Of Stars and Night

Nokron gazed proudly at the great city below him.

Many decades had passed since the day they were granted their Black Moon. The Nox had come far since then, but it had not been easy. Last time his people faced calamity, Nokron went up the Siofra River stream and had been content to protect his ghostflame and fulfill his role as a priest of the Rite of Death. But his journey had changed him.

Intent on leading his people, his first task was to share the exile from the Erdtree with those in Ainsel. To prevent the Golden Order from attacking them as they did in the past, Nokron journeyed through the caves with the beast to Liurnia. He was determined to bring his people into the beast's night and buried them too underground. Some did escape, running back to the Golden Order, but the Ainsel Settlement had been conjoined.

The first decades were the hardest. Not all looked at the Black Moon and saw the fate that Nokron proclaimed when its celestial creator moved it through the sky. The priest forced himself upon them as their leader, and though none dared harm him, lest they be taken by a void in the sky, many still resented him for what had happened. They had spent centuries as thralls of the Golden Order and could not fathom a life outside of it. Many tried killing themselves in the hopes of being reborn on the surface, but always found themselves resurrected in an underground root, exiled for all eternity.

With time his people grew out of their fear. Just as the Dark Moon had roused them into action, the Black Moon spoke to them of their destiny. Nokron declared prophecy after prophecy, and with each one that came true, his people believed more in the celestial being weaving their fate. And with every believer, Nokron's power as the night's chosen grew.

A priest at heart, Nokron ensured clergy rose as a ruling class among the Nox. Their structure was made to mirror that of Nokron's journey. The monks were to fulfill the priest's role. They provided order and stability, handling tasks in the settlement and establishing a presence among the populace. The maidens, imitated Ranni, divining the Nox's fate and ensuring that all was on its proper course. Dissent and difficulties were met by swordstresses, who cleaved anyone and anything that got in their path, just as the beast had done.

Though none referred to it by that name anymore. They now called it, Astel, the one who gave them stars. With Nokron leading the Nox, their faith in the Black Moon was unshaken. They allowed Astel to guide their fates. To the day they would once again return to the surface, and usher in the Age of Stars.

For now, being underground proved comfortable for the Nox. Astel's stars were a fount of silver tears, allowing the Nox to further their understanding of substance. All doubt in the Black Moon vanished when Nokron used it to control the mimics. Seeing the power Fortissax possessed, Nokron even attempted to replicate dragonkin using the mimics, but the attempt had yet to bear fruit.

The Nox now had guidance, a path in the dark. And the city showed it, it's splendor greater than ever before. Temples, halls, towers, and all manner of architectural marvels built from marble and silver lined the streets of the city. Lamps and torches lit by ghostflame illuminated everything in sight. Mimic tears could be seen constructing great bridges and aqueducts, changing shape and reforming continually to build this city of night, strewn with its own countless stars.

Nokron hadn't returned to his old temple in decades, and he could hardly remember summoning ghostflame aside to teach it for posterity. Perhaps one day, when the Nox brought their night to the world, would he gladly walk into death's embrace. But now death had not the power or dignity to claim him. Guiding the Nox was a greater calling.

Which was why he was walking up the Siofra River stream. The Nox's relationship with the Ancestral Followers had soured after their exile. They were forced into providing sacrifices for Astel's sustenance but had begun to resist as of late. Nokron could not afford complications to arise. Not with what was to come.

He and the chieftain had arranged a talk between the two. Their meeting place was an equal distance from both their homes. The chieftain recommended Nokron take a retinue with him, but he had decided against it. The chieftain had brought two warriors with her.

"So this is how arrogant the Nox have grown?" the chieftain said as she walked toward Nokron. "I believe I made it clear that this is not an amicable summons."

"There is no reason for it not to be. Despite our differences, our people have held to our pact. I'd hate to think you seek to sow trouble, chieftain." Through the decades, Nokron had mastered the air of authority that had once eluded him.

"To the Crucible with your pact," the chieftain swore. "Our people can't die a true death. The Erdtree has its cursed roots firmly planted on the ground. Our Ancestral Spirit has grown silent ever since you drained its power. And what have we received in return? Nothing other than entrapment from that thing in the sky, that you claim demands we sacrifice our people to it."

"Astel, despite his outer origins, still requires sustenance. As travelers in the night of the Nox, you will happily provide it to him whenever it is required. The day we bring about our Age of Stars is nigh. Be patient."

"We want nothing of your delusions!" the chieftain lashed out in anger. "Our pact is over! We will not make the mistake of siding with you again."

"Choose your words carefully, chieftain," Nokron responded coldly. For others to follow, one needed to show them only one path. "All are blind in the night, never knowing what lies ahead. That is why we must band together under the guidance of the Black Moon. Be wise, chieftain. You know I cannot allow enemies so close to my home at such a critical time."

"Are you threatening us?" the chieftain demanded as her warriors drew their weapons.

Nokron rang the small bell he carried with him. Like Ranni's spirits, two women materialized from a blue light. They wore dark loose clothing fastened onto them with white silk wrapping and a cape. One wore a featureless black mask, on top of which was a silk cloth wrapped into a crown resembling the crescent moon. The other wore a simple brown cone of wrapped silk above her mask. The attire of a Nox maiden and swordstress.

The swordstress lashed out with a crescent blade. It was forged from the liquid metal of a silver tear and carried its properties. The blade elongated beyond its normal reach, going behind the Ancestral Follower as he raised his primitive axe to strike. The flowing sword retracted instantly. The blade's sharp tip tore through the foe's chest before he could bring his weapon down.

The maiden carried a scepter also made of silver tears. The other Ancestral Follower made to attack her with a crude hammer, but the night maiden released a mist of fine silver from her scepter. Soon, coughing and desperate gasps were heard from the mist. When it dispersed, the Ancestral Follower lay on the ground, dead hands still clutching at his own throat.

Atop the bridge, Nokron had seen the value in tools capable of sacrificing themselves with no consequence. He lacked the magical proficiency to learn Ranni's art of summoning spirits, but through the use of shards of starlight that fell from Astel, he found a better alternative. Binding the fate of living beings as puppets. The two female clerics that now surrounded the chieftain had been volunteers. All were volunteers under the guidance of the Black Moon.

"Return to your temple, chieftain." A command, not a request. "Your people will be shown mercy, only for the fact that Astel still benefits from your sacrifices. If you do not give them willingly, they will be taken from you. Since you wish it, our pact is no more. But when the time comes, if you do not stand with us, it will be Astel himself that brings ruin to your people."

And with that, the puppets disappeared, and Nokron turned to walk away.

"So, the little crow we fed became a raven that pecks out our eyes." The woman was tenacious even still. "To think that the Golden Order would be kinder than the little birds of the night."

Kindness had nothing to do with it. Weakness had brought the Stormhawks their end. And Nokron did not intend for his people to fall like the Stormhawks. The Nox had a greater calling.

The chime of the handbell echoed through his chambers. Nokron moved away from the silver mirror to pick it up. The ringing was not a true sound, the bell static on the marble altar. It was a call.

Nokron rang the bell to the rhythm of the false chime. The process was slow, but an apparition of Ranni eventually appeared in the room.

"This place again, huh?" Ranni remarked as she looked at the ghostflame candles. The same magic that she used to summon spirits could also be used for the two of them to communicate. "It is true that thou art trapped underground, but that does not mean thou must design everything, as if it is a tomb."

Nokron only smiled. Decades had softened the bite of her words. "Come now, Ranni. Be nice. This night will be monumentous for my people."

"So thou said last we spoke." Ranni crossed her arms.

"This one will be a surprise you will like"

Ranni rolled her eyes. "Thou art way too proud. Why won't the beast-"

"Astel."

"… Astel tell thou I don't like surprises already?" Ranni still hadn't grown comfortable at Astel's name. A grave offense now among the Nox, but one he could forgive his friend. "But I'll humor thee. Didst thou finally reunite the claymen to thy people?"

"They are irrelevant." Nokron turned to the mirror adjusting his garb. He had changed his old priest's clothes now that he led his people. He wore a light brown cassock with a white caped hood on his shoulders. "If they wish to join the dynasty, it's of no concern to me. Especially if their laughable Blood Lord is who you claim he is."

"Then tell me already. Thou knowest I am not fond of guessing."

Nokron pulled a dagger from one of the drawers. Upon seeing it, Ranni exclaimed with joy, "Thou hast found it!"

"I decided to fashion it into a blade before I told you." When Astel transformed, the old stinger on its tail had been shed and fallen into the river. Nokron had his people search for it on the river bank for decades. Even after all that time, Godwyn's blood remained fresh on the blade.

"Thou hast done well, Nokron," Ranni said proudly to her friend. The next words came with hesitation. "I suppose, as a reward, I will tell thou what I plan to use it for."

"I already know, Ranni. The Black Moon revealed your plans to me."

"What dost thou mean?" Ranni said, her voice shaking.

Ranni had told Nokron part of what had happened on the surface. Godfrey was banished, and Radagon had taken his place as Elden Lord. To do so he needed to be Queen Marika's consort, forcing Radagon to leave his old marriage in exchange for the title. Rennala had been devastated, and locked herself away in the Academy as scholars of Raya Lucaria now sought to rid themselves of the Carian Royal Family.

But that was a trifling concern for Ranni. Her father's actions held more consequences for her than simple betrayal. Now a stepchild of Marika, she was a demigod, one that the Greater Will had a deep interest in. She was declared an Empyrean, someone who the Greater Will considered worthy of succeeding Marika one day. She had, however, hidden the full consequences of that.

"I often wondered why you never came here in person," Nokron began. "You knew the water well's location. If you wished it, you could have come here and hidden yourself from the attention of the Golden Order. Or so I thought, until the Black Moon told me of the Two Fingers."

"So, thou knowest?" Ranni asked, somewhat relieved.

"Astel has revealed to me their existence and how they hinder you. But I would still like to hear it from you."

"Very well," the princess began with a sigh. "At first, I thought the title would mean little with Destined Death removed from the Elden Ring. But it is a curse. As thou most likely knowest, all demigods are overseen by their Two Fingers. They are grotesque creatures, described aptly by their names, that serve as emissaries to the Greater Will. Mine have taken it upon themselves to vigilantly watch over their precious 'Empyrean.' Were I to set foot underground, the Golden Order would know it in mere moments. I am confounded to no end by the Two Fingers' overbearing insistence in controlling my life."

"And with Radahn set on conquering the stars, you fear the day will come when your fate will be out of your hands."

"That is why I must have that dagger," Ranni said, steadying her voice. "It is the only blade that can pierce the Two Fingers' celestial protection."

"I understand," Nokron said, calming the princess. "But I'm afraid I cannot give you the dagger, Ranni."

"What!? Is this because I did not tell thou until now? I was going to, I promise."

"The Black Moon has revealed your fate, Ranni. And it requires that your Two Fingers live."

"I have been patient enough with thy delusion, Nokron," Ranni said, losing her composure. "But I will not stand quiet as thou rob me of the fate set by the Dark Moon."

"You rejected the fate set by the Dark Moon, Ranni." The girl scowled as she looked to the side. "Had you done what fate demanded of you in the Weeping Peninsula, neither of us would be in this situation. Astel came from the stars. He is a celestial being, just as much as the Dark Moon is. The Black Moon told me of your plans correctly, did it not? Maybe now is the time for you to believe as well."

"And what is the fate it has in store for me then?" Ranni scoffed incredulously.

"I am preparing my people to attack the surface. When construction of the Caelid river well is finished, we will march with an army of mimics upon the Golden Order. With your help, we'll defeat the Greater Will while stealing the power of the Erdtree. When we slay Marika with the dagger, the Golden Order will be godless."

"No…" Ranni muttered as she realized Nokron's plan.

"As an Empyrean, your Two Fingers will have you take Marika's place until her rebirth. That is when you will declare me your consort, and I will become Elden Lord. Together, with the power of the Elden Ring, we will usher in an Age of Stars."

"I trusted thee," Ranni said, taking a step back. "But thou would control me, just as the Greater Will has."

"Come now, Ranni. It brings me no joy to force you to be a vassal for the Greater Will. But it is what fate demands. Did we not learn in Castle Morne the consequences of not making the necessary sacrifices? Whatever the Black Moon needs from me, I will not hesitate. I am no longer the man who waited for fate to come to him. Please, follow it with me."

Receiving no response, Nokron placed his hands on a rail and looked away. "Is this not what we fought for, Ranni? A cold and dark world, free of the Greater Will?"

Ranni's apparition began to disappear. "In the vision the Dark Moon showed me, the certainties of sight, touch, emotion, and faith were impossibilities. Where all souls were free. Thou wouldst have them under thy Black Moon and thy beast. I will not join thee."

"Then you are my enemy, Ranni." It hurt him to say the words, but it was necessary.

"So be it, Nokron." Before fully disappearing, Ranni added. "Sparing my father, trying to save myself, even this reckoning here, have taught me something. Thou art not in the wrong. To walk the lonely path of the stars I must rid the world of all that came before it. Even that which I do not wish to betray."

The link closed with a swish. Nokron swallowed. The room was silent, and he could hear his heartbeat in his ears. He'd had no choice. Fate required that he do what needed to be done, no matter how difficult.

Nokron moved to the obsidian doors of his quarters. He would make his friend understand. No matter how pointless the effort, he would not give up. He would not wait for another opportunity. He would seize the future Astel had shown him.

Nokron pushed the heavy doors. His eyes were flooded with the light of the stars and ghostflame. Nokron kept his gaze forward as he descended the altar of the new temple where he now resided. Night's Sacred Ground, his people called it.

As he exited the large building, he was followed by a monk, a swordstress, and a maiden. In the boulevard where Astel had first revealed himself to the Nox, Nokron had ordered the construction of a giant throne. Plain and monolithic, Nokron wanted it to impose. As he now stood below it, he knew he had achieved his goal. A fitting throne for the celestial being that protected them.

Everyone in the city had been summoned before the monument. He looked at his people. They were not the inexcusable disgrace he had seen so many years ago. Now they were all dressed in the white and silver silks of the Nox. The boulevard was filled with loyal followers, and so were the upper walkways, bridges, and inverted buildings that looked down on the Throne of Astel. This was the order of a people who thrived in the night.

Silent. Disciplined. Unwavering.

Even Astel was quiet as Nokron spoke. "Subjects of the night." Nokron felt the gaze of a thousand eyes upon him. He produced the blade from his robes. "This is the crowning achievement of our toil. A blade that can slay the celestial beings the Greater Will commands." All had their attention fixed on him. "Let this stand as eternal proof of our rejection. Rejection of the Golden Order. Of the Erdtree. Of the day itself."

Nokron turned to a chest inside the podium of Astel's Throne. He placed the blade inside it, and Astel moved the Black Moon in the sky. After that, he turned to his people once more.

"Astel has spoken and fate is writ in the Black Moon! Only when the Golden Order's end is nigh and the hour of the god's death is here, will this blade be touched again. Praise the Black Moon, for we are deliverers of its fate!"

Monks among his people guided the others to pray and chant in whispers. Throughout the city, their words sounded like a sinister wind. "We forgot our calling! We forgot our purpose! But no more!"

Nokron raised his hands, as if grasping the sky in erudition. His eyes were absorbed by the Black Moon. "We are the Nox! Children of the Night! Soon we will march on the surface, and bring the Age of Stars to the Lands Between!"

Astel bellowed as the chanting continued.

"I will be your Lord of the Night! I will guide us all to a true night! To a never-ending darkness that will claim the whole world. Where death, life, and fate, all lie in the hands of the Black Moon and those who belong to the night."

Nokron could see that night.

There. In the Black Moon.

"Our Age of Stars will be born!"

"Here, in the Eternal City of Nokron!"

Author's Note: And so, we've reached the end. I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing and posting it. If you've made it this far, please don't feel shy to leave a review to let me know what you thought of the book, or even send me a message about it. I love reading your comments and am really excited to see what people think of Nokron's slow change into what he became. Before I say my goodbyes, I'll share some good news. While this is the end of Nokron's story, there is still one more Eternal City we know of from the game. So I hope to see you when the next book of "The Eternal Names" series is written. (Hopefully, it doesn't take more than a year. We pray.) May the Black Moon set your fate.

(P.S. If anything happens to FF, you can find this story on AO3 under the same name as well.)