Aligern

Aligern is one of six possible companions in Torment: Tides of Numenera. This former Aeon Priest is tormented by his past, and seeks to understand the tattoos writhing over his body - and take vengeance on the Changing God.

According to his own, sarcastic reply, his name means Travels With Idiots. A truly Aligern response.

Background
The first thing you notice is this man's kaleidoscope of tattoos, writhing across his forearms. He wears a long, dark coat, belted at the waist, supplies filling the pockets. His boots are worn and stained with years of travel.

In a life long past, Aligern was an Aeon Priest. Lived with his family in an aldeia on the edge of the Sagus Protectorate. His life took a turn for the worse when he discovered an unknown portal or gate while exploring a ruin. It was a heavy, man-high frame of unknown material, and had an interface on the side. The villagers helped him get it home, and Aligern spent the next few weeks trying to figure out what it was and how it worked. And that's when the Changing God showed up and ruined his life.

He was in town seeking some object, and Aligern's youngest daughter brought him into his workshop so he could ask the Priest about it. Aligern didn't know he was the Changing God at the time - not even who the Changing God was back then. When he saw the frame, he said he knew what it was - gave it a name that was seemingly only gibberish - then demonstrated how to power it up with just a strand of glow braid. As the Changing God left, he said, Say farewell to your family for me.

The very next day, Aligern got the frame powered and turned it on. Out of it came a swarm of black creatures, like oil-covered sticks, thousands of them. They overwhelmed Aligern, knocking him unconscious. When he awoke... They were gone, and his aldeia with them. Everyone, friends, family, children, all gone. Aligern has searched ever since for the answer as to what happened. There were few bodies, far fewer than his aldeia had. Did the creatures drag his people back though the frame? Did they devour them? Did they take them somewhere?"

He only knew it was the traveller who told him how to power the frame, and the traveler who told him it was harmless. Aligern devoted his life to two things, bringing his family back, and taking revenge on the traveler, the man he came to know as the Changing God. His investigations alienated him from his peers. The Order of Truth cut his funding and demanded he cease his research, no book or data device has mentioned the frame, and he heard no rumors of anything remotely like it.

That's when he found Callistege. She was known for finding things so, despite her reputation for unreliability. He approached her, and she accepted, with the caveat that he help her find a way to achieve her transcendence. She seemed kind at first, but when it became clear neither of them could help the other, she became cruel and spiteful. They stayed together out of habit, atop a rotting corpse of a relationship.

Then came the Last Castoff, giving him a chance to uncover the secrets that plagued him.

Companion

 * Aligern's body is covered in strange, shifting tattoos. He can use the Living Tattoos ability to pluck a strand of ink from himself, granting him the Living Tattoos fettle. While the fettle is active, he gains increasing bonuses by chaining together similar actions (attacks, healing, applying other fettles). If he uses a different kind of action, he breaks the chain and loses the fettle. This Ability does not use his Move or his Action, so he can activate it and then do something else.
 * He despises Callistege and considers her a backstabbing bitch. After dealing with Qorro at the Reef, he will refuse to share a party with her, believing the ambush (she's a long-time acquaintance of Qorro, after all) to be the proof of her treachery. If dismissed, he is later found in the Underbelly.
 * Aligern will ask you to stop by the Order of Truth, to check up on his associate, who is investigating his strange tattoos. Check the desk to the right to learn that he is away on business, frustrating Aligern's plans. You will not be able to advance his story until you arrive at the Bloom and find Orth Faung, however, be sure to bring him along to meet Aadiriis at Miel Avest. This is an opportunity to secure a major loyalty boost with him and make the old man love you - assuming you promise to help him find the truth.

Quests

 * Fallen to Earth: Callistege and Aligern witness your crash into the Broken Dome and desire to help you. Callistege believes the Order of Truth is your best bet, quite opposite to Aligern, who believes the Cult of the Changing God is a superior pick.
 * The Empty Cage: Completing this quest allows Aligern to learn the fate of his family and friends, while simultaneously determining his ending.

Other interactions

 * Aligern will request that you visit the monument to his fallen village while at the Valley of Dead Heroes. Doing it results in a major loyalty boost and starts his story arc.

Inventory

 * Body: Aligern's Vest
 * Cloak: Aligern's Coat
 * Ornament: N/A
 * Weapon: Mace
 * Bonded: N/A