Durance

Durance
Biography and appearance
Game
Race	Meadow human
Gender	Male
Culture	Free Palatinate of Dyrwood
Background	Clergy
Statistics
Class	Priest of Magran
Attributes	Mig 14 Con 13 Dex 9 Per 9 Int 15 Res 19
Gameplay
Location	Magran's Fork
Quests	The Trials of Durance
Equipment
Weapon	Durance's Staff

Durance is a male human priest and one of the recruitable companions in first appeared in::Pillars of Eternity. He can be found in Magran's Fork, just below the shrine of Magran which is located in the center of the map. You simply need to talk to him, and unless refused, he will join the party. Player characters who are affiliated with Magran will have additional dialogue options.

Background

An incredibly ugly man in his early 40s, with bulging red cheeks raked by pox scars. His face is covered by a scraggly beard. Moreover, Durance sweats continuously. There is a suggestion of alchemical fire that floats in the air about him. He wears a ragged, partially burned robe and fights with a unique, semi-scorched quarterstaff. The personality he presents is that of an archetypal fire and brimstone preacher: pious, committed, and murderously insane. In-between foreboding comments he announces only that he seeks to test the Watcher.

This wonderful, cheerful companion was a priest of Magran who helped build the Godhammer Bomb that destroyed St. Waidwen. The others who worked on it were killed, but Durance survived. He is an anti-authoritarian wanderer, who has particular dislike of the Aedyr Empire (and Readceras). He despises Eothas and anyone who worships him. Durance spent many years following the Saint’s War, rooting out Eothas sympathizers; then not long after, rooting out those he believed responsible for the Hollowborn crisis. This led him to torture and ruin the soul of the Grieving Mother (in defense, she was forced to wound his soul to make him stop). Neither one of them recognizes the other when and if they meet.

Durance does not know why his Magranic colleagues died or why he was spared, but he assumes he did wrong by his god. Over time he comes to learn that the gods are not unlike the authority figures he so often finds himself at odds with, and that he and the assassinated Magranic clergy were nothing but pieces in the gods’ games. The Grieving Mother and Durance may come to odds or reconciliation over the course of the game.

Companion Quest

Durance's companion quest is The Trials of Durance, which is received as soon as you recruit him. This is updated as you continue to travel with him, and finishing it requires most of his conversation options to be exhausted, which may not happen until after the start of Council of Stars.

Durance keeps secrets that unravel the more you talk to him. He gets tired of questions and periodically stops answering them, but after a rest he opens back up. In Acts 2 and 3, if the player has Durance in the party, after a certain number of rests, the player will have visions of Durance that lead to further insight into his secrets. The player needs to ask him about more or less everything to be equipped for the last part of his quest, which unlocks after speaking to the gods and learning of Woedica’s plot. Using knowledge gleaned from his dialogue, you can try to convince Durance that Magran conspired with Woedica, and that she no longer speaks to Durance not because he did something to offend her but because she wanted to cover up what she had done.

Trivia

• Durance was written by Chris Avellone.
• Unlike other companions, Durance will end dialogue with the The Watcher prematurely if he becomes annoyed by how many questions you're asking him. After Resting, you can continue asking him questions.
• Before PoE 1.03, Durance had the following Attributes: Mig: 14 Con: 15 Dex: 9 Per: 9 Int: 13 Res: 19.

Gallery

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  Icon of Durance's robe