The world of Eora from Obsidian's Pillars of Eternity series is full of fascinating stories just waiting to be explored in the studio's upcoming RPG Avowed. While the game will see a shift from a top-down perspective like that of its sister series to a first-person perspective, fans should still expect it to deliver the same level of writing and world-building that the studio is renowned for. There are many branches of lore Avowed could follow, but the game would benefit the most if it took a page out of Red Dead Redemption 2's book and told a prequel story to the Pillars of Eternity games.
Rather than a direct follow-up to the first game, Red Dead Redemption 2 took the series back a step and set the stage for the events that would lead to the original game. Although the ending of the first Red Dead Redemption was pretty definitive for protagonist John Marston and warranted a prequel in order to craft a new story, the Pillars of Eternity series leaves the door open for Avowed to take place after or contiguously to the series. However, the prominence of the enigmatic Engwithans in the world of Eora gives Avowed the perfect excuse to tell a prequel tale about these long-lost people.
Avowed Could Follow a Prequel Story About the Engwithans
The Engwithans play a key role in the Pillars of Eternity series, despite never directly appearing the games. They were said to be a feudal-like civilization made up of kingdoms ruled by warlords, who, in a quest for religious truth, discovered that no gods existed. As a result, their animancers developed a way to transfer the souls of thousands of Engwithans into a machine that would fuse them into artificial gods. Thus, eleven artificial gods were created with Woedica being the patron god of the Engwithans, tasking their decedents with keeping truth of their artificial nature a secret from future generations.
Although little is still known about Avowed, the reveal trailer does contain some clues that point to the game being some kind of prequel to Pillars of Eternity. The gameplay seems to emphasize the use of magic and swords in Avowed over the more mechanically complex weapons like the flintlock pistols and crossbows available in the Pillars of Eternity series, suggesting that the game is set in a time period long before the events of those games. While it's possible that these other weapons could pop up in future trailers, the focus on magic in this trailer also lends credence to the idea that the game is set before animancy became a taboo in many parts of Eora.
The banner of Woedica can also be seen in the reveal trailer, which could indicate that Avowed takes place in a version of Eora after the creation of the artificial gods but before the decline of the Engwithans. Avowed could tell the tale of the last of the Engwithans who acted as missionaries in the name of these new gods, and the religious upheaval caused by splintering factions around the gods leading to conflict between religious sects. The game could even feature the extinction of the Engwithans when the goddess Ondra crashed a moon into Eora, wiping out the remaining Engwithans and their culture along with them.
A game featuring the Engwithans seems like a logical step for Obsidian to take with the world they've built for Pillars of Eternity and now Avowed. With the change from a top-down to first-person RPG, the studio has the perfect opportunity to change up the storyline from Pillars of Eternity and give fans a prequel that can build the lore surrounding the Engwithans. However, without more details about the game, it's unclear if this will actually be the case.
Avowed is currently in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.