Hi all, Snowbengal here. I hope y'all enjoyed the first chapter of our OG Elden Ring story! Back with the second chapter and I admit I changed the lore events just a litttlleeeeee bit. Especially the timeline around Rennala, Radagon, and Marika to make their sordid affairs more dramatic.
Bjorn, Entering Limgrave
The clouds parted to reveal a clear, green sky as Bjorn continued toward the bridge to Limgrave. He had spent too long in the Weeping Peninsula, another month of useless searching that had yielded nothing, not even the shadow of a footsep. He passed by a young girl who appeared to be blind. She attempted to get his attention but he didn't want to stop for whatever it was she wanted. It was better to not get involved and start caring about someone when there was a good chance it was a trap. There was an abandoned caravan shortly before her that could be involved, but there are more pressing matters than a destroyed caravan being raided by those filthy creatures. When he was a boy, his sympathies would only result in weakness. To be the strongest tarnished of the Lands Between, he could not risk being bogged down by such emotions.
The bridge had an outpost of soldiers standing guard, seemingly waiting for any threat that could be coming from Limgrave. They've done things like this ever since the shattering. Setting up these outposts and fighting anything they see as different from themselves. Their sanity and deductive reasoning have long abandoned them, and fighting is their only directive. Bjorn would feel bad for them if they weren't another obstacle in his travels. The soldiers quickly approached him, but didn't have much of a chance to do much before they suddenly flew back upon being struck by Bjorn's Greatsword. These men were mindless, so there was much less hesitation with which he swung again and again until the bodies of the maddened men littered the bridge. The ballista one of them manned was effortlessly splintered and rendered useless. Bjorn continued forward, thinking about where the one person he still held close could possibly be.
Bjorn, Leyndell
"Again!" Several, lined-up mages sent massive comets speeding towards a line of soldiers opposite them holding large, intricately decorated golden shields. Some of them held firm, casting a golden incantation through the shield which turned the aqua blue comets into a shimmering golden projectile which was sent straight toward the casters at blistering speeds.
Others whom seemed to be struggling simply blocked the comets to the best of their abilities. "Again!" Standing to the side of the line of golden armored knights in training was Radagon himself. Standing head and shoulders above even the largest of these men, he looked on as they each attempted again to cast the shield's protective incantation to block another onslaught of glintstone magic being flung their way. He grew frustrated with the few that still seemed unable to deflect the spells effectively.
Walking up to one of them, he raised his arm high, then proceeded to slap one man hard across the face in one sweeping motion. "What use are you to the Greater Will if you cannot block a simple mage?!" The man bearing the brunt of the God's anger was Asher, a young man raised alongside Bjorn from birth. While Bjorn was angered and wished to do something, he knew better than to try and defy the Golden Order in such a manner. He could only watch angrily while the God continued on his tirade. "You are all here for a single purpose! You have one job and one job only! Protect the Erdtree and allow the Greater Will to continue its magnificent reign over these lands." His voice was smooth, it's depth reverberating as he accosted the knights who struggled to deflect anything cast by the mages, who themselves were captured and forced to help train the golden knights under threat of torture at the hands of Queen Marika herself. "Now stand up like a man, and try. Again." Radagon said, looking down at Asher. "Yes, my Lord. I apologize with every fiber of my being" Asher managed to choke out, avoiding eye contact with the imposing God standing before him.
While Bjorn never had any issues during training, completing every single training exercise thrown his way, Asher was a bit slower to learn, always being accosted by Radagon, who would oversee their training from time to time. There was no sympathy for those who were slow to learn, as the Erdtree was to be protected and preserved. Weakness was nothing to be tolerated, be it emotional, physical or spiritual. Feelings such as sadness, empathy and the like would only cloud one's ability to fight on behalf of the Greater Will and were therefore not to be tolerated under any circumstances.
Bjorn approached a decrepit church, coming to after having this brief flashback to his time training as a Tree Sentinel alongside his friend, Asher. The Tree Sentinels were knights whom were considered the living rampart to the Erdtree and all it stood for. Trained in their immense strength and unwavering faith and loyalty to the Golden Order, they were considered amongst the strongest and most powerful beings across the Lands Between.
It was sunset now and the sky's rosy tones highlighted the sun's last rays entwining with the branches of the Erdtree. Even from afar, the luminous glory of the golden trunk called to him as powerful as it ever did. He still remembered the jolt of fear and longing the first day he had entered Leyndell as a boy and seen the Erdtree. The way it dominated the sky, washing away the tempestuous clouds in the sky as well as the existential doubts in his mind. When he first felt the Grace showered from the mighty branches and smelled the sweet scent of its healing sap, Bjorn knew that his fate was sealed as its protector. There was nothing else that made him feel as sure of his place in the world as that alluring beacon of gold.
So though he would never admit, there was always that twinge in his chest when he saw the Erdtree so far away, almost as untouchable as the moon itself. In the distance, the broken-down walls of the Church of Elleh rose starkly against the vespertine sky. No one knew who Elleh was save for the rumor that they were an exceedingly beautiful woman or young man who had started the line of Finger Maidens. Though the walls were broken-down, the ancient church still had an innate holiness that still drew weary travelers within the safety of its ivy-covered walls.
Bjorn was so lost in thought that he was startled to see a Tree Sentinel patrolling in front of the church. The other Tree Sentinel was wearing the same brilliant golden armor, though unlike Bjorn, this Sentinel was still wearing his helm adorned with what appeared to be tree roots in the vague shape of a mohawk. He held his Golden Halberd in one hand, and his Erdtree Greatshield in the other. He rode atop his steed, a large warhorse adorned in similar golden armor bearing markings to that of the Sentinel's. Bjorn recognized the man before him, not thinking twice before calling out to him.
"Fellow Sentinel! The war is long over! Why do you continue to patrol here? You are relieved of-" Bjorn couldn't finish before the Sentinel pulled the horse's reins up, rearing his horse and setting his gaze upon Bjorn.
"Hark, traitor! It is time you face the consequences of your actions! Have at you!" The Sentinel yelled furiously before charging forth towards the forlorn warrior.
"Please don't do this. You must still have some wit about you! Try to think!" Bjorn's normally calm voice was unusually unsteady. His pleas landed upon deaf ears as he dodged a wide swing of the Sentinel's Halberd.
Bjorn continued to dodge attack after attack, all while pleading with the horse riding Sentinel to try and see reason. Unfortunately, the Sentinel's mind was long gone since the Shattering. He hardly remembered little more than his training and the final instructions given to him to protect against all intruders.
Bjorn kept his empty hands up to show he was unarmed but the Sentinel wordlessly continued trying to behead his former brother-in-arms, another protector of the Erdtree. The horse's hooves thundered against the ground and the deadly sweeps of the Sentinel's halberd threw plumes of dirt over Bjorn's shining golden armor. Though the rider and its horse were nothing more than empty husks of what they had been, the power of Grace still filled their bodies with uncommon vigor. Every stab of the halberd, every side bash of the horse's heaving side had enough power to send even a man of Bjorn's size flying.
Sliding under a vicious swipe of the halberd, Bjorn ended up right at the horse's nose. He seized the reins and braced his mighty legs against the ground, forcing the Tree Sentinel and his mount to a grinding halt. "Brother, there are not enough of us to fight each other like this. I am like you, a fellow Sentinel who has devoted their life to the Erdtree. I do not want this to end in your death." Bjorn said and the only sign of strain from him was a drop of sweat at his temple. He otherwise effortlessly held both the frenzied Sentinel and the horse at a complete standstill.
"You're a magic-mongreling traitor." The Sentinel said, his words surprisingly lucid, and Bjorn was suddenly tense. "You cast yourself out of the Golden Order when you touched the sorceries of those damned Glintstone conjurers." The horse wrenched its head from Bjorn's suddenly slack hands and reared up, froth flying from its blood-red mouth. Bjorn barely had time to dodge away from its gigantic hooves that would have smashed his head into a pulp.
He came to the realization that no words would pierce his fellow Sentinel's mind, gripped his Greatsword while wearing a frustrated, yet sympathetic expression on his face. "You may no longer see me as a brother but I will not leave you in this state. If anyone may end your miserable existence, at least it may be an old friend."
The Sentinel roared with rage at the words, though Bjorn had not meant them as a taunt, and swung his halberd down in a shining arc of gold. Bjorn held his hand up and caught the blade neatly, the impact caused a shockwave of dirt to radiate outwards from the two Sentinels. The other Sentinel paused in apparent shock at this show of Bjorn's colossal strength and Bjorn pressed his advantage. He yanked the golden weapon from the other Sentinel's grip, its familiar weight an unwelcome reminder of what he lost, and then swung it into the horse's side. The Golden Halberd connected with a brutal crunch and the horse shrieked with pain, a sound that grated at Bjorn's ears.
With that, he rolled out of the way of an attempted shield bash and thrust his Greatsword forward in a swift motion. He managed to cause severe damage to the horse's leg but the Sentinel attempted to charge forth at him once more. Grimacing, Bjorn faced down the Sentinel and then swung his Greatsword in a sweeping motion at exactly the right time. His skillful blow knocked the injured horse off-balance and sent it crashing to the ground with a heavy thud.
The Sentinel lay on the ground with his fallen mount, unable to move due to the chains keeping him attached to his saddle. Bjorn approached him slowly and the Sentinel turned to look at him. Blood bubbled from under the golden helmet and Bjorn heard him coughing, his wet breathing indicative of a collapsed lung. He knelt down next to him and removed the helmet, sliding the ornate gold from the head of his fellow Sentinel. He saw the withered face of a man who had once been both jovial yet commanding in the situations that required it.
Bjorn had never interacted with him personally but had heard his laugh echoing around the mess halls and seen his deadly prowess on the battlefield. The only remembrance to that time were the shining points of gold in the Sentinel's hollowed eyes that still spoke of Grace. Those golden eyes latched onto his and he held up his hand, which Bjorn clasped in the traditional greeting of fellow Sentinels. Seeing the man's eyes close, Bjorn stood up and swung his Greatsword down, decapitating his former brother-in-arms with one clean swing.
The Sentinel dissolved in a cloud of ashy gray and Bjorn rested his Greatsword against his shoulder, watching the remains blow away. There were emotions beating in the cadence of his quickened heartbeat but he forced them away with great effort. Bjorn understood the Sentinel would have done everything he could to kill him if he didn't do this. But it still pained him to take a sword to one he once considered a brother-in-arms, even if it had been an act of honor. Nonetheless, Bjorn told himself it was just another obstacle in his path to finding what he was looking for, so it had to be dealt with the obstacles he had come across already: quickly, efficiently and without unnecessary emotion. He knelt down next to where his fallen former comrade had once lain, praying for his return to the Erdtree.
He then took the Erdtree Greatshield that had been dropped from his fellow Sentinel. Bjorn figured that since he'd lost his some time ago, it'd be a handy tool to have moving forward. He wiped away the dirt from the outfacing side, allowing it to shine in all its golden brilliance. The familiar etchings in the shield brought him a brief moment of remembrance. Remembering his fellow Sentinels, his training, his best friend. After taking a moment to compose himself, he stood, placed the shield on his back and continued forward on his journey.
Kira, Raya Lucaria
The strange blue stone weighed heavily against Kira's legs even though it was smaller than a crane's egg. It had been months since she had picked it up from Ari's body and then emerged from the hidden labyrinth behind the walls with Ari's blood drying into her hair. Though Kira was outwardly calm, she was too disciplined to show the usual signs of worry, her mind was buzzing with thoughts. She had cleaned all traces of Ari's existence from the Academy, even left a forged letter on Ari's bed explaining her sudden withdrawal from the school. Raya Lucaria cared not for the absence of one student with the rising turmoil in the Lands Between. But she could still hear the young woman's voice whispering in the shadows under the desks or from the empty spaces by the windows.
The teacher in front of her was talking about the Primeval Current and she pointed at several Glintstone crystals suspended in a glass ball of clear liquid. The sparkling stones bounced off the sides of the glass with a pleasant ting and Kira looked at them, feigning interest as to not draw the ire of the instructor, who was known to have an accurate hand when throwing books at sleeping students.
"Now, I am aware that you all know there are several different schools of sorcery in this Academy and it stemmed from both the work of Lusat and Azur." The instructor said, gesturing at two portraits of solemn-faced, bearded sorcerers. The students whispered among themselves, shifting restlessly so that the lecture hall appeared to be a rippling ocean of indigo blue. "I know they are taboo topics at this Academy but we cannot deny that their schools of thought are what gave Raya Lucaria the power it still holds." The instructor continued, rapping her staff against the floor for silence.
Kira was drawn from her own brooding thoughts to reluctantly admire the instructor's nerves. Most of the teachers avoided such topics and stuck to the more innocent lessons revolving around the use of Glintstone spells. They didn't dare to delve into the dark secrets surrounding the Primeval Current or mention that the two sorcerers had lost their minds upon staring into that fathomless well of power.
When she had first been washed ashore, Kira had had a hard time both learning the language and the subtle political plays that underpinned the halls of the majestic school. Guidon had become her patient teacher, helping her understand the flat syllables and straight-forward nature of the language spoken in the Lands Between. Understanding of the school's intricacies came later from her lessons and supplemented by her forays behind the walls to eavesdrop on private conversations. Hierodas, Olivinus, Karolos, and Twinsage were all sorcerers behind which even the newest students rallied behind.
The more Kira spent time studying these various schools of thought, the more she understood the true nature of Raya Lucaria. It wasn't so much a place of learning than it was a viper's nest with each conspectus feigning interest in sharing information when it was really an elaborate stage on which these sorcerers squabbled for supremacy. It had become even more complicated once Rennala arrived and spawned the Lazuli conspectus that rocked an already temperamental balance. All it needed was a gentle breath to fan the sparks that Kira could sense brewing beneath the immaculate stone floors and elegant Glintstone crowns. It reminded her of home. The barely concealed bloodthirst, the reed-thin peace watered by gallons of blood.
"When Lusat glimpsed into the primeval current, he beheld the final moments of a great star cluster, and upon seeing it, he was broken." The instructor said and Kira flicked her eyes at her in feigned interest once more. "Master Azur glimpsed darkness and he was broken. We can debate the true form of the Primeval Current all we like but there is something in common with the two sorcerers. They both glanced into it with their own vanities, arrogance and preconceptions and that's what shattered them." There was another stir of discomfort at her words criticizing the two legendary masters. "As sorcerers, we must remember we are vessels for the magic we wield. It is imperative when casting spells to remember that magic is influenced by our conceptions of ourselves. Come with too much or too little pride and the magic will turn against you by its fickle nature. It will not serve a master of a clouded mind."
There was a ponderous silence at her words before the great bell tolled the end of classes. Kira gathered up her belongings amidst the familiar thunderous clatter of scraping chairs, chatter and rustling paper. The other students flocked to their natural groups and Kira ignored them all, hurrying down the steps and past the gilt globes and golden astrolabes that were stacked against the classroom walls. Guidon had been the only one who Kira had allowed herself to get moderately close to and even that was a facade so that he would teach her more willingly.
Kira entered the eating halls with another swell of students and she waited in line without saying a word. The other students were poring over scrolls at the tables, playing with magical cards or casting tiny spells at each other in jest. Two young women cast showers of blue stars at each other, the sound of the magic lost in the general uproar of cheerful conversation. Kira had never seen such a place like this in her homeland, for there, children were trained by their families in the privacy of their own minka. Bloody secrets were handed down through the generations by dark of night rather than this bright space filled with laughter and discussion.
A space opened up before her and she pressed forward, receiving a cloth bag filled with fruit, crusty bread and a slice of cheese. Clutching it to her, she exited the hallway and stole out onto the courtyard to find a quiet place to have her meal. She didn't like the company of others, finding their prying questions and curious eyes uncomfortable to bear. Kira liked to have empty spaces where she could see where the threats were rather than with a group of people that could conceal knives in their long-sleeved robes or poison from rings on their fingers.
Away from the hustle and bustle, she finally relaxed and ate her meal in a quiet solitude that became heavy if she thought about it for too long. Outside, she could see the sparkling expanse of Liurnia, the golden fogs shrouding the blue marshes and the glintstone crystals illuminating the dark trees with an air of mystery. She closed her eyes to let the sun warm her up, its gentle rays like the human touch she unconsciously craved to feel. Some instinct tugged at her and Kira opened her eyes to see a flame-bright glint of gold in the hazy distance. She squinted her eyes trying to see, it winked for a moment amidst the blue surrounding it and then disappeared. What had that been, armor? She searched for it again fruitlessly before giving up and getting ready to go back inside for the rest of her afternoon classes.
The golden shimmer she had seen quickly slipped from her mind as she became occupied with thoughts with what she had seen that fateful night. The secret that she had killed Ari to protect from it reaching the wrong ears. She had held that last image she had seen, turning it over and over, polishing it until it reached a gleam of understanding. Radagon, the Golden Champion, was Marika, scion of the Golden Order and the one who had first declared war on Rennala and Raya Lucaria. If it were to be known that Rennala was in bed with the enemy who had first tried to eradicate them, she would lose her already tenuous grasp on the throne she held.
Radagon had suddenly disappeared only a few weeks after that clandestine visit to Rennala's bedchamber. It was well-known that he had fathered a set of twins with Marika while still married to Rennala. In a rage, the Carian Queen had ordered all statues of Marika to be smashed but she had eventually forgiven Radagon and accepted him back into the Academy's magic-wreathed walls. The mages didn't openly speak of this affair of gold and seduction but there were whispers that Radagon must have returned to his fair-haired mistress. But if Radagon was Marika…then that meant…No, Kira would not think of it too deeply. These were gods from a foreign land and it was pointless to question the barbarism of their traditions.
With Radagon's absence, the climate inside of Raya Lucaria was growing fraught with tension as Reanna grew ever more reclusive. The question was how to sow dissent among the different mage branches to have them destroy each other from within. If Kira managed to knock Rennala down from the lofty dimensions she occupied, it would be no different if another conspectus managed to seize control. She would simply be kicking an anthill with no way to control the scurrying within its dark tunnels. She was not sharing rule over the Academy with anyone so she needed a way to keep the power she was trying to steal. She could destabilize Rennala's rule with this truth that shattered trust in the queen and in the tenets of the Golden Order but someone would easily fill the vacuum.
The Great Rune. The thought hit her like a thunderbolt. Rennala's sign of authority, her ties to the Golden Order and the power she wielded had always been cemented by the amber egg she clutched to her chest. Kira also knew enough secrets about each conspectus, their dirty dealings, their secret sins to set them against each other. There were too many quiet assassinations and misfired experiments to be explained away with the innocent words each conspectus offered. Take away the thin veneer of professional cooperation and they would all fall, tearing each other down at perceived offenses and long-held grudges. It would give her the opening to steal the Rune and cement her rule over the Academy. Then I can finally go home.
All of these machinations whirred through Kira's quick-thinking brain at the speed of Glintstone stars while she stood at a doorway, watching the sun set and the silver moon push its way through the Erdtree branches. It would almost be night soon, night, the time for secrets, for shadows and decisive actions unburned by the sun.
Kira turned towards the Debate Parlor where she knew the old masters would be having their usual talks when she heard the sound of screams in the distance. Turning her head sharply in its direction, she buckled on her Estocs and staff before hurrying out into the grand immensity of Raya Lucaria.