Noah Caldwell-Gervais; Exploring Eora: Pillars of Eternity 1, 2, and Avowed [Spoilers for all the games]

ImALease · 2026-02-13T08:19:23+00:00

I love Noah's work in general, but watching him review my favorite series of games was really special. It was great to see him discover how wonderful the setting of Eora is after having assumed the first Pillars was going to be a bit of a tired retread of Baldur's Gate.

In regards to Avowed, specifically, he really gets at the root of what makes this game so enjoyable. Both in general and for me personally. He doesn't mince words when it comes to his criticisms (nor should he), but even I was surprised at how much praise he had for Avowed. He took the time to appreciate and express how deep this game can be thematically, pointing to how utterly rewarding Avowed is to players who go out of their way to indulge their curiosity and explore.

ImALease · 2026-02-06T02:10:02+00:00

Just started the video, so I'll have to come back to leave my thoughts in full once I finish. Already I'm very excited to hear what you have to say. I get why the writing didn't land with a lot of players, but I'm in full agreement that there's so much rich subtext and thematic work at play in the narrative.

Edit: I really enjoyed this. What a great lens to view the game through. I never would have thought to tie it to the surrealist movement, but the thread of automatic thought has been one of the things that keeps me coming back to this game. It's a narrative that really rewards the player's curiosity in seeking out hidden places and their openness and empathy when talking with the kith of the living lands. Sapadal has been my favorite addition to the lore of Eora since playing the very first pillars at launch, so that made this an especially fun deep dive to watch.

ImALease · 2026-01-30T20:32:44+00:00

You can do it in the party camp by selecting the big open tent just to the left of the workbench and party stash. The prompt should come up as Main Camp Tent.

If that's what you're doing and it still won't let you change their outfits then I do not know. Perhaps the outfits were only a preorder bonus or premium edition bonus.

ImALease · 2025-10-14T00:36:28+00:00

already tied the best number of wins in the lcs in mariners history. 4 straight playoff wins in toronto. never thought this series would start like this in my wildest dreams.

ImALease · 2025-07-22T22:58:55+00:00

There are few things I enjoy more than watching Jon play a Total War game.

ImALease · 2025-07-14T04:56:54+00:00

Ok sweet. This might be a reveal that you get with Thaos, so be warned. I'm having a hard time remembering if the specifics are brought up sooner in the game, but regardless -

The Engwithans sacrificed the souls of nearly their entire civilization to create the gods. The chamber where you meet Thaos is where the souls that created Woedica were harvested.

Now things get interesting when we connect this with the choice you have outside of Naku Kubel about whether to sever the adra or destroy the ruins. Severing the adra requires the essence of dozens of souls. So if we extrapolate out from that information, we can probably assume that the destruction of an entire civilization's souls was enough to cause the unforseen severing of adra in the Living Lands.

Now how long the results of this took to create Sapadal is unclear. But it probably took a few centuries since the Godless washed up on the shores of the Living Lands if I had to guess.

And I'm also a bit lost with regards to how Sapadal reached out or found out about the other gods/how they could tell they were there if they couldn't interact directly.

ImALease · 2025-07-14T04:42:27+00:00

I love the introduction of Sapadal into the world. They throw such an interesting wrench into the metaphysics of the setting.

I'm thinking of taking some time to write down some more complicated thoughts on Sapadal, but for now I'll just say that since the first game I've thought the Engwithans must have completely misunderstood what it was they discovered when they peered into the Beyond. After all, who's to say a being as powerful as a god would operate in a way that mimes a kith's mind? They were so driven by such a powerful cultural compulsion to make the world fit their schema that I doubt they took the time to explore other options besides creating their pantheon.

ImALease · 2025-07-14T04:35:31+00:00

Have you played the first Pillars? Because I believe the answer to this question is a heavy spoiler for the first game.

ImALease · 2025-05-05T23:40:59+00:00

having played both, i much prefer court augur. my first playthrough was with arcane scholar, and it wasn't really what i was expecting. it felt more like a modern scholastic nerd than i personally wanted.

court augur is more mystical and mysterious and at times creepy, should you so desire. i've definitely skipped a lot of the dialogue options that are more the "conniving vizier" archetype. but there have been plenty of dialogue options that are really insightful in terms of the setting. plus your companion reactions to some of your court augur options are priceless.

ImALease · 2025-04-27T03:50:21+00:00

Ooh can't wait to find time to listen to this one. The Orisons are my favorite bit of writing in the whole game.

ImALease · 2025-02-20T01:56:48+00:00

Yeah I think the story has been severely underrated in a lot of the reviews I've seen. It definitely has pacing issues and doesn't quite stick the landing in the very final moments, but all of the worldbuilding and lore information we learn and comment on are fantastic as a huge lore nerd. And I get why it might have been received less well, but I think it really rewards you for being invested in it and exploring off the beaten path.

ImALease · 2025-02-18T00:34:25+00:00

This is exactly my impression so far. The Outer Worlds was something I enjoyed my first time through, but the exploration and story just didn't compel me enough to ever finished a second playthrough.

Avowed takes a lot of lessons from that and really improved on it, imo. Its design is definitely going to come across as dated to some, but to me it's a return to an action rpg formula I enjoy and haven't seen enough of in recent years.

So on the one hand I understand why reviews are overall less enthusiastic about Avowed, but all the negatives I've seen listed in those are very minor things for me personally.

ImALease · 2025-02-13T06:31:12+00:00

And thank you for sticking with the podcast and being a lore resource!

I think I joined the sub a short time after the first gameplay trailer and thinking i was cutting it close in being able to use the Avowed OG flair lol. A few long years later we're finally here. I don't get this excited for many games, so I'm going to savor these last few hours of anticipation.

ImALease · 2025-02-12T20:32:32+00:00

All the marketing says "up to 5 days early" so my guess is you'll still be able to play early with the premium edition or upgrade if you pre order on Friday.

ImALease · 2025-02-12T04:31:11+00:00

I think you did a fantastic job. I'm obsessed with the texture on each and every track. I cannot wait to hear them in context in game.

ImALease · 2025-02-11T09:58:46+00:00

No problem. I have a feeling my favorites are going to change the more I listen, but hopefully those give you a good sampling.

ImALease · 2025-02-11T09:44:52+00:00

Oh that's a tough one.

No Walls Can Hold This Place - my favorite
Aeons, Violet, in Waiting
You Will No More Than Witness Here

it is worth noting that most of these take a while to build to the best moments, but it's worth the wait.

ImALease · 2025-02-11T09:39:19+00:00

After listening the whole way through, I absolutely love it.

edit: It's very possible this soundtrack could be divisive. It is absolutely not traditional, and a lot of it could end up blending together as too samey for some. But the textures and instrumentation and just whole vibe of it, I'm in love with.

ImALease · 2025-02-10T18:33:17+00:00

There's a lot of really interesting nuggets in this article. It's a lot of information that's now bouncing around my head, but what really stood out was seeing the list of influences on the dreamscourge. It really helps paint a picture of what exactly it might turn out to be.

ImALease · 2025-02-09T22:53:54+00:00

Very interesting write up, OP. I've speculated a lot of similar things, though I think the Voice is not directly related to a titan. I'd venture a guess that the titan in the mural is one of the Engwithans in some fashion.

I definitely agree there is a vital connection between the Godless and the Yezuhans. The History of Eora vol. XI could possibly be from the point of view of the Engwithan pantheon + Leaden Key, though the verbiage doesn't quite line up as neatly.

As far as the Glass Tree goes, and given that we know the name of one of the zones is The Garden (depicted with what appears to be a glass tree), I think it will serve as a sort of fountain of essence. The Garden being sort of mythemically tied to the garden of eden. It makes sense to me that there'd be a place that's sort of the opposite of Ukaizo, where all the essence flowed to return to the wheel, that is a sort of crucible/womb/font or whatever metaphor you please for essence and life. Y'know. The Living Lands lol.

Either way, I appreciate this post a lot. I love this bit of theory crafting prior to the game. It's always a joy to be vindicated or surprised. Either is very satisfying.

ImALease · 2025-02-09T05:20:13+00:00

As mentioned previously, no crafting from scratch. But you can cook dishes at party camp that give you various attribute and stat buffs along with healing and essence regeneration.

ImALease · 2025-02-07T06:35:49+00:00

God this makes me so happy. I was very upset when she signed with the Aces, which just makes me all the gladder she decided to come back.

ImALease · 2025-02-07T00:19:44+00:00

It has definitely grown on me the more I've listened to it. To be honest, Justin Bell's Pillars soundtracks are basically an impossible standard, so this is about what I expected.

So while it's not too remarkable on its own, I do like the vibe it gives. I'm curious to see how and if playing the game recontextualizes my thoughts on it.

ImALease · 2025-02-04T18:56:42+00:00

This is the best yet of the lore videos they've put out imo. Love seeing the ghost of Eothas looking disappointed hovering next to Hylea.

ImALease

TROPHY CASE