Elden Ring: Putrefaction of Gold

The Black Raven of the Night

Fortissax watched the funeral progression as it crossed into Caelid. Such strange rituals of humans. They place bodies into the ground in a ceremony of weeping and wailing so that they might be pulled back into the roots of the Erdtree. But this is what Marika's age demanded since that very day she planted and grew the Erdtree from the destroyed and decaying stump of the Great Tree.

It was when Fortissax spotted Radahn among their numbers that he grew curious. The dragon hadn't heard about any great heroes or champions passing away recently that would warrant this honor. Surely, the other demigods would attend if that was the case.

"A bit unusual indeed," said Kristoff.

"I'll follow it. You and your companion ought to say something to Godwyn," said Fortissax.

"Of course. Leave me to that," said Kristoff.

Godwyn sat on his throne with his hand under his chin and in a deep state of meditation. The stay in Limgrave was longer than he anticipated. Still, his sermons and prayers caused the people to desire and demand more of his time and attention.

He resented it.

That dream lay at the forefront of his mind. The one where he found himself outside a cave which he would enter. Only, he wasn't himself, but he was his father, Godfrey. And he would come upon the woman who lay naked upon her black cloak before him, inviting Godwyn to embrace her beauty. He would go to her and allow the cold hands of the one who was now both his mother and his lover to caress him. He would spill his seed in her until she had conceived him.

The only one who knew was the Finger Reading Crone, who had nursed him since infancy. She interpreted the dream as a coming of the new age and one that spun Death into Order. One in which he was reborn as a great rune that would bond to the Elden Ring contained within his mother, the queen, and thus, birth him anew as prince of this new age.

Oh! The power! One where he could rise above his father, not subservient to his queen, but lord over her. And yet, it terrified him at the same time. A thing he both wanted and didn't desire.

"My Prince?"

"Huh?" said Godwyn.

Godwyn's advisor and good friend, Kenneth Haight, showed Kristoff in.

Kenneth was a blond-haired man who often gave the impression that he was nothing more than an arrogant noble. The truth was that Kenneth came across as though he knew more than others because he usually did. Kenneth's knowledge of the various wants and desires of the lesser nobles and neither shared nor had patience for them. If a man showed no aptitude for rule, he wasn't afraid to say so, as station meant nothing to him. He believed that nobles served the people, not the other way around.

Queen Marika once offered Kenneth an estate under the canopy of the Erdtree to which he declined, stating that he preferred to remain out of the sight of and underestimated by his political opponents. Queen Marika, impressed with his answer but annoyed he declined her gift, was said to offer him a dilapidated shack out by the seashore next. That must have been too much overcompensation for Kenneth because the two eventually settled on a humble fortress beyond the forest.

"Kristoff? I thought you were in Leyndell," said Godwyn.

"There was a call for a communion," said Kristoff. "We're here for that."

"Well, have a seat! Please. We'll get some wine," said Godwyn.

"Are you okay?"

"Quite. I'm merely concerned," said Godwyn. "Many people, even common people, are concerned about Mother's apparent loss of power. They question whether the Erdtree had become too large to sustain itself. So, I'm here to assure them otherwise."