The New World team takes a dive into Azoth in the latest Forged in Aeternum. Indeed, they’re going back to basics into the mysterious valuable, blue (or red) substance and its many roles in Aeternum.
The episode theme may sound simple, if you think of Azoth as more of a practical mechanic, but there’s a whole lot more to it.
This episode focusing on Azoth means a blend between lore and game design. According to Scot Lane, one of the early game ideas was that the island was supposed to be the source of the Fountain of Youth that people were traveling to find. Social Features Lead Dan Heneuber adds that, “We always liked the idea that it’s also Atlantis, and then it’s also like every other lost place on Earth”. In the development, they wanted to root Aeternum in not one history, but many histories, and there is some magic and something important that people do search for. And what if they found it?
Even early on, there were these considerations for the feel they wanted, and this led directly to Azoth, for functional and lore reasons. The color split between the blue Azoth that flows underneath all and the corruption and dark side leading to the red color are easy to follow visual cues for the audience.
The idea of Azoth flowing underneath and certain things happening at key points and towns and other effects and consequences of the massive energy sources they created also helped the team build layer upon layer of not just lore, but the flow of life, impact on the story and the “Whys” of how things grew in places and also how to use those environments.
There’s even more to come in terms of lore and Azoth, meaning that Amazon isn’t done there just yet. Lane teased more concepts they have considered and we might just see one day as new reveals and new answers.
