Preface For all their simplicity, giants capture the imagination in ways even dragons cannot. Something so much like us yet still so alien in all their forms, they inspire both awe and dread, and invite us to ask questions about how we are perceived by creatures just as trifling and minuscule. And although Elden Ring […]
Preface Whether or not it is deliberate, Rykard twists the moral of many a fairy tale. Hansel and Gretel best captures the life lesson: beware of greedily indulging in motherly affection, lest you end up devoured. Sound advocacy for moderation from the best-intentioned mother hens, but what if you flip it on its head? Let […]
Preface I am no fan of the Shattering. For a war, it is remarkably straightforward, with fewer epic battles born of the twists and turns of competing egos than you would expect. As grand as the narrative makes it sound, laying out this all-encompassing civil war all out leaves me with a bit of letdown. […]
Although north of Leyndell had become Forbidden Lands, the conquered territory still needed to be organized into a new province of Marika’s growing empire. Niall and his men were allowed to return to their castle under the Erdtree’s stewardship. Meanwhile, the smaller fort was handed over to Arghanthy, donning the Ruler’s Mask to affirm lordship. […]
Preface While all the focus is rightfully placed on the demigods, Elden Ring has a rich history which began only after their epic had more or less concluded. Liurnia is unique in how it brings that part of the tale to the forefront, which goes a long way to justify the sheer scale of the […]
Preface There isn’t much to say when the good times are good. More often than not, these eras of peace and prosperity are the prelude to inciting incidents and great tragedies. Rarely do we see them carry a tale, yet it is always when those peaceful days are no more that we long to have […]
Preface FromSoftware is no stranger to magic kingdoms, or queendoms for that matter. However, these countries tend to have a simple, relatively bloodless history. “Simple” might still describe the Carian regime, with its one queen. Yet the tale of an organized Liurnian state is fraught with intrigue and power politics, the sorcery aspect almost superfluous. […]
Preface Of all the demigods, Godrick is easily my favorite. Although I hold no particular love for incompetent villains, the Grafted oozes so much personality worthy of his most memorable design. It is a certain awfulness that I don’t think I will ever tire of. You almost want to cheer for this underdog, single-mindedly fighting […]
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 […]
Personal prejudices aside, war between the Erdtree kingdom and the fire giants was inevitable. The description for Fire’s Deadly Sin explains how burning the Erdtree is, naturally, the first cardinal sin — what greater sin is there than to destroy the divinity which your kingdom was built around? For Godfrey and Marika, there couldn’t be […]
Lokey Lore 