Background
Two weeks ago, the fight against the rumored Buried Shadow was fought and won. “The Battle for Meridian’s Spire”, or just “the Spire”, brought together people in a level of cross-cultural cooperation not seen in living memory. A larger threat was revealed, and overcome, by the young Nora Seeker, Aloy, and the allies she’d made in her travels across the lands.
Aloy, a private individual, evaded all attempts to celebrate or canonize her or her efforts. She was seen visiting each of her allies, deflecting praise and speaking only in terms of collective effort, before mounting a tamed Strider and fading away faster than she’d first appeared.
This has left the Carja, Oseram, Banuk, and Nora peoples off balance. The Carja finally found some resolution to the events which had divided them, but at great cost. The engineering efforts of the Oseram were critical in the defense of Meridian, and the temporary awakening of so many Deathbringers and other machines has led to a chaotic rush to recover as many machine parts as possible. While Banuk lands did not see as much conflict as the others, they’ve been focused on keeping the Daemon threat from spilling beyond their borders.
It was a Nora who led the victory over the machines and Shadow Carja, which has produced a wave of pride and respect, and has led to many Nora questioning their isolationist outlook. The High Matriarchs have opened Nora borders to all, and are coordinating refugee integration efforts from within All-Mother Mountain. Not everyone agrees with this, but it’s a calculated risk — Nora lands and people have been devastated, and are on the verge of disappearing forever if they cannot adapt and regrow.
Mother’s Watch and other Nora settlements, razed in the attacks, are just now beginning to rebuild. Lodges are being set up as fast as lumber can be gathered, bringing together Handy Carja refugees alongside Oseram engineers and the few remaining Nora builders.
Machine activity has increased, especially at night, as large packs of Scrappers and Glinthawks work to tear down now-idle Deathbringers and Corruptors. The deactivation of the machines of war has not seemed to affect the increasingly aggressive nature of the others.