont want to step on what is pretty much your area of expertise so I thought I'd ask your opinion first. Johnnyriot999 04:43, 26 September 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. I read one paragraph from the novel, refused to follow it. IMO, I spent my money on the game, my PC's story is the canon and in that version, Jaheira was kickass, Minsc played a huge part, Imoen became an ultra powerful arch-mage and my ranger and Jaheira are hitting it nightly.

This is exactly what this is about!!! Athans is wannabe-omnipresent authority figure! I mean... since when did the bleeping woman named Jaheira get portaraied as a silly goose with an affinity for screaming?

One last comment.
The WOTC and FR maintainers are adamant about the "canon" of this fictional world. I'm assuming they meant the pantheon canon, which is fine. Lets keep in mind, there are ways to maintain this canon that do not require us to abide by the idiotic tripe of third rate writers who lacked any real vision for the protagonist and his companions and wrote a series of bad cliche's.
 * Your description of Athans's work is heartwarming, but your meaning eludes me. Ville V. Kokko 21:14, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

I suppose what I'm saying WOTC and the FR maintainers are really disparaging literary work with regard to fantasy by dictating how the story should be. Imoen dies? Jaheira's in an unhappy marriage, because Khalid cheated on her, the protagonist cheats on her but she's accepting...I'll use the base idea for FR, but I think the maintainers have extremely limited vision.

I hope you aren't too much of a fan of the author of BG's novel too much, because I have yet to read anything coming off the old TSR press or WOTC press now, that is worth a dime. It really is some the worst reading ever. I tried reading the avatar series to gain a perspective on the background for BG. I got 1/3 into the first book and that was forcing myself. If the one paragraph I read was indicative of the novel as a whole...gawd awful crap.
 * Well, you can't expect the novel to be exactly like how you played the game, can you? The game is all about being as open-ended as possible, so everyone can create a "story" of their own - if you tried to do that with a novel, you'd have 300 pages of inconclusive beating-about-the-bush because you can't do anything meaningful with any of the characters. P.s. please remember to sign your comments by adding four tiddles ( ~ ) at the end of your message, thank you, and welcome to the wiki. Zerak talk 01:13, 29 November 2007 (UTC)


 * Well, I do think it's unfortunate... no, wait, that's not the right word, "infuriating" comes closer... how awful Athans's version of the story is (and though there are single paragraphs that do indeed reveal that all in one go, I doubt you have any real idea of just how horrible it is). But canon is canon, unfortunately.
 * And yes, Shadowdale is quite bad. Then again, what I read from R. A. Salvatore until I got fed up with his continuing witht he same characters forever was often very good. Ville V. Kokko 12:43, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

Philip Athans manages to so blatantly contradict what is written in the game canon that practically none of it can really be considered canon anyway. Not that the canon due to the nature of the game is very limiting; but even then Philip Athans managed to screw. --Cliffracerslayer 10:48, February 3, 2011 (UTC)

Silvanus or Mielikki?
Was Jaheira druid of Silvanus or Mielikki?
 * Jaheira doesn't worship a specific nature god in the game. She follows them all under the concept of Balance. I've not read the novel so can't source from there but Phillip Athans listed her faith as Mielikki in Dragon #262. --hashtalk 13:42 30th August 2008
 * You have to choose a god in FR, don't you? (3rd edition sourcebook p. 39: "Fearûnian characters nearly always have a patron deity. Everyone in Faerûn knows that those who die without having a patron deity to escort them to their proper judgement in the land of the dead spend eternity writhing in the Walls of the Faithless, or disappear into the hells of the devils or the infernos of the demons.") Jaheira speaks exclusively of Silvanus in the games. In the books, she prays to Mielikki. I'm not sure why, but it probably has something to with with Athans being dumb. Ville V. Kokko 07:38, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Not quite true. Each person has a patron deity (unless your one of the faithless) BUT all beings offer prays to a variety of gods. You might be a worshiper of Helm and offer a quick prayer to Torm just before you set off on a journey accreoss the water to ward off storms. The flip side is the game and novel people stuffed up and we'll never know Hurtzbad 09:37, 31 August 2008 (UTC)
 * I know that. But it doesn't mean someone can worship a general idea to the extent you can speak of them not worshipping any particular god. And I'd say we have a pretty safe bet about the patron when a character only refers to one deity, and repeatedly. Ville V. Kokko 09:54, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

Jaheira is a druid of Silvanus. Because that is the only God she ever mentions in the game. But generally Jaheira seems not very religious in anything but a pantheistic sense. But that is the difference between Druids and Clerics anyway I guess. --Cliffracerslayer 10:57, February 3, 2011 (UTC)