Since its launch in early 2025, Obsidian’s Avowed has kept gamers deep in the Living Lands, wrestling with moral knots that make even veteran RPG fans sweat. Among the game’s most talked-about side quests, "Dawntreader" stands out not just for its dungeon-crawling tension but for a late-game payoff that many players—rushing to the credits—missed entirely. In 2026, as the community continues to dissect every narrative branch, the decision of whether to place the Splinter of Eothas in the statue inside the Eothasian temple has become a litmus test for endgame loyalty. Spoilers ahead, obviously.
The quest kicks off when players meet Sargamis, a golden-faced godlike with a polite smile and a deeply unsettling plan. He asks you to fetch a relic for him—the Splinter of Eothas—while you search for a lost expedition team deep beneath the temple. As you sift through journals and piece together the grisly truth, it dawns on you: those expedition crew members didn’t just vanish. Their souls were siphoned, and Sargamis aims to use animancy to pour them into a massive statue of the god Eothas. His endgame? Hold his own deity accountable for past atrocities. It’s heavy stuff, and by the time you’re eyeing the Splinter, your moral compass is probably spinning.
Here’s where things get interesting—and where too many players fumbled the bag. You can, of course, reject Sargamis outright, call him a soul-sucking murderer, and settle the disagreement with steel. He drops a unique sword, Last Light of Day, which is a solid early-game pickup. But killing him before you interact with the statue also slams the door on a secret that only pops up hours later, right before the finale. If you instead shove the Splinter into the statue and pull that lever, the mechanism fails spectacularly, leaving Sargamis crestfallen. You can then use dialogue (high Perception or Intellect checks help) to convince him his plan was doomed from the start, turning him toward atonement rather than bloodshed. Or you can fight him right then—but crucially, after the Splinter is already in place.
Why does that matter? Because the mysterious voice in your head—the one that’s been a constant, sometimes annoying companion—will reach out before you leave the area. Interact with the Adra stone nearby, and it explains that it can use the statue to walk freely in the world, but it needs time to purge the statue of ambient essence. If you freed Sapadal in the endgame, this decision pays off in spades: you’ll get moments where you roam the Living Lands in the giant statue’s form, a unique post-game roam mode that a surprising number of first-timers completely missed in 2025. In 2026, speedrunners and lore hunters are still debating whether this counts as a “true ending” bonus, but one thing’s clear: it’s dope.
If you go full scorched-earth and decide to destroy the statue by activating the three generators scattered around the temple, you’ll upset both the Voice and Sargamis. The latter goes hostile, and you’re forced to put him down. The statue crumbles, and the Voice loses its chance at freedom. For players who never plan to free Sapadal, this choice is largely cosmetic—but it locks you out of the Last Light of Day unless you’ve already looted it from Sargamis’ corpse. That sword, by the way, can be obtained peacefully if you convince him to abandon his plan and hand it over as a gesture of goodwill. So even if you’re playing the saint, you don’t miss out on the loot.
There’s also the darkly hilarious option of helping Sargamis all the way. When you place the Splinter and it fails, you can double down. Sargamis mutters that what he really needs is a “chime”—a living soul to draw Eothas into the statue. That’s you. Stand under an essence beam, and the game asks you, with deadpan seriousness, if you’re sure. Respect the warning, because it’s not bluffing: you die. Doing so unlocks the "Get in the Statue, Envoy" achievement, a nod to the community’s fondness for leaping into certain death in RPGs. Come 2026, this achievement has become a badge of honor among completionists who love a good inside joke.
From a meta perspective, placing the Splinter of Eothas is the smartest play. It doesn’t burn any bridges; you can still kill Sargamis afterward or persuade him to pivot to the greater good. The Voice remains happy, and you keep the option for that late-game statue rampage. Not placing it, on the other hand, irks everyone involved and leaves a sour taste. Obsidian clearly designed the "Dawntreader" quest as a moral puzzle with no clean answer, but seasoned players have learned to play the long game. After all, in the Living Lands, holding grudges often means missing out on the coolest toys.
So, as you dive back into Avowed in 2026—maybe for a fresh playthrough with all patches and the new modding scene—remember the Splinter. The choice in that dusty temple doesn’t just define a side quest. It’s a quiet key to a finale that feels more intimate and, frankly, more epic. Whether you’re freeing Sapadal or just want to stomp around as a god-sized construct, placing the relic is the play. Don’t be the player who skips it and later wonders, in front of a static end card, what could have been. 🎮✨