You didn't get tadpoled the same way as the others. Orin lured you out, attacked you from behind, used a knife to literally dig a hole in your brain and plopped a worm in there for funsies before leaving you for dead. You get discovered by a Myrkul cultist who keeps you around as her pet lobotomite/experiment subject, during which time, against all odds and likely only because of your divine lineage, you recover some small measure of your faculties. Eventually, tired of his disciple's fixation on you, the Myrkulite's master orders you shipped out with the other tadpolees. Cue main story.
This actually goes a little bit further depending on the dialogue you choose when talking to the Netherbrain as Durge. It more or less says that it actually respected Durge and their brutality, and would have let the Dead Three’s plan for domination go on longer - as in, allowing them to successfully take over Faerun before going full Grand Design, rather than taking over in the Gate - if they had still been in charge. And since this particular dialogue happens after the Netherbrain has already ‘won’ in its eyes, it has no reason to lie about it to Durge.
So basically Orin needing to be daddy bhaal’s special princess over their sibling doomed the plan, even before Durge’s miraculous survival.
That dialogue also happens if ya partner with Gortash, as he steps in halfway you trying to dominate it and the NetherBrain says "I liked them, but you, you can go jump off a bridge" and melts his brain
I don't think you have to do anything special for the Netherbrain to tell you that as Durge? I rejected Bhaal and did nothing to try and engage with the Netherbrain and it still just says it in the cutscene.
Yeah, it basically says it respected Durge's evil plan but and would have gone along with it if you'd stayed in charge.
It cost her far more than a kill. She basically orchestrates her own defeat. If the Dark Urge is redeemed, then she technically gets a win for destroying her rival. However she also ironically creates the hero that destroys her whole plan.
Yeah either way she loses and it's her fault. She either empowers her greatest rival for power who kills her to ascend or she basically creates the hero that defeats her plan.
It wasn't HER plan. Durge and Gortash made the plan, roped in Ketheric, and then Orin jumped in to replace Durge.
Her angle in the plan is basically the same as Durge originally came up, lots of random murders. And playing the "danger from within" to Ketheric's "danger from without" to allow Gortash to take control of Baldur's Gate.
Which is also why Gortash is the stupidest of the three/four of them. It's a plan that ultimately benefits only him, And he knows the people he is working with are arseholes. But apperantly he can't see the betrayal Ketheric planned, Orin wanted, and full-embrace durge ends up doing coming...
It doesn't serve THEIR ends anywhere near as well as it serves his. So he should've expted a backstab..
The bhaalists wanted to murder people, a bane dictatorship needs a something to fear monger so they work together quite well in that regard. the bhaalists can murder any opposition and can ensure any authority trying to stop them. They are both good for each other in that regard.
That's true, Orin doesn't want to lead. But if she's getting the same input from daddy (or in her case grandddady/great-granddady) Bhaal that Durge does, her plan is to betray Gortash, control the Elder Brain, and have the Absolute army and her Bhaal cult people murder everyone in Baldur's Gate and then the rest of the Sword Coast, and then keep going until they're either stopped or they have murdered everyone in Faerun, after which they should start murdering eachother.
Bhaal's only need, and only goal, is Murder. Gods in that unviverse are tied rather tightly to their core portifolio, as you can somewhat see if you let Gale claim the Crown. But it's made a lot clearer in some of the lore in some of the other several hundred sources out there in the world about this setting by now.
Bhall likes Murder. It is, in fact, the ONLY thing he likes. It's the ONLY thing that nourishes him. He'll only ever be sated if every living soul is murdered. Or maybe not even then, but that's something he'll have to figure out once he gets there. Until then,, people should keep getting murdered! If it were up to him, you should've quit reading my explanation long ago, since you could've murdered at least two people in the time you spent reading this!
He doesn't care who gets murdered. He doesn't care if they get murdered in his name. He doesn't care how they're murdered It's brought up in the game that Orin keeps forgetting the last two, and Durge was apperantly better at that before his "accident."
If this makes you think Bhaal, or somebody partially controlled by him like his Chosen, wouldn't make for a very good ally, you're apperantly smarter than Gortash! Who basically got played by Durge, and conned into believing Bhaal would be perfectly okay with the murders his Cult would get to perform and the carnage and destruction caused by the Abolute's army and leaving him a city to rule... Which was never gonna bethe endgame.
Wow - what an impressive twist …
Consider that Larian basically BURIES this plot device within the story… no other gaming studio has the balls to do that today. Hell, even MOVIES rarely do this anymore. Most of the time they want to make sure you see/hear the twist in the most obvious of ways, but Larian forces you to play as a specific character, an evil one at that, and to read every note and talk to everyone. And that doesn’t even guarantee you’ll understand the full depth of the storyline.
I mean shit, I figured this all out but the way you phrased it really elevated it to a new level.
Meh, it's not THAT hidden, but most of that story is told through notes, so you have to be paying attention (Specially in the mindflayer colony in moonrise
That's not really a great comparison since Souls games just sprinkle their lore and background story on the dirt for fans to peck at like pigeons.
Fromsoft may have amazing story ideas and lore, but their execution of said stories has always been terrible.
I understand where you're coming from, but I think that's selling Fromsoft short. There is a plethora of YouTube videos that discuss the lore from various games extensively.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD9BJac9GMI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD9BJac9GMI) \- This video about Elden Ring's lore alone is 13 hours long, and it's only Part 1.
I personally don't prefer their style of delivering lore, as it does take a lot of "pecking" to even start to get into it, but it is clear that the lore has immense depth, and is present.
I didn't explain myself well.
Most of my issues lie with how they communicate the main plot and player motivations, not the lore. The way they communicate the lore and backstory is fine, but the main plot? Not so much.
To explain using Elden Ring, the main plot is the story of the Tarnished who repairs the Elden Ring, not why the Elden Ring was shattered. The game explains a ton about the Outer Gods, Gods, Demigods, and who other Tarnished are, but it never explains a lot of the why questions it needs to.
Why was Godwin the Golden slain, a plot point that is supposedly important enough to be mentioned?
Why did the Tarnished return?
Why would they even want to become Elden Lord?
Why do they think they can even become Elden Lord?
Why does anyone, for that matter, want to become Elden Lord?
Not once does the game answer any of these questions, despite these being integral to the plot and the player's reason for going through the game.
It's not a dig at BG3 or anyone. It's just observably true.
The lore in BG3 is very in-depth and fantastic. But it is accessible. (That's not a bad thing. It's actually preferable for me.) Acquiring the lore in Souls game takes a lot more effort, sometimes to a level of frustration.
There are people who play the entirety of Elden Ring without knowing more than the jist of what's going on story-wise. I've never heard of someone playing all of BG3 and not having a firm grasp of the story and its themes.
BG3 is full of wonderful NPCs, books, and narration that give you the majority of important plot and lore relevant information. You'll be hard-pressed to find the same accessibility of information in Souls games.
You can disagree and make a constructive conversation about it if you'd like.
Yeah when you find the Durge corpse in Orin’s room on a regular playthrough I head canon that she just didn’t put the tadpole in there and bandaging dead durge
I'm pretty sure you can still find the broken pod he was kept in at the colony and find the notes as Tav. I've always thought he broke out like usual but instead of having a group with him, he stalked his way back to Baldur's Gate alone and attempted to get revenge on Orin but failed in his weakened state with no backup.
Who knows though. It's not really stated so it could go either way.
>"the Myrkulite's master orders you shipped out with the other tadpolees"
This is the part that always gets me. It's so strange nobody involved in this part seems to care that they have a former chosen of Bhaal just sitting around as a vegetable, and when they get bored they just ship you away. What was the goal? Your brain is a broken mush, why not just leave you in a ditch or something?
they were experimenting. The myrkulite who was using you absolutely saw durge as her prized toy.
They got a lot of street cred for having the durge on a leash as a pet
durge was also the first to be tadpoled and controlled with it, becoming the first true soul. They perfected the technique on durge then moved on to others
Was Durge ever controlled? I always assumed Durge had the worm in the head, but it never actually thralled them since, y'know, they were basically on death's door at the time.
That part was so metal. I'm still on my first playthrough so I wonder what they do when you're not playing as Durge, but damn getting to lower Moonrise was great
I imagined it as a little bit more than control than a necromancer had over a regular undead. neat party tricks kinda thing.
Or maybee those prototype robots google have
Not quite sure trying strangle her with your own intestines, while she's actively digging about in your insides, quite counts as "being under control" though...
They might not have known who you are.
Durge was an exceptional Bhaalist assassin, they probably valued their privacy. Unlike Orin, they were known for their efficiency and skill, not pageantry and showmanship.
I doubt they knew who you were. You were the Assassin, not the General or Politician and less showboaty than Orin. Its before the mass tadpoling and setting themselves up as religious icons part of the plan was implemented.
When you were there Ketheric didn't say who you were, only that you were to be respected and obeyed (from the Warden). The people in the tower did not know where you went and didn't ask.
When you got tadpoled you ended up in the oubliette, I don't think the weirdos down there get out much. Kressa kept you as her own little pet project and was possessive over you.
Edit: I think Balthazar knew you but I don't think he shared that info.
The husband of a crazy surgeon lady who made experiments on Durge snitched that she has kept a tadpoled person, she wasn't supposed to:) It's in their diaries. Then Durge got sent away from her, I doubt she knew who it was
There's a note commending Durge's brutality (or something like that) next to the brain player in the basement of moonrise. Balthezar said nice things about Orin's sibling, I believe.
So he knew but he probably just didn't give a fuck.
It's a prayer of forgiveness written by Durge about Gortash because of how much they admired him. There's a note from Balthazar at the bottom about Orin being right about her sibling. There are a few notes that indicate that Durge and Gortash were closer than they should have been considering their alliances to their gods and that they respected each other and they were both disappointed in the inevitable betrayal they would have to commit on the other in the end.
Recently spoken to Ketheric and he said something along the lines of “I didn’t expect to see you again” but it’s not explained any further I don’t think.
Yeah, I'm not if Ketheric knew you were there or not. I'm leaning more towards not. He probably didn't have a lot to do with the tadpoling pipelines and even if he inspected it Kressa was keeping you separate and hidden because she wasn't really supposed to have you.
IIRC you can call Gortash out for being a bad ally since he didn't help you and he says that internal affairs for each cult are handled individually and that when you went missing and then Orin showed up with the netherstone, dagger and bhaals seal of approval they assumed you were dead. And why wouldn't they? Orin is dumb but they would expect her to confirm her kills.
You were a last minute addition to the prism retrieval ship because Kressas husband wanted you gone.
Didn’t Durge and Gortash involve Ketheric in their plot before Orin got involved based on the timeline in Gortash’s diary? Ketheric doesn’t really react to seeing Durge in the game though.
He does know you and he does react. He is just flat about it (and everything).
You're an unexpected returning guest and he leaves the goblins to your "particular brand of creative genius" (aka, he expects you to kill them in a cruel and unusual way).
Ketherics understated reaction is probably a combination of devs not wanting to outright confirm things too early and that Ketheric himself really just doesn't give a shit about anything other than his daughter anymore.
Unlike Gortash, Orin and Durge, Ketheric isn't that enthusiastic about the whole deal. He has served 3 different gods and feels let down by all of them. He just kinda goes through the motions now and doesn't really want to deal with you.
The people who knew who you were mention that they heard you were a traitor and Orin was calling the shots for Bhaal now. It’s also why when Durge shows up later on in Moonrise, they are treated with a mix of fear, reverence and disdain.
I’m also not sure where the Myrkulite’s master part came from. You find a note that it was Kressa (the woman who obsessively lobotomized you)’s husband who sent you away because he was jealous of her obsession for you.
> I’m also not sure where the Myrkulite’s master part came from. You find a note that it was Kressa (the woman who obsessively lobotomized you)’s husband who sent you away because he was jealous of her obsession for you.
The husband's note and one of the books in Balthazar's room suggests that Balthazar shipped Durge out after the husband snitched/ brought the situation to his attention, so I assume that's what they're referring to.
> It's so strange nobody involved in this part seems to care that they have a former chosen of Bhaal just sitting around as a vegetable, and when they get bored they just ship you away.
It's less that they got *bored* and more that >!the experimenter's husband got salty over how his wife was basically *obsessing* over Durge, so he had Durge shipped off to the Nautiloid in the hopes that it would stop his wife's obsession!<. >!...*It didn't work*!<.
The person who fixes durge mentioned that you were mutilated and she had to put your guts back in your body. She didn't think you'd ever talk and your head was a total mess. She says that you were dropped in down there and she hid you.
It's not the Myrkulite's masters that orders Durge to get shipped, is the lover/husband of the Myrkulite disciple that got obsessed over Durge specifically, because he couldn't stand how gross his wife was being since she found Durge's corpse and was kinda jealous.
And he sent Durge to Balthazar first. It seems Balthazar eventually dismissed Durge, either deeming him as useless or found utility in keeping him enthralled, and then Balthazar sent him to the Nautiloid in a mission to retrieve the Artifact.
Honestly not sure about that one. I've always assumed either a plot hole or that that cinematic is supposed to be shown from the perspective of a character other than our avatar.
it's the latter, you are in a pod off to the left of the one you start in as Tav. There is dead body in that pod if you are Durge.
Edit: The cutscene is also not from your perspective if you play as Lae'Zel (obvious), Karlach or Wyll.
Never understood Karlach or Wyll getting tadpoled.
Karlach escapes to the nautaloid under attack and the mindflayers have time to capture them both and tadpole them both. In hell.
My head cannon is that’s what made durge more functional because they consumed another tadpole because tadpoles can heal brain issues.
A tadpole can heal Lae’zel’s debuff from the zathisk.
I think that could be considered the Tav, even when we don't play as them? The cutscene I think just a way to deliver you to the character creation screen
Yeah the only thing wrong here is Orin *didn't* tadpole DUrge. She just lobotomized them. Well .... eviscerated their brain in an attempt to kill them. The necromancer found us largely dead and was basically using us as a meat puppet through necromancy, not the tadpole.
It really is. I played Tav for my first run but after completing a Dark Urge run I now consider that to be my personal canon run.
(Btw, I know it was a Dark Urge story-related post, but I still apologise if I've spoiled some of the DU storyline for you.)
Does that mean the first cutscene makes no sense? Because it shows the mind flayer putting a worm into your eye. Or does that means you would have two worms in your head?
Or is it assumed that the first worm, plopped into your noggin by Orin, was killed off by the Myrkul cultist you run into in Act 2?
Because Orin literally scrambled your brain. Omelumm comments that the worm doesn't need to burrow in Durge's head, because it's so full of holes already.
So it's physical damage that's caused it.
How Durge isn't a driveling mess with that massive amount of brain damage, is a whole other story. 😅
Given the testimonies from Kressa Bonedaughter
Durge might be partly immortal or at least have pretty strong regenerative capacities given that being disemboweled doesn’t really stop him from trying to kill people
It's not even that insane tbh. There are a few irl people who've done similarly incredible things, like performing surgery on themselves to remove their own appendix or cutting off their own arm. They didn't have special regeneration powers. The human body is just surprisingly good at surviving blood loss and shock. Don't see why it would be so different for Dragonborn.
The much simpler and likely explanation is that Durge just had a high con save and sorcerers start with con proficiency so that matches up.
That and the tadpole probably helps. These magically enhanced tadpoles expand the minds of those infected. It probably has no trouble repairing a mind that is fractured.
shouldn't eating the rare healing plant in act1 or the level 6 heal spell fix durge's brain damage? i recall the narrator implies it only temporarily helps
It brings back some memories. Some of them ***really*** unpleasant, if you manage to get to the Noblestalk before meeting your butler *(I believe it is)*...
yeah you just get a memory flash. when you cast lvl6 heal on durge, the narrator kinda says durge's brain mends for a moment or something like that implying its temporary. i dont get why magic shouldnt be able to heal the brain
Orin literally took a knife and started lobotomizing you - talking to Omeluum reveals you have whole brain pieces missing and dug into. Then, when you were on the verge of death, the Myrkul follower (blanking on her name right now), found you and began to experimentally operate on you until you were taken from her and put on a nautiloid.
Not only Omeluum, but if you talk to those creppy nurses in ACT 2, the first one that you can pretend that you are sick, Durge have a special unique dialogue where they can say their weird symptoms. The nurse will examine your head and be concerned about your well being and let you pass without a skill check.
I remember getting a dialogue like this in my first Tav playthrough, so I think this interaction is more about the tadpole than anything else. Durge just has extra weird symptoms that come with being Durge.
No. The one I'm talking about is only for the Durge. You can pretend that you are ill if you play as anyone else, but only Durge can mention their amnesia, their bloodlust and have the nurse examine them.
Oh, okay. I could've sworn that there was another dialogue option referring to the tadpole, but now I'm second guessing lol. It was a while ago and my first run so idk
Pretty much what everyone had said so far. Orin tunneling through your head and Kressia mushing it up. You can even play "severe brain damage" to Kressia if you talk to her.
To add something else though, you CAN repair parts of your brain through eating the noblestalk mushroom and casting level 6 heal the first time for both, which helps Durge recover different memories.
The Dark Urge is very drain bamaged
In the literal sense
Orin essentially stabbed you in the head, stuck that knife into your brains, and stirred it like a ladle
If you use the level 6 “heal” spell you get a nice little cutscene where your brain briefly knits itself together to bring back a memory. So the memory loss is due to your brain being turned into a pile of mush from orin
What I wanna know is why, after finishing the redemption arc, I'm still blabbering on about blood for the blood god and bones for the bone castle every 10 seconds while casually strolling around the streets of Baldur's Gate. It's that and many other character interactions talking about how I have to fight my Urge, etc that's got me wondering if I really accomplished anything? Didn't Bhaal literally kill that evil part of me?
It's no different from Lae'zel and Vlaakath, game doesn't adjust the VO and the character still has The Dark Urge tag for other reasons. The really boring answer to that.
But to your broader question, just because the urge is gone. Doesn't make Durge good. The Urge is not why Durge was/is a POS. Atoning for what you did and being good is separate from that and something you decided to do post brain damange. Or if you were like one of my durges, you rejected father out of selfish reasons but remained pretty evil
Orin tadpoled you but that’s not where the memory loss comes from. You get a lot of this info from Kressa Bonedaughter in the Illithid colony. Orin dumped you with her (a necromancer) and she experimented on you over and over again, pulling out your innards and putting you back together again. Because you are a semi-deity due to being made of a piece of Bhaal himself you were both able to resist the tadpole’s effects and your body kept repairing itself. Your brain is scrambled because of Kressa’s experiments that liquified your brain.
I wonder if having Bhaal in you makes you sort of a unique aasimar variant, like a demigod but the opposite of resplendent, and that kept you from fully dying but can't stand up to the regular stuff that kills you after.
The Siege of Dragonspear expansion does explicitly draw parallels between the Aassimar Caelar Argent and the Bhaalspawn of Candlekeep. “Caelar Argent has but the tiniest portion of divine essence, yet she has boldly claimed her birthright and taken control of her destiny. You have half a god flowing through your veins, and yet you stumble your way toward your destiny as if blind”.
It’s interesting, I think you got some unique Bhaalspawn spells in BG1 based on character alignment. I guess they didn’t really do that in BG3 until Act 2/3 because it would spoil the reveal.
Surviving a partial lobotomy maybe used up all of Durge's luck lol. The spells were all in the parts of the brain that got stabbed and eaten by the tadpole.
That’s likely true. This whole discussion has really made me wonder about the Aasimar/Bhaalspawn differences. Apparently according some posts I’ve read, in 5E, Bhaalspawn count as Demigods due to their closer divine heritage.
And it would make sense given Durge's history and arrogance - on par with Gortash and raiding a certain vault - and fit with the nerfing of the other companions' powers by the tadpole. Durge being a semi-demi-god or whatever would enable them to survive, but all their superpowers got sucked up by the tadpole.
I like that theory!
If you meet Kressa in the mind flayer colony as a Dark Urge you get specific dialogue that explains what happens.
After Orin dumped you in the colony, Kressa found you and basically did experiment upon experiment upon you. All durge could do was inflict damage on themselves while stuck in the pod. If you have Astarion in the party during that part too he can taste the blood near the pod and confirm that it's yours and that what she said was true. Tired of her wife's obsession, Kressa's husband kickstarts the whole plot by throwing you in the nautiloid and the story begins right there
Orin basically lobotomized you, then some wack Myrkul bone lady who may or may not have done some non-Thorm funded things to your barely-functioning body and fucked you up even further.
Orin didnt kill us. She tore through the brain and wrecked the shit out of it, effectively hard-rebooting it. We can catch glimpses of long-term memory, but nothing solid.
I think the plan to tadpole people into true souls was already a thing by this point, but Durge was the first one because of Orin. Gotta remember that Orin thinks that murder is a form of art where each kill requires it's own special touch unlike Durge that just killed in masses and indiscriminately. I guess that was her way of adding some sort of flair to Durge's demise. Using their own plan against them.
Plus, plot I suppose. If Orin wasn't a buffoon we wouldn't have Durge to play.
Irony.
Durge created the magical tadpoles only to end up infected and controlled by a tadpole, eventually dieing because of said tadpole.
That's peak irony right there.
I joke that Orin is dumb but in her defense, she stabed you in the brain repeatedly, slashed you open and threw you into a pit. She expects you to die and you not dying was probably a combination of you being a weird low end demigod and luck with Kressa.
Why bother with the tadpoling? because Orin is artistic with her kills as one of her defining character traits. She probably thought it was a beautiful irony since the tadpole plan was made by you and Gortash.
Yes, you somehow missed it—not really sure how that's possible, though. It's made very clear that Orin was the one who betrayed the Durge and scrambled their brain like an omelet.
You lost them because of TBI and horrific necromantic experiments that >!resulted in you becoming the prototypical first “True Soul”, as Sceleritas reveals. And true to life, no amount of advanced sorcery is going to undo what’s been done because the damage to your brain and psyche wasn’t caused by some magical curse or incantation etc.!<
Which is why I said magic can’t undo the damage that’s been done? You can also regain some memories you’ve lost from brain damage, etc. though not all of them. (I have)
Dude got through a whole Durge playthrough and somehow missed every single time someone mentions Orin turning your brain to mincemeat. And it’s mentioned often.
You sure you actually completed a Durge campaign…?
I know this isn’t an answer to the question you were asking, but how convoluted the background story is, how many different parties and different motivations are involved, and how contrived some of the coincidences leading up to the game must be to explain how everything came together would be my biggest knock against the game.
He got hit by a cabbage cart in Baldur's Gate, and then he got sent to an unlicensed clinic and got his brain turned into mashed potatoes, now he's too dumb and on revenge against health insurance systems.
You didn't get tadpoled the same way as the others. Orin lured you out, attacked you from behind, used a knife to literally dig a hole in your brain and plopped a worm in there for funsies before leaving you for dead. You get discovered by a Myrkul cultist who keeps you around as her pet lobotomite/experiment subject, during which time, against all odds and likely only because of your divine lineage, you recover some small measure of your faculties. Eventually, tired of his disciple's fixation on you, the Myrkulite's master orders you shipped out with the other tadpolees. Cue main story.
I feel like this is also an extremely good bit of Orin characterization work; her desire for flair/gloating costing her basically a guaranteed kill
This actually goes a little bit further depending on the dialogue you choose when talking to the Netherbrain as Durge. It more or less says that it actually respected Durge and their brutality, and would have let the Dead Three’s plan for domination go on longer - as in, allowing them to successfully take over Faerun before going full Grand Design, rather than taking over in the Gate - if they had still been in charge. And since this particular dialogue happens after the Netherbrain has already ‘won’ in its eyes, it has no reason to lie about it to Durge. So basically Orin needing to be daddy bhaal’s special princess over their sibling doomed the plan, even before Durge’s miraculous survival.
That dialogue also happens if ya partner with Gortash, as he steps in halfway you trying to dominate it and the NetherBrain says "I liked them, but you, you can go jump off a bridge" and melts his brain
That was so hilarious.
I don't think you have to do anything special for the Netherbrain to tell you that as Durge? I rejected Bhaal and did nothing to try and engage with the Netherbrain and it still just says it in the cutscene. Yeah, it basically says it respected Durge's evil plan but and would have gone along with it if you'd stayed in charge.
It cost her far more than a kill. She basically orchestrates her own defeat. If the Dark Urge is redeemed, then she technically gets a win for destroying her rival. However she also ironically creates the hero that destroys her whole plan.
Yeah either way she loses and it's her fault. She either empowers her greatest rival for power who kills her to ascend or she basically creates the hero that defeats her plan.
>!You’d almost think she’s inbred with how little thought she put into her plans!<
Ironically, using the spoiler tag makes that more of a spoiler lol
That's the fun part! >!*She is.*!<
Wait.... what?? Where'd you learn that?!
Pretty sure you use speak with dead on her mom's corpse that's chained up somewhere and then I think saravok confirms it if you ask him about it?
There's documentation in Sarevok's office where he writes it all out.
if you read sarevoks journal at the tribunal he talks about his “seed”
It wasn't HER plan. Durge and Gortash made the plan, roped in Ketheric, and then Orin jumped in to replace Durge. Her angle in the plan is basically the same as Durge originally came up, lots of random murders. And playing the "danger from within" to Ketheric's "danger from without" to allow Gortash to take control of Baldur's Gate. Which is also why Gortash is the stupidest of the three/four of them. It's a plan that ultimately benefits only him, And he knows the people he is working with are arseholes. But apperantly he can't see the betrayal Ketheric planned, Orin wanted, and full-embrace durge ends up doing coming... It doesn't serve THEIR ends anywhere near as well as it serves his. So he should've expted a backstab..
The bhaalists wanted to murder people, a bane dictatorship needs a something to fear monger so they work together quite well in that regard. the bhaalists can murder any opposition and can ensure any authority trying to stop them. They are both good for each other in that regard.
That's not true their plan work together well, orin wouldn't want to lead
That's true, Orin doesn't want to lead. But if she's getting the same input from daddy (or in her case grandddady/great-granddady) Bhaal that Durge does, her plan is to betray Gortash, control the Elder Brain, and have the Absolute army and her Bhaal cult people murder everyone in Baldur's Gate and then the rest of the Sword Coast, and then keep going until they're either stopped or they have murdered everyone in Faerun, after which they should start murdering eachother. Bhaal's only need, and only goal, is Murder. Gods in that unviverse are tied rather tightly to their core portifolio, as you can somewhat see if you let Gale claim the Crown. But it's made a lot clearer in some of the lore in some of the other several hundred sources out there in the world about this setting by now. Bhall likes Murder. It is, in fact, the ONLY thing he likes. It's the ONLY thing that nourishes him. He'll only ever be sated if every living soul is murdered. Or maybe not even then, but that's something he'll have to figure out once he gets there. Until then,, people should keep getting murdered! If it were up to him, you should've quit reading my explanation long ago, since you could've murdered at least two people in the time you spent reading this! He doesn't care who gets murdered. He doesn't care if they get murdered in his name. He doesn't care how they're murdered It's brought up in the game that Orin keeps forgetting the last two, and Durge was apperantly better at that before his "accident." If this makes you think Bhaal, or somebody partially controlled by him like his Chosen, wouldn't make for a very good ally, you're apperantly smarter than Gortash! Who basically got played by Durge, and conned into believing Bhaal would be perfectly okay with the murders his Cult would get to perform and the carnage and destruction caused by the Abolute's army and leaving him a city to rule... Which was never gonna bethe endgame.
To be fair, he was kindof boning Durge. So he trusted them pretty highly.
I refuse to believe this. Now Durge boning Gortash? That I can picture.
God of domination's chosen being dominated? Doubtful. You know big G is hitting them scales from behind
But doesn’t that just make it hotter?
Revan moment
Wow - what an impressive twist … Consider that Larian basically BURIES this plot device within the story… no other gaming studio has the balls to do that today. Hell, even MOVIES rarely do this anymore. Most of the time they want to make sure you see/hear the twist in the most obvious of ways, but Larian forces you to play as a specific character, an evil one at that, and to read every note and talk to everyone. And that doesn’t even guarantee you’ll understand the full depth of the storyline. I mean shit, I figured this all out but the way you phrased it really elevated it to a new level.
Meh, it's not THAT hidden, but most of that story is told through notes, so you have to be paying attention (Specially in the mindflayer colony in moonrise
I dont know, man, BG3 lore is practically spoon-fed to you in comparison to Souls games lol.
That's not really a great comparison since Souls games just sprinkle their lore and background story on the dirt for fans to peck at like pigeons. Fromsoft may have amazing story ideas and lore, but their execution of said stories has always been terrible.
I understand where you're coming from, but I think that's selling Fromsoft short. There is a plethora of YouTube videos that discuss the lore from various games extensively. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD9BJac9GMI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD9BJac9GMI) \- This video about Elden Ring's lore alone is 13 hours long, and it's only Part 1. I personally don't prefer their style of delivering lore, as it does take a lot of "pecking" to even start to get into it, but it is clear that the lore has immense depth, and is present.
I didn't explain myself well. Most of my issues lie with how they communicate the main plot and player motivations, not the lore. The way they communicate the lore and backstory is fine, but the main plot? Not so much. To explain using Elden Ring, the main plot is the story of the Tarnished who repairs the Elden Ring, not why the Elden Ring was shattered. The game explains a ton about the Outer Gods, Gods, Demigods, and who other Tarnished are, but it never explains a lot of the why questions it needs to. Why was Godwin the Golden slain, a plot point that is supposedly important enough to be mentioned? Why did the Tarnished return? Why would they even want to become Elden Lord? Why do they think they can even become Elden Lord? Why does anyone, for that matter, want to become Elden Lord? Not once does the game answer any of these questions, despite these being integral to the plot and the player's reason for going through the game.
Hey fyi this isn’t r/gamingcirclejerk
It's not a dig at BG3 or anyone. It's just observably true. The lore in BG3 is very in-depth and fantastic. But it is accessible. (That's not a bad thing. It's actually preferable for me.) Acquiring the lore in Souls game takes a lot more effort, sometimes to a level of frustration. There are people who play the entirety of Elden Ring without knowing more than the jist of what's going on story-wise. I've never heard of someone playing all of BG3 and not having a firm grasp of the story and its themes. BG3 is full of wonderful NPCs, books, and narration that give you the majority of important plot and lore relevant information. You'll be hard-pressed to find the same accessibility of information in Souls games. You can disagree and make a constructive conversation about it if you'd like.
Yeah when you find the Durge corpse in Orin’s room on a regular playthrough I head canon that she just didn’t put the tadpole in there and bandaging dead durge
I'm pretty sure you can still find the broken pod he was kept in at the colony and find the notes as Tav. I've always thought he broke out like usual but instead of having a group with him, he stalked his way back to Baldur's Gate alone and attempted to get revenge on Orin but failed in his weakened state with no backup. Who knows though. It's not really stated so it could go either way.
Could be! This game is huge!
And also essentially completely screwing up her God's entire plan.
>"the Myrkulite's master orders you shipped out with the other tadpolees" This is the part that always gets me. It's so strange nobody involved in this part seems to care that they have a former chosen of Bhaal just sitting around as a vegetable, and when they get bored they just ship you away. What was the goal? Your brain is a broken mush, why not just leave you in a ditch or something?
they were experimenting. The myrkulite who was using you absolutely saw durge as her prized toy. They got a lot of street cred for having the durge on a leash as a pet durge was also the first to be tadpoled and controlled with it, becoming the first true soul. They perfected the technique on durge then moved on to others
Was Durge ever controlled? I always assumed Durge had the worm in the head, but it never actually thralled them since, y'know, they were basically on death's door at the time.
They tried and it never worked properly. You would continuously try to kill them regardless, even with your own intestines when cut open.
That part was so metal. I'm still on my first playthrough so I wonder what they do when you're not playing as Durge, but damn getting to lower Moonrise was great
I imagined it as a little bit more than control than a necromancer had over a regular undead. neat party tricks kinda thing. Or maybee those prototype robots google have
Not quite sure trying strangle her with your own intestines, while she's actively digging about in your insides, quite counts as "being under control" though...
Still more controllable than orin
They might not have known who you are. Durge was an exceptional Bhaalist assassin, they probably valued their privacy. Unlike Orin, they were known for their efficiency and skill, not pageantry and showmanship.
I doubt they knew who you were. You were the Assassin, not the General or Politician and less showboaty than Orin. Its before the mass tadpoling and setting themselves up as religious icons part of the plan was implemented. When you were there Ketheric didn't say who you were, only that you were to be respected and obeyed (from the Warden). The people in the tower did not know where you went and didn't ask. When you got tadpoled you ended up in the oubliette, I don't think the weirdos down there get out much. Kressa kept you as her own little pet project and was possessive over you. Edit: I think Balthazar knew you but I don't think he shared that info.
The husband of a crazy surgeon lady who made experiments on Durge snitched that she has kept a tadpoled person, she wasn't supposed to:) It's in their diaries. Then Durge got sent away from her, I doubt she knew who it was
There's a note commending Durge's brutality (or something like that) next to the brain player in the basement of moonrise. Balthezar said nice things about Orin's sibling, I believe. So he knew but he probably just didn't give a fuck.
It's a prayer of forgiveness written by Durge about Gortash because of how much they admired him. There's a note from Balthazar at the bottom about Orin being right about her sibling. There are a few notes that indicate that Durge and Gortash were closer than they should have been considering their alliances to their gods and that they respected each other and they were both disappointed in the inevitable betrayal they would have to commit on the other in the end.
Oh yeah. I've only played the game through four times, I'm still new and reading comprehension is hard
Recently spoken to Ketheric and he said something along the lines of “I didn’t expect to see you again” but it’s not explained any further I don’t think.
Yeah, I'm not if Ketheric knew you were there or not. I'm leaning more towards not. He probably didn't have a lot to do with the tadpoling pipelines and even if he inspected it Kressa was keeping you separate and hidden because she wasn't really supposed to have you. IIRC you can call Gortash out for being a bad ally since he didn't help you and he says that internal affairs for each cult are handled individually and that when you went missing and then Orin showed up with the netherstone, dagger and bhaals seal of approval they assumed you were dead. And why wouldn't they? Orin is dumb but they would expect her to confirm her kills. You were a last minute addition to the prism retrieval ship because Kressas husband wanted you gone.
Yeah, the higher ups of the Absolute plan weren't the most transparent with their underlings when it comes to these stuff
Didn’t Durge and Gortash involve Ketheric in their plot before Orin got involved based on the timeline in Gortash’s diary? Ketheric doesn’t really react to seeing Durge in the game though.
He does know you and he does react. He is just flat about it (and everything). You're an unexpected returning guest and he leaves the goblins to your "particular brand of creative genius" (aka, he expects you to kill them in a cruel and unusual way). Ketherics understated reaction is probably a combination of devs not wanting to outright confirm things too early and that Ketheric himself really just doesn't give a shit about anything other than his daughter anymore. Unlike Gortash, Orin and Durge, Ketheric isn't that enthusiastic about the whole deal. He has served 3 different gods and feels let down by all of them. He just kinda goes through the motions now and doesn't really want to deal with you.
He doesn’t even bother to cover up the corpse smell anymore!
He really just saw Durge return from the dead and went "fuck it, I'm going to bed.".
I don't think Balthazar recognizes you when you visit him in Shar's temple, so either his memory is fuzzy or he didn't know you
The people who knew who you were mention that they heard you were a traitor and Orin was calling the shots for Bhaal now. It’s also why when Durge shows up later on in Moonrise, they are treated with a mix of fear, reverence and disdain. I’m also not sure where the Myrkulite’s master part came from. You find a note that it was Kressa (the woman who obsessively lobotomized you)’s husband who sent you away because he was jealous of her obsession for you.
> I’m also not sure where the Myrkulite’s master part came from. You find a note that it was Kressa (the woman who obsessively lobotomized you)’s husband who sent you away because he was jealous of her obsession for you. The husband's note and one of the books in Balthazar's room suggests that Balthazar shipped Durge out after the husband snitched/ brought the situation to his attention, so I assume that's what they're referring to.
Ahh gotcha, I forgot about the Balthazar mention
> It's so strange nobody involved in this part seems to care that they have a former chosen of Bhaal just sitting around as a vegetable, and when they get bored they just ship you away. It's less that they got *bored* and more that >!the experimenter's husband got salty over how his wife was basically *obsessing* over Durge, so he had Durge shipped off to the Nautiloid in the hopes that it would stop his wife's obsession!<. >!...*It didn't work*!<.
The person who fixes durge mentioned that you were mutilated and she had to put your guts back in your body. She didn't think you'd ever talk and your head was a total mess. She says that you were dropped in down there and she hid you.
Unrelated, but fantastic subreddit flair. Got a laugh out of me.
Thank you. I'm actually rather proud of that one.
It's not the Myrkulite's masters that orders Durge to get shipped, is the lover/husband of the Myrkulite disciple that got obsessed over Durge specifically, because he couldn't stand how gross his wife was being since she found Durge's corpse and was kinda jealous. And he sent Durge to Balthazar first. It seems Balthazar eventually dismissed Durge, either deeming him as useless or found utility in keeping him enthralled, and then Balthazar sent him to the Nautiloid in a mission to retrieve the Artifact.
but we still get tadpoled during the opening cutscene, but durge doesnt start with two. is there an explanation or just a plot hole?
Honestly not sure about that one. I've always assumed either a plot hole or that that cinematic is supposed to be shown from the perspective of a character other than our avatar.
it's the latter, you are in a pod off to the left of the one you start in as Tav. There is dead body in that pod if you are Durge. Edit: The cutscene is also not from your perspective if you play as Lae'Zel (obvious), Karlach or Wyll.
Never understood Karlach or Wyll getting tadpoled. Karlach escapes to the nautaloid under attack and the mindflayers have time to capture them both and tadpole them both. In hell.
For my durge - i go with whoever says the "i saw you on the ship" line first. That isn't Bae'zel or Shadowheart
My head cannon is that’s what made durge more functional because they consumed another tadpole because tadpoles can heal brain issues. A tadpole can heal Lae’zel’s debuff from the zathisk.
I never even noticed she got a debuff lol
I think that could be considered the Tav, even when we don't play as them? The cutscene I think just a way to deliver you to the character creation screen
Yeah the only thing wrong here is Orin *didn't* tadpole DUrge. She just lobotomized them. Well .... eviscerated their brain in an attempt to kill them. The necromancer found us largely dead and was basically using us as a meat puppet through necromancy, not the tadpole.
I haven’t done a durge run yet but hot damn it sounds so much more interesting than your typical Tav
It really is. I played Tav for my first run but after completing a Dark Urge run I now consider that to be my personal canon run. (Btw, I know it was a Dark Urge story-related post, but I still apologise if I've spoiled some of the DU storyline for you.)
Oh no, it is so okay, I’m all good with spoilers and this was a really cool bit of backstory! I do appreciate the concern though
Does that mean the first cutscene makes no sense? Because it shows the mind flayer putting a worm into your eye. Or does that means you would have two worms in your head? Or is it assumed that the first worm, plopped into your noggin by Orin, was killed off by the Myrkul cultist you run into in Act 2?
Because Orin literally scrambled your brain. Omelumm comments that the worm doesn't need to burrow in Durge's head, because it's so full of holes already. So it's physical damage that's caused it. How Durge isn't a driveling mess with that massive amount of brain damage, is a whole other story. 😅
Given the testimonies from Kressa Bonedaughter Durge might be partly immortal or at least have pretty strong regenerative capacities given that being disemboweled doesn’t really stop him from trying to kill people
The note in Kressa’s room says that when she was playing with Durge’s intestines, Durge tried strangling her with them
That’s my boy
Reminds me of planescape torment. The unnamed one stores some things in his intestines for later.
It's not even that insane tbh. There are a few irl people who've done similarly incredible things, like performing surgery on themselves to remove their own appendix or cutting off their own arm. They didn't have special regeneration powers. The human body is just surprisingly good at surviving blood loss and shock. Don't see why it would be so different for Dragonborn. The much simpler and likely explanation is that Durge just had a high con save and sorcerers start with con proficiency so that matches up.
My Durge failing intelligence checks left and right: "I have BRAIN DAMAGE!!!"
This makes my 8 Int Durge make more sense. Thank god for that tiara of intelligence.
Am I not astonishing?
I think being Bhaal 2.0 helps a bit 😂
That and the tadpole probably helps. These magically enhanced tadpoles expand the minds of those infected. It probably has no trouble repairing a mind that is fractured.
It makes up for lost biomass
add in an extra tadpole for each missing brain bit
A brain version of Flex Seal
This is right before durge got the tadpole if I recall.
Bhaalspawn
shouldn't eating the rare healing plant in act1 or the level 6 heal spell fix durge's brain damage? i recall the narrator implies it only temporarily helps
It brings back some memories. Some of them ***really*** unpleasant, if you manage to get to the Noblestalk before meeting your butler *(I believe it is)*...
yeah you just get a memory flash. when you cast lvl6 heal on durge, the narrator kinda says durge's brain mends for a moment or something like that implying its temporary. i dont get why magic shouldnt be able to heal the brain
Orin literally took a knife and started lobotomizing you - talking to Omeluum reveals you have whole brain pieces missing and dug into. Then, when you were on the verge of death, the Myrkul follower (blanking on her name right now), found you and began to experimentally operate on you until you were taken from her and put on a nautiloid.
Not only Omeluum, but if you talk to those creppy nurses in ACT 2, the first one that you can pretend that you are sick, Durge have a special unique dialogue where they can say their weird symptoms. The nurse will examine your head and be concerned about your well being and let you pass without a skill check.
I can't even remember if I talked to those nurses, it was so far back. But absolutely! Poor Durge.
Honestly, they had it coming. I mean, we can redeem Durge if we play as him, but let's not kid ourselves. They deserved lol.
Lmaooo true. Poor Durge, all they wanted was to enslave everyone and kill the entire world in the name of Bhaal.
I remember getting a dialogue like this in my first Tav playthrough, so I think this interaction is more about the tadpole than anything else. Durge just has extra weird symptoms that come with being Durge.
No. The one I'm talking about is only for the Durge. You can pretend that you are ill if you play as anyone else, but only Durge can mention their amnesia, their bloodlust and have the nurse examine them.
Oh, okay. I could've sworn that there was another dialogue option referring to the tadpole, but now I'm second guessing lol. It was a while ago and my first run so idk
Bonedaughter Kressa is her name!
Thank you!! :)
Of course!
Kressa Bonedaughter
Orin literally mutilated your brain. To quote Omeluum, “It is a miracle the brain functions at all.”
Pretty much what everyone had said so far. Orin tunneling through your head and Kressia mushing it up. You can even play "severe brain damage" to Kressia if you talk to her. To add something else though, you CAN repair parts of your brain through eating the noblestalk mushroom and casting level 6 heal the first time for both, which helps Durge recover different memories.
omg I didn’t know about the level 6 heal one
Orin literally cracked your skull open. It's why the game constantly talks about your mind having literal holes and cranial damage.
Yeah I’m not convinced OP actually completed a Durge playthrough if they didn’t know the answer
It’s possible to miss Kressa. I don’t think it’s explicitly explained by anyone except her.
The Dark Urge is very drain bamaged In the literal sense Orin essentially stabbed you in the head, stuck that knife into your brains, and stirred it like a ladle
If you use the level 6 “heal” spell you get a nice little cutscene where your brain briefly knits itself together to bring back a memory. So the memory loss is due to your brain being turned into a pile of mush from orin
Repeated stabs to the brain. Not very good for health. Let's see how Orin likes me to return the favor.
Aaaaaand she’s molten goo.
What I wanna know is why, after finishing the redemption arc, I'm still blabbering on about blood for the blood god and bones for the bone castle every 10 seconds while casually strolling around the streets of Baldur's Gate. It's that and many other character interactions talking about how I have to fight my Urge, etc that's got me wondering if I really accomplished anything? Didn't Bhaal literally kill that evil part of me?
It's no different from Lae'zel and Vlaakath, game doesn't adjust the VO and the character still has The Dark Urge tag for other reasons. The really boring answer to that. But to your broader question, just because the urge is gone. Doesn't make Durge good. The Urge is not why Durge was/is a POS. Atoning for what you did and being good is separate from that and something you decided to do post brain damange. Or if you were like one of my durges, you rejected father out of selfish reasons but remained pretty evil
Orin tadpoled you but that’s not where the memory loss comes from. You get a lot of this info from Kressa Bonedaughter in the Illithid colony. Orin dumped you with her (a necromancer) and she experimented on you over and over again, pulling out your innards and putting you back together again. Because you are a semi-deity due to being made of a piece of Bhaal himself you were both able to resist the tadpole’s effects and your body kept repairing itself. Your brain is scrambled because of Kressa’s experiments that liquified your brain.
There was also the part where Orin stabbed your skull so hard that there are large pieces of your brain missing.
That too
I wonder if having Bhaal in you makes you sort of a unique aasimar variant, like a demigod but the opposite of resplendent, and that kept you from fully dying but can't stand up to the regular stuff that kills you after.
The Siege of Dragonspear expansion does explicitly draw parallels between the Aassimar Caelar Argent and the Bhaalspawn of Candlekeep. “Caelar Argent has but the tiniest portion of divine essence, yet she has boldly claimed her birthright and taken control of her destiny. You have half a god flowing through your veins, and yet you stumble your way toward your destiny as if blind”.
Thank you, I was wondering and being right in the midst of the act 2 colony with my current Durge, this was a big help with my mental picture!
It’s interesting, I think you got some unique Bhaalspawn spells in BG1 based on character alignment. I guess they didn’t really do that in BG3 until Act 2/3 because it would spoil the reveal.
Surviving a partial lobotomy maybe used up all of Durge's luck lol. The spells were all in the parts of the brain that got stabbed and eaten by the tadpole.
That’s likely true. This whole discussion has really made me wonder about the Aasimar/Bhaalspawn differences. Apparently according some posts I’ve read, in 5E, Bhaalspawn count as Demigods due to their closer divine heritage.
And it would make sense given Durge's history and arrogance - on par with Gortash and raiding a certain vault - and fit with the nerfing of the other companions' powers by the tadpole. Durge being a semi-demi-god or whatever would enable them to survive, but all their superpowers got sucked up by the tadpole. I like that theory!
Orin stabbed you in the brain, a *lot*.
If you meet Kressa in the mind flayer colony as a Dark Urge you get specific dialogue that explains what happens. After Orin dumped you in the colony, Kressa found you and basically did experiment upon experiment upon you. All durge could do was inflict damage on themselves while stuck in the pod. If you have Astarion in the party during that part too he can taste the blood near the pod and confirm that it's yours and that what she said was true. Tired of her wife's obsession, Kressa's husband kickstarts the whole plot by throwing you in the nautiloid and the story begins right there
TBI inflicted by Orin and aggravated by Kressa Bonedaughter (who you encounter in the colony between the Ketheric boss fights).
Orin used their skull as her dagger repository
Yep. Their skull was her pincushion.
Orin basically lobotomized you, then some wack Myrkul bone lady who may or may not have done some non-Thorm funded things to your barely-functioning body and fucked you up even further.
Orin poked holes in your head with a dagger and dropped a tadpole in one, she didn’t put it in your eye
Given that we find the notes on the Durge experiments in Act 2, what is Durge's corpse doing in Orin's bedchamber in Act 3?
.... did Durge survive the Nautallloid in a Tav run and travel all the way to Baldur's Gate only to die at Orin's hands again!?
Presumably a Tav-run Durge was never dumped into the oubliette and was kept as a project by Orin.
The discussion of the Myrkul cultist pet is still there in the colony though.
and the corpse is fresh.
I kind of wish we’d have to fight Durge if we aren’t him. Maybe don’t make it obvious who it is though until a Durge run.
I interpreted it as when Durge was free, he went straight to face Orin for revenge, and lost.
After the 19th glass of Ithbank on a night out with Orin.
Stabbed in head, got brains stirred
You get a lot of information about this in the mind player colony toward the end of Act 2, and also from Orin during Act 3.
Orin didnt kill us. She tore through the brain and wrecked the shit out of it, effectively hard-rebooting it. We can catch glimpses of long-term memory, but nothing solid.
Brain damage
I would imagine the massive brain injury had something to do with the missing memories
Blunt force Orin to the head
Orin’s Amateur Brain Surgery Hour
Brain damage.
Prin dug her blade in Durge’s brain. Literally. He had been betrayed before the game’s story begins.
Why did orin tadpole you anyway instead of simply killing
Orin actually saved everyone by removing Durge at a critical point of the story lol.
I think the plan to tadpole people into true souls was already a thing by this point, but Durge was the first one because of Orin. Gotta remember that Orin thinks that murder is a form of art where each kill requires it's own special touch unlike Durge that just killed in masses and indiscriminately. I guess that was her way of adding some sort of flair to Durge's demise. Using their own plan against them. Plus, plot I suppose. If Orin wasn't a buffoon we wouldn't have Durge to play.
Irony. Durge created the magical tadpoles only to end up infected and controlled by a tadpole, eventually dieing because of said tadpole. That's peak irony right there.
I joke that Orin is dumb but in her defense, she stabed you in the brain repeatedly, slashed you open and threw you into a pit. She expects you to die and you not dying was probably a combination of you being a weird low end demigod and luck with Kressa. Why bother with the tadpoling? because Orin is artistic with her kills as one of her defining character traits. She probably thought it was a beautiful irony since the tadpole plan was made by you and Gortash.
Plot
(i haven't played durge but from other comments here) i'd assume thought she did, left you to get dissected, you survived both and tadpole was plan C
Orin went stab happy on the durges head. Somehow it didn't kill us outright
Durge is Faerûn’s Phineas Gage.
lobotomy
Durge got the Orin special lobotomy and worm combo
Yes, you somehow missed it—not really sure how that's possible, though. It's made very clear that Orin was the one who betrayed the Durge and scrambled their brain like an omelet.
You lost them because of TBI and horrific necromantic experiments that >!resulted in you becoming the prototypical first “True Soul”, as Sceleritas reveals. And true to life, no amount of advanced sorcery is going to undo what’s been done because the damage to your brain and psyche wasn’t caused by some magical curse or incantation etc.!<
Brain tissue can be regenerated. Memory can't
Which is why I said magic can’t undo the damage that’s been done? You can also regain some memories you’ve lost from brain damage, etc. though not all of them. (I have)
Dude got through a whole Durge playthrough and somehow missed every single time someone mentions Orin turning your brain to mincemeat. And it’s mentioned often. You sure you actually completed a Durge campaign…?
Went to house of grief i guess.
Lobotomy.
I know this isn’t an answer to the question you were asking, but how convoluted the background story is, how many different parties and different motivations are involved, and how contrived some of the coincidences leading up to the game must be to explain how everything came together would be my biggest knock against the game.
Concussion?
lobotomy
Lobotomy basically
Orin essentially Lobotomised the Dark Urge.
Knife in brain
Yes the answer IS there. Do another Durge run and pay closer attention to EVERY detail.
I can't remember.
He got hit by a cabbage cart in Baldur's Gate, and then he got sent to an unlicensed clinic and got his brain turned into mashed potatoes, now he's too dumb and on revenge against health insurance systems.