#Fire Knight Wego

[thysia]

For the sake of our Lord, we will burn it all down! - akiaji81

[maranigai]

I woke up this morning with a dire urge to sketch my hcs for the fire knights' lieutenants appearance (Kood + Wego and Hilde +Salza); now my work here is done and I can go back to sleep, blessed be the holydays.

P.s. No, they are not exclusively redhead, because I have thoughts on the matter.

[evs-eme]

INKTOBER 13 - Fire Knight, Elden Ring

The Fire Knights serve directly under the command of Messmer the Impaler. Each knight has a different combat style and attire, such as Hilde, Salza, Wego, Kood and Queelign, Queen Marika's religious fanatic who invades you on more than one occasion (he looks like Petrus of Thorolund from DS, both with the same ugly hairstyle). Eme

LINK: Instagram - Twitter or X

[sermessmer]

so this all happened when me and @highway-stars were chatting in a server together and.

if you want more context you can check the lushaposting tag. click below the cut for the final product. and they say cringe cant be an art form.

[luminaryofblood]

A scroll made of white tree bark. Few can decipher the scroll, which describes the secret rite of the divine gateway said to be found at the tower enshrouded by shadow. "A lord will usher in a god's return, and the lord's soul will require a vessel."

Helm of Wego, elder among the Fire Knights. Two warped death masks stacked one atop the other. Reduces FP used to summon spirits. Gnawed at by loneliness, the old man turned his attention to the spirituality of Messmer's flame, using it in a rite of resurrection. Yet the soulless bodies he brought to life were no comfort to poor Wego.

Like maybe the whole "Using Mohg's Body as a vessel for Radahn's Soul" wasn't necessarily part of the secret rite and was just sort of its own thing?

Because Fire Knight Wego's got some similar stuff going on in resurrection, though the bodies were soulless.

[crumblingfaggotazula]

The Fire Knights

[arnaerr]

Omg shadow keep workplace sitcom when

I have nothing sensible to show yet but have this doodle of Messmer and Wego

[nuadha-airgeadlamh]

concerning the specimen storehouse

Since the DLC released, I've seen some thoughts floating around about the Specimen Storehouse, Messmer, and how the Crusade contingent viewed the Hornsent. Specifically, I think it's quite a common idea to think of the Storehouse as a good thing, a sign from Messmer that he harbored a modicum of sympathy for the Hornsent and wanted to preserve their culture. I want to explain why I think this idea is very flawed, and why, on the contrary, I view the Storehouse as another testament to the horrors delivered upon the Hornsent by Messmer and his Crusade.

The ashes of Fire Knight Hilde give a glimpse into the construction of the Specimen Storehouse:

Hilde was a dear friend to Salza the sage, and joined those who urged that the specimens be preserved. Hilde's ashes were enshrined as a charm to protect the storehouse.

Hilde and Salza were part of a faction of Fire Knights who wanted the specimens to be preserved. This faction had to "urge" for this to occur; therefore, this must not have been a universal opinion among the Fire Knights, and a convincing case had to be brought forward in order for the Specimen Storehouse to go ahead. As this same item description points out, the Fire Knights answer directly to Messmer, so he would most likely have the final say. However, this makes it clear that the Specimen Storehouse was not his idea. If it was, there would have been no urging needed— he is the ruler of this keep and he makes the decisions.

The information on Salza further characterizes this faction within the Fire Knights. The item description for Salza's Hood sketches out his stand against violence:

"A disciple of the elder Wego, he refused to burn down an old ruin, at the risk of his own life."

Given Salza's positioning and its relative lack of damage, I would hazard that the "old ruin" in question here is Rauh. The description states that Salza protects this ruin "at the risk of his own life", and his placement puts him directly in opposition to Shadow Keep. He attacks at the end of the bridge and faces towards the keep; he targets us, and we are coming out of the keep. I think all of these facts point to the conclusion that Salza's instincts towards preservation estranged him from the rest of the Fire Knights, and that he is literally standing in defense of Rauh at the moment you encounter him. Why else would he be standing directly in front of Rauh, facing Shadow Keep, if he was not defending Rauh from Shadow Keep?

The description for Salza's incantation "Rain of Fire" reiterates his less violent outlook, but also importantly points out his hypocrisy.

"Salza's disdain for barbarism never waned, even as he burned more villages and scorched more land than any other."

Salza didn't want to engage in such violence, and he protected Rauh at the risk of his own life. But that doesn't erase the reality that he leaves behind a disgusting legacy of destruction and death. It begs the question: why do these specimens need preserving in the first place?

If the Crusade had never been waged, then the Specimen Storehouse would never have needed to exist. It sounds all nice and sweet on paper that there are Fire Knights out there "preserving Hornsent culture", but they are the very reason why this culture needs protecting. The Specimen Storehouse is a monument to their own atrocities: its very existence depends on an annihilation they orchestrated. Hilde, Salza, and the rest of them can be disgusted by their own actions as much as they want, but they are ultimately responsible.

It's also important to point out that neither Hilde's ashes nor Salza's Hood mentions any sympathy for the Hornsent themselves. They wanted the specimens to be preserved and protected a ruin from destruction; nowhere do these descriptions mention Salza and Hilde's great sympathy for the Hornsent's plight. Salza's big stand against Shadow Keep is protecting a ruin— not a city full of people, a ruin. He has a "disdain for barbarism", not a bleeding heart for those who are dying. In the Salza's Hood description, Salza is described as the "sage of the Fire Knights", and the term "sage" describes a person of great wisdom. The Specimen Storehouse is a giant library, a great depository of stolen Hornsent scholarship. I would hazard to say that Salza and Hilde's moves towards preservation stem more from a thirst for knowledge than a humanitarian urge to save Hornsent culture.

I've also seen it claimed that the shadow-men who attack with Messmer-fire in the Specimen Storehouse are Hornsent, and use this information to extrapolate about the Storehouse at large. However, this isn't true:

Here are images of Hornsent shadow-men in Belurat and Gravesite Plain. Their horns are clear, defined, and opaque, even with the shadow filter over their models.

This is an image of the spirit in front of Scorched Ruins without the shadow filter. You can see that the style of the horns remains consistent across designs.

Compare this with images of the shadow-men in the Specimen Storehouse:

Their head designs are markedly different from those of the Hornsent in Belurat. Their supposed "horns" are wispy and vague.

You can best see it in this photo where I'm clipping into his head that these "horns" are actually a layer of unruly hair. The little tufts of hair poking out from their heads can easily be mistaken as horns, but they do not match the other shadow-men in Belurat. Furthermore, their clothing also differs. While the Hornsent shadow-men wear tunics, the men in the Storehouse wear garments similar to togas. I think it's far more likely that these are Crusade scholars who are under the same shadow effect that happens to the other spirits in the Shadowlands. There is no Hornsent presence in the Storehouse.

Finally I would like to come to what Messmer thinks about the Specimen Storehouse, and for that, there's little that's actually textual. We know from Salza and Hilde that there was backlash to the construction of the Storehouse and the preservation of Hornsent knowledge from the wider Crusade contingent, and we know he must have consented to the Storehouse's construction, but there's no hard evidence as to what he truly thought of it. What we can do, however, is take a look at Messmer's characterization in-game and speculate from there what his opinions might have been, and what we can see about Messmer is that he clearly despises the Hornsent.

We know from our vengeance-seeking Hornsent that he thought of them as "savages"; the furnace golems are tailor-made to prey upon the Hornsents' fears through their references to the fire giants; the existence of the jar clinic and the protections around the shaman village imply he has knowledge of what happened to Marika and her people, which would only intensify his hatred. And we can't forget that he has taken it upon himself willingly to literally annihilate them from the face of the earth. Now, that's not to say that Messmer isn't a person capable of empathy and kindness; we know that through his relationships with Gaius, his Fire Knights, and his common soldiers. However, just because he can have sympathy for these people does not mean that that translates to the Hornsent. If I went into all the details of this I would double the length of this post (in fact I will probably make a whole separate post expanding on this), but I think Messmer as a character is allowed to contain contradictions— he can be capable of great cruelty and great kindness. I think it's clear from everything I've explained above that there are many pieces of evidence to indicate that Messmer did not harbor secret sympathy for the Hornsent.

Therefore, I would guess his approval of the Specimen Storehouse aligns with what I theorized for Salza and Hilde. The Storehouse is useful. It's a depository of an entire culture's knowledge; it would be foolish to throw that all away. As I've stated, the Storehouse's entire existence depends entirely on the genocide being enacting by Messmer and his Crusade. They are engaging in preservation only for their own benefit. The Hornsent gain nothing by having their own scholarly work snatched away from them and hoarded by the very ones who are murdering them.

[marawhydontyoudraw]

Messmer's flame + headcanons

Various headcanons about the Messmer's flame and its interaction with the surrounding world (mostly the fire knights), developed while working on my SotE story, let's go.

While the flame isn't sentient in the true sense of the word, it has a sort of quasi-awareness that allows it to distinguish friends from foes, track emenies, etc.

The main use of the flame among the crusaders was to burn something (or someone) with it, but this is not the only possible use: it can also be used for healing (or necromancy, if you're determined enough), dispelling illusions, or even protective enchantments.

All these properties can also be applied to Messmer coals, though to a lesser extend. For this reason, for example, adding said coals in food\water can unironically act as a disinfectant. And yes, it is extremely effective against the scarler rot.

Even if I consider exclusively redhaired fire knights models to be a game convention, I support the idea that the Messmer's flame causes mutations in its users. In particular: Kood has serpentine eyes with a vertical iris, Wego is cold-blooded like a reptile, Queelign on the contrary has an extremely high body temprature, Salza's hair actually turned red and that's why he shaves his head, Hilde has scales on her arms and shoulders, etc.

Every high-ranking fire knight should develop a unique incantation/skill based on Messmer's fire as some sort of test. This is their own tradition, never imposed by Messmer himself, though demonstrating those incants/skills to him for approval is a mandatory part of the ceremony.

The flame is contained within Messmer's own blood which can thus be used to permanently enchant weapons with fire, create medicine, or perform any other unethical blood magic experimentation of your choice. If you can convince Messmer to donate you some blood, of course.

[swallowtail-ageha]

Minor npc that i rotate in my head of the week fire knight salza like

A disciple of the elder Wego, he refused to burn down an old ruin, at the risk of his own life.

And

Salza's disdain for barbarism never waned, even as he burned more villages and scorched more land than any other.

Like yes! Embody the whole hypocrisy of the crusade!!! Cry about barbarism and civilization and the need to preserve ancient cultures while slaughtering mercilessly the members of said culture because you yourself deem them barbaric!

[recusantchicky]

gravekeeper/necromancy lore to back my ranting up

Grave Cricket:

Cricket that produces a raspy cry. Material used for crafting items. Mainly found near stone coffins. The sound of these crickets are often taken to be the rustling of the restless dead, or sometimes the sound of their calling voices.

used in

Polter Stone:

Contrivance of the grave keepers made from spiritgrave stone. Craftable item.

Creates noises imitative of human presence where it lands when thrown.

Said to have been used by the solitary grave keepers to distract themselves from their longing for company.

Gravekeeper's Cookbook

A record of crafting techniques of the grave keepers who watch over those who rest in the realm of shadow. Acquire the knowledge to craft the following: - Piquebone Arrow - Piquebone Arrow (Fletched) - Piquebone Bolt

those arrows use

Congealed Putrescence:

Bruise-colored putrescence that oozes from stone coffins, congealed into a large viscous lump. Material used for crafting items. Found underground in the land to where stone coffins drift. The putrescence is what remains of the impure lives kept within the stone coffins.

some more gravekeeper lore

Gravekeeper's Brainpan

Skull bone of an old grave keeper. Material used for crafting items. Mainly found in hidden grave of Charo. The old grave keepers are boatsmen, and continue to summon the dead even after withering away.

Deathmask Helm

Helm of Wego, elder among the Fire Knights. Two warped death masks stacked one atop the other.

Reduces FP used to summon spirits.

Gnawed at by loneliness, the old man turned his attention to the spirituality of Messmer's flame, using it in a rite of resurrection. Yet the soulless bodies he brought to life were no comfort to poor Wego.

[space-blue]

Actually these is proof in the fire knights item descriptions that the storehouse is there because some knights wanted to preserve and study the culture and Messmer allowed it. This may be a little strongly worded, but I'll try and find the context.

Fire Knight Hilde ashes:

A spirit who belonged to the Fire Knights; an order which answers directly to Messmer. Hilde was a dear friend to Salza the sage, and joined those who urged that the specimens be preserved. Hilde's ashes were enshrined as a charm to protect the storehouse.

Hood of Salza :

A disciple of the elder Wego, he refused to burn down an old ruin, at the risk of his own life.

The implication is that they urged the person directly above him, with all the power : Messmer.

So it feels less like the British Museum, and more like a preservation effort in the face of their own genocide. I bet Marika allowed it because she's on such a quest for knowledge. But Messmer could have destroyed it any time since their exile/the Shattering, but chose not to.

the stone tablets in Shadow Keep’s Storehouse are the exact ones in Marika’s bedchamber in Leyndell 😂

Messmer was bringing all those documents back to his mom 😂😂😂

This supports my theory that during the start of the Crusade, Messmer was still going back and forth between Leyndell and LoS. The upper echelons must have confronted him in one of those trips and that’s the last time he could see Marika.

Also, while I see why people will view the Specimen Storehouse as glorified trophies for the Crusade, if you connect it to Marika’s bedchamber in the base game it doesn’t seem to be the case. because back then when we walked in Marika’s bedchamber no one knew wtf are those tablets 😭 if they were merely glorified trophies, they would have been displayed differently, not hidden in her room taking up more than half of her bed…. I think Marika is srl trying to understand why the Hornsent did all those things to her people and other clans in Land of Shadows (the Curseblade, the Frenzy Flame followers, Lamenters, etc…)

[criticalglitch]

The fire knights were proving to be a challenge, one that Sandoval was having trouble overcoming, Messmer's forces were relentless, and left few openings to counter. Wego's knives raced like flashfire, and Sandoval's footing was unsure on the pond scum coating the stone floors of the Church District. He jumped backwards, dancing out of the way of a viciously timed swirling flame, and gripped the support beam above, vaulting into the rafters. These beams were damp, but a sight less slippery than the cobblestone.

"Coward," Wego sneered, launching another cursive fireball at him. Sandoval dropped, gripping the edge with one palm, straining to hold his grip.

"Clever," Sandoval winced, swinging his leg over the beam and aiming his crossbow. He pulled the trigger, lily-tipped darts firing in a spread towards the Fire Knight. "Did you learn that two-syllable word all by yourself?"

Wego swung backwards, all but one dart missing their mark. It glanced his forearm, and he gripped the wound. Sandoval dropped back to the ground, drawing his silver blade.

"You will bathe in the inferno-"

"Dark above, do you ever tire of listening to yourself?" He gritted his teeth, slicing open his hand. Black, half-congealed blood clung to the blade like sludge, almost bubbling upon contact with the air. He thrust forward, the tip of the blade puncturing Wego's thigh.

He spat in response, his daggers whirling out, leaving a light cut on Sandoval's cheek as he nearly avoided the advance.

Sandoval winced, and swung the sword across Wego's chest, rivulets of blood seeping through the gaps in his armor. He sputtered, stumbling backwards, gripping his chest.

"What... What have you done..." The blood vessels in his eyes snapped, red streams falling from his nose and lips. Sandoval gripped his oozing palm, holding it close to his chest. There wasn't time to apologize, to make amends. He moved past Wego as he fell to his knees, Sandoval's toxic ichor put to work.

He found his way to the chapel, putting his shoulder into the passage doors to force them open, and stepped on to the elevator, cleaning the blade off on his waistcloth. Callar was waiting for him - there wasn't a moment to lose.

The stone plinth descended rapidly, and quite a ways down. Shadow Keep was intimidatingly large, and he was having trouble getting his bearings. Every headless statue he encountered reminded him of the stone platform he'd abandoned - a crumbling, powerless god, decapitated at a timeless altar. He shivered, and made his way through the passage.

He could feel something ahead. St. Trina's guidance? His feet found the sap, the dredge of the Scadu Tree's lifeblood, oozing into a mire at its base. The sky had been eclipsed by its twining form, a haze rising from where it all pooled - and a lone, desiccated sunflower, solitary in the center. Trudging through the muck, he marched closer, squinting slightly.

The ground began to quake, and Sandoval found his footing, his hand on the hilt of his blade. The sap erupted, the Scadu Avatar swinging out of the earth, radiating malice and hatred. His eyes widened, as it dug its roots in, waves of deadly barbs rocketing across the pools towards him.

"Oh, for the love of-" He was launched into the air, the thorns tearing at his skin and his clothes. he landed on his back, the wind expelling violently from his lungs. Scrambling to his feet, Sandoval sprinted forward, and leapt, both hands on the hilt. He pivoted in the air, driving the blade into the great flower's face, using his weight and momentum to tear his sword downwards. It followed immediately downwards, pummeling him beneath it, the barbs from its roots once again piercing upwards into him.

It propelled itself violently into him, and he gathered the sum of his determination into withstanding its blows, countering when he could.

Finally, its great head collapsed in the sap, and Sandoval delivered a clean final blow, clutching his own ravaged torso with his golden arm. He let out a breath, and peered downward, wondering what it may have been guarding.

"Nothing...?" He breathed, his brow furrowing. That can't be right. Something was here. He could *feel* it.

And then the ground trembled once more. He leapt backwards in shock, as the fallen Sunflower arched its stem.

"No. No no no no-" It coiled, and shot itself forward, barreling towards him at a blinding speed, Sandoval flipping backwards out of its trajectory.

"You have *got* to be joking." Injured and struggling, be braced himself once more.

---

He gasped, crawling in the bog to the small, shining fragment in the sap. A shattered great rune, nearly crumbling in his hands. He used his sword to lean him to his feet, utterly exhausted and littered with cuts and punctures.

Kindly Miquella had discarded his shard here - an offering? An apology? He clutched it close to his chest, limping back the way he'd come.

[katyspersonal]

nobody:

Kood: Oh, so, you "like" Messmer? Say the exact amount of strength applied which it took him to impale every single Dancing Lion that he hunted. Name the day he finished reforging his spear for it to become throwable and how many times did he have to throw it. Say the exact timing, down to tens of second, which it took him to cu-

Queelign: I am literally lurking in the cemetery waiting for those graceless Hornsents to visit the graves of their killed ones to ambush and kill them too, Queen Marika would be so proud of me! :D

Wego: Man I wish I had friends, too bad I literally have no one, I am so lonely I'll have to resort to resurrecting dead people :( *spoken literally nearby fellow Knights, including his literal pupil*

Salza: Hey just because I take #1 place amongst everyone else in the Crusade in terms of how many villages and houses I've obliterated doesn't mean I am no longer an intellectual elite. I am the most civilised, cultured and intelligent person here.

Hilde: These idiots do not understand that even the Erdtree itself stand on cultural appropriation! How can we fight in the name of Marika and uh... I think that guy literally named Whore at some point, with that big lion...? if we ignore how much was stolen from the Storm Lord and Godskin Apostles? I swear I am the only one who truly gets it smh. Can't wait to get rid of all Hornsent already so we can use their knowledge to build our OWN Divine Spiral, it will be sick af 👀

Messmer: Hahah no one loves my mother as much as I do, I understand what is better for her Order more than she does herself *mood swing* I hate that bitch, why she never loved me?! *crashes a head off a statue of her* *mood swing* Oh god I am the worst being I am more of a curse upon her than any of these graceless barbarians were ever, disowning me was not enough, she should have killed me... *mood swing* I should have burnt her and her Erdtree instead while I had the chance to do so, only in death we could stand equal *mood swing* I love her so much I can at least find comfort in destroying everyone who doesn't fit her world, it is the least I can do to atone for being born graceless myself *mood swing*

Rellana: Pledge to the Golden Order was a weird era but now we are so back, Stars/Moon and Fire have always been together, since the times of Fire Giants and Astrologers! But to think of it, does the 'Fire' that swears to exterminate everything spurned of the grace of the Erdtree count, if it was Erdtree's enemy? Strange, how the very thing that existed as its enemy got tamed to serve it instead? Dammit, my flawless brilliant logic got a crack in it all because of Messmer's mommy issues!!! (still love him and will die for him tho 🥺💙)

Andreas: I can excuse fascism and genocide, but I draw the line at being a SNAKE!

Huw: <prev so real, had I known my bestie was a snake I'd definitely not go and have sooooo much fun hunting Divine Beasts. I am so deceived.

Edredd: To think of it, more soldiers got executed here for no longer wanting to do genocide than fell from the blades of Hornsents, but idk a job is a job 🤷‍♂️

Garrew: *has the most fucking questionable Crucible aspect ever seen except no one wants to actually question it*

[katyspersonal]

Thinking about Giants' curse

(Images by Zlofsky) It seems like Radagon was not unique, after all! Fire Monks got this too! Notably, Arghanthy's hair is much less saturated, which makes sense since she is old :p I assume merely close contact with the Fire of Ruin is not all there is, but, they did inherit its power at some point:

"Can't burn if you are already on fire" or whatnot.

With Wego and Kood it can't be seen due to their helmets, but with Salza and Hilde (and general Fire Knight enemies) their red hair are also very visible! Though if Arghanthy is of any indication, again, Wego's hair is likely not so rich of color :p

This similarly confirms that wielding the Messmer's Flame (who we all know is connected with Fell God's curse one way or another) alone is not enough, but Fire Knights attempted to accept it within them! Even if it doesn't settle, the red hair stays!

Queelign seems to be an exception as he is the only Fire Knight whose hair isn't red, and also the only one who doesn't wear red cape. Again, he also uses Messmer's Flame but it alone didn't effect him; for one reason or another, Messmer didn't give him the curse despite Queelign being close enough to become a Fire Knight and live in Shadow's Keep. I think considering how much Queelign is like if Messmer was younger and more naive, he just doesn't want to.. Messmer always hated his flame, so maybe he doesn't have a heart to curse a guy who is quite basically a version of him he wished he was? And how could he ruin someone's blond hair...?

^^^ On a side note, Fire Knights don't have faces modeled under masks, but Messmer's Soldiers do! Seeing how the skin starts to darken for Fire Knights where their mask starts, they probably have a similar damage! Arghanthy has bright orange eyes though, and Fire Monks have normal Lands Between eyes (blue with Grace of Gold), despite both likewise having their faces darkened around the eyes, so maybe Fire Knights should also still have eyes? It is hard to say for sure,