#I like to think Godwyn is starting to look like them

[val-of-the-north]

No one sails through the Sea of Fog without a good reason, for they rise from the depths and drown all those foolish enough to traverse its accursed waters.

Based on this discovery of a cut Umibozu NPC by Zullie on Twitter [x]

[waywardsalt]

easily my favorite boss in elden ring so far

[blasphemousclaw]

Idk if you plan on doing the "questions-about-character-x" list yet, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on Marika (maybe with a side of Radagon but mostly the golden strumpet).

• favorite thing about them

nothing hits me harder than characters who lash out because of the injustice or suffering they’ve endured… there’s something so cathartic about characters who make their pain and anger felt in the world in a tangible and consequential way. Marika is this character to me!! I think it’s so powerful to introduce her as an all-powerful goddess, keeping her at a distance as this enigmatic figure who shaped the world as it is today and then shattered it, and then to humanize her by showing us where she comes from and what she went through… she was never just a cold, distant, uncaring deity, but a person, with very human motivations and flaws. learning her backstory gives us so much context for why she did the things that she did and gives us the opportunity to feel close to her and empathize with her… I think she was always sympathetic in the base game, but she still felt so distant, so I really love how the dlc fleshed her out and made her character so accessible

• least favorite thing about them

this isn’t even about her, but about how the fanbase has responded to her writing in the dlc because like dear god

it almost makes me want to avoid content of her which sucks because I really like her LOL

• favorite line

“Hear me, Demigods. My children beloved. Make of thyselves that which ye desire. Be it a Lord. Be it a God. But should ye fail to become aught at all, ye will be forsaken. Amounting only to sacrifices...”

absolutely fascinating quote… we don’t really know the context, so there’s many different ways to interpret it… Marika urging her children to become a lord or a god is interesting, because when she deposed the Gloam-Eyed Queen and removed Destined Death from the Elden Ring, it seemed like she was fighting hard to stay in power and to become “Eternal,” but her children succeeding her would necessarily end her reign? This also almost seems like she’s encouraging conflict between her children… there can only be one god and one lord, after all. we don’t know when the quote was spoken, but it almost seems to reference Ranni’s sacrifice of Godwyn on her path to godhood on her own terms? is this a warning? is it a challenge? is it just the words of an extremely jaded and cynical goddess?

• brOTP, ОТР

ok I’m gonna do away with this format here because I just want to list some of her relationships that I really like without having to categorize them:

Marika and Messmer: the dynamic of Marika being a god-queen whose grace is blinding, and her son being born cursed with a serpent of the lightless abyss is so good… him taking up the crusade on her behalf, of his own volition, because he hates how he was born so deeply and will do anything to try to atone for something that isn’t even his fault, committing horrors in her name, is SOOOO

Marika and Radagon: I love pondering where one of them starts and the other begins, how they have opposite goals and worldviews but exist in the same being. really good

Marika and Rennala: I wouldn’t call it an otp but I like it as a ship. Marika being the one to steal away Rennala’s husband, but she actually IS her husband. unparalleled dynamic

• nОТР

there arent any Marika ships I’ve seen that I dislike

• random headcanon

I think she was horrified and disgusted by Morgott and Mohg AND she loved them still. omen babies would have their horns cut off, usually causing them to die, but omen babies born of royalty did not have their horns cut off, so they were allowed to live… I love the idea that Marika couldn’t bear to sentence her children to death, but she also couldn’t bear to look at them because of her past, so they were confined to the Shunning Grounds

• unpopular opinion

*cracks knuckles*

SO MANY people have the wrong idea about her. you’ve got people saying everything she did was justified, she didn’t go far enough, “total hornsent death” etc etc. and on the other hand you’ve got people saying the dlc writing is terrible because it’s excusing Marika for her crimes, it’s baiting you to feel bad for the hornsent and then pulling a plot twist that actually, they were evil and Marika was good the whole time!

both of these interpretations are flawed because the story is not arguing that the hornsent are fundamentally evil people, and it is not arguing that Marika is now blameless because of what she suffered. the story is rife with moments of sympathy for the hornsent’s suffering and examples of the crusade’s inexcusable cruelty, and so much of what’s in the base game showcases the cruelty that Marika’s Order has inflicted. just because the story is giving Marika a sympathetic reason for why she is the way she is does not mean that these facts cease to exist! sympathy for Marika, sympathy for the hornsent, and condemnation for the Golden Order’s and the crusade’s crimes can all exist in the story at the same time!!!!!

• song i associate with them

…how about this: if anyone has a song in mind, leave it in the replies or tags!

• favorite picture of them

Ranni holding her head u_u

[mohgreal]

Miquella SOTE analysis  

SOTE spoilers + cw for incest (mentioned?)

As much as I could scream here about how much I hate the butchery of his character I decided I'm going to take Vaati's place early and attempt to make sense of it (i dont get paid for this)

Throughout the DLC Miquella is a big theme and he is mentioned a ton, both by his followers/npcs but some portions of it feel like direct traces to Miquella; That everything is leading you to him.

Now that the bewitchment theory is canon (sadly), this could also be seen as his allure bringing the Tarnished to him. He needs the Tarnished. Why? Because only a reddit mod tryhard as our Tarnished could possibly beat Radahn, kill Mohg, and drag their corpses to him.

During the boss fight with him and Radahn, Radahn traps the player in this weird hug, Miquella whispers to the Tarnished about his age of compassion; "I'll make the world a gentler place". This bewitches our Tarnished and if you get hug-bewitched-whispered twice you get a death screen that says "HEART STOLEN" 

Trying to make sense of why he would need Radahn; Miquella in order to become a god and take Marika's place needs a consort. Miquella seems attached to strength; Look at Malenia, Mohg, Godwyn and Radahn.

What do they have in common? Strength. Our Tarnished also has that.

When he asks presumably us to be his consort I have two theories on this;

Miquella is still trying to achieve his dream world, a gentle place where he can live with his family peacefully with no violence and everyone loves him. A childish dream metaphorically. In order to do this he would still need Godwyn, so perhaps he's still trying to do that and he's using Radahn as another tool to get there. SOTE still has strong themes of death and those who live in it. 

Miquella still refers to his "Lord brother" and assuming this is Godwyn, it's possible that this would be true. However, if this is not the case and Radahn was re written to be his lord brother;

2. Miquella still wants that dream I mentioned earlier, but without the Godwyn part. He can cleanse people of scarlet rot (that one npc says so) So this could all feed into that and how he is really is trying to become a benevolent god in which everyone loves him/eachother and everything is okay; The opposite of how things are in the lands between. However because its so childish people wouldn't agree to it, so he thinks the only way to get there is bewitching them.

One of the items says how Malenia whispered in Radahns ear (i hate this lore) So this would mean that she was aware of this, meaning this was Miquella's plan from the start and the way his followers and everything hypes him up is because it was a plan he tried too hard to make work and possibly bewitched everyone in the process. (Considering Miquella doesn't become a god in the end from what I can gather?)

Not my favourite analysis to be making knowing...certain...writers...but  I guess I didn't wait 2 years just to not at least try to see Miquella's character.

Hopefully this fuels your coping, and until another post of 

Coping with Mohgreal 

couldn't find a scene with this clip from the trailer, will update/rb this post when i find out more abt it :P

[drenched-in-sunlight]

Hi there! I wanted to say your art is absolutely incredible and always brings me back to Elden Ring when I forget just how amazing the game is. I live for your depictions of Marika.🥹

I was partly just curious after you posted the recent family tree, is there a reaspn Ranni and Radahn don't make as much of an appearance in your drawings? What is your thoughts on their questline/storyline in general?

Thanks for all the cool art, you're getting better with every piece!!

tbh... i think draw Ranni a lot, she's literally the cover of my first fromsoft fanbook 🥲🥲

though most of my art of her is from 2 years ago, i wouldn't say i don't draw her often at all 😭 i've drawn Radahn 4-5 times too. i understand because i draw too much, it's easy to have an impression that i draw some specific characters less, but compared to, say, the Omen Twins or Rykard or Melina (who i keep meaning to draw but haven't got around to do so yet), Radahn and Ranni are two Carian characters i draw the most of that side of the family (well, Rellana is looking to dethrone them soon but you get what i mean aksfkjdfkj)

Radahn dudebro fans keep pointing fingers saying i hate him but i actually like him. as a guyfailure that is so obsessed with these symbols of a Lord in his father and Godfrey, yet failed to live up to any of them (*stare at that scene of Morgott whooping his ass*). his involvement in the DLC is an interesting spin on things to me, and make a lot of sense in the grand scheme of things (when i saw that we found like... 11 Miquella's Lily in places most personal to Radahn like Carian Manor and Sellia. hoo boy).

lately, i lowkey think Radagon specifically picked him for Miquella and encouraged his obsession with being a Lord. to me at least Radagon is really bitter that Godfrey is the First Lord and not him (her actual other's half! sentenced to live away from her while another man got to be her first in everything! the injustice!), so him not only discrediting Godfrey's descendants (whole thing with Hunters of TWLiD) but also preparing a whole new pair of Lord and God that should have been how he and Marika could have been from the start sounds like the kind of overcompensation he'd be doing (look honey that could be us but you tripping).

so in a way i do feel for Radahan and Miquella falling victims to Radagon's list of issues (though it's only one reason in many other reasons for them to turn out that way ofc. Radagon merely nudges the pieces into certain direction, they go barreling head first down on their own). and i actually like that i could come up with all that thanks to the DLC. imo it actually adds a lot more to Radahn and Miquella's character (depends on how you view the story though whoops).

you can say i like him (and Miq) the way one likes AC6 Iguazu... or Genichiro. the kind of hater characters that are doomed to fail from the start, but they are stubborn and will run head first into the wall again and again. and it's fun to put them in a jar and shake them.

Ranni... after the DLC my feeling for her is a bit more complicated. before i get why she did all those things and i like her story enough, but after the DLC as you see i come to really like Godwyn and links him closely to Marika. so now it's kinda awkward for me to insert Ranni in all the scenarios im drawing lately?

it's not that i stop liking her, it's simply that the scenario doesn't line up for me to add her in that's all. and it goes to other characters i haven't drawn tbh. not because i don't like them, i simply don't have anything in my brain about them to draw out. i don't think there's any characters in Elden Ring i hate tbh (yes i do like even the Hornsents. i find the stories in the scorpion stew and dried flower talisman really somber and give them a lot of humanity too, fucked up rituals aside).

and thank you for your kind words! my editor has been on my ass for a whole year about my art and it does help me improve a lot, im glad to know it shows in the quality of my fanarts as well!

[catcas22]

Fiassax Headcanon

You know how Fia canonically asks for hugs in the strangest, most easily-misconstrued, sounds-like-innuendo-but-isn't way possible? I like to think it's because ancient dragons are kind of uptight about physical affection.

Being stone constructs that reproduce asexually, physical touch is nowhere near as important to them as it is to us mammals. Lansseax took to it readily, but then Lansseax was very much an oddball by dragon standards. Fortissax, later Fia, tolerated Godwyn and only Godwyn. She made an effort for Godrick and Godefroy, but the idea of touch for its own sake, no matter how innocent, always felt a bit weird to her.

Fia is inadvertently responsible for the rumor that the Dragon Cult is a sex thing. "My sister is very.... affectionate with her knights. I cannot say that I approve, but still, she is family and I support her. I only hope she is taking precautions. You never know what you might catch."

Meanwhile Lansseax is giving out headpats and high-fives.

The awkwardness hit critical mass after the Night of the Black Knives. In her desperation, Fia started looking into hug-based necromancy and enlisted the Dragon Cult to supply her with "lifely vigor."

Fia: I shudder to ask this of you, but for the sake of your lord, we must all put aside such misgivings. Will you share your mortal warmth, and aid me in this vulgar rite? Kristoff: ... Lady Fia, I couldn't possibly... Vyke: I'm married. Lansseax: She's just asking for a hug, guys. (Fia, why did you say it like that?) Vyke: For Godwyn? ... Alright. Just don't make it weird. Vyke: [kneels] Fia: [hugs] Fia: You are so very warm.

[fleshofmensis]

i remembered this app for the sole purpose that i can talk ab messmer and nobody would care 🫡 BC I HAVE SOME SHIT TO SAY ! YAP INCOMING

forewarning!! i actually haven't played the dlc yet but i've looked into and read most of the lore that was dropped w it ( .. totally not because i'm nervous of the spooky difficulty jump in los and i just started ng++ naaaaah not at all)

/// this is all my opinion or "hc's"

i've been seeing so many godwyn/messmer things and AA it's so nice THE BROTHERS EVER, i love seeing people's takes on messmers relationships with his siblings pre-land of shadow

i personally think he had really difficult relationships with them, that he erred on the side of caution in his interactions thinking negatively due to the abyssal serpent pre+post sealing

malenia having her own curse with the scarlet rot gave her an understanding and i like to think messmer was slightly more comfortable with her (miquella being part of that too since i see malenia and miquella being pretty inseparable as children, out of her dependence and just their closeness) miquella definitely would've been the one just along for the ride lmao — as for melina .. idk i don't really like melina?? hot take? lol

BUT GODWYN?? FIRSTBORN STRUGGLES DUO ISTG (even though the omen twins are older, they had their whole.. casting away thing 💀 and marika didn't really refer to them, i actually really do like the omens though!!!)

uhh post over for now.. idk ciao

[katyspersonal]

Were Marika and Radagon always the same being from the beginning or they were separate people who got fused later on?

Oh boy, I've almost missed this ask in the tidal wave of Sephi spam from THOSE TWO LITTLE PRICKS!!!!!!, but yes thank you for the question! My theory on the matter is:

This for me ties into a couple of things: 1) the idea that when something bad happens with a (demi)god, they are likely to develop an alter as defence mechanism that I mostly base on the theory that Trina and their purple 'sleep' flame happened as response to Miquella being scorched by Frenzy (more here: ( x )) and 2) theme of 'astral projections' that have transcendental knowledge compared with the 'rest of the person' which is more plain!

Recently I've also discussed theme of "if you want to defeat the thing, become the thing" like with dragons, but I decided to discard the idea that Marika willingly inflicted curse of the giants onto herself! But existence of Radagon is exactly what I think happened with Marika - a curse of the giants!

I think that "they say Marika has slain the Fell God" is taken at face value here, they 'say' it because it happened very long time ago and there are almost no witnesses left rather than a rumour! Sure, I still "await for the return of my Lord" (for the one who will precisely re-translate Japanese script), but I am happy with this for now! Yet, 'their flames will never die' refers to Marika having taken up that curse in the moment she killed the Fell God! This is why she was able to pass the curse mark onto the last Fire Giant that survived: because now the curse was her, taken from the Fell God by slaying him.

But, although she was able to get rid of the flame by giving it to the Fire Giant, the impact already left its side-effect on her very being! I still need DLC to confirm or deny whether Trina exists for 'unhappy reason' as I can't tell whether more info on them was cut due to time limitations or rewriting, I am just using it as an extra backup for now! Regardless, it is safe to say that since Fire Giants are all male and Marika was a female, it caused the conflict and so Radagon turned in to exist as male. So yeah kill gods carefully of you'll get cursed with dysphoria idk I am bad at philosophical conclusions

^ I also think that the curse left its mark on Marika genetically, and her children would show traces of it from time to time! Radahn is the biggest evidence of it in my eyes! He started to learn gravitational magic so he could still ride Leonard, which means that he was growing massive even before learning it! Other demigods have no problem staying very human-sized so I think his massive size is not an effect of his massive power, but traces of Giants' 'genes' showing!

I am also considering the ideas that 1) Morgott might have had a fire of his own as result of it, that he sealed into blade, since unlike with Mohg his fire doesn't link to interacting with Formless Mother 2) Rykard might have had natural affinity towards fires as side-effect of such 'genes', that only made his research of fire sorcery easier, and it simply was coincidental that fire reflects heresy

3) Maybe the third eye imagery that is only so far seen in Godwyn's Prince of Death form and Trina's side of Miquella is the secret less obvious effect, that only manifests after something bad happens to them? Since the cyclopic eye is the mark of the Fell God! Again, I need information on Trina first, but so far this works! So yeah. 'Evil eye'.

(Screenshot of Godwyn's model from Zullie's video: ( x ))

I also take the script occasionally from this ( x ) document, but yeah. In Japanese, it is a bit more blatant that he is her other self literally, not metaphorically! She also uses 'omae', a pretty derogatory way to refer to someone. She looks down on this side of herself, which is interesting, but also why? And why Radagon disagreed with her idea to scatter the Elden Ring and let the history sort itself?

This is what made me think of how the separation aspect of them played out! I believe that they are able to exist within the same body, as we can clearly see through the cutscene, but also to split. The thing is? There are precedents of it in the game as well! Sellen and Dung Eater both are under the situation where their real bodies, and real selves are in imprisonment and are suffering without being aware of their astral projections. Their astral projections, however? They are quite aware of where their bodies are and what is going on, but can think independently. The 'body' and the 'mind' are able to exist in separation in The Lands Between. Let's also not forget the case of powerful illusions like the ones of Rennala and Mohg, who are basically the auto-receivers that were set to kick your ass lol x) It is also my idea on why it is named The Lands Between to begin with: because this is where physical and mental blend together, to the point both are equally tangible and perceivable!

Basically? When Marika and Radagon are split, it is very much like this. He would be her 'physical body', living and thinking on his own, not aware of Marika's opinions and plans, whereas Marika would be same as those astral projections that told Tarnished 'oh by the way my actual body is imprisoned in this or that location'. Knowing more and planning more, being aware of what the 'body' thinks and experiences without the reverse being true, however, being limited until the 'body' is returned to the owner. So that's why Radagon would not think and feel exactly the same as Marika: not only he was able to live his own life, but also he understands less than the "transcendental" part which makes astral projections. Marika maybe had the plan to scatter the Ring and let it all sort itself out, so the conflict would let only someone capable of levelling with her lost Godwyn to raise at the top and come and replace her. She generally thinks very far ahead, as the 'higher self' that she is, which Radagon can't do and he just studies and understands the things as they are.

So yeah.. In the conclusion, I think it was the curse of the Giants but specifically the side-effect of slaying the Fell God, yet she sealed the curse she inherited from the act in the last survivor too late and her 'genes' already got traces of it! Radagon is valid but by all laws that strangely split people in the Lands Between he is her "lesser" half that thinks on more grounded plane. We could, again, see from Sellen and Dung Eater that 'body' and 'astral projection' are able to fuse back into one entity, yet Radagon and Marika are still in the conflict?

I like to think it came from Marika herself despising this more "human" side of herself.. Sure, she is not alien to human flaws herself, as someone that set many unfair laws in motion just because of her fears and set the world into war from her grief, but you can't just SAY that hahah; She wants to be perfect, invulnerable, all-powerful, and Radagon is just "not that", not yet. I am pretty sure a big part of it is Marika's very pragmatic view on relationship, whereas Radagon *gasp* had the nerve to truly love Rennala! She only can truly become one with him when his flaws and vulnerabilities are eradicated and he is the same cold, calculating, clever, machiavellian entity as herself, literally just her but male. And, well... this hasn't been this way so far, so in turn, the two are at the conflict. He thinks of the other people and the world, and doesn't believe it is right to betray the Greater Will and the mortals born under it like that, when she decides to just let the world suffer and burn. Ironically, her "lowly" half had more sympathy and reason than her "dignified" half, after all.

This is all very interesting to think about, but so far a lot of this lingers on the conclusions I still need to confirm or deny via DLC! Anyways it was interesting to think about and put together!

[yournextflame]

Elden Ring Theories: A Retrospective

So, enough time has passed for me to form my opinion on Shadow of the Erdtree and revive this blog. But before posting new theories based on the DLC lore, I decided to take a look at my old speculations and see how well they aged.

Does the Greater Will even exist? ✅ In this post, I compared the Greater Will to the Big Bang and suggested that it might not be an actual deity, but rather an attempt by the people of The Lands Between to explain the world around them: the creation of the universe, the fall of meteors, evolution, and the natural order. The Shadow of the Erdtree continues to present the Greater Will as a scientific concept described by the inhabitants of a fantasy world, allowing players to decide whether it’s a god beyond the microcosm or just an empty circle in Count Ymir’s hat, a mere projection of human imagination

The outer gods are natural forces. ✅ 🟡❔While the Greater Will's cosmic origin was emphasized even further in the DLC, the motives of the outer gods were tied even more strongly to earthly concepts. I have many thoughts about the outer gods and godhood in particular, but one of my ongoing ideas is that they manifest human emotions, given how perception and sacrifices shape reality in a material way in the Lands Between.

Elden Ring and Color theory: ✅🟡❔ While I disagree with some points I made in this post, many of my observations were quite accurate. One clarification I’d like to make is that the scroll sigils indicate the heritage of magic rather than its source of power. I also appreciate the DLC narrative that suggests all the differences are actually man-made.

Translation of Marika's echoes from JP, ✅ The DLC gives Marika such human and deeply personal motivations that reducing her to a mere puppet of an evil outer god feels like an insult to the collaborative work of GRRM and Miyazaki. I must admit that my initial reading of her character was too harsh; I even questioned why FromSoft would write such a one-dimensional character. However, I’m very glad that The Shadow of the Erdtree gave Marika awesome depth without depriving her of agency.

My musings upon Helphen's Steeple design and DLC predictions ✅ 🟡 Well, the Shadowlands are described as a place where all kinds of death come only to be suppressed, and the Shadowkeep, as pointed out by the community, very much resembles the design of the Helphen. You can even find Tibia Mariners' boats here. It’s not the exact version of the spirit realm I predicted, but it’s very close.

Small bonus: Even though I insisted that the DLC should be centered around the spirit realm, I pointed out that exploring Godwyn's story beyond what was shown in the base game is pretty unnecessary.

What's wrong with Ranni's Two Fingers? ✅🟡❌ Right direction of thinking, wrong conclusions. One of the biggest reveals of the DLC is that everything is wrong with the Fingers and their mother, Metyr.

Children of the Erdtree 🟡❔I'm not sure what to make of it. The DLC continues to toy with the Empyrean connection to plants, from the special properties of Marika's people's flesh to St. Trina being a literal flower, but it never makes any direct conclusions.

Bells and Bell bearings ❔ The connection does exist, but it should be explored in greater detail.

Candletrees, Miquella, Death and Sleep 💡❔✨ Now that the DLC has revealed Miquella's plan to replace Marika all along, it’s astonishing to realize that my earlier discovery about Necromancer Garris — who likely collaborated with the Black Knives — had Miquella's butterfly and candletree in his basement is actually quite wild

What is Crucible? 🟡❌❔Although the nature of the Crucible is still a mystery, I think my old theory that it was a different tree is not exactly right. I’ve even started to wonder if the Crucible and the Primeval Current are just different names for the same thing.

Some of my old takes haven't aged well, but if anything, I'm glad that Mohg isn't the "walking uooohh 😭💢 joke" I used to call him. However, my opinion on Miquella was surprisingly accurate. For two years, the fandom preached that Miquella wanted to abandon his godhood, making me seem like a major contrarian for insisting that godhood was still his ultimate goal (at least because it would be pointless from a writing perspective to create another Ranni).

I still believe that characters like Marika and Miquella are primarily vehicles to deliver Miyazaki's and GRRM's ideas regarding civilization development, human nature, religion, and philosophy. So, whatever faults they have are the faults of the concepts they represent. Nevertheless, *Shadow of the Erdtree* did an awesome job of elevating these characters from mere ideas to something more human and relatable.

My old description of Malenia is so relevant, it hurts.

Mohg, Radahn, Rykard and Snakes 🐍 Honestly, I'm not sure if Messmer was initially planned by FromSoft or created specifically for the DLC, but looking back, it's pretty funny that I noticed something weird going on between the demigod brothers and the serpents.

Elden Ring lore is a disaster 🤡 Elden Ring story is such lackluster that it was rewritten with the first day patch on top of the giant mountain of cut content. I’m not sure that DLC, if there will be any, can fix this mess or give any proper answers as it seems that writers got too much carried with the idea of making story as vague as possible.

Someone was overdosing on doomium.

To my surprise, the DLC managed to address most of my old frustrations. While I do wish certain things had better foreshadowing or were explored more, it still did a good job of filling many gaps in the base game lore that were making me frustrated. Looking back, I think some of my grudges over the lore were no less important than my theories because they served as a good indication that something was intentionally left unexplained. It seems that the gaps and ambiguities were not oversights but deliberate choices.

As I explore the new content in Shadow of the Erdtree and revisit my old theories, I will also share my thoughts on the new lore and its impact on the narrative. This fresh perspective has already sparked some intriguing insights, and I am eager to see how these revelations will reshape our understanding of the game’s world.

[fantomette22]

YOOOOO FVFGFGFGF SCREAMING RN

FANTOMETTE YOU WERE RIGHT with your idea that maybe the reason Dragon Communion existed even through Godwyn making peace with Ancient Dragons is that stone Ancient Dragons hated the Greyoll-type of feathered and assimilative Dragons!!! HOW DOES IT FEEL TO BE A PSYCHIC VFBYGCFGGG

GOD FUCKING DAMMIT DRAGON FASCISM REAL 💀💀💀

I KNOW RIGHT ?!?!?! fbbfbvBPBvM

Yeah so I did found this item too a bit earlier today too XD I indeed ascend jagged peak but didn't did the bosses yet because to hard for now 💀

And so yeah I read it and I was like : omg I was right???

I'm really happy they explain a bit more how dragon communion work! Because yeah my theory was that ancient dragon worked together with humans and it was a cult kinda toward them and supervise by them directly. But I always found it quite odd because why would ancient dragons lead a cult who encourage humans to kill & eat the hearts of their kind?!

But now we know! Because ancient dragons (placi, fortissax, lansseax, gransax...) had a big fight with greyoll type of dragon XD idk if you got to this part of the lore but yeah complicated to know who really start this all thing even if it seems there's a culprit...

Anyway I guess you went to the great altar of dragon communion to get the item too and saw what's there but I have some thoughts to share below. Plus about which dragons can be found on jagged peak!: (lil spoilers warning)

Ok so

Damn that thing is so huge. Seems Bigger than greyoll for sure and I really wonder if it's not bigger than Gransax. Hope there's its name somewhere.

Also at first, I thought that it died on accident and "fall" on a very pointy rock (the base is stuck in the ground like a rock). But after looking more closely I notice it's form was quite unnatural and even had a very long clean cylinder like a spear ^ (also a pick like that alone made 0 sense naturally bfhjcb). So I think it was build for sure. But it's terrifying. How did this enormous dragon died excalty??

Also on the way of jagged peak. ---

There's a first dragon boss (greyoll type) (who kicked my ass) who master both fire AND thunder! I found this detail quite smart, those are closer to ancient dragon for sure. Make sense with the timeline etc

Then a bit later there's 2 dragons beating the shit out of each other 😂 Like wtf (got my ass beat too I will do him later).

So does it mean dragons beat the shit out of each others and that's why there's all dead around?? help

Also I got very surprised by the following boss O_O

I expected like another vouivre / greyoll type at first

NO NO it's a fucking new ancient dragon!!!

I just stand there for a few second because my brain was shocked!!!! I will beat them later hbbvcb I hope we'll get cool lore after beating this one.

And like tou can guess I didn't tried Bayle yet. So not sure what he look like but seems very very coo! And lore on him is very intriguing.

[stayatsam]

im going to be rambling about this in no coherent way, but some commentary on Godwyn's character below. includes some minor spoilers from Shadow of the Erdtree. This is super long but i just wanted to trace Godwyn's life from start to finish for my own reference.

i feel like to enjoy and understand Godwyn's character to the max it's important to separate aspects of Godwyn the Golden from Godwyn Prince of Death.

Godwyn the Golden (based off his title "the Golden") seems to have represented everything 'perfection' about the Golden Order. the Leyndell Knights who use Godwyn's ancient dragon incantations-formed from Godwyn essentially establishing the ancient dragon cults-aren't necessarily loyal to HIM. (both the Leyndell knights and the Death Knights use golden dragon cult incantations, which were wielded by Godwyn, presumably the Leyndell knights learned this and served Godwyn as defender of Leyndell)

They're loyal to Leyndell, as their armor description states: "Armor worn by knights sworn to defend the royal capital of Leyndell."

Godwyn would have served the same role as protector of Leyndell, having been the one to ultimately befriend the dragons, whose magic is wielded by Leyndell's knights.

BUT, after Godwyn's half-death, his corpse and the death root it spreads now fall outside the Golden Order's scope of acceptability. Those most dedicated to the Golden Order, represented through D and his brother, vehemently run a campaign against Those Who Live in Death. D's brother spits at the now Godwyn, Prince of Death as a corruption of order.

The Shattering would have been the point where the Leyndell knight's leadership shifts from Godwyn to Morgott, the demigod now responsible for protecting Leyndell.

Godwyn's personal knights (now known as Death Knights) however, embrace his new role as First of the Dead, or Prince of Death. With "First" representing a kingship role along the lines of "First of his line" when referring to royalty.

The Death Knights aren't dead or part of Those Who Live in Death, but serve Godwyn all the same. They even wear an image of the Cursemark of Death as proof of their loyalty to Godwyn extending even after he falls out of the realm of the Golden Order.

Assuming they still follow the wishes of their master, the Prince of Death, the Death Knights delve into the Land of Shadow to protect the other Godwyn cadavers about, which look similar to the one in Stormveil. This is where I start to question Godwyn Prince of Death's sentience, and how it seems that there is something thinking in there.

We can tell the Those Who Live in Death have personalities and are a form of life themselves. The undead beastmen serve the dragons, and Those Who Live in Death can be found (actively protecting?) Death Root wherever we encounter it.

The Deathbed Dream is Godwyn's dream. Fortissax's remembrance covers "the ancient dragon fought long and hard against the Death within its companion." Which could indicate the "Death within" Godwyn as Death Blight, but Fortissax's presence in the dream leads me to think the Deathbed Dream is inside Godwyn.

Fromsoft's previous games tend to allude to dreams being a form of consciousness and dimension within thinking creatures (Hunter's Nightmare and Hunter's Dream are what I'm thinking specifically). Regardless of Godwyn no longer having a soul, an alien form of consciousness remains.

and he's spreading everywhere he can. Death root is choking the Erdtree, it's made its way to the Consecrated Snowfields where it could strangle the Haligtree, AND it's made it's way to the Land of Shadow in the form of Godwyn cadavers.

it seems pretty clear that Those Who Live in Death predate Godwyn, as the Deathbirds, Tibia Mariners, etc. have aspects that make them seem older.

Godwyn, Prince of Death feels like a messiah figure for them. Tossed down from the Golden Order as a literal fall from grace, the Death Knights, Fia, and the undead protecting his deathroot are preparing for the Age of the Duskborn.

Miquella's motives (Eclipse Shotel, ghost at Castle Sol, various mausoleum knight stuff) indicate it takes a solar eclipse to revive a dead demigod's soul. The mending rune of the Death Prince very clearly resembles such a thing, which Fia states would give Godwyn a "new life" as the Prince of Death.

The Age of the Duskborn ending presumably succeeds in creating a solar eclipse, with the muted tones and dim light at the end scene reflecting an eclipse above preparing to give Godwyn new life. It's exactly what Those Who Live in Death need (The dead have long been left to wander; what they need is leadership. Tibia's Summon)

Here's the mostly unfounded and random speculation to take with a grain of salt, by the way

Some random thoughts I get after, since that's where the story ends for everyone, is how a new living/unliving Godwyn comes into play for the world. Marika, in a comatose manner, is still alive as the Lands Between's god and vessel for the now-mended Elden Ring. but if Godwyn's back, can that change? It takes an Empyrean to become a god, and there is some speculation that Godwyn could actually be a Radagon/Marika child in secret and not a Godfrey/Marika child; which would make him an Empyrean.

This would also make us assume Godwyn was cursed by an outer god (Outer God of Death) in the same way Miquella, Malenia, and Messmer are (that's a whole other meta though).

The idea of Godwyn becoming a new god for the Age of Duskborn is sooo interesting to me. As unlikely as it is the vague ending to Elden Ring gives you room to daydream and speculate as to what it means for a third royalty figure to enter the equation of what has only ever been two as far back as the age of the dragons.

I know Iji says only Ranni, Miquella and Malenia could call themselves Empyreans, but we know via Messmer's hidden nature that his knowledge is flawed. It seems likely the Messmer is also the child of a single god, if not by Radagon than by just Marika herself considering he has a curse of an Outer God the same way Miquella and Malenia do. If Marika kept Messmer's serpent-nature a secret it's liable that Godwyn's Empyrean nature could be too, idk that's all very loosey goosey speculation.

anyway that's all i got right now.

Death Knight armor is really cool, highly recommend you go looking for it if your a Godwyn head too

[jowoanofheart]

Okay, what about your headcanons on all the ancient dragons? So Lansseax, Fortissax, Placidusax and senessax.

Oooooooh! Ok, this is a fun one.

Lansseax:

I get the feeling she would’ve started the dragon cult regardless of whether or not the dragons won. She just seems like she interested in human culture. She might be a little cold and distant to most people, but for people like Fortissax, Godwyn, and Vyke, she’s totally emotional and melodramatic. “Oooh Forty look, I found another utensil. I think they call this one a chez knife.”

Fortissax:

Totally gay for Godwyn. Now that we got that outta the way, I feel like he might’ve actually been close to Bayle before he tried to kill Placy. I get a younger brother feeling from him, which is why he hung out with Bayle, to make himself seem tougher. After he got beat by Godwyn, he was totally enamored. I imagine his dragon form looks twinkish, as much as that is possible for them.

Placidusax:

Senile old man(s?) or person(s)? He knew every ancient dragon very closely and would offer them advice when they needed it. Was probably very kind to all the beastmen. Would often spar with Bayle. He wanted to keep his combat skills good enough so that he could defend the others. When Bayle betrayed him however, total 180 for his personality. Paranoid, thought every attempt to get close to him was another attempt to kill him. Reclusive, Snappy. The only dragon he trusted was Florissax, and only after she promised to kill Bayle.

Senessax:

Asshole. When Lany and Forty were still in Farum Azula, he was antagonistic towards them, as well as everyone else. He was close with Bayle, who told him about his ambitions, which is why he was such an arrogant prick to the other dragons. Bayle probably had to tell him to tone it down, cuz he was just the worst.

Hope you like these! :)

[mercurialmalcontent]

Oh shit I think I figured something out??

I found Godwyn -- or his face, at least -- looking extremely woody, guarded by a corrupted tree spirit, and Rogier warned me not to mess with it, saying it's to blame for 'the shape he's in now' (which seems to involve a worrying amount of flies)...

Then there's the statues that point toward catacombs, that have the message "Guide and gatekeeper for those returning to the roots"; the catacombs boss rooms have huge roots coming through the ceiling, and those roots are absolutely full of corpses that look like they're climbing the roots, or being carried upward by them. There's also always root resin there, which is 'secreted by the roots of the Erdtree', so this suggests that the Erdtree has something to do with the cycle of life and death, or maybe is even part of the afterlife of the Lands Between.

The Lands Between are fucked and very little seems to be able to permanently die now post-Shattering, but I'm guessing from what Rogier said that that started moving earlier, that Godwyn's death corrupted the Erdtree (if he is, in fact, properly dead now that he's apparently part Erdtree), and now nothing can live or die properly. Was it him being a demigod that did it, the manner in which he died, and/or that he had a more personal connection to the Erdtree (his epithet is 'the Golden' after all)?

(Obvious disclaimer NOT TO SPOIL ME but I think I'm onto something here...)

[toweringclam]

Who is Godefroy? FINAL

So a while back, I started a series where I tried to puzzle out who Godefroy the Grafted actually was. I got a bit lost in the weeds and burned out before I could come up with a coherent theory, but it turns out the answer was stupidly simple and sitting right in front of me the whole time. And the story of Godefroy is a key to understanding all of Marika's offspring.

Godwyn, Godefroy, and Godrick are brothers

If there's one thing that's incredibly important for understanding Elden Ring lore, it's patterns. The same motifs will repeat again and again, and if something doesn't seem to fit the established pattern, it's probably worth a second thought.

One thing that seems to be accepted without question is that Marika's children with Godfrey were Godwyn, Morgott, and Mohg. But the problem should jump out at you immediately: every other group of divine siblings have names that start with the same letter. The pattern becomes even more apparent now that we have Messmer, presumably Miquella and Malenia's brother. This adds some new rules. Assuming this is replicated across all her offspring, the pattern is:

Three siblings

All start with the same letter

Twins and a spare

That brings me to:

Rykard and Radahn are twins

While they're never called twins, looking at their portraits side by side, it becomes pretty obvious.

Their different sizes could easily be explained by something like twin to twin transfusion syndrome, a concept very familiar to fans of the Locked Tomb series. We have the overgrown twin and the withered twin, plus their sister Ranni. We now have a pattern.

Melina is Mohg and Morgott's sister

This just leaves Melina, the potential Gloam-Eyed Queen. The strangest of Marika's children. May seem odd since she looks so young compared to them, but remember, she's a spirit. Her body was burned long ago, so there's no reason for her to age. That puts her in the second batch of demigod children, likely around when the Erdtree was burned for the first time.

The Grafted Twins' were born first

In fact, the age thing is a major clue to the timing of the Grafted Twins' birth. They are old and wizened in a way that none of Marika's other children are. If they are Marika's offspring, that must mean they were born before she gained control of the Elden Ring. The first child she bore under the new order was Godwyn the Golden, perfect in every way. More than anything else, this represented a shift in power.

The Golden Lineage is Godfrey's own

In all the Golden Lineage items, there isn't a single mention of Marika. Go back and look. Godfrey is mentioned, but not Marika. Rather than saying that this means she wasn't involved, i think it represents the shifting power from Elden Lord to God (or whatever Marika's position was before). There's barely any mention of Placidusax's god, so the title must not have been that important back then.

The M's are Marika's own

Following Marika's ascension, she started to wonder if she even needed Godfrey anymore. So she started to experiment. She sent her other self Radagon to Caria and used the power of the Crucible to create children on her own. The result was the warped Omen Twins and Melina, the Gloam-Eyed Queen.

Godfrey, Chad that he is, loved these divine bastards as his own, as seen when he gently cradles Morgott. This compassion was even extended to the children of Radagon, as Radahn shows great admiration for him. But Marika wanted her Empyrean offspring, so he had to go. She called back her other half and had another batch of kids, two (three?) of which came out as Empyreans.

I'm getting tired and rambling, so in conclusion:

Godefroy is Marika's first-born. Godwyn was just the first-born of the Golden Order.

[headcanontheshitoutofsoulsborne]

Elden Ring Chain 2, Part 2

This time we did the chain a little differently. Two people got the same prompt, but instead of letting eight people do one chain with eight entries, we split them in two groups. Once the first half was done, the other group did receive the last art piece/fic and continued with it, so we got two chains for the price of one ^^ Please be aware that one of the chains is an entry short, because I, the mod, had to drop out thanks to life circumstances. For now, let's start with the first chain. Prompt: A tale of Godwyn's favoured Servant, Fia

@sputnstuff

Inside a tomb, where the dead are put to rest, where those who have reached their final destination in their travels of live, there is a woman, Fia, with skin almost as pale as the lifeless skeletons she sleeps with, blond hair whose shine has been lost with time, and a peaceful look on her face as she sleeps among the perished, almost looking like she died not too long ago herself. No living man or even tarnished would pick a tomb as a place to rest, not intentionally at least, yet the self proclaimed deathbed companion sleeps peacefully, under a red sheet that covers both her and a rotting corpse, whose name will be forgotten with time.

  But tonight, Fia sleeps with a cold sweat as she sees in her dreams a male figure held by two cloaked ones as they carve a massive scar on their victim’s back with their dark and twisted daggers, and throwing the now bloody and lifeless body to the floor. Fia is horrified by what she just saw and slowly approaches the corpse of the golden haired man, gently turning the body so she can see his face, but the man’s eyes still moved and as they meet with Fia’s, she wakes up from her dream, gasping for air as she tries to calm herself down.

FIA (shaking): Who was that man…

As she gets herself calmer, she sits down, comforting herself from the dream by holding the red sheet.

FIA: His eyes… it’s like…

Fia gets up, walking across the tomb with the sheet, seemingly aimless and lost in thought.

FIA: They still glimmer with life… But how… Isn’t he dead?

She sits near the corpse she was sleeping with.

FIA: Maybe it’s just a bad dream… but his eyes were staring directly at me.

She looks over the corpse near her and sighs.

FIA: Just a dream…

She tries to fall asleep again, but to no avail as no matter how she positions herself, the golden haired man remains in her mind. Eventually she gets up and puts on her black hood. The outfit she’s wearing, a dress as dark as the tomb she’s currently in and a hood that covers her head ans shoulders, both pieces of clothing made her look like a widow, mourning the death of a loved one. She goes over the corpse that she slept with and caresses their head.

FIA: Sorry for leaving so early, but someone calls for me. Someone who yet lives in death.

She leaves the tomb and the perished that reside within.

  Fia heads towards a house in Leyndell and in the house, inside a room, is a knight, wearing a round and heavy looking armour with a steel helmet that resembled an over sized hat, who lies sitting on a bed looking downwards to the floor. Although his face is covered by the massive headgear, Fia knows the knight is feeling down, as he greets her in a very melancholic tone.

KNIGHT: Ah Fia, good eyes see you my daughter.

FIA (bowing): Lionel, how are you feeling today?

Lionel coughs for a while before answering.

LIONEL: Worse. I feel the ailment taking me over. I fear it’s a matter of time until it’s my time.

Fia nods sadly.

LIONEL (cheerful): But enough about me! Are you alright? Has D bothered you while you were away?

FIA: No, I haven’t seen him for a while. But Father…

Fia sits next to Lionel as he coughs for a while.

FIA: I had this strange dream…

Fia hesitates for a while before Lionel wraps his arm around her, in an attempt to comfort her.

LIONEL: A bad one?

FIA: It was about a man… with golden hair…

LIONEL: Could it be someone from the Golden Lineage?

FIA (surprised): You think it is?

LIONEL: Not really, I was just joking.

  Fia pouts at Lionel’s attempt at a joke.

LIONEL: Still, what was it with that dream that gave you a strange feeling?

FIA (takes a deep breath): Well… The man in the dream… He was murdered in front of me… and yet…

Lionel puts his arm around Fia’s shoulders.

FIA: His eyes stared at me, still gleaming with life.

Lionel Looks at Fia worried.

LIONEL: It’s just a dream Fia, You’ll get…

FIA: NO! It didn’t felt like one.

LIONEL: But how can someone who’s dead still be able to look at you? Try to rest, Fia.

Fia gets up and puts her hood on her head.

FIA: Forgive me father, but I will be gone for a while more.

LIONEL (sighs): If you must…

FIA: Don’t wait, for I do not know when I’ll be back.

LIONEL: Promise me that you’ll be safe.

Fia doesn’t answer and leaves both the house and Lionel, who sighs to himself in sadness.

  Inside a dark tomb outside of Leyndell, Fia picks up a grave glovewort, a bright white flower whose bright contrasts the lifeless mood of the tomb. She continues to wander until a skeleton shows itself, ready to attack the deathbed companion. However, Fia puts the glovewart on the floor, in front of the hostile being, and smiles at it.

FIA: I seek the one that lives in death.

The skeleton lowers its weapon looks at her with less ferocity. Its skull is unable to show emotion but it seems eager to lead Fia deeper into the tomb. And deeper they went until they reach a stone coffin, which the skeleton opens and then points at it. Fia understands what it meant and heads inside it, with the skeleton closing the lid afterwards.

  After some time, Fia removes the lid from the coffin she’s in and realises she’s in a very unusual place. Her feet touch the water of a white river, flowing from roots that seem like are infected with some sort of aliment. The ruins present in the area look like they’re sinking into the earth itself, and the beasts present seem to consist in large lizards with even bigger eyes and giant ants. Despite the unusual sight, Fia carries on, heading upwards on a root. The more she moved, the thicker the stench of death becomes as she then enters a small cave that lead her to the most impressive sight of her life. In front of her, is a deformed body, its head twisted sideways, lanky arms hanging from the ailed roots, a lower body resembling that of a fish and dark branches around it. As Fia approaches it, the wider she smiles at it, the more confident her walk becomes, the less shy her arm becomes as she touches the figure without fear.

FIA: You’re the one from the dream…

Fia then lies down to its lap and closes her eyes.

FIA: Godwin.

She falls asleep, despite the strong stench of death emanating from the fallen god, the still warm body of his is comforting enough for her as she sleeps happily. @patchesenthusiast

@dbzespio

He didn’t remember what his life was like before.

Could he have been human? Tarnished, even? Or had he always merely been a monster? Perhaps some abhorrent conglomeration of both?

Well now, at least, he knew he was naught more than a pile of bones, occasionally rising up to roam throughout the crypt he called home. His thoughts, perpetually angry and restless, though he was thoroughly uncertain as to why.

For all he really knew was darkness. Darkness and seemingly endless walls of stone.

Whenever anything dared disturb him, whether that be a slight gust of wind here, an unexpected noise there, that was one of the rare moments where he felt reason to stir. An unseen force would grip and take hold of his bones, urging him to seek out and gather his armaments. These weapons were old; though not without a certain shine, and an undeniable bite. However, any identifiable portions had long since been smoothed away with the corrosion of age. He knew not what he was, but one thing he did know was how to fight.

He fought often, and perhaps that was what fueled his rage. His opponents were always foolhardy Tarnished lost within this labyrinth he called home. They ruined any and all chances of his meager attempts at finding peace, always fumbling and traipsing about as they were with their incessant noise and blatant ignorance of their surroundings.

The vast majority of them were offensively loud, and therefore there certainly was no mistaking their presence. But a handful were more devious, only making soft sounds barely within the range of his hearing. But even the softest of noises were enough to rouse him; his home should be silent, and his heart filled with rage when it wasn’t.

And today was just such an occurrence.

The slightest of sound… a flutter of a cloak, perhaps?

It was more than enough to re-animate him, his hatred practically manifesting itself while his skeletal fingers clenched about his scimitar. His teeth grit together, but he managed to keep his steps light while he searched for the source of the disturbance. It drew him down a corridor he had never visited before, at least not within his recent memories.

And here it was... beautiful.

Light. A wonder he had not witnessed before, aside from the occasional angry burst of flame from a Tarnished pyromancer. But here, it was soothingly constant, a gentle, warm presence. It stirred something within his hollowed chest, something he did not quite understand.

It came from the flowers. Their delicate petals shone with the luminosity of the spirits dancing about them. They shone with a tender glow, one that resonated with every step of their slow, seemingly heartfelt dance.

But then, a noise. A startled gasp.

And that’s when he saw her, a lowly Tarnished, wrapped in a dark cloak, the cloth nearly drowning her slight form. Within her hand was a plucked flower, its glow already fading.

An insatiable fire burned in his heart, an anger he could not fully describe but one he somehow knew quite well; and this familiar nostalgia overtook him, as if he had finally returned home from an arduous journey, though without any of the comfort such a feeling should evoke.

He began to draw himself to his full height, his blade poised to strike.

The Tarnished scrambled for a weapon, and in her haste, tripped upon her too-large robes, falling to her knees before him. He loomed over her, relishing the spark of fear in her eyes, amplified by the glow of the spirits, still dancing and shining away.

A spear met his heart.

His entire body fell apart from the force of the impact, scattering his bones everywhere.

The Tarnished breathed a sigh of relief, her talisman finally in hand. “Thank you, Lhutel.”

Finally able to recover from his reeling, he began to re-animate, but Lhutel the Headless smashed the blunt end of her spear into his skull, sending him back to the void. She shuffled in place a moment, before turning to watch the light fade from his eye sockets. Watching without eyes.

The Tarnished and Lhutel were long since gone before he finally regained himself, his mind’s eye still stuttering from the unexpected display of force.

And what a display of force it was.

That woman was a phantom, one who had taken her own life in the effort to protect another who had fallen beyond the grave. How he knew this was beyond him, but one thing he did know for certain: she had beaten him into the earth without so much as a single sigh of effort. Right before he had banished to the ether, he had seen the scorn she had had for him, the way she had barely bothered to wipe his very existence away…

There was something fascinating about that. 

And now, he didn’t want to find and destroy the Tarnished. At least... not as much as he had wanted to before.

No, now he wanted to find Lhutel the Headless.

He would roam the rest of the world forever if he had to. For he needed to feel something again.

For in that moment, he had felt... alive.

@fateoftheundead

@redsixwing

The roots of the Erdtree cradled her. She lay without consciousness, without time, until-

A presence in her tomb awakened her.

The knight knew herself as spirit, insubstantial as a breeze. She, spirit alone, lingered where she had laid her body to rest. Roots wrapped her bones, fibers in the shape of the woman that was. They trailed from the crevices in her armor. Her fine feathered harness was gone to dust. Her shield lay in bands of rust, its crest vanished.  Her helm was who-knows-where, unimportant now.

The feathers were not her honor. The bones were not Lhutel.

Swift as thought, she stood free. Without sound, she skimmed across the floor. Without eyes or ears, she knew: the intruder was high above in the first stretch of the catacombs, rattling into combat with the unquiet skeletons.

How blessed was Lhutel, who was not beholden to such crude matter. Her Prince of Death had given richly to her. Her second life had begun; unlike the first, it would be eternal.  She felt nothing, no surge of elation, no beating heart - rather, she soared on a wind the merely physical would never touch. Even she had not, before her burial. Even she, most faithful of the Mausoleum Knights.

She would marvel later. For now, there was a Tarnished bandit to drive away. Having laid the skeletons to a temporary rest, the intruder was getting closer.

Lhutel found that she could still feel emotion, even without bodily sensations. Anger, thin and cold. Spite for the invader.

Lhutel lifted a hand and darkness gathered. Motivated by her determination and anger, it rose as a shapeless vortex. Her soldiers too gave up their darker passions. Their spite, their grasping at the last straws of life, gave the thing shape. The dust of her own bones gave it physical reality. As swiftly as a drawn sword, the Shade stood before her. Its body was no more than a parody of humanity, a black shape cut into the fabric of the world. Its eyes were two white sparks, unseeing and hostile.

No matter. Her Prince's eyes were woven into the roots that draped the chamber walls, and thus, Lhutel saw. By her bones she would guide it.

Energized by all the dead of the Catacombs, given purpose by her silent command, the Shade whipped outward. The Tarnished bandit met it midflight.

The bandit wore a mausoleum soldier's coat, she noted. They must've stolen it from one of her own. They fought not with an honorable sword, but a pair of vicious clawed gauntlets. No helm sat on their head. Their short red hair was tousled and dusty from intrusion into the tomb.

She'd have that thief's head for a sacrifice. The Shade, feeling her rage, pressed the attack.

Long arms reached out, holding spectral blades; the bandit ducked beneath, grunting as the shade caught them with a wide swipe. Steel claws ripped through its insubstantial body. Neither Lhutel nor the Shade were capable of pain.

It retaliated with a summoned glob of reeking liquid, but the nimble bandit leapt back just in time. The Tarnished whipped forward again, claws reaching to tear through shadow-stuff again. The Shade blinked from place to place, avoiding the attacks. Its assailant was living, and living things required rest. It would exhaust the intruder, then add their bones to the catacomb’s floor.

It stalked its prey for a moment, then advanced in a lethal sequence of swings. The Tarnished backpedaled, unable to dodge as quickly as the Shade.

Finally the Tarnished accepted a strike with a pained cry.  The cost to the Shade was another onslaught of claws, this time tearing its barely-coherent form entirely apart. Lhutel felt it shudder and vanish.

The Tarnished stood with one hand clasped to a wounded side, panting. A bright new bloodstain bloomed to join the old, dull ones.

The bandit drank deep of a flask on their hip, looked around, and then crouched to scuff up the ashes with the flat of a claw. They made a tidy little pile and muttered over it.

"When I take the rune," the Tarnished said.

Lhutel, impatient, would have snorted if she had a nose to snort through. Dreams, or delusions.

"There'll be a choice for those like you. Undeath has to have its place. Death must return. I swear to you, I'll do it."

She would have spoken, had she a mouth to form words. Impossible - the Tarnished in the mausoleum surcoat was not one of her soldiers, and yet their goals were not unlike hers.

The Tarnished hummed over the little pile of ashes. "Don't suppose you want to join me?"

In their hand, there was a bell. The Tarnished shook it and Lhutel, bereft of ears, heard the chime.

Lhutel lost her grasp on the eyes of the Prince. The sound compelled her into the ashes. Quick as a breath, she stood in her own shape, partisan in hand and shield on her arm. The Tarnished had the nerve to look her up and down.

"So you're the guardian. Was it you that sent that thing after me? Well, no matter. Pleasure to meet you," the Tarnished said.

Lhutel slammed the butt of her spear on the ground by way of comment. Summoned, incarnate, she could feel the feathered harness rattle on her back. One wrong word and she'd skewer the miserable thief, and never mind that they'd called her up. And how exactly had that happened? Necromancy atop thievery. She ought to-

"Fierce one! Well, Headless Knight, you coming with me? Or would you rather shout at me for my ambitions? I got a good big one. I want to lay the Prince of Death to rest."

If she'd had a tongue, she'd have been speechless. That was ambition enough to deserve a lecture! But her life - her death - had been given to that cause.

Lhutel, one arm outstretched to hold her spear upright, swept into a deep bow. The bell spoke again; she felt herself falling, and her final waking thought was that it would not be so bad to leave her tomb at last.

@shadowsheik14

@palepious

Devotion.

It was all he was now. All he had been reduced to. It too was devotion that had driven him to this fate. A disembodied armor, called time and again to battle to defend a master even longer gone than himself, with nothing or no one to remember who he once was.

How long ago was it that he, blinded by hope and ambition, had left his home and love to swear fealty to him? It had been all he had dreamed of as a young man, serving his lord and becoming a knight. Worthy to rival even the knights of Leyndell in their golden light themselves.

The reality of it was of course different than his dreams. Less riding into a war glorious war in lad Marikas name and more law enforcement and the dispatching of local bandit groups. Quickly he had learned then that the battle field was not the place of knightly honor he had fantasized about in his youth. There was no honor in the blood of his allies and the corpses of his foes. Still he had persevered. He had returned home, knelt before his lord and delivered the enemies head.

Neither did he find honor in the snow swept mountains the high queen called them to. On her word his lord picked up his own sword, eager to prove his own fealty to her. Oh what horrors she lead them into. Never before in his life had he feared the cold and the blazing heat at the same time like then. Be it in the scorching fire of the giants or the creeping frost of the lonely nights, there was no safety anywhere to be found. Better men than him fell or lost their minds, yet he remained. He persevered and kept at his lords side.

Devotion.

That was what kept him from falling apart completely. His lord was still alive and as long as he was there he would remain. His lord, still bright eyed and hopeful despite the horrors around them. He who still believed that this war could be won diplomatically and without the total annihilation of either side. What a idealistic fool he was. And oh how much he loved him for it.

The war ended with most of the men he had ridden with shattered on the mountains side, each a charred corpse too mangled to be retrieved and brought home. Not that they even had the space to bring back all the fallen to be buried beneath the Erdtree. But his lord lived, his light remained undimmed and he lead him and all that remained of his people back to their homeland.

With the giants felled peace fell over the lands between once again and he was raised to be his lords closest protector. A new generation of young hopeful knights swore themselves to his lord, all under the misconception that they would find glory in combat. Though just as he had, they too found none of that in their service. Some stayed, some left. Some fell in the battles their lord send them to.

And yet, be it on the battle field or in his lords bedchambers, he was his. Forever his.

So when the illness started rearing it’s hideous head, he was distraught. Within months his lord faded away. Golden hair turning almost ashen before beginning to fall out bit by bit. Once full cheeks growing hollow and sunken. And there was nothing that he could do about it.

Yet he stayed by his side. Day by day he paid vigil, took over responsibility where he could to alleviate the burden on his masters ailing shoulders. And once again during these bleak hours, it was devotion and love to keep it all together. To keep a loving smile and warmth in his eyes. Even when it felt like his world was falling to pieces around him.

It was on a rainy evening, not uncommon at this time of the year, that his lord had suggested it. Them joining together in death. Forever wandering the lands together. Him forever entombed in a wandering castle while he would watch over him for all eternity. He had looked so hopeful when he suggested it. That same spark that had rested in his eyes even in the coldest of nights atop the mountains lit his eyes aflame as he looked up at him.

How was he supposed to do anything else but agree? After all, what would he even be once his lord was gone? His lord had no children and would inherit everything to a niece of his. It would never be the same. No. He belonged by his masters side. Nowhere else.

So when the day came where his lord breathed his last breath. He was ready. He attended his entombment in the Crypt. And, when the stone doors fell closed for a final time, he and the other knights set upon their vigil.

As he knelt there in the fresh grass, still wet with the mornings dew, he considered that he hadn’t really thought about just how he was going to go about it. How does one decapitate oneself with a sword? For a moment he feared that his strike would not be strong enough and only partially split his flesh in two, leaving him to die pathetically in the grass while the other knights would be with his lord and love forever.

Devotion.

Once again it stilled all fear in his heart and allowed him to breath clearly for the first time in months. He would do what was required of him. He always had, he always would. For him.

So he bared his neck, raised the sword and breathed his last breath.

And so it was now. His body had been brought into mass tombs to store and keep their bodies while their spirits lived on. Each time someone came too close to the wandering crypt they would be called forth to defend their lords peace. And each time, he fought to the last. Each time the tarnished and all that would dare sully his loves rest fell to his blade. Their blood feeding the soil along with the shadowy dust of his comrades.

With time his body rotted away, his consciousness in and out of it as he was called to arms. Though in the end there was little difference in fighting or laying scattered on the ground of a dank crypt. Both were inevitable consequences of the other. Time after time again he would be called upon the fields to fight enemies of his lords peace, only to be slain or to fall to dust once his quarry had been slain. Though the latter of the two tended to be the more common occurrence.

Lately it had been the same tarnished again and again. He did not know how it was the same, he just did. They had first fallen easily to his blade, though now they put up more of a fight. Last time they had even come to besting him, before one of his former comrades in arms had brought him town through a blade in the back.

As he reveled on he felt his mind being pulled out of his bones. Soon enough he knew that he was once again as close to his prime as he could be. As much as he could be without a head. In the distance he could feel the approach of a spirit steed, its wretched master atop. No doubt intending to steal away his loves peace. Though only if he fell first.

[catcas22]

What about 3, 20, 25, 27, 48 for Vyke?

Thanks for the ask, Katy!

3. What first drew you to this character?

The tragedy was definitely part of it. But I really got hooked by a mistake on my part.

I watched Vaati's "Prepare to Cry" on the Lord of Frenzied Flame long before I actually fought Vyke in-game. And in Vaati's cinematic, Vyke uses Drake Knight incantations. I just assumed that was game accurate and incorporated it into my worldview.

Turns out Vyke doesn't use Drake Knight incantations in-game (although he does use storm/banished knight ashes of war). But I'd already built my headcanons around a man who started out as a heart-eating Drake Knight and went on to marry a dragon and found the Dragon Cult alongside Godwyn and Lansseax.

20. Do you feel affectionate towards this character?

I'm rather fond of him, although I do enjoy putting him through quite a bit of angst.

25. What kind of fan-fiction do you read about this character? If you don’t read fan-fics about them, why not?

Honestly, these days I don't read much outside of what my mutuals write. But Vyke did have a brief appearance in Bim's current fic.

27. Do you like to ship this character with other characters or do you prefer not to?

Vyke x Lansseax all the way. I briefly entertained the idea of shipping him with his maiden before I started digging into the Lansseax/Dragon Cult lore. But tbh I think his dynamic with Hyetta(?) works better if they weren't romantically involved.

We've seen "character is willing to risk the world rather than lose their love interest" a million times. I like it better if Vyke risked the Frenzied Flame to save his friend/traveling companion/surrogate daughter (or just an innocent woman who didn't deserve to die).

48. What’s your favorite physical/design feature for this character?

I love the fact that, like every other enemy that uses the player model, he's only about 5'5". He looked tiny when I first invaded his evergaol, which is funny because plenty of other npcs (Bernahl, Nepheli, etc) don't.

I love the fact that this immortal badass who fought in a half-dozen wars and held his own against dragons and outer gods is also a short king.

Thanks for asking!