Marika - Tumblr Posts - Page 2
has there been any speculation about why marika/radagon appear to be made of stone? it doesn’t seem like this was always the case from depictions of them in paintings, i wonder if it happened post-shattering… if the cinematic is to be trusted they weren’t made of stone when the shattering happened. wonder what that’s about
First DLC session completed!!!!! Gonna talk about my findings under the cut
Waiting for me at the cocoon was a familiar face from the trailers. Hi Leda!!!!!!! Got to have a closer look at her armour, her belt looks just like Miquella's ring.
The converging gold threads on the cape made me think of the Miquella's needle, and also the Godslayer Greatsword
She told me to go touch his wrinkly arm so I did. I was expecting a cutscene but no, just gave it a little tap and off we were! Which is also fine, I think I was just hoping for the interaction with the arm to reveal something about the nature of how we got to the shadow realm.
When I got there though..... man
I honestly wasn't expecting my own reaction when I got to the first open area, but I cried. Like actual tears. I just love this game and experiencing new things from it I don't know man it just took me by surprise, I've been having a hard time lately too so I think it was partly relief just to have something that makes me feel happy and inspired. Thankful for this game! Ok anyway
THE WICKER MAN ! I did try fighting him later on but he's so tough. I'm leaving him for later for sure, I have no idea what to do with him right now. His attacks are undodgeable and flatten me almost immediately, I'll figure that out later. He's cool tho. I think an item I found later called him a 'fire golem'
FOUND THE BESTIES ! They had a health bar so I could have tried to kill them but I didn't even try because they are my friends. Anyway they were in front of a Mausoleum with a boss in it which surprised me I was like ALREADY?????? I think it was called Blackgaol Knight. He took me a WHILE. I kept telling myself go away and come back later, but I was locked in, like no he's going to perish now. But I got him eventually and the reward was great. I mean I can't use any of it with this build but the item descriptions... they got me thinking
Warriors of what army/loyalty? What does it mean to lose your name, or your heart? This wording is very... intriguing to me. The only other mention of hearts in ER I remember off the top of my head (aside from dragon hearts) is the DLC trailer that said Miquella shrives clean the hearts of men. HM.
So they lose their hearts by choice, but what does it mean to lose your heart? Like, literally? Figuratively? Spiritually? But I found this next part to be the most intriguing. The 'light of birth'... WHAT. DO YOU MEAN. The concept of birth in TLB has always confused me tbh, so to have something directly reference birth caught my eye immediately. And why is it apparently so revered by these knights? I have to find out more. Mama lets research :) I don't remember where I heard/read this but I remember it being theorised births came from the Erdtree rather than the typical way humans are born usually. Could it be these knights revere birth as it used to happen, as opposed to how births came to be post-Golden Order creation? Hm.
I found one of the enemies that was posted before release! The one with the uterus imagery. This one. I was surprised it was a regular enemy, from the pic we saw it looked like a boss to me. It was just chilling on one of the monuments in the field of wheat. 'Invoke divinity' stands out to me, mainly because I can't figure out what it means. If it invokes divinity, what does it define as divine? It can't be anything to do with the Erdtree, because it clearly rejects it. Super interesting. The fact it also makes you weaker to Sleep is also v interesting
New weapon type (I think)! I got jumpscared by a screaming enemy and they dropped this. I'm ngl though I think he was a bit bugged, he wasn't dodging any spells so I beat him pretty easily. oops. I'm noticing a lot of bestial enemies and items though... I picked up a bestial ash of war later on too. Who are 'the horned warriors'?
Was looking out over a cliff-edge and saw this dead dragon... it honestly gagged me because I did not expect to see dragons. Which in hindsight is maybe a bit silly of me considering Messmer has what looks like Draconic eyes. But anyway
I found what looked like a church of Marika. It was called something like 'church of consolation'. On the lead-up there were several of Messmer's warriors resting in the road. They weren't aggro to me unless I attacked first. The bigger knight in the church dropped a huge hammer that was imbued with holy damage. One of the smaller knights dropped a chestpiece
The phrasing 'forced to wage war' is intriguing - where did these people come from? Exactly how and why were they forced?
I found this nearby the church and it gagged me a bit. First of all mad that this kind of item exists, I wonder how many there are. Secondly, Marika made these for Messmer... but never again????? I'm so intrigued by their relationship, I need to understand their dynamic IMMEDIATELY
Honestly thank god they're giving us more Larval Tears. I was stressing about this even though I probably won't end up using them... we'll see what weapons I pick up. I wonder if they replenish at these sites or if they'll still be a finite resource
Shit's fucked. These people were done dirty by Messmer
But consider: this place is gorgeous despite the horrors
Found the first of Miquella's crosses! And met another follower of Miquella... why does he hate me :( is it cus I'm Tarnished? But like. I don't like the Erdtree either dude. You don't know me!!!!!!!!!! Nice armour tho. And accent. And thanks for showing me where the crosses are. I guess. Map referred to him as a 'hornsent'
Like. Ok. Why don't we just be friends. Mysterious guy. Whatever like I care.
!!!!! I thought I took a pic of the description but whatever it said something along the lines of 'a young shoot heavy with Empyrean blood. Left behind by the wounded Miquella'... so he's wounded even in this shadow realm, whatever form he's in. What are you doing fam... what's the deal....... I gotta know
Met Freyja! She was nicer. I love her Spartan gear. She said she once fought alongside Radahn (!!!) and didn't tell me much else. But she seems chill af
Now this guy... I've gotta know his deal. Ansbach, what do you MEAN you were formerly in service to Mohg. And now you're following Miquella. WHAT IS THAT BROTHER. I just... the implications???? Why did you leave Mohg? When? Were you in on the whole abduction thing? Why does your helmet/beard combo kinda make you look like Cthulhu? I have questions.
Man-fly village. Uh........ yep don't like this.
That last line sticks out to me, because of the whole, you know, Miquella the Kind thing. Be kind and ya don't get turned into a fly. Cool cool I'm uncomfortable
Oh cool the thing on the wicker ma- THE FELL GOD OF FIRE???? Is this referring to the Giant's outer god? Or one we haven't heard of yet, one that Messmer is aligned with? Haunts the sagas of the hornsent... isn't that what the guy that was shit-talking me earlier is? What is his deal. I'm not immune to a mysterious man
Blue skies?? in MY shadow realm???? it's more likely than you think :)
I also found a ghostflame dragon too which was cool but he has SO much health. I simply did not have the patience for it at that moment. But it's cool seeing so many different things from different backgrounds and allegiances.
My fave thing about the followers so far is how everyone comes from such diverse backgrounds, it's in-keeping with Miquella's whole ethos of welcoming all. But... why are they all here? How? Why has Miquella 'called' to them? Has Miquella called to them all? Now I have all these strangers motivations to worry about as well as the blonde baby's. But really I'm so excited to find more. This already has my brain whirring and I haven't even stumbled across a major boss yet!!! fromsoft you've done it again!!!!!!
2nd DLC session round-up yupppp
Started to explore a settlement called Belurat, v beautiful, I love all the draped cloth over the buildings and the beautiful trees. I found a key and unlocked a door that opened a storeroom, with an old woman and a horned lion head inside. She wasn't too happy to see me
damn they really hate Marika lmao. I find it so interesting that these 'hornsent' people are identifying me as something aligned with Marika/Messmer, and cursing me for it. We go through the whole game being shunned for being Tarnished because we are people stripped of grace, now we're being shunned for (I'm assuming) being a creation of Marika. It's super interesting. no one fucks with me fr
I continued on through the settlement and climbed the tower, and eventually got to the first major boss!! It's the Lion-Dancer we saw in the DLC trailers, and it's a really beautiful boss fight. It takes place on a stage, and the theatrics of it all are really so awe-inspiring. It wields different elemental damage in different parts of the fight - lightning, wind/storm, and frost. There's also lion sculptures with horned heads dotted around the stage and settlement. You can summon Freyja to help fight it :) not an easy fight at all, but eventually he went down and I got the reward of its remembrance, along with the lion head itself as a helm.
I absolutely love that this culture took their skills in theatrical performance and repurposed these skills for battle, that's just. I love it it's so cool. Another helm that makes you weaker to sleep, like the golden mask I found previously. The prayer it's talking about is heard at the beginning of the fight in the opening cutscene, and it is said by the old woman I found earlier. The map identifies her as 'Hornsent Grandam'.
I did something I'm not super proud of. But I read messages that alluded to it and mama I'm trying to research. I put the lion head on and went to talk to her again to see if anything would change. Her reaction made me feel really bad... she was so relieved to see a 'sculpted keeper' and was overcome with emotion. She mentioned something about wanting her son to fight alongside me (the keeper) against Messmer, and take revenge. And then she promised to sing for me and gave me an incantation.
Now the description of the incantation just about blew my head off. It referred to this woman as the 'Empyrean Grandam'. Empyrean??? I was not expecting to see that. I looked up grandam and apparently it's an old word for grandmother. Empyrean grandmother... does this mean she is/was an Empyrean, or she's the grandmother of an Empyrean? I'm surprised that Empyreans exist in this realm, considering how hidden everything and everyone is in this place. Can the Greater Will still reach this place? She does mention her son, does he have children? Empyrean children? So intriguing. I assume it's not her son because it seems like TGW/two fingers choose non-men as Empyreans (Miquella has ambiguous gender and a feminine alter-ego St. Trina).
Went back to the second Miquellan cross and met Sir Moore. I love him. I love him I would die for him if anything happens to him I'm going to scream from the rooftops
!!! I explored the river running through Gravesite Plain and found a couple of sleep/night adjacent items. The deep purple lily got me super excited because TRINAAA I could use some tbh I haven't been sleeping well. can you tell
Found a ghost down there too, these lines are making me Think about the connection between sleep and death. What if Miquella is really dead in some way, and this gives way to St. Trina being alive in his place... or something. I don't know but I'm Thinking
Even the turtles have horns here!! Found a new more powerful stamina talisman that depicts a two-headed turtle. There's a lot of depictions in this realm of two converging intertwining objects like trees, turtles, Miquella's sigil/needle is intertwining too.
Went back to Roundtable hold to see what the Remembrance rewards are. I wasn't sure in my last session but after watching some old lore videos to refresh my memory - divine in the context of ER seems to refer to the Crucible or aspects of it. What does it mean that they are messengers of the heavens though? The only other thing in game that I could relate to that are Two Fingers considering they commune with TGW. I have no idea
Was exploring and MET ANOTHER TRAILER GUY. He was sitting by another Cross of Miquella. Identifies himself as a Tarnished named Thiollier. Has 0 self confidence, says he's unintelligent and bad at fighting. Kinda weird for a Tarnished? Makes me wonder how he got there too, he's literally like just behind an encampment of Messmer soldiers. His special interest is poison, and sells you poison things. His armour is super interesting, the cloth/white hair is braided a lot like Miquella/Radagon's, and there's a gold figure in the middle of his chest. The mask is the most striking to me though, and looks like its lined with silver thorns. I just had a thought - who else do we know that wears masks like this and is all about poison? House Marais! Idk what the link could be but, something to keep in mind I guess
Got jumpscared by this guy yelling in pain. He yelled about someone he called 'vile Bayle' so I assume they're the person that maimed this guy. "Exquisite pain" though... reminds me of Mohg/Varré. Then I got invaded by an 'Ancient Dragon-Man'. I followed that path down and found a draconic cave, where I fought the real Dragon Man at the end. He was kicking my ass I can't lie. But I got him eventually and the reward was hmm-inducing
Anti-dragon spray. Wait what, what is the Dreaded One???? And what do you mean it's devoured by people?? What does any of this mean bruh. It sounds like an outer god but if people eat it (?) it can't be. Uhhhhhhhh ok I don't understand and I'm tired. I opened the door at the back of the boss room and...
Hell yeah. It led me out to a precipice overlooking the jagged peak I could see in the distance from where I entered the DLC. There's dragons sleeping below. I took some baller pics of my Tarnished.
I have so much to figure out I still can't really believe all this, it's so jarring running around not knowing anything. it's awesome i love this game
[also small PSA it's fine if anyone reading this wants to reply with their thoughts, but please don't spoil anything, this is my blind playthrough and i want it to stay that way :)]
Let me switch it up and talk about some lore from the DLC that I really liked
Learning about Marika is the main thing that truly moved me so much. The items and atmosphere (that music!!!) in Shaman Village genuinely brought me to tears. I just wasn't expecting to get such a human perspective of Marika and her actions. Her past doesn't justify her actions during her reign at all of course, but I understand her motivations now and they're just... so human and illogical.
It really resonated with me. I know what it's like to feel loss, to feel like you don't have a home, or that you do have a home, but it will never be the same and you can never return to it. To have this idealised version of it in your mind and have this illogical need to preserve it. I know what it's like to feel guilt and try to right things even though it never can truly be fixed. It re-contextualises so much, and I loved that.
I always said I thought it was wild for her to take the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring, like how could she have ever thought that would work out? It was doomed to fail from the start. But I get it now. She wasn't doing that from any kind of logical thinking - it's all emotion, it's all trauma and grief and wanting to do whatever she could to avoid that loss ever again. Grieving a heavy loss and newly in a position of godhood... of course she made decisions that wouldn't make sense to most. Of course she removed Death as soon as she had the chance, or opportunity.
For me it completely negates any theory that Marika was working with Ranni on the dire plot - this makes The Shattering out to be something that was born completely from grief. She did everything she could, everything within her power to avoid experiencing this kind of loss ever again, and still lost her golden child in one of the most horrific ways possible. Marika started her reign on the premise of emotion and revenge, and essentially ended it for the same reasons. It's great storytelling, comes full-circle and answers a lot of questions I had from the base game! 10/10
can I also talk about the added tragedy of this being kept behind Messmer’s keep… him being the person landed with the responsibility of preserving his mother’s home where all her people were killed, seeing this place bathed in gold by her but never being granted the same treatment… the only gold we see associated with him is the gold rune in his eye, only there to hold back his ‘true nature’ (reminds me of Miquella’s gold needle holding back the scarlet bloom in Malenia). It’s not a blessing, it’s a failsafe.
Messmer clearly feels a sense of duty to his mother, and carries out his orders begrudgingly, but carries them out nonetheless. He must know what happened to Marika’s people, especially given that he protects the village, and probably feels a sense of loyalty for that reason. I feel like his reasonings for going along with what Marika says runs deeper than just “well she’s my mum”. Otherwise, I don’t know why he’d still hold any respect or loyalty for her given his abandonment, which he does seem to have right up until you kill him. He seems to quite literally spend all his time sitting in his dark chamber (such an emo) below a statue of his mother cradling a baby… he obviously yearns for his mother’s love, but he still clearly holds resentment. Well, it’s probably the source of his resentment.
He accepts his lot in life but resents his abandonment, resents aspects of himself that caused his mother to abandon him, resents his position, but does it regardless. He resents that he could not be bathed in gold like his mother’s village, and instead had to take up the position and image of an evil overlord. I imagine him going to that small room with his mother’s statue and bowing in reverence to it, walking out into the flowers and visiting the minor erdtree, trying to feel some kind of connection and blessing from his estranged mother… god these games are so sad
Let me switch it up and talk about some lore from the DLC that I really liked
Learning about Marika is the main thing that truly moved me so much. The items and atmosphere (that music!!!) in Shaman Village genuinely brought me to tears. I just wasn't expecting to get such a human perspective of Marika and her actions. Her past doesn't justify her actions during her reign at all of course, but I understand her motivations now and they're just... so human and illogical.
It really resonated with me. I know what it's like to feel loss, to feel like you don't have a home, or that you do have a home, but it will never be the same and you can never return to it. To have this idealised version of it in your mind and have this illogical need to preserve it. I know what it's like to feel guilt and try to right things even though it never can truly be fixed. It re-contextualises so much, and I loved that.
I always said I thought it was wild for her to take the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring, like how could she have ever thought that would work out? It was doomed to fail from the start. But I get it now. She wasn't doing that from any kind of logical thinking - it's all emotion, it's all trauma and grief and wanting to do whatever she could to avoid that loss ever again. Grieving a heavy loss and newly in a position of godhood... of course she made decisions that wouldn't make sense to most. Of course she removed Death as soon as she had the chance, or opportunity.
For me it completely negates any theory that Marika was working with Ranni on the dire plot - this makes The Shattering out to be something that was born completely from grief. She did everything she could, everything within her power to avoid experiencing this kind of loss ever again, and still lost her golden child in one of the most horrific ways possible. Marika started her reign on the premise of emotion and revenge, and essentially ended it for the same reasons. It's great storytelling, comes full-circle and answers a lot of questions I had from the base game! 10/10
Figured this rant was a better way to phrase my thoughts. This lore is driving me mad.
A LIE
...Huh. Thiollier is seemingly the only other Tarnished to have arrived in the realm of shadow, yet instead of Miquella, he came in search of St. Trina.
St. Trina, who implores us to kill Miquella before he becomes a god...
Moreover, we were gifted the Spirit Summoning Bell by Ranni, under the instruction of "Torrent's former master." This was evidently Miquella, but... why would he call for the Tarnished if only to turn them away from his coming paradise?
But if St. Trina is Miquella's other half, and embodies his "doubt and vacillation," then perhaps it was actually she who gave Ranni the bell... After all, Ranni appears to have lulled Kalé and his donkey to sleep nearby, and one of her cohorts, Seluvis, was once familiar with another Tarnished who served St. Trina: Sleeping Arrow Dolores.
...Is St. Trina the real MVP of the entire goddamn game?
Christian Angel Artorias vs Manus, Starscourge Radahn, Ranni the Witch, Malenia Blade of Miquella, Queen Marika The Eternal, Base Serpent Messmer The Impaler
what’s ur take on the shadow people in the land of shadow? i’m intrigued by what other people think. i haven’t thought about it too much but my impression was that it’s quite literally the phrase “a shadow of their former selves” made manifest. these people have been stripped of everything, their way of life, their people, their culture, their right to live freely. they’ve fallen into despair similarly to how people become ‘infected’ with frenzy, but it feels colder… there’s a sadness to them. some of them sit and build little towers out of rocks.
when i first ran into them i assumed they were ghosts that we couldn’t interact with, and then they started throwing rocks at me and brandishing knives. these people are hurting and have done for a long time. maybe they were burned with messmer’s flame and can’t die thanks to marika’s removal of the rune of death? it’s quite ironic that her action of removing death meant she could never fully enact her intended ‘revenge’ on the hornsent, because no one can truly die.
Only the kindness of gold, without Order….Marika bathed the village of her home in gold, knowing full well that there was no one to heal.
It's speculation but I always got the impression motherhood was difficult to navigate for Marika. With what we learn from SOTE, it only confirms that in my mind. She could have had her children out of a desperate need for familial connection after losing her people. Then to have two of her first children remind her of those that killed her people, I'm sure that didn't set her off on a good note in terms of navigating motherhood. Also, considering her distaste for Radagon (though we don't know when that began) I think it makes sense she probably wouldn't have much attachment to Malenia and Miquella. Given how little either of them seem to care for TGO, I think that shows in their actions. Even though Miquella did follow in Radagon's stead for a little while at least, he didn't seem to have many qualms about turning his back on it. He cared about protecting his sister more than upholding his mother's (and father's) reign. Does make me wonder when exactly in the timeline Marika shifted to questioning TGO.
I feel like Marika probably wanted to be a good mother, but didn't know how, and had her own hangups, obligations and traumas that stopped her. The statue in Messmer's room implies she had some motherly instinct, but we don't know if that was just artistic choice rather than reality... I get the impression Marika might have had it made to sort of subdue Messmer, and have this looming reminder of essentially 'I'm your mother and you owe me.' I don't think she didn't care at all about her children, with what we learn from SOTE it seems to me that the Shattering was born from grief. But that doesn't mean she was a good mother. She is also evidently pretty ruthless regardless. I also wonder, how do you be an effective mother and a powerful god at the same time?
Actually, like thinking of Marika and Motherhood™, it's kind of fascinating that there's so little tying her to Miquella and Malenia? I'm fairly certain the statue depicting someone comforting them isn't Marika, and I took a quick look at Gideon's dialogue about Miquella, and he's actually only guessing that it's a cause for Marika's sorrow.
It's one of those weird little bits were I think the absence of something is actually saying a lot about what's present.
Last reblog got me thinking, I wonder if Marika ever even wanted Miquella and Malenia. We don't really know when she started questioning TGO and hating Radagon, but the fact they had children together feels more like a tactic or strategy rather than something born out of love. Especially considering they both ended up being chosen to be Empyreans. Maybe they knew children born of a single god would have a greater chance of being Empyreans. Maybe it was a plot to try and keep the power in the hands of the current Order's camp, and block Ranni from becoming the next god and threatening their rule. Clearly it didn't turn out that way, given both Miquella and Malenia turned their backs on the Golden Order, but that could've been the motivation.
Whether this was a joint decision or a decision that was somewhat forced upon Marika somehow is another story. There's a lot in Elden Ring about bodily autonomy, so it wouldn't surprise me if that was a part of it. I wonder if that was the point where she started questioning how much control she really had as a god. Trina does tell us that godhood is a prison.
Marika NOOOO
Between running through the seamless coop mod with a bunch of friends and also doing a few single player runs to polish off the last steam achievements my mind has been nothing but elden ring for several months and the blorbos have to break out.
comet azure time
Elden Ring O Elden Ring
Maybe she was truly happy at some point.
Listen up, my broken child Let's lament the past that only got to live in the incomplete holy land
Commission for Isshin from VK.