Taevyr

iirc, the RDC didn't tear down anything. there was some kind of disaster (storm, tsunami or something) that leveled most of their huts. and instead of rebuilding the village to the huana's satisfaction, the rdc built them the longhouse instead. perhaps it was just a more rational use of resources? build a single large building, instead of a village of smaller ones? I recall the same thing. Not to mention the Rauataians have two millenia of expertise weathering storms, so I imagine they simply rebuilt the huts in a way they know is better at weathering storms.

There's a kraken in game, and it's actually one of the few satisfying boss fights when done early.

All jokes aside, I don't think her backstory and job description mesh particularly well with romance. Considering her temperament, it may have ended up a bit too similar to this one:

Devil of Caroc. That gleaming, curved bronze, her emotionless obsidian gaze.... it really lights a fire in me .

Thank you for taking the time to answer. Good analogy with the rivers. However, I'm not convinced that there was a reincarnation system in place. It's not clear whether Od Nua came before or after the Engwithans. The official timeline (https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Timeline) puts Od Nua at ca.800 but doesn't mention when the gods or the wheel were created. I figured it was a lot earlier. Secondly, most of the in-game dialogue seemed to indicate that without the wheel, all the souls would just sit in the "in-between" forever. Maybe I wasn't reading closely enough, but the game just doesn't seem to make a very good case for the "breaking the wheel" option. Eothas' plan seems ridiculous and the only people who support him are a bunch of crazy other gods who are pre-programmed to like chal It's largely a theory, a GAME THE.... let's not go there. The one thing everyone agrees on is that it's way too vague, and Sawyer has already mentioned the possibility of adding more clarification to the dialogue through twitter.

i was hoping for naasitaq myself. Nobody told me we couldn't have both!

Btw, RDC didn't really care about slavers at Crookspur, what they actually cared about was the fort they were inhabiting, which they wanted to have for their own. They admitted it after you kill the slavers and the Rauataian fleet promptly moving in there. Razing a problematic district to the ground without actually solving the problem why it is problematic just means those problems will appear somewhere else. But I guess they don't really care about those problems either, thinking all the locals will convert into law abiding Rauataian citizens anyway. I think the solution provided by the Huana themselves with the help of Dawnstars is the best one for the Gullet. Have you even bothered to read the slide, which only appears if you didn't get rid of the slavers for Rauatai? Wait, I'll quote it for you Note that Rauatai clears out the slavers after they've established their dominance over the deadfire. If you want to check the slides out for yourself, i linked them in an earlier post on page 9.

POE2 isn't exactly an rpg where there are hundreds of npcs roaming around town. We can only work with what we are given. And those guys give a certain impression. Indeed: they give the impression of an ongoing discussion among the natives whether their life under Rauatai is an improvement or not. Certainly not an impression of the natives leaning towards one side or the other.

This is how i view it, though there've been plenty of discussions on the topic already. Reincarnation existed before the gods and engwithans, as the reason Od Nua built his statue was "so his son would reincarnate properly". Meaning there was reincarnation, but it was kind of shoddy. Here is where we get into speculation: Since there was already a reincarnation system, the engwithans looked at it and thought " not only can we improve it, we can make a religion out of this". They made it so reincarnation was neatly ordered thanks to the interference of the gods they created, who now decided where and how souls reincarnated, Berath being the main overseer of the process. This is possible thanks to the wheel. I'd say the process is comparable to developing an important river: you deepen it and broaden it a little, make it so ships/souls can pass through easier, quicker, and less hindered, and add some sluces and dams to control the flow. Eothas goes in and destroys it all, wrecking the rebirth cycle. Which must have been quite transcendent for him, since it's the god of rebirth rebirthing the rebirth cycle. Anyway, the original, natural system may still be in place, but now it's also connected to the wreckage of the machinery the engwithans added to control and manipulate the flow of souls, meaning the entire control system is in shambles: Sluces are stuck, dams can't be regulated anymore, and the flow of the "river" is clogged beyond reason. Souls are stuck in the In-Between, and they don't seem to be going anywhere for now. How exactly this will affect Eora is a mystery, since we're never told except that supposedly "IT WILL DESTROY EVERYTHING", which isn't that informative. As for the gods, they're simply acting according to the ideal they embody: Magran and Galawain like the trial, Wael likes the mystery of it, and so on. Not all of them like it, but there's little they can do without ruining themselves in the process. However, Rymrgand could technically try to ruin Kith's chances to rebuild the wheel, in order reach his end goal of ending everything. Considering the first DLC'll be called 'Beast of Winter', I'm hoping for this particular possibility.

They try... by razing the gullet after evacuating its inhabitants, and rebuilding it better. It's a silly attempt to root it out without understanding the deeper problems, but at least they try, and it's more than what the Huana managed. One thing i also found in the ending slides is that, should the slavers stay in business, the only factions who make an effort to remove them are Rauatai and Aeldys, with Aeldys never quite succeeding. Should anyone else want to consult the ending slides, most, if not all of them, are here: https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Pillars_of_Eternity_II:_Deadfire_endings EDIT: misremembered the Rauataians rebuilding the gullet better, so simply an attempt to root out social injustice by force. No sense pretending it'll work, but i suppose at least they're trying.

You're not wrong. She does say she's not one of the officers: https://youtu.be/EG-OICICgqQ?t=135 Looks like she's just a local greeter or somesuch whom RDC guy tries to train being a Rauataian. Her mocking him goes along just fine with those other guys by the longhouse who don't feel like they should be grateful to Rauatains forcing themselves into their island. The "guys by the longhouse" is literally a brother and sister having a serious argument about whether the RDC is good or bad for their tribe. Sure, the anti-rauatai side may have a point in warning that they should remain distinct from Rauatai, but pretending there's a notable group of Huana up there complaining about how things were better before is ridiculous.

I'd rather live in an exciting world shaped by animancers innovations than under a boring bootheel of a Rauatai empire.And all mistakes made the Vailians concerning adra and animancy seem stem from ignorance - they still don't understand a lot about them. I'd imagine learning that abusing souls for frivolities will spell potential doom on all the world will certainly reign in the most atrocious researches. But opening their eyes to the danger can only be gained through knowledge, which is why it is better that they have it from Ukaizo and Eothas inspiration. That's the thing: according to the wiki (https://pillarsofeternity.gamepedia.com/Adra#Luminous_adra), several animancy researchers have already warned the Vailian trading company that there are several potential and certain dangers involving the mining and common use of luminous adra, yet it's too profitable to curtail the exploitation. It isn't the scientists being too driven or careless, it's caution being unprofitable.

My ranger (hunter background) went with an antelope, since I had the idea of the antelope using its speed and defenses to lure her prey in range.

None of them are better at that. But, personally, I'm allergic to pro-militaristic, "we'll bring you our democracy whether you want it or not" approach. True enough, and if it was just for the animancy I'd probably pick Vailia as well. My main problem is with the company behind them grinding up souls and the reïncarnation system for profit, which I can't imagine myself supporting, no matter the benefits and research opportunities it brings. But I certainly can't fault your viewpoint.

I'm an archaeology student, "inferior culture" is almost a trigger among my people . But i do think we're on the same page.

The main reason Rauatai is in the Deadfire is 1) Their homeland lacks the natural resources necessary to sustain its population, as can be seen by the amounts of food sent to Rauatai in the shipping manifests in Hasongo; and 2) the chance to, after several millenia of seeing towns, fields and crops regularly wiped out by the neverending storms of Rauatai, put an end to those by taking over Ondra's Mortar. The only time Atsura sounds genuine is when he talks about the latter, and i'm still impressed with the passion Hazanui Karu's voice actress manages to put in her speech involving that. They're definitely out there for their own gain, but I'd definitely call their goal a worthy one as well. Also, the only way you avoid doing the Vailians' dirty work in the endgame is through an exploit, since you probably weren't considering to actually join forces with the RDC. It's well thought out, but not exactly a good reason to say the Vailians are better. (Though i apologize if my assumption here is incorrect) Why do you say that? Surely you can invent two fictional cultures one of which is inferior to another in any way you care to measure, yes? Given two cultures, we could argue about the measurements and how to weight their combination - that part is subjective - but if we agree on what to measure, then there is an objective truth about how two cultures stack up w.r.t. a measurement. I wouldn't say that one culture can be inferior to another, but one can definitely be preferable to another. You can't objectively start "ranking" cultures, but I doubt many would prefer living in the Huana culture over the Vailian or Rauataian one. Also, cultures always change, evolve and disappear, though the hard core usually remains the same. Huana culture would probably change immensely if they're unified under Ukaizo and a single queen for the first time in millenia, and the Principi are only Vailian in name anymore, Furrante literally being "the last marcesco". Hell, in our history an argument during the confederate war was that the north was trying to destroy southern culture, and the romans considered slavery a key part of their culture. Considering how deeply the caste system is ingrained in among the Huana, however, I don't see them stepping away from it unless an outside force provides opportunity to do so, as seen on Sayuka. It's also virtually impossible to stamp out a culture completely in that day and age, especially when willingly incorporating its people among your own: the Roman empire is an excellent example of how cultures got incorporated into the empire in various ways, often to the chagrin of so-called "Pure Romans". Meanwhile, the british empire never seriously attempted to make the indian "territories" british as they only needed to be profitable, which is arguably worse.

Except that locals will lose their culture and self identity under RDC. Just look around, there are plenty of examples there already. Also, they did that with all other weaker nations whom they've conquered - Rauatai is a militaristic war machine that grinds everything into same looking apathetic "goo". Not true if you choose director Castol. They'll stay, establish permanent settlements, improve trade and build a research academy at Ukaizo for animancers all over the world to study it. Who cares if the locals lose their culture and identity? Not all cultures are equal and an oppressive caste system pales in comparison to a meritocracy like Rauitai. Castrol was OK with slave trading which is hard to spin as being good. The Valians also were down with terrorism (blowing up the powder storage). The Royal DeadFire Company just wants a coup and takes care of the DeadFire better. I personally agree that RDC is the best of the bunch of evils, but you can hardly object to Vailian "terrorism" while the RDC coup involves bombing the market district and slaughtering your way through the palace. They're arguably best for the region, but they're just as willing to get dirty as any other faction. Also, concerning the permanent Vailian settlements: does it mention whether those are exclusively Vailian, or do they also incorporate the natives where possible?

My take on reincarnation goes like this: imagine the reservoir of souls as a large "lake" of souls, with souls being able to flow to Eora from the lake (rebirth) and from Eora to the lake (death). The lake is perfectly natural as are the connections to Eora, but it can take a while for said souls to flow through either way or even find said connections. Reincarnation is messy and unorganized, but it works. In comes the wheel: I imagine it as a series of sluces/dams controlling the flow to and from the lake, with the "in-between" in particular being an area artifically separated "between Eora and lake", so the gods have some time to deal with souls coming through. Reïncarnation is streamlined and under strict divine control. In comes Eothas, smashing the sluces, dams and everything that streamlined the flow. Sure, the machinery's broken, but it's still connected to the system, and it's usually not exactly helpful when there's a smashed-up, utterly wrecked ruin of a sluce somewhere along your canal. In other words: the flow's still there, but the system that used to "help" it has now become a burden, clogging up the flow of souls. Eothas causes a "Rebirth" of the rebirth system this way, which must be like Nirvana for a god of Rebirth. One thing I also noticed is that, in the Rymrgand ending, things don't go apocalyptic until "Eothas' doubt spreads to the Luminous Adra", whatever that may mean. In other words, Eothas destroys the world by infecting something that wasn't part of the machinery, meaning it was probably there before it was built. It's all damn unclear though, and i hope they won't end up actually retconning anything, since that usually ends badly and makes a mess out of continuity. Though it may be too late for that. Complaining about the re-use of known concepts in games is ridiculous, though i do agree it could be fleshed out a bit more. And while "the wheel of reïncarnation" is somewhat overused, the idea of people building said wheel is quite an original concept in my experience. Also, the sheer irony in using the metaphor "inventing the wheel" is beautiful Some ideas are used and re-used a lot because, unsurprisingly, they're good, useful and easily understood ideas to build a story/philosophy/nation around. And as they say: one source is plagiarism, a hundred's research. There's hundreds of cultures throughout history who use(d) the symbolism of a wheel/snake eating it's tail/other circular things for reïncarnation, because it's the easiest way to symbolize it. And it's quite believable that the Engwithans, being scientists and engineers, would use one of the earliest achievements of science/engineering as a symbol for their masterpiece.

Yep. There is a way to strip players of agency that feels narratively satisfying. Just don't think they pulled it off here. I will commend the art team though. From a visual perspective I do think they did a great job of portraying Eothas as an unstoppable force of nature. Showcasing Eothas as this unstoppable force was definitely done well, and one part of the main quest i really loved, both in art and narratively, was the vulcanic eruption and Ondra's tidal wave following your conversation with him at Ashen maw: that actually felt like a conflict between gods, in which all the Watcher could do was watch and hope Eothas manages to keep him/her alive.

To me it seemed like they put most of their time in building up the different factions and their respective beliefs, characters and questlines, and then suddenly realized they'd forgotten to add to the actual main quest. The way the factions influence the region, their beliefs and goals, moral greys and the way they play off one another is brilliant. However, there is little to none of that present in the main quest, which is a shame considering the known existence of factions and fractures among the gods, and neither is there a real personal goal for the watcher aside from "gotta get my soul back because Berath told me so". Of course, one of the clear themes in Deadfire is that the Watcher isn't this omnipotent figure who can always make the best choices and influence everything on his own. But it still stings that the main quest amounts to "follow this divine statue around then influence his decision in a small way with 2-3 lines of vague ending dialogue".

1) If you seriously think sexual dimorphism only started appearing in humans during the lithic eras of hunter-gatherer societies, I seriously advise you to look up some basic evolutionary information, because it's WAY more complicated than that. Not to mention humans are already notably less dimorphic than other apes, so in a way there IS a clear evolution in this direction. 2) Genetic divergence since the neolithic is one of the main reasons europeans can for example properly digest lactose, and can process alcohol quicker than certain asian etnicities. Not to mention genetic markers can spread ridiculously quick: breeding between neanderthals and modern humans is a main cause for certain genetic quirks and defects in Eurasian people, as in everyone from Eurasian descent. They're also believed to be the source of red hair, though we're less certain of that. Not to mention divergence in skin colour, the larger presence of fat in the musculature of etnicities who lived in colder areas of the world e.g. europe, the spread of blue and green eyes from a small population in the Levant without it having any evolutionary advantage/disadvantage at all.... there's tons of examples of evolutionary genetics working in overdrive.

Adding your quote to say that your profile pic is either disturbingly brilliant, or brilliantly disturbing. My theory before the game was that Eothas' death had been fatal for his original persona as a god of forgiveness and mercy, and that he would come back as an inversion of his original purpose: a "burned believer" if you will, except it's the God himself who literally got burned. Xoti's "Rebirth changes everyone, even a God" schtick reinforced this belief at first, but it quickly proved to be wrong.

Definitely looks interesting. What picks did you make for favoured/disfavoured dispositions?

+10 internet points if you use "darkest Rauatai cookies" for the attempt. She has to like them if they're from Rauatai, right?