Aerie

This article is about the avariel elf. For other uses, see Aerie (disambiguation).

This article or section is about elements from the

Baldur's Gate series of games.

These materials are considered canon unless they contradict content in some other Forgotten Realms publication.

Aerie was a female avariel, a race of winged elves, who was crippled by her wings being cut off, forcing her to remain earthbound for the rest of her life.^[1]^[2]

History

Aerie's earliest life was spent apparently happily in Faenya-Dail, one of the few remaining cities of her people. However, she was captured by slavers (apparently still at a young age) when she swooped down from flight to rescue a child fleeing from them. They sold her to a circus, where she was kept on display and in a cage so small she had no room to stand, much less stretch her wings, which eventually became diseased. The infection threatened her life, which was saved in a very crude manner by painfully chopping off the wings.

The circus had no more use for her after this, but the gnome called Quayle continued to take care of her as he had during her captivity—though he could do nothing to restore her wings. The pair of them continued traveling with a circus that may not have been the same one, until it arrived in Athkatla and set up a circus tent in Waukeen's Promenade. While they were there, their disgruntled illusionist Kalah used powers of unknown origin to turn the inside of the tent into a world of deadly illusions, turning Aerie into the likeness of an ogre and chaining her magically to prevent her from escaping.

It was at this point that Gorion's Ward and his party arrived at the Promenade, and met her.^[1]^[2]

Personality

Aerie came across as very naive, caring and needy at the same time. She was a cleric as well as mage, learning from Quayle to serve the gnomish god Baervan Wildwanderer; she no longer felt quite worthy of approaching her old winged goddess Aerdrie Faenya. Her wingless state left her feeling generally unworthy and useless, which she gradually got over.

Besides this preoccupation with her own problems, she was very empathetic to anyone else's plight and always eager to help.^[1]^[2]

Appendix

Notes

Aerie was voiced by Kath Soucie.
Aerie was a playable character and potential love interest in the game Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn and its expansion Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. Her confiding about her problems to a male player character can potentially lead to a romance. If in the party together with Minsc, she may develop a special bond with him, becoming his new "witch" in place of Dynaheir, whom he couldn't protect. If Haer'Dalis was present, she might also fall for him, possibly ending up having to choose between him and the protagonist, but will eventually leave Haer'Dalis due to the irreconcilable differences in their respective alignments.
In Throne of Bhaal, Aerie may have the protagonist's child (in a very accelerated time frame). If they are together at the end of the game, he will subsequently help her find Faenya-Dail and her family again some time in the future. Otherwise, she will go on a crusade against slavers.