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A globe showing the world of Eora, found in Durgan's Battery.[1]

Eora is the common name of the world on which Pillars of Eternity is set.[2] It consists of various continents and islands, including the Eastern Reach region in which the events of Pillars of Eternity take place.[3]

Although Eora is a relatively conventional fantasy setting, it has a number of unique, distinguishing features. Chief among these is The Wheel, a natural phenomenon endlessly recycling souls all over the world and an integral part of the gods' plans.[4]

History[edit | edit source]

Main article: Timeline

Eora's known history extends back as far as 12,000 years and is home to a multitude of races, ethnicities and creatures that populate it.

Geography[edit | edit source]

Regions[edit | edit source]

  • Aedyr: An equatorial continent in the far west.
  • Deadfire Archipelago– a wide archipelago of small volcanic island nations, that is located far to the south of the Eastern Reach.[5]
  • Eastern Reach: A large temperate region that's home to Eir Glanfath. Former colonial possessions of the Aedyr Empire include the Free Palatinate of Dyrwood and Readceras.
  • Ixamitl Plains: Northeast of Eir Glanfath and the Dyrwood, the Ixamitl Plains are large expanses of fertile savannas. Mostly occupied by humans and orlans, though the orlans have a bad history with the humans.[5]
  • The Living Lands: A frontier island area in the far north, a land of wild weather, strange beasts, and hundreds of difficult to reach valleys containing oddities never before seen by mortals. The racial mix in the area is extremely diverse but not necessarily harmonious. Dwarves, propelled by their desire to explore, are very common here, even among the mix.[5]
  • Old Vailia – Once the crown jewel of the southern seas, the crumbling island nations of Old Vailia sit thousands of miles to the southwest of their offshoot, the Vailian Republics. Humans and dwarves are common.[5]
  • Rauatai Gulf: a gulf to the north of Ixamitl Plains which is the trade center for several nations of aumaua, orlans, and dwarves. The land is rich with resources, but hotly contested. The whole region is also relentlessly pummeled by storms for half the year.[5]
  • The White that Wends: A huge southern expanse of polar ice occupied mostly by pale elves, some boreal dwarves, and a few really brave individuals from other lands. It is considered mythic—or at least inhospitable—by most people from other areas. Virtually no plant life grows in the White, but somehow its residents manage to survive from year to year.[5]

Moons and tides[edit | edit source]

There are two moons above Eora, but most people think there is only one moon, Senn Beläfa (or Ondran Beläfa, "Ondra's Beloved", but most people just call it "Beläfa"). It is smaller than Earth's moon but closer to the planet and has a faster orbit. Though uneducated people are unaware of it, there is also a second moon called Cawldha Debh (Glanfathan for "Black Runner"), that has a very fast and irregular orbit. Tides in some coastal areas are more extreme than on Earth.[6]

Unique phenomena[edit | edit source]

  • Biamhac – spirit winds that rise up in cursed ruins, shearing souls away from the bodies of their owners. They appear suddenly and without warning, leaving victims little hope of escape.[7]
  • Lover's Tide – When circumstances are right, the two moons Beläfa and the Cawldha Dev create what the Glanfathans call Lovers' Tides, which are catastrophically destructive tides. It happens every few hundred years and Glanfathans are able to predict a Lovers' Tide.[6][8]

Politics[edit | edit source]

Nations[edit | edit source]

The Old Empires

Some of the oldest settled regions in the world, with history stretching back centuries, if not millenia. The Empires are mostly in decline, compared to the colonial nations that emerged in their stead. They are also commonly preoccupied with internal conflicts, dynastic squabbles, uprisings of the lower classes, and pursuit of feuds. They are commonly entrenched in their ways - and the trenches run very deep, as a result of their long and complex history that keeps affecting them.

  • Aedyr Empire (Aedyr) – located on the equator, thousands of miles across an ocean west of its former colonies in the Eastern Reach (Dyrwood and Readceras)[9] Overwhelmingly human and elven population.
  • Old Vailia (southwest) - remnants of the once great empire, currently fractured into countless bickering nations, princedoms, petty kingdoms, and other domains.
  • Rauatai (Rauatai Gulf) - an ancient empire that has intensified its colonization efforts, displacing Aedyr as the pre-eminent colonial power.
The Eastern Reach

The Reach is named for formerly representing the edge of Aedyran and Old Vailian colonial exploration, transformed into a center of trade and innovation by the War of Defiance or collapse of their parent empires. They are divided into two types: Colonies, like Dyrwood, Readceras, and the Republics, and ancient civilizations, Ixamitl and Eir Glanfath, which have inhabited the Reach for centuries before the arrival of the former and frequently clashed with them.

Distant Lands

The informal name for three remote regions of Eora that have yet to be tamed. Life is plagued with instability and torn apart by warfare, leading to a savage

  • White That Wends - a region settled principally by boreal dwarves and glamfellen, organized into individual tribes.

Factions[edit | edit source]

Main article: Factions

Factions are formed by kith and other sapient species across Eora, dedicated to countless causes, including political, religious, and commercial. Areas such as the Eastern Reach or Old Vailia are filled with scores of organizations with their own hierarchies, armies, and agendas, spurred by the lack of a centralized authority.

Currency[edit | edit source]

Main article: Currency

There are various currencies used in the world of Eora. They have different values and are used in different cultures, some of them more common and less valuable than others.

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

  • The Eastern Reach is a region in the southern hemisphere, named so by Aedyran colonists. It is the part of Eora in which Pillars of Eternity takes place, an area maybe a little smaller than real-world Spain. The local cultures are roughly based on 16th century medieval technology levels, where magic and power is determined by the quality of a person's soul. Most common folk live in rural areas and survive through subsistence agriculture and related activities (e.g. wool production).

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit source]

  1. The texture used for the model is actually a map of the northern hemisphere of Earth.
  2. Update #78: The Leaders of the Band: Chanters and Priests
  3. Forum post by Josh Sawyer
  4. J.E. Sawyer : "PoE1: The wheel is a natural/metaphysical phenomenon that pre-dates the Engwithans. PoE2: The wheel is a physical machine that was created by the Engwithans. Please tell me this discrepancy will at least be addressed in a DLC or sequel!
    That is not what is said in Deadfire, though ambiguity (and the potential to miss a few key lines from Berath) caused some players to infer that. Content in the DLCs has clarified this more.
    Deadfire spoilers follow.
    The Wheel is a natural phenomenon that was regulated so heavily by the Engwithans that the destruction of the regulating machines does not return it to its natural state, but leaves it effectively broken. Berath uses the analogy of a river that has been so extensively dammed for so long that removing the dams cannot possibly restore the river’s original, natural flow. I.e., the machines at Ukaizo are now (at the time of Deadfire) integral to the Wheel’s process of taking souls into the Beyond. When they are broken, the natural process cannot resume on its own because it has been subverted for over two thousand years."
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Forum post by Josh Sawyer
  6. 6.0 6.1 Forum post by Josh Sawyer
  8. Forum post by Josh Sawyer
  9. Forum post by Josh Sawyer