#gelmir hero's grave

[tarnussy]

very important news: I only managed to pull this off once

[blasphemousclaw]

Okay but thats adds another layer to the sweetings because you'd think it's Rennala's attempt to JUST bring Ranni back from the "dead" through reincarnation but with all the evidential sorceries, it almost seemed like she was trying to reincarnate all of her kids??

which is like... I wonder if Rennala was present and well aware of all of her children's fate. Ranni's death of course, but she maybe knew or heard word of Radahn's plight with scarlet rot and Rykard feeding himself to the serpent. Like along with the Academy taking over and Radagon leaving, no wonder it broke her entirely, she lost literally everything but the egg.

ok I had a good long think about this and an enlightening discussion with my sister and I’m gonna say something that might sound weird: It’s possible that Rennala doesn’t actually know what happened to Ranni… and not just Rennala, but almost everyone in the Lands Between. Rogier and Gideon Ofnir refer to Ranni as disappeared, not dead, and according to Rogier she hasn’t been seen at all since before the Shattering… so if people had thought she was killed in the Night of the Black Knives, then why would these people assume she was alive now? Ranni killed her empyrean flesh atop the divine tower of Liurnia, which can only be entered using the inverted statue in the Carian Study hall, which Ranni keeps in her possession… so no one would have actually seen her corpse to confirm her death, except the black knife assassin/s involved. (side note: that’s another compelling reason for why Ranni had Alecto imprisoned in an evergaol!!)

Anyway, regarding how much Rennala knows of her children’s fates, it’s unclear if she was even lucid enough to process what was happening to them. If she wasn’t, I’d guess that she might feel that her children are lost to her just because they’ve been gone for so many years… or she might have some vague sense that something horrible happened to them.

Regarding their specific fates, I’m pretty confident that Rennala does not know what happened to Rykard — it doesn’t seem to be common knowledge outside of Rykard’s household and army that he’s fed himself to a serpent, just perhaps that his army ended up deserting him... but people would at least know that the Leyndell army has him cornered on Mt. Gelmir. Everybody knows what happened with Radahn and Malenia though, so it’s possible Rennala would’ve heard. Lastly, I can see a scenario where Ranni comes to visit her mother before the Night of the Black Knives to say goodbye. Again, all of these scenarios kinda depend on if Rennala was sane enough to process the news.

None of this disproves the idea that Rennala could be trying to rebirth her children though; no matter if she knows what has actually happened to the kids or not, Rennala in her bewitched state could still consider them lost to her.

[katyspersonal]

I like how whereas with associated people to Demigods it is "and all I got was this stupid T-Shirt tailsman", Radagon straight up gives people COOL DOGS! ALL Red Wolves are using Carian sorceries and he does have one of course!

I feel like he is somehow associated with Crucible+ (the red fur) kind of animals, like how red maned Leonine Misbegotten has his sword? Also these were known as his kin at some point in development! But Red Wolves are found close to Caria Manor, in Moonlit Altar, in Gelmir's Hero Grave, Consecrated Snowfield and.. Ancestral Woods, lol. The first four are pretty easily explained; he literally is a part of Carian family, some of Rykard's associates might have been favored by him too (Gelmir Knights wear Red feathers TO honor Radagon after all) and Consecrated Snowfield is where Miquella and Malenia went to but also Castle Sol and at least two Demigods. The underground one is interesting, though.

@val-of-the-north says it is more likely that this Red Wolf was instead accompanying Fallen Hawks and a couple of Crucible Knights who were sent into Eternal Cities to find something, and I absolutely believe this! Pretty sure both Marika and Radagon were very much interested in the treasures and knowledge Nox had, and a hawk symbol is probably an evidence of having once been in Stormveil and lost! Fallen Hawks were prisoners, after all

I just think it is really cute that he wants his dogs to accompany his people, friends or hostages! and funny that he stole at least one of Rykard's girls lol

[sir-virtem]

So, eh, I was thinking about Radahn and Caelid, how unlikely is that he was GO or anything and I notice something...

Caelid is the only region of LB without a Hero's Grave, there is one on Limgrave, other in Liurnia, in Gelmir too, ofc in Altus and even in Mountain Tops, but none in Caelid.

I had the imoresion that Sellia was relatively new settlement, and after the DLC map speculation I thought that perhaps most of modern caelid was underground until the sealing... but the lack of Hero's Grave even then shocks me, also there aren't in inner Caelid catacombs

[old-hunter-henryk]

BLOODHOUND KNIGHTS - CANON INFORMATION

This post aims to strictly serve as a collection of canon information about the Bloodhound Knights. This primarily means where they can all be found in the game, and any relevant item descriptions. Please let me know if you find anything I've missed. A bit of a long post, so I'm putting everything beyond this point under the cut.

LOCATIONS

Bloodhound Knights are a enemy found in only a few places in the Lands Between. They come in the form of bosses, Spirit Ashes, regular enemies, and summoned by Rennala during her second phase. As follows there are

BOSSES:

In the Forlorn Hound's Evergaol in Limgrave, where the boss Bloodhound Knight Darriwil can be found. He is one of the two Bloodhound Knights given a name, drops the Bloodhound's Fang curved greatsword upon defeat, and is a part of Blaidd the Half-Wolf's questline.

In the Lakeside Crystal Cave in Liurnia, where the boss simply called a Bloodhound Knight can be found. It drops the Cerulean Amber Medallion.

SPIRIT ASHES:

The Bloodhound Knight Floh Ashes are dropped by the Red Wolf of the Champion upon defeat in the Gelmir Hero's Grave. He is the other of two Bloodhound Knights given a name.

REGULAR ENEMIES:

One can be found in Raya Lucaria in Liurnia, clinging onto the gate beyond the Isolated Merchant, near a Celestial Dew.

In the Swamp Lookout Tower in Caelid, where the Eternal Darkness sorcery can be found.

In front of the Gelmir Knight Set in the Gelmir Hero's Grave. It also drops the entire Bloodhound Knight Set upon defeat.

Behind a hidden wall in the Volcano Manor in Mt. Gelmir. It drops the Bloodhound Claws upon defeat.

SUMMONED

Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon can summon a Bloodhound Knight in her second phase. She does not have dialogue for this summon.

ITEM DESCRIPTIONS

Various item descriptions related to Bloodhound Knights.

The Bloodhound's Fang curved greatsword, dropped by Bloodhound Knight Darriwil:

"Curved greatsword with a gently undulating blade wielded by Bloodhound Knights. A fearsome blade capable of brutal airborne attacks."

The Bloodhound Knight Floh Ashes, dropped by the Red Wolf of the Champion:

"Ashen remains in which spirits yet dwell. Use to summon the spirit of Floh, the Bloodhound Knight. Spirit of a Bloodhound Knight they called the Rabid Stray. Will attack without pause immediately after being summoned. Floh vowed that there was only one lord he would ever serve: a true king. And so, the Rabid Stray never found a master."

The Bloodhound Knight Set, dropped by a Bloodhound Knight in the Gelmir Hero's Grave:

"Metal [helm with a pointed beak/armor with a jutting breastplate/gauntlets of the Bloodhound Knights/greaves of the Bloodhound Knights]. [Worn by the Bloodhound Knights. (only in helm and armor's descriptions)] The Bloodhound Knights are trained as hunters and known to be unshakable trackers. Without the use of language, each knight chooses his own master. Once the decision has been made, the knight stays loyal for life."

The Bloodhound Claws, dropped by the Bloodhound Knight in Volcano Manor:

"Large curved claws used by Bloodhound Knights. The curve allows the weapon to slip through an enemy's guard."

The Bloodhound's Step Ash of War, dropped by the Night's Cavalry near Lenne's Rise in Dragonbarrow:

"This Ash of War grants an armament the Keen affinity and the following skill: "Bloodhound's Step: Skill that allows the user to become temporarily invisible while dodging at high speed. Moves faster and travels farther than a regular quickstep. This skill can be used to circle around lock-on targets." Usable on all melee armaments."

DIALOGUE

The boss Bloodhound Knight Darriwil is part of Blaidd the Half-Wolf's questline, and through this, we get some dialogue about him.

Upon first talking to him:

"I'm looking for a man who goes by "Darriwil." He fled somewhere nearby. Or so I've heard. Come tell me if you find him before I do. I can offer you ample reward.  Darriwil is nothing but a traitor. And in need of a fitting end to his tale."

Upon summoning Blaidd for the fight against Darriwil:

"Darriwil… Rotting in a cell is no true justice. No, this is where it ends for you."

[miirshroom]

Using metagaming to prod at the question of who is the "shadow" of whom in Elden Ring. Just a few here - Radagon, Godrick, Rykard, Malenia. Miquella I'm pretty sure I have figured, but still thinking about possibilities for Malenia. For quick reference, below is aligned with this list that I put together a few months ago (just pretend that Radagon is chillin on the "Wheel of Fortune" year it's the only thing I'd change at this time)

Messmer is a Shadow of Radagon. Why? Because the Illusionist/Vampire is the Shadow of Narcissus. The relationship between Radagon, Marika, and the Gloam-Eyed Queen can be entirely understood through the story of Narcissus and Echo, and Messmer is styled as Vlad "The Impaler" Dracula who is the archetypical vampire. The merging of these two concepts is Jungian pseudo-psychology stuff, just roll with it. The shadow is a Jungian concept - it's inescapable in this story.

Rykard is a Shadow of Godrick. Why? For a start they're both derivatives of "Richard". The opposite repressed side of "Soldier of God, Rick" is the blasphemous serpent with its Serpent in the Garden of Eden connotations. Snakes are the shadows of Yharnam. Anagram of "Mary Han" where both words originated in Middle English with an overall meaning of "Maria Haven" - similar to how Leyndell is the haven of Marika (I try to ignore the idea of secret anagrams as much as possible but the amount of evidence is more than zero!).

Malenia is a Shadow of Rykard. Again - the idea of snakes is here. Sekiro has a big snake. Rykard merging with the blasphemous serpent being like, allowing the shadow self to "win" which is carte blanche to engage in all sorts of scandalous deviant behavior. One often overlooked detail of the Blasphemous serpent is that there are clusters of bracket fungi growing around Rykards face. Rot and fungi is Malenia's domain.

Radahn is a Shadow of Malenia. Why? If wolves are the Shadows of Empyreans then perhaps it is fitting that a wolf-themed demi-god is Shadow to a goddess (Radahn being styled after Fenrir to match Ranni's Hela and Rykard's Jormungandr). Also word of god (a.k.a. FromSoft) is that Shadows Die Twice and Radahn can be fought and killed twice.

Thinking on the identity of Malenia's shadow (or shadows) more seriously, there are also two named Red Wolves - Red Wolf of Radagon in Raya Lucaria who drops memory stone and Red Wolf of the Champion at Gelmir Hero's Grave who drops Bloodhound Knight Floh spirit ashes. Ranni's bloodhound knight Darriwil turned on her in a manner such as the Shadows of empyreans will supposedly do if directed by the Two Fingers, and was locked in an Evergaol same as Blaidd would be later. There is also a 3rd notable Red Wolf in the east part of the Consecrated Snowfields, which is stronger than the Boss in Raya Lucaria, but doesn't have a unique name. Similarly, there is one unnamed miniboss level bloodhound knight who is guarding the Lakeside Crystal Cave back entrance that leads to Latenna.

[foxingpeculiar]

Elden Ring/SotE:

I haven’t blogged about it much, but I’m 52 hours in now and did a bunch of shit. Got through Caelid and the Radahn festival. Did a lot of stuff in the Dragonbarrow. Covered most of the Altus Plateau. Did Mt Gelmir and made some progress on the Volcano Manor questline (have not gone down into it toward Rykard yet though). Got into Leyndell a bit, but not very far yet—haven’t even fought Margit again yet. So then I went to check out the impact crater and somehow, I ended up in the Deeproot Depths.

Finished Sellen’s quest. Diallos has left the manor but I’m not sure if he’s in Jarburg yet. Gave the armor to that guy that I think is D’s brother? Found Goldmask and led the preacher guy to him. Patches kicked me down a hole (well… off a ridge, at least) but I guess we’re good now. Got Millicent hooked up with her arm (although the Knight of the Briars kicked my ass so I’ll deal with him later. Same with the apostle in the basement of the Caelid divine tower). Met Dung Eater’s ghost, but not him yet.

The Gelmir Hero’s Grave can fuck RIGHT off, but I got through it. The Magma Wyrm by that fort near the manor was a bit of a challenge, but made it work. Got the Full Grown Fallingstar Beast in one, which I’ve never managed before.

I’m rocking Moonveil as my main weapon, cos its ash of war rules, it causes bleed, and it scales with INT. Spell-wise, I’m mostly using Rock Sling, Night Comet, and Loretta’s Greatbow. I’ve got INT to 40, Vigor around 34 right now. DEX and MND are in the high 20s, END is high teens. Not really worried about other stats right now.

Am at the point where it’s like “okay, things are starting to get kind of hard now.” Other than the aforementioned bosses, nothing’s giving me TOO much trouble, but like, those twin gargoyles in the aqueduct was a little rough—dunno if I could’ve pulled it off without D’s help.

Boc’s quest is fucked, I think. I have the golden sewing needle, legendary equipment, and talked to Melina about him, but I can’t *give* him the needle for whatever reason. Other than that, though, I’m trying to keep up with everybody as best I can.

So yeah, truckin’ along. Was looking over at Moghwyn Palace from Siofra earlier and was like “soon, motherfucker.”

[caladbolg]

[entering gelmir hero's grave] oh boy another elden ring dungeon i sure hope it isnt an aggravating painful agonizing chariot dungeon !!!!

[huggingtentacles]

Dumb question: trying out multiplayer and ppl keep summoning me for help in Gelmir Hero’s Grave. Is there anything useful I can do down there using a build with 12 to 18 faith? Show them where to jump, help them find the armour and finger and fight the wolf? Or should I just dodge that area by putting my name down for specific boss fights till I level past it?

(should try invading it. spawn in, sit next to grace and knit, see if I get a free rune arc…)

Grab some warming stones, always useful for coop. Use gestures like "Point" and "Wait" to show directions and warn about dangers. Always lead the way and show them where to go. Use warming stones at safe spots to save up on healing and help your host. They heal around 900 HP.

Remember that you don't have absolute control over coopers and sometimes the host is just stupid and will walk into the chariot. Be patient!

[datadegroove]

gelmir hero's grave is like all of the worst aspects of dark souls 1 compressed into a single area

[tirednecromancer]

Godrick’s little scions:

Gostoc, the eldest.

Gillard, the Knight of Storm, the eldest daughter. 5 arms, a black polished suit of armor and a deep green cape. Has 9 eyes grafted onto her face.

Gwenfair, the beautiful. Godrick’s one and only omen child. Died of consumption during a harsh winter, buried under Marika’s statue at the Chapel of Antecipation in a grave fit for a royal princess.

Gwenhael and Glenmoril, the twins of perfect red hair. Godrick is deeply confused where that came from. They stay at Fringefolk Hero’s Grave, grafting their limbs onto each other, swapping arms and legs with precision and ease.

Gal, the wanderer. Currently lost at Liurnia of the Lake. Might be pretending to be a giant crayfish for a lark. His laugher echoes into the dark moonless nights.

Godwyn II, currently in the process of amassing a small company of puppets to invade Mt. Gelmir. The yellow glow of his eyes is many shades different from the one of all his siblings.

Geford, the youngest. Living at Stormveil under the watchful eye of his eldest brother. After the harsh attack of a particularly strong tarnished, he had his body grafted onto an elongated torso, like a centipede.

[lucaswarmhotchocolate]

need a shirt that says I lost 10k runes in gelmir hero's grave

[blasphemousclaw]

so the ringed finger weapon is inarguably Rykard’s finger:

it’s found in the Gelmir hero’s grave, where we get the Gelmir knight armor, and we know that Rykard’s knights fought against him… clearly one of them cut off his finger and took it as a souvenir.

but the description says “thought to have been cut from an ancestor of the Fingercreeper,” which had naturally led me to conclude that Rykard was their progenitor? of course, now we know their origin definitively from the DLC, and it’s not Rykard… the “thought” in this sentence is REALLY doing a lot of heavy lifting isn’t it

[blasphemousclaw]

oh this is such a good theory re: the bloodhound knights… I’ve always suspected there was some association between the bloodhound knights and the Carian royals, since there are the two found on Mt. Gelmir as you said plus bloodhound knight Floh’s spirit ashes after the Red Wolf Hero’s Grave boss, there’s Darriwil who was apparently a traitor to Ranni, and there’s also the one at the Raya Lucaria gate (there’s one in Caelid too, guarding a Sellian spell, could be a connection to Radahn but it isn’t very clear). Floh’s item description is also pretty interesting:

“Floh vowed that there was only one lord he would ever serve: a true king. And so, the Rabid Stray never found a master.”

I think it’s pretty telling that Floh is found in the Gelmir Hero’s grave, where Gelmir knights were presumably laid to rest, and he talks about serving a “true king,” which he never found… I feel like this is hinting that Floh once hoped Rykard might be a true king if he had followed through with his kingly ambitions, but was proven wrong when he was devoured and showed himself to be nothing more than a glutton for power, with his Gelmir knights then rising against him and probably all being killed in the process.

So we have two named bloodhound knights, Floh and Darriwil, who presumably were dissatisfied with Rykard and Ranni respectively, plus a bloodhound knight potentially displaying loyalty to a fallen Gelmir knight, a bloodhound knight stuck inside a Volcano Manor dungeon cell, and I wonder if the bloodhound knight hanging outside the Raya Lucaria gate could have some nefarious intention towards Rennala or the Carian royals in general? Bloodhound knights are supposed to be unwaveringly loyal:

“Without the use of language, each knight chooses his own master. Once the decision has been made, the knight stays loyal for life.”

so it’s ironic that they seem to really have it out for Rykard and Ranni, although perhaps the demigods weren’t technically their specially chosen masters. I like your idea that they were loyal to the Gelmir knights, but I’m not sure why Rykard’s descent into depravity would cause them to turn on Ranni too? Perhaps the entire order of bloodhound knights became jaded with the demigods’ behavior like the Greater Will did? Maybe each of them had a specific grievance?

And I can’t believe I never thought of this before, but who on earth disguised themself as Blaidd to assassinate Ranni?? And for what reason??? Very few people know what she did on the night of the black knives, and very few people know of her future plans… the only people we know were acting against her were the black knife assassins (already capable of being invisible) and the Two Fingers (already capable of sending “baleful shadow” assassins that look like Blaidd). was this assassin Darriwil? or was it a completely unknown person? what grievance did they have against Ranni? could this have happened before the night of the black knives even happened?

SO MANY QUESTIONS…

It just struck me, Blaidd's occupation with hunting traitors is kind of odd, given his primary goal is to assist Ranni in accomplishing her dream. But then again, his adoptive brother, Rykard, was once a royal adjudicator. During the Shattering, Rykard fed himself to the Eternal Serpent, abandoning his former duty and converting his manor into a pit of blasphemy.

Before Blaidd was tasked with dispatching deserters, perhaps these hunts were fulfilled by Rykard and his Gelmir knights? After his disappearance, the Gelmir knights abandoned their demigod, and were seemingly slaughtered either during an attempted revolt, or by the invading Leyndell forces, or perhaps even both.

Ranni was targeted by assassins in the past, some of which who disguised themselves as allies. I wonder if she would have normally employed Rykard's services to deal with them until he was no longer available, at which point the hunts were appointed to Blaidd? Regardless, he certainly expresses a sort of unnerving zeal for the job, lol.

...Hmm. Then maybe Darriwil was only ever pretending to serve Ranni before he was identified as a threat? Another Bloodhound Knight is found in Gelmir Hero's Tomb, as if standing guard over their late master's remains; another appears to have been imprisoned within the walls of the Volcano Manor. If they were loyal to the knights of Gelmir instead of Rykard himself, then I suppose they could perceive both Rykard and Ranni as traitors to the knights of Gelmir, and sought as such to bring them both down? Much like Blaidd, the Bloodhounds are said never to abandon their masters once they have chosen them. If Darriwil ever served Ranni, it must have only ever been tangentially so, unless he's truly the only Bloodhound to break this unspoken code...

[shade-of-vermillion]

Some notes on bloodhound knights I’ve compiled doing fic research.

So first off we don’t really know what the hell they are in canon. We know they can’t speak, they’ve got mostly human proportions aside from their legs (if you look closely they’re digitigrade) and their chests. None of the item descriptions relating to them tell us much about what they are either, focusing instead on their nature as oath sworn knights (or conspicuously unsworn in Floh’s case).

Now there’s one npc that has a sort of similar fighting style to them, and that’s Maliketh. Both fight on all fours, and both have the same jutting chests. This would suggest that the Bloodhound Knights are beast men, however I’m not so sure that the case.

This is for a few reasons, first they don’t fight like all beast men, they just fight like Maliketh. The beast men the player fights as bosses or as enemies in Farum Azula fight in two legs rather than four, and although some use curved greatswords like Bloodhound knights, Beast Mann Cleavers are radically different in shape and the beast men wield them with two hands instead of one. Second, they don’t show up in areas that would suggest any further connection, for example: guarding dragon crest shield talismans, or around fallen chunks of Farum Azula.

However there is a specific faction bloodhound knights tend to show up around and that’s sorcerers. First there’s Darriwil, the first one you’ll likely meet, who was sworn to Ranni or maybe Blaidd, there’s the one at the academy gates, the one Rennala summons, the one in lakeside cave (it seems to be implied they were sent by Gideon to threaten Lattena), the one just outside Selia, the one in volcano manor (probably sworn to Rykard), the one in Gelmir Hero’s grave (also probably sworn to Rykard), and of course Floh who’s found in Gelmir Hero’s grave after killing a wolf of Radagon. So these placements would suggest an origin among, or at least strong associations with, sorcerers.

As for the Maliketh connection, based on the description for the Raging Wolf set it appears that there’s precedent for at least one person wanting to be like a shadow bound beast. It’s possible the Bloodhound knights were the same, aspiring to be like Maliketh and adopting a similar fighting style. Their oath does mirror the shadow bound beasts, though the Bloodhound knights get to chose who they serve.

Miscellaneous tidbits:

The type of helmet they wear is called a hounskull (or hound skull) bascinet. Obligatory rimshot.

There’s eight of them in total if you count Rennala’s summon and Floh.

Both Floh and Darriwil’s names refer to one of the eight stages of the Ordovician period, the Floian stage and the Darriwlian stage respectively. Makes it easier to name the other six in fics I suppose.

Obviously they share this geological period naming convention with the crucible knights, with Ordovis being named after the Ordovician period and Siluria being named after the Silurian period of the Paleozoic era. I haven’t counted Crucible Knights yet so I’m not sure if the numbers match up, but the Paleozoic era has six periods. Edit: there are 16 total crucible knights.

[astillnight]

ELDEN RINGGGGGG

im level 79 im t aking on the world im stuck int he fuckign hero gelmir’s grave thing fuck i fucking LAVA