Excitement is brewing for Obsidian Entertainment’s Avowed, the first-person RPG epic currently in development. Not much is known about the game as of yet, but one thing fans know for sure is that it takes place an a fantasy world that already exists: the world of Obsidian’s previous franchise, Pillars of Eternity.
Therefore, anyone looking to get geared up for Avowed should look no further than the Pillars of Eternity games, which will serve as a great introduction to the world of Eora. It helps that they’re pretty fantastic games on their own, too, so here’s what fans should know about Eora, Pillars of Eternity, and the lore that’ll undoubtedly come back up when Avowed releases.
First things’ first: Pillars of Eternity is a roleplaying game developed by Obsidian and released back in 2015. Pillars of Eternity was actually the product of a Kickstarter campaign, one that raised over $4 million – the highest amount raised for a video game at the time. It was made to be a spiritual successor to the Baldur’s Gate series, as well as Icewind Dale and Planescape: Torment, all of which are also story-intensive isometric RPGs.
The Pillars of Eternity series takes place in the original fantasy world of Eora, and this particular game take place mainly within the nation of the Free Palatinate of Dyrwood. The Dyrwood is a former colony of the vast Aedyr Empire, which won its freedom through a revolutionary war years ago, but at the opening of the game, the Dyrwood is struck by a horrible phenomenon: its children are being born without a soul. They’re called “hollowborn,” and being born without a soul essentially means those children are left totally unresponsive, in something like a vegetative state. There’s no known cause for the Hollowborn Plague, although many point to the presumed death of Eothas, nor is there a known cure when the game begins.
Meanwhile, the player character starts the game by discovering they’re something called a “Watcher,” someone who can read souls. Eora is a world in which the cycle of reincarnation ensures the continuation of life, and Watchers can read the souls of both the living and the dead, the past and the present. Exposed to dangerous energies, the player character also becomes Awakened, meaning that they gain awareness of their past lives, but this also curses them with an inability to sleep and waking visions that will eventually drive them insane unless they reverse the Awakening. Thus, the player character – usually referred to as “The Watcher” in-game – sets out to do two things: find out what caused their Awakening, and stop the Hollowborn Plague of Dyrwood.
In terms of mechanics, players get to make their character through a character creation process that offers six different playable races and a wide variety of classes similar to those in Dungeons & Dragons, with a few unique exceptions. Players can also recruit up to eight companions to accompany them throughout their adventures in the Dyrwood.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire is the direct sequel to the first game, and in terms of its setting, it moves away from the Dyrwood and into the island nation of the Deadfire. It seems like Obsidian is keeping up a trend of setting its games in a new land of Eora with each installment, as fans also already know that Avowed will take place primarily in the Living Lands, yet another area of Eora. Regardless, Deadfire takes place five years after the events of the first game, and players reprise the role of their Watcher in the new adventure.
In Deadfire, the Watcher is separated from a piece of their soul, which is snatched by one of the gods, Eothas, as he awakens and begins tearing a path of destruction across the Deadfire. The Watcher is tasked by yet another of the gods, Berath, with pursuing Eothas and discovering his ultimate plans in exchange for the restoration of what remains of their soul. Thus, the Watcher is left with no choice but to follow Eothas into the Deadfire Archipelago, which is filled with enough political problems of its own. And, of course, the player’s previous actions from the first Pillars of Eternity determine certain story elements of Deadfire as well.
Deadfire features another cast of companion NPCs, some returning fan-favorites from the first Pillars of Eternity and others brand new. Deadfire also introduces companion romances, something not present in the first game, and something worth mentioning since it’s unclear how Avowed will approach companions – but hopefully, it’ll keep building from where Deadfire left off. Throughout the game, the Watcher is left to deal with the four factions vying for control of the Deadfire, in addition to their pursuit of Eothas and all the problems that alone entails. Deadfire contains a number of different endings, much like the first game, though of course it has no sequel (other than the indirect connections that Avowed will have).
Hopefully, exploring the Pillars of Eternity franchise will give players excited for Avowed a decent taste of Eora. Both are critically acclaimed games in their own right, and with Avowed following in their footsteps, the future of Eora is sure to be an interesting one.
Avowed is currently in development for PC and Xbox Series X.
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