On the heart of the Lands Between is Leyndell, the house of the Erdtree, and an important place in all of Elden Ring. On the base of the huge tree, Marika constructed the seat of her energy. Of all of the locations within the Lands Between, Leyndell in all probability stays in the very best form, with its partitions nonetheless standing and knights ready inside. Upon getting just a few Nice Runes, your journey inevitably takes you to Leyndell as you try to assert the Elden Ring and develop into Elden Lord. However there are different powers who nonetheless stand in your way–others who nonetheless want to take the throne.
Your journey into Leyndell places you nearer to your objective than you’ve got ever been, however there are additionally just a few main revelations to be discovered right here, as nicely. As we delve into the Erdtree capital, as at all times, there are spoilers inside, though these are in all probability the largest but, with the best and weirdest lore implications for the general story of the sport. This is what’s taking place as you discover Leyndell and attempt to lay declare on the title of Elden Lord.
Extra deep dives into Elden Ring’s story
Traversing Altus
The journey to Leyndell first takes you throughout the Altus countryside. Although town and its outskirts are largely intact, there’s so much to concentrate to within the surrounding space as you make your method towards it, and the Shattering has undoubtedly not spared this place.
First, if you happen to made your method up by means of the Smash-Strewn Precipice, you had been doubtless accosted by a dragon earlier than you even actually entered the Altus Plateau correct. Dragons are far and wide within the Lands Between, however they’ve an enormous connection to Leyndell specifically that we’ll get into extra a bit later. The historical past and lore of Elden Ring features a struggle between the Golden Order and the dragons, however at the least one, Fortissax, was impressed by Marika’s demigod son, Godwyn the Golden, and have become buddies with him. The dragon you face right here, Lansseax, was sister to Fortissax and appears to even have been pleasant to the people and the Golden Order. In actual fact, dragons are an enormous a part of a few of Leyndell’s tradition, and lots of that has to do with Lansseax–so the dragon exhibiting as much as assault you as quickly as you present up on Altus Plateau makes some sense, from that perspective.
Earlier than you head to the capital, you’ll be able to discover among the land round it, which presents some attention-grabbing data. A bridge that heads north over a darkened forest has been destroyed, probably through the Shattering, given you will discover the convoys you’ve got seen all through the Lands Between crushed among the many wreckage. The forest is populated by death-spewing, worm-faced creatures, and is the positioning of a number of units of ruins. It seems that Leyndell has kind of deserted this space, and with the bridge destroyed, no person from the capital is visiting the realm to the north.
The lands on the north finish of the plateau are dotted with windmills, and if you happen to make your method there, you may uncover some… attention-grabbing folks. The Windmill Pastures surrounding them flank the village of Dominula. All by means of this space, you may discover unusual ladies dancing and laughing contentedly, their faces stained with blood. They don’t seem to be hostile until you assault them, for essentially the most half, however if you happen to examine the realm, you may discover proof of fairly just a few murders and a ghost that begs somebody to not pores and skin him.
It is powerful to say something for certain about Dominula, however there’s sufficient data floating round to invest. On the north finish of the village, at its highest level, you may struggle a Godskin Apostle boss, and given the flower pageant really feel of the village and the data you’ll be able to learn on the garments and weapons of the ladies there, the entire place has a spiritual feel–but a faith at odds with the Golden Order. The ladies appear to be celebrating in Dominula, sporting pageant garb that implies that a part of the rites of that pageant embrace sacrificing folks and skinning them. With the Godskin Apostle at hand, we are able to guess that these could be people who subscribe to an older faith, earlier than the arrival of Marika’s Golden Order. As to why they’re dancing endlessly, it is harder to say, though YouTubers KitTales and Flex have a video with some good theories.
Individually, I believe Dominula represents one other spiritual minority working within the Lands Between, and reveals that there are individuals who do not subscribe to the Golden Order, even in Leyndell’s yard. It is fairly good proof that, through the Shattering and even earlier than it, there have been dissenters, and Marika’s maintain on the Lands Between was not as full as we would have been led to imagine. It additionally reveals that among the factions and religions of the land do not depend on the varied demigods to drive them.
Whereas the realm to the north is extra ruinous, the trail into Leyndell is in good condition, and well-protected by troopers and even a large gargoyle statue. When you get previous the troopers blocking your entry, a well-recognized face even reveals as much as problem you: Margit, the Fell Omen. The primary boss you fought at Stormveil Fortress right here takes over a commoner and is a bit more simply defeated, however that gives some vital details about the character himself. The Margit you fought at Stormveil appears to have been a projection, similar to this one. It is a puppet, and another person is pulling its strings, utilizing it to attempt to cease Tarnished on their journey.
To lastly make your method into Leyndell, you must struggle and kill a Tree Sentinel, one of many mounted knights loyal to the Golden Order and the Erdtree, to discover a aspect entrance into the partitions. Inside, you may discover town in fairly good condition, however with people who find themselves sitting round, ready for orders or for struggle to return to town. Lots of them do not appear to have so much to do.
Heralds and loyalists of the Golden Order
The primary folks you see as you enter Leyndell are Oracle Envoys, horn-bearing folks sporting huge white hats. Descriptions on the gadgets you may get from Oracle Envoys name them “monstrous” and suggests they seem to blow their horns to herald the approaching of a brand new god, or a brand new age. As you enter Leyndell, then, you is perhaps approaching one of many demigods closest to claiming the Elden Ring: Morgott, referred to as each the Omen King and the Grace-Given Lord, son of Marika and Godfrey.
Scattered all through town are the sorts of individuals loyal to the Erdtree you’ve got already discovered all through the Lands Between. You will additionally discover attention-grabbing enemies within the Perfumers, who you might need seen prior to now popping up right here and there in Altus Plateau. These previously had been apothecaries, dealing in chemistry and medication, and at the least one well-known Perfumer, Tricia, tried to heal the downtrodden of the Lands Between, like Omen and the winged Misbegotten creatures who had been compelled to be servants and slaves. However the Perfumers weren’t all essentially benevolent–Rollo, the primary Omenkiller, had beforehand been a Perfumer. Through the Shattering, the Perfumers had been pressed into army service, buying and selling therapeutic potions for poisons.
Touring by means of town, you get a little bit of a way of its historical past and the way it has developed for the reason that Shattering. First, proper within the heart of city, is the huge corpse of a dragon. This, it appears, is Gransax, and its assault on the capital marked the one time in its historical past when its partitions fell. The dragon was finally defeated, after all, and the response of the Golden Order was to wage struggle on the remainder of the dragons, led by Godwyn. As with the opposite opponents Marika and her kids confronted, the dragons had been finally defeated, though as talked about earlier than, a few of them allied themselves with Godwyn and the royal household through the course of the battle.
A relationship with dragons, in some type or one other, had a fairly profound affect on Leyndell. There are knights there that wield powers often reserved for dragons, and lore describes town as dwelling to a dragon cult–although, within the lore, it is described as “historic,” so it could be that the cult existed within the capital earlier than the struggle by which Godwyn befriended some. Lansseax, the dragon we talked about earlier, was mentioned to have taken on a human type and served as a priestess for that dragon cult, so it is perhaps that among the folks of the Altus Plateau worshiped the dragons earlier than the Golden Order confirmed up.
The dragon state of affairs is a bit hazy, if we’re being trustworthy. Later within the sport, you may journey to a floating, destroyed mausoleum referred to as Crumbling Farum Azula, the place you will discover Dragonlord Placidusax–who was, apparently, Elden Lord within the time earlier than the Erdtree. The dragons apparently had a god of their very own, who “fled,” so it could observe that folks of the Lands Between might need worshiped them the best way they worship Marika and the Golden Order. If that is the case, the dragon cult within the capital might simply have been there earlier than Leyndell was the seat of Marika’s energy, and her taking of it might need been what prompted the dragons to assault within the first place.
In any occasion, nonetheless, the dragons largely misplaced, similar to everybody else who went up towards Marika’s struggle machine.
Hidden Omens
The streets of Leyndell are fairly huge, however there’s extra hidden beneath the floor. There’s an enormous underground sewer system beneath town, which you’ll journey down into and discover. Whereas Leyndell is clear, white, and gold above floor, its secrets and techniques are stored within the darkness under.
Descend into the depths and you may finally discover a bunch of Omen enemies, with gadgets that specify precisely why they’re there. Omens are seen as impure–at least beneath the present regime–and most Omen infants have the horns that develop throughout their our bodies eliminated quickly after they’re born. More often than not, this process kills the infants. As is usually the case, nonetheless, royals do not observe the identical guidelines as everybody else. Highborn Omen infants of the capital don’t have their horns eliminated; they’re imprisoned beneath town within the sewers and gaols inside.
The gadgets you discover associated to the Omens recommend that the powers that be had no downside using them once they had been helpful. A few of the Omen carry weapons that will have allowed them to struggle within the wars Marika waged across the Lands Between–although, as these weapon descriptions notice, the Golden Order at all times had a contingency plan to ensure the highly effective Omen by no means received out of line.
Marika and Godfrey’s personal kids, Morgott and Mohg, had been among the many Omen imprisoned beneath Leyndell. In actual fact, if you happen to go deep sufficient, you can battle towards Mohg, the Omen, who blocks off the trail to an even deeper portion of the sewers. This does not appear to be the actual Mohg, nonetheless, however one other projection; he stands earlier than a seal that blocks your path into one other part of the sewers, and the path to the Three Fingers, the envoys of the Frenzied Flame. That is a complete different dialogue (which you’ll learn right here), however suffice to say, that is the place Mohg and Morgott grew up, and the place Mohg grew to become the particular person he’s if you lastly run throughout him–more on him in a future a part of this sequence.
As for Morgott, he additionally was apparently hidden within the sewers in order that he would not be killed for his Omen standing. However the expertise of imprisonment drastically differed for the 2 brothers. Whereas Mohg was pushed to worship one thing apart from the Better Will and the Golden Order, Morgott would double down on his household, in any case, and he is a serious affect inside Leyndell.
The trail to the throne
Making your method as much as the Erdtree takes you thru Marika’s palace. Right here, your path as much as the Erdtree is barred in attention-grabbing methods, each by the structure, which requires you to climb out onto the tree itself to advance, and by the golden spirit of Godfrey, First Elden Lord. This is not truly Godfrey that you simply’re going through, however just like the Margit projections or the Rennala spell, it is one thing extra of an imitation. That does not imply it is not highly effective, although, and one has to marvel if that is one other of Morgott’s defenses to maintain Tarnished from reaching the Erdtree above.
Past Godfrey is a bit of the palace that is one of the vital attention-grabbing, though what all of it means is not precisely clear. You will discover the walkways right here plagued by the our bodies of Finger Reader Crones. And ready on the finish of the trail is a Black Knife Murderer.
This entire space is unusual, maybe giving a touch in regards to the break up between the Golden Order and the Two Fingers previously, or maybe exhibiting Morgott’s strikes all through the Lands Between to shore up his personal energy. The Finger Reader Crones all through the world provide you with details about the place you are going and what you would possibly discover there, and immediately or not directly, they lead you towards Nice Runes. The chief of those is Enia within the Roundtable Maintain, who’s fairly direct in telling you what you want to do and aiding you in your journey. Although we’re speculating right here, what feels just like the likeliest rationalization is that Morgott has been rounding up and killing these crones as a part of his persevering with marketing campaign to frustrate Tarnished who’re making an attempt to develop into Elden Lord; the much less data these Tarnished have, the harder their path to Leyndell shall be.
To invest additional, although, it is also potential that this might have been a transfer by the Golden Order towards the Two Fingers, made earlier by Marika. Lore all through the sport hints within the course that Marika could have grown fed-up along with her position as an extension of the Better Will, a god as named by the Two Fingers. The Black Knife Assassins are described as having ties to Marika, which suggests she would possibly even have had a component within the assassination of her son, Godwyn. If Marika was reducing ties with the Two Fingers and attempting to shake off the management of the Better Will, using the Black Knives to take out the Finger Reader Crones might critically hamper the Two Fingers’ affect. In any case, they cannot speak, and want the crones to interpret their actions.
The our bodies of all of the crones are undoubtedly, pointedly telling us one thing, and whether or not it was through the time of Marika or beneath the order of Morgott, we are able to see that the present Golden Order has shifted out of alignment with the Two Fingers and the Better Will. But when Morgott was accountable, the title given to him by Sir Gideon Ofnir is perhaps a bit deceptive.
The Grace-Given Lord
Regardless of being an Omen, we discover out that the true lord of Leyndell, because it stands post-Shattering, is Morgott. He could largely disguise himself from the general public, however for the time being, he is the chief of the capital’s army and essentially the most senior of Marika’s royal lineage. The “Omen King” is probably essentially the most highly effective political chief within the Lands Between, with the strongest military and the strongest partitions defending him.
Whenever you meet Morgott, you understand he seems to be precisely like Margit, and the state of affairs with the Fell Omen begins to make extra sense. Morgott seemingly stayed loyal to his household, regardless of being shunned and imprisoned as an Omen. His loyalty, it seems, was rewarded, permitting him to struggle for the Golden Order because the champion often known as the Fell Omen, possibly beneath an assumed title to cover his identification (though “Margit” and “Morgott” do not actually sound all that different–maybe Margit is simply the best way troopers and commoners pronounced the title, unaware they had been within the presence of royalty). The Fell Omen additionally as soon as led the Evening’s Cavalry, the highly effective mounted knights you discover driving round at night time all through the Lands Between. So it appears that evidently Morgott was allowed to struggle Marika’s wars, whilst an Omen, and he was a fierce contender.
Having run up towards Margit on two events, we now get an thought of what Morgott’s been as much as, and the way highly effective he’s. The Margits we have seen seem like some type of magical projection that Morgott makes use of out within the area. He positioned a projection at Stormveil to cease Tarnished on their technique to Godrick, which might doubtless have allowed him to kill a ton of would-be Elden Lords earlier than they ever received anyplace close to gathering a Nice Rune. When that failed, he once more used a projection in an try to cease you outdoors the gates of Leyndell. Morgott has been attempting to stall your progress, amongst different things–he’s additionally chargeable for a magical seal within the sewer past the Mohg, the Omen boss struggle, which seals off the best way to the Three Fingers, presumably to maintain folks out of there as a service to the Golden Order.
Gideon calls Morgott “the Grace-Given” if you ask in regards to the Shardbearers, which means that he hasn’t simply fallen into the position of lord of Leyndell–he’s additionally been endorsed by the Better Will (or at the least the Two Fingers). That is an enormous deal for an Omen, and would possibly recommend simply how dire issues are within the time of the Shattering. Morgott is the very best of severely restricted choices, possibly, however he has been chosen. He additionally demonstrates his loyalty to the Golden Order if you meet him, exhibiting off the seats the opposite demigods occupied as a council earlier than the Erdtree. Morgott calls all of them traitors, seemingly referring to what they’ve performed by means of the Shattering; every claimed their very own energy and served their very own agenda, reasonably than remaining loyal to Marika and the Golden Order and dealing collectively and sustaining the royal home.
However Morgott exhibiting off his loyalty to his lineage and the Golden Order, plus the truth that he’s “grace-given,” raises an vital query: Why hasn’t Morgott been capable of develop into Elden Lord?
You discover the reply if you lastly face Morgott. You see the Omen King’s true energy if you face him; he wields a bunch of highly effective Religion-based assaults that showcase his dedication to the Better Will and the Golden Order. Nonetheless, it wasn’t sufficient to make him Elden Lord, which is what he reveals if you lastly defeat him. In his final moments, Morgott, now shrunken and human-looking, his Omen energy gone, reveals that the best way into the Erdtree is sealed. Morgott was by no means capable of get inside to assert the Elden Ring and develop into Elden Lord. In actual fact, nobody can, he says. Investigating your self, you discover that he is proper: thorns cowl the opening within the Erdtree that will will let you enter it and declare the Elden Ring. There is no method by means of, and all of your work has been for nothing.
The barred method ahead itself raises questions. Why would grace lead Tarnished to attempt to develop into Elden Lord, just for the Erdtree itself to reject them? And if the best way into the Erdtree was not blocked by the Erdtree, then who sealed it?
With no extra solutions, you are compelled to return to the Roundtable Maintain and seek the advice of the knowledge of the Two Fingers, starting a path that may require some dire acts towards the Golden Order and the Better Will, and which can change the Lands Between without end.
