Actually, Aerie's only weakness is her low hitpoints, she can replace Anomen as Cleric and Edwin as mage, thereby freeing up space for another party member, and if you give her the Mace of Disruption, the Shield of Reflection and the Robe of the Good Archmagi, she's able to defend herself, I agree that her whining is irritating, but just play as a female character then you will be free of a lot of it since much of it is romance whining, her intelligence dosen't stop her advancement since it's not so fast that she will get any high level spells soon, and by the way, Aerie does NOT look like a ten-year old and who chooses their NPCs depending on how sexy they are anyway? If I wanted to do that I'd choose Viconia instead, definitely no Jaheira, those huge eyes freak me out a bit.
------------------
Worshipper of Tiax.
Wielder of the ancient Lawyer spells.
Member of the HADB clan.
Ally of the Fluffy Queen and the Dreaded Red Fluffy
General of the highest class and Leader of the Legal Department and Jumprope Compound in the IW Peacekeeping Force.
I've also got a pretty long sig.