#both bewitched and fearful of the abyss | headcanons and lore

[izar-tarazed]

Ensha has never particularly cared for books. They just are… there, well within their right to exist as they serve for research and gathering knowledge. This, at least, is what he sees his master doing, and to an extent, Izar as well; her eyes never shone brighter than upon entering the Great Library for the first time.

However, as he soon learned, Izar wasn’t just after knowledge. There is more to books. Some aren’t just tools… but treasure.

Because some contain stories—sometimes long forgotten legends of giants and dragons, fables supposedly told by the Nox and the merchants; sometimes things that were entirely made up, tales of sorcerers and knightesses and all kinds of heroes who had never actually walked the Lands Between, but whose fates nonetheless captivate her. She will spend hours devouring those tales with an eagerness usually reserved for her map-making.

At first she would simply tell Ensha the most intriguing bits of what she was reading; then she would start to read fragments to him. He merely listened politely at first, but she was good at choosing what parts she read out loud. Bit by bit, Ensha has found himself hooked as well, until one day he urged her to keep reading because he wanted to know what was going to happen next in the storyline.

And so, eventually, they have made it a habit—sitting down next to some fireside at the Hold, with pillows and blankets, and Izar reading to him for a while.

He finds that he loves it, as much as it surprises him that books can be a source of joy and suspense, or that he would be so fond of storytelling. (Still, he will never pick up a book on his own. The magic of stories works best when it’s shared.)

[izar-tarazed]

THIS. I found it so strange when she just casually mentioned it in her dialogue and didn't seem bothered at all by the fact. Maybe she gets to know because she's the one person among Miquella's followers who would be able to frame the charm entirely as a positive thing, from a pragmatic point of view: She outright tells us that without the charm, they all would likely be killing each other, and therefore it's good that they're charmed. The charm is the one thing that allows them to work together. (Whereas for Ansbach, for example, the charm probably made him forget his loyalty to Mohg, so being aware of it wouldn't have been a positive thing.) Now it's somewhat ironic that Leda turns out to be the one who's dead set on killing the others as soon as the charm is broken. But maybe her usual wariness/bloodthirst was so extremely strong that for the charm to work on her she also needed the reassurance that the others were under its effect, and that she could be completely sure they wouldn't turn against her (or Miquella)? Other than that, I'd agree it's likely her loyalty to Miquella that allowed her to know (he seems particularly fond of her) or deduce it. But I really think that her being the one person who'd view the effects of the charm as positive might play a role in her being aware of it (or being allowed to be aware).

I find it interesting that Leda knows she and everyone else is being charmed, yet everyone else seems to have no idea. Like, Sir Ansbach doesn't remember his attempt at fighting Miquella or anything.

I wonder why she gets to know. Is it because she is loyal to Miquella? or did she know about his abilities and was able to deduce it by how everyone seemed to be working well together?

[izar-tarazed]

Once she noticed that Ensha liked coffee, Izar made it a habit to bring him a steaming hot cup in the morning.

[izar-tarazed]

There is something akin to winter solstice in the calendar of the nomadic merchants; the coldest, darkest days of the year, and they gather around their campfires, sharing food and light and exchanging gifts.

The tradition, with some variations, has spread throughout the Lands Between, even though not everyone partakes, and those who do are sometimes unaware of its origins.

Izar, being close with the merchants and fond of their tradition, knows, and celebrates in her own small ways.

[izar-tarazed]

I don't have a lot of lore/headcanons for Ashen Izar but I know for sure she's the lousiest Blade of the Darkmoon you have ever seen. Genuinely eager to assist those in need, but when she's actually summoned to a fight, more often than not, she can't even find the combatants.

[izar-tarazed]

My newest headcanon is that Izar develops the habit of thinking "what would Ensha do?" fairly early in their friendship (especially, although not exclusively, when feeling out of her depth against enemies) but realizes that while she almost always knows what he would do, it's very rarely something that would work for her as well.

[izar-tarazed]

In the beginning, long before Izar learned to understand his sign language, this is how they communicated: Ensha signing his messages into her palm.

A painfully slow form of communicating, but at least he didn’t have to waste her treasured ink, and there was another aspect to it: With those brief, invisible messages, fleeting words traced against her palm, Ensha didn’t have to worry about anyone—not even his master—ever finding out what he was sharing with the stargazer.

Then again, it required enough trust on Izar’s end to let him touch her hand. You might not want someone within arm’s reach who previously attacked you in a supposedly safe space.

She was rather tense when she first held out her hand. But she still did.

[izar-tarazed]

So few people know this, but whenever Ensha has to report to Gideon ...

... he will discreetly stand on some books to appear just a little bit taller.

[izar-tarazed]

Initially, Ensha doesn’t care much for books.

He is, of course, constantly surrounded by them, and knows how much Gideon treasures them. He recognizes their value. To him, they are tools, just not ones he uses himself.

He is content to coexist in the same space with them, leaving their usage to others.

Izar, however, gravitates towards books in a way that’s both similar and different from his master’s.

Sometimes her eyes light up at their sight with such joy that Ensha can’t help but feel a pang of jealousy (which is, he tells himself, ridiculous in every regard). In her hands, he feels the books come to life, the knowledge contained something to be shared.

There’s always a story to be told, and she loves telling them.

With Izar, a book suddenly feels like more than a tool. (It is strange, Ensha thinks, how much the same holds true for him.)

To her, books are joyful company, and comfort. She will seek them out and spend hours surrounded by them, retreating behind whispering pages, the smell of leather and paper, smiling as she hunts for treasure between the lines.

He starts keeping her company for a glimpse of that joy.

Eventually, though, she starts reading to him. ‟Did you know the story of the Academy’s fairy cat?” she will ask, and ‟Have you heard of the Thunderknight and her loyal companions?”, and ‟Were you aware that one day, when the stars still were moving…?”

He has heard some of the stories, but never like that. He didn’t realize they would hide in those books, brought to life by her voice and the crackling of the nearby fireplace.

He sits down with her to listen, absorbing the stories she offers up like gemstones and starlight shards, and keeping them like one would keep such treasures.

Still, Ensha isn’t likely to read on his own; it would just feel hollow without her.

But books… they now remind him of her, and they’re comfort and company.

[izar-tarazed]

Thoughts: Ensha was actually a better fighter than we see in the game

I went back to my Ensha run to keep exploring Stormveil Castle. And it’s interesting how the area feels much easier with this build than it did forever ago when I went there with Izar with her focus on sorceries. Of course, I now have several hundred hours of Elden Ring experience under my belt and am more familiar with the world and the enemies, but it also kind of reinforces my headcanon about Ensha actually being way more capable than our ingame experience gives him credit for.

When he ambushes us at the Roundtable Hold, it comes as a shock but isn’t too challenging in terms of gameplay, and often even described as a rather laughable experience. Like, how could Gideon seriously think Ensha would stand a chance against us? How could Ensha believe he would?

I think one reason for the Ensha fight being quite manageable might be that it being so was a mechanical necessity: We can’t return to the Roundtable Hold proper until we defeat him—our hub for interacting with several NPCs that act as merchants, teachers and questgivers, and considering the Ensha ambush can be triggered fairly early in the game, it stands to reason that it couldn’t be that extreme of a challenge because it would lock us out of accessing the Hold.

Also, it isn’t meant to be a big challenge (we merely get a fistful of runes upon our victory), but seems to serve a more narrative function; a storybeat (albeit an obscure one, as is the case with most in the game) to emphasize the importance of the Haligtree Medallion and prompt Gideon to give us more information.

I also think that the fight being not too hard serves to highlight our Tarnished's own prowess; we are more powerful than Gideon could have anticipated, and we prove it by dispatching someone he seems to have trusted: Ensha was tasked with guarding the door to his study (Nepheli explicitly tells us that) and even with the Hold being a supposedly safe space, I don’t think Gideon would have trusted just anybody with that, and that Ensha was a lot more skilled than we actually experience in game.

Regardless of the aesthetics and meaning of both his armor and weapon (and the fact that the design seems to be a nod to the Dark Souls’ series darkwraiths and their Dark Hand), this equipment provides extremely good survivability at least in early game. The clinging bone allows for swift attacks and the Lifesteal Fist skill saves a lot of sips from the Crimson Tear flask (in the right area), plus the slight healing properties of the armor.

Ensha was designed (narratively) as someone who’s hard to kill—who literally clings to life. (There’s also his use of gravity magic, in particular the Collapsing Stars sorcery that pulls enemies closer. It might not be perfectly executed in game but in a way, it does serve a narrative purpose as well—there’s no running from the creepy skeleton assassin.)

So. Ensha had probably done a lot of dirty work for Gideon, and reliably so, returning successful every time until being sent after our Tarnished. But thinking that he could overcome us wasn’t a foolish assumption on his end, he actually had been deadly and powerful enough up to that point.

[izar-tarazed]

just realized that maybe at this point I'll need different verses or rather, points in the timeline for Izar? the default would still be her (and Ensha) on their quest towards the Elden Throne; but her having defeated the Elden Beast somewhat calls for that post-game verse where she already is running the Academy of Raya Lucaria.

I made this post a few days with my headcanon for Izar's exploration of the Shadow Realm basically taking place in between those two phases, too...

(It's funny because I never thought I would need to establish these things because Izar's journey seemed like it would last forever, but now maybe I'll come up with something to add to my Stargazer's Cookbook.)

[izar-tarazed]

The little burnt-down candle on Ensha's besagew is probably one of my favorite details about him and I might write more about that at some point, but.

I remember being surprised when I first noticed it on his armor and was like, "wait, how did I miss this before?"

The reason is pretty obvious, though. With Ensha's iconic edgelord pose, we never get to see the candle. It's almost like he's deliberately covering it with that hand.

There's probably nothing to that and he was just meant to stand there in a casual pose that simply happens to cover this particular detail of his armor, but still funny.

(My first thought was "why give a character such a peculiar detail on their armor and then never show it," but then again, this is Elden Ring where nearly all the NPCs have individual faces and the game never bothers to let us see them, so... hiding a candle is nothing.)

Also, he's standing right next to three more burnt-down candles. Again, this might be pure coincidence but considering how much emphasis Elden Ring places on environmental storytelling in general, this arrangement might well be on purpose (...while probably not too meaningful).

[izar-tarazed]

Izar is mischievously fond of the Mimic's Veil.

It has saved her life on more than one occasion when it allowed her to hide from enemies...

... but it has also led to her spending hours in Gideon's study disguised as a pile of books when she had sneaked into the room during a brief absence of his, and didn't manage to get out in time before Gideon returned.

Uncomfortable, but better than getting caught.

Although there was that one time when she didn't turn into a pile of books.

[izar-tarazed]

Welcome!

What this is: This blog is mostly dedicated to my Elden Ring OC Izar (and well, her companion Ensha – more about them below). There might also be other content (other games, DnD 5e, writing) unless I’ll feel the need to create specific sideblogs for that (unlikely, I lack the energy).

What I do: I’ll mostly share screenshots, headcanons, storytelling, and writing snippets. (Here's my tag list!) While this is not a pure RP blog I very much enjoy RPing, so feel free to shoot me a prompt/starter whenever you like! (For more information regarding RP, flip through the Stargazer's Cookbook over here!)

Who I am: I usually go by Malinche; over 30, she/her, living in Europe. Not a native English speaker, so bear with me if I say strange things. Expect occasional ramblings about the glory of freelance life, and know that there is never enough coffee.

Izar Tarazed, Tarnished Astrologer

Izar barely remembers anything from the time before her awakening in the Lands Between – just her name and what she knew of the stars. However, the stars above the Lands Between are different, their lore mostly lost to her, so she gathers stories and bits of information wherever she can.

Her most treasured possessions are her telescope and her map-making tools.

Whenever she gets the chance, Izar will sit and work on her celestial maps, preferably beneath the golden light of grace, trying to figure out constellations and their possible meanings. Working on her maps also calms her down and helps her focus.

She’s often more driven by her astrological curiosity than by the ambition to become Elden Lord – she’ll confront Rennala mainly because she wants access to the library of Raya Lucaria, and Radahn because she wishes to set the stars back in motion.

Izar relies mostly on her sorceries – the Comet and Night Comet are her favorites – and only starts improving her skills with melee weapons and a shield when Ensha insists on teaching her.

Personality

Izar is a little geek when it comes to astrology and will talk about it with neverending enthusiasm. At a new place, its (potential) view of the night sky is usually the first thing she’ll check.

She values the friendships and alliances she makes, being protective of those she cares about; that might be both her greatest strength and her greatest weakness.

Upon meeting someone for the first time, she'll rather be calm and cautious, but much more confident, cheeky and bubbly once she feels comfortable.

The fact that she doesn’t remember who she was before bothers her more than she lets on.

Izar soon realizes that she isn't as ambitious about taking the Elden Throne as she maybe should be. Her true dream is running the Academy of Raya Lucaria and turning it into a welcoming place where knowledge is not hoarded but shared.

When upset, she can be pretty defiant, sarcastic and snappy.

Sir, That’s My Emotional Support Skeleton

Izar spares Ensha’s life when he attacks her at the Roundtable Hold.

This leads to them being sent out on a mission together to track down Latenna (which, of course, doesn’t go as planned). While they start out deeply suspicious of each other, teaming up only reluctantly, they eventually come to trust each other and, despite some challenges, become close friends, which leads to certain tensions considering his loyalty to Sir Gideon.

(I’m not entirely sure what Ensha is, but I’m leaning way more into the headcanons of the somehow animated armor/actual skeleton with some kind of relation to the ancient king mentioned in the description of the Royal Remains set, rather than just being some guy with a skull mask.)

Ensha will often travel with Izar, having her back and finding picturesque dungeon walls to lean against and ponder how on earth this careless astrologer can still be alive. (He's exaggerating, of course. Izar can definitely handle herself ... most of the time.)

Ensha tends to be more wary of others than Izar is. He's extremely perceptive and quite good at reading people (and finding things). He often encourages Izar to put in the work to improve her skills, and be more disciplined about her goals. However, he's also surprisingly fine with engaging in all kinds of mischievous shenanigans with her.

Since Ensha doesn’t speak, their communication process is a little rocky at first but improves once Izar gets better (and eventually good) at understanding his sign language. From then on, they'll often have some partially silent banter going on, and are able to communicate subtly if the situation calls for it.

Izar is also able to sense Ensha's emotions to a certain extent (more on that headcanon here).

[izar-tarazed]

Headcanon: Ensha doesn't eat regular food, just golden runes.

[izar-tarazed]

✨ Just wondering whether Izar might ever have tried to read her own fate from the stars—once they were moving again—, hoping for guidance and answers. The thought must have crossed her mind,

Maybe astrologers of the Lands Between have (or rather, had) some kind of codex that forbade them to do so, and she would hesitate for a long time before trying?

And... maybe she literally can't do it for herself because there is so much she doesn't know about her own past. She has nothing to go by but her own name and it might not be enough to base her calculations on.

Maybe she has tried—after finally working up the courage—and her calculations and measurements ended up showing her just a dark patch in the sky, or the smallest cluster of stars, not even belonging to any constellation in particular; a handful of stars meaning silence.

The irony of her being an astrologer with all her heart, her identity so strongly defined by her profession and her ability to read basically anyone's fate from the stars... yet her being unable to provide herself the answers she so desperately seeks.