The Beginning of Horizon Zero Dawn
When Horizon Zero Dawn begins, you find yourself in control of a young girl named Aloy who, if you didn’t know by now, is the main protagonist of the story. She’s an outcast, though it’s not stated why at this point. All you know is that the Higher Matriarchs of the Nora tribe have given her over to Rost, another outcast, to care for her. As Aloy grows older you can see and feel the resentment she receives from members of the Nora tribe as they look on her with disgust and speak of her in harsh whispers.
This is quite confusing when first starting out, but it is explained a few hours later. It turns out that she is shunned because she is “motherless.” Mothers are very important in their culture, so to be a child without one is something unnatural and taboo. And it’s not that her mother died or something like that, nobody has ever seen her. Aloy was found crying and alone by the Higher Matriarchs in a room that only they have access to. It was then that many of the leaders decided to make the young girl an outcast at birth and to not bless her.
There was one Matriarch who did consider the girl’s discovery a blessing, though, and that was Teersa. She always showed love and affection towards the young girl and was even kind to Rost, who it’s technically illegal to speak to for members of the Nora Tribe. It is also her that allows Aloy to enter The Proving, a way to reenter the Nora tribe and return to its good graces. This is because Teersa believes that Aloy was sent for a reason, and that her destiny will be to help the people of the planet.
As you grow up, you eventually find yourself in a small cave after running from some bullies. It is here that you have your first connection with the technological world outside of the robots you avoid. It is also here that Aloy discovers a Focus, the device she uses to scan her surroundings and learn about the world around her. It helps with her training, and gives her an advantage as she learns how to use the information the Focus displays to her.
In time she grows into the woman you recognize from the trailers and heads for the Proving.
