#silver tear

—Speedpaint under the cut—

Consider the rest spoilers for both Elden Ring and the Frenzied Flame ending

Previously, Herald - a Silver Tear copy of the knight Vyke who was the closest of the Roundtable Hold to ever becoming Elden Lord - had slain the festering failure that was his progenitor and taken his spear.

He then headed for Leyndell to kill the last king, Morgott (with the aid of Melina which I didn't realize was a thing this whole time??)

Afterwards he is denied passage through the mantle of thorns (awesome name, needed to be said like 900 more times) and it hadn't previously occurred to me how terrific a story beat that was for this character.

I do not get along great with my brother. He's somewhat of a failure. However, we share much in common. Much of what motivated most of my major life choices was an effort on my part to intentionally avoid becoming him.

So here we have Vyke's doppelganger, their twin, their shadow, their reflection, who is utterly determined to succeed where he had failed - also denied the title of Elden Lord.

So I internally roleplayed a costume change that included putting on a blindfold and wandering aimlessly for a time (while I did side content).

Finally his self-imposed blindness guided him to Three Fingers below Leyndell and the source of the Frenzied Flame. Ignited by ambition once more, they sought to rebirth the world without failure or sorrow.

Melina disapproved greatly, but they found a new maiden in their short tryst with Hyetta.

Now with renewed ambition they will set about becoming the Elden Lord that Vyke could never become, as a true champion of the Three Fingers and the Frenzied Flame. A new kind of lord who is not afraid to reimagine what the world could be.

(Also they have both their eyes restored now and their hair got longer again)

Just a single silver droplet that takes shape. They’d be akin to a machine god in a way. Able to mimic any life form, yet never fully attached to life in the same way as one born naturally. Perhaps they’d even be able to become the very Stars.

Imagine the Nameless Cities, never struck down, and the influence they would have had on the world. The advances in sorceries that might have came. The advances in other fields with the successful silver technology that could’ve been - based solely on the liquid metal of the Nox’s weapons.

Would it be an Age of Silvered Night?

Would the Erdtree have gained a new identity under the Nox, or would it have remained a simple Greatwood, shading the no-longer Nameless City. Would Liurnia have flourished? Would Sellia become of more importance as a place of learning? Would the Astrolgers welcome the Lord of Silver, with its connection to the stars of the Night Sky?

Heolster’s Night is Different. It’s born of vengeance, hatred and grief all in one. It turns friends into enemies. Family into murderers. Until all fall under one side of the coin. But it is also swayed into leaving peacefully. When Heolster is defeated, the Night Giant leaves as Golden Leaves fall upon it. If Wylder becomes the Night, the Night continues, but the violence wanes in favour of simple survival.

Heolster’s Night brings comfort to the suffering in the end, letting them be their trues selves, or granting strength needed. So what would the Lord of Silver’s own Night bring? Is it closer to Ranni’s Age of Stars? A journey across the cosmos separating mortals from the Gods influence? Or would it be an age of protection, with the artificial Lord willing to sacrifice itself to protect all those who follow it?

Would Marika and the Hornsent try to oppose it? Silver Tears can assimilate life, in a way, so.. would the Hornsent recognise the potential of Crucible in that? Or would they see it as an abomination, entirely undivine and undeserving? Would their Inquisition rally against the Eternal Cities?

Would the Dragonkin’s true potential be realised under the Lord of Silver? No longer failed experiments, but Knights that protect the Night. The most loyal warriors under the Lord of Silver who wield frozen lightning against their enemies.

Would the Fell God have been an enemy or an ally of the Night? Its Fell Sun would be counter to the starry skies and the Black Moon of the Nox surely. But its affinity for the forge may approve of their unique smithing creations of life.

Does the Greater Will ally itself with the Nox and attempt guidance, or does it see them as enemies for their betrayal and seek interference in their Age?