#Tombsward Catacombs

[meanvariance]

Episode 3: Weeping Peninsula

Episode 3: Weeping Peninsula

Impaler’s Catacombs Defeating the gargoyle boss at the end of The Impaler’s Catacombs. I cut out the quiet bits so only the action shows here. The first several tries were not pretty as Jack would get surrounded by imps and have his stance broken almost immediately. At about 4:45 I get the bright idea to boost my poise so the imps and guardian statue don’t cripple Jack quite so fast with their…

[eleplay]

words a lark loves to see

[tarnishedinquirer]

Beneath Stormveil

Here the damage seemed the worst. In places, the walls were red and raw, almost as if they were bleeding. I continued down and reached a room with a very interesting painting.

It was Stormhill, before Stormveil Castle was ever built. The world looked so much wilder and more vibrant back then. The colors were deep blacks and rich greens, not the washed-out greys and pale greens of current Limgrave. The place that would once become the Chapel of Anticipation was part of the mainland, separated by a waterfall rather than a chasm. There's no trace of the black stone pillars that underlay the entire land. The Stormfoot Catacombs are open, with no door. And, while something was gleaming gold, it sure didn't look like the Erdtree.

Yet the Divine Tower and bridge were already there, and already so ancient the bridge had started to crumble. Curious.

After examining the painting as much as I could, I unlocked the door back to the Site of Grace and continued downward.

This was by far the oldest and most neglected portion of the castle. It's unlikely it would get any light except at high noon. The only creatures down here were vermin. Giant bats and rats, the scavengers and dwellers in the dark.

Now that I was down here, it became clear that this was a dumping ground for the castle above. Specifically, it seemed that all the statues removed in the various ideological purges were just shoved into the abyss.

There's the expected statues of women holding ewers or missing their hands, but there's a few statues that stand out to me. They're almost completely buried, so possibly the oldest statues ever dumped down here, and depict hooded figures either holding a book or holding a dagger. Unfortunately, I don't have any context to interpret them. Maybe I'll find some more later.

A scarab almost misses my notice, were it not for the sound they make. I track it down and it's carrying an unusual Sorcery called Rancorcall.

I say it's unusual because using it would require almost as much faith as intellect. That unnerved me a little. Sorcery is supposed to be the result of consistent, observable phenomenon. Concrete things that may be more difficult to observe and comprehend, but are ultimately just as real as a sword. To apply your intellect to the task of how best to surrender it to a higher power seemed perverse to me.

The voice said:

Sorcery of the servants of Death. Summons vengeful spirits that chase down foes. Once though lost, this ancient death hex was rediscovered by the necromancer Garris.

Going on my theory that scarabs only appear where abilities like ashes of war, sorceries, or incantations are used, and somehow they gather up some invisible residue to make their spheres, I would suspect that Garris must've been here at some point. Perhaps this is where he even developed his techniques? I doubt he's still here.

To draw a connection, I found the Rancor Pot recipe in the Tombsward Catacombs. It has a similar effect of summoning vengeful spirits, though different methods. Am I to assume Garris might also have been there? That might explain how Deathroot got inside...

Now I came to a cliff overlooking a root-choked and damp chamber below. Bones littered the floor. Some were stacked up in drifts, but there were also complete skeletons resting in what looked like old, rotted canoes. Perhaps a vestige of some water burial in the past? At one time, they might have sent the dead over the waterfall that once ran through here. Once that dried up, they instead just buried the dead in their canoes.

But what interested me most was the grand baldachin, now rotted and torn, draped across the chamber beyond. Something important must be there.

Before I could approach, a terrible creature burst out of the ground. I'd seen its ilk once before, in the Fringefolk Hero's Grave. An Ulcerated Tree Spirit, a great writhing snake-root, like a serpentine mandrake. Even as I knew its movements, it was still so erratic that it was hard to predict at times. As it slammed me against the walls, I knew now where the drifts of bones had come from.

Once I had slain the beast. I was free to recover its treasures, both here and in the chamber beyond. Much like the last, it dropped a Golden Seed.

As for the chamber... I can scarcely describe it. I'll try to sketch it but I don't think I can do justice to the sheer presence of this thing. Despite looking like a stone carving, I knew on an instinctual level that it was alive.

It was a face, or approximation thereof. Yet it could not have been more inhuman. It at once looked floral, fungal, and animal. The lower half of the face was like an oyster mushroom, and from there emerged thick tendrils like thorny vines. The upper half had a disturbingly human nose but two oddly angled eyes, or at least eye sockets. The lids themselves were empty.

The whole thing burst through the stone wall on a thick body like a salamander, though if it had arms, they had not emerged from the wall. And its was very clearly a violent entry, with rubble piled up around it. Nearby, there was a bloodstain, and a corpse holding an item in its hands.

Oh hell. The bloodstain was Rogier. If he can't see Grace anymore, then can he even come back? Is he just dead for real now? I couldn't even see what got him but it looked bad. It lifted him up and seemed to impale him from multiple angles. I hope he's okay. I actually kinda like the guy. It was rare to talk to someone both intellectual and down to earth like that.

The corpse had a... Prince of Death's Pustule?!

A fetid pustule taken from facial flesh. It is said that this pustule came from the visage of the Prince of Death, he who used to be called Godwyn. As First Dead of the demigods, it's said he's buried deep under the capital, at the Erdtree's roots.

It is said, it is said, it is said. I hate it when the Voice uses weasel words. Who says?

If Godwyn was the first to die, then it is his death that created the Deathroot. Deathroot sprouts similar faces to the one on this pustule. The same milky white eyes, the same thorny tendrils... There was a couple things that puzzled me. I noted fish fins on the Deathroot growing in various catacombs and Summonwater Village. Despite its aquatic appearance, this face held no trace of such details, resembling an amphibian more than a fish. Second, while the Deathroot and Pustule share the milky white eyes, this visage does not. Instead, its sockets are empty.

Third, if we take the voice at face value and say that Godwyn actually is buried under the capital... why did this face burst out of the southeast wall? The capital is to the northeast. I can buy the Greattree roots spreading throughout the Lands Between, but I'd still expect such a creature to burrow through from the correct direction. The only things off that direction are the Stormfoot Catacombs and the Fringefolk Hero's Grave. And since the painting confirms that at least one of those was here before the castle, I find myself doubting if this is even Godwyn at all, or some other, forgotten Prince of Death.

I'll review my notes about those places and see if I can gain any insight, but arbitrary skepticism doesn't do any good. I have to assume that this is Godwyn, or at least an aspect of him, until strong evidence presents itself otherwise.

Still, to quote the only cleric I ever got on with, "Doubting is what I do."

With my investigation concluded, the only way to go was up. Thankfully there was a conveniently placed, if alarmingly tall, rope ladder. I began what was sure to be a very long ascent.

I had at last gotten answers on the rot infecting Stormveil, but they only left me with more questions.

Who are the dagger and book statues? Why were they purged?

If Godfrey built the earliest Stormveil, who built the tower and bridge?

Is that face Godwyn? If not, who could it possibly be?

If it is Godwyn, why would it come from the wrong direction?

Why does this face look so different from the other faces? Why is it missing its eyes?

Who is Garris? What was he doing beneath Stormveil?

What happened to Rogier?

Why was he looking for this?

[miirshroom]

A theory about Lhutel and Ensha

In the Weeping Peninsula Lhutel is found in the Tombsward Catacombs, dropped by a Cemetery Shade. Her ashes read the following:

"Lhutel sacrificed her life so that in Death she could continue to protect a soulless demigod until their revival, earning her the hero's honor of Erdtree Burial."

If her ashes are held by the Cemetery Shade, she is protecting nothing, at least not in ashes form. So how is this meant to be interpreted - did she fail in her duty and become captured by the Cemetery Shade? Was her spirit improperly severed from the body and the body in Erdtree burial was corrupted by decay caused by insects? Is she on another plane of existence protecting the soul of the soulless demi-god before we gain the allegiance of her headless form?

Anyways, it is one of my less grounded theories that the soulless demi-god who Lhutel is meant to protect is "Ensha", but also not exactly the Ensha who is in the service of Gideon. The Royal Remains armour set includes bones studded with gemstones in a manner that is reminiscent of the Catacomb Saints of 16th and 17th century Catholicism. Essentially what happened is that some people in the 1500's stumbled on a Roman catacomb dating to the 3rd century and the Catholic Church declared that all of the bones were holy relics belonging to martyrs, regardless of who they actually belonged to. Literally, they couldn't know whose bones were in the mix - they just wanted more holy relics to inspire the faithful.

Royal Remains

"It is said that the bones belong to an ancient lord - the soulless king. The lord of the lost and desperate, who was known as Ensha."

So, the convoluted theory is that an unplundered catacomb dating to the time of Nokron & Nokstella was discovered relatively recently and believed to hold the ancient soulless demigod, and the mausoleum knights were formed to guard the tomb. Or multiple speculated tombs. But despite their best efforts, some guy plundered the catacomb, declared that he found the bones of "soulless king Ensha", fancied them up and crudely fashioned them into an armor set, and told everyone to call him "Ensha" now. Even if he did find a full and correct set of bones, he probably doesn't even have the original head, because it is a trend with the mausoleums that "soulless" is equated with "headless".

It is also my guess that the soulless demi-god referenced by Lhutel's Ashes and the soulless "Ensha" could be Miquella's soulless companion mentioned by the spirit at Castle Sol. Either that, or Miquella fancies himself king Ensha reborn and his soulless companion is a contemporary from the ancient time of Ensha.

This would make sense of false Ensha attacking when half of the Haligtree medallion is obtained. But regardless, it is strange to me that this dialogue is so often thought to be referring to the soulless Godwyn, when Golden Epitaph reads that Miquella wants Godwyn dead forever. Of course for this whole interpretation it would need to be accepted that the soulless demigods actually placed in the Walking Mausoleums are a red herring - they are Marika's unwanted children after all, so why resurrect them?

[apothecaryforwearysouls]

I killed the erdtree big boy above tombsward catacombs 3 times because I kept warping to fast....lol

[nathangrahamgaming]

Tombsward Catacombs - Elden Ring

The Tombsward Catacombs are hidden inside the mountain near the Minor Erdtree in the Weeping Peninsula. Once filled with the bodies of the dead, armed skeletons now rise to chase away those that wish to explore its depths.

[tarnishedinquirer]

Summonwater Village

Headed back towards the Third Church, I passed a cemetery. I found myself wondering why it would be placed right alongside a road, or why would a road pass right through a cemetery?

I pondered this question while I stood there waiting for the skeletons to finish dragging themselves out of the earth so I could send them right back there. This was getting predictable.

After taking care of that, I walked over to the ocean cliff and just stared out to the inland sea. I wasn't looking for anything. But I found an anomaly nonetheless when it occurred to me that the horizon was too close. It then occurred to me that the horizon did not take up the entire horizon. Ergo, that could not be the horizon. Even with my spyglass, the inland sea was too foggy to see any details, but it appeared the ocean just... dropped off. Like a cliff.

I would call it impossible, but my opinion of what is and isn't possible has become a lot more fluid since arriving here.

On my return, I found a strange man standing over the corpse of a butchered traveler in an olive cloak. His armor was stylized to look like he had a conjoined twin and he constantly cradled it in his arms like he did. He introduced himself as D, hunter of the dead, (note: profile) and warned me away from the village up ahead because it was "touched by death" and a "mariner" lurked there. I thanked him for the warning and immediately resolved to ignore it.

D let me examine the body. The victim had a collar made of thorns wrapped around his neck. It reminded me of the Shield of the Guilty, and it too was made in silver and gold, like D's armor and blade. I realized it was also worn by many of the crucifixion victims scattered around this region. I asked D straight-up if he killed this man. He said no, but then felt the need to elaborate. "It was his sins that killed him."

Well, seems I had found my holy warrior. Holy does not necessarily mean sane.

As I approached the village, the first thing I saw was a giant bulb of that same grey root I saw in the Tombsward Catacombs. D said something about "pruning Deathroot," and I guess this must be what he was talking about.

The town was filled with graves and sinking into water. There seems to be a loose association between water and death, which may explain D's warning about a "mariner." There's also an association between swamps and St. Trina's Lilies, and I found several around the borders of the water.

I caught a brief glimpse of the Mariner before he vanished. Just as my spell would have struck him. He didn't go far though, and with a relentless barrage of Glintstone Pebbles I managed to keep him off-balance enough he didn't teleport again. The mariner played his horn and summoned skeletons to his defense and tried to drive me off by splashing me with waves of water, but it was useless. I defeated him pretty easily. D's warnings seemed overblown.

The first thing it dropped were spirit ashes of Skeletal Militiamen. The voice informed me that this is the fate of all who come in contact with Deathroot.

The first thing it dropped was a living bulb of Deathroot. Or as much as such a thing can be living. The voice had a lot of very interesting things to say.

A source that gives rise to Those Who Live in Death. The beast clergyman, found at Bestial Sanctum in the distant east, collects and devours these roots. On the night of the dire plot the stolen Rune of Death enabled the first Death of a demigod. Later, the Rune of Death spread across the Lands Between through the underground roots of the Greattree, sprouting in the form of Deathroot.

First off: A source. Not the source. So there might be other sources.

Second part I'll skip for now.

The third point I had to compare to my notes. Some of this was already in my death-dream, my first encounter with the Voice. Filling in some details here:

On the Night of Black Knives, Godwyn (note: profile) was the first Demigod to perish. This was made possible by the stolen Rune of Death. This event led to the Deathroot (a manifested form of the Rune of Death) spreading across the Lands Between, using the same network of Greattree roots that once absorbed the bodies of the dead.

Still just a small piece of the puzzle.

The second thing it dropped was some spirit ashes

This is the grotesque fate of those who come into contact with Deathroot.

I almost dropped the bulb when the voice said that, but I was somewhat reassured by the fact that I just don't die like a normal person anymore. I doubt any affliction could survive the complete reconstruction of my body via Grace. Still, I sealed it in a specimen jar for safekeeping.

D appeared shortly thereafter to both scold and congratulate me. He then pointed me towards Gurranq to dispose of the Deathroot, and it was not surprising that it was a portal just behind the Third Church. I'll head out there once I'm done here.

One interesting tidbit he dropped is that he found the "Mark of the Centipede" here, and that it's a symbol that "should not be." If the symbol of the centipede is so anathema to the Golden Order, especially the bone-botherers of the Hunters, why do they also keep centipedes as a fetish? Why would they be associated with Godfrey in the Church of Pilgrimage?

I did not find the mark of the centipede, but I did find the mark of the turtle. It was locked behind a stonesword barrier, surrounded by turtles, with even more turtles underground. Interestingly, this turtle shrine was the only part of the village that was not sinking into the mire. Could turtles be some sort of ward? The turtle talisman itself has the roots of the Greattree on its back.

The Voice had this to say:

Turtles are known as a nutritious ingredient, symbolic of inexhaustible power. However, those who hold turtles to be wise creatures consider the practice of eating their meat to be barbarous.

Is the Turtle a ward against death?

Why do the Hunters hold centipedes as a fetish yet also see it as anathema?

What is the relationship between death and water?

Why did Godwyn's death cause the Rune of Death to spread?

[tarnishedinquirer]

Tombsward Catacombs

Another psychopomp was waiting for me just south of the Church of Pilgrimage. This one was located right beneath a Minor Erdtree, which seems convenient for accessing the roots.

Speaking of roots, the first thing I noticed, right near the site of Grace, was a hideous, gnarled root. It formed into strange shapes, reminiscent of fish scales, fins, and eyes. It was deeply unsettling, for reasons beyond its unnatural appearance.

Straight ahead, I found an imp statue ward, but I've amassed a fair stock of keys at this point. Once inside, I was attacked by skeletons, but not like the skeletons I've fought elsewhere. Instead of wearing archaic armor, these ones were naked. They also used different weapons, including round iron shields.

After dispatching them, I picked up an armorer's cookbook from a burned corpse, prostrate before the statue. The cookbook only had one recipe, for something called a Rancor Pot.

In times of old, the dead were burned with ghostflame, and from those cinders arose vengeful spirits.

Hrm. It's odd. Most cultures only one type of burial. If they practice more than one, they're typically socially stratified. In these catacombs, however, I've found at least three different kinds. One, traditional burial (coffins, catacombs, sarcophagi). Two, Erdtree Root burial. Three, cremation, which was apparently carried out with ghostflame, that cold and white flame which still lights these tombs. However, if that flame is cold, how did it burn corpses? And why would it make vengeful ghosts if that was a culturally acceptable form of burial?

The final thing of note in this room was the statue. A verdigrised bronze of a woman with folded hands and a heavy shawl. Who is this woman? Is this statue the reason for restricted access? I haven't seen this statue anywhere else that I can recall.

I took two steps into the tomb proper and immediately exploded. Someone taught these skeletons to make fire pots.

Well, two can play at this game. As soon as I took care of the skeletons in this room, I set to work making my own pots to throw at them. Not fire pots though. Skeletons don't have much left to burn.

I'd picked up a cookbook a little while ago from Merchant Kalé that held a recipe for holy water. I haven't really looked at it due to my aversion to matters of faith, but you don't have to believe in a god to use holy water. You just have to believe in the water itself. Herbs, salt, water, heated over a bit of flame...all symbols of purity that don't require a god's intervention. The only true innovation here was the use of certain mushrooms as a thickening agent, so the water will cling more tenaciously to the target.

Once I held the book and really looked at it, the voice chimed in.

A record of crafting techniques left by a man who, unable to become a Finger Maiden, instead became a missionary, and went forth to spread holy teachings.

A man who wanted to be a maiden? I've lived that story. Me, I had to travel to a land called Yharnam where...

...no, wait. That wasn't me. At least, not this me.

Can men become maidens in this land? If so, what was it that barred this man from becoming a Finger Maiden as well?

Once I finished my work, the voice informed me that the Golden Order holds especial enmity for Those Who Live In Death skeletons for "trespassing beyond life's bounds." Well, that hardly makes them special. Seems like no one can die properly these days.

It was more than effective. Skeletons I hit with it died horribly, their mouths open in a silent scream as they dissolved. I almost felt bad for them, but this also saved me the trouble of having to hit them while they're down to make sure they stay there.

The roots were even more prominent further into the tomb, covering entire walls. At times it seemed like they were trying to make a face, though not a human one. What the hell are these things?

An imp fire trap at the end of a hallway, easily disabled by a bow. I wish my spells would go far and aim precisely enough to take care of these traps without having to switch weapons. This one had a new trick, as I had to use it as a platform to get to a higher ledge. After that, it was basically a straight shot to the lever, and then I backtracked to the door.

Once again, I was not prepared for the horror I found beyond the golden fog. A lanky figure shrouded in darkness that moved faster than the eye could track. At first, I thought it some kind of shadow demon, with its arcing horns, but then it sprayed some horrible sticky fluid at me. Once I was immobilized, it all but teleported right in front of me and I realized I was fighting two monsters in one. The insectile aberration on its head reared up and began chewing at my face. Fortunately, there isn't very much of my face reachable through my prison mask, but I swear I saw something through that spider-crab, something I could only describe as "dead lights."

Once it released me, I ran to the corner, not wanting to repeat that experience. It chased me with dual swords, swinging in such a frenzy I had no hope to block or dodge it. Not knowing what else to do, I hurled holy water at it. The shadows parted for just a second and I could see a hole straight through it. Did I do that, or was it already like that?

The holy water damage was extreme. I admit, I threw the next two pots in haste, and only my last one connected, but by now I realized just how fragile this thing really was. It was damned fast, and only about two out of every three attacks connected, but those attacks were utterly devastating.

Once it dissipated, I recovered some spirit ash from its remains. The remains of a knight named Lhutel the Headless.

Lhutel sacrificed her life so that in Death she could continue to protect a soulless demigod until their revival, earning her the hero's honor of Erdtree Burial.

So. The Mausoleum holds a soulless demigod until their revival. And they are guarded by a cadre of headless knights? Incredible.

One last thing of note: The weird root, with its eyes and fish fins, was nowhere to be found in the final chamber.

What is the strange grey root?

Who is the bronze woman, and why was her statue locked away?

Was it his gender or some other factor that prevented the missionary from becoming a Maiden?

Why does the Golden Order hold the skeletons in special enmity?

What was the insect on the Cemetery Shade's head? Was it the puppeteer or a symbiote?

[miirshroom]

Corrupted Pieces of Matched Sets

Murkwater catacombs - One of these 4 statues is un-lit and has a grave glovewort [1] instead

There are 6 columns in the Catacomb's sealed chamber, but one of the six is covered in vines and skeletons. Similar observed at the Deathtouched Catacombs.

Unsightly catacombs - A similar case where one of four columns is wrapped with vines and skeletons. This has also been observed in other locations including the Impaler's Catacombs, Tombsward Catacombs, Stormfoot Catacombs and Minor Erdtree Catacombs.