#the brilliant goldmask

[velvet-apricots]

Uh….. I THINK SOMETHING IS WRONG HERE

[inbarfink]

[sharkchunks]

Selected artwork from the Elden Ring opening sequence

[artnoutdraws]

...

I draw way too slow in my opinion, so here's a quick (~ 1 hr) Goldmask I did earlier today

I forbid myself of doing line art, so it's kinda digitally painted, but not really

[mustyscrimblo]

ELDEN RING TWERK OFF MATCH 2

vote for twerkability not oomfability

[mister-killjoy]

Boys: Ranni, Frenzied flame, Fia...

MEN: ...

"If only I could be so grossly incandescent!"

[rominasaintofthebud]

arise, ye tarnished! will one of ye not match his freak?

[curlytsunamiart]

the ever brilliant goldmask

[wonderhecko]

ladies...if he's not ever-brilliant like goldmask, all-knowing like gideon, and your deathbed companion like fia... he's just loathsome like dung eater. don't make him the chieftain of your badlands x

[thegreateyeofsauron]

Arise now, ye Tarnished. Ye dead, who yet live. The call of long-lost grace speaks to us all. Hoarah Loux, chieftan of the badlands. The ever-brilliant Goldmask. Fia, the Deathbed Companion. The loathsome Dung Eater! Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-knowing! The Nefarious Anglerfish:

[beesmygod]

sir gideon ofnir: the all-knowing

the ever brilliant goldmask: the un-knowing

[darksouls2-gendercoffin]

it’s too late, Tarnished, I’ve already depicted you as the loathsome Dung-Eater and me as the ever-brilliant Goldmask

[tentacleteapot]

(TikTok text-to-speech voice) arise now, ye Tarnished! ye dead who yet live! the call of long lost grace, speaks to us all!

Howrah Lowx, chieftain of the badlánds! :)

The ever-brilliant Goldmask! 🌞

Fiya, the deathbed companion! 😴

The La-hoathsome Dung Eater! 😋🍽️

Sir Gideon Ovner, the all-knowing! 🧠

[bearenjoyers]

hoarah loux chieftain of the badlands the ever brilliant goldmask fia the deathbed companion the loathsome dung eater and sir gideon ofnir the allll knowinggg . and Meeee :3

[kdval]

"To think, that Radagon was Marika herself. How would such a thing even have been possible, I wonder."

ELDEN RING

› The ever-brilliant Goldmask

[miirshroom]

Renowned Tarnished and the Shardbearers they Champion

Why does the guidance of grace point towards the greatrunes, but also Millicent, Castle Sol, and Castle Morne? A process of elimination with the shardbearers philosophies and the renowned Tarnished of Elden Ring:

Firstly - ignore the Empyreans (and Rennala) for now. If Ranni is any example - the endings that align with their philosophies would have been something truly something unique. 

Secondly - assume that the endings are exactly as shown. The fractured and broken version of Marika is never repaired. The Elden Ring may be fixed, but she herself never is - in the four standard endings we become Lord to a dead god.

Mohg - Dung Eater - Mending Rune of the Fell Curse

Mohg revels in being an Omen. The Fell Curse aims to create a world where everyone lives a cursed existence. No notes. By which I mean, yes there is nuance to Mohg and I have many notes, but no I don't think it is needed context for this connection.

Morgott - Goldmask - Mending Rune of Perfect Order

Morgott is also called the veiled monarch, to hide that he is an Omen. Goldmask is hiding a frankly emaciated and undead looking face behind a brilliant mask of gold. Also notably, Goldmask is not aligned with the hunters of those who live in death. His goals and Fia's are not in opposition. Both Morgott and Goldmask see that there is an inherent problem with the Golden Order - but continue trying to prop it up by any means necessary rather than allowing for change to a new kind of Order. Marika is Radagon and we just killed them - god is dead, but let's put on a good face and pretend that all is well.

Godrick - Fia - Mending Rune of Death

This one is most easily understood through methods - they are both about reanimating corpses to restore a gruesome version of the Golden Lineage. Godrick grafts body parts onto himself with corpsewax. The yellow in the wings of Fortissax the lichdragon demonstrate that there is little difference between corpsewax, amber, and "gold". In all endings the rune of Destined Death is returned to the Elden Ring - but it's Fia's end that introduces the new centipede looking rune of Death. Those who live in death are exalted in the upcoming age.

Rykard - Sir Gideon Ofnir - Age of Fracture

They also actually have a lot in common, but it's subtle: Neither wants to restore the Elden Ring. Both are associated with orders of knights, both are only interested in prolonging combat. They've positioned themselves as arbiters of god's will - Gideon through claiming to know Marika's intent and Rykard through declaring himself a god wanting to devour and replace Marika. 

Radahn - Hoarah Loux - Relics of the Age of the Erdtree

It can't really be said that we meet "Radahn" in the game - his mind has long since been rotted away by Malenia. Similarly, when we first encounter Godfrey, his eyes have lost grace. He only regains the light of grace after the defeat of Morgott - who had been striving to prop up the failing Golden Order. Morgott is the face of the Golden Order as it is, and Godfrey the face of what it was at the height of its power. Also Radahn was said to idolize Godfrey, and they both have that lion theme. 

So, given that understanding of how we can unwittingly choose to side with various demi-gods through the renowned Tarnished, I think that the guidance of Grace has something to do with ideals. To fight any given shardbearer requires stepping into their domain - to consider the world from their point of view. Ideals are infectious - the act of engaging with them may be subtly influencing the perspective of the player Tarnished and impacting the ending that they choose to lock in.

This purpose would explain the presence of the 3 outlier guidance of grace: Millicent and Castle Sol are both important to understanding Malenia and Miquella's perspectives. Completing Irena's quest at Castle Morne is the mandatory first step in understanding the perspective that culminates in the Frenzied Flame. Which is also important to Miquella's - it is afterall his needle that can stop the frenzy flame ending. And for Melina, going through with the Frenzy Flame reveals a side of her that otherwise would not have been seen.