Pillars of Eternity
This article or section needs expansion. |
Pillars of Eternity, developed by Obsidian Entertainment, is an isometric, party-based fantasy cRPG in the tradition of Baldur's Gate, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Planescape:Torment, and other late '90s and early '00s Infinity Engine RPGs. It began as a Kickstarter called "Project Eternity" and received overwhelming support from fans of the genre, eventually being funded at nearly four times its original $1,100,000 goal.[1] It was followed by a crowdfunded sequel, Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire, in 2018.
| Video game fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name | Pillars of Eternity |
| Abbreviation(s) | PoE |
| Developer(s) | Obsidian Entertainment |
| Publisher(s) | Paradox Interactive |
| Release date | March 25, 2015 |
| Platform(s) | Windows, OSX, Linux |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy cRPG (Classic Role-Playing Game) |
| External link(s) | Original Kickstarter |
| Related articles on Fanlore. | |
Setting & Plot
Pillars of Eternity takes place in the original fantasy setting of the world of Eora, with a mundane technology level similar to the late Middle Ages or early Renaissance periods, but augmented by magic and animancy, a scientific discipline around the manipulation of soul-stuff. In the normal order of things, creatures with souls in Eora are reincarnated when they die, though not necessarily as the same gender, "kith" (humanoid) race, or species as the life they had just departed.
The player character, who can be a male or female member of any of the "kith" races and have various different backgrounds, becomes both a Watcher (a person able to perceive and read others' souls) and Awakened (a person able to access memories and other aspects of their past lives) during the game's prologue. Beset by intrusive visions they don't understand, they look for answers and chase after a mysterious cult leader, while simultaneously investigating the Hollowborn plague, which is the recent phenomenon in the region of children being born without souls.
In Deadfire, the player character pursues the god Eothas, at the behest of Berath, to probe into Eothas's agenda and the destruction he has been wreaking across the Deadfire region. Meanwhile, there is a great deal of political turmoil in the region from various factions, which the player character and their party may choose to support or hinder.
Characters
Companions
- Aloth Corfiser
- Edér Teylecg
- Pallegina mes Rèi
- Sagani
- Kana Rua
- Grieving Mother
- Durance
- Hiravias
- Maneha
- Devil of Caroc
- Zahua
- Maia Rua
- Xoti
- Tekēhu
- Serafen
Sidekicks
In Deadfire, additional recruitable characters exist who are not full "companions" (with their own questlines and sometimes romances), but have dialogue and can join the player character's party.
- Fassina
- Konstanten
- Mirke
- Rekke
- Vatnir
- Ydwin
Fandom
While Pillars of Eternity had a highly successful release, the bulk of its fandom activity took place on Reddit, and was centered around various game-mechanical challenges and achievements. Transformative fandom was small but dedicated, with popular pairings in fic being Edér/Aloth, MC/Thaos ix Arkannon, and MC/Hiravias.
The release of Deadfire, which added in-game romances with some companion characters (Aloth, Maia, Xoti, and Tekēhu), precipitated a large increase in transformative fandom activity.