#leuthere

Godrick the Semi-invalid

First thing to lay down is how isolated Godrick has been for so long. Not only has he been holed up in Stormveil, hiding from Radahn, but it's probably fair to say he didn't get out much in his former home either.

As the last of a long line of steadily weakening royal, godly blood, and the runt of the lot, he would have been a source of shame. Sickly, too. Undeniable proof that the Golden Lineage was finished. No royal house would dream of marrying their daughters off to him. He would be kept out of the way as much as possible, to avoid embarrassment. Any children (Gostoc included) that he would have had would be bastards, adding to the pile of shame and secrets.

All this to say that as much as Godrick would know a lot about the Lands Between - more than Leuthere at least, who has been away from it for a good few years - 80-90% of his knowledge would come from books, not experience. So if he was inclined to give tips and guidance (which, to begin with, he wouldn't), Godrick's brain would be slower to kick into gear because he's simply not used to using that side of his knowledge on a regular basis.

Add the fact that what little exposure he did have to the outside world was full of terror and uncertainty... yeah. All the lore in his brain would be regularly pushed down by the fear of whatever immediate death-bringing threat is before him.

Godrick, watching Leuthere sneak past a Lesser Rune Bear: "BOY! Damn thy eyes, COME BACK!"

Now he has a Tarnished dragging him through the most dangerous, inhospitable hellholes the post-Shattering world has to offer. Godrick is PETRIFIED. He can bluff as much as he wants, but the stress and anxiety will creep up sooner than later. He cannot hide it for long. In fact, fighting it makes it worse. This strain escalates into panic attacks, alarming his Tarnished companion and grinding their journey to a halt on several occasions in the early days.

In normal circumstances Godrick would rebuff sympathy and concern as pity, but there comes a point where it's too much and he begs someone to help him. As he panics, he feels his age and weakness and the reality that only one Tarnished stands between him and imminent death. He hasn't felt so helpless in a long, long time. He's spent almost his entire life to avoid it.

Now he's quite literally back at square one. He hates it. He hates Leuthere for bringing him this low. This is when Godrick is at his most hateful, doing whatever he can to impede Leuthere's journey. He lashes out on a regular basis. He wants Leuthere to die.

But if Leuthere died, Godrick would be alone, and they both know he'd be dead in minutes if that happened. Even if he managed to kill the boy and graft his limbs, Godrick would still be heavily vulnerable. The risks are just too great, out in the open, far from the seclusion of Stormveil Castle. This makes Godrick resent the Tarnished even more, that this boy has such power over him.

He doesn't appreciate Leuthere's sincere efforts to quell his anxiety. He doesn't want to accept this. He can't accept this. As far as he's concerned, Leuthere is his jailer, putting him through the terror of death on a daily basis for his own ambitions.

Leuthere is quick to remind Godrick that he did the same for countless Tarnished. Godrick stumbles on this truth, but quickly dismisses it. After all, what's a lowly Tarnished's life to him? They are subhuman, dangerous elements to most in the Lands Between, and Godrick thinks likewise. It just isn't the same. Leuthere cannot compare the lives of Tarnished to Godrick.

What to do?

Trapped in a stalemate, the two men continue on, unable to break the ice, as much as Leuthere tries. Leuthere genuinely tries to show Godrick that he's not some power-hungry destroyer, but Godrick refuses to engage beyond one-word answers or curses.

Leuthere tells the old lord about his past, his quest to put down the Bloody Fingers and their lord. His past desire to return to his parents, who he no longer knows are living or dead. He still lives in hope that Yura at least is alive, but he can find no trace of him.

Godrick has heard of the Hunter of Bloody Fingers, but does not know his location. Still, he has heard of Yura, but he is so full of spite that he refuses to say a word. He doesn't want to engage emotionally with Leuthere at all.

He wants to go home. Even though he doesn't rightly know where home is anymore.

Leuthere begins to silently despair. What can he do? He knows Godrick is a miserable soul, and that there is an argument for Godrick deserving the further misery he is experiencing. But Leuthere isn't a cruel man. He doesn't want to be Godrick's jailer. He doesn't want this journey to be harder on either of them than it needs to be.

He wants there to be hope for the both of them. If there's hope for someone like Godrick, there's hope for his mother, Eleanora, despite the blood on her hands. He begins to understand, as he travels, how everyone he meets are, somehow or other, desperately clinging to acceptance and salvation from the only place they believe it exists. He is beginning to understand that to have a hope of challenging these greater forces, he needs to reach out to the people who follow them first.

He may have entered the Lands Between alone, but he is not alone anymore. He has Godrick, unwilling as he is, and he has so many people around him now.

There is hope.