MiiRshroom

Environmental Storytelling: - Introduction to Reading the Environment - Impaler's Catacomb - Church of Irith - Light and Shadow in Leyndell // Queen's Bedchamber Walkway - Suppression Pillar and Fort of Reprimand - Mushroom Vision // Rebirth Monuments // Fire Monk Camp - Red Flesh and White Flesh Mushrooms - Belurat Weeping Tree Courtyard - Belurat Evergaol 1 // Belurat Evergaol 2 - The Candle Tree Prophesies

Thematic Examinations: - The Cracked Pot - Renowned Tarnished and the Shardbearers they Champion - Tarot: The Fool's Journey - Miquella and Judgement Tarot - Elemental Allegory Hypothesis - The Round Table Hold and the Octave - "Shrive Clean the Hearts of Men" (an Ansbach analysis) - Abusurdist Art, Anti-Art, and Meaning - Concept of the Shadowlands as a Realm of the Dead - The Omen Curse as a Metaphor for Inbreeding - Wings and Flight - Maliketh's Black Blade - Nanaya 1 // Nanaya 2 // Midra

Literature comparisons: - Narcissus and Echo - Loki Influences on Radagon - Wheel of Time 1 // Wheel of Time 2 // Wheel of Time 3 - Tolkein's Legendarium - Realm of the Elderlings - Curse of Chalion 1 // Curse of Chalion + RotE - Mercedes Lackey Mage Winds - JoJo Reference - Rush, Freud, and Test for Echo - Leda and the Swan - Gideon Ofnir and Beatlemania - Grynn, God of War - Dragonlance - Fort of Reprimand - Back in Black - The Silence of the Lambs - Thoughts about the Blood Star

Shadows of Amber

Since I first started looking into the history of FromSoftward games it has been baffling to me that people see that Patches is multi-versal and assume "nah, this means nothing except that FromSoft like the character". Particularly in Elden Ring Patches is also the only merchant who sells both Furlcalling Finger Remedies and Festering Bloody Fingers. Summoning and being summoned across a multiverse is implied to be a type of magic studied and refined in the Lands Between. And then became expressed as phantoms being summoned across different player "shards" after the Elden Ring was shattered.

Fortunately, I finally followed up on a recommendation recently to read "Nine Princes in Amber" by Roger Zelazny, and have a better idea of the mechanism for the multiverse.

A multiverse is not the same thing as a "connected universe". It's parallel worlds where the average person living in them perceives their reality as the only one and would have no reason to believe or care about the parallel worlds if not for the incursions by multiverse travellers. If authors are responsible for creating worlds, then player who experiences multiple fictional worlds IS a multiverse traveller, as are the game designers.

For example, in "Nine Princes in Amber" the royal princes of Amber are able to travel to other worlds that are "shadows" or "mirrors" of the realm of "Amber". The princes are virtually immortal (unable to die of old age but can suffer fatal injury), view all of the Shadow Worlds as their personal playgrounds, and even create entire shadow worlds to rule over. Objects that are carried between worlds tend to shift in form unless the reality traveller concentrates on having them keep their expected shape, including the clothing that the characters are wearing. Similar to the Infinite Improbability Drive on the Heart of Gold spaceship in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, for another touchpoint. This whole gimmick is explained and demonstrated within the first 60 pages of the book.

The book doesn't start in Amber and instead starts in 1970's Earth - which is one of the Shadow Worlds - with amnesiac protagonist Corwin, who was dumped on Earth in the Elizabethan Era after losing a duel and then caught the plague and lost his memory. Went by the name "Corey" similar to the version of Patches in DS2 taking the name "Pate", and then "Lapp" in DS3 who is Patches either feigning or actually having amnesia.

What if a multiverse traveller could only half-remember how to walk between the Shadow Worlds due to amnesia, and ended up in a world that overpowered their self-image and turned them into a spiders man like Bloodborne Patches? Or, what if the same people just take a different form across the multi-verse like that? The spider-verse comic series started publication in January 2014, a year before the release of Bloodborne.

Corwin before the amnesia was notably cruel to the people of the Shadow Worlds he created. Because they are only shadows, they were practically NPC's to him compared to the people who populate the real City of Amber. He's a manipulative bastard again after regaining his memory but noted to be more mellow after spending time on Earth according to people who knew his old self, which goes to show how low the bar was set in the beginning.

Also, as I mentioned in my last post speculating about Ymir, I suspect that there's a tarot theme to him. This is also a point in common with the Princes and Princesses of Amber who are each associated with a tarot trump card - Corwin's trump is that of "Death", for example. In fact, I learned about this book and the Chronicles of Amber series as a comment response after I previously pulled together a collection of tarot references in Elden Ring and other FromSoftware games.

Ymir as a Glam Rock Icon

The thing that I've noticed with the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is that it is less subtle about signposting the pop culture references that inspired various characters and storylines. This reminds me greatly of a novel that I've been reading recently - The Armageddon Rag released by George R R Martin in 1993. I also went through another example previously about how JoJo's Bizarre adventure is the key to understanding Hornsent Grandam as the Shadow version of Finger reader Enia.

For one example, when Ymir says "Long ago, we began as stardust, born of a great rupture far across the skies." one way to interpret this is a reference to JJBA Part 3: Stardust Crusaders. As mentioned at the above link, Stardust Crusaders itself had a tarot theme and is the part of the series that first started to heavily incorporate references to English language musical acts.

For another example, I was scrolling through NPC face data for Shadow of the Erdtree and landed at Ymir. And realized that I've never looked closely at his face during that villainous breakdown. The guy has face makeup that would not be far out of place for The Crow. And if not, then it's a KISS reference. Honestly, I'm going through both because why not.

The Crow is a movie released May 10, 1994 with the plot "a rock musician is resurrected from the dead to seek vengeance against the gang who murdered him and his fiancée." The 1996 and 2000 sequels also follow the template of a man and his girlfriend both dying and then the man is resurrected to avenge the death of the lady. I also learned that the makeup for the Crow character was actually more inspired by kabuki theatre masks (the long vertical lines across the eyes and beyond edges of the lips), so that's neat.

Images from "The Crow", and "The Crow: Salvation" On the other hand, KISS is a rock band and I've checked before for cases where album release dates have notable overlap with the releases of FromSoftware games - especially for The Beatles. And I get a match with 3rd album "Dressed to Kill" released March 19, 1975 - sharing a release date with Armored Core: For Answer (2008). So here there is an even deeper connection to Patches. AC:4A was the first appearance of Patch the Good Luck, and Patches in these games could be described as the Trickster aspect of the Greater Will / Odin. Ymir is himself a priest of the Greater Will, symbolized the circular void in his hat. There's also a match between 7th album "Dynasty" and FromSoft's Lost Kingdoms 2 which was released May 23, 2003. Breakout single from this album was "I was Made for Loving You".

Image from the first KISS album, where the eye makeup on Ymir most resembles an upside-down version of "The Demon" character makeup

And now hang on a minute. There's a 1980 DePalma film titled "Dressed to Kill", and it belongs to a particular set of films that have the unfortunate combination of being both critically acclaimed and perpetuating transphobia through their depictions of psychotic transvestites and cross-dressers. Two of the other most prominent examples being "Psycho" and "The Silence of the Lambs" which I already covered in a separate post also connected to Ymir. DePalma also came up as the director of The Phantom of the Paradise, which does both a Psycho shower scene parody and a glam rock parody. The Phantom of the Paradise was filmed from November 1993 to January 1994, which does make it feasibly that "the Undeads" are explicitly a parody of KISS. The band was already performing in stage makeup in 1973 prior to the release of their debut album in February 1974.

The role of "the Undeads" in "The Phantom of the Paradise" is to perform a musical number summoning up a Frankenstein's monster to the stage - a singer with stage name "Beef" who has been manufactured by the record company to sing the songs written by the Phantom in the new and trendy glam rock style.

"The Undeads" and "Beef"

The Cathedral of Manus Metyr via Bloodborne

The story of Frankenstein is embedded deep in the subtext of Bloodborne.

Bloodborne is easier to understand as a whole after sorting out how the entire timeline maps to the Astral clock. All of Yharnam is structured as a closed time loop. The player is given the blood in Iosefka's clinic around about 9 pm. Perhaps 9:34pm exactly as that's the time when the real clocktower stopped. This kicks the player back to earlier in the evening around 5'o'clock to start experiencing the first perspective as a compatriot of Father Gascoigne. And this perspective incepts the idea that carries through the rest of the game that there are "beasts all over the shop".

So that by the time of the next perspective encompassing Byrgenwerth there is already an inclination to view people as something "other" but this second perspective has a more vivid imagination to see serpents tempting them from pursuing studies (the Shadows of Yharnam), and then perceives fellow students as frenzied mad scientist flies or hivemind colonial organisms. ROM the vacuous spider is analogous to a corpse being dissected for knowledge, and analogous again to a "body of work" such as the written work of a person who cannot be asked directly what they were thinking. Like Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", an enduring idea that has inspired countless other stories despite the relative clumsiness and lack of sophistication when compared to modern science fiction. For example: she inspired the LYNX pilot named Mary Shelley in Armored Core 4.

By the time the Hunter reaches the endgame two back-to-back bosses are: 1) Human Man Micolash "Host of the Nightmare" who laments his "beastly idiocy", and 2) Invisible multi-armed crow entity whose shape is defined by the cloak it wears and scythes it wields. The player sees a Nightmarish monster because they are seeing the perspective of the mind that "hosts" the "Nightmare of Mensis". If the player could instead understand the perspective of the human person psychosomatically represented by the invisible multi-arm crow, then by the dream logic rules of Bloodborne they would at the same time perceive the Human Man as a beast.

This Nightmare of Mensis provides another perspective on Frankenstein, where both the One Reborn and the Brain of Mensis can be identified as a product of Frankenstein-like mad science. In particular, the Brain of Mensis retains the frenzy property of the mad scientist flies from Byrgenwerth.

As I mentioned near the beginning, one of the traits that differentiates Ymir from Patches is how they express faith. Patches the Untethered acts as though he believes that nothing is sacred, flitting from faction to faction, thieving and scheming and hawking his wares. Ymir delivers devout speeches like this: "We, too, are children of the Greater Will. Is that not divine? Is that not sublime? ...and yet, none can fathom its implications, its utter brilliance!". And there is in fact one version of Patches who echoes these sentiments: Patches the Spider from Bloodborne.

"What a joy it is, to behold the divine. It must be such a pleasure. You're in my debt, you know. You're in nigh on a beast of the field, but here you are, treading a measure with the gods....Oh, cease this dithering! Take the plunge! Throw yourself to the wolves!...Heh heh heh...Don't dally, you lucky scamp! The gift of the godhead cometh!"

What this amounts to in Elden Ring is that in the Shadowlands the player sees Metyr from a perspective looking through the same lens as Ymir. Metyr appears as a grotesque alien entity because she's just so far evolved beyond Ymir's experience after arriving so much later than he did. If the player could see Ymir from the perspective of Metyr, they might possibly perceive him as....a spider. Literally a spider with many crawling legs. A spider responsible for spinning a web of word strings. By which I mean I did an exhaustive evaluation of anagrams in the base game of Elden Ring, and then discovered Manus Metyr to be the focal point in the DLC via the anagram of "Ymir" and "Miyr".

Conclusion

So, to recap the main points:

Multiverses are in fact a feature explored in acclaimed novels throughout the fantasy and sci-fi genres. Dark Souls, Bloodborne, and the Shadow of the Erdtree may be contextualized as all being shadow worlds of the Lands Between which is the source of "Amber".

Ymir expresses a glam rock connection via the visuals of the game, while multi-verse traveller Patches may be perceived as having a glam rock connection via the paratext.

The setpiece of the Cathedral of Manus Metyr makes a hell of a lot more sense in the context of how Bloodborne plays with the concept of infecting the player with "perspective" exaggerated to the point of perceiving other people as monsters.

Where does amber typically come from?

The vast majority of world amber deposits (90% of world supply) is Baltic amber from west Prussia and Lithuania, which originated from conifers of the family Sciadopityaceae. The only living representative of this family is the Japanese umbrella pine, Sciadopitys verticillata. Added to this, FromSoftware have already touched upon the concept of "resin" before in a previous game: in Dark Souls "pine resin" is a material used to apply elemental damage to weapons. Similar to the function of root resin in crafting various greases.

In Elden Ring "Root Resin" is found at the great tree roots below the Minor Erdtrees, and yet neither the Minor Erdtrees or the Erdtree are styled as a pine tree. Typically, trees that produce resin can produce it at any point on the surface where the tree is wounded - Resin being a thicker substance distinct from sap. The overall implication being that the Erdtree is a pine tree dressed up as a deciduous tree by grafting on various branches and leaves. In fact, this could well explain something that has always been an oddity about the Erdtree, which is how does it produce so many different colours of amber? It could be that the roots produced one type of resin, while various grafted branches produce the other colours. And then the tree stopped producing anything because it died under the burden of its wounds from grafting on incompatible trees. The visual of the root resin resembles one of the typical colours of unpolished baltic amber in colour and texture.

Two possibilities for the Crimson Amber medallion. Firstly, it could be again baltic amber of the cherry red variety (as pictured with the bracelet). However, another possibility is Mexican red amber. This also would have a tie-in with the iconography on the medallion, which resembles a stylized poinsettia flower in the +3 version.

Cerulean Amber medallion would be alluding to fluorescent blue Dominican Amber from the Hymenaea protera, a legume tree. Living trees of this genus tend to produce fleshy fruits with multiple pits inside a hard shell, for which a cross section cut through one of these legume fruits would somewhat resemble the motif at the centre of the talisman. For one example, the pulp of the "honey locust" or "stinky toe" fruit is very fibrous and extends in rays from the central pits. Blue amber may also be found in Mexico and Indonesia, from other Hymenaea species.

Actually, thinking about this further, being a legume the Hymenaea belongs to the same family as the plants that produce peas. One of the early lines of dialogue from Roderika: "Oh, you've come to be one with the spider? Well, that makes us two peas in a pod". The green clasp on Roderika's cloak is similar to the colour of viridian amber. The design of the Crysalid's memento also has a faint resemblance to the design at the centre of the Cerulean talisman.

The viridian amber medallion would similarly be alluding to the fluorescent green Chiapas amber found in Mexico, or again to green Dominican amber. In fact, the motif on this particular talisman also supports a connection to Mexico as the prominent interweaving roots resemble those of the mangrove tree. Mexican amber from the extinct Hymenaea mexicana is noted to preserve a mangrove forest ecosystem.

So interestingly, the overall theme with these medallion talismans alludes to them being sourced from Mexican amber. And while that may seem an odd theme to pull into the generally European-ish setting of Elden Ring there are a few factors to consider:

Central Mexico was once the heart of the Aztec empire. The feathered serpent Quetzalcoatl is one of the important gods of the Aztec pantheon along with his twin brother the canine god Xolotl. Quetzalcoatl is attributed as a creator god who made mankind, and Xolotl as a psychopomp and god of death, lightning, deformity, and misfortune. The feathered serpent motif appears in Elden Ring on the brass shield and in the statues in volcano Prison Town, and Maliketh expresses traits of Xolotl - dog-headed, eyeless, occasionally wields his weapon in his mouth. That last trait is also repeated in the location of the Cinquedea, which is found positioned between the jaws of a dog statue laying on the ground.

Xolotl is also sometimes represented as a skeleton, which suits both the skeleton aesthetic of the beastmen of Farum Azula, but ALSO the Death Knights who hold the highest tier versions of the amber medallions. Both beastmen and the Death Knights wield lightning.

Radahn aimed to "stop the stars" and what he was holding back turned out to be a meteor strike. In the late 1970's Father-Son duo Luis Walter Alvarez (physicist) and Walter Alvarez (geologist) proposed that the extinction of the dinosaurs in the late Cretaceous - the K-Pg extinction event - was due to a meteor impact based on a geological layer with abnormally high Iridium levels. In the early 1990's the Chicxulub impact cracter in the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico was identified as the likely location of the crater.

There are sunflowers in Elden Ring, both in the base Lands Between and in the Shadowlands. Sunflowers are native to North America and were cultivated as far south as northern Mexico. Crop breeds were introduced into Europe in the 16th century, which is roughly the same time period that the cinquedea was fashionable in Renaissance Italy.

Shades of yellow are actually more difficult to pinpoint, as it's more commonly found across multiple places worldwide. While it would be easy to simply assume them to be Baltic Amber as well, the texture of the nodule on the Prince of Death Staff may imply that at least this one is something different.

Yellow Amber of the Prince of Death Staff = Frankincence resin

But then, Frankincence is brittle and not likely to achieve a high gloss when polished. Based on the Etsy listing, the above example of beads I suspect was made by melting down the resin and reconstituting it into balls, and even then it's still quite cloudy. For the Blessed Dew and Lord's Bestowal Talisman they are again a very good match for the "honey" variety of Baltic amber, which is the most common:

Or again for the similar colour of Dominican and Mexican Amber:

On the other hand, it's possible that none of these sources serve as the explanation for Rennala's egg itself. But I did have an idea on where to start learning about the types of amber that are particularly valued not for appearances but for having inclusions of scientific value.

The (likely) Amber sources for Jurassic Park

The theme of the sorcerers of Raya Lucaria is that "Intelligence" is linked to ideas based on natural science that are explored in fantasy/sci-fi works. Jurassic Park was released as a book in 1990 before being released as an action thriller blockbuster movie in 1993.

So, I looked up "What was the source of the amber used in Jurassic Park". Because I presume that's the inspiration for Rennala rebirthing scholars from an amber egg - like extracting DNA and reconstituting it to resurrect something dead. Actually, the longer I thought about it, the more circumstantial evidence points to the amber egg being used as a DNA source.

In retrospect doesn't Astel resemble "Mr. DNA" from the movie? A bunch of colourful balls stringed together. I came across a note during research that "bastard amber" is a name given to opaque amber - like the type of amber seen in Astel's tail and its name of "Naturalborn of the Void" meaning "Bastard", as also reinforced by the weapon "Bastard's Stars" obtained from its Remembrance.

The 2nd Generation Albinaurics make an odd noise as they die, a little bit like a stock dinosaur sound effect. One of the recurring plot points of Jurassic Park is that they never created "real" dinosaurs, because they extracted incomplete DNA from the amber and repaired it with frog DNA. They created hybrid "Frankenstein" creatures. The 2nd Generation Albinaurics are frog-like in appearance. The subtle frog theme of sorcery is emphasized with Sellen calling the player a "tadpole".

This whole idea of reconstructing something from a sample preserved in amber kindof seems to be reflected in the Scholar's Remembrance in Nightreign. He's searching for an elixir which turns out to be sourced from a Cuckoo Knight frozen in glintstone crystal. Which is not exactly amber - until recalling a line of text from Sellen again describing glintstone as the "amber of the stars".

It turns out that the source of the amber yields a different answer depending on if one read the book or watched the movie. In the movie they use amber from "Manos de Dios" in the Dominican Republic. In the book, they did try that first but it failed to produce desired results because they only obtained Cenozoic-era DNA which post-dates the dinosaurs (factually correct - at earliest Dominican and Mexican amber dates to the Eocene era around 40 million years ago), so they turned to using amber from "colder regions" dating to the Cretaceous Era (dates from 70 million to 140 million years ago and ended with the K-Pg extinction event). These "colder regions" do not actually include the Baltic ambers - which also date to the Eocene era - but more likely France or Hungary for which the ambers were just starting to be recognized in the 1980's as coming from that older Cretaceous Era.

Cretaceous amber from Hungary is called "Ajkaite" and is notable for being intermixed with coal and for being particularly dense with arthropod inclusions. The tree species associated with it is presently unidentified and the amber contains pollen spores from both angiosperms and gymnosperms (deciduous and coniferous).

The Cretaceous amber from France in the Charente-Maritime region (from the Albian age specifically) is notable for being mostly the cloudy "bastard amber" which requires X-ray examination to preserve the specimens, and is also particularly rich in diversity of species preserved. Most populous was the Order Diptera, although no mosquitoes noted as of 2004. At least one scorpion, which is noted as being relatively rare to find in amber. This amber is typically assessed to come from the Araucariaceae family with the closes living genus being Agathis. It is a conifer and an evergreen tree, but to be fair its living relatives also grow with a very upright and vertical trunk (3rd tallest trees in the world after the Sequoia and Sequoiadendron), and with flat leathery leaves such that overall it could be confused for a deciduous tree at a distance.

Agathis Australis, above

Paper documenting findings in the Charente-Maritime amber

Another paper with general characteristics of Cretaceous Ambers

Et voila: my guess for the amber composition of Rennala's egg. For a brief moment during her cutscene the egg appears to be transleucent, as if she's using some kind of "x-ray vision" to peer inside. But otherwise it's as opaque as a Charente-Maritime amber. And also a colour match to the amber coloured balls in the tail of Astel.

amber sample sourced from this gallery

The movie Jurassic Park Dominion in 2022 features a mine purchased by the genetics company in the Dolomites Mountains of Italy for purposes of extracting Triassic Era amber. However, it can be inferred that this is not the source of the amber for the original park because the area was not recognized as a significant source of amber in the real world until the 1990's, and also the park does not feature any Triassic era dinosaurs except for plausibly the poison-spitting (factually incorrect) Dilophosaurus which was known from the early-Jurassic.

Understanding characters through their statlines

The following are described as "secret rites" known only to Gideon: - Black Flame's Protection (FAI 30) - Reach the Haligtree - Lord's Divine Fortification (FAI 27) - Kill Malenia - Fevor's Cookbook [3] - Reach Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum - Law of Causality (INT 29) - Kill Mogh

His "Scepter of the All-Knowing" has requirements for 21 INT, 18 DEX, and 12 STR.

Spells he can cast are: - Comet (INT 52) - Carian Phalanx (INT 34) - Triple Rings of Light (INT 23 // FAI 23) - Law of Causality (INT 29) - Rykard's Rancor (INT 40 // FAI 18) - Comet Azur (INT 60) - Black Flame Ritual (FAI 42) - Bloodboon (FAI 14 // ARC 17) - Scarlet Aeonia (FAI 35)

So overall the known stat spread of Sir Gideon Ofnir is: 12 STR // 18 DEX // 60 INT // 42 FAI // 17 ARC

Compare this to Sir Ansbach who is associated with the following: - Obsidian Lamina (STR 12 // DEX 25 // ARC 17) - Ansbach's Longbow (STR 9 // DEX 43) - Furious Blade of Ansbach (FAI 19 // ARC 27)

Giving an overall stat spread: 12 STR // 43 DEX // 19 FAI // 27 ARC

First point of comparison: Gideon has four secret rites known only to himself, and these he will share with the player before his death in battle, in contrast to Ansbach who keeps his furious blade a secret revealed only after his death. Defeating Gideon only once is all it takes to obtain his final secret - the description on the Scepter of the All-Knowing. Ansbach obfuscates information, as his two signature weapons - the Obsidian Lamina and Ansbach's Longbow - cannot both be obtained in a single playthough.

Second point of comparison: the statlines. In a meta context these stats are reflective of the areas of interest that each prioritizes: Intelligence = book learning on narrative structures derived from observable principles of physics and nature. Concepts such as "tossing pebbles (or comets) into the timestream to change the course of history", "forging and tempering one's thoughts as a blacksmith forges a sword", "the stars represent other worlds (which may have other people)", etc Faith = book learning on narrative structures derived from religious esoterica and superstitions. Things such as "Maha Kali the black tongue of fire god Agni", "God grants divine protection to the faithful", "The Lotus-eater machine", "Jungian Shadow", etc Arcane = ability to break the 4th wall. Knowledge of poetic language, metaphor, and miscellaneous modern pop culture that is "outer" to the Lands Between, and yet is still relevant precisely because the Lands Between is afflicted with the interference by Outer Gods. The player is an Outer God who brings their own perspective biased by life experience, which in some places will help and in some places hinder understanding of the game world. Dexterity = as it's related to cast speed, it would be related to the rapidness with which one communicates on any of the above topics.

Sir Ansbach's Perspective

Sir Ansbach has high Dexterity and Arcane states, which is reflected in him "being quick to provide answers", and "inflicting status ailments on other people". He offers quick, easy, and wrong answers to complex problems. He specializes in finding and exploiting weaknesses in other people. Furthermore, when Ansbach says "Become our new lord. A lord not for gods, but for men", it's not correct to take this at face value as an existentialist argument - he is inherently a character in a game and has a "god" who created him. His metaphysical reality is not the same as the physical reality of the real world.

Instead Ansbach is making an appeal to the player in a way that breaks the fourth wall. Similar to the Dungeater, he has the awareness that the Tarnished is an extension of something greater - an eldritch entity who exists outside of time from his perspective. And what he wants is for the player to fully embrace the character of men just like him - a Bloody Finger - and to revel in attacking other players in PVP. Just be entertained and don't think too hard about the setpieces carefully crafted by the game designers, or the social commentary about identity and necropolitics that is embedded in the art.

Ansbach does not need to have any "intelligence" related to understanding the real situation of the larger figures like the demigods as long as he has accurately read the emotional state of other people so that he can gain a foothold in bringing them in alignment with his point of view. Ansbach's "wise mask" strengthens Blood Oath dynastic spells - his singular focus is on portraying the perspective of the sanguine nobles of the blood cult with a positive spin. He has no true knowledge of the type of narrative structures presently employed in the Lands Between, and subsequently projects his own biased fears and paranoia onto the motivations of Miquella and Radahn.

And by "Ansbach" I mean "Mohg" is the one who is projecting his delusions onto Miquella and Radahn. Because much like the Jungian Shadow, the Shadowlands is all happening in Mohg's head. He confuses the story of the past events in the Lands Between (i.e. Marika's ascension to lowercase "god" under the uppercase "God" of the Greater Will of the game developers), with the present events in which the Carian demigods conspired with Miquella to toss those pebbles into the timestream and change all of their fates.

An idea that likely came from a book based on the multiple allusions to Dragonlance in Elden Ring and Nightreign, combined with the below passage from "The War of the Twins" book:

Because altering the course of time and choosing a new future is what Nightreign is for. It's the Veldt. The "World the Children Made".

Sir Gideon Ofnir's Perspective

Sir Gideon Ofnir values "being all-knowing" which is reflected in his high Intelligence and Faith stats. He understands the nature of the Shadowlands as a dead end because he understands enough about the difference between "faith" and "intelligence" based narratives in the metaphysics of his own world.

Gideon has great knowledge from book learning, but his relatively low Dexterity and Arcane are expressed in how he comes to the conclusion that "no man can kill a god" and opposes the player Tarnished. He likely does not perceive that the player Tarnished IS themself a "god" on the same tier of entity as the gods who created the game world that he inhabits (i.e. "human being"). Rather, he assumes them to be a "man" on a same tier of existence as himself. I wonder if this is due to the fact that the player isn't actually a Tarnished, and instead everyone just assumes. The player first emerged into the Lands Between proper through a locked tomb - the Fringefolk Hero's Grave - and the most straightforwards conclusion would be that they have risen from the dead like the rest of everyone. Unlike the typical Tarnished who are natives of the Lands Between now returned after being banished to live in other lands, the player is a "Numen" who is literally a new and unique individual.

Gideon understands to some extent what cosmic event Sorcerer Azur was waiting for, as demonstrated through his use of Comet Azur. It's a spell that is part of his default moveset, but he stops using it when the player brings him information on at least two of the following: Rykard, Malenia, Mohg. Perhaps the reason for this is that the more he learns of these three demigods, the more disillusioned he becomes that the cosmic event will ever happen. The dire circumstances at Volcano Manor, the Haligtree, and Mohgwyn Dynasty Mausoleum paint a bleak picture of the future. And the more Gideon learns of them, the more he switches to using these findings offensively via spells. They replace the "Triple Rings of Light" that was a spell developed by Miquella. The interesting implication is that Rykard's, Malenia's, and Mohg's Great Runes ARE what Gideon believes to be the "triple rings" represented by the incantation, and by learning of them in greater detail he becomes disillusioned with the "triple ring" story crafted by Miquella.

This is where it becomes important again to recognize that Sir Gideon Ofnir has low Arcane stat, because he likely missed some vital information somewhere along the way that caused him to fixate on the wrong 3 Great Runes. These three fill the exact same positions in the Elden Ring as the 3 Great Runes that are required for Ranni's Age of Stars.

The first corpse after the intro Iudex Gundyr fight has a "Broken Sword" with a broken ring at its pommel, and it sits at the centre of one of these tombstones with a tree growing behind them. The second instance I saw of this type of tombstone nearby has a second tombstone clipping into it. Which I choose to believe is thematic, because the next item I was drawn to go collect is the "Homeward Bone" at the bright spot below. There's this curious set design where stone coffins are slid down at a near vertical, and yet still slightly embedded in the cliff face. It suggests that there's a stratification of burial, but the lower layers are starting to be exposed through erosion.

And then I saw this lone fella staring forlornly at the castle and what did I find behind his vantage point?

Another twinned tombstone!

The next twinned tombstone instances of note are positioned over groups of 2 enemies at each. This one on the right has a root piercing straight through it on the left side. The one straight ahead is one of two copies (the other hidden further to the left).

I decided to investigate next the entrance to Firelink Shrine. Saw another twined gravestone with two stone coffins behind it and the radiant sun above.

The vantage from the two coffins kindof highlighting the presence of an unburied coffin on the rise beyond. I tried to make the jump but I'm not sure it's possible from this angle. Fell down and got attacked by a dog. Found this corpse in the corner holding an ember.

But also the grand payoff for this twinned gravestone tangent: the corpse holding the ember is staring at one of them and this one has the unique feature that a Farron Greatsword is leaned against the right side of it. It's also precariously tilted on the edge of a cliff as if it's about to fall off into the Abyss.

Just to the side of this there's a helpful little ledge to take a peek over the side of the cliff. Two twinned tombstones visible from here: one in light and one in shadow. These ones have the unique feature of being half buried.

Went back to the stuff to the left that I skipped earlier. The corpse in the tree carries an "East West Shield" featuring a twin-headed eagle and looking in the direction of the big coffin and tree from the previous arena. The corpse up the stairs has an ember, and also seems to be somewhat drawing attention to that big tree.

Learned that there's a path here over the top of the entrance to Firelink Shrine that goes to the place I tried to jump to. It led to a Homeward Bone. And also this view of a giant pierced by tree root in front of the tower.

At some point I went back and killed the Sword Master for his stuff. I will probably not be using any of it.

Onwards, to the plot:

Distinctions between the Omenkillers and Depraved Perfumer factions

The choice of the Omenkillers to deaden their emotions conveys that they were given a distasteful task that they were reluctant to complete - in the sense that feeling emotion would cause them pain rather than joy. At least one Omenkiller is found at the Perfumer’s Ruins and then again Omenkiller and Miranda the Blighted Bloom are the end boss at the Perfumer’s Grotto which shows them to have been allied with the Erdtree Perfumers at one point. But even the lack of emotion did not prevent them from defecting eventually, with some joining Rykard’s Volcano Manor forces. Or maybe it was because they lacked emotion that they had no strong attachment to the Erdtree, and after having been commanded in Praetor Rykard’s inquisition they simply remained with his faction even after he turned to blasphemy.

The Omensmirk Mask is described as being made in the image of the evil spirits that haunt the nightmares of the Omens. This suggests that the horned Omen are haunted by dreams of horned spirits. Context from the Shadowlands which requires the assistance of Mohg the Omen to enter further suggests that these “evil spirits” may be the Hornsent. And the Omenkillers may therefore be informed about the nightmares of the Omens because they had once been Perfumers. Perfumer Tricia attempted to heal the Omen and Misbegotten and failed. As a Perfumer she may have administered “aromatics” which could easily be a euphemism for drugs which loosen tongues and simply had the Omens describing their nightmares.

“Tricia was once known as a healer who dedicated her efforts to treating Misbegotten, Omen, and all those seen as impure. When her efforts failed, she was their companion as they died, watching over them to ensure that they could pass peacefully, free of pain. A tale akin to the origins of the deathbed companions.”

The Depraved Perfumers on the other hand are described as imbibing spices to alter mind and body. This suggests that whatever duty they once had as Perfumers to the Erdtree they became disillusioned and instead used their acquired skills to indulge in hedonism. They wear an apron embroidered with two red snakes as a “curse upon the Erdtree”, which have a resemblance to the snakes of Messmer. The two places where Depraved Perfumers can be found active are: here in the dark of the Village of the Albinaurics, and in the Shaded Castle. This seems to telegraph that whether as directed by Gideon or on their own initiative their goal was to find the Shadowlands. Why wouldn’t it be? From their perspective it’s probably a dreamland with five kinds of infinitely refilling perfume bottles. The question of why then are no Depraved Perfumers found in the Shadowlands is more speculative and saved for the end of this post.

Why is there a Depraved Perfumer at the Village of the Albinaurics?

If the Depraved Perfumer and Omenkiller were intended to be allied, then why is each individually found within the boundaries of a different Rebirth Monument? There have been larger field areas that use a single summoning zone, but this area makes the decision to split them up. Furthermore, it appears not to be possible to get Nepheli Loux to assist with killing both. If she is led across the bridge to fight the Depraved Perfumer she will simply leave after they are defeated, and thus cannot then be taken to the Omenkiller fight in sequence. She only leaves the area after the Omenkiller defeat. Two monuments suggests two discrete events or timeframes being commemorated, especially since bringing a spirit summon to assist with the Depraved Perfumer excludes summoning for the Omenkiller.

The purpose for the Omenkiller being at the Village of the Albinaurics can be inferred through the questline of Nepheli Loux. Nepheli is staring directly at the Omenkiller from her position under the bridge. Nepheli can be summoned to assist with the Omenkiller field boss, and “emotion” is later identified by Gideon as her weakness, as a complement to the description given Omenkillers “...So you know already, do you? Right. It's true. My father cast me out. For indulging my emotions. Forgetting the mission. Punishment for offing his pawns.” Gideon’s own dialogue references Omens “Ahh, you've already heard? Indeed, it seemed the whelp harboured suspicions. So I have no further use for her. Honestly, what's a man to do. A determined plebian is more wicked than an Omen horn, quite frankly.” and the Omenkillers themselves literally use the horns of Omens on their weapons as a crude bloodletting device: “The blade of this huge, loathsome cleaver comprises a row of amputated Omen horns. Weapon of slaughter wielded by Omenkillers. The hideous horns cause blood loss, adding vibrant colors to the ongoing mayhem.”

For more on the relationship between Nepheli Loux and the Omenkiller specifically, see this previous post on Albinauric Village.

By contrast, the description given to the Depraved Perfumers suggests that they go wherever they please to advance their personal goals. The “descent into self-destruction” of their mind would also likely make them unreliable as information gatherers. 

Looking up the hill with the telescope from the location of the two rowa bushes in front of the shack with the site of grace and one can see the Depraved Perfumer standing next to a Miquella Lily. Standing at the Miquella Lily itself and one can see the yellow sliver that is the pot where Albus is hiding.

Is this to suggest that the Depraved Perfumer was hiding the Miquella Lily - intrigued by a rare flower that could be used to formulate new “spices” - and standing guard against anyone who looks like they might take it? Are they guarding the Haligtree medallion purposefully or were they searching for it themselves at one point? The Albinauric Albus hides in a pot, and elsewhere in Liurnia the Depraved Perfumers conducted a raid on the jars of Jarburg seeking perfume components. The pot itself is hidden out of sight of most of the horizon outside of the cave.

If the Depraved Perfumers were ever allied with Gideon, I would be inclined to think that first he tried sending them in and discovered how unreliable they could be when they made no progress on their goal of finding the Haligtree beyond “wow look at this neat Miquella flower”, started using experimental arts on the Albinaurics and turning them insane, and then Gideon tried to salvage the situation to his own advantage by sending in an Omenkiller as a follow-up. Either way, I think that it’s worth exploring the possibilities for what is being communicated through an anomalous Depraved Perfumer being at this location.

Walking over so that the abandoned ivory sickle aligns with the pot, and the divine tower with Rykard's Rune is visible framed clearly by the edges of the cave.

The framing of the tower implies that more about the Depraved Perfumers may be learned by seeking the area under the domain of that tower. And indeed, the first and second Perfumer’s Cookbooks are found at the Perfumer’s Ruins and Shaded Castle, respectively, which are at the foothills of Mt. Gelmir. The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Perfumer’s Cookbooks all contain crafting recipes of the Depraved Perfumers and give a hint as to one of the causes of their self-indulgent self-destruction: a taste for human blood. Two of the forbidden arts of the Depraved Perfumers require the use of components that are described as containers for human blood and flesh: the “Bloodboil” aromatic from the 2nd cookbook and the “Ironjar” aromatic from the 3rd cookbook. Bloodboil contains a Land Octopus Ovary which is described as “Land octopuses eat humans in order to bear young, and theirs is the blood that runs through these ovaries”. Ironjar contains a Living Jar Shard which is sticky and presumed to be permeated with the flesh of the “warriors within”. The “Poison Spraymist” recipe from the 2nd Cookbook also aside from being poisonous uses the Miranda Powder component obtained from the Carnivorous Miranda Flower.

Considering the medical connotation of the baseline Perfumers, in a way this may be analogous to wealthy Europeans in the 16th and 17th century who had normalized the production of medical remedies made from Egyptian mummies and other fresher sources of body parts. 

“I am Albus. An Albinauric, as you can see. We are finished. The whole village is finished. The cursemongers have destroyed everything. Not one that remains has their wits about them.” 

Talking to Albus he highlights not how the Albinaurics in the village are being killed, but that those who remain have also deteriorated from their former state of being and lost their wits. Both Albinaurics and Commoners tend to be found wearing a similar - though not identical - headband with a silver helix motif, and the “Commoner’s Headband” echos the words of Albus but applied instead to the Commoners: “Only, there are no commoners remaining with their wits about them”. The spices of the Depraved Perfumers can alter mind and body, and indeed one notable feature of the village is that the corpses in the piles are mostly Commoner models which are distinct from the design of the Albinaurics. As if the difference between Albinaurics and Commoners is the result of a small mind and body conversion, which would be consistent with the “Converted Tower” also being visible from the location of the ivory sickle. The Commoners are described as wearing “A self imposed shackle, that displayed their allegiance to the Erdtree” which implies that their status as Erdtree faithful is something in question, and so they wear this visible sign of faith as over-compensation.

It is known that the Depraved Perfumers were working with components containing red human blood such as that which the Albinaurics lack: the Land Octopus Ovaries. I suppose it would be a matter of interpretation whether the description of the Depraved Perfumers to “practice their art for themselves alone” also extends to unethical experimentation on test subjects who are desperate to overcome their “defiled blood” and conform to the Erdtree faith. Because in that case it seems that this particular location would make a good testing ground for the “bloodboil” aromatic later recorded in the 2nd Perfumer Cookbook. Land Octopi that could supply the required ovaries are found in the area around Scenic Isle slightly to the east of the Albinauric Village, and a great number of them can be found to the north at a grove of dead pine trees. Certainly, Mohg offered a similar blood infusion to the 2nd generation Albinaurics, and the Church of the Rose where Varré administers this infusion to the player is also nearby to the north. 

….Actually after having that thought I went back to the game to grab my land octopus screenshot and noticed that a remarkable number of related points of interest are on the same alignment here. Rose Church falls directly between the two locations with Land Octopi, tracing backwards this is exactly on the line produced by the ray of grace at Laskyar Ruins, and then extending the line further forwards it lands on the Cuckoo Evergaol.

It seems possible that failed experimentation drove the Albinaurics mad with fevor so that they were unable to answer Gideon’s inquisition, and his prescription was to send in the Omenkiller to use bloodletting in a crude (and unsuccessful) attempt to drain the red blood infusion so that they could be questioned. Unsuccessful as a reflection of how in the real world prescribing bloodletting to balance the humors is pseudoscience without real understanding of medical anatomy, and thus has a poor success rate except for some specific medical conditions such as haemochromatosis. So from the perspective of the Albinaurics all they were seeking was a cure for their deteriorating condition, trusted a person who had the skills of a Perfumer/doctor but not very good ethical standards, and consequently they are tortured and then subjected to a shocking terror campaign and display of violence from representatives of Marika’s Erdtree.

Who are the Cursemongers?

Albus uses this turn of phrase that apparently shows up nowhere else in the game.

Albus is the last remaining Albinauric and describes the antagonists to the Albinauric Village as “cursemongers”. If he is killed he responds with the line “You merciless brutes. Let the curse take everything”. Which may contextualize what he means by “cursemongers”: slaughter is the vector for spreading the curse. And the curse itself is to have one’s individual self and legacy be erased. If eye-for-an-eye justice were carried out, the kind of person who solves a problem of civic order and diplomacy by killing inconvenient people to make them disappear would themself suffer being forgotten by history. There is no reason for the player to ever kill Albus to get the Haligtree Medallion because he will give it to you. Extrapolated to the extreme, it imagines a type of person who cannot fathom a way to gain critical information through civil dialogue and instead resorts to violence - a person like Gideon, perhaps. However, it’s one thing for Albus to wish that curse upon the cursemongers and another thing to actually make it happen.

There are a few other cases associated with curses that appear to have attempted to achieve this “total erasure as consequence”. To varying degrees of success. 

The true names and scope of actions taken by the “Gloam Eyed Queen” and the “Fell God” have been erased completely - known only by relics peripheral to their actions. The Curseblades aspire to be tutelary deities, but we can tell that they have not succeeded (yet) because they have not relinquished their own heads like the headless tutelary deity statues found across the Shadowlands. Loss of head is equated to loss of identity elsewhere in Elden Ring, such as with the headless demigods in the walking mausoleums. The Dungeater perceives that to complete his Fell Curse he needs to die himself, and then his solution for mending the Elden Ring doesn’t even result in a proper “Age” - just a “Blessing of Despair” - that's how dedicated he is to self-obliteration with his solution. The two halves of the cursemark respectively obliterate Godwyn’s soul and Ranni’s body.

The cursed blood of the Omen Twins is connected to them being buried in obscurity, but they both managed to climb back up to positions of power regardless - Morgott through changing his name to hide his Omen status and Mogh through gaining a cult following by reframing the curse of becoming “nihil” and doomed to obscurity in death as a blessing. There seems to be a deliberate connection drawn between the cursed blood of Mohg and the Shadowlands as an insular dreg heap of forgotten and broken things.

Why are Omenkillers and Perfumers found in the Shadow of the Erdtree, but Depraved Perfumers are not? 

One possible answer could be: because Depraved Perfumers have not slighted Mohg the Omen and so they have no reason to be present in the Shadowlands reconstructed through his Omen nightmares. The Omen Twin boss in front of the East Altus Divine Tower drops the Omenkiller Rollo Spirit Ashes - implying that the progenitor Omenkiller was antagonizing Mohg and Morgott at some point in the past. But the Depraved Perfumers apparently had no conflict with Omens after abandoning the institution of the Erdtree Perfumers to pursue their own personal quests. 

Alternatively, it could be a matter of “perspective”. Omenkillers never quite seem to be found in the same place as Omens, but twice they are in a place where a Depraved Perfumer appears to have already come and gone. The spices of the Depraved Perfumers are said to alter mind and body, which could be interpreted as "transformation". The Depraved Perfumers are descended of Erdtree royalty as signified by their Erdsteel daggers, and it's only upon reaching the Altus Plateau that "Regal Omens" are encountered with their horns grown out. Perhaps part of the Omen curse is an iteration of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde situation, considering that Perfumers are described as being originally established as healers, which are analogous to doctors. And just as visual adaptations of the Jekyll and Hyde story tend to exaggerate Mr. Hyde into a monstrous form for dramatic effect, some Depraved Perfumers may have imbibed spices that released their inhibitions and turned them into horned Omens in the image of the visages seen in their drug-induced dreams. But the twist on the story in this case is that the tragedy of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is not isolated to the doctor alone - the mind and body altering spices get into the water supply of Leyndell and spreads like a disease that leads to the outbreak of the Omen curse.

But even Mr. Hyde himself is not the point of origin for all violent and cruel people, he's just Dr. Jekyll living out fantasies of escaping the decorum expected of a proper doctor. Of the three perfumes covered above, only the Altus Bloom is unique to the upper plateau where most of the Perfumer activity is concentrated. All of the other components are found scattered about the landscape in the lower areas where Omens with horns excised are encountered in Stormveil Castle and the nearby Cliffbottom Catacombs - people were experimenting with drugs and suffering from deterioration of body and mind as a consequence long before production was standardized and written down in "cookbooks" and fashionable among the upper class. The use of Altus Bloom itself may be linked to the few Omens capable of manifesting wraiths, which is an ability that these Omens encountered below the Altus Plateau do not appear to have.

As previously mentioned, Poison Spraymist is described as an art of the Depraved Perfumers in a cookbook found in the Shaded Castle where most of the Depraved Perfumers are concentrated. In the Shadowlands this poison perfume is associated with Thiollier, who tends to be speculated upon as being a member of the sickly House Marais of the Shaded Castle due to aesthetic similarities. Thiollier seems to be an example of how "Depraved Perfumers" do not self-apply the label of "Depraved" - rather in an in-group setting they would be discussed as individuals in terms of their specialties such as Thiollier's for poison.

Overall, there is an implication that Mohg, Lord of Blood, would not picture depraved perfumers in the generic image of Depraved Perfumer Carmaan in the Shadowlands because he considers himself one of their peers who had embraced the permanent Omen transformation of body and mind. What is “depravity” from a sensible person’s perspective is normalized for himself. So Mohg sees Thiollier as a named individual. And Thiollier allies with Mohg's most loyal knight Ansbach to attack and kill Miquella-as-god, in parallel to the depraved perfumers being in league with jar poachers to pillage the jars. And probably also in parallel to the first time Mohg and his allies attacked Miquella in his infant form at the Haligtree. The Ironjar aromatic includes the description: "An art that requires fragments of hunted noble jars. Depraved perfumers are plainly in league with jar poachers." The Lord of Blood acts just like a jar poacher in the way that he attacks and pillages both Miquella and his "vessel" in the form of the cocoon. And then hides himself inside the cocoon vessel similar to the Depraved Perfumers who imbibe Ironjar Aromatic to appropriate the protective outer shell of the jars.

Closing Thoughts

The conclusion that I've made from present evidence is that the main distinction between "Omenkiller" and "Depraved Perfumer" is that although they both originated from Perfumers who gave up on trying to compassionately cure the Omen they diverged in their reaction.

The Depraved Perfumers sought the secret to revivification glimpsed in Omen dreams, and as they degraded from self-administration of poisons they became co-conspirators with Omens if not directly responsible for the epidemic of the Omen curse in Leyndell.

The Omenkillers became masked vigilantes like Christian Bale's Batman from the 2000's movies. They fashioned themselves into the worst nightmares of their enemies. But they didn't consider how that would lead to escalation. And since they failed to die as heroes in the process of fighting the Omen they are now in the stage where they've lived long enough to become villains themselves.

Currently, I’m thinking in terms of the following timeline:

Hornsent/Horned Ancestors have a society that is in one way or another overwhelmed by Marika's Erdtree forces

Erdtree Perfumers attempt a misbegotten "cure" for the non-conforming native population that transforms successive generations of the Hornsent/Horned Ancestors into the ailing non-royal Omen

Depraved Perfumers develop a fascination with the dreams of the ailing Omen and indulge in decadent poisons to try to experience these themselves, and they are considered above reprimand because of their Erdtree noble status

An outbreak of both commoner and Regal Omens in the heart of Leyndell due to the spread of the Perfumer poisons

The Royal Capital simultaneously blames the witches of Raya Lucaria while also establishing the Omenkiller inquisition

Radagon/Marika study in Liurnia just long enough to identify Mohg and Morgott as part of the problem, and return to exile them to the sewers and carry on to establish Golden Order Fundamentalism believing that will fix everything. It doesn't, because the access to Perfumer spices/poisons/drugs is so widespread that cutting off one head of a hydra is only addressing a symptom and not a root cause. If you do a poor job of educating people on the long-term effects of drinking poison combined with failing to teach alternative ways to stimulate the brain, some people will drink that poison anyways out of curiosity or boredom. Leyndell is in general a high-faith, low-int environment.

????

In a way, Count Ymir appears to complement Morgott.

Ymir has the aesthetic of the Hierophant - he even devised his own sorceries titled "glintstone nails" - but seems more to conduct himself as if he were a Hermit - isolated in a wasteland and ready to divulge treasonous conspiracies to those seeking "the truth". While Margit/Morgott has the aesthetic of a Hermit, but actually embodies the ideals of the Hierophant who stands in the midst of civilization and is scandalized by the traitor demigods whose alliance fell apart. What is subtext for Ymir regarding the draining of his red blood (as per Ymir, progenitor of giants from Norse mythology) is textual for Morgott who is incited to drain his own red blood to fashion more complex weaponry to oppose the Tarnished. Both carry a form of "patriarchal staff" (although Ymir desperately wants to uphold the facade that he represents a matriarchy). Both are villains to be overcome, in the end.

There is subtext for Morgott concerning the similarity of his name to Morgoth - a villain from Tolkein who was defeated and tossed into the void at the same time as a continent was destroyed/veiled. And there are visual cues for Ymir connecting him to Morgoth - after Morgoth was defeated his crown that once held the 3 silmaril jewels was beaten into a collar around his neck. Ymir has a distinct collar matching the same metallic material as his headpiece, made of flattened/beaten spikes, and it is described as "jewelled" despite having no visible jewels that I can see. Jolán and Anna wear armour with a fairly clear design inspiration from the black armour worn by Sauron in the early 2000's Lord of the Rings movies. It could perhaps be extrapolated that Ymir is responsible for corrupting Jolán and Anna similar to Morgoth corrupting Mairon of the Maiar to becoming Sauron (also of note that his alias was "Annatar" at the time when he was deceiving the elven-smiths into forging the rings of power).

For another Tolkein reference - there is a character in the Legendarium named "Gelmir" who I mentioned in another post as being an important piece of a complex geneological tree. An alternate name for Ymir is "Aurgelmir" (meaning "sand/gravel yeller"), and when Ymir was slain by Odin the only frost-giants to survive the flood of his blood were Ymir's grandson "Bergelmir" (meaning "bear yeller") and Bergelmir's unnamed wife.

And of course, I wouldn't be bringing forth the idea of a theoretical snowy mountain unless I had something specific in mind. A very weird something, but it is definitely specific.

The Throne of the Mountain

In 2003 the great snowboarding game masterpiece SSX3 was released for the PlayStation 2. Among its features the game has a semi-interconnected world mountain (as in, you start at the lower peak, but as more of the map is unlocked the upper courses lead into the start of the lower courses), visual spectacle modelled with 30 different kinds of snow, a varied cast of characters with stylish outfit customization, and a diagetic soundtrack framed as a radio station playing indie rock and giving weather reports hosted by DJ Atomika. Also, splitscreen couch co-op.

The course at the top of the mountain is called "The Throne". The concept of "thrones" and who should occupy them is a preoccupation of Morgott, whilst Ymir simply claims possession of his solitary throne in the Cathedral of Manus Metyr. But what I though most interesting is how the progression of the three peaks is so similar to the progression of the Finger Ruins. The first mountain is blue, the second is yellow, and the third theoretical mountain would be red to complete the trio.

Before even pulling up the map what first caused me to think of SSX3 was the musical connection. I guess, being honest, reading up about the sounding of the bells in the Finger Ruins reminded me of the cryptic phrase "sound the great unsounded" from Ashley Cope's webcomic "Unsounded". But I'm still skeptical of whether webcomics would be on the radar of FromSoftware's research team. Even if Duane Adelier the magical zombie man would be right at home in FromSoft's worlds of the tragic undead. But the idea of "songs about sound" also reminded me of the song "Make a Sound" from the 2004 Autopilot Off album of the same name. The actual song on the SSX3 tracklist is "Clockwork":

"Write it on the walls and read it Bright red so you can see it Don't fail me now Write it on the walls and read it Until there are no secrets So safe and sound At least for now! Time's gonna warn you with a whisper What it wants to let you know You can't live in fear of the things that aren't for sure So stay alive by playing dead ... (I wrote this down, and left it there) (To blow it out of my hands, and stare at it) (The drops ran down, I tried to turn around) (The blood was a small price to pay) (And it made it real, it made it real because…)"

And otherwise, it strikes me as a perfect example - here is a game that is able to seamlessly integrate modern rock music due to its genre and worldbuilding. Similar to what I keep observing about FromSoftware games. And here is a song that with the lyric "write it on the walls and read it" functions as a callback to the last verses of the Sound of Silence:

"And the people bowed and prayed To the neon god they made And the sign flashed out its warning In the words that it was forming And the sign said, 'The words of the prophets Are written on the subway walls And tenement halls And whispered in the sounds of silence'"

Of which I had incorporated the first verse of the song into previous speculation about the Seed Talismans found at the Finger Ruins (linked above in the introduction). And this then forms a neat circle with a third song that combines the concepts of "fictional radio" and "homage to The Sound of Silence". That would be "The Spirit of Radio" by Rush:

"Invisible airwaves crackle with life Bright antennae bristle with the energy Emotional feedback on a timeless wavelength Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free For the words of the profits were written on the studio wall And Concert halls And echoes with the sounds of salesmen"

Which leads to "Virtuality", the other Rush song that does a fine job of describing Metyr:

"Like a shipwrecked mariner adrift on an unknown sea Clinging to the wreckage of the lost ship 'Fantasy' ... I can save the universe in a grain of sand I can hold the future in my virtual hand Net boy, net girl Send your signal 'round the world Let your fingers walk and talk And set you free"

And this is from the 1998 Rush album "Test for Echo" that I already had noted as being so disproportionately represented in Elden Ring. In some places there's such a sheer density of musical allusions that they start tripping over each other like this.

Even the 2018 game "Déraciné" dovetails with the Sound of Silence in at least two ways. Firstly, the name of the game means "uprooted" in contrast to the "planting" of a vision in the brain from the song lyrics. Secondly, the choice to have the children playing a rendition of the song "Scarborough Fair" as a central setpiece of the game - it's a technically public domain tune that was popularized by Simon and Garfunkel who wrote "The Sound of Silence".

The use of a "Finger Whistle"

"A pale-blue necklace made from a thin, elongated stone hollowed out from the inside. Use at a hallowed ruin to sound a hanging bell. It was a teaching of Count Ymir. The fate of the one who sounds the hanging bell will be guided by the stars." - Hole-Laden Necklace

The function of the "Hole-laden Necklace" is to act as a kind of whistle for fingers. Using it yields cryptic information that requires a lot of weird trivia to get a sense for what is going on and is overall probably not very compelling to most people. Contrast this against the functional whistle-that-is-worn-on-a-finger that the player receives quite near the beginning of the game:

"A delicate goldwork ring. Can be used as a finger whistle. Sound the whistle to summon and ride Torrent, the spectral steed." - Spectral Steel Whistle

And what do you use this spectral steed whistle for? To literally climb to greater heights! Ymir's fictional mountains are nothing compared to one good horse companion. One of the first things that I tried to do in the DLC was to try climbing the walls of the Churches like I could in the base game, and found that it was either impossible or immensely more challenging. Compared to the base game where Churches make very good lookouts for linking together the concepts related to near and far locations.

Bloodborne Connections

As I've long established: in Bloodborne "blood" is "music", or just "sound" in the more general sense. And Ymir's questline appears to allude to Bloodborne in a particular way via the Hole-Laden Necklace: ROM the Vacuous. Both resembles the shape of a caterpillar chrysalis and are full of holes.

"Hold your breath and count to four Pinky swears don't work no more Put my trust in God that day Not the man that taught his way I was alive but now I'm singing"

Mohg is not and was never representing the queer community outside of projection by fans who took a liking to his aesthetic and deleted his actual delusional personality. In a most tone deaf piece of irony, the fandom does exactly what they condemn Miquella for by sane-washing Mohg until he's palatable - that is "mind controlling" him as an author "mind controls" all of their characters. Like, in canon this is a person undergoing a religious psychotic break and dissociating from his body into his "Lord of Blood" form. I don't think y'all can understand just how delusional he is until you can solve the paradox of why he refers to the corpse in the cocoon as "Miquella" but nobody else does. But here's a hint: if eating a dragon heart in dragon communion makes a person metamorphose into a magma wyrm dragon, then what does Mogh think that he can transform his body into by partaking in "Miquella communion"? On the symbolic level, Mohg is representing a patriarchal faith system that systematically produces generations of queer kids who are consumed with the terror of being sent to burn in Hell just for being themselves.

"A devil in a midnight mass Killed the boy inside the man The holy water in his hands Can never wash away his sins"

A history of sexual abuse cover-ups in the Catholic Church were brought to light in the late 1990's to early 2000's, in the timeframe just before the "Devil in a Midnight Mass" song was released in 2006. It turns out that an institution that teaches people to evaluate the trustworthiness of other people based on the supernatural rather than real psychiatric evaluation manufactures a situation where trust can be exploited.

Mohg is dressed like a Catholic priest, and holds the office of a priest at the head of a cult - alluding to the scandals of the Catholic Church to those who remember that real period of recent history. But on the other hand, I think that I can make a pretty good guess as to why this message isn't getting across. Pop culture fantasy appropriates the aesthetics of religion, and creates cosplays and roleplays as members of these institutions so often that apparently it's just become background noise. The cultural nihilism makes it so that paradoxically people feel they can "never know" if the artists are making a critique of a religious institution or just borrowing an aesthetic superficially for the villains, but are all to eager to interpret the explicit villains as representations of their own subcultures that they live in a bubble about. It's just easier to take these things on good faith, bad faith, kneejerk reactions, and unacknowledged biases rather than putting effort into assessing the psychology of other people.

"Silent night for the rest of my life Silent night at the edge of your knife (Forgive me father) Won't make it right"

Due to cultural differences, I think that most gamers don't quite grasp that religion is not a "cool" superficial aesthetic to the clergy like it is in the online media-saturated space - belief in the supernatural rewires peoples brains. One of the core themes of Elden Ring is how being indoctrinated in the absurdities of faith creates and/or amplifies mental illness. Every Great Rune does this to its shardbearer. If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's probably alluding to how Catholicism historically encouraged gay men to repress their desires, transfer all of their love onto Jesus the Lamb of God, and for some of them those vulnerable altar boys start looking like tender lambkin. And if any form of deviant desire - whether sexual or cannibalistic - is a sin, well, "the Devil made me do it" and "Jesus forgives sins" can become two compatible thoughts. Until you get caught, that is.

The Omenkiller carries the thought of the Crucible Knot talisman which “Reduces damage and impact of headshots taken”, and is wearing armour made to be fearsome and anonymous - perhaps refusing the vulnerability of being known and thus refusing to let one’s ego take personal responsibility. Alternatively, the Omenkiller couldn't live with the psychological damage and take off the mask of a killer after their terrible task was done. The first Omenkiller Rollo is described as “Once a famous perfumer, Rollo imbibed a physick to rid himself of emotion, thus enabling him to enact his nightmarish labor, hunting the Omen”. The Omenkiller wields a pair of Cleavers that are categorized as “Greataxe”, mirrored by Nepheli Loux wielding twin Stormhawk axes. 

Multiple weapons related to executions fall into the axe categories. The only place where Omenkillers are present in the Shadowlands is at the Fort of Reprimand conducting executions of Messmer's own soldiers as disciplinary action. Elements of the form and intent of the Omensmirk Mask resemble the Sōmen facial armour of the Japanese samurai class (see photo example of 17th century Edo period mask auctioned in 2024) - for which the Okina Mask is another example within Elden Ring that seems to take similar inspiration. However, it appears to me that the iron colour and texture of the mask resembles that of the executioner employed by Henry Bolingbroke in the production of Shakespeare's Richard II from the 2012 "Hollow Crown" adaptation. When Henry is reclaiming the lands he is owed as Duke of Lancaster he has two men of King Richard’s court beheaded, and is later haunted by that executioner’s mask seen on a face in the cheering crowd after he has overthrown Richard II and been crowned King Henry IV - in the year 1399, in real world terms. It is foreshadowing that more heads will roll as he puts out a bounty on loyalists to Richard who plotted against him. The place where this mask “haunts” the Lands Between is at the Lower Capital Church in Leyndell, for which the humble nature of the church and its simple rough-cut Erdtree iconography as well as its location at the heart of Leyndell implies that it might have been the start of the Erdtree faith that overthrew the dynasty of Serosh.

Omensmirk Mask description: “Mask with long, hideously twisted horns worn by the Omenkillers. Increases strength. Bears the smirking face of an elder, twisted in wicked delight. This visage is carved in the image of the evil spirits that haunt the Omen in their nightmares.”

Shakespeare wrote the play Richard II about two centuries after the events depicted, by which point in time the framing popularized by the Tudor dynasty was to blame Richard II for the following 85 years of civil discord that culminated in the War of the Roses (1455-1487) during the reign of King Henry VI who suffered some form of mental illness as he suddenly became catatonic in 1453. This is the first of two succession crises to the English throne that may have served some inspiration for the Shattering War between demigods in Elden Ring, with the second being that which followed the death of Mary I “Bloody Mary” (1558-1559). Or both may be condensed and combined - “blood roses” are an item that can be harvested in the Lands Between and the First defense of Leyndell is described as “A sovereign alliance rots from within / Traces yet remain of bloody conspiracy”, which may refer to a short-lived alliance between the six demigods known by their thrones in Leyndell.

What I found interesting about the Hollow Crown adaptation in this context is how strongly it leans into visual symbolism such as with the executioner mask. I made a short post about some other parallels back in 2023, which was long before Ben Whishaw - who played Richard II - was cast in the Elden Ring movie adaptation. In another example of the symbolism: Richard II is characterized as being more obsessed with the image of the king and upholding the mythology of the “divine right of kings” rather than good governance, and one of the ways this is expressed is through an interest in portraiture. Early in the production King Richard has commissioned a painting depicting the Christian martyr Saint Sebastian from the 3rd century (patron saint of the plague-stricken) as tied to a tree and shot with three arrows - and subsequently when Richard is assassinated it is by being shot by three crossbow bolts mirroring the painting. Saint Sebastian ultimately died by beheading which relates back to King Henry IV being characterized as one who orders beheadings. Much beheading seems to happen in Elden Ring, from the Mausoleum Soldiers to the stone dragon statues at the Church and Cathedral of Dragon Communion. The name "Rykard" is a variant of "Richard" and similarly the idea of crafting an image through symbolic portraiture is prominent in Volcano Manor and the Round Table Hold. 

Looking into it a bit deeper and it turns out that this idea of executioners wearing masks at all is a piece of anachronism - in a town or small city where everybody knows everybody it would be futile to keep such a secret. People known as executioners simply lived with the stigma of their association with death - for some of them such as Thomas Derrick in the Elizabethan era they accepted their first appointment to executioner to escape their own death warrant. Modern adaptations of the era are thought to be based on the late 1800’s when popular opinion turned against public executions, and so executions became private affairs rather than public spectacle and performances depicting past executioners were retconned to have been masked. However, it also tends to be that many of those early executioners have become anonymous in hindsight as their names have been lost to history in favour of the justices and feudal lords who ordered the executions.

Also a point to keep in mind is that in Elden Ring the role of an Omen executioner is being juxtaposed against the Heroic Nepheli Loux for a reason. Nepheli discovers that the Omenkiller is employed by Gideon to commit atrocities at the Village of the Albinaurics as Nepheli is also employed by Gideon. Nepheli can predict her future path if she simply sticks with Gideon - one day sooner or later she will be asked to set aside her emotions to get a job done that goes against her morals, and will become just another faceless killer following orders. Considering that the next place that Nepheli can be summoned is to fight Godfrey, First Elden Lord, the broader implication is that the Omenkiller is re-contextualizing Hoarah Loux. The Omenkiller has no individuality, and in reality neither does Hoarah Loux who had lost his original name and sense of self in the process of accepting the counsel of Serosh and becoming Godfrey.

The Overall Theory (& the object lesson extrapolated from it): The Omenkiller may represent Hoarah Loux who with the benefit of hindsight is recognized as having committed monstrous acts as Lord Godfrey that increased discord and strife in the Lands Between. At the same time, the sense of anonymity is an acknowledgement that the warrior Hoarah Loux is not the true root of the injustices of the system - it's the system that convinced him that he did not have the capacity to make decisions for himself and needed to maintain vestiges of the previous regime in the form of Serosh acting as his regent. 

A regent is a substitute ruler. Serosh acts as a substitute will for Hoarah Loux, Miquella as god substitutes his will for that of Promised Consort Radahn, and Nepheli almost fell into the same trap of letting Sir Gideon Ofnir impose his will over her own. In the Richard II play, King Richard acts as though his actions should be above critique because he is backed by the supreme ruling authority of God - and indeed the Catholic Church is involved in the conspiracy to assassinate King Henry IV in retaliation for taking the throne - whereas King Henry IV is framed as a reasonable man by comparison. In reality both men likely acted in accordance with similar obligations to uphold the will of the Church. Just 2 years after being crowned King Henry IV passed the Suppression of Heresy Act 1400 which censored translation of the text of the Bible from Latin to Middle English at punishment of heretics being burned at the stake. It would not be until the reign of King Henry VIII in the early 1500's that the power of the Catholic Church in England would be dramatically broken up by the English Reformation. 

Set A: "The Fell God" - Armored Core:

Ironeye [10. Capricornus]: His Remembrances have a writing style that recalls the mercenary work of the AC pilots. These pilots typically have a person on their coms - usually a woman - which seems to be the role of "Isolde". In Armored Core V the Zodiac No. 1 AC "Capricornus" has a head part called "Tristan" which is part of a recurring theme where multiple head parts are named for Arthurian knights. The peculiar metal plating incorporated in his design recalls the machined metal parts of the AC units.

Raider [2. Taurus]: Slayer of dragons, based on the horned helm that he wears as a trophy. The Armored Core series despite being sci-fi is still relatively grounded in practicality compared to the earlier King's Field fantasy titles with their dragons and other creatures. One of his callback skins is Havel the Rock from Dark Souls, which previously I had identified as corresponding to Taurus, and another is the Catarina knight which has an appearance of an onion. From AC V the Zodiac No. 5 AC "Taurus" has a head part called "Kurma" in reference to the tortoise avatar of Vishnu, which suits the theme of layers or shells.

Wylder [3. Gemini]: His shield: associated with the number "3" and blowing winds. His Remembrance quest: associated with searching for a twin to his single earring. One of his alternate skins: Artorias the Abysswalker. These signs indicate the mutable wind sign "Gemini", which is typically considered the 3rd sign of the zodiac and conceptualized as communication between the two twins being the present and the past (i.e. delving into the past being like looking into a bottomless abyss). From AC V the second form of the Zodiac No. 6 AC "Gemini" has a head part called "Arthur", which meshes with the Artorias/King Arthur of the Round Table angle. His Remembrance quest takes him to the Eternal City Noklateo, which is counterpart to the twin underground cities from base Elden Ring.

Guardian [4. Cancer]: In the round table room the Guardian is standing at the same spot occupied by Diallos in base Elden Ring, which I had previously identified as associated with zodiac Cancer. From AC V the Zodiac No. 7 AC "Cancer" has a head part called "Rugerro" which is named after a Saracen knight. This aligns with the Guardian having a hint of Arabic to his accent. Also his Darkness garb has the head of a raven and Armored Core pilots were typically called "Ravens" up until Armored Core: Last Raven (2005).

Set B: "The Gloam Eyed Queen" - The Shadows of Armored Core:

Executor [7. Libra]: For this one I'm drawing upon a deeper understanding of the structure of the Roundtable Hold itself. Previously I was puzzled as to what governed the rooms such that the Dungeater associated with the letter "D" for Gemini/Cancer is at the end of the hallway leading to Sir Gideon Ofnir's study, which I had identified as "Taurus". I'm leaning towards incrementing rooms based on distance from the centre round table. So, if Hewg is in the "5: Leo" hallway and Fia in the adjoining room is "6: Virgo", then Executor has set up their easel in the "7: Libra" zone beyond the walls.

See below map labelled from "1" for Aries to "12" for Pisces

Executor having a "beast" form also has synergy with the "Equilibrious Beast" which is revealed to be named "Libra".

Recluse [8. Scorpio]: Scorpio is the sign associated with "mystery" and "magic". For her Darkness garb there are 8 constellations on the underside of the hat. The "bone-like stone" is likely another perspective on Rom the Vacuous from Bloodborne (more association with "8" legged spiders).

Actually, I was looking at her model in game today and although her hat is an 8-sided web, there are 12 silver medallions arranged around the circumference of the upright part. Appropriate since her past self was the "Witch of the Wheel" - that is the witch of the octave. It seemed appropriate that the wheel signboard location also lands on an 8.

Revenant [12. Pisces]: It could be said that her existence is due to a sudden divergence of path as embodied by the death of Chloe and being reborn into a new life as Daphne. But actually the reason I've set this one is almost entirely because Revenant gets connected to the release of Eternal Ring on March 4, 2000 via the Evanescence song "Bring me to Life" from her intro trailer. This is the same year of release as Armored Core 2 in 2000, which I previously calibrated to be associated with Pisces. But on that topic: it is notable that she is associated with names starting with both "C" and "D", because it gives a hint that the tones of the octave around the round table have been shifted in Nightreign compared to the base game. This is more relevant for placing the Nightlords at their respective zodiac positions. Another possibility is that there is no intention for another DLC, and thus the summons of the Revenant are meant to represent the remaining zodiac spots. There's "Helen, the Agile page", "Frederick the Burly Cook", and "Sebastian the Doting Butler".

Duchess [1. Aries]: As mentioned, Duchess is a puzzling one. I'm placing her at "Aries" based on one particular observation: her pocket watch points to 9'o'clock. That's the same timeframe that "Formless Oedon" era starts on the Astral Clock in Bloodborne, which works out to "Aries" when translated to zodiac, based on the blood moon representing "Cancer" being at midnight.

Edit: on the other hand, she could be "Leo" because she's the "heart" of the Round Table, and one of my first intuitions about "Limveld" was that it was taking cues from the short story "The Veldt" which has a lion theme. Conflation of Aries and Leo has happened before in FromSoft history with "Gwyn's firstborn" in Dark Souls, who is associated with a spear like Orenstein. Also the idea of the "small king" or "Leos Klein" from early Armored Core.

Set C: The Scholars of the Great Hollow

Undertaker [6. Virgo]: Virgo has some contradictory associations in the zodiac. Sometimes it's connotations of the pious Virgin Mary in the Catholic tradition - or in this case perhaps the nun "Maria" from the "Sound of Music" - and sometimes as an expression of dread Persephone queen of the Underworld. More superficially, Undertaker wields a 6-sided mace and she is introduced in a room associated with Fia, who is another manifestation of "Virgo".

Scholar [9. Sagittarius]: Sagittarius is the house of the zodiac associated with scholarship. Much like "Virgo" is a mutable earth sign, "Sagittarius" is a mutable fire sign. The "fire pot" is the default consumable item available to the Scholar to purchase before boss fights. The room where Scholar can be found is also the room where "D" is found dead - who I previously associated with the mutable air sign of "Gemini".

More thoughts edit:

If there were to be two more Nightfarers added, I would expect them to build off something that has been present all along. So that if the game had flopped terribly or FromSoft decided to pivot it would still feel "complete" even without a second DLC. Like for example the Marionette in the training grounds wields spears - hence even if a spear Nightfarer isn't introduced the Iron Menial still fills that niche of Aries, God of War.