Sand and Shadow

I decided to write this simply because I find the lack of female romance options in Neverwinter Nights 2 to be a travesty. Don't get me wrong, I adore Casavir, and Bishop is fun to flirt with, but Bishop isn't even technically a romance option, so we're left with our beautifully angsty Paladin of Tyr. However, I think there is a lot of potential for the other characters to interact with the Knight Captain. This is what I would imagine would happen if one of us were suddenly thrown into the game we're so fond of.

Disclaimer: I don't own NWN2, although it'd be freakin' awesome if I did.

(P.S. If any of you have read my other stories, fictionaL dimensions & The Curse of Mortality, I may not have updated in a while, but rest assured I have not forgotten them and they WILL be finished, I swear on Will Wheaton.)

Chapter 1: Cheat Codes

Sophie Holland absolutely loved Saturdays. She was never scheduled for work on weekends, and very few people called on her to do anything - considering she was an antisocial hermit who would rather sit in the dark and marathon Lord of the Rings than go out and actually socialize - so she had the entire day to herself. First on her list of things to do was sleep in as long as her body would physically allow. She'd more often than not stay up late reading some fantasy novel, so in most cases she could easily last until noon. When her hunger and bladder eventually forced her out of bed, she'd relieve herself, eat whatever monstrosity was still in her fridge, and sit down in her favorite chair. Finally, she'd relax and either read, write, draw, watch Netflix, or – her favorite pastime of the lot – play video games.

Today was one such day. She sunk down into her second-hand swivel chair and gave a wide, satisfying yawn. She may have had the apartment to herself, but she only ever really spent time in her bedroom, so she liked to think of it as her own personal dungeon. She sighed, leaning back, "Why is the world so boring," she spoke to the empty air around her, "everything is so much more interesting in stories. I can't wait for full-dive virtual reality to finally be invented."

With another yawn, Sophie opened her laptop and perused her options. She had recently finished playing Pillars of Eternity for the second time in a row, so it was time to start another game. Sadly, she was not made of money, and her asshole landlord had a tendency to bleed her dry of every spare cent she had. Recently she'd had a dog over for no more than three days, watching it for a friend, and he somehow found out. He'd fined her nearly $500 just for that, so she had absolutely no spending money at the moment. That meant she'd be replaying one of the games she already owned. This of course was alright with her, she loved to revisit beautiful places like the ones in her games.

This time she'd decided to go with one of her old favorites: Neverwinter Nights 2. This was one she had played so many times that she knew practically every outcome the game could get to. Each scenario, each character, and what they would do whether or not they liked her. Of course, that didn't stop her from choosing to play as her favorite type of character, though. For the third time since buying the game – this being the thirteenth time she'd played it overall – she decided to be a chaotic good, female, moon-elf wizard. Of course, from about the fourth time she'd played she nearly always used cheat codes, so she essentially felt like a god playing with puppets.

The first thing she did logging in was to give herself five extra levels. She didn't want to go as high as it would allow yet, that would take all the fun out of the first chapter. Once she'd given her character this boon, she also added her favorite item: the "instrument of death" which was essentially an eternal item that gave her an infinite number of some of the higher-level spells like Weird and Wail of the Banshee. That way she knew she'd never run out of firepower in the middle of a fight. A few magical weapons here, a ring of wizardry there, and she was ready to go. She added her second favorite cheat: "Irolltwenties" which gave her an enchanted blade with a high chance of critical hits, and gave her character 20 in every statistic – essentially assuring she would succeed at everything she tried – and she was ready to go.

Before Sophie exited the webpage with all the cheat codes on it, she noticed something that she could have sworn wasn't there the last time she'd played, or any time before for that matter. She squinted at the tiny lettering and made out the characters, "dm_NWN2_firstperson0013" but the webpage didn't say what it did. She tilted her head, curious. Maybe it changes the camera from bird's eye view to first person, she thought.

Sophie decided to try it. Saving her game just in case she didn't like the change, she entered debug mode and typed in the code. Exiting debug mode, she checked for any change on the screen. Nothing was different. She sighed and shrugged. Must be another dud cheat. Tons of them don't work at all.

That's when Sophie realized that she hadn't pressed play yet. Rolling her eyes at her own stupidity, she reached over and casually pressed the spacebar.

The next words out of her mouth were simple, "What the hell…?"

In the blink of an eye, her surroundings had changed from her cozy, too-cluttered room to that of a small, muddy town that smelled of sweat, mold, and a hint of manure. People were bustling about cheerfully to where different stations had set up. There was a pen of pigs – one of which was remarkably bigger than the rest – a fenced-in area where two people appeared to be fist-fighting for a cheering crowd, and various other stations that the townsfolk seemed to be enjoying.

Sophie knew exactly where she was, but her brain was having a hard time processing it. So, while her mind attempted to catch up with her eyes, she merely stood there gawking, taking in the impossibility that was – what could only be – the village of West Harbor.

"Alea," someone shouted as they ran towards her. Sophie recognized him at once. It was Bevil. But who was Alea? She didn't remember any characters by that name. There was of course Amy, but she was coming toward Sophie right alongside Bevil. After a moment staring at their expectant gazes, she realized they were referring to her. Alea Stormrun was the name of the character she had just created.

Okay, Sophie – or rather Alea – thought to herself, either I'm finally having a nervous breakdown and they'll soon be hauling me off to a mental facility, or I'm dreaming. In any case, I hope there is Wi-Fi.

"Um… Alea? You okay?" Amie looked at Alea in concern. She'd been staring at them like her and Bevil had worms crawling out of their ears for a solid minute.

Alea shook herself out of her stupor and looked at them again, finally speaking, "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Good morning Amy, Bevil." She nodded to each of them in turn, then quickly turned around and bolted through the nearest door she could find, slamming it shut behind her. Unlike in the game, it did not pull up a loading screen. Instead, she walked right into a remarkably clean house, considering the amount of mud that had already clung to her boots merely from standing outside. She realized this must be Daeghun's – and by extension her – home. Daeghun had situated himself at a table and was eating some sort of bread when he heard her come in. He turned to look at her with a questioning glance.

Clearly, he picked up on her panic because he raised an eyebrow asking, "Is something the matter, foster-daughter?"

All Alea could do was stare at him in wonder. Daeghun was easily the most beautiful creature she had ever laid her eyes on. He had the obvious air of age, but his skin was as smooth as silk, with his hair looked just as soft. She stood with her mouth open, not realizing she had left him without an answer. She may have had an active imagination, but her dreams had never been this vivid before.

"Close your mouth, Alea, immediately. Tell me what troubles you."

Alea snapped her mouth shut, unsure of how to respond. She was saved from having to when someone knocked gently on the door. "Um… I'll get that," she said, and quickly turned to reopen the door that he had only just barely slammed shut.

It was Bevil and Amie, looking at her worriedly. "I- uh... I need a minute. You two go on without me, I'll… catch up."

Amie looked astonished, "But I thought you were looking forward to the fair. This is our last year to compete, remember? You can't just back out now, you'll never get another chance."

"Yeah," Bevil confirmed, "are you felling alright?"

"No," Alea answered honestly, "Not really. Please, I'll be out in a few minutes, I promise." Without another word, she shut the door and turned to her used-to-be-virtual foster-father. She cleared her throat nervously, then asked, "Daegun, do we have a mirror?"

He merely looked at her in that cold, but somehow still fatherly way, and answered, "If I am not mistaken, you have a rather large mirror in your bedroom, do you not?"

Alea flushed, "Uh, right, yes, of course," she paused, then said, "I'll be right back," before bolting up a small flight of stairs into what she hoped was her room. It didn't take long to spot the large mirror hanging on the wall near the window. What she saw made her heart stop.

Standing before her was not the lanky, flat-chested human woman she was accustomed to seeing. Instead, staring back at her with an expression equal parts horror, confusion and wonder, was a stunningly beautiful elf woman whose face vaguely resembled her own. Her skin was ivory, with the slightest hint of blue, and her hair was a shimmering midnight purple, so dark it looked nearly black. Looking at her was a pair of large, striking silver eyes. She reached up to touch her cheek and found the skin there to be incredibly delicate, but smoother than her face had ever felt. She didn't have a single blemish. Her hands were dainty, and all the callouses she had earned were gone. Running her fingers through her now waist-length hair, she saw that her ears also had changed. Now they were long, and pointed, much like Daeghun's but thinner and more feminine. When she examined them, she found them to be incredibly sensitive, and shivers were sent down her spine at the slightest touch. She wore the Robe of Scintillating Colors, which was one of the items she had added using her cheat codes. It fit tightly to her frame and showed off the kind of body even models only wish they could have. She was lithe and petite, with curves in all the right places. Back in the real world – you know, the one she'd wake up to when this dream inevitably ended – she was fairly secure about her body and felt no shame over it. But she couldn't deny that if she'd looked even half this beautiful she would definitely not still be single.

Straightening up and admiring the body she now occupied, Alea decided to just go with it. It's only a dream, after all, she thought, why not have a little fun? Placing a smile on her face, she turned and walked gracefully out the door to meet her friends for the harvest fair.