As part of the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is closely intertwined with both its lore and story. However, Obsidian’s newest installment focuses on a new setting with its own unique story. Set in the Living Lands, we take on a new adventure as an Aedyran Envoy and godlike, and when investigating the Dreamscourge, found it could be traced to the existence of an unknown god.
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Going through the story, we uncover the story of Sapadal, the god of the Living Lands, as well as the Godless (or the Ekida), the first settlers on the island. Their tragic tale forms the basis that led to Sapadal’s imprisonment and the main events of the game. As such, this article will focus on the lore behind Sapadal, the Godless, and how their backstory connects to the main storyline.
The Origins Of Sapadal
How The Gods Were Created
Firstly, we need to understand the origin of the gods in the world of Eora. The gods we know as Woedica, Berath, Eothas, and so on are not gods in the way that we normally perceive gods to be like. The deities of Eora are constructs borne from the minds of the Engwith, an ancient society that actively sought to find the gods (or creators) of the universe.
To their disappointment, the Engwith found no indication that any god ever existed. Unable to take this as reality, the Engwith — an extremely advanced civilization that had managed to crack the secrets of the soul and control the Wheel (or cycle of rebirth) — decided to create the gods themselves.
Eleven of the Engwith became the gods we know of by sacrificing a massive number of their own people to gain enough power to elevate themselves as the gods of Eora. Each god represents different aspects of life and human existence, from concepts of rebirth and war to justice.
The way the gods were created was kept a secret, to the point where the surviving Engwithans allowed themselves to become extinct to prevent the secret from being known.
The Abnormality Of Sapadal’s Birth
Knowing how the gods of Eora were created, Sapadal (or The Gardener) is truly a special case since she was born into existence rather than artificially made. Sapadal is possibly the first recorded instance of real divinity, a patron deity of an entire island known as the Living Lands.
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It is unknown how exactly she came into the world since Sapadal herself said during one of her in-game dialogues that she simply ‘woke up’ and embodied all aspects of the Living Lands. It’s noted that Sapadal’s nature is akin to that of a child, one that’s just discovering the world around her.
However, despite Sapadal’s birth and case being evidence that gods can come into being naturally, the other gods were less than pleased with this outcome, with one particular god taking action — which will be outlined below.
The Godless And Their Goddess
Origins Of The Godless
The Godless, as mentioned before, were the first settlers in the Living Lands, but they were known as the Ekida. They obtained the moniker ‘Godless’ because later generations assumed that they worshiped no god, since there were no altars or places of worship left by the Ekida.
However, it’s vaguely mentioned in one of the conversations with Sapadal that the Ekida fled their homeland due to some sort of catastrophe and that’s how they ended up on the Living Lands. Since the adra network on the Living Lands isn’t connected to that of the rest of the world, one of the Ekida, a godlike of Sapadal named Enhekala, built Naku Tedek to enact the cycle of rebirth through the adra network on the island.
At some point, the Ekida learned of Sapadal’s existence and began to worship her. Sapadal was revered, but since Sapadal was a newborn deity and had the nature of a child, she was prone to tantrums that resulted in natural disasters on the island.
However, much like a living child, Sapadal is noted to learn, grow and mature, as she continues to do even with the Envoy. Additionally, it’s suggested that Sapadal must have promised her protection to the Ekida in return for worship and offerings but was unable to keep her end of the bargain due to what happened next.
The End Of The Godless
As mentioned before, the gods were either dismayed, fascinated or wary of Sapadal’s birth — as seen through the gods’ conversations after you collect all the totems — but Woedica believed Sapadal to be an aberration, an agent of chaos that would destroy Eora’s gods and the world. Woedica is the only one who acted against Sapadal, unleashing an army of maegfolc on the Godless, annihilating them, and wiping out all traces of their culture and civilization.
It is clear that Woedica intends to kill Sapadal but seems unable to do so since Sapadal ends up imprisoned instead. Sapadal would be imprisoned in the Garden for a long time, but despite her imprisonment, she could still affect the world, as seen through the two godlikes, Nandru and the Envoy.
However, with the Godless dead, Sapadal has failed in her duty to protect them. It makes sense why, then, their spirits were so averse to the Envoy showing up on Naku Kubel and why they were displeased even after a godlike of their god completed all three trials.
It’s also possible that the Godless’ tolerance for Sapadal’s world-destroying tantrums may have evaporated even before their extinction since they’re shown to cause a volcano to erupt during the main mission in Galawain’s Tusks. This is further bolstered when the spirit of Nandru asks the Envoy to kill Sapadal instead of freeing her, saying that she’s a danger to the Living Lands.
However, it was most likely due to Eothas destroying the Engwithan machine during Deadfire — releasing the gods’ grasp on the Wheel and the cycle of reincarnation, thus weakening them — which allowed a larger portion of Sapadal’s powers to leak.
Due to the pain and confusion from being caged for millennia, as well as anger at the Steel Garotte’s actions, Sapadal reacted, resulting in the Dreamscourge and kickstarting the main storyline in Avowed.
- Released
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February 18, 2025
- Engine
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Unreal Engine 5
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Violence
- How Long To Beat
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17 Hours
- PC Release Date
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February 18, 2025
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
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February 18, 2025
- X|S Optimized
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Yes
- Number of Players
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1
- Steam Deck Compatibility
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Unknown
- OpenCritic Rating
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Strong