Obsidian revealed that Avowed is a sequel to Pillars of Eternity through a preview quest that poked fun at the events of Pillars 2.

Obsidian revealed in a 31-minute Gamescom Avowed preview by GameSpot when its upcoming action-RPG, Avowed takes place in the Pillars Of Eternity timeline. The first-person Pillars sequel begins after the end of Pillars of Eternity 2 Deadfire.

Avowed wasn't billed as the direct sequel to Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity, but rather a different story set in the same world of Eora. Avowed was never billed as a direct sequel to Obsidian's Pillars Of Eternity games, but rather another story in the same setting of Eora.

My assumption, which seemed to be the consensus of the community, was that Avowed would take the prequel path. Its first trailer was a little more medieval in style than the gunpowder infused age of sail seen in Pillars. If you really want to dig into the lore, the Aedyr empire's prominence (Avowed's main character is the emperor envoy) lends credence to this prequel theory. Aedyr had entered its "terminal empire decline" era at the time of the Pillars game.

The quest at the heart of the Gamescom preview jokingly references the events of Deadfire, before confirming the timeline. The quest sees you helping out a priest of Eothas--the godly antagonist of Deadfire, who possesses a magic crystal colossus to wreak existentially-motivated havoc--in digging up a relic of Pillars' most "problematic fav" deity. You can see the priest building a giant crystal effigy of Eothas in the background.

The friendly priest, in deliciously classic Obsidian style, is actually a freak just like his god. And the crystal statue he prepared for the Eothasian Artifact is a little magical Gundam, a mini-me of Eothas’ continent-killer from Deadfire, which is also powered by damned spirits. The dialogue in this quest refers to Eothas’ Deadfire rampage, so don't think it's a meta-reference for players.

The world of Eora is moving forward with So Avowed, which is especially exciting, given how Deadfire's ending shook things up. No matter what you choose, Eothas will undo the cycle of death and resurrection in the setting, leaving people to grapple with the implications. The Living Lands being so far away from Deadfire and Dyrwood allows the team to avoid having to deal with the details of how players left. I am excited about the prospect of seeing some familiar faces. Avowed will be released on February 18 and we'll have all the answers.