Daytower

"Daytower marks the eastern edge of the Carja territory - a trading post, a waystation... one with an ugly reputation among your people."

―Balahn to Aloy during A Seeker at the Gates

Daytower is a Carja settlement in Horizon Zero Dawn, situated beyond the old, abandoned Nora border at Shivering Watch. It marks the easternmost edge of Carja territory.

Description[]

Daytower is the eastern edge of the Sundom, located directly north of the gate of the same name. The climate of the area is much like that of the rest of the Sacred Lands, leaving a thin layer of snow over much of the area. Daytower's elevated position offers a good view of the surrounding valleys.

Currently, the settlement serves as a trading post and waystation, led by Captain Balahn, marking the eastern end of the Way of Broken Stones.

History[]

After Sun-King Khuvadin's unsuccessful attempt to expand Carja territory into the Sacred Land, Daytower was constructed as a means to monitor the Nora tribe.

The Red Raids[]

During the Red Raids, Daytower was used as a transshipment point for captives to be taken to Meridian for human sacrifice. The outpost was most frequently used for the transshipment of captured Nora.

After the Red Raids ceased due to the overthrow of their instigator, the 13th Sun-King Jiran, his successor Avad appointed Balahn, a Carja captain, as the commander of the outpost. He instructed Balahn to ensure the respectful treatment of the Nora by the Carja military, a task which Balahn performed conscientiously and willingly. The outpost was also the station of prefect Zaid, another Carja captain. But unlike Balahn, Zaid was active participant in the Red Raids, commanding a unit that had frequently invaded the Sacred Lands to raid Nora settlements. Zaid had garnered a reputation for particularly egregious cruelty in these raids; in a raid on Mother's Rise, he brutally murdered and mutilated the father of two siblings. With the end of the Red Raids, all personnel who had been involved were expelled from the Carja military, but Zaid managed to avoid this by covering up his involvement and thus was appointed as a prefect and stationed at Daytower.

Post-Red Raids[]

When Aloy is made a Seeker and tasked with traveling to Meridian, she discovers that the Daytower Gate is closed on Captain Balahn's orders due to the spread of corrupted machines through the Sacred Lands.^[2]

Ohtur stops at Daytower on his way from the Cut, where he meets Aloy and tells her about the Banuk's problems with new machines and talking spirits, which inspires her to visit the Cut herself.^[3]^[1]