#ensha talks

[ask-mrpuzzles]

Hi Pusztavision!

P: .. .

E: Oh that's your actual name?

A: hehe Pussyvision

P:NO.

[katyspersonal]

I have an idea why Ensha doesn't talk....

Okay, hear me out. I've always thought it was a little strange that the Taunter's Tongue dropped by Alberich is golden. Not super unusual for this setting, but... strange. But the solution was RIGHT here:

Guys.

This is entirely palatable that whatever the deal with 'golden' bones was could have transmitted into his own body too, like making entrails, including tongue, colored golden too.

Alberich might have cut Ensha's tongue off for talking shit about him. Ensha doesn't talk because HE PHYSICALLY CAN'T.

Dear gooodddd it was SO obvious this whole time!! I don't even know why it tool me so long to figure out!

[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.

[alberichfanpage]

Oh Jolan... you will warm up to me eventually.

[definitelynotarabbit]

Me at Ensha after he showed up to rob my ass of half the halig tree medallion and I promptly killed the man in three hits: and tell your boyfriend (Gideon the all stinking) if he says he's got beef that I'm a vegetarian and I ain't fucking scared of him

Anyways I'm going to be progressing through the rest of this game with the most bullshit cold war between my tarnished and Gideon until he grows a pair and tries to stop me from shoving my staff up the elden beasts nose

[blasphemousclaw]

Was that you who liked Alberich at some point btw? o: I swear I didn't hallucinate you drawing fanart of him! Love the obscure lore of Ensha not talking because Alberich cut off his tongue (Taunter's Tongue is literally golden, same as Ensha's bones). We'd deal with our haters the same way if we weren't stupid 😔

yesss I haven’t really made much content or lore theories about him but I HAVE drawn him!

(shhh I know his head is actually encrusted in red glintstone I just wanted to draw his beautiful face)

how could I resist a heretical wizard who does both blood magic and frost magic? side note, I wonder how he knows frost magic, since it isn’t very common! I believe it’s only him, the Zamor, and Ranni, who learned from the Snow Witch, who specifically cast cold sorceries? so how did Alberich get his hands on those spells?

anyway also obsessed with Alberich having cut out Ensha’s tongue! also like, the item is called the Taunter’s Tongue, and Alberich was driven mad by “jeering tongues,” it’s a literal taunting tongue he cut out from the mouth of one of the Roundtable Hold’s shameless bullies who tormented him and drove him mad! suddenly I feel better about being forced to kill Ensha 😂

[toweringclam]

The Roundtable Hold Tarnished all represent different fail states of Soulsborne players.

Gideon: Obsessed with the lore to a frankly unhealthy degree. Tries to fit every little piece together. Barely plays the game.

Brother Corhyn: Focuses on the tiny details while ignoring the big picture. Slavishly follows the words of others, be it his favorite youtuber or that message saying "try jumping"

Roderika: Thinks the game is too hard. The lore is too impenetrable. Tries playing it but bounces off it at the first sign of trouble. Was really only here because her friends were playing it

Dialos: Confused dabbler. Does whatever the last npc he talked to tells him to do, no matter how nonsensical or obviously bad. Just drifts from place to place with no idea what he's supposed to he doing.

D: Heavy roleplayer. His character has an overly convoluted and nonsensical backstory. Talks very passionately about things he doesn't understand. Is replaced by his identical twin halfway through the game.

Dung Eater: Griefer. Exists only to ruin other people's fun. Will threaten you with unspeakable things if you beat him.

Rogier: Loves the game, but it doesn't love him back. Doesn't get very far, but by God, he tries. Gotta feel bad for the guy, tbh.

Fia: Toxic co-op. You'll always end up soloing the boss, regardless of who summoned.

Ensha: pure fashion souls. Invades people just to show off his drip. Poses in the hub, hoping other people see his phantom looking cool.

Nephali Loux: A decent player who gives it her all and does her best to understand the game, but doesn't quite make it. Burns out halfway through, and honestly, that's valid.

[velvet-apricots]

Ensha for the ask meme since I don't see anybody talk about that guy

OHHHH YAYA

favorite thing about them

I love how he is just... there. All the time. Just outside the door, leaning and watching. Why is he there? *shrugs* He just is. Kinda creepy. I also love how loyal he is, to a fault.

least favorite thing about them

He is very underutilized. Like, if you go the whole game with out ever getting a medallion piece, he just vanishes at the end of the game. Doesn't even leave his armor. *poof* gone.

favorite line

Bro says nothing. He says less than Horace from DS3. Horace groans a bit but Ensha just looks at you and gives you a gesture and thats it.

brOTP

Ensha and Gideon, and Ensha and my lil Kindred of Rot baby, Geralt. That is his uncle bones right there!

OTP

Don't have one. Ive considered Ensha/Gideon which shockingly has NOTHING about them (i thought y'all liked old man yaoi????) Also toyed with Gideon/Fyra/Ensha, but nothing has ever come of it. Id imagine if someone i knew started shipping an OC with him, I'd be into it.

nOTP

No one ships him with anyone. But let me filter through a list of npcs.... *pulls out a name card* Milicent? yeah okay. hate that ship.

random headcanon

Imma just toss a few in here, first i just flat out consider canon, second is an interesting 'what if?' thing, last one is from something an rp partner came up with (i miss you allknowingofnir =( )

Ensha is mute and speaks with sign language

Ensha is actually Gideon's maiden and is ftm. (he sometimes has breasts if you remove his armor)

Ensha is a former child soldier for a king named Ensha, who was an enemy of the Golden Order. Gideon saved him from death when the King and his forces were wiped out. He thus donned the king's bones and took the name Ensha

unpopular opinion

I don't really like the headcanon that he's a Puppet. I just think he's a loyal and weird dude who follows Gideon around.

song i associate with them

Uh.... Hmmm....

favorite picture of them

*shuffle shuffle*

[mercurialmalcontent]

I killed the Omenkiller with Nephili this afternoon, and when I noticed she'd vanished from the map I thought huh, maybe she's at Roundtable Hold. So I teleport there, notice it is ominously dark--

"Ensha has invaded!"

Excuse me????

After soundly beating his ass and asking Gideon what the hell that was, then finding out he cast out his own adopted daughter -- who he talks about like she's some useless underling -- I wouldn't mind giving Gideon a sound beating too. I mean, I already didn't trust him, but now I'm expecting a knife in the back every time I go back there.

Also, to hell with Cliffbottom Catacombs and its plague of Omens. (Yes, I died on the floor under the staircase. I had to go out anyway at that point, so I may or may not be back to finish clearing it out. Stupid Omens...)

[pyramidslayer]

replaying elden ring has made me realize i absorb information in fromsoft games like a total meathead

my first and second trips to the village of the albinaurics

back during the original launch of elden ring i gleaned a list of information during or after visiting the village of the albinaruics in liurnia of the lakes. this is fairly early on in the game and i had the loosest possible understanding of the central characters of this plot:

sir gideon ofnir: i know this guy is all-knowing because the narrator in the intro yelled this part the loudest. he gave me a list of bosses to go look at near the start of the game.

ensha: some guy in the hub area who doesn't talk. he stands right outside gideon's door for some reason

nepheli loux: friend :) i vaguely remember hearing about a "hoarah loux" in the intro

here's what a learned when visiting this location:

there are a lot of dead bodies here. it must suck to live here, in the village of the albinaurics

my friend nepheli is here, talking about fighting the good fight against oppression. knock em dead, nepheli!

these guys that are hanging around are probably albinaurics. and they're hitting me a lot

there's a guy in the village who gives me have of a key to an elevator and then dies. this elevator sounds important

there's a boss here called "omenkiller". he's standing here so he must live here. yet another reason it must suck to live here, in the village of the albinaurics

that's the end of the trip to the village, so i better go do some other stuff and then return to the hub area

now that i'm back in the hub area, ensha is beating me up... FOR NO REASON. probably a hater and a traitor and this tantrum was almost certainly not triggered by any recent events

gideon also seems disappointed in this guy's behavior. sucked that he betrayed all of us

nepheli has depression now because her dad disowned her. damn!! if i get my hands on him..... (side note: at this point in time elden ring had a bug where nepheli's arc straight up couldn't continue from this point and the only thing you could do with her was betray her and sell her to a wizard pervert)

you guys might be able to see where i made some bad assumptions, and you may be able to piece together the actual narrative of events here, but i didn't even think of sitting down and doing that at the time. i was there run around and hit things with the "mortal draw" attack from sekiro

now that i'm playing the game again, what's actually happening here is very clearly signposted and in some cases said out loud by the characters:

somebody has organized a pogrom against the albinaurics and nepheli is there to try and stop them. omenkiller is there leading the attack on the civilians and you and nepheli stop him together. one albinauric has managed to hide himself away because he has a really important key to get to one of the bosses (the bosses that gideon ofnir is so interested in). once you get that key from him, that triggers ensha, who is gideon's right hand man, to attack you to try and get the key to gideon. gideon is apologetic and tries to distance himself from ensha, but it's clear that he organized the attack on the village because he disowns his adopted daughter, nepheli, right afterwards

am i stupid? 🤔

[tarnishedinquirer]

Gideon and Nepheli

It was time to talk to Gideon Ofnir. I wasn't looking forward to this, considering what a jerk he was last time we talked, so it was a welcome distraction when I saw a friendly face in his wing.

Nepheli Loux greeted me warmly. I thanked her for her help, and she offered me an Arsenal Charm she found in the grafting grounds. As she put it, she doesn't "make a habit of scavenging corpses."

To each their own, I guess.

An iron charm that resembles a mass of weapons. This talisman was derived from an unusual greatsword, once wielded by a hero hungry for vengeance.

Another trace of the Nameless Revenger. A talisman granting some portion of his power to carry an absurd amount of stuff. That'll be useful, as I like to wear heavier armor than is comfortable with my meager endurance.

She was heading out soon, but pointed me towards her foster father, Gideon Ofnir. (!) She also gave me the bodyguard's name, Ensha.

There must be quite a story there, but it'll have to wait for another time.

Despite his earlier behavior, now Gideon was entirely polite to me. It set me on edge. No one's attitude changes that fast, Great Rune or no. Even if his demeanor was forced, at least he was opening up and sharing information now.

As we talk, it becomes clear why we rubbed each other the wrong way. We're too similar. We both value knowledge above all else. We both have ambition to be Elden Lord (though for me, it's more a means to an end). But we're also just different enough. He seeks information, while I seek answers. I'm a woman of action, while he relies on proxies. We're destined to be either best friends or bitter enemies.

Considering that one of his agents walloped me on the back of the head with a mace, I think that coin has already landed. Despite my disdain, he was still a wealth of information about the remaining shardbearers. I'll be updating their entries soon.

How does Gideon see so much? What magic aids him?

How did Nepheli Loux come into his service?

Why did one of his agents attack me outside the Arena?

Who made the Arsenal Charm?

[ask-mrpuzzles]

A: don't you fell like someone it watching us?

P: No we should be-

A: WHAT THE FUCK!!

A:HEY WHO ARE YOU?! DONT YOU KNOW HOW EXPENSIVE IT IS TO REPAIR HIM?!

E: Oh sorry I got distracted....

[Mr Puzzles will be gone for 3 asks and New character Ensha will be added To our wacky adventures!]

[katyspersonal]

FINALLY someone popular pointed out that Alberich is like Azur and Lusat, I can sleep peacefully now

[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: You can call me Zari. I’m over 30, she/her. 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).

[headcanontheshitoutofsoulsborne]

Ensha is a spirit Gideon summoned.

This is why he never talks, and how he manages to apparently wear his own bones.

[catcas22]

Hey what do you think the Roundtable Hold is? Does it actually exist like outside time and space or is it more like shortcut for having a hub for the players?

Gonna admit, this one gave me some trouble. But I'll take my best shot at it.

First off, I don't think the Roundtable Hold exists outside time -- Rogier continues to deteriorate while we're gone. So it's not as if the Hold is in stasis.

Also, I don't believe that the "no aggro" mechanic is enforced in-universe. Tarnished within the hold are capable of attacking each other, as in they are not magically prevented from doing so. But they maintain a truce so that they can have at least one safe place to rest and recover. The idea is, if one breaks the truce, he'll immediately be attacked by everyone in the Hold.

We have a few instances of this truce being broken, proving that aggro is possible in-universe. Ensha attacks us because he believes Gideon's authority will shield him from the consequences. D attacks Fia, either in a fit of rage or out of fanaticism. Fia kills D and then immediately leaves before the Hold can punish her for it.

The Hold also seems to function (or once functioned) as a base of operations for the Confessors. We can find their gear and prayerbooks locked behind imp-gates in the lower levels of the hold. It also serves as a home for a single two-finger.

As for what the hold is -- it's definitely connected to the Erdtree in some way. When the Erdtree burns, the Hold burns. When the Elden Beast is slain, there is no longer any need for the Hold, and it presumably burns away entirely.

So here's what I think is going on. Even though Gideon pretends to be in charge, Hewg is actually the most important person in the hold. I believe that the Hold is a sort of liminal space, removed from the rest of reality but anchored to the Erdtree. And I believe that this space was created by Marika -- it's a safe place for Hewg to forge his godslaying weapon, right under the nose of the Elden Beast. All the stuff about guiding the Tarnished and seeking to repair the Ring and crown a new lord is just smoke and mirrors, covering for Hewg's real mission.

Thanks to @thatboreddrake for helping me talk through all this!