#sapadal

[songsomi]

AVOWED dev. Obsidian Entertainment Sapadal, The Gardener

[berensreverie]

We Twine

[woodbreeze]

[backpack-mug]

[perenians]

HAPPY SECRET ST WAIDWEN @xhinc !!

i was your gifter this year and i drew your envoy, ingrid, in the merge ending with sapadal! i hope you like your gift :)) @secret-st-waidwen-exchange

[tf2demo2004]

basically the plot of avowed

[riftimp]

⚠️ Avowed Spoilers ⚠️

Throughout my playthrough of this game, I've thought of Sapadal as 'personified nature.' In other words, an embodiment of the emotions—fear, awe, and the like—that the kiths of the Living Lands have toward their land and climate.

From this perspective, my Envoy believed that people need not pity or feel sympathy for nature, but neither should they be arrogant enough to think they can completely control it. He was wary of bringing about unexpected consequences by attempting to handle nature in the wrong way without properly understanding it. So he gave Sapadal no opportunity whatsoever to grow. And he also refused to gain strength from them. He always maintained distance between them, exchanging only the information he deemed necessary.

He was prepared to exclude Sapadal if they became a threat to the Kiths' safety. By the time the game reached its final stages, this assumption had almost become a certainty in his mind.

But in the final chapter, after joining forces with Sapadal to save the people from invasion, a completely new thought took root in my Envoy's mind: 'With this power, couldn't I take revenge on the empire that used and discarded me?' Despite having been wary of other people who ruined themselves by clumsily trying to exploit nature's power, he himself had ultimately become arrogant.

Now he is the unseen power behind the Living Lands. As the Godlike of Sapadal, the god who protects the Living Lands, he is known as the only being who can communicate with and sometimes control Sapadal. While manipulating Sapadal, who is like primordial wilderness itself, he dreams of the day of his revenge….

This is my headcanon epilogue. After finishing the game and learning how other players handled Sapadal, I was quite shocked. But my approach was still very engaging and immersive for me. After the upcoming update, I'll have to try a different approach with a new envoy.

[tarbuchyloewenthal]

i love the breadth of godlike features in avowed.

creating the subtler options feels like a design concession for the fact that the player isn't opting in to being a godlike, but in doing so it adds so much thematic richness.

like, the godlike of the engwithan pantheon are so much more physically changed thanks to their chimes, which is emblematic of their views on kith and their place in the hierarchy.

but with sapadal is this relative lack of physical features solely a function of their imprisonment? is it because they are by nature (heh) more desirous of their godlikes' autonomy?

it's also a bit ironic, given that the engwithans have their chimes, which are described as sort of ringing in tune or in harmony with their chosens' souls, meanwhile sapadal's essence is described as a thorn, jabbing and entangling its way into the envoy's soul. but i guess a vine on a trellis can enhance a space's beauty while a single note can drown out the rest of a song.