#the new shardbearers

[draconic-ichor]

The new Shardbearers:

Goddess of the Deep, Nenet

#wielding that Nox magic #girl boss #added a digital glow effect #the new shardbearers #elden ring oc #oc art #my art #this was like 98% sharpie and I almost died from the fumes

[tygertyger137]

Makes me sad that all the deaths and the large time frame that the Cosmere takes place on prevents a proper crossover.

If Dalinar had known Tindwyl all of Oathbringer would be 2 chapters bc the coalition of monarchs would have no choice but to listen to her

Imagine Mistborn and Windrunners flying around, showing the other the intricacies of how their flight works

Adolin, Elend, and Raoden would be the triumvirate of Good Boys while their slightly insane wives could get together and have tea or smthn

Lightsong and Wayne will never get to compete for title of Most Insufferable

Imagine Hrathen learning of the shards and varying religions of the Cosmere and having another crisis of faith

Imagine introducing Scadrians and Rosharans to Nalthis, a place that has Good Plants and Nature

Steris and Renarin bond over being autistic in a world that is hard to navigate even when you’re neurotypical

Combining fabrials and allomancy to give Mistborn a new type of flight

Syl being drawn to Vin for how similar she is to Kal (read: grumbly with a severe case of rbf)

Vin showing off her koloss sword to shardbearers

Rosharans seeing aviar and losing their minds over the variety of chickens

Rosharans seeing any animal that isn’t a crab or slug and losing their minds

#Cosmere #Cosmere crossover #cfsbf #Mistborn #Stormlight archive #Elantris #Warbreaker #sixth of the dusk #Mistborn era 1 #Mistborn era 2 #Kaladin #vin venture #brandon sanderson #Cosmere au

[catcas22]

I'm curious, you said that your views on Marika as a character had changed since you started writing Prince of Death. How do you view her now?

Hi, thanks for the ask!

This is going to be a bit unfocused, just warning you up front. I suppose it would be best to start with my initial impression of Marika.

On my first file I was going for the Ranni ending, so I spent a lot of time in Liurnia and got most of my lore from Ranni and Turtle Pope. My initial sympathies were very much with Ranni and Rennala -- so my initial takeaway was that Marika was a tyrant and Radagon was a zealot who chose his religion over his family.

As I gathered more information, I softened on Radagon a bit. He seemed to be an okay father, when he was around. His Liurnian family was clearly devastated to lose him, and Radahn and Rykard still held at least a modicum of respect for him. He was also apparently quite close with Miquella, so he can't have been all bad. As my perception of Radagon shifted from "heartless" to "spineless," Marika slotted neatly into a sort of "Lady Macbeth" role. At this point I assumed that the aims of the Greater Will were synonymous with Marika's aims, so I had the vague idea that Marika had called Radagon home because he was more easily controlled and less of a potential threat than Godfrey.

As I progressed into Altus, I learned about Morgott's childhood and heard Marika's "amounting only to sacrifices" quote from Melina. This solidified my view of Marika as a ruthless queen who saw her children as expendable pawns. While her shattering of the Elden Ring implies that she did feel a degree of attachment to Godwyn, abusive parents do typically have a favorite/golden child. At some point I also absorbed the theory that in calling the Tarnished, her aim was for Godfrey to kill the other shardbearers (or kill their killer) and then free her.

By the time I learned that Marika had been actively working to subvert the Greater Will, I "knew" based on the sacrifices quote that she must be doing it for selfish reasons -- someone who views her own children as expendable surely would never take such a risk for altruistic reasons. That's more or less where I was when I developed the premise for Prince of Death -- i.e., Marika seeking to free herself from the control of the Greater Will, and willing to throw anyone under the bus to ensure her own freedom.

Some time later I was talking lore with @maranull, and she pointed out that the sacrifices quote could be interpreted as a warning, not a threat. In other words, Marika isn't necessarily saying "Remain useful to me or I'll cut you off." She could also saying "Don't mess around with Outer Gods like I did, they'll throw you away as soon as you stop being useful."

This ambiguity opens up a myriad of new interpretations of my Marika data-points.

Was she working against the Greater Will out of pure self-preservation? Genuine remorse? Fear of her children getting chewed up by the cycle she had perpetuated?

Was she the one pulling Radagon's puppet strings? Seems less likely the more I learn. Was Radagon the heartless extremist I originally saw him as? Was he a weak-willed follower, but under the thumb of the Greater Will rather than Marika? Was he a handler meant by the GW to curb the increasingly rebellious Marika, or were they both forced into it?

Did Marika banish her omen sons willingly when the Crucible fell out of favor? Did the Greater Will order the purging of omen, and the best Marika could do was negotiate banishment instead of death for her sons? Did Marika purge the followers of the Crucible for strategic reasons, but couldn't quite bring herself to kill Mohg and Morgott?

Did she banish Godfrey because he was a threat, or because she wanted to preserve a potential weapon far beyond the reach of the GW? Was she already plotting to overthrow her own Order that early in the timeline? Did she know that potentially using Godfrey to slay the Elden Beast would necessitate the deaths of the other shardbearers, her children? Was that her plan all along, or a desperate last resort?

I'm still not sure where I land. She's certainly more complex than I originally gave her credit for. I think there's still a valid reading where Marika is working against the GW for her own sake, seeking to free herself before the cycle turns once more and she goes the way of the Fire Giants and the Ancient Dragons. I think there's still a valid reading where she played favorites with her children, discarding some and loving others only conditionally.

But there's also a valid reading where Marika cares deeply for her children despite her flaws, where she's trying with every means available to her to atone for her misdeeds. There's a valid reading where Marika wants to free the Lands from the GW for the sake of her children, even if that means sacrificing herself.

Honestly, I think both are compelling, and I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Marika was not a perfect mother, and she surely made some ruthless decisions where her family was concerned. But you have to stretch pretty hard to say that she didn't love her children, as flawed as that love might have been. Whether you choose to see her as an antihero or a tragic villain, it's the nuance and ambiguity that makes her character so compelling.

#elden ring #elden ring lore #queen marika the eternal #media literacy #it's hard sometimes

[onlycosmere]

 godofgrief: Any new ideas on who this is?

Johnny O'Neal (president of Brotherwise Games, LLC): I really love all the speculation in this thread, but I feel like I should point out that Brandon and I have both described Zellion as “a new character.” And while Brandon could always be keeping secrets from me, this Shardbearer doesn’t look big enough to be Dalinar.

One other note, though I don’t see anyone getting confused about this: The all-white blade is how Ben typically sketches swords in concept art, so don’t expect that to be a distinctive feature.

#the stormlight archive #kowt #stormlight 5 #cosmere future #zellion #cfsbf #brandon sanderson #root

[pocketramblr]

Au where cord is the carrier of the dawnshard instead of rysn?

1- when the ladies enter the cavern, Cord and Rysn both look around. Cord sees the mural first, and feels the command of Change ring in her ears. She describes what she felt to Rsyn as she collects the pieces of shardplate. When Nikliasorm finds them, they are together.

2- Rysn negotiates, all while pressing for more information about what Cord described, and realizes the other woman has the Dawnshard. Nikli suspects Rysn has it, and Rysn agrees "it is in our possession" to continue negotiating with some leverage. Cord, still taking the shardplate, is told that belongs to the one who guards the Dawnshard, and she'd take that role if she kept it. She looks at Rysn, speaks of wanting time to train and consider, and Rysn says she suspects they don't have any to spare her. Cord agrees.

3- before Rysn ends the negotiations though, she tells the truth: Cord has the Dawnshard, not her, but she believes the deal will work just the same: Cord can never bind a spren, but the alaii'iku had never really considered it. Cord will still wear the plate and stay with Rysn, Chiri-chiri, and the Sleepless, so the Dawnshard is still kept in the same group. Nikli sourly points out that trusting Rysn with the Dawnshard is not the same as trusting Cord, and the plate is meant for the protector. Cord is trusted to guard the pools, though, and says the person most kept safe by a set of plate is the person wearing it. (This is a fact that will work much better for her and Kaladin than it did Gav 1 lol) Besides, if the ancient powers seeking the Dawnshard know the plate belongs to the one it guards, they probably just see her and assume Rysn has it.

4- Still, now Cord can't leave. She wasn't going to return to the Peaks anyway, but she will never have the opportunity to shoot Nale in the face. She trains with the Sleepless instead, when Rysn isn't training them to mimic humans. Chiri-chiri adores her and if she isn't perched on Rysn, she's on Cord. When the party take the oathgate from Thaylena to Urithiru, Cord slips away from the meeting the Sleepless and Rysn have with Navani to speak to her father and twin brother. She tells them more of the truth, though not all - enough for them to put the pieces together. She is a bit upset by the two men's connection to tradition requirements of their birth- this is a woman who, on top of bathing in the perpendicularity of Cultivation and just generally wanted to be a shardbearer anyway and also now carries the divine command to Change, after all- but doesn't try to convince her father not to return, nor her brother to try to gain shard in her stead. For their parts, Rock is just enchanted by Chiri-chiri, and Gift is saying "so... after you returned to the ship with Rysn, colors were brighter and songs more beautiful? Uh huh, and how would you describe her again? Wonderful, huh?"

5- There is one other place that chafes Cord, when she bids her family farewell and leaves Urithiru with the group. That is Nikli, because he did keep doing things like ruining her food and framing her for disasters on the ship. Cord understands why he did it now, but that doesn't mean she likes it any, (and, for his part, he really does wish Rysn had gotten the Dawnshard instead, but when Cord asked if she could give it to her then, he refused so vehemently that half a planet away, Sigzil felt a chill go down his spine for no reason.) so it's awkward when they have to interact directly, which is a lot. This starts to get better one day when after he says something snippy at her, Chiri-chiri says "be nice!" Cord is like "you can talk?????" and is so excited to run to Rysn to tell her the news, Nikli caught up in the excitement behind her that he never realizes Rysn told Vstim the super secret truth minutes ago, since if Cord gets to tell her father then so does Rysn.

#Cord my beloved.... #corysn #also my beloved #number of gods that just kinda hang out around Rysn continues to grow huh #good for her #pocket talks to people #ask game #anon

[yolowritter]

A perspective on Gideon Ofnir part 2

Follow up post to this ramble about Gideon. I stand by what I said last time. Gideon Ofnir is a tired old man who is clearly losing hope in the Tarnished, and the Two Fingers that are meant to guide them. Again, he is completely right in the regard that all current Tarnished staying at the Roundtable Hold are just waiting for a miraculous savior to sweep in and take the throne, and none of them embark on the journey themselves. Rogier has even lost Grace, possibly because of abandoning this goal, even if the exact mechanics of "gaining" and "losing" Grace are complicated. Alas, not the point. Gideon quite literally has only Nepheli that he can trust in, and he does in fact send her after Godrick the Grafted, the weakest of the Shardbearers. Make no mistake, this in itself is a show that he's done taking risks, or perhaps is following the mission half-heartedly by now. Nepheli is very clearly an accomplished warrior, since she managed to get inside Stormveil Castle and slay a Banished Knight inside of a cramped room (anybody who has fought them in tight spaces knows it's not easy). She is his strongest piece on the board, and Gideon sends her for the Shardbearers' weakest. There is a clear reason why none of the people present at the Radahn Festival are acting for or on behalf of Gideon. Blaidd is there for Ranni. Alexander is there to prove his own worth in battle, nevermind that he isn't Tarnished to begin with. Okina is possibly there on behalf of Mohg, since he already had the Rivers of Blood, which we know lore-wise he got after submitting to the Lord of Blood. Lionel is already dead and under Fia's control by this point, as we find his body in Leyndell, and Therolina is a puppet acting on Seluvis' orders. He even gives the Tarnished her ashes as part of his quest. Tragoth is following his own interests and travels the Lands Between to help his fellows, without ever going to Leyndell except to assist the Tarnished in defeating the Draconic Tree Sentinel (assuming he's summoned to help). Gideon literally has no more capable warriors at his side, no possible hope of ever defeating someone like Radahn.

That's why he sends Nepheli for Godrick, who is the weakest in all aspects. He's the only Demigod Gideon thinks even she has any chance of actually defeating. (Side note that the Radahn Festival must have already happened hundreds of times, due to the relevant Jerren dialogue, so even that is a failed strategy until the Tarnished shows up.) And what happens when the Tarnished returns to the Roundtable with Godrick's Great Rune? With or without Nepheli at their side, Gideon happly welcomes them, sounding proud to call the Tarnished a true member of the Hold. The player character becomes his new hope, that just maybe, if he keeps us on the straight and narrow, we might just end this Age of Fracture and stagnation.

Right after this, Gideon immediately launches into a whole discussion about the other Demigods. Those whose locations he knows of at least, and the list of targets that the Tarnished can hit. He's impressed by the fact that a Shardbearer has finally fallen and immediately urges this newcomer to keep going, offering knowledge and explicitly warning them to stay far away from the Capital until they've collected at least two Great Runes, and are strong enough to challenge Morgott. And yes, I know that the barrier at Leyndell's gate is an in-universe story beat possibly erected after Vyke got jailed, but that's not relevant to Gideon. Of course he has his own agenda, everyone in the Roundtable does apart from Roderika. Hewg is hopelessly smithing away and wants to be freed, Rogier is investigating Death, Fia wants to get as much vigor out of capable champions as possible, and D to hunt down the Undead.

Gideon is perplexed by mysteries. He admits that he can never know everything, and yet relentlessly tries to increase and expand his knowledge regardless. He does do this behind the Tarnished's back by taking magic from the Demigods they defeat, but consider for a moment that Gideon has no reason to trust the Tarnished with something so important just yet. Before Leyndell, the newcomer is a hope, yes, but one just as liable to fail as all the rest. Gideon is expanding his pocketbook of spells in case he ever needs them, and because why not? He's clearly got the power to wield all this magic, and the Two Fingers even deemed him worthy enough to learn Lord Divine Fortification, an incantion built to negate holy damage. Why would he recieve this knowledge if not for the Fingers intending him to challenge Radagon at some point?

And even in the cases where Gideon has the Tarnished do his dirty work, it's never a demand or a threat. He's passive, content to watch, and aside from Ensha (who explicitly acts on his own), has no intention to attack us so long as we don't end up being a threat to him. Don't stab me, I don't stab you. Pretty simple stuff. Gideon searches for knowledge, and while the whose fiasco with the village of albinaurics is absolutely unethical and cruel of him to do, it only serves to point out that he considers finding Miquella (and therefore possibly understanding one of the people that perplex him) more important than the lives of people who lore-wise are "widely considered impure and graceless". It's obviously wrong, but Gideon values a way out of this stagnation more than anything. Again, the Tarnished is never forced to find Latenna, not to mention that if they do while also eventually going to Ordina, a whole new generation of Albinaurics can be born. Gideon simply considers the Tarnished as a comrade of sorts, hence why they are trusted with Latenna's possible location. Hence why he then shares his secret thoughts about Mohg and Malenia. Gideon only wanted the Tarnished to prove they were worth it, and they have. Alright, I'm going to stop here and continue in a third and final post talking about why I think Gideon betrays and battles the Tarnished in the Ashen Capital. There is no 100% clear answer, but again these posts are just my two cents. See you all soon!

#elden ring #gideon ofnir #elden ring character speculation #in-game character analysis #gideon posting #character analysis

[whatdoyoumeanitsnotcanon]

The Night's Calvary had always been a great asset to Morgott. They were loyal, and fulfilled their duties to the best of their abilities. He was always grateful for his mens' service, even more so now with his latest command for them.

Keep an eye on that Little Tarnished with the draconic eyes.

And keep an eye on her they did, reporting back to him what they could learn of her travels, her exploits, and whether or not she showed signs for heading straight for him the Erdtree. What surprised him though was that the Erdtree was not her main priority. Two other things were instead.

Shardbearers, no matter who or where they were, were clearly her targets. It wasn't long until after he ordered his men to track her did the news of Godrick's death reach his ears, in fact one of his men had borne witness to the entire battle, detailing how she went berserk after Godrick grafted the head of a slain dragon to himself, and had screeched insult after insult at him. Mainly screaming that he had not earned the right.

Her other priority however, seemed to be dragons. It was as if the moment she heard word of a dragon roosting anywhere, she would swiftly turn her focus to the beast and abandon whatever it was she had been doing beforehand. She even had begun making her way to Leyndell once, but immediately turned around to Raya Lucaria was word reached her that a dragon had nested next to the Academy.

It was after receiving that report that Morgott felt a wave of disappointment wash over him. One moment she was almost in his reach again, the next she was tearing a warpath towards a dragon's nest. He was so, so close to encountering her again, to making up for his failure on the bridge. Then that chance to permanently erase the image of those golden, slit eyes from his mind was ripped away from him because of some winged reptile.

Those eyes...Those eyes still lurked in his mind. If he shut his own, he could still see them. The image of them, glowing with fire refused to loosen its grip on him. Even worse, her eyes had begun to infect his dreams. But they were not being affected by the heat of battle. No, his dreams decide to make him wonder what would they be like if they held a different emotion inside of them. Fear, sadness, frustration, joy...

Perhaps even love and adoration.

Morgott shook his head to remove that thought from his mind, hoping it would never enter his imagination again. He turned his attention back to the report in front of him, the one detailing that the Tarnished was last seen near the dragon's nest. She hadn't slain it, yet. Perhaps she was preparing for the battle to come.

A battle she had chosen instead of him. -Artist Anon

.

#morgott x tarnished #yangott. #elden ring #elden crack. #no words. just read and simp.

[warsofasoiaf]

With her children now analyzed, could you please do an analysis on Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon?

Rennala is unique among the big-name Shardbearer bosses because unlike all of them, she has absolutely no godly power whatsoever. She's not a demigod, she has no link to the Elden Beast or any Outer Gods save perhaps that of the moon. She encountered the Full Moon while young, and later guided Ranni by the hand to encounter the Dark Moon. While she studies glintstone sorcery among other schools, she never amalgamates her head with glintstone in an attempt to harness the primeval current. Rather than having seized a Great Rune, it was given to her by Radagon, which she clings to tightly ever since her husband had abandoned her. Rennala is perhaps one of the most tragic figures when we find her at the top of the Raya Luceria Academy, broken by her experiences and wishing to birth the world anew as a surcease from pain.

By all accounts, Rennala was a capable ruler and wizard both. As a member of the Carian Royal Family, Rennala held both political and arcane power. When young, she learned the power of an "enchanting" moon, the Full Moon, and taught those Full Moon sorceries at the Raya Lucaria Academy. Lucaria also integrated trolls into their ranks by bestowing them knighthoods, affixing glintstone to their swords, and teaching them to cast sorcery. Similarly, Liurnia also allowed Albinaurics to establish a village, and they thrive relatively well until Gideon Ofnir shows up to destroy the place in an attempt to find the Haligtree Medallion. Liurnia was a powerful fief, skilled in war and wizardry, and they fought against the rising order. Rennala fought with Radagon and the Golden Order, who marched southwest from the Altus Plateau. There were two wars, according to the sword graves in Liurnia. The first's conclusion is unknown, all we know is that Radagon earned glory burning red as his hair. The second, however, we do know more about because it ended with Radagon repenting his aggression against Liurnia and marrying Rennala. This brought the war to an end and joined the two nations together. This action, as recounted by Miriel, Pastor of Vows, otherwise known as Turtle Pope, had profound implications on the metaphysical nature of the world. By cleansing oneself with Celestial Dew, a tear from the Eternal Cities, all sins could be absolved just as Radagon had done. Thus, the Golden Order strengthened itself and established itself as a significant ruling power by peacefully incorporating Liurnia, which appeared to maintain its own queen, into the realm.

This union was fruitful, and Rennala bore three children. As a mother, we can see that Rennala definitely encouraged Ranni to learn lunar sorcery much as she had. When defeated, she tells Ranni to "weave thy night into being," though as her fight is not really Rennala that might mean that she didn't actually say it or support Ranni's Age of Stars plan, though she also might. Rennala's relationship with her two sons is less clear - we don't have an explicit indicator of her encouraging any of their talents. We know, however, that Rykard did develop and learn new sorceries, taking after his mother, so it's possible that Rennala help to encourage and cultivate Rykard's own talent for discovering magic. Radahn, however, is a special case. He specifically learned gravity magic from an Alabaster Lord and studied in Sellia, far from Liurnia. This suggests that Radahn elected to take a different path, and given his idolization of his father and Godfrey, it's more likely that Radahn didn't have as close a relationship to his mother as did Ranni. Given the FromSoft use of lunar sorcery as a feminine one (Dark Sun Gwyndolin in Dark Souls is a key example), it's repeating a theme for Rennala and Ranni to both explore the magic of the moon (a player can use it whatever their gender, however). We simply don't know enough to know how Rennala raised her children outside of the short snippets we do have. Yet this happy golden age was not to last. After Godfrey lost the light of grace from his eyes after conquering Caelid, Marika took Radagon to be her Second Elden Lord. Radagon abandoned Rennala and wed Marika, leaving Rennala alone and heartbroken.

Without question, Rennala was absolutely devastated by being abandoned. She withdrew, obsessing over the Great Rune of the Unborn, and using "forbidden magics" to attempt to birth something anew. Exactly what is speculative, but I believe that Rennala is attempting to rebirth the world to reacquire what she has lost. She constantly attempts to rebirth her juvenile scholars, sometimes turning them into tombstones to throw at the player, but that is part of what makes them born anew according to her dialogue (unless she's just gone batty). The player, as a Tarnished, can be reborn, but Boc, the Seamster, if he attempts to rebirth himself, he gains a body and dies shortly thereafter. The rebirthing process is incomplete, but Rennala keeps persisting, hoping to correct it. Miriel speculates that Radagon's broken vow had its own powerful effects, just as swearing it did, though we don't see that reflected in gameplay, as you can attack someone, absolve yourself, and attack them again without a significant change or penalty; that's probably just a limitation of the engine. It's also possible however that Rennala sunk into depression - she loved Radagon and was heartbroken when he left, withdrawing from the world and trying to grasp for something, any desperate action to undo what happened and regain him. Anyone who has known someone with depression can perhaps see many of the coping mechanisms within the Queen of the Full Moon, diminishing her from her in her full glory and power. Rennala retreating from the world caused the academy to rebel, and they locked her away in the tallest tower, breaking the unity between Academy and the Carian Royal Family.

Rennala's absolute devastation at being abandoned by Radagon is, in true FromSoft fashion, delivered through gameplay and moveset. Rennala doesn't even bother fighting the Tarnished initially, she is wrapped up attempting to re-birth new juvenile scholars to better learn her Great Rune of the Unborn. This fight is a rehash of the Deacons of the Deep fight from Dark Souls 3, running to kill the correct target. Killing enough causes her barrier of light to break, allowing you to get hits in on Rennala herself. While the fracturing of Liurnia between the Carians and the Academy helped sell the idea that Rennala had retreated to the point where she could no longer be considered a leader, here its become truly apparent in a way that's impossible to deny. She will barely lift a finger to defend herself in this stage, and it honestly feels bad to beat Rennala down like this. Beating Godrick, the cowardly and brutal lord of Stormveil, was definitely a heroic act, and fighting Radahn was an act of mercy, but this just makes you feel low, like watching Great Wolf Sif when he has low health. The fight is easy, the Red Wolf of Radagon and even Moongrim, Carian Knight were harder fights than Rennala's first phase. Yet this is in service to the story, Rennala is wounded, no threat to anyone, and if it wasn't for the fact that you were trying to take her great rune she likely wouldn't have cared about your presence.

That changes with Rennala's second phase. Rennala still isn't defending herself, instead trying desperately to rebirth yet another scholar, but Ranni, attempting to defend her mother, summons a shadow phantasm of Rennala at her peak. This Rennala is nothing like the broken shell that you faced in Phase 1, this is a true wizard queen with mastery over multiple schools of magic. She starts by using the powerful Comet Azur spell, one of the most powerful sorceries in the game with a truly impressive stat requirement to even cast (60 Intelligence, or 24 Intelligence and Faith with the Sword of Night and Flame). She keeps up the pressure at a distance using glintstone spells and her own unique moon magic to keep the pressure on. As the fight progresses, she uses her own Spirit Bell to summon spirit ashes to protect her. Her attacks don't also mark her as different, her posture does as well. She stands straight-backed as she fires her spells - this is the Carian queen that became the governor of the Raya Lucaria Academy, who wrangled the Carian nobility in line, and who faced down Radagon, Champion of the Golden Order. For first-time players, this is everything made difficult and intimidating about the glintstone sorcerers in the Academy turned up to eleven - Rennala's missiles are faster as befits her status as a master magiciain.

After you defeat her, the Tarnished spares her, taking the Great Rune but allowing Rennala to use it to continue her process of rebirth whenever they're in the area. Rennala avoids a tearjerking end, unlike Great Grey Wolf Sif, and remains to rebirth the player using the Great Rune. Unfortunately, we can't see Rennala getting any better, she never progresses or changes her dialogue the way we see with other questlines, or even the slight changes in tone as we see with the Fair Lady in Dark Souls 1. Unfortunately, the loss of Radagon was something that Rennala couldn't recover from, whether that was from the breaking of the supernatural oath, which is odd since Radagon was the one who broke the oath so he should probably be the one suffering the consequences (but he also has his own weird metaphysical strangeness with his being), or just the more mundane tragedy of losing the one you love is simply left for discussion. But the rich worldbuilding with Rennala and Caria make her a worthy addition to Elden Ring, a great second boss for the characters. Liurnia as a region offers a lot of memorization slots for spells, and Rennala acts to showcase what a true magic boss can do, mixing spells in to force movement and catch players unaware as they level up and progress in Elden Ring.

Thanks for the question, George.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

#elden ring #elden ring rennala #character analysis

[mrslittletall]

Hm, so in our Discord we were disappointed about Varre's quest and that it is wasted potential and I might have found out just why it is like it is. Why do we join Varre's cult only to betray him and kill Mohg? Well, when I went back to Roundtable Hold after getting a few Great Runes Gideon had new dialogue and he talked about the four unknown shardbearers. Ranni the Witch, Malenia and Miquella and the Lord of Blood. He gives you information and then asks you to give information in turn when you find something out. When you follow Varre's quest, you can give Gideon information about the Mohgwyn Dynasty. So, the idea actually is, that your Tarnished acts as spy. Get close to Varre, do what he wants, get recruited into the blood cult and then take the place apart to get Mohg's Great Rune. That explains why you can invade and kill Varre and why he is so offended of your betrayal. Your Tarnished in the story never intended to join the blood cult, they just wanted the Great Rune of Mohg! I still would have loved to have a Lord of Blood ending, but at least this explains the whole Varre quest...

#elden ring #elden ring spoilers #varre #varre quest

[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.

#elden ring #elden ring lore #media analysis #I see a lot of people get Goldmask wrong - fyi he's an old man following old rituals and not some kind of revolutionary #And others being literally like Gideon when they conclude that it is impossible to ever really understand the plot #Radahn is praised as noble even though his philosophy is equivalent to 'beating a dead horse' #Almost nobody self-identifies as a Dungeater but they're out there #Also spotted another iteration of the Wizard of Oz reference with Fia (Dorothy) / Rogier (scarecrow) / D (tinman) / Lionel (lion)

[eldenlordofdragons]

Up in the Erdtree

"FIE!"

Morgott's arm lowers, brow twitching as his eyes flit to the side. With Perona's leg stuck beneath his foot, he had been primed to send her back to the Grace. But when a new voice shouted out the command, an instinct seized his arm, his body to follow. Sneering down at the tiny cleric, he turns to face the source.

And just like that, the battle's mood lifts entirely as Morgott's sneer uncurls into a torrent of emotion. Surprise, fading into heartache, wistfulness... Anger? Self-doubt? Guilt?

A stranger to those, she isn't. Even Morgott is aware of this, yet he stayed his hand from reaching out. After all, when has he ever been one to open up to anyone, let alone a child alike to him in a lifetime of suffering?

Her head lifts and follows his gaze, eyes widening at the roar of a great beast.

Approaching from the great stairway is a hulking man. His hair and beard white as the snow of the snowfields where the Albinaurics greeted her, his aged skin wrinkles with a determined scowl. From the way his regalia make him look beyond huge to the way he grips the mighty greataxe, clearly this man is very important.

Then her heart leaps, seeing the beast perched atop his shoulders. For a moment she recalls Gurranq, letting her scratch his chin despite being grumpy. But this one is different - far more so, having a golden glow where Gurranq's very aura gave her a scent and visions of death itself.

"... Father..." Morgott mutters, eyes drooping as he absentmindedly lifts his foot, freeing Perona to back up as he walks forward, soon dropping into a kneel. "... Welcome back, Elden Lord-"

"My boy, please."

The Elden Lord waves the words off entirely, rushing towards the Omen. Once a few steps away he drops the greataxe, reaching forward and dropping onto his own knees, pulling Morgott into an embrace. Almost comically Morgott's bones creak along a constricted exhalation of breath. Even the beast softens, licking him atop the head.

"Father, please..." Morgott attempts to shy away, a motion sadly granted, as the Lord's scowl hath faded into deep sorrow.

"Thou hath not a clue, how blessed I feel to see thee alive and in the light, my dear son," He expresses. "The sewer gaols have held thee too long - such suffering endured without meaning." A large hand lifts and pats Morgott's shoulder in fatherly love. "But that will be all. Thou hath done enough for the Erdtree - for the Elden Ring."

Swallowing, Perona watches this unfold. Has she been fortunate enough to witness the fight being dismantled, or perhaps she will have to fight that man, too? After all, in order to claim the Elden Ring for Miquella... What else is there to do? Does she really have to kill someone aside from the shardbearers?

As though responding to her thoughts, the Elden Lord picks up his head, looking towards her. At first he narrows his eyes, as if scrutinizing every detail. Just as it would reflect the expressions of many she had seen before that have treated her with scorn, he reaches an arm out, the beast looking towards her as well.

"Serosh, tend to her."

An uneven shriek as she backs up further, watching the lion - Serosh, was it? - hop off his shoulder and approach her. At first he's steadfast, intentional in each pace... But then he pauses just short of her leg, sniffing. Watching her curl up in a ball he steps forward once more, lightly nudging her with his nose. When he takes a few sniffs, his overall demeanor shifts, and he nudges her again, letting out a chuff.

"Ah. So it is then..." Her head rises when the Lord speaks once more, whom is now on his feet, slowly approaching. He raises a hand gently when she yelps, attempting at standing once more. "... A Tarnished, aye?"

Swallowing, she looks between him and Serosh a moment, before nodding.

Sighing, he looks towards the Erdtree. "My dear Marika..." Shaking his head he returns his gaze to Perona, kneeling down. "T'is a pleasure, lass. What is thy name?"

"... Perona..." She trembles. "P-Perona, Champion of... Abun-a-aa-... Abun-dance..."

"I see." He reaches a hand towards her leg, noting the tenderness where Morgott had pinned it. "... Thou hath been through a lot, aye? Thou must be an exceptional young Tarnished." Then he glances toward the Erdtree once more. "... If it is thine wish to wrest the Elden Ring, then I will giveth to thee one final courtesy, young one."

Stepping back, he extends an arm towards it, much to Morgott tensing and becoming visibly agitated.

"... Go forth. If thine contest ends in thy failure, I will take the throne as is my duty, and thou shalt be honored for thine courage."

"Father!" Morgott barks. "What art thou saying to this... tarnished? Hath thou forgotten why she hath risen from her grave?"

"... If she wins, Morgott, she is worthy. If she does not, t'is not mine wish to lay harm to a child." He scoops Perona up into his hand, walking towards the stairwell leading up to the thorns, prying open in anticipation for her.

"Go forward, Perona, cleric beloved by the gods. May thine strength shine true."

#holy shit serosh is huge even compared to him wtf #I can't write any characters canon cause I say fuck the canon so much #it's fine right? #my drabble #perona and morgott #perona and godfrey #and then miquella shows up after the Elden Beast is dead and just goes 'deuces' #and becomes the new god #hehe

[draconic-ichor]

The new Shardbearers:

Matilda the Severed Hand

#holy magic battle #would definitely float around the battlefront #love the idea of her screaming/crying as an attack #Matilda #elden ring art #oc art #my art #omen oc #the new shardbearers

[thunderin-brainstorm]

NEW ZELLION LORE HES A SHARDBEARER

#zellionsweep #zellion #cosmemes #cremposting #stormlight archive #I CANT BELIEVE WERE GETTING THIS MUCH I THOUGHT HED BE A SILHOUETTE FOREVER

[allknowingofnir]

Gideon's head turns slightly to the left while he and Ensha are swapping places, and is met by the mostly obscured face of a woman. Only a single, bloodshot eye and messy raven-black hair are unimpeded by cloth coverings.

"You are a researcher, yes? I do apologize for coming uninvited, but I sought you out for your knowledge, as these lands are a new field of learning for me. Do you have any idea what properties of gravel stone cause lightning to strike the area where they shatter? I understand they come from lightning-wielding dragons, but that isn't a satisfactory answer"

@the-azure-witch

Gideon considers a moment. Not his most well read subject given his focus on the Shardbearers, but he considers.

"It's nothing hard writ about it, but... that final thought might provide some hint to the phenomenon. Not that it's just 'spooky ghost dragon powers' at work, but lingering potent lightning magic may have some reactionary force, dealing with the charge of the area it lands upon? Perhaps some manner of stored power within them being released, the reaction being the lightning. That or it is spooky ghost dragon powers at work and its the memory of ancient dragons calling their power back to shattered scales. Or worse... it could be both."

Ensha writes that down in an empty tome ready for scrawling. The working title is 'Blatherings of A Busybody'.

#just ensha things #the-azure-witch

[prismatic-starstuff]

I wanna write something about my Tarnished, Manaka, from the perspective of a Tarnished actually going through NG+... ish. With a twist. And some extras.

It'd start perfectly normally; a Tarnished - a young samurai woman from the Land of Reeds, our heroine, who died in an unfortunate incident by falling off a cliff just after getting acknowledged as a fully fledged samurai - rises in the Lands Between. She's wide-eyed and cheerful and idealistic... but this takes multiple hits as she goes about the task that's been assigned to her. She defeats many souls she admired, many people she cared for, many who her heart broke for; by the time she's standing before Radagon within the Erdtree, she's already in a state of mourning. She takes the throne and become Elden Lord—

—and she rises in the Lands Between. ...This is familiar to her. She travels out into Limgrave and to her horror, no-one recognises her. She does the same things she did before, with the knowledge she didn't have before, but no-one knows her. This... takes a toll on her mind. She begins to question reality. She kills people to see if they come back again. She inherits the Frenzied Flame. She invites chaos to take the world—

—and she rises in the Lands Between. She realises it's a pattern. She retraces her steps to do the things she didn't do before. She becomes consort to Ranni and ushers in an Age of Stars, one that the world has never seen before—

—and she rises in the Lands Between.

Many times she wakes, and many things she does. Her idealistic innocence is gone, her grip on reality is secure once more; she's now just... going through the motions.

She's looking at everyone she wants to save. And, despite everything she's been through, that is still everyone.

And when she returns to fight Radagon in the Erdtree once more, he's waiting for her. This is new; something that hasn't happened before.

'No-one questions it, do they? How the world goes around and around... How we art living the same days, time and again.' The truth is, though, Radagon remembers every time he's met Manaka. Every time he's killed her. Every time she's come back. Every time she's killed him. Every time she's come back. But, there's a way to break this cycle... Once the chosen Tarnished has done everything they can, every path that's been set out for them, maybe there's a way for them to choose their own path.

But, for now... they'll have to fight again.

Manaka and Radagon clash once more. She prevails, over him and the Elden Ring's vassal.

She replicates their Remembrance before she takes the throne again.

She rises in the Lands Between.

Radagon is with her, in the form of that horrendous sword the Elden Beast brandished.

And this time, she is able to make her own choices. She is able to gather all the shardbearers, bring peace to them all, right all that's gone wrong and settle things with the knowledge she's gained from her multiple times doing this.

With the Elden Ring truly repaired, things are different. The Elden Beast is defeated, and the fight is taken to the Greater Will itself; and with so many banding together against it, that which was thought impossible is made possible. The Lands Between can know peace from its eternal reign.

Manaka takes the throne once more, with those who she admired and who she cared for and who her heart broke for there to see it.

And she doesn't rise again; she just lives out her days, along with everyone else.

#etienne talks about their ocs #ocs: manaka the tarnished

[theslowesthnery]

Just saw the comment about Vyke having gotten 2 Great Runes, and Gideon has mentioned "Hey you gotta get a Great Rune before I'll be even remotely nice to you, nerd."

I gotta wonder...where are they finding all these Great Runes??? The only ones we find in game are those held by direct relation to either Merika or Radagon. How many Great Runes were there in the past?

Who held them?

And where the fuck did those Runes go????

Do they kinda vanish when they become awakened and merge with a new host? Cuz your character can slap them on and off like a hat.

Does the game still work on separate world states like Dark Souls, where you meet up on occasion when they intersect? Is the Roundtable Hold the connection between them? Does everyone have to fight their own Goddrick? Or were there other Shardbearers just stomping around that we have no idea about?

I NEED EXPLANATIONS!

i know right?? i've had that exact same thought myself. like how fucking many great runes were there originally, and where (or from whom) did vyke and all the others who have runes (because i doubt your tarnished and vyke were literally the only ones to ever manage to collect any) get them? and does vyke, for example, still have his? you sure don't any great runes from defeating him, so one might assume from that that he doesn't have them anymore, but if he doesn't, who does?

and also, morgott and mohg's great runes are said to be so similar because they're twins, which, like, how exactly does that work? did they just instinctively pick up similar runes, or do the runes change shape based on their bearers? or were the runes somehow "assigned" to specific bearers at, say, said bearers' birth? did morgott and mohg just fucking split a rune??

#elden ring for blacklist