Grieving Mother

Grieving Mother
Biography and appearance
Game
Race	Meadow human
Gender	Female
Culture	Free Palatinate of Dyrwood
Background	Midwife
Statistics
Class	Cipher
Attributes	Mig: 11 Con: 12 Dex: 16 Per: 12 Int: 17 Res: 10
Gameplay
Location	Dyrford Village
Quests	Dream and Memory
Companion	Permanent

Grieving Mother is a female Cipher. She is one of the possible companions in Pillars of Eternity. She can be found and recruited in the southeast corner of Dyrford Village.

Background

The “Grieving Mother” is a cipher who acted as a midwife in a local community. She was blamed for the births of other Hollowborn children in her community and, specifically, she was punished viciously and unjustly by Durance who saw her as part of the Hollowborn crisis. However, she does not blame Durance for the violations that were done to her soul and her body. She does not recognize him when he is in the party, as his soul is different from when they first met. The damage she did to him, arguably in self-defense, was considerable and far outweighed what was done to her.

The Grieving Mother’s powerful cipher abilities cause awareness and perceptions to slide off of her, and she is difficult to recognize. Many simply see her as an unremarkable peasant woman who travels with the party and is not worth addressing. She sees others through their souls, not their physical appearance. She does not communicate with people in the environment; although she may counsel the player on a course of action she feels strongly about and will warn the player of danger whenever possible. She is strongly motivated to end the Hollowborn crisis (even if it causes other problems), and she believes the Watcher is necessary for this to happen.

She is not an anguished figure. In many respects, she is quite serene and calm, even when inflicting harm on another (and she would kill without hesitation to protect her primary goals: ending the crisis and protecting the player). She often prefers to speak through visions rather than words.

Companion Quest

Mother is in a state of deep mourning. Her substantial desire to see her children resurrected may lead her down a dark path. Grieving Mother's associated companion quest, Dream and Memory, starts when you meet her. It is entirely resolved through dialogue, although it may require you to have reached a certain point in the story to finish.

Trivia

• Grieving Mother was written by Chris Avellone.
• Grieving Mother uses her cipher powers to appear unremarkable to others, making The Watcher one of the few people that can remember who she is. As a result, she has virtually no banter conversations with other companions.
• Before PoE 1.03, Grieving Mother had the following Attributes: Mig: 11 Con: 12 Dex: 16 Per: 17 Int: 12 Res: 10.