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magpie-come-east · 3 months ago

Note

Another one for the ask meme, Ranni 🙂

favorite thing about them

Ranni has such a depth of character she is an absolute delight.

I love that she is blunt and honest. Basically the moment you find her in her estate she admits to masterminding the Night of Black Knives. I love that she is very indulgent and permissive of the player in a way that makes it obvious she's just kind of playing with you/Rogier. I love that she's outwardly so cold and conniving. But the more you learn about her the more her naturally warm demeanor slips through. She loves her mother and protected her. She protected Rykard. Blaidd is her brother, and Iji is her childhood friend. She tries to tell the Tarnished off from becoming her Lord, because she knows the path she must take will be lonely and dark. She doesn't want to subject anyone to the ordeal she feels she must undertake. Yet when the Tarnished persists, she declares she is happy to have them for a Lord. She expressly tells the Tarnished to tell Iji and Blaidd she loves them.

Beyond that, I love her design and dialogue. She's so charming to listen to, and her sense of humor is biting and sharp. I rave about the Omen Twins to excess, but Ranni is definitely my favorite character along with them.

Lastly, her ending speaks to me as someone who isn't religious whatsoever. Now, I do not think her story and ending is an endorsement of atheism, nor do I think Ranni is an atheist character. But I find her ending to be the most realistic and true to life. The responsibility of making a better world is in our hands, whether or not we believe in a higher power.

least favorite thing about them

Literally nothing. I support women's wrongs.

favorite line

SOOOO MANYYYY

This is farewell, my dear. Tell Blaidd, and Iji... I love them.

Though he was created a vassal for an Empyrean, He was a colossal failure, on the part of the Two Fingers. Blaidd, and Iji both... Art willing to give too much to me.

Mmm yes. Truly the words of a heartless asshole that doesn't care about anyone or anybody. The AFFECTION with which she calls Blaidd a colossal failure. She knows he loves her genuinely, such that he would follow her to his own doom rather than heed his creator. It destroys me.

Oh? A dogged fellow, aren't we? Or is it merely thy habit, to talk to dolls? Fine...fine. I hadn't expected any soul to recognize me in this guise. But now the cat is out the bag, I cannot allow thee thy freedoms.

Affording thyself opportunity to grope about for the cursemark's location, no doubt? Very well... There's nothing wrong with a well-laid scheme.

No sense in arguing, I see. Thou'rt a wild one, indeed. Torrent hath quite the ruffian chosen...

Man, she's just so endearing. Scathing and clever and deadpan.

brOTP

Ranni and Rykard - my beloved scheming sibling duo.

Ranni and Blaidd - These two don't interact much. But they're both so charming individually it's impossible not to imagine the sibling bickering they do.

Ranni and Tarnished/Champion - I know I'm biased because of my own Age of Stars ER OC, but I've always generally viewed Ranni's relationship with her Elden Lord to be more platonic than romantic.

OTP

Ranni x Tarnished/Champion - Okay, just because I personally see Ranni and her Champion as platonic doesn't mean there aren't also romantic hints in there. One of my favorite moments of the game is when you find her body after she's slain her Two Fingers. You give her the ring and when she awakens she expresses that she is pleased to have you for a Lord:

So, it was thee, who would become my Lord. Perhaps I needn't have warned thee. I am pleased, however. Thou'rt a fitting choice.

nOTP

I don't have a serious Ranni nOTP.

random headcanon

Ranni targeted Godwyn (and presumably his line) in the Night of Black Knives because he was Marika's favorite child and the most prestigious of the Golden Lineage. She didn't know about Morgott and Mohg at the time. But even if she had, she would have gone for Godwyn despite the Omen Twins probably being better targets.

Her doll body is practically immobile, or it takes a great deal of concentration and skill to move it. She has to 'sleep' frequently because if can feel like her soul is just trapped in a stationary coffin of a vessel.

unpopular opinion

I believe the Age of Stars is objectively the most ideal ending to the game.

I genuinely struggle to understand why people don't like her. Like I can get people not favoring the Age of Stars, but to actually dislike Ranni? I don't understand it. I feel like if we were honest with ourselves and analyzed her 'crimes' in comparison to the other royal/Demigod characters in the game, she'd be one of the more innocent/righteous ones. But even if she wasn't, she's a fantastic and engaging character and nearly every complaint i see about her is shallow and not worth consideration.

song i associate with them

Barefoot by KD Lang

She's Got a Gun by KUURO

My Tears Are Becoming a Sea by M83

Dark All Day by Gunship

#Ranni the witch

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draken-rotzi · 4 months ago

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Tarnished Lore?

From my draconic girl Emma?

Yes she got it!

Though it's mostly a set of points in her story, I do need to write them down in a google doc ToT

I usually just throw my characters into the world, not really thinking in a deep backstory until later when I've defined their personality and relationships, they just fall into place and I add into that !

I'll try to make it as short as possible, since its not that much of a linear story I think? It happens paralel to "the chosen" tarnished's journey (the game's canon), so world events can progress without much issue!

Her name is Emmlyn! Emma for short

• Tarnished from the warrior/hero category, draconic mom and blood noble dad who mysteriously left so she basically never met him (Ansbach lol)

• Arrived at the coast in Limgrave, following the grace, led her to Agheel Lake where she met Yura and learnt about dragon communion

• Unable to beat Agheel, made her way east to Caelid, at Redmane Castle she trained (painfully) with the Leonine and Crucible Knight there, managing to defeat the smaller drakes around and crafting her (altered) drake knight armor

• Back in Limgrave convinced Yura to help her defeat Agheel and kept the heart, not doing communion (yet)

• Heard of a dragon at Stormveil, got to defeat Morgott with the help of Rogier. Didn't fight Godrick after she learned that the dragon was a corpse, proceeded to Liurnia following word of glintstone dragon Samarag.

• At Liurnia she met Bogart and Rya, she offered Emma a future visit to the Volcano manor, seeing her interest in dragon hunting the two wyrms around the place might interest her.

• Went to fight Samarag and failed, wounded she had to retreat, deciding to rest against the walls of the Rose Church where she met Varre, who made fun and dismissed her for being so weak.

• Back at the roundtable she notices Rogier's situation and decides to find a way to help him. (Basically what kickstarts her main story)

• Still following grace, she needs to be stronger to explore more dungeons and reach farther for any means to help her friend, she takes Agheel's heart to Caelid where her first step in dragon communion happens, she takes on more dragons around the area to further her goal.

(Not defined yet other than her draconic heritage but for the sake of convenience instead of the dragon eyes she can use a dragon form for a short while now, gives a boost in stats for combat but clouds the mind)

• Hunting dragons leads her back to Liurnia where she beats Samarag, on her way back she finds Varre again who is now interested in her strenght and offers his usual deal, she reluctanctly agrees bc that's another medium for her goal if needed.

(Pretty much Fia's quest minus "enter Ranni's service" happens here)

• Rogier's condition worsens, things get desperate, so she reaches out to Varre and his bloody finger offer.

In the end nothing can help Rogier from dying of deathblight, Emma is left with two curses and the lost of her beloved, she lost the ability to see grace as well.

• Varre takes advantage of her grief and makes her get attached to him (whats better than a knight elevated by toxic love?)

• Some time passes and Emma makes the trip to the Volcano Manor, now with the craving of more dragon hearts. Meets the recusants, specifically Diallos who is the kindest of them, but she keeps him at arms' distance.

(You can insert the DLC here)

• More time passes and they have become friends with benefits, though it distracts her from her duty at Mohgwyns (not good)

• In this story its Varre who sends the poachers to kill Diallos

• Now that again Emma's got no one else she fully throws herself into being a bloody finger (with a side of dragon hunting). It gets to a point where she's almost always in her dragon form, unable to turn back on her own.

(Next bit subject to change tbh lol)

• Her mind and heart broken, in the end funny enough Varre slips speaking about her past lovers' gruesome deaths and thats what does it, the floodgates open and both curses take away her remaining humanity, turning her into a violent mindless beast of blood and fire.

And there it is! I play around a lot in scenarios with my friends but this is basically her canon lore/ending ^^; hardly anything complex but I've been having a lot of fun with it ♡

#asks #hopefully you did refer to this 🤣😭#drake knight emmlyn #elden ring oc #oc #elden ring #tarnished oc #tarnished

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businesscatfelix · 1 year ago

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rogier my beloved. i wanted to go for a "storybook" kinda vibe for this.

he will be a keychain. i mostly am making him for my friend gecko.... but if you want to buy him he'll be for sale soon.

#my art #sorcerer rogier #elden ring #fromsoft fanart #video games #elden ring fanart #elden ring rogier #his design is nigh impossible to parse

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nightingale-fic-recs · 11 months ago

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By the Grace Of [Sorcerer Rogier x Fem!Tarnished] - Chapter One

Summary: Rogier meets a Tarnished and finds what he’s been searching for- in more ways than one.

Author’s Notes: 1K words to start! The Tarnished isn’t named in this chapter, but she will be. 😉 thank you to my beloved @halfmoth-halfman for giving me an excuse to post this. 💙

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or events from Elden Ring

Warnings: abstract horror? I think? Unedited (basically), unfinished story- read at your own risk!

If he hadn’t watched it happen, he probably wouldn’t have ever known. He’d just stepped forward to peek out the doorway when a figure landed on the stones before him without a sound. The same Tarnished who’d fought Margit. She froze, lavender eyes locked on him as he paused.

“Ah, nice to meet you. The pleasure’s mine.” When she didn’t move, he went on, turning on his infamous breezy charm. “Rogier’s the name. A sorcerer, as you might’ve guessed.” She straightened slowly, eyeing him warily.

Rogier shifted, growing a bit nervous. He’d thought she might be friendly, after his aid in her fight against the Omen. Now, though he could hardly begrudge her caution, he wasn’t so sure. And she was beautiful in a way that was vaguely intimidating all on its own. Sooty lashes brushed her cheeks as she blinked at him, one slim hand on her sword hilt.

“I’m looking for a little something, here in the castle. When I’m not hotfooting it from the troops, that is.” He cocked a rueful grin, hoping for some expression. Nothing. “But enough about me. What are you doing here in Stormveil Castle? This place is bristling with Tarnished hunters, you know.” He was rambling, now. “They sacrifice our kind, for grafting. Not exactly a place I’d stroll into without a purpose in mind…”

“I’m here to defeat Godrick.” Her voice was soft and rough, low in a way he hadn’t expected. He blinked, momentarily thrown off guard.

“I see. Here to challenge Godrick, and lay your hands upon a Great Rune, are you?” She nodded, and he could feel himself relaxing. If only a bit. Then her gaze seemed to catch on something he couldn’t see before coming back to him. Bitterness flooded his throat, nearly choking him in its intensity. “You can see it then, I take it? The guidance of grace.”

She nodded, and he tried to level his voice when he replied. “Well, enjoy it while you can. I’m Tarnished, like you. But unlike you, I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of this guidance for the longest time.”

Her brow furrowed, and she stepped further into his little sanctuary. Rogier tried to mask the sharp spike of anxiety he felt, and was grateful when she came no further. He felt naked under her sharp gaze, pierced through and stripped of all his cavalier defenses. He tried to keep the panic and exasperation from his voice. “Still, I won’t forget how it felt when I first came here, to the Lands Between.” He’d erred too far on the side of caution. His voice was far more wistful than he would have liked.

The Tarnished hummed, finally taking her eyes from him to look around the room. He breathed out sharply, relieved. They rested for a moment on his fire, and Rogier extended a hand. After a moment’s hesitation, the Tarnished sat. Rogier realized that she was just as nervous as he. On the one hand, it filled him with pride that he could intimidate a warrior as fierce as she. On the other, it filled him with relief to have a peaceful encounter like this. Had she any wish to strike at him, she’d have done it by now.

“I’m privy to a few magical battle arts,” he blurted. She looked up, eyebrows raised. Rogier stumbled on, lowering himself to sit across the fire from her. “Would you care to learn one? As a fellow Tarnished, once guided by grace, I’d love to help you out, if it please.”

A wry smile quirked one corner of her lips, highlighting a fine scar there. “I’m afraid I’ve no aptitude for magic. Cold steel’s more my speed.”

“Oh?” Rogier grinned. He drew his rapier, carefully, holding it out handle first. The Tarnished took it gently from his hands, turning the blade this way and that reverently. “Keen to learn another battle art, are we?”

She looked up, then back to the hilt in her hands. “It’s a fine blade,” she admitted, turning it back toward him. He took it from her hands and leaned back to slide the blade into its sheath. The soft hiss of steel raised his eyes, but he found only another hilt before him.

Rogier’s eyebrows lifted. The blade was rusted, chipped in places and somewhat dull. “You used this… to fight Margit?”

She shrugged a muscled shoulder, not quite meeting his eyes. “I’ll replace it eventually. Just haven’t found anything better, yet.” She looked up then. “Thank you, by the way.” At his blank look, she went on. “For helping me.”

“Oh, that. Of course. As I said, fellow Tarnished and all that. Happy to help you out.”

She hummed again, tilting her head. “That doesn’t seem to be the case amongst us all.”

Rogier grimaced. “Come across someone less friendly?”

“Several someones, in fact.” He waited, but she offered no further comment before standing. “Thank you for sharing your fire with me. I’d best be getting on, though.” And off she went through the door, silently as she’d come. As eager as Rogier had been to escape from her eyes, her absence left him feeling bereft of comfort. He sat for a long while after she went, watching the space where she’d been.

There was a certain despair that accompanied meeting new Tarnished. Sometimes, when they were particularly rude, Rogier allowed himself to gleefully imagine the moment that they, too, lost the ability to see the guidance as he had. But only for a wink.

Tonight, he found himself hoping that just this once, that moment might take a long, long time. Perhaps even long enough that he could discern what made her attention so captivating.

And in the depths of the castle, pierced with Death itself and barely able to drag himself away, as he crawled on shaking arms, fumbling his Roundtable medallion out of his pocket, the only thing that kept him awake enough to escape was the memory of those eyes, burning into and through him. The memory of feeling, and the hope of feeling again, seen. Truly seen, for the first time.

#nightingale writes #elden ring #elden ring sorcerer rogier #elden ring rogier #sorcerer rogier #sorcerer rogier x tarnished #rogier x tarnished #sorcerer rogier x fem!tarnished #rogier x fem!tarnished

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pillowenvelopchair · 1 year ago

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From the doodle board

#thats absolutely their dynamic #also rogier in raya lucaria student garb #thats been on my mind for ages #pink pink pink i love pink #(gradient map my beloved)#sorcerer rogier #tarnished #elden ring #rogier #envelop doodles

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cinderflower · 11 months ago

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Had an epiphany last night while plotting later chapters for FoR and why I always feel so at odds with the broader fandom's characterization of Godwyn (beloved) compared to how I've always interpreted his character (controversial). Turns out, it comes down to the very concept of Death and how it ties in with the Golden Order, the Greater Will, Gold, and the very ecosystem of Life.

This all ties in as well with how I interpret Miquella's goals and what it is he hopes to achieve.

In summary my belief is simply that three concepts hold true: 1 - Godwyn had to die to begin the downfall of the Golden Order. 2 - Godwyn still has to die a True Death to free the Lands Between from stagnation. 3- Miquella intends to introduce the concept of True Death back to the Lands Between.

More below the cut:

I'm going to try and keep this as lore-compliant as possible for my analysis.

Before anything else let's take a look at when the death of Godwyn occurred in the game's timeline based on Rogier's dialogue:

"It happened during the Golden Age of the Erdtree, long before the shattering of the Elden Ring. Someone stole a fragment of the Rune of Death from Maliketh, the Black Blade. And on a bitter night, murdered Godwyn the Golden. That was the first recorded Death of a demigod in all history."

This tidbit is very interesting since I know I've see (and misinterpreted at one point) the timeline of events in relation to Godwyn's death and believing Marika broke the Elden Ring right after Godwyn's death, when Rogier's comment actually indicates that there was a lot of time between his death and the destruction of the Elden Ring and the subsequent Shattering War.

For Godwyn's characterization, to start I'm actually going to dive straight into the Golden Epitaph because this has been the catalyst for the beloved Godwyn interpretation (largely through Miquella's characterization)

The description on the sword is as follows:

A sword made to commemorate the death of Godwyn the Golden, first of the demigods to die. Infused with the humble prayer of a young boy; "O brother, lord brother, please die a true death." Particularly effective at laying to rest Those Who Live in Death.

I think the knee-jerk reaction of a lot of people on reading this was to read the humble prayer line from the perspective of Miquella as a sort of plea to "save" Godwyn. I don't think it's the type of "saving" that the broader fandom believes it to be with bringing him back to life somehow. I think Miquella wants to do exactly as the prayer says - give him a true death.

But what exactly is a True Death? What is death for Demigods in Elden Ring and how does it tie in with the Rune of Death/Destined Death?

Miyazaki: "But the Demigods' immortality stems from having their fated deaths removed from the Elden Ring. I don't expect that to make much sense right now, but as you play the game, I think you'll gradually come to understand."

After Killing Maliketh, Finger Reader Enia: "The Rune of Death is unbound. and the Lands Between are shrouded by Death's dark fate. But the flames will also burn the impenetrable thorns. Farewell it is, then. You'll be Elden Lord, yet."

Finger Reader Enia: Doing so will unbind Destined Death, and slay the world itself.

Stranded Soul: "A proper death means returning to the Erdtree. Have patience. Until the time comes...and the roots call to you."

Finger Reader Enia: "A remembrance of gold has found its way into your possession. Demigods, and even the greater of the champions, are hewn by the Erdtree upon their end, into remembrances."

Notable in the above is the Stranded Soul. Notice that it calls returning to the Erdtree a "proper" death. Not a "true" death. I'll be coming back to this at the end.

We also know that the Rune of Death (or the fragment that was stolen at least) caused the uprising of Those Who Live In Death based on the Deathroot & Militiamen Ashes description:

Later, the Rune of Death spread across the Lands Between through the underground roots of the [large tree], sprouting in the form of Deathroot.

These are the spirits of militiamen who live in Death, and will continue to rise again until properly finished off. This is the grotesque fate of those who come into contact with Deathroot.

This seems to be in contradiction to those who believe Those Who Live In Death do so entirely voluntarily (some may but if it's caused by coming into contact with deathroot then there's likely just as many who unwittingly became undead), which also seems to be backed up by the conversation with Rogier:

"You may find this peculiar, but I discovered something in my examination of the Night of the Black Knives. These souls have committed no offence. They have every right to life, only, they happened to touch upon a flaw in the Order."

And, it's worth noting here again, that the Golden Order was founded on the removal of the Rune of Death in the first place along with the birth of the Erdtree which didn't come to be until the war with the Giants. The concept of Order as enforced by the Greater Will seemingly pre-dates this decision by Marika, yet when the player attempts to burn the tree, Enia declares it would be against the Greater Will's wishes to permit the Rune of Death to be unbound.

Melina, recalling a memory of Marika's words: "Put the Giants to the sword, and confine the flame atop the mount. Let a new epoch begin. An epoch glistening with life. Brandish the Elden Ring, for the Age of the Erdtree!"

Finger Reader Enia: "The Rune of Death goes by two names; the other is Destined Death. The forbidden shadow, plucked from the Golden Order upon its creation… Unleashing the rune now would be unthinkable... The Fingers would never permit it. Nor would the Greater Will."

Hyetta also comments on the original introduction of the Greater Will and it's introduction of life by fracturing the previous One Great (which the Three Finger seeks to return to):

"All that there is came from the One Great. Then came fractures, and births, and souls. But the Greater Will made a mistake. Torment, despair, affliction. Every sin, every curse. Every one, born of the mistake."

But we also know from Enia that the Greater Will - or at least the Two Finger's representation of the Greater Will's desires at the point the game takes place - still wishes to preserve life.

"Across the realm, life lies in ruin. Fallen to pieces[...] Foul curses and misery spread, unabating[...] But the Greater Will has not abandoned the realm, nor the life that inhabits it."

But let's talk about life for a moment, because life in Elden Ring seems to be very tightly coupled with the concept of grace and gold:

Hidetaka Miyazaki: The Lands Between are blessed by the presence of the Elden Ring and by the Erdtree, which symbolizes its presence, and this has given grace or blessing to the people throughout the land, great and small. What this represented in them is this sort of golden light, or this golden aura, that's specifically shown in their eyes. And this symbolizes the blessing or the grace of the Erdtree.

This is all the more apparent when considering the concept the Tarnished, those who were stripped of their grace and banished to beyond the Lands Between until the shattering of the Elden Ring when they were summoned to return, brought from beyond death to serve the Greater Will and restore the Elden Ring.

But what about those without grace? Those denied that same concept of rebirth? We know very well how they are received through the game lore. Whether Omen or Albinauric, those who are born at odds with the Golden Order's vision or outside of it, are graceless.

Though born one of the graceless Omen, Morgott took it upon himself to become the Erdtree's protector.

Albinaurics are lifeforms made by human hands. Thus, many believe them to live impure lives, untouched by the Erdtree's grace.

But Cinder, what does any of this have to do with Godwyn? Good question. Let's consider again that line from Miyazaki above equating Gold with Grace. Now let's also consider Amber as a derivative of gold and the correlation between Amber and life in the game. We have the description of vitality granted by the Erdtree's sap and and the Amber Egg holding the Great Rune of the Unborn which allows for the creation of life.

Talisman depicting a drop of the Erdtree's sap, a blessed boon. Gradually resores HP. It was once thought that the blessed sap of the Erdtree would drip from its boughs forever-but that age of plenty swiftly came to a close, and with time, the Erdtree became more an object of faith.

Amber egg clutched by Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. Great Rune of unborn demigods. Perfects those who have been born anew. Children born anew by Rennala are all frail and short-lived. Imperfect beings, each and all

We also have the curious description in the Prince of Death's Staff which speaks of amber from Godwyn's living body, considered sullied:

Staff embedded with sullied amber, said to be a very part of the Prince of Death. Enhances death sorceries.

The last curious amber description comes from the amber starlight shard - more on this shortly:

If the stars command our fates, then amber-hued stars must command the fates of the gods.

So we have Godwyn the Golden who is part of the Golden Lineage, the same Golden Lineage that Godrick belongs to - who notably uses a grafting technique to splice limbs together to make new life. Godwyn is also, notably, not an Empyrean. There isn't much about Godwyn in the actual lore itself so let's put together what there is in the game.

We know he was the brother of Morgott and Mohg, Omens who were made to live confined to the subterranean shunning grounds beneath Leyndell. While many people want to infer that there was a positive relationship between Godwyn and the Omen twins, there's not a single thing I could find to possibly give credence to that. In fact, if you look at everything related to Mohg and Morgott, especially their shackles and remembrances, it infers at best a complete detachment by Godwyn and everyone else.

Though born one of the graceless Omen, Morgott took it upon himself to become the Erdtree's protector. He loved not in return, for he was never loved. But nevertheless love it he did.

Shackles were used to bind the accursed people called the Omen, and these ones were made to keep a particular Omen under strictest confinement.

We also know that while Godwyn did befriend Fortissax and the remaining dragons, it was only with agreement to conform to the Golden Order. They disguised their red incantations with gold and took on the forms of humans:

It said that this golden lightning was wielded by Godwyn, who befriended Fortissax.

Lansseax was the sister of Fortissax. It is said that she took the form of a human to commune with the knights as a priestess of the ancient dragon cult.

So Godwyn the Golden is a character based on the above can be interpreted as a character who very much follows the line of the Golden Order.

Who better to make a martyr in the fight against the Golden Order and the Greater Will?

Let's talk about the siblings I haven't mentioned yet: Ranni, Rykard, and Radhan. There's three different schools of thought between the three of them. Rykard was an Inquisitor who eventually fell to Blasphemy and fed himself to the Great Serpent, but not before conspiring with Ranni in the Night of the Black Knives to stand against Maliketh. Keep in mind, this isn't a decision that would have been taken lightly since the demigods knew that Maliketh wielded Destined Death and could kill them.

On the night of the dire plot, Ranni rewarded Praetor Rykard with these traces. Should the coming trespass one day transpire, they would serve as a last-resort foil, allowing Rykard to challenge Maliketh the Black Blade, the black beast of Destined Death.

Long ago, Gurranq was a beast of such terrifying ferocity that his former name meant "Death of the Demigods."

Ranni is an Empyrean who ultimately organizes the Night of the Black Knives and kills her body in tandem with the death of Godwyn's soul to free herself from the body that gave the Greater Will influence over her through her ties to the Erdtree and Elden Ring from being born to Radagon (Marika).

"But I would not acquiesce to the Two Fingers. I stole the Rune of Death, slew mine own Empyrean flesh, casting it away. I would not be controlled by that thing."

She also has a lot of ties into Carian beliefs, more than any of her other siblings. One of these beliefs is in astrology and in fate being guided by the stars and is part of why Radagon was sent to bring Caria to heel and bring them back in line with the Golden Order.

They read fate in the stars, and are said to be heirs of the glintstone sorcerers. But alas, the night sky no longer cradles fate.

Lastly we have Radhan who stands apart from the other two because rather than fall inline with his Carian upbringing, he went the opposite direction. Radhan admired Godfrey, the first Elden Lord, and shows a pattern of his own stagnation over the course of the game. The most notable of which is his mastery of gravity magic to move on from using his beloved horse. But most importantly, Radhan is responsible for holding back the stars, earning him the title of Starscourge.

The mightiest hero of the demigods confronted the falling stars alone—and thus did he crush them, his conquest sealing the very fate of the stars.

This brings us to the eclipse which we hear about at Castle Sol and Miquella's plans, primarily through the nearby stranded spirits:

Ohh great sun! Frigid sun of Sol! Surrender yourself to the eclipse! Grant life to the soulless bones!

"Lord Miquella, forgive me. The sun has not been swallowed. Our prayers were lacking. Your comrade remains soulless... I will never set my eyes upon it now... Your divine Haligtree..."

As you can imagine, with the stars being held and their fate sealed, the eclipse will never come to pass and thus Godwyn will never be restored, which brings us finally full circle.

Godwyn is the reverse of Those Who Live in Death. Rather than Souls lingering to dead bodies, Godwyn is a body without a soul. We can infer from both this and from what Ranni achieved, that to truly die, both body and soul together need to die together.

Now there's one last thing I want to consider here with Miquella, Godwyn, and the cycle of life and death. We know Miquella is associated with the graceless and everything detached from the Erdtree itself through his attempts to grow his own in the Haligtree and the graceless who come to shelter there. We also know through the connection with Trina and the relationship between the Dream World and Spirit World that there's a strong chance at a relationship between Miquella/Trina and spirits (and Torrent the spectral steed).

If we take a look at the Regal Ancestor Spirit Remembrance, I think this provides the best insight into Miquella's intended goals - to restore the natural cycle of life and death, to break the stagnation and closed ecosystem that was created by the formation of the Erdtree:

Ancestral spirits exist as a phenomenon beyond the purview of the Erdtree. Life sprouts from death, as it does from birth. Such is the way of the living.

Now consider again the line from the talisman:

It was once thought that the blessed sap of the Erdtree would drip from its boughs forever-but that age of plenty swiftly came to a close

The Erdtree and creation of the Golden Order stagnated the Lands Between by instilling a system of life and rebirth of life from the same life all through the Erdtree. But a closed ecosystem that cuts out the "bad" parts (predators, decay, death) is always doomed to fail.

To me, Godwyn has always served first and foremost as a narrative tool to represent the Golden Order and the subsequent stagnation of it. His death is the metaphorical death of the Golden Order as the decay of the Golden Order slowly spreads across the land the same way the deathroot does. We want to ascribe goodness with being golden because that's such a prevalent concept elsewhere, but I think that's misguided in the context of the broader narrative. Godwyn the Golden (Order) as a character, to me, would have a characterization that reflected the Golden Order's beliefs - granting blessings/favor on those who fell in line and conformed with the Golden Order's goals and beliefs and standing firmly at odds with those who went against it.

As I stated in the beginning, I believe this is the crux of Godwyn's role: Godwyn had to die to begin the downfall of the Golden Order. Godwyn still has to die a True Death to free the Lands Between from stagnation.

If Miquella intended to bring back Godwyn and restore his life, he will have accomplished nothing at all. He would only succeed in restoring the Golden; the bastardized concept of life unending and stagnating. And who better to understand the concept of stagnation than Miquella who has known nothing but stagnation?

The Golden Epitaph tells us a lot of what I perceive to be Miquella's goals and intentions, to break the cycle of the Erdtree, of grace, and restore Death back to the land. Not the concept of Life granted by Grace and the Golden Order. Not the concept of Life within Death.

True Death.

O brother, lord brother, please die a true death.

The fact that he is twins with Malenia along with the relationship between them the game implies, I believe lends credibility to this theory. Malenia is rotting, but the whole concept of her character is around decay and rebirth.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my obscenely long Ted Talk.

#cinder rambles #elden ring lore #is any of this comprehensible? who knows #i wrote 75% of this in the dead of night last night #there's more thoughts that go into this but im tired of typing them up its already too long

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