The second part of Pillars of Eternity's White March expansion is out February 16, and if you reckoned Obsidian would add an extra companion or two, then well done, you're right, here's a trophy, it says 'Wolverhampton Cricket Club Champion 2006' on the side but it was the best I could do at such short notice, sorry. That new companion you were so right about is Maneha, a barbarian with a pleasant smile and a benevolent nature, looking for an ancient temple for mysterious reasons.

Here's narrative designer Carrie Patel introducing the Aumaua Barbarian, courtesy of PCGamesN:

Oh and here's a new location from The White March Part 2 that we took a look at last month. Are you excited about Pillars of Eternity's imminent conclusion?

As someone still only a few hours into the game, I'm particularly looking forward to the promised 3.0 update, which adds a new Story Time mode, player housing, and mucks about with the RPG's third act.

Mmm, the sweet taste of free. Pillars of Eternity is superb, but even after a bit of polish, some rough edges remain. Obsidian hopes to buff out the remaining blemishes with the arrival of The White March Part 2 on February 16—a free update for all players will accompany the launch.

Pillars' massive spellbooks make for excellent tactical combat, but the combat UI itself is arcane. Patch 3.0 clarifies things by more clearly dividing per-rest and per-encounter abilities.

More flashy, the whole third act has been revised to cut down the legions of trash while making things harder overall, an oh-so-welcome change for anyone who indulges in side-quests for time to time and soaks up extra XP. And that's in addition to new level-scaling options. The risks associated with combat can be jacked up too thanks to knockout injuries, making an iron man run still more terrifying. If a companion goes down in a fight they take an injury that will only be cured with good ol' R&R. 

If that idea makes your stomach turn, Story Time mode will allow you to waltz through the adventure and soak up the atmosphere without fear, while Athletics and Survival skills have been made less meh. The former grants a new self-heal, while Survival opens up multiple camping bonuses.

And what RPG is complete without player housing? Even with a 15-floor mega-dungeon in its foundations, your Stronghold was a touch underused. Now, adventurers will have extra stories and rewards, travellers swing by with dilemmas requiring your input and a full quest line will test your claim to the castle itself.

We consider Pillars of Eternity to be a champion among cRPGs, and nothing makes me happier than to see the devs tending it still.

The second expansion for Pillars of Eternity, The White March Part 2, is nearly here. We liked Part 1 well enough, though it was a bit light on story—Andy said it was "a reasonably entertaining chunk of new quests, and a nice change of scenery" in his review. Maybe Part 2 will tell a beefier tale as it concludes the story, though we've learned today that our characters might have trouble remembering the ordeal anyway. Obsidian has sent over a description of one of the new locations in Part 2, Abbey of the Fallen Moon, and it has some peculiar effects on the mind.

The Abbey is believed to be a sacred site of Ondra, goddess of the sea, who specializes in Eternal Sunshining away undesired memories. Given her nature, it isn't easy to find the place—everyone's heard of it, but no one knows where it is—though we'll apparently be stumbling into it, perhaps in search of its fabled "Salt Well."

We'll get to poke around Ondra's memory palace, and presumably some other new locations, when The White March Part 2 is out on February 16th. Below is the full description of the Abbey of the Fallen Moon from Obsidian as well as a couple more screenshots. I think I'd remember the location of a giant, frozen skeleton, personally.

Ask the denizens of the White March if they've heard of the Abbey of the Fallen Moon, and they will tell you they have. Ask them for directions to it, and you'll be met only with blank stares.

When someone wants desperately to forget something, they pray to Ondra, goddess of the sea, to take it from their memory. The abbey is thought to be one of Ondra's most sacred sites and to be home to some of her highest ranking clergy, but so little about it is known to outsiders that many have supposed the goddess has used her dominion over memory to protect knowledge of its whereabouts and activities.

The abbey's name is thought to originate with an old folk legend. The story tells of Ondra's unrequited love for the moon, and how in her frustration, she once reached out to touch it, causing a piece of it to fall into her, and resulting in widespread catastrophe. It is said she continues to pursue the moon, and this serves as the most common explanation for the tides.

One persistent rumor among lower level Ondrite clergy is that the abbey houses a number of important and powerful holy relics. Of particular appeal to Ondrite Giftbearers is a pool known as the Salt Well. Giftbearers are faithful servants of Ondra who travel from village to village, helping people to forget painful memories. They accept memento objects that represent these memories, and deposit them into deep water for Ondra to accept into her keeping. Bearing these memories, while a relief to their original owners, takes an emotional toll on the Giftbearers over time. It is said that if one is to bathe in the Salt Well, however, then they have their burdens washed clean—even Giftbearers.