Pillars of Eternity 2: Hell in Hasongo, Sayonara in Sayuka

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Having heard of statue sightings at the isle of Hasongo, the crew set sail there immediately to find the now destroyed fort overrun by nagas! Sagani and her pet Itumaak are bowed down by the snakes as others drown Grieving Mother. Tekehu also meets his end as he lures a large group into the powder storage and detonates it, turning all of them into soup. Both forces vacate the island with the team taking refuge at nearby Sayuka - another Royal Deadfire Company fort.

So many things go boom in this game.

However it isn't safe there either as local druids send an attack while the team is docked, and they lose Alias and Serafen to the wave of werebeasts before escaping to sea again. This time Ydwin leads them to a seemingly uninhabited island to recover, but in truth it is the lair of her ancient fampyr masters who drain Symm Haximus and Zahua dry before Gerrod and Arzang can put them all down. For her treachery, Arzang uses his magic to make Ydwin's head explode.

Luck seems to finally swing their way as they spot the giant statue upon exiting the cave and give chase to the land of fire giants and after sneaking past them Xoti manages to commune with it as it refuels with a massive adra crystal - learning it plans to destroy "the wheel", the very fabric of death and rebirth. Communication is cut short as the volcano they are standing in erupts, the lava melting Xoti into goo. Luckily the remaining survivors make it back to the ship for a quick evacuation back to Nekateka.

Pillars of Eternity 2: Caed Nua Crushed

[Part of the Cursed story line]

By the time Arzang, Gerrod, Alias, Hort, Maneha, Mercy, Sagani, Symm, Zahua and Grieving Mother return from Defiance Bay they find their home of Caed Nua destroyed by the gigantic statue that it was built on top of! Hearing reports that said statue then simply "walked away" into the sea leads them to give chase on ship into the Deadfire Archipelago but lose it in a storm.

That's not how statues work as they lack flexibility but ok, its "magic"!

At Port Maje they learn from priestess Xoti that the god she worships has possessed that statue and so let her join the team. Also joining is a short and furry pirate named Serafen who tasks us with taking out a rival which both easy and humorous, involving an exploding harpsichord. He then directs the ship to Neketaka, the capital of these isles to restock, gain bearings and gain more crew including fampyr animancer Ydwin, masseur Konstanten, Royal Deadfire Company riflewoman Maia (sister of Kana Rua) and princely water shaper wereshark Tekehu.

Unfortunately they also lose Mercy and Hort to some random arsonists in the city. The pair are captured and burned alive.

Pillars of Eternity: Dulf Demented

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The first stop for Dulf, Aloth, Sagani, Zahua, Maneha and the Grieving Mother is the Leaden Key hideout in the sewers where they murder everyone. Then it's onto the Ducal Palace to try get into the hearings but are unable to without an invitation. The only group left that may have one are the Dozens, but again they refuse to help.

Aloth convinces Dulf this is because they are on the Leaden Key payroll so they too are all killed and as the violence spills out onto the street - more guards and more brave citizens meet their end against the enraged Dulf. Eventually, when the streets run red with blood, Aloth points the attack towards Hadreth House, the local intelligence facility who again are not forthcoming with an invitation. "They must be on the take too," whispers Aloth.

So Dulf slays them all while Aloth watches with glee. In truth, only Hadreth House had the capacity to stop the Leaden Key and with them out of the way his mission was complete. With a flick of his wrist Aloth vanished, leaving the Dulf to face the justice about to befall them from his own friends as Symm, Hort, Alias, Mercy, Gerrod and Arzang arrive to stop the blood bath.

Out numbered and shaken by what they were doing, Dulf's team just stood aside as Arzang and Gerrod broke through the old wizards magical defences and then burned his mind, leaving him a stuttering and incoherent shell of a man.

Then they abandoned him there as he deserved - unrecognized, unloved and doomed to wander the streets of Defiance for the rest of his days.

The end.

Insight: So, this is the non standard ending of the game (kill Lady Webb) and one I got locked into since all the factions were dead. Supposedly, Hadreth House would also give an invitation to the hearings as a last resort but only if you personally kill all the other faction leaders. Too bad for me, this design didn't count on the Knight Crucible commander getting killed by enemy NPCs (the forge knights he so badly wanted to create). Oh well, I'll chalk that up to poor design, or is it genius design? :P

Pillars of Eternity: Devil Destroyed

[Part of the Cursed story line]

The Abbey of the Fallen Moon is well guarded, but fortunately the guards are all idiots as Dulf manages to bluff his way past them AND their leader, allowing Maneha access to their salt pool which removes some bad memories for her (by getting tentacled).

And the rest of the party just watched...

Indeed, the team only end up fighting one insane monk on the lower levels which Dulf then floods as a distraction so the team can reach the frozen lake beyond. There in the center is a huge chunk of a fallen moon - and the base for those mechazoid monsters. Fighting their way in, they find a way to sink the entire thing but not before the Devil of Carroc is pulverized into pieces. Dulf too almost dies in the ensuing collapse but is saved by Aloth who finally reveals he is a Leaden Key spy, but wants out of the organization swearing allegiance to Dulf.

The group returns to Caed Nua for a trial where Aloth reveals the Leaden Key are after all things animancy and are especially targeting the animancy hearings back at Defiance Bay. While most of the Black Pit crew vote against trusting Aloth, Dulf and the others overrule them and take them with him back to the city to continue the hunt for the Leaden Key.

Insight: Monks have some amazing abilities which makes Zahua pretty awesome. It also means fighting through the abbey will be super painful as all those monks have the same moves.

Pillars of Eternity: Hiravias Halved

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Having cleared the dungeon, the Caed Nua group spend most of their time keeping the peace around the stronghold - a peace disturbed by a mercenary army attacking their quiet neighbour, the archmage Concelhaut.

As the mercs are jerks they are wiped out, only for the team to discover Concelhaut is a bigger jerk - and a lich! The archmage laughs at the notion of needing help and decides to kill them for their trouble. Hiravias is cut in two by one of his ancient death guards before the others can behead Concelhaut, taking his skull as a trophy.

That table is handy in separating the lich from his guardians.

They then meet one of Concelhaut's rivals, the archmage Llengrath, who orchestrated this attack. Llengrath makes a pact with the Caed Nuan's as thanks for their service - giving them another powerful ally.

Meanwhile Dulf is dealing with powerful enemies in the White March - giant mechanized men who are resilient to damage. They seem to be coming from the direction of a remote monastery, so Dulf leads his squad there next with the help of barbarian pilgrim Maneha.

Insight: Concelhaut's skull is the best mini-pet in game, as it allows you to summon the lich to help you in battle!

Pillars of Eternity: Lea Levelled

[Part of the Cursed story line]

After the war the dive team finally reaches and clears out the last floor (15th) beneath Caed Nua, only losing Crazy Lea on the way as she was crushed by a boulder thrown by a deep spriggan. At the base was a powerful dragon who simply wanted to be free but had grown too heavy to fly so they helped it in another way: by beating down a random woman and holding her still while forcing the dragons essence inside her (that is literally in the game). The dragon was most thankful for this gift and the heroes made a powerful ally.

That's a scary looking beast.

Elsewhere, Dulf's squad headed back to the White March to continue chasing the trail of the Leaden Key into a long abandoned and haunted dwarven fortress guarded now only by spirits and automatons. One such machination, the Devil of Carroc, is friendly and self aware enough to join them - helping to disarm the more difficult dangers in the place which had pretty much wiped out their quarry's exploratory team.

At the deepest part of the fortress Dulf finds a legendary forge and decides to reignite it. Unfortunately, this also awakens a new threat in the region.

Insight: Building up Caed Nua offers some good stat boons when you rest there. Said stats (in combination with crafted food and magic gear) let you access those conversation options you wouldn't normally be able to.

Pillars of Eternity: Pallegina Pummelled

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Following the trails of the Leaden Key leads Dulf's team to the icy North of the White March where they are set upon by a wandering group of evil monks who beat Pallegina into a pulp and breaking all her bones! The paladin does not survive these injuries.

Fortunately a friendlier monk named Zahua comes to their aid to defeat these attackers, and in thanks Dulf takes him back to the stronghold so that Arzang can undo the curse on a sword bound to Zahua's hand. In doing so he learns that a neighboring lord is raising an army to claim Caed Nua for himself!

I'm just going to skip over a few other cool encounters in the White March. :P

In response, Dulf attempts to raise his own army by aiding the Crucible Knights at Defiance Bay complete their forge-knight automatons. Alas, these go crazy and slay all the knights at the base. The other two alliance options don't work out either, with the Dozens still refusing to help and the criminal House Doemenel begin wiped out due to an argument during negotiations.

And so Dulf faces the invading army with his small group of allies where he, Aloth, Arzang, and Gerrod spend most of the battle transforming enemies into piglets and then roasting them with fireballs while the others keep the enemy swarm at bay. It is an easy victory, and they celebrate with plenty of bacon afterwards.

Insight: Don't immediately shapeshift with your druids. They have some handy spells they can throw first before getting stuck into melee. Any summoning spells / items are especially good.

Pillars of Eternity: Gezzthemin Gutted

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Back at the Caed Nua stronghold, Gezzthemin has hired new guards to aid in its defense and among them are the familiar faces of Mercy, Crazy Lea, Alias and Arzang. Together with Gerrod they forge into the depths underneath the fortress once more and reach level eight and find a crazed, adra addicted fampyr looking to become king of the level by getting Gezzthemin's team to kill the rest of his kin and in exchange he will let them descend further.

Arzang's suggestion of simply killing this fampyr is outvoted and the squad ends up fighting a handful instead. They turn out to be deadly enemies due to their charms, an effect fully felt when Crazy Lea stabs Gezzthemin in the belly and carves out his insides - killing him. The team eventually slays all the other fampyrs and surprisingly the new "king" keeps his word - offering free passage downwards.

The team instead returns to the surface to rest and resupply, sending a messenger to Dulf's squad with news of their expedition. Upon hearing the news, Symm and Hort return to the stronghold to assist the dive teams while Dulf replenishes his own troop with the paladin Pallegina, werewolf druid Hiravias, and cipher (psychic) known only as the Grieving Mother.

Werewolf form is cool!

Insight: Fampyrs are faster than the other undead. This means if you have enough space to run, you can isolate them from their pawns.

Pillars of Eternity: Kana is Killed

[Part of the Cursed story line]

On the road to the city the party meets a short ranger named Sagani and her pet fox Itumaak who are looking for someone. Dulf offers to help so she comes along as the team makes a detour to scour the nearby areas first. This turns out to be a mistake as the next area is a drake breeding ground and one of the beasts has Kana for a snack!

Enraged, the team go on to hunt all the drakes including their big leader in the nearby flaming cave. Despite clearing everything in there and all the way to the ocean, there is no sign of the person Sagani is looking for so the team returns to the original plan of visiting Defiance Bay, stopping at the weapon vendors stall to purchase rifles and pistols all around.

No doorway? No problem! Narrow terrain works just fine even against "flying" creatures.

A local adventurer's guild called "The Dozens" isn't very helpful in giving out jobs so Dulf and company end up freelancing again, eliminating some drug dealers and cleaning the catacombs of monsters and scum. It turns out beneath the catacombs is the hideout of the Leaden Key! Not willing to spook them, Dulf uses an ingenious disguise to bluff his way in alone and collect intel on the shady group - leaving them none the wiser.

Insight: Firearms are slow to reload but using them as an opening salvo is a great alpha strike before switching out to your usual weapons.