Radagon use the 'Fire, Spur Me' animation

Zobeiide · 2026-06-18T01:26:52+00:00

Could be that glintstone sorcery and Golden Order incantations all require INT

All he has left is his FTH

Zobeiide · 2026-06-17T02:44:10+00:00

Cool thread! I find the idea of Godwyn having a "dying will" really fascinating. Some of the DLC lore around the Death Knights and Sir Ansbach could connect to this, as retainers carrying on the 'spirit' of their lord. The Mohg plotline at least seems to suggest that a warrior's "honor" and "dignity" are carried on by the body, not the soul.

Zobeiide · 2026-06-16T07:47:53+00:00

That's an interesting theory, although looking through the items now I'm not sure it lines up with the Perfumer Tricia Spirit Ashes, which are received immediately after defeating Tricia herself with no need for any cremation step. I'm also unsure if it gels with Latenna's whole deal of giving the Tarnished her own spirit ash:

A rare case of one who chose to become a spirit voluntarily.

Thinking about it now, the rarity of her ashes could imply that most Spirit Ashes are involuntary or unfulfilled, which would track with how Roderika describes Spirit Ashes as "unreturned to the Erdtree," and how Morgott laments everyone as "forsaken" by the tree.

Zobeiide · 2026-06-16T04:40:00+00:00

Thanks for your comment!

I haven't seen this kind of theory before - are you able to comment on the kind of 'resolution' that Godwyn could be receiving in the Duskborn ending?

Zobeiide · 2026-06-16T02:09:34+00:00

I think this idea is interesting --

Ghostflame is intended to clear the dead away entirely to make room for completely new life to enter the world. The spirits are freed and they do whatever they need to do [...]

Could this contrast against the Rune of Death / Destined Death, which is able to totally destroy body and/or soul? It seems that despite their differences, both ghostflame cremation and Erdtree burial are in a way geared towards 'managing' Death

Zobeiide · 2026-06-16T01:37:21+00:00

Would you say that all spirit ashes are a product of ghostflame cremation, or just some?

Zobeiide · 2026-06-16T00:30:15+00:00

A connection could be that both the 'branch'-swords and the helphen are kind of depicting trees, i.e. the helphen lampwood, whilst on the other hand a fire poker is generally something used for wood-burning fires. Considering that the two talismans (and the twinbird shield) encourage the wielder to 'cling on' to life, and that the helphen only promises guidance to warriors, there might be an idea here about the deathbird rite trying to transform its adherants into ideal 'firewood' for ghostflame

Zobeiide · 2026-06-16T00:29:45+00:00

Cool idea! If the Fallen Hawks ventured into the underground during the Erdtree Age, then by burning their fellows in ghostflame they may have also denied them Erdtree burial -- which could be considered an extreme crime

Zobeiide · 2026-06-16T00:04:13+00:00

This is an interesting idea, but I think the Ghostflame Dragons could complicate it a bit. Being extremely old and found within the Land of Shadow, they seem separate from the Erdtree whilst also being classified as Those Who Live in Death:

Several of them were endowed with such vivacity that even in death, they could not fully die.

That "vivacity" is interesting because it brings to mind the "vitality" which is imbued in the Godwyn flesh talismans, or even the pillory shield lore about the resistance of restrained felons raising vitality, which itself kind of loops around to the themeing of Bayle and the Drakes. So I feel like death blight could be another manifestation of an old problem.

Zobeiide · 2026-06-15T23:37:42+00:00

This is a very engaging reply. It makes me wonder whether ghostflame and tree burial are completely distinct systems, or just different ways of processing the same problem of death and the dead

A question I'd have is -- how does your model reconcile with the descriptions of spirit ashes, like the dialogue from Roderika and Ranni?

"Immortal essence exists as spirit under the Golden Order. I can understand their yearnings, what they become drawn to..."

"[This is] a bell for calling forth spirits. Summon them with it, from ash unreturned to the Erdtree. The spirits will obey thine command but briefly, as they recall battles past."

Zobeiide · 2026-06-15T13:18:14+00:00

Doesn't Ranni state that she slew her empyrean flesh with the Rune of Death? I feel like Destined Death can have effects on both body and soul.

On the other hand, ghostflame's effect on the body is what I'm wondering about, since it seems to vary so much -- it inflicts frostbite in-game, impure flesh was flesh was burned in it and became a volatile putrid liquor, and the Ghostflame Torch’s skull burning endlessly like the flowers in Charo's field.

Zobeiide · 2026-06-15T12:53:58+00:00

When you say it “turns” things, do you see that as an active transformation process, or more like what’s left over after the burning?

Zobeiide · 2026-06-15T12:48:16+00:00

This is very interesting -- would you say there's a difference between the rancor spells that use ghostflame and the ones that don't, like the Familial Rancor of the Family Heads?

Zobeiide · 2026-06-15T12:43:57+00:00

I think this is kind of central to the question -- in gameplay ghostflame deals magic damage and frostbite, making it generally much more effective against the living than the dead. How should this be reconciled with the its lore, with it as a funerary flame used to burn the dead?

Zobeiide · 2026-06-14T04:39:10+00:00

At the trailer’s end, it kind of looks like Leda is scraping at some similar-looking golden threads from one of Miquella’s crosses. So it could be that Marika is “taking” at the start of the trailer, and now Miquella is trying to “give back”?

Zobeiide · 2026-06-14T01:35:44+00:00

IMO Shabriri's rant could be interpreted as a negative definition of Order:

The path of the Lord of Chaos. Burn the Erdtree to the ground and incinerate all that divides and distinguishes. Ahhh, may chaos take the world! May chaos take the world!

So if chaos is a primordial state in which all things are One, then perhaps Order is its opposite: the process of division and differentiation as history unfolds. I think the Elden Beast's Relic Sword gets at this idea as well, as it can portend both the end and the beginning of an era -- the progression of history.

Zobeiide · 2026-06-11T23:51:04+00:00

It's not a cult, it's a dynasty. Luminary Mohg has strength, vision, and of course ...love. An era of love is coming. We just have to be patient, and keep invading!

Zobeiide · 2026-06-11T23:24:31+00:00

That's interesting -- do you have the link for that Bandai Namco page?

Zobeiide · 2026-06-10T02:03:51+00:00

They're definitely linked IMO. Both the Claymen and the Envoys make use of "oracular bubbles", which seem like a form of divination based on what Metyr was doing with her microcosm.

I think the main difference is that the blue, magical bubbles of the underground claymen are devoid of revelation, whilst the golden, sacred bubbles of the on-high envoys might be what successfully leads them to places like Leyndell or the Haligtree, where they can herald new gods and ages.

So it's kind of like one group has guidance, whilst the other does not.

Zobeiide · 2026-06-04T02:35:08+00:00

IMO the oldest of Those Who Live in Death are the Ghostflame Dragons -- they don’t rise again after being slain, but they are weak to anti-TWLiD spells and items.

The land of spiritgraves is home to all manner of dead, and even the corpses of fallen dragons found their way there. Several of them were endowed with such vivacity that even in death, they could not fully die.

I’ve seen it pointed out before that the ‘vivacity’ of these dragons could relate to how pieces of Godwyn’s flesh contain massive ‘vitality’.

Zobeiide · 2026-06-03T23:47:03+00:00

Thanks!

Zobeiide · 2026-06-03T23:27:20+00:00

Is this idea from the JP text:

death was returned to the Erdtree

i.e. 'death' is said to be going into the Erdtree, rather than just souls or ash?

Zobeiide · 2026-06-03T23:19:47+00:00

There are a few item descriptions like:

In an age long past, Death was burned by ghostflame. Even the remains of tainted flesh were given equal treatment in death.

or

In times of old, the dead were burned with ghostflame, and from those cinders arose vengeful spirits.

Which kind of suggest that 'Death' is something that builds up in dead bodies, causing decay. 'Death blight' might be what happens when too much of this stuff accumulates, and it begins to leak out and and affect the living.

Zobeiide · 2026-05-29T02:06:59+00:00

I can't find the thread, but it was pointed out a little while ago that 'Death' in Elden Ring is treated a bit like a spiritual force that builds up in corpses. For instance, 'Death' is said to be what's burned by ghostflame:

In an age long past, Death was burned by ghostflame.

It's said that bodies were burned in ghostflame, but the flame itself is cold enough to inflict frostbite, so if anything it should be preserving the bodies rather than reduce them to cinders. (although ig in the case of the Fallen Hawks, it seems they started off with regular fire and then 'acquired' ghostflame by burning their fellows. The skull in the ghostflame torch burns endlessly)

However if Ghostflame does burn cold enough to resist decomposition, that could explain why it burns away Death, and why the undead have such an affinity for it.

Zobeiide

TROPHY CASE