The Embrace, sometimes called All-Mother's Embrace, is a small valley region in the southwestern part of the Nora Sacred Lands in Horizon Zero Dawn.
Geography[]
The Embrace is a well-defended valley that is home to most of the tribe's population. The perimeter is marked by three gates: the North, South, and Main Embrace Gates. The main body of water that flows the region is the Searcher's Course River.
Nestled in a mountainous ridge in the southwest of the Embrace, the core of the region is All-Mother Mountain. The Mountain and the surrounding village of Mother's Watch are the religious center of the tribe. As the Mountain is considered to be an embodiment of the Nora's deity, All-Mother, the area inside the nearby mountain range is considered to be land within All-Mother's Embrace.
Some Nora outcasts live inside the Embrace, but are generally not welcome in any of the main villages. Instead, they live in camps and houses they've built scattered throughout the region, such as Brom's Camp, Grata's Camp and Rost's Hovel.
History[]
In the Old World[]
The area that would become the Embrace contains points that correspond to the real world locations in the state of Colorado, such as Lost Creek Wilderness[1] and the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.[2]
During the Faro Plague, the ELEUTHIA-9 cradle was constructed within Cheyenne Mountain.[3]
In the New World[]
On March 16, 2326, the children born from ELEUTHIA-9 were released into the land that would be named the Embrace.[4] The region became vital to the Nora way of life for several reasons: it was the closest region to All-Mother, held the majority of the tribe's population, was full of resources, and the surrounding mountains made it easily defensible from invaders and machines. The mountain they came from became known as All-Mother Mountain, with the story of their birth becoming distorted over the generations until the door to the facility was seen as a deity known as All-Mother, the origin of all life.
As an easily defensible area, the Nora were able to stop the Carja from reaching the Embrace during the Red Raids,[5] with some of the outcasts within the Embrace not ever knowing the tribe was even at war.[6]
Horizon Zero Dawn[]
The remains of Mother's Watch.
After Aloy's destruction of the Eclipse's Focus network, Helis ordered an attack on the Sacred Lands, with the purpose of wiping out the entire tribe, hoping Aloy would be among them.[7] The assault broke through to the Embrace, causing significant destruction of the area (in contrast, the settlements outside of the Embrace were relatively untouched).[8] While most of the Braves in the Embrace were killed in the attack, some managed to survive by taking refuge inside All-Mother Mountain.[5] The Eclipse attempted to bring down the Mountain by using a Corrupted Thunderjaw, but were stopped by Aloy and the tribe.[8]
The attack left the already weakened tribe in a precarious state. Mother's Watch was destroyed, Mother's Cradle was abandoned and razed to the ground, and the majority of the Embrace's population remains inside the mountain.
Locations[]
Settlements[]
Homes/Camps[]
Gates[]
Other Landmarks[]
References[]
- ↑ Lucas Bolt of Guerilla mentions that the borders of the Embrace are based on Lost Creek Wilderness in his post Horizon Zero Dawn - Mountain Landscapes.
- ↑ based on a visual comparison.
- ↑ Based on co-ordinates seen in The Womb of the Mountain.
- ↑ Operations Log
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Dialogue with Varl during The Heart of the Nora.
- ↑ Dialogue with Erend Vanguardsman during Mother's Heart.
- ↑ Dialogue with Helis during The Terror of the Sun.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The Heart of the Nora
[]
| Nora Territory | ||
|---|---|---|
| Homeland | Sacred Lands | |
| Regions | The Embrace | |
| Settlements | Mother's Heart (capital) - Mother's Cradle - Mother's Crown - Mother's Rise - Mother's Watch | |
| Gates | Main Embrace Gate - Northern Embrace Gate - Southern Embrace Gate | |
| Camps and Homes | Brom's Camp - Grata's Camp - Jun's Lodge - Karst's House - Rost's Hovel | |
| Reclaimed Bandit Camps | Devil's Thirst Bandit Camp - Hollow Fort - Two-Teeth | |
| Other notable locations | All-Mother Mountain - Nora Hunting Grounds - Overlook Climb - Rost's Grave - Searcher's Course River | |
| Ruins in Nora territory | Bunker - Devil's Grief - Devil's Thirst - ELEUTHIA-9 - Ring of Metal - Ruins (Mother's Watch) | |
| Abandoned | Forsaken Village - Mother's Tears - Valleymeet | |