Divinity 2 DefEd: PAK File Extract/Package corrupting files

[LS7daily]

Hello,

I am attempting to edit PAK Files for Divinity 2 Original Sin (Definitive Edition) in hopes of changing some portraits/icons for player characters. Part of this process includes extracting PAK files to retrieve the Icons image DDS file to edit the default portraits and then repackaging it to run the game.

These PAK files are located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Divinity Original Sin 2\DefEd\Data

Upon my first attempts, I got an error upon Campaign Creation OR Loading a Saved Campaign that reads "Warning: Unable to create working story."

To narrow down suspicion of what was broken, I reverted my DOS2 to clean original, unaltered files, and proceeded to do tests WITHOUT modifying image files. IExtracted Patch1.pak and Repackageed it without modifying anything in it at all. However, upon loading any campaign, I still received an error reading "Warning: Unable to create working story."

I am certain that this is due to the Export Tool because the campaigns and games work until the moment that Patch1.pak is Extracted and then Repackaged.

TL;DR: Using the Export/Package function on Patch1.pak causes Divinity 2 to experience the Working Story error.

Mods are functional with untouched PAK files, leading me to suspect that they have nothing to do with these errors.