Preface
Rarely are “the good times” the most interesting part of a story, and Elden Ring is no different. Much of this period in the setting’s backstory is simply stacking the building blocks to be knocked down by subsequent events. What little conflict can be mined is narratively flaccid, with hardly many tantalizing secrets to be uncovered. Even so, it is important to visualize the stage where Marika’s great tragedy will unfold. All those details, while perfectly mundane, still do help shape the context for what comes after. To beget conflict, something must be wrong with the good times, after all. And in that sense, there is something of interest to glean from this era.
Gold for the Poor
Just as Marika pronounced in the war against the giants, the days of the Crucible were an era of brilliant life. Ignoring Elden Stars, older Erdtree incantations using the Crucible sigil embody the “blessings” provided by the tree in the form of drops. This resin dripping from the Erdtree at the time naturally contained its primordial power, which people in Godfrey’s day treated as a special gemstone for talismans. Whether their amber “jewels” shade crimson, viridian, or cerulean, these medallions enhance some element of life; bodily vigor, stamina, or spiritual focus, respectively. The old prayers for blessings likewise heal injuries, with images of these blessings similarly manifesting a gradual healing effect. Such power is only appropriate for amber of the tree dubbed “life’s crucible”, but this melting pot of vital energies were undeniably tapped by the kingdom. Like other aspects of the tree’s holiness, those drops of vitality were probably used by Godfrey’s army prior to the Giant War’s conclusion. However, it would only be after the fighting had ended that their Queen would begin sharing it on a large scale.
Both the Blessed Dew Talisman and Icon Shield depict a person ready to receive a blessing dripping from the Erdtree and into a golden chalice, the very same featured in the menu graphic for Sacred Tear — or more accurately, “holy grail drop”. (聖杯の雫) The power contained within this cup is evident, for wherever the grails rest, golden flowers also grow on the spot. The arrangement of these two unique species of flora affirms that they sprout from the vitality emanating from inside the cup, the larger species principally concentrated closer to the center — in the snow-covered mountaintops, only it can even survive. Their metallic sheen also matches the golden vegetation found closest to the Erdtree, likely hardest hit from proximity to its rays; to this point, plants within the tree itself, in constant shadow, retain the more typical yellow hue seen elsewhere in Leyndell. The power of life contained in those chalices is thus immense, hence enhancing the potency of our own drops of grace drunk from the flasks Melina gifts us; the golden chalice even became the model for said “holy grail” flasks. (聖杯瓶)
Talisman modeled on the form of receiving a drop, which is the Golden Tree’s blessing.
Slowly recovers HP.
It is said that drops of blessing once dripped inexhaustibly. An Age of Plenty, but it was very short. The Golden Tree came to become a faith.
Greatshield of a holy painting depicting the form of receiving a drop, which is the Golden Tree’s blessing. It reminisces about the Age of Plenty.
The holy painting is itself also a prayer, so this shield slowly recovers HP.
Erdtree’s Favor, meanwhile, portrays Marika pouring a vessel of that blessed liquid from in front of the tree. The talisman’s description confirms that this occurred during the dawn of the Erdtree age, which the other item descriptions denote as an age of plenty — literally “bountiful crop” (豊穣) — where the blessings rained down inexhaustibly. And, again, this crop refers specifically to the abundant Crucible. Cut content reaffirms the connection with Miranda’s Prayer, which is evocative of Erdtree’s Favor not only in shape but also in its effect to summon a rainfall of light. And although these rain “drops” aren’t directly related to the blessings reaped from the Erdtree, the item’s text nonetheless describes Miranda as the “flower crucible” in clear allusion. The early form of the golden tree was still around when Marika was doling out its blessed resin to her subjects. Just as she was the mediator of the Crucible’s divine power for their protectors, the god also controlled the steady distribution of its grace to the public.
The queen wasn’t the sole means of obtaining these drops of grace. As already mentioned, the sacred tears fall from the Erdtree itself, and like its leaves, they can be carried on the wind far and wide. All across the Lands Between, we can encounter isolated collection basins often filled with crystal tears. These drops of golden life harden like the amber medallion gems after a certain period, similar to how star life eventually crystallizes into brightstone. In other words, crystal tears are the Erdtree’s amber which has existed since the days of the Crucible, and people have gone out to collect them in the middle of nowhere like rain — peeking inside, rain seems to be all their basins collect most days. Regardless, the implication is that, much as how the golden leaves currently rain down in different parts of the Lands Between at random, drops of gold have always sporadically showered upon those willing to go out and catch them. This was sure to be much more common in that Age of Plenty when such golden sap was abundant. It was thus not the exclusive bounty of the Erdtree’s god.
Talisman inlaid with crimson amber. Raises maximum HP.
The amber is an old drop of the Golden Tree and was handled as a special gemstone in the age of Godfrey, the first Elden King.
It harbors the primordial power of life.
Crystal drop arising in lands where the Golden Tree’s blessing rains down at the end of a long period.
Mix in Wonder Drug Holy Grail Flask to recover half of maximum HP.
Nonetheless, the wide reach of the Erdtree’s blessing didn’t diminish Marika’s role as its steward. For one, even if abundant, it was by no means consistent. One has to still hope for the blessings to blow over to their area, and the example with the leaves indicates the likely infrequency of such an event. Assuming the occasional golden downpour did crystallize in timely fashion, the resulting products weren’t necessarily ideal still. Many crystal tears possess effects reflecting their environment; drops crystallizing in lands rich with sorcery tend to have powers conducive to sorcery, for instance. The golden sap thus appears to absorb surrounding energies as it solidifies, turning the crystal into a more idiosyncratic amber. This means that drops weren’t guaranteed to reserve the generic properties desired by the masses, such as the vitalizing energies for healing ailment or injury. The Erdtree’s glow originally provided such relief with its warm and soothing rays, and that evidently didn’t effect the importance of Marika’s gifts of sap. Why would this? For those in dire need of aid, the highland queen was the only reliable answer.
These blessings weren’t just granted to faithful pilgrims visiting her at the Erdtree. The Second Church of Marika is notable for two reasons. For one, it is the only numbered Marika Church where Melina won’t sense the god’s past words somewhere within the vicinity. And yet, it is still among the lineup of churches marking where the god had once stood. In short, it was a location Marika had visited but spoke nothing of significance, sometime between the events of the Giant War and Godfrey’s Long March. The other point of note is the church’s actual location on the plateau: smack dab in the middle. Why leave the royal capital to stand roughly equidistant from all the major settlements? To be equally accessible to them all. And so, taking these two details together, Marika probably chose that location to grant the Erdtree’s blessing to her subjects across the land during the Age of Plenty.
The Numen going out to humans bearing gifts was, at least in part, propaganda to secure the kingdom’s holdings. Proselytizing was the cornerstone of this Erdtree age, as elucidated in the description for Sacred Tear. This holy grail represents the equally reliable blessings to come with evangelization, the cup holding the radiant golden resin which Marika would pour upon the faithful; even in her absence, substitutes could still take it from the foot of her statue and enact the ceremony. All those willing to recognize the sanctity of the Erdtree and the divinity of the woman who shared such holiness with them would be permitted a blessing, which the magnanimous god had plenty to give. This would have served as an excellent opportunity to coax the remaining civilians outside the capital whose hearts remained unconquered. Ensuring a drop of resin for converts was therefore a wise move on Marika’s part. Let them see the fruits of the Order they were brought into, the carrot so as to forget the stick.
Proselytization wasn’t limited to the plateau either. The First Church of Marika was built on the spot of her speech, presumably as a pilgrimage site. It was seldom visited and sparsely staffed; a mere two graves stand outside, the half-buried infrastructure betraying just how long the place has been left in ruins. But that neglected state should be expected from a church located in forbidden land — the Church of Repose deeper in lacks even a single grave, apparently only existing to mark the place where Marika once slew the Fell God. Nevertheless, a golden chalice with Sacred Tears rests at the foot of her statue in each’s apse, and the same is true for all churches dedicated to the queen or her alter-ego Radagon. It is clear that disseminating the faith had to adhere to a strict standard for orthodoxy, every house of god established to both commemorate Marika’s divine presence and make “her” blessings available to as many people as possible — what greater testament to her magnanimity?
The faith would even be spread to the colonies. Both Castles Sol and Stormveil enclose gothic chapels which starkly clash with the surrounding Norman architecture. The anomalous church buildings each keep archives — extending two stories in Stormveil’s case — as well as rugs bearing the beast crest. Even more notable is the iconography of a woman with liquid vessel. Reliefs above doorways portray the veiled woman holding her vessel, surrounded by veilless women either bringing another or attending to someone with one. The same relief hangs above the entrance to Leyndell’s Fortified Manor, its central figure additionally bearing an uncanny resemblance to the reliefs decorating Nox chests. By that same token, the statuaries come in two varieties: grotesques of a woman pouring the vessel, or effigies of the veiled holy woman seen in catacombs doing the same. The latter is the icon enshrined behind the altar in Sol’s chapel, whereas Stormveil erects the flourishing flower picker in its nave. Even then, the vessel pourer is still erected in a secluded yard elsewhere in the castle.
Taken together, it is obvious that these chapels are dedicated to Erdtree worship dating back to the days of the Crucible, the Numen god offering its blessing. Factor in the Erdtree’s Favor talisman found in the chapel deep within the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave and the buildings must have been constructed by the land’s new overlords to establish the governing faith for the pagans living and working under them. Unsurprisingly, some were more receptive to the preachings of their colonizers than others. In Sol, we see the unique knights in surcoats cast a Two Fingers incantation to heal. Evidently, there were fraternizations happening at the top, the knights with status coming to adopt the royal capital’s precepts. The same cannot be said in Stormveil where the penal colonists undeniably suffered worse treatment. The chapel on the frontier may have come first, but it was relations with Sol that developed along a more positive line. Nonetheless, Marika’s religion did extend the hand to all those willing to accept her Order.
The god’s blessings extended even to the dead. The Chapel of Anticipation enshrines the veiled woman, except this figure extends out an arm without the vessel to bless the other party. Otherwise, the building employs the same vessel pourer imagery as the other gothic churches. Moreover, new figures of the unveiled woman pouring her vessel are included above archways to the local cemetery courtyard. Over at Stormveil, the vessel pourer stands alongside the saint in statues preceding a shrine beneath the church, between the cliffside and the rampart. Although now in ruins, we can see this shrine was used to sail bodies on crude rafts down the waterlogged cave beyond for Erdtree Burial — the waterway is lit with ghostflame, and an ulcerated tree spirit bursts out from the back of the cavern. Given the nature of the other graveyards, this specific send-off was probably reserved for the Marika faithful overseeing the penal colony; why bury their august selves with those filthy pagans? But within or without the Order, all were blessed to return to the Erdtree by the grace of god.
Look Upon Her Works
Coinciding with this religious development was also urban development. The royal capital continued to be built up, eventually becoming the metropolis we know it as today, complete with a complex sewer system and clearly defined districts. The front half of the city was entered from the main gate, though specific subdivisions have been lost with the district’s flooding. On the city’s back end, the Auriza and other tribes who first assimilated into Erdtree society lived in the Upper Quarter denoted by golden rooftops. The plazas and gardens to this golden district were likewise ornamented with two kinds of statues: the Tree Sentinel atop columns, and the flower picker on pedestals bearing the beast crest signifying Godfrey — it was the king’s work propping up their entire civilization. The same beast crest propaganda was used for the large flower planter lining the streets, like with the Fortified Manor.
Naturally, there were instances where the religious and urban overlapped. Crowning the Upper Quarter is the Erdtree Sanctuary, or “Cathedral”. (黄金樹の大聖堂) This large church welcoming the tree’s overgrowth served as the main body for administering the faith, regulating audience with god or her consort and presenting the divine will to the public. The walkway to Marika’s bedchamber, and the Elden Throne by extension, is reached from the back of the building upstairs, finger readers’ bodies strewn about the path. The sanctuary also kept its own residential zone accessed from the west wing. This small block is decorated with the same Godfrey-Erdtree propaganda, making the block likely residence to clergy and potentially royalty. Indeed, the only enemies there are two clerics and a Siluria knight patrolling the street — and why station one there unless the place to protect is important?
As added evidence, we see another Siluria knight guard a separate temple at the eastern plaza. This domed rotunda erects the statue of the wild tree flower picker as soon as we enter, the circular chamber beyond lined with the more standard statues of the bald man. At the back is a shrine featuring a relief of the Erdtree. It is clear that this is the place for open worship in the Upper Quarter. It facilitated more sacred duties than that, too. We can take the side passage up to the East Capital Rampart closest to another chapel. The narrow passage in the lead-up includes the Tree Sentinel and flower picker statues. The church itself has a corpse laid upon the altar. Taking another side passage, one will reach the bridge over to the land with the Auriza tombs. The implication is obvious: the deceased Auriza are transferred from the worship-dedicated temple to another church where the dead can be consecrated, the bodies subsequently transported to their appropriate grave. This makes the temple a holy place just as worthy of protection as the cathedral residential, hence the Crucible Knights at both.
Meanwhile, the Lower Quarter became filled with descendants of the Eternal City below. Now that Marika had achieved dominance over the land above, her brethren were best positioned to establish relations with her burgeoning new kingdom. After all, these Nox’s unique tolerance for the Erdtree plus their blood ties to Marika made them an ideal ally, especially against the other Eternal Cities who might plot ill. And so, whether via river well or other mode of transport, the two capitals must have been directly connected — though the infrastructure has since been lost with the destruction to both cities. To this point, the stairway connecting the Lower and Upper Quarters intersects by the gate leading to that ruined front half of Leyndell, allowing quick and easy traffic through the proposed pathway. The only other exit is a simple lift to the Upper Quarter church, perhaps serving as a reminder in case those isolated citizens ever forgot who they answer to.
Ignoring the overhead bridge cutting straight through the Lower Quarter to the city’s front end, the Upper Quarter’s main street connects to only two other districts. On one end is the Pagan Quarter leading to the eastern Divine Tower and the Forbidden Lands. Perhaps for that reason it hasn’t received the same level of care, the fencing and statues decorating this place overgrown — even two of the four houses on this block suffer from this dense foliage. Of course, the lack of polish might have more to do with the people living there, keeping to the old ways despite the propaganda in the streets around them. Although the homes are now burned buildings half-sunk in ash, their roofs were unlikely to have used the same golden tiling. They were tolerated for religious reasons but not afforded the same luxuries as the faithful, not to mention kept out of sight along a road seldom visited. On the other end, the Fortified Manor also became walled off into its own isolated quarter, except with far more fanfare.
Aside from the additional Tree Sentinel statues, two enormous icons of Marika with spear flank the gate, which is opened by the lever above. Dead in the neighboring rest station there, within the wall, is a retired knight carrying the Cane Sword, refusing to die without a blade in hand despite the elder’s crooked back. It is clear that the retiree was given the honor of becoming the gatekeeper to the old royal manor, which he may well have once helped guard. In fact, it was probably more than a token gesture. The plethora portraits of King Consort Radagon suggest that the manor continued to see use despite the construction of newer places to live and work higher up. Put another way, it likely remained a nostalgic holiday home for the royal couple when they needed a change of scenery from courtly life.
The royal capital had to accommodate multiple interests from conflicting cultures, driving the urban planning manifest in the present day. We see the same attention given to connecting Marika’s vast empire. The capital highway forks shortly after the main gate. One end leads to Limgrave through Liurnia, a stretch of highway connecting the Academy Gate Town bridge to another great bridge linking up with Stormveil’s main road. But the other was built up to head east around the rim of the plateau until the end of Dominula, where it would link up with the road to Gelmir. From there, we don’t see any more highway, but the main road to Volcano Manor would have been enabled by the Bridge of Iniquity. A shortcut straight through the plateau was also added to easily head to Gelmir from Dectus or vice-versa, a great bridge spanning the forest gorge where the dirt road was insufficient. Even assuming that the bridges were merely renovated with their current highway tiling, these would still be massive construction projects, the Erdtree kingdom advancing leaps and bounds.
If the golden chalice monuments are any indication, this was all done while the Erdtree’s drops were yet abundant. Commonly housed in gazebos, these oversized holy grails are typically located in residential gardens or courtyards surrounded by, naturally, the golden flower species — in one case, the centerpiece is also appropriately incorporated into the capital’s sewer system. Another chalice stands as part of a larger monument atop the Manor Quarter walls facing the Erdtree Sanctuary. Said cathedral itself has set up two grail gazebos at either end of its eastern terrace, facing the Erdtree and the Queen’s Bedchamber respectively. In all these cases, the monuments serve to either celebrate the power of the sacred drops of amber or pay respect to the ones responsible for filling those cups with it. In other words, the city as we see it was built during the prosperity of the kingdom’s first and truly golden age, where the Erdtree was bountiful and the royalty who controlled that bounty were all too happy to share.
Law in Order
Evangelization and infrastructure were but a sample of the myriad affairs for Marika to contend with. Defending the Erdtree meant more than its physical protection. In everything, there was the threat to its reputation, with hers predicated upon it. After all, the queen was managing not just a system but a society. If she was to project the Elden Ring’s current framework upon others as a mediator, she must constantly showcase why this Order was the superior way of life. That need for excellence drove her generosity with blessings and ambition with constructs. But what of those bad apples who yet disrupt the civil peace — or worse, disregard the Erdtree’s laws outright? They needed to be brought in line by force of the state. Indeed, what god can create Order without justice? And as exemplified by her eye seals and crucifixes, Marika had no trouble inserting herself into the role of grand arbiter. Moreover, the god queen would accept none making light of her divinity.
We can see this in the kingdom’s punishment of lesser “sins” with public humiliation, the petty criminals forced to wear distinctive hooded mantles with a collar made from prickly branches. Such attire makes them easy outcasts at best, and the developers use the wear to identify certain corpses. Besides would-be fighters in the arena, the Siluria knight guarding the Upper Quarter temple looks to have laid one such hooded criminal dead before the “Erdtree”, another reprobate seeming to have perished with his hood in the sewers trying to evade the public eye. Certainly, many end up apprehended for additional punishment, examples in Limgrave crucified for display. More serious crimes are met with more extreme branding — up to wrapping felons condemned to death in iron thorns from head to toe. While a rose may be beautiful and its nectar sweet, it was not to be handled carelessly, lest the briar prick. The same was true of Marika’s Order, her magnanimity matched only by her brutality. From the Fire Giants’ example, the briar became the marker for the Erdtree’s punishment, a warning to all would-be apostates.
This was perhaps her most consequential area of policy. She was the unassailable god of justice, her judgements from on high indistinguishable from the will of their holy tree — so long as that remained public perception, credibility in their shared Order was maintained. Of course, to be perfectly righteous and impartial is impossible for any human. But to be a vaunted god, that was the burden the queen had to accept. To be fair, it is clear that she wasn’t opposed to making her realm a better place for everyone, even if only for her self-interest; the added pressure was in line with expectations. And unlike doling out blessings or building great works, the god could hide her more unbecoming acts through her agents. All in all, Marika formulated an effective legal framework for her kingdom, with her officials in blue handling all the unsightly deeds behind the scenes so that her radiant image remained immaculate. And thus did the queen, with her iconic pose, become synonymous with the Erdtree’s justice.
Other important matters involved her new holdings. Interred all throughout the Giant-Conquering Hero’s Grave are the bodies of trolls, their lack of fur and golden swords on their person confirming their deaths long outside the frozen peaks. This requires that the corpses be brought up to the tomb through the Forbidden Lands, proving exceptions to the prohibition. Transit above the plateau didn’t just focus on the dead either. Yelough Anix was a troll and human settlement in the Consecrated Snowfields beneath the summits. The trolls are, once again, the hairless variety forced to don cloaks in order to withstand the cold. The town also seems to have been established in this out-of-the-way location solely for the mining tunnel running underneath it. In short, the Erdtree kingdom had trolls familiar with the region guide human subjects to help find a good location for mining. Given how the half-glassed smithing stone aided them during the war, it is no surprise that Marika hoped to capitalize on their new monopoly, even if that meant opening up traffic through forbidden land.
The god was just as involved in foreign policy. When leaving the plateau from Dectus, travelers are faced with statues of scholars. We can identify these figures from the statuettes enshrined at both Raya Lucaria and the Carian Study Hall. With robes similar to those of Liurnian sorcerers and a cap akin to the Juvenile Scholars’ own, it is undeniable that the icon represents the sorcery academics, the moon beneath them and orb in one hand tying the image specifically to the reign of the Rennala. The staves the Dectus statues wield are likewise tipped with crescent bowls reminiscent of those decorating Liurnian war banners — in other words, another symbol of the moon. Therefore, witnessing such scholars crossing these staves as you depart the plateau serves as a quiet reminder to beware the Carian sorcerers whilst abroad. No subject of Marika was expected a warm welcome in the lowlands, any more than a subject of Rennala was in the highlands.
The tensions with faithless Liurnia were palpable. Straddling midway the Academy Gate Town and Stormveil Castle are the Purified Ruins, (Site P) which likely served as one of the “waypoints” found along the Erdtree highway. These shukuba (宿場) are towns funded by government to lodge public officials and their convoys, a place for them to rest and recover mid-journey. Site P lay slightly farther off the road than the typical waypoint ruins, but this can be attributed to its dual role as an intermediary. The ruins sit roughly in between the highway and the Laskyar Ruins, with dirt roads leading to both sides. The obvious purpose is to provide a bridge, and buffer, for sorcerers to interact with highland culture. The Laskyar didn’t want direct relations with the Erdtree empire, justifiably so. A chest in Site P stores the Two Fingers Heirloom, a talisman inspiring faith in the Greater Will with the legend of the Two Fingers’ insight to worshipers. The clear implication is that residents of the ruins dealing with travelers along the highway ultimately converted to the ways of Marika’s Order.
The Cliffbottom Catacombs reinforces the inference. Located in vicinity of the ruins opposite side of the highway, this underground graveyard was clearly constructed by and for sorcerers — lit with blue flames, hiding magic traps, and protected by a spellcasting burial watchdog. Altogether, it suggests that the townsfolk even performed Erdtree Burials. The Laskyar thus had every reason to use the waypoint as a shield from an infection of faith, keeping its spread to a minimum. This distance didn’t mean ignorance either. The catacombs feature libraries, indicating that sorcerers did visit to study the burials; one particular corpse hiding behind a barrier wears the Nox Mirrorhelm, betraying his intention to secretly formulate counters to the Greater Will and its envoys. Even if finding common ground, Liurnia still existed outside the Erdtree’s Order, with some making violent preparations for the future — knowing your enemy is half the battle, as the saying goes.
It is because of this lingering tension between allies that Site P was created. Since the residents of this new buffer town would inevitably be Liurnians, a warp gate straight to the academy gates exists the same as in Laskyar. Anyone interested in becoming a sorcerer at Raya Lucaria or reporting key observations of the highlanders easily could — assuming that their hearts hadn’t been swayed by the appeals to faith. Otherwise, the transiters from Altus simply passed right through the western land having minimal interaction with the locals. For the Erdtree kingdom’s part, these travelers were to behave the same as the royal government expected from visitors to the plateau. Marika tolerated their rational skepticism of her faith for the time being. Her focus was building up the motherland and securing the route to its distant colony. There was no point to antagonizing a neighbor. In this way, Altus religion would see itself spread while maintaining stable relations with Liurnia.
Most of this didn’t necessitate Marika’s personal presence, however. Rather, her efforts were typically done from home. The main road from Dectus to the capital ramparts is accented by the golden flowers at both ends. To contrast, the alternate route is garnished with a less flashy species of yellow flower. Whoever this secondary highway was intended for, it was obviously never imagined as the typical lane for newcomers. Anyone first visiting Altus was to take the direct road up to those imposing walls, looming statues of shadowy guardians overhead and shimmering flowers of mirrored sunlight underfoot. The choice of details convey one message to every passerby: the royal family is proud to show off their sacred tree’s new glory. Marika wanted outsiders to see the splendor of gold from the moment they stepped off the Grand Lift, setting the tone for the rest of their stay on the plateau. Regardless, these considerations for traffic to her domain say much about the queen’s concern for people coming to meet her versus the alternative.
There is no doubt her target audience was primarily lowland politicos. The “Ornamental” Straight Sword is, in fact, referencing a ceremonial weapon (儀仗) used for public parades or greeting ambassadors and similar high-profile figures. This explains why the gaudy golden hilt to this blade is modeled after the Erdtree, specifically the Crucible. The weapon we can acquire — a modern reproduction of the old ceremonial sword — still possesses holy power which we are able to draw out by crossing two of the blades. And what manifests when this skill is performed? The Crucible sigil. This confirms that the Erdtree kingdom employed such symbolic displays of power for others to witness as early as this Age of Plenty, which begs the question: who were the witnesses? The only foreign power with whom the highlanders bear obvious diplomatic relations is Liurnia. Therefore, the swords were more than likely a common sight for Carian dignitaries visiting Leyndell. And who would be welcoming them except the heads of state, the royal couple?
Put simply, Marika rarely, if ever, needed to leave Altus for her duties. She instead received foreign diplomatic missions as part of the typical negotiations between neighboring nations, making sure to provide them all the fanfare proving the glory of her kingdom. Indeed, outside of grace-giving to the folk in the countryside, the queen probably never left the comfort of the capital. She was busy enough managing her fledgling kingdom; she couldn’t afford to leave it unattended for so long mired in talks with Liurnia. Some might argue that Godfrey could take over in such an event. But even with wise Serosh counseling him, civil affairs weren’t his expertise, and in the end, that was not his role. The position of the Elden Throne between the Erdtree and Marika’s audience chamber, surrounded by Erdtree Sentinel statues, says it all: in an age of peace and prosperity, the king was to take a backseat as the Elden Ring’s silent defender. Godfrey need simply enjoy the perks to royal life while his wife handled all the messy details. Still, as her husband, the Warlord must have participated in these foreign negotiations nonetheless.
One result of this diplomacy was the transfer of trolls into Caria’s service. Descriptions for the Troll Knight’s Sword and the Greatblade Phalanx both regard those giants among the enchanted knights as friends to Rennala, bound by their past oath. Yet the oath-bound troll she summons is the same seen in service to the Erdtree kingdom, its insides replaced and hairless back carrying a golden sword. This implies that these trolls first immigrated from Altus Plateau, which couldn’t have occurred without Leyndell’s knowledge and presumably assent. After all, while not vital, the trolls were an important aspect of the highlanders’ military might. Even if their loyalties were first to another, now that she too became queen, handing them over to a power hostile to the Erdtree’s Order wasn’t strictly in the national interest. This was thus one of the many matters for the royal couple to hash out while wining and dining their foreign guests over the years. However those talks played out, Marika ultimately allowed the trolls to leave and learn glintstone sorcery as proper knights to the Carians.
Brilliant Legacy
By this point, Marika and Godfrey were also adding to the royal family. As the god of this Erdtree kingdom, the queen’s children with the human became known as demigods. However, this pseudo-deific status wasn’t limited to them. According to the description of Godrick’s Great Rune, the title was shared with their father, the god’s consort. Moreover, he and his progeny are described as merely the “first” demigods, with Marika’s future stepchildren and children with Radagon also earning the designation. But although Enia refers to all the demigods bearing shards of the Elden Ring as Marika’s offspring, the Finger Reader immediately qualifies a distant relation like Godrick as the exception. This means that the royal blood was recognized beyond just the immediate family, subsequent demigods specific to the bloodlines of the queen’s various children. Put simply, anyone inheriting Marika’s blood or adopted into the family tree as her offspring or consort is considered a demigod.
However, not all demigods are equal. The god’s descendants with the very first demigod, Godfrey, are singled out as the Golden Lineage. As relatives to the founding king of their god queen’s nation, it is no surprise that this golden “clan” (一族) is delineated as more special even before other demigods of Radagon’s bloodline appeared. Their pride in their heritage is evident from the epithets they tout. Both Godwyn and Godrick possess “the Golden” as their appellation. Godrick is widely recognized as a clansman, while Godwyn is never among the offspring mentioned in relation to Radagon. Therefore, the two sharing the same epithet is most likely because they are mutually part of the “Golden” Lineage, with other members of the clan either never identified or rarely mentioned in that capacity. If “Golden” is the designator of the demigods descended from Godfrey, then it is easy to discern why. With his axe, Godfrey brought together the golden god, the golden tree, and the golden lion forming the bedrock of their civilization. He is the harbinger of gold, in every sense.
We can certainly see this pride in the clan’s upbringing. The talisman pouches we collect appear to be old products of the Finger Readers. Enia gifts one of these hand-knit sacks as reward for obtaining the requirements to become Elden Lord — alternatively, it is available from the Twin Maiden Husks. Another is obtained after defeating the shade of Godfrey at the Erdtree Sanctuary, where the numerous Finger Readers present might knit them. The last is obtained from defeating Morgott, another member of the Golden Lineage and current king of Leyndell. All these examples associate the pouch with some sort of king, but the last doubles as an example of a prince, and the pouches’ description makes a curious statement: the old Finger Readers also acted as royal wet nurses. While this could simply refer to Godfrey and Morgott’s nannies, the sheer number of Finger Readers at the cathedral suggests that far more needed to take on that additional duty. And when it comes to the old Reader of the Deeproot Depths, she is named “Godwyn’s Wet Nurse” (ゴッドウィンの乳母) internally.
Put simply, each of the demigods was assigned a Finger Reader to raise them from birth, allowing the clergywomen to instill each royal with faith in the Two Fingers while developing a personal bond between them. This is why we see Godwyn’s wet nurse seated in the direction of his body outside the ruins where it is buried, far from any roadside or church where she could be of service like the others. She is there purely to mourn the boy she intimately knew his entire life, who she affectionately refers to as bocchama; (坊ちゃま) a term of respect for the young boy of a wealthy family, typically uttered by personal attendants. She likely played a key role in the man’s profound faith in gold. In the end, every child of Marika received a similar upbringing, ensuring all knew the divinity they served and upheld.
By this point, the royal family must have also established the means for its own protection. The Treespear is so named for its golden design evoking the Erdtree, holy power imbued for similar effect. This makes it a fitting weapon for the knights selected as guards to golden tree royalty — also possibly explains the Siluria knights’ stations at the capital, wielding their own “tree spears” as they do. Every kingdom needs its royal guard to protect the heads from threats both without and within. One can never be too sure of a vassal’s loyalty, and the King and Queen made plenty of enemies who might attempt something foolish. And even should the assassins overcome the guards, the royals they defended would hardly be soft targets: each carried an Erdsteel Dagger during peace time. Despite the localization’s terminology, this steel is actually brass, specifically a “yellow copper” (黄銅) obviously derived from the yellow “metal” tree; to that point, this kind of brass’ lethality scales with faith. That was how the royals instilled their values. To survive in Marika’s new Order, their faith in the Erdtree had to be absolute.
Dagger engraved with a grass crest on its brass blade. Self-protection tool that the royal family of the Golden Tree carry in peace time.
It is a high-quality but difficult-to-use weapon and raises attack power with faith.
But what if this faith turned them against one another? The days of the Crucible were plentiful but ultimately short-lived. Although the wording for the Blessed Dew Talisman’s description may be relative, it is clear that such abundance was nowhere near indefinite, doubtless falling short of Marika’s expectations. She built her civilization upon faith in the Elden Ring’s eternal power, a conviction reinforced by and among the total populace. But in truth, it wasn’t for her or the Elden Ring to decide their fate — it was at the behest of the Greater Will. That distinction might have seemed meaningless to the queen when she first entrusted her children to the interpreters of its envoys. But it would become apparent to the complacent god soon enough. Within the span of maybe as short as a few decades, the golden age of life had burned out, sparked by the flames of death.
Lokey Lore 