Background Story#
Avowed shares one world with the Pillars of Eternity series. It does not require you to catch up on the earlier games, but knowing a few basic concepts changes the weight of a lot of dialogue.
World Basics#
| Concept | Notes |
|---|---|
| Eora | The entire world; the Living Lands are only one island in it |
| The Living Lands | The setting of this game, an island whose ecology is wildly out of balance and whose species are mixed together |
| Adra | The crystalline substance souls move through, and also the landmark of your camp |
| Animancy | The discipline of channeling soul essence into creations to improve society |
The Wheel of Souls and Berath#
Life and death in Eora rest on a cycle: after death a soul travels through adra pillars to the Beyond, then returns to the world as a newborn. This cycle is called the Wheel, and the god Berath watches over it.
This setting determines the nature of nearly every conflict in Avowed: the Dreamscourge is no ordinary disease, because it acts on the soul itself.
The Gods#
| God | Domain |
|---|---|
| Eothas | Rebirth, redemption, dawn, and light; destroyed elsewhere and returned |
| Ondra | The sea, forgetting, loss, and mourning |
| Woedica | Justice, law, oaths, rule, and memory; the core of the Steel Garrote’s faith |
| Berath | The watcher of death and of the Wheel itself |
| Sapadal | Tied to the being imprisoned deep beneath the Living Lands, and the source of the voice in your head |
Woedica has the strongest presence in the Living Lands. The Steel Garrote acts in her name and treats the oath as an absolute rule that cannot be broken. That explains why the order operates through reckoning rather than conquest.
The Godlike#
The Godlike are rare beings whose souls have been touched by a god, usually carrying some physical trait such as unusual hair, eyes, or body. The envoy you play is one of them.
| Point | Notes |
|---|---|
| Godlike is not a class | It is a state of being and does not decide what style you play |
| Godlike abilities | Unlocked as the main story advances and cannot be reset by respeccing |
| Relationship to the story | Your ties to the Dreamscourge and to the Ekida legacy all grow from here |
After the anniversary update you can customize Godlike traits further at character creation, though that part is purely cosmetic.
The Dreamscourge and the Dreamscourged#
| Concept | Notes |
|---|---|
| Dreamscourge | A plague of the soul spreading across the island, twisting living things and the land together |
| Dreamscourged | Creatures warped by the Dreamscourge, frenzied in behavior and changed in form |
| Your task | Find out what causes it and decide what should be done about it |
The Dreamscourge brings more than destruction. It has produced hallucinatory landscapes and mutated ecology across the island, which is the most striking part of Avowed’s art direction.
The Ekida#
The Ekida are an ancient people who settled the Living Lands several centuries ago and then vanished mysteriously. Others call them the Godless. Their ruins, guardians, and mechanisms are scattered all over the island.
| Point | Notes |
|---|---|
| Ekida ruins | Densest in Shatterscarp and the Emerald Stair |
| Knowledge of the Ekida | Yatzli knows this history better than anyone alive today |
| Relationship to the main story | The Ekida trail leads straight to the truth in the endgame region |
The Link to Pillars of Eternity#
In the timeline, Avowed takes place roughly three years after Pillars of Eternity II. The catastrophe that swept the archipelago in the earlier game is mentioned directly, and some characters and powers carry over.
| Continuities | Notes |
|---|---|
| World setting | Fully shares Eora and its pantheon |
| Some characters | Figures from earlier games appear in different forms |
| Powers carried over | Some organizations already appeared in the earlier games |
Never having played the earlier games does not stop you from following the main story, but players who have will get extra responses in several places.
Where the Geography of the Living Lands Comes From#
The Living Lands feel alive because the natural laws here are unstable. Plants hunt actively, animals have strange forms, and different climate bands crowd onto one island. This is not just for spectacle; it gives a real answer to why every power wants this island: a place where both resources and secrets are in constant motion.
Thematic Threads#
| Theme | How it shows up |
|---|---|
| Colonialism and self-rule | The three-way tension between the Empire, the Steel Garrote, and the local resistance |
| Identity | You are both an imperial envoy and Godlike, and the two identities do not always coexist |
| Knowledge and its price | Animancy and Ekida technology point at the same thing: power has a cost |
FAQ#
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Do I need to play Pillars of Eternity first | No, though having played it makes some dialogue land better |
| Is the protagonist a fixed character | Appearance, race, background, and allocation are all customizable, but the identity is fixed as imperial envoy and Godlike |
| Are there prequel novels or comics | No outside works you have to read |
| Does the story change by race | The main story does not, though some dialogue reactions differ |
| How many endings are there | Several, depending on faction choices, how you handle the Dreamscourge, and the final decision |