#tarnished and gurranq

[imperatoralicia]

I love that one of the cool wizardly magics in Elden Ring is just throwing a literal boulder at someone.

Genuinely one of my favorite incantations.

[janusfranc15]

Yes. Yes it is.

Is this anything?

[catcas22]

SOTE spoilers:

with all the new lore about Marika and her people, Maliketh becomes even more of kicked puppy.

Sure, he can probably go berserk at any moment if the Fingers want him too, but he is also the only thing in all existence that loves Marika unconditionally. Enough to be entrusted with the Rune of Death and bear eons of mindbreaking hunger and fight to the last for her Order.

I wonder how she felt about her half-brother, and when exactly he came into the picture. If we assume you're born an Empyrean, he might very well be the only survivor of the village besides Marika/Radagon. Maliketh was a shadowbound beast given to his Empyrean. Marika's sole need of her shadow was a vessel to lock away Destined Death. Even then, she betrayed him. -Remembrance of the Black Blade

BRO

No matter what potential backstory I come up with for Maliketh, it just makes the whole thing even more sad. It's entirely possible that he grew up with Marika in the same way that Blaidd did with Ranni.

On the other hand, there's a theory I heard awhile ago (I think it was from smoughtown on youtube) speculating that Maliketh was his own person before he was "tailored" to fit the designs of the fingers. Specifically, he was a beastman priest named Gurranq. According to this theory, Gurranq isn't an alias that Maliketh is using -- instead, Maliketh's memory is deteriorating and he's reverting to his old identity. When he loses control and attacks the tarnished, he's reverting even further to the bestial state he inhabited before the dragons uplifted his race. When he says "I will not forget again," he means that literally.

There's a lot of fanfic potential in exploring how Gurranq could have met Marika, how much of their bond was due to the fingers' compulsion and how much was of their own free will, exactly how much of his old life Maliketh remembers, etc. Is he the reason she, out of all her people, was the sole survivor? Barring direct divine intervention by the Greater Will, I'd say if it wasn't the Mimic Veil that saved her it had to be Gurranq/Maliketh. For how long was he her only friend, or the closest thing she had to one? When did she stop seeing him as a brother, a friend, or a protector and start seeing him as a tool?

I'm tempted to add a second chapter to A Powerless Upstart, a Gnawing Curse where perfectly normal beast-clergyman Gurranq is out doing traveling friar things when he feels an inexplicable urge to take a detour down a particular stretch of backroad. Imagine him finding a kid curled up and bleeding in a ditch with more wounds than skin. Imagine him trying to carry her out for a proper burial and realizing she's still breathing. Imagine him sitting with her and doing what little he can to help, despite the fact that she surely won't last more than a few days. Imagine her clinging on to life with supernatural vitality, refusing to die until at last she regains consciousness. Imagine Gurranq seeing her eyes go dull when he offers to take her back to her family. Imagine him realizing, "Oh, this is my kid now," without ever knowing if the choice was really his.

[beholdthis-bitch]

Favorite thing about Darian:

I thought this would be an easy prompt, but narrowing down to a single favorite thing is very hard....so I'm not going to do that.

His kindness and care for others - Darian is very kind despite what the fandom would like people to believe. We first meet him praying over a corpse of someone who, we assume, was killed by TWLiD. What we overhear him saying is not one of a man cursing and ignoring those who have died, but instead finding relief in the knowledge that an unknown man will not roam the lands between as a husk. Our first exchange with him is one of care and respect for us, the Tarnished, as he warns us to not approach Summonwater as its potentially very dangerous. Would a man who *only* cares about eradicating TWLiD and not for the everyday person actually warn us? And from there every interaction we have with him is very pleasant. He lets us take our time and offers to help us by offering incantations, as well as the option to summon him at two separate locations. Even his supposed "anger" with Rogier is one of a sadness at watching a friend slowly die of the exact thing you've dedicated your life to fighting. There is no malice in this man for anything other than TWLiD, and he wants nothing of you except to help

His dedication to those he loves - Look how far he goes for us, a random stranger he met maybe a day ago. He offers us help via incantations and summons, warns us to stay away from TWLiD because it may kill us, offers an introduction to Gurranq, someone very important to himself and his faith, which one could even consider an honor. But with Darian we get two separate entities that we know he holds dear: Rogier and Devin. It seems a lot of the fandom sees the "name calling" of Rogier by Darian is Darian going out of his way to berate and defame Rogier. Instead it is quite the opposite. As I mentioned above it's more inline that Darian is suffering at seeing his one-time close friend (*cough*lover*cough*, tho that's not where my loyalty lies <3) whittling away and becoming nothing but a muttering shell of himself, a once largely successful spellblade. Without even getting too much into Devin (that will turn this into a 300 page document), the fact Darian gasps Devin's name if the player kills him in Limgrave is indicative enough. That his last dying breaths aren't one of cursing, but one of longing for the one he holds closest. He also works hard to protect his brother's identity and location, by holding that information from us when we give him the weathered dagger, as why would he reveal the location of his most loved being (are you seeing my bias yet) to a stranger? Sure, he'll always try to help us, but we aren't someone quite as dear to his heart. He did give the information to Rogier, but if we take their previous relationship into consideration, it isn't too hard to see why.

His armor - Is his armor the reason I like him? No. But it'd be remiss to not say that his armor tells a further story about his relationship to his brother. It is beautifully inlaid with delicate and flowing details in a gentle fusion of gold and silver, each color representing one of the brothers. Maybe one day I'll make a massive post detailing my feelings about them two? Or just make a million posts? Idk

(less seriously) - he's hot.

Honestly could probably go on forever but I think this is sufficient enough for one post.

Edit: Trailing thought but I really wish people would see him for the gentle soul he really is rather some fanatic he clearly isn't.

[joybivision]

I wouldn’t say my backstory for him is 100% fleshed out and it’s subject to a lot of changes depending on how I’m feeling. 

I see him and Devin as coming from a coastal town that’s in close enough proximity to the Lands Between to do some trade with travelling merchants and some of the larger settlements. His father was a fisherman who went missing at sea only a year after their birth, and his mother was a fish merchant who was a devout follower of the Golden Order, having been born in the Lands Between but long since left. They were very loosely tolerated because their mother was beloved by most for having a particularly kind and generous nature, but they almost never left the area immediately around their home due to the potential of retaliation, especially when times were difficult. Being a mama’s boy, Darian inherited her adoration for the Order, wanting something higher than himself to believe in. He saw much of himself and Devin in Malenia and Miquella as well; if they could exist and be born to divinity, then perhaps they had a chance to survive after all. 

Due to its closeness to Caelid, it wasn’t uncommon for occasional outbreaks of illness to occur in town due to contaminated water and fish, and his mother died of a lesser form of rotting sickness when he was ~9. Without anyone to protest their innocence, they were hounded from the village days later, and Darian decided that he was going to sail himself and Devin to Leyndell in the hopes of witnessing the Erdtree and seeking refuge in the most sacred of places. He made as far as the shores of Caelid before dying of illness and exhaustion at the doorstep of a camp net to the Bestial Sanctum. Devin was close behind him despite soldiers’ efforts to keep him alive. It is easily the memory that gives Darian the most shame and motivates him to work as fervently he does. A part of him worries that he chose to die and leave his brother like a coward, and he promises never to let this happen again. The twins reawakened as Tarnished, but it’s not completely clear what to do at first. Their curse should make them a threat and something that violates the tenets of life, but some interpret their miraculous pilgrimage as a clear sign of divine favor. Judgment was finally given over to Gurranq, given that they died practically right next to him, and he is a holy man with considerable authority. He gave them mercy and interpreted their single soul as akin to that of Marika and Radagon and their cursed nature to many of her own twinned progeny. They serve as caretakers of the Sanctum (and Gurranq, as his mind begins to crumble) for several years until they are old enough to begin training under the Order. Darian seeks to become a Hunter of the Dead, both having witnessed them regularly entering the temple to give Gurranq the spoils of their work and having developed a special hatred for Those Who Live in Death as they so cavalierly reject the Order that he had to fight tooth and nail to become part of. Though deathroot itself painfully makes him recall memories of home, he regards it as a form of penance for his curse (and for allowing Devin to die) and embraces the discomfort willingly. He gets along well with most other Hunters although their interactions tend to be rare, but he often struggles to connect with other Tarnished due to his nature, the dissatisfaction many take with the Golden Order, and his generally sharp demeanor.

[alma-amentet]

Started feeling for Maliketh recently.

Truly, I didn't much care for him. Malenia and Miquella is basically all that matters for me... Plus some smaller characters and my OCs. Moreover, I don't much care abt the DLC (obviously it contradicts greatly with what I knew and loved, what gave life to my own story which is really dear to me).

But then I think I saw some headcanons and discussions on him and got inspired myself.

Marika's backstory has some nice potential for hurt-comfort, and I love it.

So the idea of Maliketh, then-Gurranq, finding young Marika after she escaped her fate, got stuck in my head. How he was talking care of her and became her new family.

His people probably suffered from the hornsent too, Gurranq has lost his family just like Marika, that's why they stuck together.

Actually, today I had a dream (continued in a daydream before waking up) about all this, saw it well in my head, and oh... Imagined them living in an empty abandoned hut, where he tended to her wonds. Gurranq then went hunting and foraging for food. Some people from the village nearby didn't care much for these two being there (like not reporting them to Hornsent inquisution, or chasing out, or something). They were even helping: Gurranq did the hunting for them too, traded meat for things he couldn't get otherwise (that's the way they could survive rather well). Maybe that's why those villagers let them occupy the hut in the first place: he was of use to them.

Of course, in the end, much later, he was betrayed anyway, which is really bitter.

I also imagined him telling this story to Lyra (my Tarnished) in times of the base game. And her feeling for him, too. I think after the fight Maliketh gave up and gave her the Rune of Death, then she spared him, leaving to his misery.

IDK what could come next. Never even thought of him before, truly. That's all unexpected, but I love the story

[headcanontheshitoutofsoulsborne]

The D twins were found by Maliketh (as Gurranq) as children, who were fleeing both persecution in their village and the Shattering. Maliketh took them in and raised them as his own sons, not minding their peculiarities. He taught them about the Golden Order and how to fight. Even when they became Tarnished, Maliketh still treated them with kindness that they were denied in their youth.

[bluboiart]

ELDEN RING MINI: GURRANQ

“Tarnished…bring more…Death…feed it me.”

-Gurranq the Beast Clergyman

I drew in procreate.

I made the video in capcut pro.

[katyspersonal]

i genuinely wished if they did go with the blasphemous route with Messmer instead of making him another loyal hound of Marika, like everyone is doing Marika's bedding then get betrayed/abounded by her, that's boring and uncreative

"Boring" is a strong word here, because in grand scheme of things it isn't that many characters and each carries unique context! Godfrey and his champions got stripped from grace when there were no more wars to fight in the Lands Between, and sent off so Tarnished become the powerful army of the Elden Ring! I am not sure about this counting as betrayal completely; he loved her, but he ALSO loved battles! Maybe their spark naturally started to die down because as the OG warmonger (with Radahn being just a fanboy -_-) he would have nothing to do and become depressed 😔 Again, since Radahn adored Godfrey, not Hoarax Loux, I assume Serosh only did that much for chaining his violent personality!

Maliketh was created by the Greater Will as her shadow, and from what I pieced together 1) she was broken by the death of Godwyn and several others Demigods 2) it was kinda awkward that it only happened because he allowed the Destined Death be stolen from him 3) she gave him a hope to redeem himself by telling him to go eat Death everywhere (to reclaim it?) 4) turned out that it was just a lie so he'd be far away when she shatters the ring and thus can't stop her as creation of Greater Will (remember his dialogue towards Marika "Marika... why... wouldst thou... gull me? Why... shatter..." if you kill him as Gurranq + the paranoia sequence about Blaidd who is also Shadowbeast). Not only this betrayal came from a place of reasonable fear, but also technically Maliketh deserved it gfhgf The girls LOVE the sentiment of "It doesn't matter if you didn't mean it, acknowledge that the damage IS done!", and the damage here is a lot of deaths in her family.. Betrayal is betrayal, but the nuance here is strong!

...I don't count divorcing Rennala as betrayal either, because it is just divorce that kinda happened because Marika needed a Lord! The fact that after Godfrey she couldn't find anyone better than literally herself is really telling though fdgrxn Alternatively, it was a Radagon thing, not Marika, depending on how different are they! Nor I count Morgott and Mohg being hidden from the world as Omens, because they were not doing her bidding and then betrayed; they were discarded from birth! As for her betraying the Hornsent in the end, I don't recall them stated on "doing her bidding"! It was careful planning to finally get to the Divine Gates and finally obliterate them all.

So, I think maybe Messmer is, in fact, merely a second example of her betrayal! He is another extention of her terribly flawed personality and bad mother skills, that much is true, but she was trying to love him and did a lot of things to ease his burdens! Eventually she just grew too fearful of the power within him, and that is expected from the person who started war on Fire Giants only because they might have burnt the Erdtree, or ordered burying Nomads alive because some random Leyendell asshole (Shabriri) said they worshipped Frenzied Flame! 🤦‍♂️ These darn cursed fire powers always put her at risk of losing everything again.

_________________

That all being said, I'd also loved to see Messmer being an awful person and Marika being justified in abandoning him for another reason than her being a MILF Gwyn but with fire rather than darkness paranoia before cursed fires powers! Like, if Messmer himself attempted burning Erdtree for one reason or another, or did God knows what else that he had full control over unlike with the horror that lives inside of him that made him deserve worse punishment than simply abandonment! But this is my own wish and the writers got their own vision! Marika's reactionary paranoia haunts the entire story, and it is fun in its own way!

The "uncreative" part could be how much he parallels Malenia, but the use of parallels in Soulsborne games is a reoccurring trend! Not only that, but it is always masterfully done to show the trap of the vicious cycle and how people are bound to repeat mistakes of the ancestors/family/others whether they've learned from them of not!

[bri-the-nautilus]

Blorbo Headcanon: The Tragedy of Gurranq

This is one I've been kind of mulling over, but was spurred to devote some serious thought to tonight. Maliketh/Gurranq is adorable. The best, hungriest boi. A faithful shadow, true to the Golden Order. But I think his tragedy extends beyond just feeling like he let Marika down on the Night of Black Knives. To start, we'll need some background.

Farum Azula is a crumbling city in the sky at the center of a time storm. The southern provinces are dotted with debris from Farum Azula, but the city when we visit it is not only reasonably intact, but frozen. Nothing is actively falling. There's no day/night cycle. Passing time doesn't alter the skybox and nothing changes based on when you enter. It's clear that Farum Azula exists outside the normal flow of time, and can even counteract it: when we travel to Placidusax's arena, a destroyed section of the city reforms itself and the Erdtree doesn't exist. Farum Azula is populated by a society of intelligent beastmen, who were blessed with intellect and five fingers as stated by the Cinquedea, Gurranq's clerical shortsword.

Gurranq, the Beast Clergyman, is a robed figure who makes his home in Dragonbarrow, protected by a Black Blade Kindred. He guides and leads the Hunters of Those Who Live In Death, who weed deathroot. Deathroot is said to be the source of Those Who Live In Death, and Gurranq eats it. The Stone and Claw of Gurranq incantations say that he once went by a different name, which meant "Death of the Demigods." If the player feeds every obtainable deathroot to Gurranq, he thanks them for being a friend but states that he has "done all he can for this world" and promptly disappears.

Maliketh, the Black Blade, is to Queen Marika as Blaidd is to Ranni. He wields and protects Destined Death. It was he who defeated the Gloam-Eyed Queen in battle (Godslayer's UGS) and he who was robbed on the Night of Black Knives to create the blades that slew Godwyn and Ranni. For a shadow like Maliketh, the feeling that he let Marika down and the tragedy is his fault must have been impossible to bear. He vows that Destined Death shall not be stolen from him again. We meet Maliketh in Farum Azula, where he first dresses as a Beast Clergyman and wields the Cinquedea before unchaining Destined Death and facing us with his black blade and armor.

The game makes it pretty clear that Gurranq is Maliketh. Besides their identical appearances, Gurranq's old name meaning "Death of the Demigods," and Gurranq's sanctum being guarded by one of Maliketh's black gargoyles, as you progress Gurranq's questline he makes repeated references to a "past sin" and speaks of Marika as if he knew her personally.

Upon dealing enough damage after feeding the fourth Deathroot

"Put it away. I won't forget... again... mine appetite... My sin... So please.... Enough."

Fifth Deathroot

"My thanks Tarnished.... Death... My sin... Should not be touched by the hand of man... I shall grant thee... my claws... Feed me... more..."

Sixth, seventh and eighth Deathroot

"I won't forget... again.... mine appetite... My sin... I must have more... I must consume more..."

Ninth Deathroot

"It is... it is all... consumed. Still., I am not sated... Not nearly sated..." 

"Marika... Is this... what it is... to sin?" "Will things... never be the same... again?" 

"..." 

"Tarnished... my thanks... for thy... long labor. But I have done... all I can... in this land. Henceforth, mine appetite shall be my sole companion. Farewell."

Moreover, if you complete Gurranq's quest before challenging Maliketh for the first time, Maliketh phase one has special dialogue where he recognizes you and laments that he has to fight you.

Tarnished, why wouldst thou... Why... Tis no matter. I hereby vow, that Destined Death shall not be stolen again.

On the contrary, killing Maliketh before/during Gurranq's quest doesn't affect the Clergyman's dialogue.

But this leads us to some questions about the true nature of Gurranq and the timeline of Maliketh's life. Other demigods, such as Morgott, show the ability to project illusory duplicates of themselves. The Omen King does this twice: once in Stormveil and once in the old battlefield. One could easily assume that Gurranq is such an illusion. But there's one problem: He exists even without Maliketh. If you kill Morgott in Leyndell before either Margit, the Margit(s) in question won't spawn. If you kill Maliketh before finishing Gurranq's quest, it doesn't despawn Gurranq. Now the question is, when is Gurranq? Where in Maliketh's life does he fall?

My headcanon is this: After the NoBK, Maliketh seals Destined Death in himself. Marika orders him to go to Farum. Outwardly, she says that having him in the Capital where Destined Death could be stolen was a mistake. Privately, she doesn't want him around when she rebels against the Golden order, similarly to how Iji suspected Blaidd needed to be removed before Ranni killed her Two Fingers. Maliketh has dialogue expressing a strong adherence to the Golden Order, so it's safe to assume that unlike Blaidd with Ranni, he would not have been willing to side with Marika over the Greater Will. Maliketh leaves, but he doesn't go to Farum immediately. Yet. Confused? So am I.

Marika sticks her head into Farum, sees a self-loathing ball of fur, and leaves to plot the Shattering.

Maliketh, meanwhile, feels a duty to help rid the world of the evil that he thinks he allowed the creation of. Those Who Live In Death are a new phenomenon. Godwyn being slain and buried caused his influence to spread along the Erdtree's roots, raising the dead. Although he has restrained Destined Death and no longer wields it, Maliketh is both qualified and honor-bound to fight Those Who Live In Death. And as long as he's in Farum in about half an hour when Marika goes to see him, everything's fine.

Adopting the name 'Gurranq', Maliketh heads for Caelid. There, he sets up shop leading a cadre of Golden Order adherents (eventually including Darian and the Tarnished) in weeding the deathroot that allows the dead to wake. When Marika shatters the Elden Ring, he feels lied to and betrayed, but he pushes it out of mind. The Tarnished succeeds in excising every major deathroot node from the Lands Between and feeding them to Gurranq. Gurranq has done all he can for this world, and thanks his truest comrade for their service before they part ways.

Farum Azula is a city out of time, and Maliketh is demigod and high priest of the city out of time. He arrives right after Marika dismissed him, on time for her to see him there. He knows what she's going to do, but has to bite his tongue. There he sits for all the years after the NoBK. Until one day, the Tarnished arrives.

For them, it's been just days.

For Maliketh, it's been centuries.

Maliketh was betrayed by Marika. He spent centuries simultaneously laboring to repent as Gurranq and sitting alone in a lost city and blaming himself for what went wrong as the time-displaced Black Blade. He had one companion who shared his mission towards the end of his time in the Lands Between, but they parted ways and Maliketh lived all that time again alone. But now, his truest of comrades has returned to kill him and steal that which he swore would not leave his side again.

A second betrayal, more painful than the first.

[nemesis-is-my-middle-name]

sote update i'm really enjoying the light greatswords. they feel really good to use (as long as you're in an open area which is a problem with any long weapon lol) the flow of diff moves into each other is very satisfying. and it feels very fitting for losett since D and gurranq both use greatswords of some variety. i keep going back and forth btwn the milady and rellana's bc i just can't deciiide

i WAS originally running with the srs but that felt weird since like, in canon, the tarnished is probably not doing all of this after killing elden beast. like, that would be weird, right. you can't just be running around the lands of shadow with radagon's whole entire spine on display. right.

[largemandrill]

d twins and rogier 🫵

Thank you I have many thoughts about them.

Rogier

Favorite thing: His mental illness, obviously. There’s so many things wrong with him that are also things that are wrong with me. He’s just like me fr (bad thing)

Least favorite: I’m gonna be so vulnerable right now but his outfit is so fugly. Like, he rocks it, but it is HELL to draw and I personally rank characters in my head by how fun they are to draw. I love him enough to try though.

Favorite line: I like it when he full on admits that the Tarnished terrifies him. We are very scary and he’s just a little guy. He knows the only thing keeping the Tarnished from murder is that they have a little crush on him lol.

brOTP: Rogier doesn’t have real friends, He only knows how to abandon people after he’s convinced himself that they hate him. However, I do see the relationship with the player Tarnished as the only platonic thing he’s got going on. They are buddies and he’s not used to that. He can’t leave this one behind because he physically cannot move, and that’s probably for the best tbh.

OTP: you know who I am.

nOTP: Honestly I don’t really have nOTPs. Rogier is slutty enough that you can throw him at anyone and it can work. I guess I’m not too privy on when people portray him and Fia with anything close to a healthy relationship, but that’s not the ship itself’s fault.

Random Headcanon: He’s so transgender you could never understand.

Unpopular opinion: Not unpopular within our particular circle, but with the community as a whole. He’s a pathetic little weasel of a man with sad eyes and undiagnosed mental disorders. I love him but therapy can’t fix him.

Songs I associate: Should be noted that I can make any song about him if I try hard enough. The main ones that remind me of him are We are not friends by S, Bag of Bones by Silversun Pickups, Wine and Wheat by Madds Buckley, and Liar by Arcadian Wild.

Pic: This tiny guy from the manga

Darian

Favorite thing: His strong arms that can carry me into the sunset. And probably also his reflexive need to care for others to the point where he would probably die for a complete stranger.

Least favorite: Not his fault but again with that fucking OUTFIT. I love it aesthetically but my wrist hurts even thinking about drawing it.

Favorite Line: I love how much a jokester he is once you join Gurranq. Like when he tells you to not let him starve to death is so funny to me. He trusts you enough to joke and that makes me emotional tbh.

brOTP: In my mind, he and Nepheli are actually really good buddies. They’re both adopted by not great dads and they value other’s lives above all else. Also they probably drink together.

OTP: I’m not going into him and Rogier rn because that would take a full hour to write down. I’m just a man.

nOTP: I can’t see him with a woman, I’m so sorry self-shippers. It doesn’t gross me out, but it doesn’t register as realistic in my mind. He’s gay, that’s a golden order mandate.

Random Headcanon: He wouldn’t be a great dad, but he would be one of the best dads out of the male cast of this game. Really a tallest dwarf situation.

Unpopular opinion: He’s never been wrong about anything that wasn’t related to the Golden Order tbh. The skeletons are an issue and he’s one of the only people equipped to properly deal with them.

Songs I associate: If a song is about Catholic guilt it’s immediately about him. Take me to Church is legally his theme song.

Fav pic: my profile picture/phone background, obviously.

Devin

Favorite thing: His rabies

Least favorite: I wish he had more screen time. I know that’s so his speech is more impactful, but I still wanna see him more.

Favorite Line: His iconic slutshaming moment. Good for him tbh.

brOTP: Him and me in real life. We’d be chill.

OTP: I physically cannot imagine Devin having any romantic interests for some reason. He’s not really a person in his head so maybe he believes that he’s incapable of love or something. I have many Devin thoughts.

nOTP: see above

Random Headcanon: I genuinely believe he could be a pretty good musician if he pushed himself. He looks like Kurt Cobain I had to make that joke somewhere.

Unpopular opinion: I know I say he’s a freak, but he’s actually just a grieving little guy. His mouth is foaming and his eyes are filled with tears.

Song I associate: Moon Waltz by Cojim Dip. I dunno the vibe is just correct.

Favorite image: All fan art of him is great. I don’t have a specific pic for him lol.

[eldintower]

if the journey of the tarnished is reflecting like marika's bloody journey to godhood then i do think melina is maliketh or rather melina is gurranq

[sabrerine911]

Beth Ravencoft meets Beast Clergyman Gurranq(Elden Ring)

Had this dumb sketch from last year I never finished , so since im back on the ER crack I figured to finish it (managed to do so while helpin some tarnished on the side XD)

since Beth is a lycan blood in my setting I felt like it would be funny if her and any form of beast people in the lands between would sniff eachother like dogs(its how werewolf's act in my setting) Definitely gonna do a dumb variant with Blaidd as well at some point

[beholdthis-bitch]

Prompt: Tell us about their backstory

I feel it's hard to talk about one twin specifically as they both had the same childhood.

Because of the item description of Inseparable Sword we know that the twins were reviled by all save the GO as accursed beings. I take this to mean they were abandoned at birth or at least a very young age.

In canon I feel it's a bit hard to specifically say that Darian would've taken the brunt of any punishments or would gather food for them as one twin was always sleeping, but I feel Darian had buried his emotions in order to cope with their situation, where as Devin may have been more emotional.

In a headcanon where they're both awake at the same time, Isee Darian as the responsible one, deciding where to take shelter, or being the one to deal with others while protecting his brother.

As for their dedication for the Golden Order, I feel they were exposed at a very young age rather than when they became tarnished, most likely from a Confessor travelling to their land. From there they were probably brought up in the church and eventually trained specifically to become hunters under the tutelage of Gurranq.

Just the surface of my thoughts! Maybe I'll write a fic on this 🤔

[blaiddfailcam]

Marika and Radagon as two wills

What's intriguing about Marika and Radagon's dynamic is that it's not as simple as the two of them being a single shapeshifting character, or that Radagon was created by Marika to do her bidding. Rather, they appear to be two individuals born in two separate bodies, possessing two minds and two wills, locked in a battle of ideals even after fracturing into one being.

As Goldmask's final cogitation reveals in the Mending Rune of Perfect Order, the singular god embodied by the duo is perpetually vacillatory. Even as far back as the 2019 teaser trailer, Marika and Radagon are depicted not in cooperation, but in contest. With each drop of the hammer upon the Elden Ring, the two alternate their intents—Marika attempting to destroy Order, and Radagon to repair it.

Erstwhile, Marika and Radagon lead two separate lives, even if seemingly cooperating in a clandestine plot to immortalize the Age of the Erdtree. While Marika was married to Godfrey, Radagon fulfilled his role as conqueror of the Carian lineage, binding the moon and stars to the fate of the Golden Order. Though Marika was elected an Empyrean by the Two Fingers and ascended to godhood, Radagon was no more than a human champion descended from the dwindling monks who were tasked with guarding the giants' flame.

This dynamic is shared by an unusual pair of characters: the twins known as D. Darian and Devin are referred to as twins, sensing each other's shared existence, yet the two have never met nor spoken. Like Marika and Radagon, they occupy two bodies and two minds, yet they share one soul. Naturally, they were welcomed as servants of the Golden Order and adherants to Gurranq's hunt for Those Who Live in Death, an unsurprising detail given the god of the Golden Order is, like them, a singular entity in two bodies.

Unlike D, however, Marika and Radagon were ultimately in conflict.

As one god

Though the two of them married to produce Miquella and Malenia before fracturing into one, it would seem this was not out of any desire to share their godhood, but as a sort of gamble. Gideon Ofnir implores that Marika had devised a trap for the Tarnished, locking them in an eternal conflict under the false promise of becoming Elden Lord; Roderika is convinced that Marika cursed Hewg to forge an impossible weapon to slay a god, and begs you to kill her. What neither of them have learned is that Marika is already long dead, crucified and impaled on what appears to be a shard of Destined Death, while Radagon survives, preventing the Tarnished from instilling their vision upon the Elden Ring.

Though we never interact with Marika directly, one facet of her character that crops up in several instances is her anguish following the assassination of her son, Godwyn the Golden. It is mentioned briefly in Ranni's narration in the story trailer, and again in late-game dialogue with Gideon. What's more, Marika's Soreseal, found in Elphael, illustrates Marika's fate as a gnawing curse. Where Radagon is often spoken of as an unwavering zealot, Marika's faith is fleeting, collapsing all upon the Night of the Black Knives.

Could it be that Marika truly wished for an end to Order, and that her temporary exile of the Tarnished was a gambit to undermine the Greater Will? Did Radagon use this to his advantage, trusting the task of slaying the demigods and burning the Erdtree too lofty an ambition for a lowly warrior? Was Marika's offer to fuse with Radagon a means to restrain him within the Erdtree upon her death? Did Radagon agree to this purely so that he could become a god at last and achieve total order?

All things yearn to converge

A chief characteristic of the Golden Order is the ability to adapt the contrivances in the disparate philosophies and faiths of the Lands Between. This was, after all, Radagon's purpose for marrying Rennala and mastering glintstone sorcery before joining Marika. In a sense, Marika and Radagon could be utilizing this concept of adaptation to subvert each other's will, an irony that allows the Golden Order to sustain itself through contradiction.

Even if Marika sought to shed her curse as a slave to the Greater Will, her trespass was essential in generating the conditions that would sustain the Erdtree. On the contrary, Radagon becoming a god sealed his fate, granting the Tarnished a glimmer of hope that they might fulfill the false prophecy.

In the end, the destiny of the Lands Between rests entirely upon the shoulders of the fateless Tarnished.