Many roleplaying games rely heavily on compelling companions to drive their narratives. On that front, Obsidian’s upcoming first-person fantasy Avowed comes prepared to provide. In particular, the scientist Giatta from Fior mes Ivèrno promises to tie deeply into the protagonist’s journey, adding a constant and slightly different perspective to the game’s narrative.
Game Rant recently spoke with narrative designer Paul Kirsch, who has worked with Obsidian on projects including Pillars of Eternity, The Outer Worlds, and Tyranny, and who was responsible for most of Giatta’s character in Avowed.
Giatta’s Story Parallels Avowed’s Protagonist
Kirsch loves companions whose narratives run close to the player character. As the Envoy is seeking information about the plague that has taken hold in the Living Lands, so too is Giatta, though from a different perspective. In fact, the quest centered around the Emerald Stair is intrinsically linked to Giatta; Kirsch said that her introduction is a major part of the quest. As part of introducing the character, the quest offers multiple perspectives on Giatta before she even joins the Envoy’s entourage. He was fortunate to be able to shape the story of Giatta to run as a close parallel to Avowed’s Envoy:
“When I started writing Giatta, the only firm details were her culture of origin, her occupation as an animancer, and her support role in combat. Otherwise, I had a great deal of creative freedom to figure out her backstory and emotional arc. Animancers are scientists of the soul, so I imagined her venturing out and studying the plague that besets the Living Lands but also eyeballing the player’s curious nature and wanting to know more about them. I like when companions have a story that runs parallel to the player’s, so it was important to me that Giatta’s goals were similar, albeit driven by a personal crusade.”
That isn’t to say Kirsch had Giatta’s character down from the outset. Initially, her role as a scientist meant she was more clinical in situations that Kirsch wanted. He went in and added a bit more spiciness, a bit more rebelliousness, to the cool-headed scientist. However, elements of that scientific approach to the world of Eora remain and are instrumental to how she interacts with other members of the Envoy’s retinue.
For instance, Giatta is especially close to the Godless expert and Indiana Jones-styled academic Yatzli. Kirsch promised that some of the deepest mysteries and juiciest lore about Eora come from the two academics talking by the campfire. Their relationship extends to long before the Envoy entered their lives, and the pair are deep friends, practically family, and intellectual sparring partners.
The Lonesome Researcher
Another way Giatta was refined was by taking her background as an animancer to a deeper level. For Giatta, science is the family business; her parents were involved in a tragic lab accident. That’s a driving force for her own focus on animancy–she seeks to finish their work and, in some way, find redemption for their mistakes.
“That aspect of her character grew more and more important over time. Even if Giatta isn’t bringing it up, the trauma and her feelings of inadequacy are ever-present…Giatta would win whatever award they give students at Debate Club, but then she would take the trophy back to her empty house and wonder who she was trying to impress. Or maybe melt it down for the metal.”
That turns the clinical detachment Kirsch originally saw in the character into something far more melancholic. Giatta is seeking more than accomplishment or success: she’s looking to fill a deep emotional wound. She’s driven by wanting to be what her parents failed to be and to find meaning in the science that cost her family their lives. In this light, Giatta is deeply lonesome, making her connections to the party that much more meaningful.
Kirsch believes companions give players a reason to care about what they’re doing. They are protagonists of their own stories, windows into the broader world, and give a face to how player choice impacts others in the world. In that light, Giatta’s role is to be a wounded, brilliant expert on souls and to provide that context for the plague the Envoy has to investigate.
- Released
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February 18, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- Publisher(s)
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Xbox Game Studios