Ulcerated tree spirit

I need help with the boss in the Giants' Mountaintop Catacombs. I will not greatly contribute to the fight as my magr does not have a lot of vigor. Password is 394, I’ll wait by the grace.

BASICS OF ISLAM: Fasting: On the Month of Ramadan.Part3

Sixth Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in fasting in Ramadan from the point of view of the revelation of the All-Wise Qur’an, and the month of Ramadan being the most important time in its revelation, is as follows:
Since the All-Wise Qur’an was revealed in the month of Ramadan, to shun the lower demands of the soul and trivialities and to resemble the angelic state by abstaining from food and drink in order to greet that heavenly address in the best manner, is to attain to a holy state. And to read and listen to the Qur’an as though it were just revealed, to listen to the divine address in it as if it were being revealed that very instant, to listen to that address as though hearing it from God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace), indeed, from the Angel Gabriel, or from the Pre-Eternal Speaker Himself, is to attain to that same holy state. To act in this way is to act as an interpreter and to cause others to listen to it and in some degree to demonstrate the wisdom in the Qur’an’s revelation.

• Indeed, it is as if the world of Islam becomes a mosque during the month of Ramadan in every corner of which millions of those who know the whole Qur’an by heart make the dwellers on the earth hear the heavenly address. Each Ramadan proclaims in luminous shining manner the verse

“It was the month of Ramadan in which the Qur’an was bestowed from on high;”

• it proves that Ramadan is the month of the Qur’an. Some of the members of the vast congregation listen to the reciters with reverence, while others read it themselves.

Following the appetites of the base instinctual soul while in that sacred mosque, and quitting that luminous condition through eating and drinking is truly loathsome and makes such a person the target of the aversion and disgust of the congregation in the mosque. People who oppose those fasting during Ramadan are to the same extent the target of the aversion and disgust of the whole world of Islam.

1. All-Wise Qur’an was revealed in Ramadan.
2. Read or listen to the reciters with reverence.

Seventh Point

One of the many instances of wisdom in the fast of Ramadan with respect to man’s gain and profit, who comes to this world to cultivate and trade for the hereafter, is as follows:
The reward for actions in the month of Ramadan is a thousand fold. According to Hadith, each word of the All-Wise Qur’an has ten merits; each is counted as ten merits and will yield ten fruits in Paradise.
While during Ramadan, each word bears not ten fruits but a thousand, and verses like Ayat al-Kursi (2:255) thousands for each word, and on Fridays in Ramadan it is even more. And on the Night of Power, each word is counted as thirty thousand merits.
Indeed, the All-Wise Qur’an, each of whose words yield thirty thousand eternal fruits, is like a luminous Tree of Tuba that gains for believers in Ramadan millions of those eternal fruits. So, come and look at this sacred, eternal profitable trade, then consider it and understand the infinite loss of those who do not appreciate the value of its words.
To put it simply, the month of Ramadan is an extremely profitable display and market for the trade of the hereafter. It is an extremely fertile piece of land for the crops of the next world. For the growth and flourishing of actions it is like April showers in the spring. It is a brilliant holy festival for the parade of mankind’s worship in the face of the sovereignty of divine dominicality. Since it is thus, mankind has been charged with fasting in order not to heedlessly indulge the animal needs of the instinctual soul like eating and drinking, nor to indulge the appetites lustfully and in trivialities. For, by temporarily rising above animality and quitting the calls of this world man approaches the angelic state and enters upon the trade of the hereafter. By fasting, he approaches the state of the hereafter and that of a spirit appearing in bodily form. It is as if man then becomes a sort of mirror reflecting the Eternally Besought One. Indeed, the month of Ramadan comprises and gains a permanent, eternal life in this fleeting world and brief transient life. Certainly, a single Ramadan can produce fruits equal to that of a lifetime of eighty years. The Qur’an stating that the Night of Power is more auspicious than a thousand months is a decisive proof of this.
For example, a monarch may declare certain days to be festivals during his reign, or perhaps once a year, either on his accession to the throne or on some other days that reflect a glittering manifestation of his sovereignty. On those occasions he favors his subjects, not within the compass of his laws generally but with his special bounties and favors through his unveiled presence and his wondrous activities. He favors with his especial regard and attention those of his nation who are completely loyal and worthy.
In the same way, the All-Glorious Monarch of eighteen thousand worlds, who is the Sovereign of Pre-Eternity and Post-Eternity, revealed in Ramadan the illustrious decree of the All-Wise Qur’an, which looks to the eighteen thousand worlds. It is a requirement of wisdom, then, that Ramadan should be like special divine festival, a dominical display, and a spiritual gathering. Since Ramadan is such festival, God has commanded man to fast, in order to disengage him to a degree from base, animal activities.
The most excellent fasting is to make the human senses and organs, such as the eyes, ears, heart, and thoughts, fast together with the stomach. That is, to withdraw them from unlawful things and from trivia, and to urge each of them to their particular worship.
For example, to ban the tongue from lying, back-biting, and obscene language and to make it fast; and to busy it with such activities as reciting the Qur’an, praying, glorifying God’s Names, asking for God’s blessings for the Prophet Muhammad (Upon whom be blessings and peace), and seeking forgiveness for sins; and for example, to prevent the eyes looking at members of the opposite sex outside the stipulated degrees of kinship, and the ears from hearing harmful things, and to use the eyes to take lessons and the ears to listen to the truth and to the Qur’an, is to make other organs fast too. As a matter of fact, since the stomach is the largest factory, when it has an enforced holiday from work through fasting, the other small workshops are made to follow it easily.

1. Senses such as eyes, ears, and tongs refrain from unlawful things/trivia and worship.

Hi everyone, a popular Italian content creator called Sabaku no Maiku just had a Q&A about the lore of Elden Ring (base game for now), and I decided to translate the entire stream for the international community, until the youtube video comes out, at least.
For context, Sabaku has been a creator specialized in From Software's games for a long time, with heavy attention to the lore of the game, and especially to correct popular misinterpretations that are due to mistranslations or other creators not doing enough research before publishing videos on the topic. He worked with translators to get the most accurate possible interpretation of the original japanese meanings, and has been working tirelessly over the last year to do so for every description and dialogue in the game.
Over the year, he also gathered tons of lore questions from the community to answer in this stream and I'm here to translate it from italian so that everyone can enjoy it. Of course, I will only be translating the Q&A parts and I will be skipping over anything that is not lore-related from the stream. Even still, the stream was 2 hours long, so this is going to be a long one, and I'll probably split this into multiple parts, as some answers are actually quite long and the stream itself was also split into multiple parts, and will continue next week. Reminder that these info only come from the base game (no DLC yet) and only involve lore that we know for certainty (or almost), so no wild speculations here. Let's begin:

Q: What's the Elden Ring?

A: The Elden Ring is the most powerful Rune of the Lands Between, and it's central to the natural Order of the world. It's the pillar onto which nature's living cycle leans, in its life, death and change. However, the structure of the Elden Ring can be modified by whom is in its possession, that is the God of this world, and, through the removal or addition of Great Runes (the element that compose the ER), it's possible to modify the "law" (from the japanese "ritsu" , "law" or "rule") onto which nature depends.
The Elden Ring came to the Lands Between at the dawn of times, with the arrival of a golden meteor sent by the Greater Will. This meteor contained a Beast, that later transformed into the Elden Ring we know. It's not clear how this metamorphosis happened, but we can imagine it happened thanks to a process similar in concept to what we see happen to Goldmask, Dung Eater and Fia: After death, these tarnished gave birth to their own runes. It stands to reason to believe that the beast became the Elden Ring after its death and the creature we fight at the end of the game is all but a manifestation of its soul and its spirit world. Something we see with the Ancestral Spirit too, despite the two processes being fundamentally different.

Q: What are Runes?

A: Runes are the physical manifestation of Grace, which flows through the Lands Between and inside the eyes of its inhabitants. Runes share a lot of similarities to the Souls from Dark Souls: In fact, just like them, runes represent the core of the laws of life and of the universe itself. Specifically, they embody the power of Life, which can be used to empower our attributes. This last characteristic is fundamental to us Tarnished, but it also shows why Runes are so special in the Lands Between and why we, as Tarnished, are different from its inhabitants. Having runes inside means being blessed by Grace (which is the highest point of one's life) and, as a result, it means having superior qualities to regular human beings. This explains why the majority of the inhabitants of the LB are taller than us.
As a matter of fact, coming back to the similarities from Dark Souls, just like the most powerful souls can make you way stronger, possessing a greater Rune means having an higher density of Grace inside, and therefore more strength and vitality. This underlines how Runes, Grace and "Life" are deeply connected concepts in this world.
The similarities with Dark Souls don't end there though, as Runes can also manifest properties linked to their owner, like the Great Runes of the Demigods, or the Mending Runes, showcase. Or, in the opposite case, a Rune can also maintain an imperative principle even without its owner, remaining unchanged, like the Rune of Death (or the Lord Souls from DS, and, specifically, the Dark Soul). It's obvious how Runes are to the Elden Ring, like Souls are to the First Flame.
That said, there are also substantial differences between the Runes and Souls. While Souls were deeply connected to the concept of flame, Runes are instead linked the the concept of Gold and, especially, of a Sprout. In fact, runes are able to produce branches, leaves and plants in the world of ER, and this phenomenon showcases the "power of life" mentioned in the description of the Golden Rune (3)
Miyazaki himself, in an interview from Edge Magazine, mentioned how the image of a plant (and more specifically a tree) was, in his opinion, perfect to showcase a natural law that binds all, the process of birth, growth and death

"In Dark Souls, the theme of the Tree was already present, but Fire was the more prevalent visual element of the title. For Elden Ring, the Tree is obviously more noticeable from this perspective (...) This tree, with its shining golden leaves, fits my idea of something that physically represents the world (...) Since the tree is something that lives, grows and in the end, withers and dies. This image fits very well in the role of something that can impart Order, control those rules and make everyone abide by them. Since these will also grow, change and lastly wither and die. (...)" - Hidetaka Miyazaki, Edge Magazine
(EN: translation from english to italian to english again, so the wording will probably be different from the exact words of the original interview, which was also already translated from jp).

Therefore, Runes manifest plants and roots, spreading life and all aspect which derive from it This phenomena happens even in case a Rune is connected to a specific aspect of life. This is the case of the Deathroots (which generate Those who live in Death), which are nothing more than the ramifications of the Rune of Death, spread throughout the roots of the Erdtree when Godwyn the Golden was buried under it.
The second difference is that, in DS, souls are fundamental to maintain the life of a body, to the extent that, if removed, the body dies forever. This isn't the case for Runes. In fact, we have multiple examples of being which aren't "blessed by Grace" which, despite the absence of runes, live normally like anyone else. For example, the Albinaurics, the Omens and, most importantly, the Tarnished. Therefore, runes seem to be a sort of "bonus", sort of how it was in Demon's Souls: In this title from 2009, souls weren't the core of life, but instead of thought, and, if removed, wouldn't kill you, but it would remove your ability to think, making you a wandering zombie at the service of demons. We can imagine Runes carry out a similar function, in that, despite not being linked to the concept of thought, they could be the manifestation of life in its purest and crystalline form, sort of like a "code" that every living being possesses, from animals to people. You could speculate, that runes are not only the power of life itself, but also what ensures the evolution potential of living beings, making them more powerful, vigorous, and adept to improvement. That which "gave life its fullest brilliance" (or from japanese, "That which soundly (?) brightens the flame of life"), from the debut trailer.

Q (from Chat): Then why do you get runes when you kill Albinaurics and Omens?

A: The reasons are multiple. The first is, of course, the subtle line between gameplay and world building. But there's also the fact that, since the Shattering, runes were spread throughout the world and were absorbed even by beings that aren't "blessed by Grace" and therefore aren't normally born with runes inside them. So basically, they "stole" those runes, and couldn't really do anything with them.

Q: How can we be sure that the Elden Ring is the basis of life itself? Couldn't it simply be something that the Greater Will sent to the Lands Between to sort of "mark" its territory?

A: True, in the first days of the community speculation, it was a very popular theory that the Elden Ring was a kind of parasite, sent from the Greater Will to colonize the Lands Between. The theory became so popular than many fans treated it as anything but confirmed. Indeed, this theory can result, to a less discerning eye, as something quite plausible, considering how Elden Ring deals with cosmic elements and space creatures, and therefore can lead to believe that the title should be read as a sort of medieval game fused to sci-fi. The term used to refer to some of the divine forces at play, the "Outer Gods" (which we'll talk about at length later), immediately reminds us of the concept of Lovecraftian divine beings (even in japanese), and reinforces the idea that the game should be read as a mixture of fantasy and science fiction.
However, the more we delve deep in the descriptions and the esoteric narrative of the game, the more we can see that the theory not only cannot be confirmed, but even finds itself quite misleading if confronted with the objective info that the game gives us. Specifically, there's various proofs in game that underline the importance, in ER, of the Lands Between, not as a tool of control, but as the core of everything.
First of all, there's the Shattering. The moment the Elden Ring was fragmented, not only did the Golden Order crumble, but so did the entire island. Both the Two Fingers and Melina speak about the necessity of having an Elden Lord who could bring everything back together, because life in the Lands Between literally went downhill. If the Elden Ring was only a mere instrument of the Greater Will, its shattering wouldn't have represented such a terrible event for everyone. In fact, people don't normally die, and, with the rupture of the system, there is no more stability in the law of nature.
Moreover, there's also a few info that Ranni's quest gives us, to take into consideration. While she explains to us her plans for a new world where we become her consort and the Elden Lorn, the Lunar Princess mentions to us that she intends to keep the Order, and therefore the Elden Ring, far away from this land "even if life and souls are bound to it" (translation from japanese).
I shouldn't be reminding you how Ranni is by far the most opposed figure to the control exercised by the Fingers, vassals of the Greater Will, but despite that, she doesn't speak of destroying the Elden Ring further. She decides instead to take the ER and bring it with her, moving far away from the Lands Between, exactly because it's not possible to permanently cut the connection between the first Rune and the life that it generated. Rather, the ones who got the Lord of Chaos ending, have seen exactly what happens the instant we decide to burn everything down... It's clearly not possible to separate Life from the Elden Ring.
Furthermore, there is another clear evidence of the importance that the Elden Ring has in the workings of the Lands Between: If it wasn't such an important fulcrum of the natural order, then the act of removing the Rune of Death from it shouldn't have had such impactful consequences right? And yet, under the Golden Order, death doesn't exist and it's not seen as a natural process anymore (if not as a way to "return to the Erdtree"). This happens, again, because Destined Death was removed from the ER. Some could counter saying that the influence of the Elden Ring only started after this hypothetical parasite came to this world, but even this claim finds no validity, because the game itself shows us that the Elden Ring has existed in the Lands Between since the age of the ancient dragons, way before Marika and the Erdtree, when Placidusax was Elden Lord. And yes, Placidusax was an actual Elden Lord, not a "metaphorical one".
In short (EN: lmao), all the evidence that we gathered brings us to the conclusion that the Elden Ring isn't some kind of alien force, but the core of the Lands Between and the origin of every civilazione and creature that ever resided here. For further evidence, just look at the dialogue with Hyetta and the very first trailer, which showcase very well the role of the Elden Ring with statements like "that which commanded the stars and gave life its fullest brilliance" ( in japanese, "that which rules the stars that flow and soundly(?) brightens the flame of life")

Q: What is Grace?

A: Grace is the blessing of life which was brought to the Lands Between in ancient times, when the Elden Ring was formed from the golden meteor. Like we said before, Grace and Life are deeply intertwined concepts: In the world of Elden Ring, life finds it maximum manifestation in the so called Grace, a golden energy that, regardless of the form it takes, ensures life is at its highest peak. In fact, in japanese, the name for Grace is "shukufuku" (EN: in the document shown in the stream, the kanji for this word was also included, for those who are curious), which translates to "blessing" or "celebration of joy" - therefore it's not by chance that Melina tells us the golden light which guides us in our adventure is "the blessing of the Golden Tree" in japanese (and in the english adaptation). See? Runes, Grace and Life are connected.
Albeit it seems like Grace has spread far an wide thanks to the Erdtree's offset, Grace is harbored in almost all the inhabitants of the Lands Between, even the ones in opposition to the Greater Will, like the Nox. This is showcased by the fact that every mob, when killed, releases runes to use as an upgrade or as currency, and the fact the scales of the ancient dragons, despite preceding Marika's Order, were already covered in gold. (We also have all the golden eyes of beings that would normally be hostile too)
Besides taking the form of Runes, Grace can also manifest as other forms, like the droplets of golden dew produced by the Erdtree and the beams of golden light that guide us at the start of the game. It should be noted how, inside those streams, there's small golden leaves which dance in the air, more evidence to how Grace in the LB and its power of live are linked with plants and leaves.
It's never explicitly stated in any description, but we can imagine how whoever becomes the divinity of the Lands Between - that is to say, whoever inherits the Elden Ring - exercises also a direct control on Grace. In fact, it was Queen Marika to take Grace away from us, making us Tarnished, therefore, logically, we can assume it was also her that gave it back to us (exactly like she promised to, judging from her "spoken echoes")

Q: Wasn't the Greater Will the one that gave us Grace?

A: That's what the Two Fingers believe, but following the events of the game, we discover that the Greater Will is at last out of the game: in the sense that, like the introduction itself narrates, the Greater Will has abandoned the Lands Between and its inhabitants, leaving everything and everyone behind. The idea that our mission is blessed and wanted by the Greater Will is a belief which was matured by the old Two Fingers in the Roundtable Hold, who think the divine entity still watches over the world. However, the moment we reach the Erdtree, and it negates our access, the Two Fingers, shaken by the even, try to contact the Greater Will to get an explanation. For the remaining duration of the game though, they will never get an answer, which is pretty indicative to the fact that the Greater Will has been totally absent throughout the course of recent events.
Gideon Ofnir himself, in the description of Lord's Divine Fortification, has understoon how both the Fingers and the Erdtreee, have at last felt the weight of time and the Shattering, and that there's nothing holy left in our mission. In the end, we're trying to save what can be saved, in a stranded world.
The game, unfortunately, never confirms if the Greater Will can actually affect Grace or not, but what we know with absolute certainty, is that the divine entity is long but gone and, as such, should be excluded from any speculation post-Shattering. However, we know of another entity able to control Grace: Queen Marika, who, though reduced to an empty and broken shell, is still the Goddess i charge. It's not by chance that, in some Sites of Grace, we Tarnished can still notice some of her echoes, and comprehend them thanks to Melina.
It's therefore very likely that the Grace which guides us back in the Lands Between, "accross the fog", is exactly and extention of the Queen's will.

Q: But if Grace is guided by the Queen, then what are her objectives? What's Marika's plan?

A: To this question, unfortunately, we can't answer for sure, since what we know of the Eternal Queen is just fragments of information, spread here and there between descriptions and official sites. Some believe our action are part of a greater plan imagined by Marika herself, and this isn't completely wrong, in fact, Grace has called us back, which means the Goddess wanted our return in the Lands Between.
Without mentioning the fact that, judging by the echoes that Melina perceives in the Queen's bedroom, Marika sounds pretty determined in her choice to break the Elden Ring. Let's not forget about our smith Hewg, forced by Marika to forge a weapon which, by her will, would have to be able to kill a god like her. With this in mind, it's likely that Marika had some kind of plan.
However, let's not take for granted the idea that the Queen had a clear mind in her actions, on the contrary... In the Cinematic Trailer, Ranni tells us that after the Night of the Black Knives, Marika "was driven to the brink", - in japanese, Ranni even says, without wasting words, that she could have gone completely mad for the death of the son. We should also remember that the plot not only involved the Prince, but also other unmentioned demigods, (from the official Bandai Namco site).
Therefore, we cannot assume her actions weren't simply driven by her folly. Judging by her echoes, Marika seems to be fierce and ruthless in preserving her own interests, between her empire and her family. It's not absurd to think, then, that the psychological weight and the sense of failure in seeing her prized son die, together with other demigods, all members of her family, and the complete crumbling of the Erdtree system thanks to the Deathroots, must have driven her to madness.
If we consider as true the theory that the Gloam-Eyed Queen was also one of the demigods children, then Godwyn might not even be the first of her offspring to have to be buried by the queen's own hands. Moreover, it shouldn't be underestimated how heavy it is to be the one and only Goddess of the world, which, albeit granted with incredible power, still has to shoulder a great weight: many Empyreans will try to overtake the throne, betrayals and internal struggles... maybe even the removal of the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring might have played a role in damaging her mind, since as long as the Elden Ring resides inside her, as a matter of fact, she IS the Elden Ring, and therefore, by modifying it, she might have also influenced herself. It's not by chance that, in the intro, Marika was already shown with small cracks on her arms and shoulders.
*In fact, Marika doesn't seem to gain anything from her action, seen as it's apparent that, even after repairing the Elden Ring, she still remains an empty stone corpse. She never benefits from the new Order that we create, and only remains as a crumbled shell, literally, of her former self. *
In short (EN: again, lmao), our guidance could just be what remains of the lingering will of a mad queen. Maybe that's why many, like Roderika, refer to her as the one who cursed us. In that sense, we would find ourselves in this situation because of the whims of a mad goddess who, the moment something started to deviate from her plans, decided to bring everything she herself created, down with her. Maybe, that's also why, when Giden found the "last will of the Queen" he was shocked by it and found it an "unacceptable ending".
A goddess that was "way too human", both victim and executioner, who sacrificed herself for herself, cursing our entire world.

Q: But didn't Marika desire to challenge the Greater Will?

A: Not necessarily. This too, is one of the very first theories that was spread during the first few days from release, but, like the idea that Grace is the guide of the GW, this theory too does not align with what the game itself shows us.
Despite there being evidence that the gods and the empyreans have to be ruled by some sort of system by the Fingers, the game never shows us any instance of Marika, or other Empyreans, being forced to do anything. Queen Marika is only ever shown to take decisions by herself, from declaring wars to anything that breathes, to removing Destined Death from the Lands Between, to taking Radagon as his second consort. All of these are choices Marika made by herself. Marika's freedom reaches such a level that the Goddess was even able to shatter the Elden Ring, with no one able to stop her, and was only punished after the event. These don't look like the actions of a prisoner of her position. If anything, it seems like, as long as there's an Order in the Lands Between, the Greater Will leaves quite enough freedom to govern to the God in charge.
There's also those who believe that the Greater Will is in conflict with the Outer Gods for control over the Lands Between, but here we also need to remember a crucial detail for the comprehension of the divine dynamics of this work: Among the Empyreans, there is a candidate to the title of Goddess, Malenia, who has the Scarlet Rot inside, an Outer God in absolute opposition to the Golden Order. And yet, the Greater Will didn't seem to carte at all. In fact, we know that you become an Empyrean by being chosen by the Two Fingers, and therefore it's as if the Greater Will itself, through its vassals on land, chose Malenia as a candidate. In short, it doesn't look like this Greater Will is such a tyrannical being, as people like to depict it.
The only case where we see the Greater Will react with wrath towards the actions of someone is in the case of the Nox, whose "high treason" (from the japanese description of the Fingerslayer Blade) was the attempt to kill one of their Two Fingers. The same thing Ranni was trying to do (in which case she also committed "high treason"). So Ranni would have probably also be punished the same way, if she had tried to kill her Fingers before the Shattering. It seems, then, that the Greater Will intervenes (or used to intervene before abandoning the world) only when its emissaries are in danger. But apart from this specific case, it doesn't seem to interfere with any of the choice of the God in charge, as long as there's an Order in place, keeping things together.

Q: What is a Tarnished?

A: A Tarnished (in japanese called "asebito" which translates to "Faded") is an inhabitant of the world outside the Lands Between who doesn't harbor any Grace within. The Tarnished were born when Queen Marika removed the Grace from her first consort, Godfrey, and all of the warriors who fought alongside him during his conquests. When the last enemy fell, and the Lands Between found themselves under the complete authority of the Golden Order, the King and his men found themselves without Grace, and the Queen commanded them to leave the Lands Between and reach a far away land, to "look for conflict, to live and then die". It was then that the first Tarnished were born, and, with the promise that Marika would, one day return their lost Grace and the possibility to come back to the Lands Between, they would sail towards the outside world, to begin what was called "The Long March" (with a ship that would, unfortunately, get stranded and sink in the sea). The adaptation is not clear as to what this exile was for, but the original japanese text gives us some more clues: In fact, the Long March is originally called "chousei" , term which can be translated as "long military expedition" or "great military expedition".
So, despite never being stated explicitly, the purpose of the Long March was, very likely, to conquer the lands beyond, and expand the dominion of the Golden Order outside the Lands Between.
The Long March brought the Tarnished to expand into these lands, creating new countries and societies, like the Badlands ( "land of the barbarians" in japanese), Kaiden, the Lands of Reeds etc...
Unlike in Dark Souls, we know very little of these outside lands, but, thanks to the Confessor set, we know that a church was established outside the Lands Between, which is dedicated to spreading the teachings of the Two Fingers (while at the same time casting away the Prophets who spoke around a certain flame who would one day burn the Erdtree). We can say, then, that the objective of the Long March, was all in all achieved.
For obvious reasons, every single Tarnished is a descendant of the first Elden Lord and his army, so much so that the description of the Warrior class (in the character creation menu), explicitly tells us that all Tarnished were once warriors without distinction. That said, in recent times Tarnished became Astrologers, Priests, Sailors, Nobles and more. We can safely assume then, that the lands outside of the Lands Between are inhabited and populated.
After the Shattering, Grace was returned to the Tarnished, giving them a specific mission. Repair the Elden Ring and become Elden Lord. Like with Dark Souls' Undeads, guided by an alleged prophecy, towards "their destiny", the Tarnished will reach the Lands Between to reclaim the throne, finding themselves in need to challenge the demigods who, currently, possess the fragment of the Elden Ring. But the Tarnished still remain hated and despised in the Lands Between, seen as inferior and persecuted in the worst of ways. Which is why, their mission was never going to be easy.

Q: So why did Marika take Grace away from Godfrey and his soldiers?

A: Like everything that involves Marika and her plans, unfortunately we don't have answers for certain but, to dare try and make a theories, we could think that the main reason why Grace was taken away from Godfrey was for the fear that it would somehow be stolen by potential enemies. In short, Marika didn't want Grace to fall in enemy's hands.
From the gifts we can choose in the character creation screen, the so called "Keepsakes" (from japanese "katami", meaning "memento" or "souvenir") we have the possibility to chose a "Lands Between Rune", which, besides giving us a very important description to understand the nature of the Tarnished, subtly remarks how runes are physical objects, which can be carried around (even tho in our case, we carry it in our bodies, since we are Tarnished). This showcases how Grace can exist outside the Lands Between, and, if we take in consideration the amount of runes we found on corpses or inside tombs, Grace can leak outside the bodies of the dead. With a similar phenomen, whos says that Grace wouldn't have spread outside the Lands between, and be absorbed by the ground, plants, animals and other creatures? Queen Marika already has a lot to think about and definitely doesn't need a "second Land Between" to care for. Grace is hers, and hers alone.

Q: Then why is there a Rune among the starting Gifts? Doesn't that go against what was just stated?

A: Not necessarily. In fact, it's possible that this Rune was an excess of Grace which, by chance, landed in our hands after we were given life by it again.
Or maybe, and an answer that I personally prefer, it's more likely that it's effectively a leftover of Grace, that us Tarnished, as the protagonist, obtained outside the Lands Between. In the original description of the Sacred Tear item, it's explained that these are the "vestiges of the Grace of the Golden Tree, kept safe in the churches of all lands". Taken at face value, we could take for granted that the description references the churches of the Lands Between, but the description never mentions the island itself: Who says that "all lands" doesn't refer to the outside world too? In fact, those are churches dedicated to the teachings of the Two Fingers. So who's to say that these goblets containing Grace weren't the metaphorical Bible of the "missionaries" mentioned in that description, brought to the "savage" inhabitants of the lands outside to show them how good, generous and beautiful the Golden Order was? In the Cinematic Intro, we are shown a Statue of Marika inside the catacombs where the Tarnished were buried. Moreover, from the Keepsakes in the PC Creation Menu, we can choose items dating to a period following the exile of the Tarnished, like Miquella's Bewitching Branch, or the Golden Seen. Golden Mask himself is a Fondamentalist of the Golden order, a doctrine which was born only after Godfrey's exile. All this to showcase that the Lands Between and the lands outside did have dealings, trades and cultural exchanges.
It's therefore plausible that these items ended up in the outside world through some kind of commercial relationship or by pure chance (like the Golden Seeds mentioned before, who reportedly "flew out from the Erdtree, scattering across various lands" after the Shattering, or, like the small description of the Keepsakes mentions, were "stranded" from the Lands Between towards the lands outside.
Or maybe we're discussing fluff (EN: and I'm translating it, what am i even doing) and, for all we know, we could have just gotten them after our arrival in the Lands Between (even though the fact that they are called Keepsakes suggests that we've always had them with us, since at least before our deaths and subsequent revival).

Q: So what are the Lands Between? And what is found outside of them besides the Tarnished?

A: The Lands Between - making another comparison to Dark Souls (seen as good ol' Miyaz likes to repeat himself) - is the Lordran of Elden Ring: a legendary place, where the most ancient civilizations reside, and the the inhabitants are blessed by the Grace of the Erdtree (and therefore the Elden Ring). A sort of Eden, for those who are graced. It seems to be separate from the rest of the world, by a "sea of fog" which surrounds the island and probably makes it pretty difficult to find for whoever wants to reach it (EN: big Valinor vibes from the Lord of the Rings canon) - and as such, i'll have you notice, could make it seem like the call of the chosen Tarnished to be "divine", to the eyes of the inhabitants of the outside world, since these would be seen as the select few who have the chance to reach this magical and legendary place that is the Lands Between, land of Gods and Demigods.
To close out the question, I'd like to leave to you the original text describing the Lands Between: In fact, from japanese, it's called "hazama no ji", which roughly translates to "the land which stands inbetween" or "the land between things", from which the obvious english name. However, "hazama" can also be literally translated to "interstice" (EN: a "narrow gap" or "crack" for those like me that have never used this word in english) which would represent an acute reference to the Interstice in Berserk, ("hazama no sekai" in japanese), which is the dimension between the physical plane and the astral plane. So if we wanted to throw ourselves into some wild speculation (EN: i lied), we could theorize that Elden Ring's Interstice is so called since it's the connection point at which the physical world and the cosmic world meet, since it's the place where apparently meteors and cosmic creatures tend to fall. But this is just speculation!
[ This is the point of the stream where Sabaku realizes it's going to be impossible to finish the entire Q&A in one stream and hilarity ensues. This is also the point where I'm splitting this translation into two parts, so stay tuned for part 2 ]
EDIT: wait for a second as I fix the formatting

• My steam profile: https://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198063019123
• My steam rep: https://steamrep.com/profiles/76561198063019123
• Payment methods: TF keys, PayPal
• Buyer goes first, no exceptions
• We need to be friends for 30 days before we can trade (according to Steam Trading Policies for new friends)
• Please send me a friend request if you want to reserve any item but please do not try to scam because I will check your profile before adding and ignore if it is a private or a new profile or if your steam rep is low

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Hero	Item Name	Price	Quantity	Available
Alchemist	Darkbrew's Transgression	2.5$ / 1 TF key	1	1
Oracle	Transcendent Path	2.5$ / 1 TF key	1	0 (Reserved)
Brewmaster	The Wilding Tiger	2.5$ / 1 TF key	1	0 (Reserved)
Doom	Dawn of a Darkness Foretold	2.5$ / 1 TF key	1	1
Night Stalker	Feasts of Forever	2.5$ / 1 TF key	1	1
Phantom Assassin	Darkfeather Factioneer	2.5$ / 1 TF key	1	0 (Reserved)
Ogre Magi	Freeboot Fortunes	2.5$ / 1 TF key	1	1
Vengeful Spirit	Acrimonies of Obsession	2.5$ / 1 TF key	1	0 (Reserved)
Techies	War Rig Eradicators	2.5$ / 1 TF key	1	1
Treant Protector (Rare)	Grudges of the Gallows Tree	10$ / 4 TF key	1	1
Void Spirit (Very Rare)	Sublime Equilibrium	20$ / 8 TF key	1	1

New Lightpoacher: "The Lightpoacher Unique Helmet no longer has Recover 4% of Life when you lose a Spirit Charge. It now has 100% chance to gain a Spirit Charge on Kill (previously 15-20%), and Gain 5% of Physical Damage as Extra Damage of each Element per Spirit Charge."
If you have 7 abyss jewels (2 in helm, 2 in Darkness Enthroned, 3 socketed in passive tree), this is 105% phys added as extra while you have momentum in a map.
With Shaper of Flames, this is a lot of extra damage for physical spells that ignite. EK and WoC are the best choices here, although if you want to be a hipster don't let me stop you running Glacial Cascade or Purifying Flame.
You can use Asenath's Gentle Touch and get a lot out of them here - Lightpoacher's phys as extra applies to corpse explosions and Shaper of Flames applies there too.
I feel like there's a very good squishy softcore zoomzoom build in this shell, and it could probably upgrade into something tanky with 75% chaos resist, Incandescent Heart, Aegis, Determination, Divine Shield and the amazing new armoES hybrid masteries.
You also are in the extremely weird position of wanting mods on abyss jewels that aren't generally chased after - you can use 0 damage abyss jewels that have some combination of life, ES, armor, ailment avoidance and even resists.
I think there's a real build here.

The first sin EVER Satan used FOOD.
"6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it."
Clearly we can see multiple warning signs against Gluttony and having food as an idol
Philippians 3:19
19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.
1 Corinthians 6 19:20
19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Seriously. If we call ourselves Christian’s we should know the word of God. Examine yourselves! Are you in the faith?! Are you dealing blows to the flesh every day? Are you running the race? Or are you still holding on to that sinners prayer you said in Sunday school? We are never to sit idle. We have to run with perseverance with our eyes set on the prize. WAKE UP!
1 Corinthians 9:27
But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
How can we expect to fulfill Gods purpose for our lives if we can barely make it up a flight of stairs? Do you really think your heavy breathing and sluggish appearance is bringing anyone to God?
They have no self control over the food they eat.
2 Timothy 1:7
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
It’s time to lay aside the old self and put on the new self. We are new creations in Christ and we are to act as such. These things should be hated and reviled by every Christian just like every sin should be.
74% of Americans are considered overweight.
Do you feel personally attacked by this post?
Imagine how gay people feel, not only by the church, but online, and oftentimes rejection from their own families who are more interested in keeping up with an image than they are showing the love and grace of Jesus.
I come from a big city, and I can't tell you how many people there grew up in Christian households only to vehemently reject Jesus as a young adult as a reaction to the rejection they experienced.
The only difference is we can control what we eat and how much we move our bodies. They arguably were born this way and it may be a much harder sin to overcome. Both are bodily sins, both are equal. I'm not walking around church poking people's belly and making them feel bad telling them they need to hit the gym if they want to be accepted.
John 10:10
10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
This is what food addiction is doing, it's killing more Christians and robbing them of their calling than virtually anything else. Yet we ignore it and continue to bring overweight people to God while vilifying gays.
Remove the planks from your own eyes and focus on yourselves.

First of all I'm already vegan, and I'm not going to go back.
This is something I've been worrying about. I'm an animist and have a very deep spiritual connection to the land I live on and the plants and trees within it. I genuinely feel like each plant and tree has a spirit, and is conscious, aware and communicating between themselves and with us. I've always believed this through personal experience, but lately, even science seems to agree.
For example, the symbiotic relationships between plants and fungi... the fact that trees react to the THREAT and THOUGHT of violence... as a gardener, I've had many experiences of seemingly doomed plants recovering due to words of encouragement, and I've had friends plants die because they accidentally cursed the plant when pricked by a thorn for example. The gut feeling of plant consciousness followed by emerging science is making me feel uneasy. Just because plants don't have a brain, doesn't mean they aren't conscious, because we can't even prove that consciousness is unique to the structure of the brain or generated by it... just like Beyonce doesn't live in your radio.
I dunno. I don't want to not discuss this just because it's something carnists say and yet don't genuinely mean. I genuinely mean it. I mean, on another note, I don't think plants necessarily MIND being eaten by us... many are annual, and their reproduction depends on being harvested, and they're probably quite happy with this arrangement we've had for millennia. However what worries me is that modern farming methods are incredibly disrespectful and harmful to these plant spirits, and it's being reflected in a multifaceted way... modern plants are less nutritious and way more prone to a single disease wiping them out.
What's the solution? Not everyone can grow all their own food, in fact most people cannot. And even buying organic is no guarantee of anything, or economically viable. And ultimately we have to eat to live. I suppose this post is just me being sad about another aspect of modern life!

In a couple of my previous posts, I mentioned the Wrathful Lantern that burns with a flame that never goes out, as well as a being who was cursed to burn eternally. As you'd have probably guessed, these two things are connected by one thing, fire. Not just any fire, these are the Flames of Hate. That's what this post is about, to tell you about the Flames of Hate and how they connect to certain things in my world.
The Flames of Hate began long after a primordial being, dubbed Chaos, sprouted into existence alongside it's antithesis, Order. Chaos and Order don't always embody the traits that their names imply, Chaos can be benevolent and kind at times, Order is sadistic and unforgiving at others. Not long after Order and Chaos came into existence, so did the Old Gods. The Old Gods grew bored with their existences and fashioned the first realms out of their own godly flesh, effectively becoming little more than disembodied spirits by the time they were finished. The eldest of the Old Gods, Lanir, made what eventually became the realm of mortals out of his own flesh. All other realms were built around it as a sign of respect to their elder sibling. Chaos saw them creating their worlds and told them it could do better. It proved that by creating the realm known as "Chaos," which he lovingly named after himself. But the realm was dark, not just in the feeling but physically dark. It solved this problem by ripping the soul out of one of it's Old God siblings, killing the realm it had created by using it's flesh, and cursing it to burn and create a source of light for Chaos's own realm. Placing it in the center it created a sort of beacon that lit up the whole of the realm, and some life, although not much, began to form. This life came in the form of demons and devils who wished to serve their great and mighty lord. Much later on, the beacon placed by Chaos had started to go dark, so they had to find other means to light up the realm. Unfortunately, they could not find a correct solution, so they did the only thing they thought they could, they took pieces of the beacon's flame putting them in lanterns that were given to high ranking individuals in the devil hierarchy. The demons and devils who didn't get any lanterns to light their way eventually grew accustomed to the dark and had no need for the light of the beacon.
The funny thing about Flames of Hate is that the longer that particular thing has been burning, the darker the flame is. In a previous post, when I talked about the Godling that burned eternally due to the traditionalists using their newly acquired access to magic to pull the Flames of Hate from the realm of Chaos and curse his soul to burn forever (he had burned for well over 300 years by the time of my campaign), his flames were only a bright yellow-orange. The Flame of the First Sinner was black and actively stole light from any room if uncovered (it could even snuff out other Flames of Hate with its sheer presence). Usually, a Flame of Hate would make your soul into a fuel source for itself and instantly destroy your corporeal form. The FotFS (Flame of the First Sinner) destroys nearly anything living that it comes into contact with, including your soul, mind, and body, and can melt 90% of metals (one of the only things that protects against The Flame, is wood from the Primordial Tree from where Order and Chaos were born). FotFS is the only thing that can weaken the power of Order, the antithesis to Chaos.
That's about all I can think of without reading off one of the documents I've made to remember. If you have any questions on this I'll do my best to answer them. If you like it, I'd appreciate a compliment. If you don't like it, that's your opinion, and I'll respect it.

I'm not talking about what we watched visually, I mean if each episode was written down and all we saw was the concept, out of all of them which ones were the most disturbing and least disturbing in your head? Here's what I think with my list below but I wanna see what you guys think and if you think I got anything wrong! Also if you don't like the show please don't respond and tell me how bad it is and telling me why I shouldn't bother mentioning it. I get it, but I just really want those who found some enjoyment in the show or had some kind of experience with it to respond, thanks.
1- Necro (Do I even need to explain lol) Child growing a connection with the corpse of her mother, embalming process, our lead fucking what she thought was a corpse and her and the love interest burying themselves alive. Plus more. I want more episodes like this truley, I don't want AHS to go 'tame'.
2- Facelift (An old woman struggling with her identity and facing her age wishes to feel a little better about herself in her finale years of life only for it to be completely taken from her and having her finale last days be in agony and loss of any resemblance of self-worth. Everyone she cared about either wasn't there to help or turned against her.
3- Milkmaids (A plague wiping our entire families, a woman woman feeding people her puss, the townspeople cutting up the corpses of their loved ones for a 'cure', the discrimination amongst certain people, extreme ideologiesand a son killing his own mother.)
4- Feral (National Parks across the world isolating cannibalistic creatures or people within the depths of the woods and the government hiding it from the public, a child taken from his family during a family camp, animals brutally killed, human trafficking in the woods, extreme and brutal lies to lure in a grieving family, park ranger eaten alive, and the family's son allowing the ferals to feast on his own parents.
5- Bloody Mary (Teens summon a mirror being that grants them their desires as long as they commit horrific acts, they believe they will have their eyes clawed out and be killed if they don't do it, they are all visually shown the aftermath of their actions if the do decide to commit the acts, flashbacks to the horrific pasts involving slavery, one of the firends killing two of the other friends and disfiguring their faces for wealth and power, the sister forcing to kill her sister so she can't kill her instead, our finale girl releasing and being replaced by the previous Blood Mary and being forced into the mirror realm and becoming the new Bloody Mary while the previous walks the Earth. (I don't know if I want to put this own higher though)
6- Aura (A woman everyday is traumatised by her past where a man wearing A FUCKIN SCARY ASS RABBIT MASK broke into her home and murdered her parents. She buys a door camera to allow herself to feel protected only for it to literally bring the past back to haunt her, paranormal hauntings, a lying husband with a control problem that previously murdered his fiance and child and got away with it, and once said husband is taken care of the poor wife that probably gets a poor income is haunted by him in her own apartment knowing if he ever gets in, he'll kill her.
7- BA'AL (A woman is gaslighted by her husband into believing a demon is trying to take her child she spend years trying to get for her wealth, fake paranormal activity, she believes she is going insane after she stabs her husband by accident during a ritual, she summons the real demon that mutilates the husband's friends and later fucks the demon for a second child.
8- Drive-In (A Drive-In unaware of the film's intentions and are affected by the movie trickery and start killing one another with no control of their body, they rib flesh and body parts with their teeth and cut into people with objects and sometimes their own body parts, the film is brought onto Netflix and cursing anyone who watches it.)
9- Drive (A woman is chased down by another car and is even hit by the other car, she searches the house with the thought of someone inside at night, flashbacks to the backseat urban legend story of a woman chased by a car warning her of man she is unaware of in her backseat who later stabs her neck and leaves her decapitated head on the front of the car, the lead woman tries to figure out who was chasing her so she can kidnap him and torture him in her basement by stabbing him and cutting off his finger to later stab a machete into his head, it's revealed she has killed and tortured a number of people previously by luring then out from a nightclub, she eventually kills her bestie with her husband.)
10- Dollhouse ( a group of woman are kidnapped and forced to pretend to be dolls for a rich toymaker trying to find the perfect mother for his son, toymaker dumps his cheating wife down a well and let's her rot there, dolls compete in tests and the loser is dumped into the well, during their escape attempt those who run into the woods one tries to kill the other, but both are shot and killed by the guard, the winner is turned into a life sized doll and has barely ablitiy to move, the doll maker and his henchman are burnt alive.)
11- Lake (People drowning a for being clumsy discussions, the deseased skeletons and bodies grabbing and drowning the son of the man related to the owner of the lake and dam, the dam caused a flood that caused a town to be completely submerged, those protesting against the dam were drowned, the woman is haunted by the spirits of the lake pretending to be her son by using the water around the house to get her attention, the woman finds the skeletons of those who drowned and her son corpse is gifted to her for coming back, the husband comes to the lake house house and the spirits use the physical corpses of those who have drowned to grab him and drown him in the lake because he is the closet relative to the man who built the dam.
12- Naughty List (A group of YouTube influencers film someone committing suicide for views, it backfires and they try desperately to gain back populairity and eventually go to the mall where an immortal being posed as Santa is currently working, after they mess with him they go back home and find out the Santa murdered and dismembered the real mall Santa and put is body in a Christmas present, they are then hunted down by the Santa and killed by being electructed by Christmas lights, having their neck twisted until their spine is shown, burnt alive and shot with candy cane arrows, their bodies are dismembered and decorated on a Christmas tree, the Santa Killer roams free until more people.

Hello addicted gamers i wanted to share a build i thought of based on pulverize and a storm synergy since giving the tag earth to a spell will also give the tag "nature" to it.
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First of all you can see the skill tree right there:
https://d4builds.link/xZjaHr
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First of all i will explain active skills then passive one:
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Active skills:
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Wind shear 1/5 : A storm range attack that can apply vulnerable to enemies and give our druid some move speed.
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Pulverize: Our damage dealer, we will upgrade it to earth using an aspect and another aspect will allow us to add a big conical aoe that deal +260% damage
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Earthen bullwark: Give us a barrier = to 45% max Hp, make us unstoppable and fortify for 18%. A nice defensive cd.
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Debilitating roar: reduce ennemy damage by 50% for 4 sec, fortifies our self for 22% life and heals for 4% max HP/ sec for 4 sec
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Hurricane: An aoe that deal 17 damage and slow ennemies and have a 15% chance to make enemies vulnerable for 3 seconds.
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Cataclysm: A big storm will follow us for 10 sec knocking back enemies and making them vulnerable
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Passive skills:
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Heart of the wild/ Wild impulses: +3 max spirit (:copium:) and our core skill will cost +15% spirit to deal 30% more damage: We have one spell used to clear the mobs and deal big damage, we need to max is damage output using this passive.
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Predatory instinct: +9% critical chance to close enemy. I'm not sure about this one since the big damage dealer from pulverize will came from the shockwave, probably not the best point i can put into my skill tree but i'm not hyped by other one.
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Elemental exposure/ Endless tempest: I just wanted +15% of duration on hurricane and cataclysm
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Crushing earth: earth skills deal +15% damage to slowed, stunned, immobilized or knock back target.
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Safe guard: Crit strike with an earth skill will fortify for 7% life
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Stone guard: While you have fortify over 50% HP, earth skill deal 12% increased damage.
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Defiance: +12% damage for nature skills to elite
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Circle of life: Each pulverize will heal for 3% of our max HP
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Natural Disaster: Earth skills deal +12% damage to vulnerable enemies
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Resonance: Nature skills deal 6% increased damage. Triple this bonus if an earth skill is the next skill cast after a storm skill or if an storm skill is the next skill cast after a earth skill.
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Quickshift: When i transform into a bear using pulverize it will deal +15% damage.
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Defensive posture: +15% to all fortify
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Earthen might: On lucky hit Restore all spirit and cause attacks to be critical for 5 secs
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For the boons spec:
Deer: Wariness +10% reduced damage from elites
Eagle: +10% Max HP
Snake: lucky hit: nature skills have 15% chance to reduce the cooldown of cataclysm by 2 sec
Wolf (our spec): Lucky hit: Dealing damage have 15% chance to restore 10 spirit/ +25% duration on cataclysm
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Then we have the aspect:
Helmet: Stormshifter: +2 werebear skills when hurricane is active
Chest: Ballistic aspect: +2 earth skills when fortified
Gloves: mighty Storm: storm skills trigger earthen might
Pants: Mending stone: +6 sec of earthen bulwark duration, killing an enemy will replenishes the barrier
Boots: Ghostwalker: Gaining move speed when unstoppable
2H Weapon +100%: Shockwave: Pulverize will make a shockwave dealing +260% damage
Amulet +50%: Natural Balance: Casting a storm skill will increase by 67% our earth crit damage for 4 sec, casting a earth one will increase our crit chance on storm skill by 18% for 4 sec
Ring: Ursine Horror: Transform our pulverize to a earth AND nature skill
Ring: Retaliation: +40% damage when fortified
Some paragon legendary have been datamined and we can get +85% chance to overpower with those under condition (that's why i don't use overpower in my build).
Do you have any idea about a change whitout loosing the storm side of the build? I will appreciate 60 days until realease. Good luck everyone.

The howling wind was the only sound that pierced the deafening silence that had enveloped the Airbnb deep within the Appalachian Mountains. My wife Emma and I had been looking forward to this getaway with our friends for months, eager to leave behind the stress of our mundane lives in the city. But as the minutes ticked by, the creeping sense of dread that had taken root in my stomach only seemed to grow stronger.
The rustic cabin we'd rented was charming, its wooden walls adorned with vintage trinkets and photographs that spoke of happier times. It was tucked away in a secluded corner of the forest, providing us with the perfect setting for a week of relaxation, laughter, and reconnecting with our closest friends. Little did we know that this idyllic retreat would soon turn into a waking nightmare.
Our friends, Jake and Lily, arrived the following day, their excitement palpable as we gathered around the fireplace to share stories and reminisce about our college days. The warmth of their company was a welcome distraction from the unease I'd been feeling, but the momentary reprieve was short-lived.
The first sign that something was amiss came from the shadows that danced across the living room walls, their twisted forms leaving me feeling as though I were being watched. I shook off the paranoia and attributed it to the flickering flames in the fireplace, but the sense of being observed remained, lurking in the back of my mind.
The next day, as we hiked along the wooded trails surrounding the cabin, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being followed. I could hear the crunch of leaves underfoot, the snap of twigs, and the soft rustle of the underbrush, but every time I turned around, there was nothing but the dense forest staring back at me.
That night, after a long day of exploring, we all settled into our respective rooms. As I lay in bed next to Emma, the darkness of our room seemed to grow thicker, more oppressive. I could hear her gentle breathing beside me, but it did little to soothe the panic that began to rise within me.
It was then that I heard it – a faint, almost inaudible tapping on the window. My heart raced as I forced myself to investigate, my legs trembling beneath me. I pulled back the curtains, expecting to find the source of the sound, but there was nothing there. Just the blackness of the forest, the trees swaying gently in the breeze.
The following morning, I shared my experiences with Jake and Lily, hoping to find some comfort in their disbelief. But as I spoke, I saw the color drain from their faces, their eyes wide with terror.
"We heard it too," Lily whispered, her voice quivering. "We thought it was just the wind, but... it sounded like someone was tapping on our window."
Jake nodded solemnly, his jaw clenched. "We didn't want to say anything, didn't want to scare you guys, but we've been feeling like we're being watched ever since we got here."
The four of us sat in stunned silence, our minds racing with the horrifying possibilities. It was then that Emma suggested we search the property, hoping to put our fears to rest. But as we scoured the grounds, we found something that only fueled our terror – a series of footprints leading from the edge of the forest to each of the cabin's windows.
The realization that we were not alone, that someone was stalking us from the shadows, sent a chill down my spine. We decided to leave as soon as possible, cutting our vacation short in the hopes of escaping the unseen menace that haunted our every step.
But the nightmare was far from over.
As we hastily packed our belongings, I noticed that the trinkets and photographs on the walls seemed to have shifted. The once-cheerful images now took on a sinister quality, their subjects staring at us with cold, unblinking eyes. The vintage trinkets that had charmed us upon arrival now appeared twisted and macabre, as though they were remnants of a dark past we couldn't quite comprehend.
Outside, the wind had picked up, and the once-tranquil forest seemed to come alive with a sinister energy. The trees creaked and groaned, their branches clawing at the sky like desperate hands. As we loaded our bags into the car, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being watched, that the unseen stalker was lurking just beyond the tree line, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
With every mile that passed as we drove away from the cabin, I felt the weight of our terrifying experience slowly lifting from my shoulders. But the relief was short-lived. As we wound our way through the mountains, the dense fog that had settled over the road made it increasingly difficult to see. It was as if the forest itself was trying to keep us from leaving, to trap us within its dark embrace.
When our car suddenly sputtered and died, leaving us stranded on the side of the road, the terror that had been lurking at the edges of our minds came crashing down upon us. We were trapped, alone and vulnerable in the heart of the wilderness, with no way of knowing where our stalker might be hiding.
As we huddled together in the cold, the wind howling around us like a mournful dirge, I felt a sense of despair unlike anything I'd ever experienced. It was then that I realized the true horror of our situation – we were mere playthings for a predator that could strike at any moment, and there was nothing we could do to stop it.
The hours passed, each minute stretching into an eternity as we waited for help that might never come. The darkness of the night enveloped us, leaving us blind to the dangers that might be lurking just beyond the beam of our flashlight.
It was in that suffocating darkness that we heard the first whispers of movement in the forest. The soft crunch of leaves, the snap of twigs, the rustle of underbrush – all the sounds that had haunted our days in the cabin were now closing in on us.
My heart pounded in my chest as the sounds grew closer, the fear of the unknown threatening to consume me. And then, suddenly, a figure emerged from the shadows.
He was a tall, gaunt man with wild, unkempt hair and eyes that seemed to burn with a malevolent intensity. He moved toward us with a predatory grace, his long fingers clutching a rusted hunting knife that gleamed in the moonlight.
As he closed the distance between us, I knew that our fight for survival was only just beginning. We had to face the darkness that stalked us, to confront the nightmare that had been haunting us from the moment we'd set foot in the Appalachian Mountains.
And as the wind howled around us, drowning out our desperate cries for help, I could only hope that we would find the strength to survive the terror that had brought us to the edge of madness.
Emma, Jake, and Lily huddled together, their eyes wide with terror as the man approached us, his twisted grin revealing yellowed, jagged teeth. Instinct took over, and I lunged at him, desperate to protect the people I cared for most.
We fought, our struggle a chaotic dance of pain and fear, the knife glinting in the moonlight as it sliced through the air. The man was stronger than I'd anticipated, his grip like iron and his movements quick and nimble. But the adrenaline coursing through my veins lent me strength, and I managed to wrest the knife from his grasp.
With a guttural scream, I plunged the blade into the man's chest. He staggered back, his eyes wide with shock, before collapsing to the ground. As he lay there, gasping for breath, the once-menacing figure seemed to shrink, becoming nothing more than a sad, broken man.
We stood over him, our bodies trembling with a mixture of relief and horror at what we'd been forced to do. But our ordeal wasn't over yet. As we stared down at the man's lifeless body, the wind picked up, and the fog grew denser, as if the forest itself was mourning the death of one of its own.
We knew we had to keep moving. With the car dead and our phones unable to get a signal, we had no choice but to press on, hoping against hope that we would find our way to safety. We walked in silence, the weight of our actions heavy on our shoulders, the fear of what might still be lurking in the woods gnawing at our minds.
The darkness seemed to stretch on for an eternity, each step we took through the wilderness bringing us no closer to salvation. But as the first rays of sunlight broke through the canopy of trees, we finally stumbled upon a dirt road that led us to a small, remote town.
Exhausted, bloodied, and forever changed by our harrowing experience, we shared our story with the townspeople, who listened with a mixture of disbelief and pity. They told us tales of other visitors who had ventured into the forest, never to return, and of a local legend about a vengeful spirit that stalked the woods, seeking revenge for some long-forgotten crime.
As we left the town, grateful to be alive but haunted by the horrors we'd endured, I couldn't help but wonder if our tormentor had been a man driven to madness or something far more sinister. The truth, it seemed, would remain forever hidden within the shadows of the Appalachian Mountains.
In the years that followed, we tried our best to put the experience behind us. We rarely spoke of it, and when we did, it was in hushed whispers, as if speaking too loudly might somehow summon the darkness that had nearly claimed our lives.
But even as we tried to move on, the terror we'd faced in the Appalachian Mountains continued to cast a shadow over our lives. We could never truly escape the fear, the sense of being watched, the knowledge that somewhere out there, a malevolent force was waiting for us to return.
And so we remained, forever on the edge of our seats, haunted by the nightmare that had brought us to the brink of madness and left us with a lasting impression of horror that would never fade.

I got a new story going its a Young Adult story about a physic girl in a haunted high school Morrisville is a real town everything else is made up by me.
Apparition High School
The halls of Ben Franklin High School were like anywhere in the Mid-West. Morrisville Missouri but BF as we call it has another world to it, the most haunted high school in Green County. The back story is that the high school was rebuilt after a fire in the 1930’s. Back then it was a two-story wooden building and the fire started in a bathroom from the old janitor smoking.
I’m Bea short for Beatrice my mom was a bit old fashioned. Being the new kid is no fun being blessed with physic albitites is not fun. Arriving on my first day and finding my locker and getting to know some kids I see my first spirit a boy around 15, “You can see me tell me what happened I remember smoke and heat then nothing.” A goth kid walks through him, and he disappears. I wander the halls after lunch looking for my health class and see the display about the old fire, “1934 fire destroys local high school, janitor to blame.” Wow looks like it spread quickly being an old wooden structure I was reading so long the bell rang and the hall monitor says I have three minutes. “I didn’t cause no fire it was the old mine under the school, no one would listen to me.” Hall monitor blows a whistle, but I find my class and settle in.
Mom was at her new job, so I come home to Grandma Dee making biscuits for dinner. I kiss her cheek and help he press the cutter down “Even so we have good rise now” I promise her I will and after they are in the over, I grab some banana bread and head up to some English work. I keep drifting to the boy and now the janitor. The janitor must have warned everyone about the old mine in the area and it happened so fast that the boy remembered heat smoke then nothing. Forcing myself to do my work I will talk to Grandma after dinner, she is better than Google for local history anyway. With that done I head downstairs to the wonderful pot-roast dinner and Mom is home.
“Grandma Dee tell me about the old high school was there a mine under the school.” Mom and Dee are suspicious, but Grandma goes into the story. “I am not as old as you think but we were living in Willow Springs, so I went to school there. We heard about that fire and how the janitor was smoking a pipe in the boy’s room, and it ignited a fire and spread across the whole school.” I decide to hit Goggle and back up what the janitor was saying. After chores I get to Google and I did find an article about an old tin mine in the area, so field trip tomorrow after school.
Mom dropped me off around the corner so I could walk some of the way, it’s not cold today there is sun out. I stop at the fire display and study the pictures of the students and janitor, it was after school so only a few kids were there, I looked at the boy I saw yesterday and the janitor when hall monitor came up. “Hi, I’m Bryan with the Y, you like history or something.” I smile and say” Yes in a way and I’m Bea, my mom loved Bea Arthur, but I was reading this yesterday, so I know I am early.” He and I chat, and I ask about the tin mine. “Yeah, it was right on the other side of the school, the mine tunnels went all over town.” The bell dose ring so it’s off to class, guess I my research will have to wait “There was a shaft under the school it was destroyed in the fire, clear my name.” That janitor will have to learn some manners if he wants my help.
During lunch I get the nachos from the cafeteria they are stacked with beans, meat, and cheese sauce. I pick the table by the tree and Bryan asks to sit with me “Sure so tell me more about these mines.” Bryan was talking about the tunnels and Goth kid came over “Mom wants us at the store after school” Bryan rolls his eyes and introduces me to his brother Greg “Hold it I like to be called knight like Gotham Knight my favorite caped crusader Batman, but I do vibe with the Goth ascetic.” I ask what store they need to go to, and Knight says, “Gracie’s its mom and our dad’s truck stop, bait and tackle, general store.” We all chat about the store, and I tell them were Mom and I came from “We are ordinally from Branson but after Dad died, we moved to Hope Springs then here with Grandma Dee.” They say they both had grandma for 7th grade English, and she was tough but nice. After the bell rings we all agree to meet at Gracie’s after school.
“Grandma I have no homework can I take the scooter to Gracie’s?” Granma pipes in from the Livingroom. She is watching her favorite show Let’s make a Deal. “Okay dears say hi to Gracie for me, tell her to save me a place.” Grandma appreciates my gift Mom not so much. I was talking to walls as Mom says early. I’m thinking I get it from Dad, he would talk to air too. Now on to Gracie’s Bryan and Knight gave me directions, little did I know it buy a cemetery, me and cemeteries don’t mix, to many voices.
End of Part 1

I decided to do a little YA and put some physic energy into it. Morrisville is a real town all other stuff is made up by me.
Apparition High School
The halls of Ben Franklin High School were like anywhere in the Mid-West. Morrisville Missouri but BF as we call it has another world to it, the most haunted high school in Green County. The back story is that the high school was rebuilt after a fire in the 1930’s. Back then it was a two-story wooden building and the fire started in a bathroom from the old janitor smoking.
I’m Bea short for Beatrice my mom was a bit old fashioned. Being the new kid is no fun being blessed with physic albitites is not fun. Arriving on my first day and finding my locker and getting to know some kids I see my first spirit a boy around 15, “You can see me tell me what happened I remember smoke and heat then nothing.” A goth kid walks through him, and he disappears. I wander the halls after lunch looking for my health class and see the display about the old fire, “1934 fire destroys local high school, janitor to blame.” Wow looks like it spread quickly being an old wooden structure I was reading so long the bell rang and the hall monitor says I have three minutes. “I didn’t cause no fire it was the old mine under the school, no one would listen to me.” Hall monitor blows a whistle, but I find my class and settle in.
Mom was at her new job, so I come home to Grandma Dee making biscuits for dinner. I kiss her cheek and help he press the cutter down “Even so we have good rise now” I promise her I will and after they are in the over, I grab some banana bread and head up to some English work. I keep drifting to the boy and now the janitor. The janitor must have warned everyone about the old mine in the area and it happened so fast that the boy remembered heat smoke then nothing. Forcing myself to do my work I will talk to Grandma after dinner, she is better than Google for local history anyway. With that done I head downstairs to the wonderful pot-roast dinner and Mom is home.
“Grandma Dee tell me about the old high school was there a mine under the school.” Mom and Dee are suspicious, but Grandma goes into the story. “I am not as old as you think but we were living in Willow Springs, so I went to school there. We heard about that fire and how the janitor was smoking a pipe in the boy’s room, and it ignited a fire and spread across the whole school.” I decide to hit Goggle and back up what the janitor was saying. After chores I get to Google and I did find an article about an old tin mine in the area, so field trip tomorrow after school.
Mom dropped me off around the corner so I could walk some of the way, it’s not cold today there is sun out. I stop at the fire display and study the pictures of the students and janitor, it was after school so only a few kids were there, I looked at the boy I saw yesterday and the janitor when hall monitor came up. “Hi, I’m Bryan with the Y, you like history or something.” I smile and say” Yes in a way and I’m Bea, my mom loved Bea Arthur, but I was reading this yesterday, so I know I am early.” He and I chat, and I ask about the tin mine. “Yeah, it was right on the other side of the school, the mine tunnels went all over town.” The bell dose ring so it’s off to class, guess I my research will have to wait “There was a shaft under the school it was destroyed in the fire, clear my name.” That janitor will have to learn some manners if he wants my help.
During lunch I get the nachos from the cafeteria they are stacked with beans, meat, and cheese sauce. I pick the table by the tree and Bryan asks to sit with me “Sure so tell me more about these mines.” Bryan was talking about the tunnels and Goth kid came over “Mom wants us at the store after school” Bryan rolls his eyes and introduces me to his brother Greg “Hold it I like to be called knight like Gotham Knight my favorite caped crusader Batman, but I do vibe with the Goth ascetic.” I ask what store they need to go to, and Knight says, “Gracie’s its mom and our dad’s truck stop, bait and tackle, general store.” We all chat about the store, and I tell them were Mom and I came from “We are ordinally from Branson but after Dad died, we moved to Hope Springs then here with Grandma Dee.” They say they both had grandma for 7th grade English, and she was tough but nice. After the bell rings we all agree to meet at Gracie’s after school.
“Grandma I have no homework can I take the scooter to Gracie’s?” Granma pipes in from the Livingroom. She is watching her favorite show Let’s make a Deal. “Okay dears say hi to Gracie for me, tell her to save me a place.” Grandma appreciates my gift Mom not so much. I was talking to walls as Mom says early. I’m thinking I get it from Dad, he would talk to air too. Now on to Gracie’s Bryan and Knight gave me directions, little did I know it buy a cemetery, me and cemeteries don’t mix, to many voices.
End of Part 1

Memories of last night made me blush, the tension had been released. Demy leaning on his elbow as I tugged on my boots, his sly grin showing his pride from our fiery night of passion. Adjusting the ruffles on my blouse, his strong arms yanked me back onto the bed. The tension had faded between us, our satisfaction matching eotherach .
“Let’s play today.” He pleaded with big puppy dog eyes, a light smile dawning on my lips. “I had so much fun last night.” A golden envelope slid under the door, Demy’s fingers snapping. The envelope landed in his palm, a long exhale escaped his lips. The sounds of New Orleans came to life, jazz music filled the air. My weekend with my uncle had been lovely, but the noise and chaos of New Orleans felt like home or did Demy feel like home? Sinking deeper into my train of thought, a hungry kiss brought me back. Time stopped, my heart skipping a beat. Climbing on top of my lap, his hand plopping his hat on top of my head. What brought this on?
“We have a local job today.” He announced with unfiltered joy, lifting my chin up with his finger. “How about a date after?” A black ball of light blinded us, hairy legs grabbing me. Crying out for help, the monster whisked me away to another dimension. Throwing me on a giant web, chills shot up my spine. My face paled, horror widening my eyes. Struggling against sticky white silk, the silk vibrated. A shrill scream burst from my trembling lips the moment tiny spiders crawled over me, a man with six hairy legs trailing behind his tall slender body sauntered across the ceiling. His large abdomen bounced up and down, clammy sweat drenching my skin. A vibrant green suit hugged his seven foot seven frame, inky black eyes glistened underneath a fluff of neon green hair. His violet lips curled into a wicked grin, a long piece of silk glistened in the flickering light. Lowering his body, his face was centimeters from mine. Long fangs hung over his lips, a bright green venom dripped down the fangs. Clicking them together, his tongue licked his lips as they retracted into a row of clean teeth. Cupping my chin, his cold hand moved my face.
“How ugly!” He scoffed haughtily, licking my cheek. “You will make a most delectable meal.” Focusing on his ash gray skin, a stinger extended from his wrists. The venom dripped down the tip, the foul liquid burning my cheek. Healing up as fast as it burned me, frustration raged in his eyes. A defiant grin danced across my determined face, my tongue spitting out the spiders attempting to get into my mouth. Cringing at the sensation of tiny legs tickling my tongue, he snapped my head to face him.
“Poison doesn’t affect me.” I bragged jovially, my confidence coming back. “Nice try. I guess you will just have to eat me.” Low hisses slithered out of his mouth, his legs spinning a web around my squirming body. My eyebrow twitched irritably, my fingers snapping quietly. My staff floated into my palm, my enemy not noticing. Shoving it up my sleeve, a quiet groan escaped my lips at the fact my shirt was going to be destroyed. Allowing him to wrap me in a cocoon, the goal was to get him to relax his damn security. The sticky silk clung to my skin, his pets crawling up my leg. Couldn’t he just leave already! Gross, this fucking sucked. Shaking off my nerves, scarlet flames torched his webs, a rush of heat blowing his webs around. Glancing around, several cocoons surrounded me. Panic gripped my mind, the flames second from reaching them. Switching elements, golden ice crept up the web. Black smoke curled out of the small hole above me, a familiar energy perking up my spirits. Demy shot the web, his bullet smashing our enemy’s complicated design. Crashing to the cold neon green floor, dummies rained down around us. The wood smashed to bits, screams echoing down the hall. An icy breeze nipped my shoulder, my eyes falling on my tattered shirt. Black lace peeked out, Demy shooting a quick glance. Rolling my eyes, my shaft shifted to dual scythes. A drop of his venom hovered over his head, my body smashing into his. My skin hissed for a moment, my clothes melting away. Stifling a scream of venomous rage, Demy placed his coat over my shoulders. Embarrassment colored my cheeks, a nervous smile twitched on my lips.
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” He teased playfully, helping me up. “We need to cut out his fangs or remove them somehow.” An idea rang out in my head, my hands cupping his. The screams shattered the touching moment, a rock flipping in my stomach. Dread poisoned my mind, his lips kissed me hungrily. Guiding his fangs to my neck, his fangs sank into my skin. Enough blood would make him immune to the venom, my free hand fending off his legs with my scythe. Sparks drifted aimlessly, his exoskeleton proving to be tougher than I thought. Leaning his head back, he stole his hat back. Reaching into his hat, the energy shifted. My blood prevented him from going fully insane, a sly grin curling on his lips. Black energy swirled around him, his ravens cawing behind him.
“Poison, you are going to die today. Nobody kidnaps my swallow.” He threatened darkly, spinning his scythe over her head. “Are you ready to play?” Tossing me his hat, he mouthed the order to rescue the people. Placing it on my head, it was time to listen to his orders. Sprinting down the tunnel, my scythes sliced through the webs with ease. People dropped to the cold rock, families embracing each other. A low humming noise echoed in my ears, a black gem floated in a ball of pale green energy. Demy ran down the tunnels, his scythe hanging limply by his side. Sweat drenched his skin, inky streaks stained his cheeks. Poison crawled along the ceiling, an electrical shock at one touch knocked me back.
“He keeps regenerating.” He huffed, leaning on his knees. “We need a new plan.” Catching his breath, the corner of his lip curled into a crooked smirk. Swinging the tip of his scythe into the ball, he knocked me to the icy rock. Energy built up, a wave knocked Poison back into the tunnel. Frightened eyes quivered in the shadows, panic gripping my mind. The black gem whizzed over my head, Demy catching it. Tossing it back to me, flames roared to life on my palm. The glistening surface cracked, shrill shrieks threatened to burst my eardrums. Poison charged at us, cracks lining his smooth skin. A devilish grin lit up my face, the gem shattering into pieces with a single squeeze of my palm. The dimension quaked violently, a sharp bang sent blood and guts raining over us. Groaning bitterly, neither of us were pleased to be wearing guts. The dimensions faded to the cemetery, the families all resting in confusion. Tossing him his head back, Demy spun it in his palm. Demy tossed his hat up in the air, his scythe and pets all flying back in. Dumping out a steaming pile of guts, an agitated snarl twitched on his lips. Snapping his fingers, the poor families disappeared. Confusion dawned on my face, so many questions rested on the tip of my tongue.
“Where did they all go?” I stammered nervously, sweeping a couple of organs off of my shoulder. “Are they going to be safe?” Crouching down to my level, he attempted to wipe the blood off of my cheek. Kissing my forehead, his strong arms pulled me in for a desperate embrace.
“They were sent back to their beds. What they experienced will simply seem like a nightmare.” He explained calmly, his trembling body showing how scared he was for me. “I thought I lost you. Thank goodness you are okay.” A sharp clear of a throat captured our attention, Riot sauntering up to us. A simple wave of his hand knocked Demy into the wall of the nearby mausoleum. His other hand reached for me, my hand slapping it away. Demy lay limply at the base of the wall, the wet grass tickling his face.
“What are the odds that your great grandmother was my worst enemy?” He mused playfully, the ground cracking underneath his iridescent snake boots. “Apparently, I messed with the wrong broad “ Jumping to my feet, my staff shrank back to its original form. My power flickered out, wicked laughter rumbled in his throat. His fist swung towards my face, my palm catching the punch. Silent tears stained my cheeks, my hand shattering. Kicking his chest, a tree crashed down upon his impact. His strength tripled mine, the chances of survival dwindling. His body smashed into mine, most of my bones creaking with protest. Kicking him off of me, he flew up into the sky. The bones in my hand clicked back into place, my fist slamming into his jaw. Sending him back into the air, the heel of his boot shattered my jaw. Curling my fingers around his ankle, the ground splitting the moment I threw him down. Clicking my jaw back into place, Demy stirred awake. A swift yank ripped down to his level, the back of his arm clutching the small of my waist. Fright widened my eyes, my porcelain skin beginning to decay. Immense pain jolted my body, ungodly screams escaping my lips.
“I see my daughter’s strength is impeccable but you can still decay away like the rest of us.” He taunted cruelly, my tears soaking his light green velvet suit. “Prepare for your fin-” A bullet whizzed by our heads, a fuming Demy peeled me off of him. Kicking him in the face repeatedly, he held me close to his hips. Bending over, he picked him up by his collar.
“What’s your fucking problem!” He roared thunderously, my father poking his finger together. “What kind of a father beats his daughter! She came back into your life and you want to kill her. Are you sure you didn’t just want to kill her mother? Now that I can understand.” An apologetic smile dimmed his features, glowing symbols lined every inch of his skin.
“I am under a curse for a few murders I committed in the real world in the middle ages. Unfortunately, my master refuses to let me go. Yes, I am the king of the demons or his demons but seriously I am over this.” He spewed faster than I could register all of his words, my mind racing through the myriad of options. “I need the blood of my first born to alleviate the rest of my damn curse. I used to have more symbols on my skin. I will admit to letting that banshee possess your mother. Let’s just say she was a waste of space.” Squirming out of Demy’s arms, I offered my arm to him.
“Shut up and bite it.” I urged kindly, Demy taking a step back. “Then I want you to take on my curse so you can’t kill me. All I have to do is drink yours and the curse I bestow upon you what can’t be undone. Are you willing to take that on? Are you willing to atone upon your sins and kill your boss, the true king of demons?” Defiance burned in his eyes, my other hand cupping his arm.
“I, Scarlet Everton the Sparrow, curse you to a life of servitude.” I chanted confidently, hovering my fangs over his arm. “Now take a bite if you agree to take it on and live a life of freedom! Freedom will be yours if you kill him for me. The terms aren’t that difficult. Hell, I will even make you a king of sorts.” Malice glinted in my eyes, his fangs hovering over my arm.
“Wait a minute!” He barked bitterly, ripping his arm away. “I am fine as I a-” Pinning him down, he struggled under my swelling strength. Banging his head against the ground repeatedly, fury boiled in my veins. Blood soaked his hair, his claws dug into my arm. What the hell was he fucking doing?
“You aren’t fine!” I reprimanded him venomously, letting his head crash back down. “I am offering you a path into the light and a chance to have a relationship with me. What could go wrong?” Flashing him a bright grin, his claws retracted. Pulling my arm close to his fangs, his arm hovered in front of my fangs. Sinking our fangs into each other’s arms, the symbols burned away. The rotten taste of his blood poisoned my taste buds, both of us struggling to swallow our gulps. A swallow flew onto his neck, the inky image settling on his shoulder. Releasing each other from our bites, the union had been formed. Animals stopped singing their nightly ballads, the stillness frightening us all. Our faces paled, a cloaked figure emerged from the shadows. The onyx version of my staff rested in his palm, the silver bat glistening in the moonlight. Tiny bats fluttered around him, ruby eyes glowed underneath his torn hood. Storm clouds thundered to life, lightning bathing the scene in a bright white light. Heavy raindrops crashed to the tops of our head, my hair soon sticking to the sides of my face. A golden glow bathed my staff, the ominous figure marching towards us. His ash gray robes fluttered in the breeze, my death glare falling on my quivering father.
“Riot, it’s time to repay your debt.” A deep voice thundered, a row of blood stained fangs greeting me. “You must be the wee little swallow I keep hearing about. You could join my team and take over the world. However, swallows always tend to want to fly free.” Riot stirred underneath me, his pleading eyes begging for me to stop as I leapt to my feet. Raising my staff in the attack position, my silver waves blew behind me.
“I can’t have you hurting my father. He may be a dick but I think we can fix things.” I proclaimed proudly, wicked laughter bursting from my lips. “Family is something to be cherished. There is one clear difference between us. The swallow gets to see the sun while you must hide in the shadows. Tell me how it feels to not have anything to live for.” Circling him, his fingers curled around the center of his staff. A metallic clang matched the next bolt of lighting, two straight silver blades glinted menacingly. A flurry of feathers swirled around me, my shaft shifting into dual scythes. Charging at me, our blades clashed violently. Leaping into the air, his blade catching my foot. Demy cried out, another simple wave sending him back. Using the angle to my advantage, my wrists flicked the scythes in the other direction. Pushing off of his back, a single swing sliced off his arms. Jumping off the mausoleum, dismay dimmed my eyes at the sight of his arms growing back. A bolt of lightning captured my attention, both of his swords whistled in my direction. A strangled gasp tumbled from my lips, one of his blades quivered in my stomach. A steady stream of curse words rang out, my trembling hands ripping it out. The damn blade burnt the surface of my palm, the black smoke curling into the sky. Tossing it to the side, my body crashed into a tight ball. An inky pool spread underneath me, copper poisoned my taste buds. Coughing up an unnatural amount of blood, my quivering fingers gripped my scythes’ handles. Struggling to my feet, tears stained my cheeks. Wiping them away, warm intestines struggled to stay in place. Dropping my scythe’s, both of my hands held it all in. Damn it! This hurt like hell. The corner of my lips curled into a snarl, a river of inky blackness cascaded through my fingers. Crawling over to a black iron nail resting in the ground, Demy stirred awake. Tossing it up into the air, Riot skidded past us. Kicking the nail into the sea of grass, a blast of energy shot me up in the air as the hooded figure snapped his fingers. Holding in my innards, every part of my body ached with every roll down the hill. Rolling into the nearest head stone, panic gripped my face. Demy rushed over, his voice fading in and out.
“Little swallow, you need to hang on.” He begged through a wall of tears, my old man shoving him out of the way. Cutting his palm, his blood poured into my wound. Taking a deep breath, his lips moved a mile a minute. The wound sealed shut, only a faint scar remaining. Shock rounded his eyes at my warm embrace, his arms hanging limply by his side. Shock changed to confusion, his mind seeming to be officially broken.
“I tried to kill you, yet you still stand up for me?” He stammered nervously, shoving me off. “I have been nothing but a dick to you. I murdered your mother and I still don’t care.” Shrugging my shoulders, a bright smile spread cheek to cheek. Struggling to find the words, he needed to have his second chance at life.
“Look at it from my perspective. I have a parent again. We can work out all of the kinks. I have to believe you can’t be that bad. You did just save me after all.” I assured him calmly, his nerves fraying further. “I am going to repeat this to you. I love you. So let’s cause a riot together.” Strands of his hair fell in front of his face, his clawed hand reaching for me. Cupping his hand, Demy rolled his eyes.
“You want to cause a riot with me?” He asked with a nervous grin, rubbing the back of his neck. “I have never heard anyone say that to me. You do know that I murdered a shit ton of people, right? I was a knight to a corrupt king, and killed without any remorse. I kept telling myself it was just an order. So many people died because of me.” Grasping his shoulder, my sins rolled off of my tongue.
“Forgive me father for I have sinned. I was an assassin before this and a damn good one. I think I was a little too good at it.” I admitted sheepishly, his expression softening. “I killed thousands of men but never the women and children. I set them up with my salary. Apparently you didn’t do the same but you can start saving people. I will have to smooth things over with the ghosts. Perhaps I can burn their favorite scents to please them or put on a show that they like. Their taste is something else.” Demy rolled his eyes, my old man hugging me awkwardly. Scarlet colored his cheeks, the embarrassment was simply adorable. Wrapping my arms around his shoulders, a small smile twitched on his lips.
“Don’t break yourself by trying to smile. We can work up to that too.” I teased lightly, letting him go. “Let’s go home.” Jumping to my feet, my hand hovered in front of his face. Accepting it cautiously, one yank brought him to his feet. Hooking my elbow in his, Demy tossed me my staff. Blowing him a kiss, Demy winked back at me. Smiling gently to myself, a new part of my journey was about to begin.

Now, they can’t see what happens, since their vision is too limited, but we can follow without a moment lost. So let’s dive down deep inside as we hasten after the rescued spirit while it enters the hollow shell. There are many layers we must bypass to reach our destination, so stick close and try not to get lost.
​
The Silent Man finds himself smack in the middle of a strange forest, with every tree looking exactly the same. He looks every which way, but there’s no indication of anything other than an endless expanse of identical trees. He has just enough light, from an unknown source, that he can see within a close proximity.
​
A shadow breaks in the immediate vicinity just ahead and weaves its way through the trees as it draws near. The figure dashes about giggling all the while as the sound it makes echoes throughout the forest. It stops a short distance away, but close enough that its visage can clearly be seen, revealing itself to be a boy.
​
“Come on,” the youth calls out, as he gestures and wanders back into the shadow.
​
The Silent Man follows at a slow pace as the boy appears and disappears randomly, but continues in the same forward journey. A nuisance to be sure, but not enough to deter his progress which is slow yet deliberate. It’s during this progression that he is bombarded with a voice that flies upon the wind and runs along his ear.
​
“Boy. My boy. My little boy,” it says over and over, the words drumming in the man’s head. “My little Timothy.”
​
The Silent Man does all he can to block the voices which includes focusing on the task at hand as he breaks free of the trees and finds himself in a graveyard. Each grave is marked with them same two names, Samuel and Mary Anne. The boy once again continues to appear as he beckons the man to follow.
​
Again there are voices on the wind. “Bury the dead. Keep them from coming back,” they continue to drum upon every nerve he possesses.
​
The Silent Man pushes on, shaking the sounds as best he can while he carries on through a dark recess. Once the light returns he finds himself staring down a long hallway with high walls surrounding him and bars on either side. Still the boy appears, still calling while running between the bars as though they were not there.
​
There are more voices on the wind. “Keep away. Bury the past,” they hammer away as they chip at his very sanity, but he will not let them drive him mad.
​
The Silent Man comes to a door at the end of the hall and places his hand to the latch. He opens it and the room disappears as though someone just pulled it away. Now there’s a world surrounded by an impenetrable black that pours over every inch and smack in the middle is a very familiar cabin which he enters and finds the boy inside.
​
“Time to accept who you are,” the youth speaks as he opens wide his arms, ready to accept the man who has just entered.
​
The Silent Man draws near with his slow, deliberate steps that not even the floor acknowledges. He looks to the boy as he takes hold of an object that is propped against the wall. Slowly, he crosses the floor and stands before the youth, who smiles as he beams into the man’s face. This is it, the meeting of two identities.
​
All at once, a look of shock spreads across the boy’s face as his head rolls off his shoulders and hits the floor. His body follows closely behind as it collapses. The Silent Man holds the sword which he had retrieved from the wall. He stares down at the lifeless body with a cold indifference. The boy has been dispatched. The voices have stopped. The dream is over. The Silent man awakes.

First/Prev
The first explosion came an hour before dawn.
It was the right time for an attack; everybody knew that. The guards are tired, most people are asleep, and those who hear something suspicious but aren't close enough to know it's an attack will find any excuse for a few more minutes' sleep. The attackers are wired up and ready, their eyes used to the dark, while anyone who was sitting around the fire will be night-blind.
This was common wisdom to the San, something they assumed everybody knew, but it may well have been thousands of years since the Sovereign Residence on Noepe saw attack. Those who saw the explosion still didn't see the attack—that had begun half an hour before.
Three groups had crept carefully through the grounds, taking advantage of the cover. A few irritating sling stones from a building across the plaza had gotten the larger animals up and roaring, batting at the bars of their cages to call attention and cover sounds, and from the sides the groups came in.
Showers of spears and slingstones took care of the guards, slingstones dealt with the sensors, and the San flowed over the wall as silently as they could manage. The guards were alert as they could be, but the San and the Kel both had hunted the forests and the mountains of home, hunted among hyenas and lions and wolves that hunted back, hunted the chamois and the ibex that could hear a misplaced foot with ease.
By the time a volley of laser fire dealt with the gate guards and knocked many off the walls, the invasion was already well under way and the guards knew it. Two of the groups—about three dozen each, one lead by Logog and one by Barab, circled the grounds, with slingers breaking every sensor they could find. A massive sortie from the building itself flowed into the courtyard, and after a single volley of spears the attackers retreated. Given the chance they might have been able to ambush the defenders, but there were too many, and they were not foolish. They kept their ranks together, rifles ready, and when a spear flew from the dark a dozen rifles centered on its source and three dozen more peppered laser fire all around it. The costs were heavy, especially since they brought no dogs. As lights came on they went out again, smashed by stones, but when the sun came up in the West the warriors retreated, four groups of thirty slipping back over the walls as other soldiers rushed to man them, getting clear before the air vehicles could get overhead and spot them. Explosions rocked the air, and other eggs fell inside the walls and short of them, spewing smoke and chaff.
At the walls, the battle did not go well. Some dozen of the San were killed and three or four times that many wounded, and aside from those picked off the walls the defenders suffered nothing. The gate guards were not all killed, and they managed to close the gate well before the San could run the gauntlet of plasma bolters and Klokin guns to reach it. The shields protecting the walls held up easily under barrages of exploding eggs, and before long the San retreated, then scattered, fleeing a thousand different directions into a thousand different areas of the city. Three or four dozen were seen immediately after in bars or restaurants, but the rest were quietly moving North, out of the city by a hundred different methods. Some even took trains back to Shangshen, where they could pick up the vehicles just in case.
Nobody really noticed the two dozen men and women who found their way in through a maintenance door.
The soldiers weren't truly so careless as to leave one open. The poor maintenance worker who opened it for them was now soundly tied and gagged. Higa had wanted to leave the woman there, but Mogan had let her see his spare knife, set it on one side of the storage room, and then carried her gently to the other side. She would be able to wiggle back to his knife and cut herself loose, but by the time she did they would be finished and dead or finished and gone.
Half of them brought pistols, including Mogan, but hoped not to use them. The 'pop' of expanding steam and burning impurities would be an instant giveaway that something was wrong, much less the sound of whatever a laser hit, and so they each walked with a spear nocked, eyes constantly moving.
Ellisan used her wristpad to map where they had been, but that didn't precisely tell them where they were going, and the moved slowly.
“Use your noses,” Mogan whispered. “This is a luxury place, yes?”
The walls were testament to that, covered in precious metals, beautiful woods and stones, with paintings and decorations. It seemed each room had a floor in a different style of wood or stone, and soft light kept everything illuminated.
“If we find where the food is cooked, where she eats it won't be far. They won't risk the food getting cool or warm from distance, right? Food and cleaning chemicals.”
It wasn't a bad idea, but that wasn't how they found the Governess. Two guards came around a corner, and whipped up their rifles, but it was too late. One of them managed an ineffectual shot into the floor before four spears hit him; the other didn't even get that before four slammed through him.
Even so, one shot was more noise than they wanted, and everybody froze, listening. Ellisan's eyes brightened, and she whispered.
“Wind.”
Nobody spoke—perhaps straining to hear it themselves, perhaps waiting for her to explain.
“I hear it—wind going through... not branches—columns or rails, I guess.”
Mogan nodded. “Balconies.”
“Someplace you could look out at all your subjects,” Higa agreed.
“Maybe,” Mogan said, but it was all they had, and so they decided on going up. Someone suggested that after the attack Governess Shenya would be buried somewhere, in the most fortified part of the building, but Mogan knew better. They were rabble—anybody who didn't have a higher station than her was—and Shenya would not move for rabble, no matter the wisdom or necessity.
From what they could see the building was six stories high—presumably if they found stairs or a ramp it would go all the way up, but they had to find it first, and so they got moving again.
When they finally found the stairs, they found the second story even more opulent than the first. Mogan was certain that the walls of entire rooms were coated in precious metals, and one window big enough for him to stand up in was filled not with glass but entirely with gemstones.
It seemed that the second floor was better guarded, but Mogan presumed that there just weren't as many maintenance areas that didn't need so many guards. Whatever the reason or the implications, one guard managed a shout before whistling spears silenced him, and three more guards sprinted down the hallway into an ambush. It was more luck than they had a right to, and Mogan couldn't help thinking it could not last forever. He was right.
After the next three guards were downed and their rifles appropriated, there were a few tense moments of silence. The bodies downstairs had been stashed behind furniture, but there was no time to properly hide them, nor to clean up the bloodstains, and they couldn't go much longer before they were found. Worse, they didn't see any visual devices but had no idea what might be seeing them.
The San advanced, appropriating the guards' rifles as they searched for another stairway leading upwards. They snuck past walls entirely lined with exotic furs, displays of animal teeth and walls made of thin strips of tusk, others coated with material that looked like the inside of a clamshell. They saw no other guards, and Mogan found himself shaking his head. It made no sense.
And then, quite suddenly, it made perfect sense. Two walls slid almost instantly into the ceiling, revealing two dozen men and women with leveled laser rifles on each side. The officer, blue uniform decorated with gold braid and pistol in hand, smiled widely.
“You were looking for the governess, yes? Well, put down your weapons and we'll take you to her!”
The pistol leveled at Mogan's head. “Now, please.”
Two dozen warriors of the San walked up the staircase. They were disarmed and surrounded, but couldn't help feeling slightly amused. Walking up four flights of stairs had barely changed their breathing, while the Sylfa guarding them needed to catch their breath.
Mogan had muttered to them to keep quiet, and to wait for his signal. He suspected that a few of them had managed to hide weapons, even if just a knife or two, and now was not the time for them. If he remembered Shenya rightly, they were indeed being taken to her. There were few things that Shenya did well, but she knew how to hate. That, she was quite good at, and from what Mogan had seen here on Noepe the years had not brought her kindness. He would just have to hope they hadn't brought her wisdom either.
Mogan walked a little ahead, keeping the pace up, as they walked past yet more disgusting opulence. Holos coated these walls, and between them occasional sculptures of actual paintings. There was no rhythm to what would be next, and Mogan realized that the sculptures and paintings had been made when holos were still available,simply to use the style. Nonetheless, the story they told was impressive.
The first showed Noepe as it doubtless was when first discovered, with desert and thin forest, and heavy ice-caps. There was not as much ice on Noepe as he had seen in the orbit of his home planet, but quite a bit more than there was currently.
Various works showed the efforts taken to change the planet. Machines were set to deliberately warm the air, causing the ice to retreat as resorts were built at the oceans. When the water began to rise, ships simply carried it off planet. Soil was treated where plains were wanted so that forests could not grow, water pumped into the deserts, the thinner trees replaced with others from different planets.
The first governor—or perhaps the Sovereign at the time--was represented in different styles, gesturing imperiously as forests were cleared simply to replant them. There were hunts, then massive hunts where soldiers shot animals by the hundreds and left them to rot, before other creatures were introduced. Machines were made to scour the seas for dangerous fish or those that interfered with the best sport.
The poachers were represented as well, ragged and dirty men and women dragging down noble-looking creatures and tearing at them. One rather well-painted hanging depicted a battle, where men and women charged, brandishing their own fingernails, at phalanxes of disciplined gunners. The painting was ancient, quite possibly older than anything in the Moon Lake cave, but clearly Shenya's treatment of those who would kill the game reserved to the Sovereign was not entirely unique.
More opulent hunts followed, at least one of which featured a hunter, likely the Sovereign himself, at the aiming reticule of a plasma bolter, killing beasts that looked like those Mogan had seen on New Klon but twice as large.
There were two rebellions and three revolts featured in these murals. In each, the rebels were dirty and ragged, and when warfare was depicted it was always ragged mobs of rebels versus disciplined blocks of Sylfa. Even those in the trees were somehow all side-by-side in neat rows. The only time the enemies of the Sovereignty appeared in neat rows was in executions, and there were many of those.
They also, he noticed, had no Sylfa. Most of the poachers he had met were Sylfa, but all of the poachers, the rebels, and the revolters were entirely Anthata, Shawing, Mantu, and some of the other more common species.
There was little or no time to observe details, as the small group swept up the wide hallways into a spacious room. There were six columns, but Mogan suspected they were less from necessity and more to give the room the open-forest feel popular among Sylfa. The ceiling was high enough that a Mantu probably could not touch it, and they were greeted by the sound of a shoshir sliding from its scabbard.
Mogan knew the sound. For that matter, he knew the shoshir. He knew the woman as well.
The years may not have granted Shenya El' Esh wisdom or kindness, but they had certainly granted her beauty. She had been a stunning young woman when he saw her before, some sixteen years ago, but she had grown, rounded in all the right places. Sylfa tended to be thinner than humans, and she still was—except for her chest, where surgery had been involved—but the curves were undeniable. He heard more than one of those behind him gasp.
“I am going to kill each and every one of you.” She pointed the shoshir at Mogan. The L-shaped handle fit the two hands on her right side easily, and it didn't tremble. Mogan knew the blade well. Long ago, he had taken it from the assassin Fhlynn and had it given to her, but she had hated him before that. She had held him in contempt from the first moment she saw him, but when Fhlynn said something mocking and pointed at him, she had turned to look. Mogan had seen the man's other hands, one covering her drink from her view, the other pouring something from a small vial into it. She had likely hated him from the moment he knocked over the drink, spilling it across the table and her clothes.
“Surely you've had time to replace that dress by now, Shenya.”
“It's not about the dress, Mogan. It's not even about Ellisan, although you know she's illegal. And the one with the scar on his chin and the burn over his eye, that must be Higa—I just might send your head back to Burjit.”
She smirked as they stared. Ellisan mouthed a word, a name, but Mogan put it aside. That was something he didn't want to deal with at the moment.”
“You know I was saving your life that day.”
“Don't lie to me, Mogan. It's really not a good look for your last moments.”
“Fhlynn was an assassin, Ellisan. That's why he came here after me. He chased us a long way and we got away from him, and then I chased him, and he didn't do so well.”
“Enough of that!” Her beautiful lips twisted in a snarl. “Where is Shett?”
“Yil Shett? I don't know, but I'd like to see him again.”
“I told you not to lie to me, animal. I know that traitor has had it in for me, and ever since he defected I've been plagued with one problem after another! I want to know where he is, so I can send him the holos. He humiliated me when he had the power and I didn't, but that's not how it is anymore!”
“What did he do, Shenya, turn you down? I thought your hips had a little extra wiggle in them when you brought his drink.....”
That had been sixteen years ago, and he truly did suspect it, but he didn't expect it to hit a nerve so well. Shenya stabbed the end of the shoshir into the floor, probably damaging something priceless while she was at it.
“How dare you!? Do you not understand your life is in my hands!? I control the Sovereignty—me! I would let you escape, just so I could watch billions of soldiers hunt you down, if I didn't want the pleasure of killing you myself.”
A tiny bit of spittle flew from her mouth as she shouted, and her face had turned a shade of dark blue that was a little bit alarming.
“I have the power now! Me! You took my man away from me, but now you're in my hands, and I'm going to take everything away from you, including that half-animal!”
Mogan's hands tightened as if he could feel her throat in them, but with a great effort he kept his voice calm. “Your man was weak, Shenya. Do you think you're the Sovereign himself?”
“Even better!” Mogan was pretty sure he saw the shoshir sink a little into the floor as she leaned on it. “Fhlynn wasn't good enough for what I wanted, but the Sovereign is! And he does what I say! When I say you're an enemy of the entire Sovereignty, it happens!”
All four hands rested on the hilt and she leaned forward. It was nice for the view, but every muscle was tense as she snarled. “I spoke, and I leaned against his arm, and I had all the information about you that anybody knew. I spoke, and I just trailed my hands across his shoulders, and Shirfa was named a hero of the Sovereignty! I spoke, and I wiggled my ass in some stupid lacy thing he likes, and the reports naming your species non-sapient were given the Sovereign seal of approval—disputing a single word of it used to mean pissing off a Yil, but now it's an instant death sentence to even look for evidence against it--all the efforts of those idiots Hyeshi and Schlo trying to change it were wasted!”
Mogan grunted, but she was grinning now. At least, her mouth formed a parody of a smile, while her eyes burned with hate. “I want you to know it before you die, Mogan! I made it happen! I spoke, and I touched him, and no university in the Sovereignty would publish from either of them! I spoke, and I put my mouth on him, and your whore was abandoned on some worthless wilderness planet that won't see another sapient being for another hundred---”
She was already screaming, or almost, but now her scream turned into something shocked and stuttering as Mogan extended his left hand.
Some of the warriors of the San had seen him do this once before. They had believed that he commanded lightning itself, and it had helped to cement his reputation as one blessed by the spirits. Now they knew that the hand was mechanical, and they could assume that the bolt of electricity that shot from it was also mechanical, but it was no less impressive.
The Animal Person that he had struck nearly a decade ago had literally flown several yards back. One of the assassins here on Noepe, some sixteen years ago, had been knocked down. Shenya didn't, perhaps because the sword stabbed into the floor was an anchor. All four hands clamped down on the handle and electricity crackled and sparked all along the long, flowing blade of gold-titanium alloy as she convulsed, smoke rising from her hands and from her face as her hair smoked, and then a moment later she did leave the ground, landing in a heap some three or four meters away.
An ugly death, but an excellent signal. There was a beep that Mogan recognized, and then Higa threw one of Burjit's eggs. Two others had managed to hide knives before they were seen—and the rest had to go unarmed.
They were not defenseless in this. Everyone wrestled as a youngster, learning how to manage their weight and the weight of another, and while matches weren't supposed to cause harm beyond an occasional bruise, it was easy to tell how things could be worse.
In truth, the Sylfa had it easier than some others. One man simply grabbed a soldier by the waist, lifted him off his feet, and dropped him. Against a human, this was a good way to break a hip or back and perhaps start a blood feud, but the Sylfa simply didn't fall. It made sense that a species conditioned for climbing couldn't simply be dropped and instead held easily to his attacker, but the man was shot twice before he could react. He fell forward, whether by design in his last moments or by lucky accident, pinning the thinner Sylfa beneath his corpse.
Another threw a Sylfa with a rolling hiplock, and a third stomped on the soldier's head as he landed, while a fourth grabbed his rifle.
Higa's explosive went off. Mogan didn't know whether he'd intended to be sure of Shenya or not, but he could see her body twitch as shrapnel struck it, and half a dozen soldiers fell.
Mogan himself was never truly unarmed. Another bolt of electricity struck a soldier who was trying to take aim, and then he slammed a fist harder than steel into a blue-green face. Blood flowed as the guard staggered back, his face a cratered ruin, and then lasers flew as Ellisan grabbed the man's rifle and fired it as fast as she could. Not every shot hit, not even most, but some did.
But Ellisan wasn't the only one firing. As skilled as the San might have been, they were outnumbered two to one, and they were unarmed, and nobody fights a battle like that without taking losses. Half a dozen men fell in the first few seconds, and perhaps half-again that many of the soldiers, while the others sought cover behind couches and overturned tables.
“Cover!” Higa threw one more egg, then found something to duck behind himself. Alarms began to sound, and he made two hand gestures, hunting signals that were often used so that they wouldn't alert game. One indicated he was out of ammunition, another that they needed to pull back. Lasers flashed back and forth as the San backed up with stolen rifles, and Ellisan, bless her, managed to grab one of the bags that had held their own confiscated weapons.
When they reached the doors and took stock, the results of their battle weren't pretty. Everyone was wounded to some degree, and of the twenty-five people who went into that room only eleven made it out. It was a note of sick humor that at least now the bag Ellisan had grabbed had enough weapons for everyone.
“We're not going to fight our way down, Mogan.” Higa panted, holding his side. He hissed as Mogan sprayed in the sealant. “This was a good day, my friend.”
“And it's not done yet. We're not going down. There will be flyers on the roof, and Ellisan can fly anything.”
Ellisan was trying not to scream, holding the cauterized stump where her lower left hand once was. “And then where?”
“....I don't know.”

To tide you over until the next major release, and to push forward some new content and fixes we’ve been holding onto for the last month or so, we are happy to present the latest patch for Kaiserreich!

• The KR4 team

Changes
Notable Additions

• All Chinese splinters now start with a unique “Unequal Treaties” trade law that transfers a given proportion of the civilian factories to the Legation Cities, and increases the amount of goods given to the market. The law cannot be removed unless Shanghai is controlled by a Chinese regime.
• Implemented the new occupation coring system for American Civil War participants, Austria, Brazil, Central America, Central Asia, Denmark, Finland, the Commune of France, Germany and its splinters, Greece, Hungary, India, Iraq, Italy, Lithuania, Persia, Poland, Russia, Scandinavia, South Africa, Syria, Transamur, Ukraine and White Ruthenia.
• Added notifications for when a new territory becomes a core.
• Indian splinter states now have significantly altered starting territory, and have had their starting national spirits, army compositions, equipment and industry modified accordingly. This was done largely to solve the frequent stalemating wars that occur currently.
• Extensive conscription can now once again be enacted in peacetime if the country has more than 50% War Support.
• Massively improved the AI’s design of plane templates and their production priorities.

Reworked/Expanded Focus Trees

• Paraguay - foreign policy tree

Tweaked Focus Trees

• Germany - added an artillery tech bonus focus

New Events

• Added events to Argentina and Patagonia’s neighbours, forewarning them on the impending war.
• Added a flavour event for Armenia’s socialists.
• Added an event for Cyrenaica about the fall of the French Republic in Africa.
• Added an event for the Commune of France, informing them if Konstanty Rokossowski leaves his exile to go back to Poland.
• Added a new event chain involving the “Copenhagen Conference” between Germany and the Internationale, which can decrease heightened world tensions before mid-1939.
• Added multiple new flavour events for Latvia.
• Added an event for Federalist Liangguang and Sichuan informing them of Federalist-aligned Yunnan being annexed into them.
• Added events to Haiti’s benefactors informing them of Haiti’s alignment.
• Added several events to Paraguay relating to their new content.
• Added an event to post-unification Shanxi, about pardoning its political rivals.
• Added events for United Party-led South Africa, where after JBM Hertzog passes away, the party can choose one of three new potential leaders as his successor. This choice will determine their ideology and subsequent elections.

New Decisions

• Added fortification decisions to White Ruthenia

New Custom Country Paths

• Added custom difficulty settings for the Netherlands / Dutch East Indies and Insulindia.
• Jabal Shammar (revised existing paths)
• Pacific States of America (elections)
• South Africa (updated for new content)

GFX

• New portraits
  • Albania: Hermann Kirchner, Stefan Maliko Gogës
  • Anqing: Ma Dengying
  • Argentina: Pedro Eugenio Aramburu, Isaac Rojas
  • Bolivia: José Antonio Arze y Arze
  • Union of Britain: Reginald Drax, Percy Hobart, Rajani Palme Dutt
  • Cuba: Clemente Vázquez Bello
  • Dahomey: Hubert Maga
  • Egypt: Shuhdi Atiya ash-Shafi, Hassan al-Banna, Mohamed Mahmoud Pasha, Salama Moussa, Mostafa el-Nahhas, Mahmoud Shokry
  • Commune of France: Maurice Gamelin, André Marty, Pierre Monatte
  • Georgia: Aleksandre Dgebuadze
  • Germany: Wilhelm IV
  • Hungary: Zoltán Tildy
  • Italian Republic: Italo Gariboldi
  • Jabal Shammar: Saūd bin Abd al-Azīz
  • Liangguang: Jiang Guangnai, Chen Qiyou
  • Qing: Zhang Qihuang
  • Siam: Chumbhotbongs Paribatra, Rama VIII
  • South Africa: Isaac Pierre de Villiers
  • Sweden: Carl August Ehrensvärd
  • Tibet: Tsipön Lungshar, Trimön
  • Yemen: Yahya al Hamid
  • Yucatan: Manuel Gómez Morin
• Tweaked portraits
  • Combined Syndicates of America: Smedley Butler (changed to marine uniform)
• New advisor portraits
  • Bhutan: Tashi Namgyal
  • South Africa: Henry Gluckman
• Added some new generic American, Arab, Danubian and German general portraits.
• Added new flags for the Far Eastern Republic and republican Prussia.
• Adjusted the flags for Bembaland and Barotseland.
• Standardised several different versions of the Union Jack and associated flags that are used in the mod.
• Fixed Socialist Poland using the older version of its medium and small flags.
• Updated the icons that are available for all countries during airframe and tank variant creation.
• Updated the tank technology icons of many countries, for players who do not own the “No Step Back” DLC. This includes icons for participants in the American Civil War, Benelux countries, Eastern Europe, the Commune of France, the French Republic, Italian splinters, Russia, and South America. These icons are also reused by tank icon pools for owners of the DLC.
• Updated the armour names used by many countries. Most notably this adds names for flamethrower and amphibious tanks, as well as self-propelled armour variants.
• Implemented custom icons for "By Blood Alone" airframes for Fengtian, Georgia, New England, the Nordic Federation, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Ukraine.
• Updated the pause menu link icons.
• Adjusted the airframe icons for American Civil War, Italian splinters and Sweden participants.
• Added a new national spirit icon for the Left Kuomintang.
• Added a new national focus icon for Mittelafrika.
• Implemented tank blueprint images from vanilla and the “Expanded Tank Designer” mod by Issaac411 and Freezer.
• Fixed the generic amphibious tank, super-heavy tank or modern tank chassis having no icon.
• Removed terrain art throughout the mod. This fixes several issues with overlaying state modifiers and weather effects, which now display correctly as in vanilla.
• Added two new loading screens from Kaiser Cat Cinema.
• Tweaked the colouring on an old loading screen.

Music Mod

• Added “Mein Kleiner Grüner Kaktus (My Small Green Cactus)” for Germany.
• Songs associated with the Kuomintang will now play for all Kuomintang-led Chinese splinters, and not just the Fujian-originating Left Kuomintang.
• “Defend the Yellow River” will now play for any Chinese splinter that is being attacked by an outside great power.
• Added “Flag Anthem” for Kuomintang-led Chinese splinters.
• Added “When We Were at War” for Russia.
• Reduced the chances of German songs playing for non-German puppets, allowing their respective song lists to play more often.

Modelling Mod

• Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay now use German armour models.
• Bukhara now uses Farsi voiceover.
• Patagonia and Chile now use French armour models.

Mapping

• Improved the supply situation in Brazil.
• Tweaked the provinces in Bukhara.
• Reconfigured the states in Cameroon and Namibia, adding three new states.
• Removed the impassable terrain in the Caucasus.
• Added a rail connection to Dunkirk.
• Redrew several Ethiopian and Somalian provinces.
• Merged the Galician airzone into Poland.
• Changed the placement of Georgia’s airfields from the frontline.
• Tweaked the borders of several provinces in Greece and in states potentially owned by Greece.
• Redrew several Indian provinces.
• Split the Indian Himalayas and Kashmir into their own strategic region.
• Added several Victory Points to Italy, and rebalanced others.
• Split the “Mali” state north-south into “Bamako” and “Timbuktu”.
• Renamed several Namibian states and their German endonyms.
• Improved the path of the Nanjing-Shanghai railway.
• Updated Persia’s railways.
• Split the Persian airzone into three.
• Tweaked the location of Russia’s “Salsk” victory point.
• Added supply depot to the Western Caucasus.
• Buffed Russia’s starting railways and supply.
• Fixed renname for Russia's Yuzivka
• Fixed the positions of several South American Victory Points.
• Nerfed the infrastructure in southern Sweden.
• Nerfed the starting infrastructure in Western Ukraine.
• Renamed the “California” strategic region to “Sierra Nevada”.
• Renamed the “Texas” strategic region to “Gulf Coast”.
• Renamed “Coastal Zambezia” to “Moçambique”.
• Re-added “Hobyo” as a Victory Point to Somalia.
• Added a crossing to the Isthmus of Perekop in Ukraine.
• Added more provinces and Victory Points to Yemen.

Other Changes

• North America
  • American Civil War factions now only spawn after the player has chosen whether to play as one of them or not.
  • Pardoned army leaders after the American Civil War are now demoted to generals upon being moved.
  • Added unique text the events where a reunited American Civil War participant seeks to join another faction, taking the faction and its leader into account.
  • Countries will now allow an allied reunited America to take all available land in the Americas in peace conferences.
  • The United States no longer start in Undisturbed Isolation.
  • The Combined Syndicates’ general Smedley Butler got his Marines uniform back from the dry cleaners.
  • Added a starting armoured division template to Mexico.
  • Removed the middle names of two Quebecois leaders.
  • Fixed bugged name for "Georgia Volunteer Infantry" and "Louisana Volutneer Infantry" for USA
• Central America & the Caribbean
  • Removed the docking rights that Cuba gives to the United States at game start.
  • Added starting production lines to Honduras.
  • Giving Puerto Rico to America now gives a claim, not a core.
• South America
  • Argentina now loses cores on the Falklands if they cede them to Canada.
  • NatPop Argentina can now integrate Tarija.
  • Slightly tweaked the requirements and effects of a few Argentine national foci.
  • Bolivia will now directly intervene in the War in the Southern Cone, instead of taking the Bolivian Chaco and not joining the war. Paraguay is now forced to either cede the entire Chaco region (which the AI will never do), or Bolivia will declare war.
  • Bolivia no longer stops their war with Paraguay if taken over by syndicalists unless Paraguay is also socialist.
  • Increased the options in the “Fate of Arica” annexation mission, allowing Bolivia to claim it, and also for it to be returned to Chile.
  • Bolivia and Peru now can attack Chile if it is at war with Argentina, or the Second Weltkrieg has started. The AI will do this if Chile is losing the war.
  • Improved Brazil’s AI in preparing for war in South America.
  • Added a failsafe to make sure Brazil’s civil war peace events fire on time.
  • Ponta Pora can now only be annexed and integrated by Paraguay and NatPop Argentina.
  • Brazil now has to wait until the Weltkrieg to join a faction, and the AI will now only join a faction once Argentina or Patagonia has.
  • Tweaked the effects and national focus icons of syndicalist Brazil.
  • Brazil can no longer repeat the National Steel Mill (CSN) decisions.
  • Improved Brazil’s air development and tweaked the effects of two aviation national foci.
  • Tweaked Brazil’s army advisors and their traits.
  • Reduced the stability debuffs of several Brazilian events and national spirits, and increased their starting stability.
  • Changed how Brazil deals with Black Monday.
  • Decreased the frequency of NatPop or socialist Brazil.
  • NatPop Brazil can now claim Uruguay.
  • Nerfed Chile’s starting situation and removed their free Early Mobilisation.
  • Chile now gets a core on Tierra del Fuego when Patagonia transfers it.
  • Paraguay’s content has been revisited , with new foreign policy options to attack Argentina, Patagonia, Bolivia and Brazil, avenge the defeat in the War of the Triple Alliance, and either join a major faction or form your own.
  • Rebalanced the effects of several Paraguayan flavour events.
  • Revised the starting traits given to Paraguayan commanders, their starting templates, war support and national spirits.
  • Paraguay now starts with Extensive Conscription.
  • Update the list of characters retired after the Moderates’ victory in Patagonia.
  • Greatly improved Peru’s starting stability.
  • Rebalanced and revised Southern American AI in the leadup to the War in the Southern Cone.
  • Puppeted Venezuela is now released as PatAut by non-socialist American Civil War participants.
• Western & Southern Europe
  • Belgium now starts with a larger army, and different division templates.
  • Puppet Great Britain now gets cores on Ascension Island and Saint Helena upon being released.
  • Removed Sébastien Faure from the mod due to recent historical evidence coming to light of him being an unspeakably vile man whose crimes would destroy his career in the Kaiserreich timeline.
  • The starting leader of the Commune of France is now Pierre Monatte.
  • Added missing descriptions to a few of the Commune of France’s national spirits.
  • Renamed the Commune of France’s “Travailleurs” to the grammatically correct “Travaillistes”.
  • Nerfed the Commune of France’s starting stability and war support.
  • Konstanty Rokossowski is now available as an advisor to the Commune of France if he is exiled there.
  • Added a starting armoured division template to Ireland.
  • Buffed the Socialist Republic of Italy’s starting war support.
  • The Italian Republic can now get five research slots prior to unification.
  • Added a potential faction that can be formed between NatPop Italian Republic and NatPop Romania, allying against Yugoslavia.
  • Nerfed the Kingdom of Two Sicilies starting stability and war support.
  • Changed Portugal’s map colour.
  • The United Kingdom can now be reformed if Canada owns any coastal state in Great Britain with a population of over 1,000,000, rather than several specific states.
  • The United Kingdom now gets claims on its Caribbean colonies upon dissolving the West Indies Federation.
  • The United Kingdom now gets claims on African states ceded by South Africa’s “Smuts Doctrine”.
• Central & Northern Europe
  • Added Engineers technology to Austro-Hungarian constituents.
  • Added a starting armoured division template to Finland.
  • Reconfigured the effects of events and national foci regarding the transfer of Galicia to Poland and Ukraine.
  • Buffed Germany’s starting stability.
  • Added an artillery tech bonus focus to Germany, and improved military tree bonuses.
  • Germany can now invite Austria and Bulgaria into the Reichspakt, even if they are already involved in the Second Weltkrieg.
  • A puppet German monarchy is now led by Wilhelm IV.
  • Germany will now always declare war on a secessionist Ukraine, unless set not to do so in the game rules.
  • Reduced the war support debuff that Germany receives from Black Monday.
  • Updated Wilhelm III’s descriptions.
  • Buffed Germany’s Erich von Manstein to skill level 5.
  • Nerfed Germany’s Erich Raeder to skill level 4.
  • All of Germany’s allies now start in the Kaiser Wilhelm Society, if the DLC is enabled.
  • Germany’s allies can no longer refuse to return territory which they had annexed that goes against the Treaty of Halifax.
  • Germany’s “Quenched Militarism” national spirit now only affects its conscription factor.
  • Rebalanced the priority AI Germany places on managing between France and Russia.
  • Overhauled the options for partitioning Germany.
  • The “Fate of Dalmatia” annexation event now requires releasing Venice first.
  • Swapped Hungary’s SocCon leader from István Bethlen to Zoltán Tildy.
  • Hungary can now be granted Kotor and Rijeka.
  • Nerfed Norway’s surrender limit bonuses.
  • Field Marshals moved to Poland from other countries are now demoted to Generals.
  • Buffed Poland’s Edward Rydz-Śmigły to skill level 3.
  • Poland’s “Dawn of Progress” wargoals are now decisions.
  • Monarchist Poland can now join the Entente if they share the same enemies as the Entente and are no longer in the Reichspakt.
  • Poland’s “Friends in Vienna” national focus now bypasses if Austria no longer exists.
  • Polish SocCons can now complete the “Crossroads of Europe” national focus.
  • Poland finishing its economic restructuring now gives the “Independent Economy” national spirit.
  • Added Poland as a possible country that can host the Pope after he is exiled.
  • Austrian-aligned Poland will now leave the Donau-Adriabund if Austria turns PatAut, and can rejoin the Reichspakt.
  • Reduced the chances for the AI choosing nationalist-boosting options in Poland, and slightly nerfed some of their effects.
  • Having less than zero stability will no longer be a potential trigger for Poland’s syndicalist revolution.
  • Poland can now get access to Irregulars in its army national foci.
  • Increased Poland’s AI weights for completing the industry decisions.
  • Poland uniting with Galicia now requires Galicia’s owner to fully control the states in question.
  • Tweaked the effect of a few PatAut Poland national spirits, and the leader’s trait.
  • Poland can now invite Montenegro in its Intermarium.
  • AI-controlled Poland will now always need an external trigger to its nationalist and socialist revolts.
  • Poland will now also receive Rokossowski back from exile if they are SocDem, Germany is dead, and Poland had never been at war with the Third Internationale.
  • Moved the Polish admiral Jerzy Swirski to Ukraine, renaming him Yurii Svirskyi.
  • Scandinavia can now claim Greenland in the annexation event.
  • Changed Sweden’s shale oil to be represented by synthetics rather than oil production.
  • Switzerland now starts with Extensive Conscription.
  • Fixed Puppet Switzerland purging non-German officers
  • West Banat no longer joins the Romanian-sponsored Transylvanian uprising.
  • Refactored the Transylvanian revolt to not affect neutral states.
  • Countries can now offer Transylvania to Romania, in exchange for an alliance.
• Eastern & Southeast Europe
  • Added Hermann Kirchner as a general for Albania.
  • Added Stefan Maliko Gogës as an admiral for Albania.
  • Bulgaria can now claim Adrianople in the "Fate of Constantinople" if they own Eastern Thrace.
  • Added Irregulars as a starting technology and division template for Estonia and Latvia, to represent the Forest Brothers.
  • Changed Estonia and the United Baltic Duchy’s shale oil to be represented by synthetics rather than oil production.
  • Updated the name of Greece’s Weltkrieg-era tank.
  • Greece can now core all of its claims.
  • Livonia is now called Vidzeme when it is owned by Latvia.
  • Added leader descriptions to the potential Latvian leaders.
  • The Lithuanian-Belarusian Federation can now claim all states that it can core.
  • All Oststaaten are now automatically called into the Second Weltkrieg when Russia attacks.
  • Updated Romania’s news event picture for King Carol expelling the Iron Guard.
  • Rebalanced Russia’s victory points so that their surrender no longer requires their enemies to reach the Urals.
  • Socialist Russia may now be asked to return another country’s cores that it controls upon inviting someone to its alliance.
  • Russia now loses a core on Latgale if they give it to Latvia, but also remove their “The Flight of the Latvians” debuff national spirit, should they have it.
  • Nerfed Socialist Russia’s “Trade Union Council Chairman” advisor trait.
  • Russia will be now less likely to get itself dragged into war in China if it is losing the war in Europe.
  • Russia can now claim Bialystok.
  • Buffed Russia’s starting divisions and templates.
  • Russia can now claim Transcarpathia even if it Socialist or not Expansionist.
  • Implemented vanilla names for Russian self-propelled tank destroyers, anti-air and artillery.
  • Improved several Russian transliterations.
  • Reduced the stability loss given by Russia’s “Political Instability” national spirit.
  • Russia’s decisions to add countries to its faction are now free.
  • Russia attacking Ukraine before the Weltkrieg will now cause a larger spike in World Tension.
  • Rebalanced aspects of the Serbia/IMRO conflict.
  • Ukraine’s “Yuzivka” is now called “Yuzovo” when controlled by Russia.
  • Improved Ukraine’s national focus priorities.
  • The United Baltic Duchy now uses German portraits for generic officers.
  • The United Baltic Duchy will now form the Ostwall more readily.
  • Increased the infantry equipment production given by the Eastern European Defence Cooperation.
  • White Ruthenia can no longer be called into war while it has demilitarised zones.
  • White Ruthenia can now get access to Irregulars in its army national foci.
• Africa
  • Adjusted the effects of the “Unconventional Army” and “Modern African Army” national spirits available to African splinters after the collapse of Mittelafrika to be better suited for combat in African terrain.
  • Adjusted annexation options for Bechuanaland, Cameroon, South Africa and Zimbabwe, solving a few oddities in their release order.
  • Added Arabic endonyms for Algeria and Morocco.
  • Added starting cavalry template for Ethiopia
  • Adjusted the Congo’s and East Africa’s map colour.
  • Dahomey now starts as AutDem, led by Hubert Maga.
  • Dahomey no longer asks for French assistance while being the puppet of another nation.
  • Updated the icons for several of Dahomey’s national foci.
  • Agoli Agbo is no longer the PatAut leader for Dahomey. He has been replaced with Christophe Soglo.
  • Ethiopia and Somalia are now given a claim on Djibouti when they are granted it.
  • Added some more “Operation” names to the French Republic.
  • Liberia now gets a core on Azawad upon integrating Mali.
  • Liberia annexing most of West Africa now carries stability, war support and political power penalties.
  • Madagascar now has cores on its outlying islands.
  • Tweaked the text and effects around Göring's collapse in Mittelafrika, giving Germany advanced notice of what is about to happen.
  • Göring’s collapse now causes part of Mittelafrika’s divisions to stand down.
  • The Mittelafrikan collapse has been balanced significantly
  • Edited the neutral event option for von Göring fleeing from Africa.
  • Tweaked the layout and icons used in Namibia’s national focus tree, which now also inherits several foci from Gabon.
  • Added English translations to Somalian party names.
  • Replaced a duplicate education-themed focus in South Africa’s socialist tree with a healthcare focus.
  • South African commanders now have traits indicating their allegiances.
  • Added better infantry equipment and reconnaissance technology to South Africa.
  • Added a starting air force to South Africa.
  • South Africa led by the South Africa Party, National Party, or the United Party will now all actively help the British in their “Homecoming”.
  • South Africa’s United Party will no longer break up before the start of the Weltkrieg.
  • Added Nicolaas Havenga, Jan Smuts and JH Hofmeyr as potential late-game leaders of South Africa’s United Party, being AutDem, SocCon and SocLib respectively. This choice affects later electoral and coalition options, and will also change other events.
  • Added Henry Gluckman as an advisor for South Africa.
  • South Africa will now not gain a war goal on Südwestafrika if the Halifax Conference succeeds and Südwestafrika is not protected.
  • South Africa’s Van Rensburg will also become head of the PatAut slot if he takes over, and if he is fired, Malan will also become leader of the NatPop slot.
  • Decreased the political power debuff in two of Südwestafrika’s national spirits, and changed their icons.
  • Fixed mixed cavalry and camerly template for Somalia
• Caucasus & Middle-East
  • Changed the Armenian NatPop party name.
  • Azerbaijan no longer gets a core on Tabriz from joining the War in the Desert.
  • Central Asian countries now start with production lines.
  • Egypt can now be released as a republic.
  • Added puppet republican leaders to Egypt.
  • Buffed Georgia’s starting army, national spirits, and the effects of its military national foci.
  • Slightly nerfed al-Gaylani-led Iraq’s consumer goods penalty from rampant corruption.
  • Added Irregulars to Oman and Yemen.
  • The Ottomans now start with claims on Egypt.
  • Reconfigured the Ottomans’ events and national foci about the fate of Egypt.
  • The Ottomans now start with transport technology.
  • Added tooltips to the Ottoman Education Decree event.
  • Persia now gets a claim on Abkhazia if they claim Georgia.
  • Persia now gets a warning that Azerbaijan is going to attack them.
  • Tweaked the position of two Najd & Hasa national spirits for clarity.
  • Renamed the Saudi AutDem and NatPop parties.
  • Fixed focuses for Saudi Arabia and Jabal for building slots on wasteland states
• East Asia
  • Added Ma Dengying as a general for Anqing.
  • East Turkestan and Mongolia will no longer be invited by Russia into the Moscow Accord if Russia is losing their war.
  • Unified Federalist China’s “China Reconstruction Plan” national focus is now bypassed if the decisions are already available.
  • China regaining any ceded concessions now also transfers any occupied mainland states.
  • China now gets a claim on Tawang if they didn't have one, upon releasing India or Assam.
  • The leader of the Chinese United Front will now refuse to ally with cliques that would bring the Front into offensive wars.
  • Added a number of Japanese, Russian and Chinese endonyms in and around Manchuria.
  • Added an alternate description to Japan’s news event where they “announce their ambitions”, should they have already been beaten on mainland Asia, and renamed the event to “The Rising Sun”.
  • Japan’s “Multicoloured Shell Tracers” now gives a 20% ground attack bonus for Tactical Bombers.
  • Japan’s peace with Russia now also accounts for Japanese lands in China, if the latter was involved in the Russian-Japanese war.
  • Reduced Japan’s war support penalty from refusing the “Fading Sun” peace event.
  • Added Korean division namelists.
  • The League of Eight Provinces will now never refuse to help Zhili-led Qing against Fengtian.
  • Changed the icon for a starting national spirit for the League of Eight Provinces.
  • Added compliance based integration for all possible Legation states.
  • The Left Kuomintang now uses the Peoples’ Republic of China map colour from vanilla HOI4.
  • The Left Kuomintang can no longer ally Hunan, Liangguang, Sichuan or Yunnan without first completing the relevant national focus.
  • Liangguang’s “Rural Development” national focus now increases the state category rather than adding a build slot.
  • Added party popularity effects to Right Kuomintang Liangguang election events and changed the event text.
  • Added Zhang Gongquan as an advisor for Liangguang.
  • Clarified the text for the Ma Clique’s game rules.
  • Nerfed the Ma Clique’s starting situation.
  • Added a peace deal for the Ma Clique’s war against Mongolia and Tibet.
  • Qing will now receive a “Anti-Concessionist Instability” temporary state modifier in East Shanxi, should Shanxi choose to denounce concessionism rather than take an Aufsichtsrat der Ostasiatischen Generalverwaltung (AOG) payout.
  • Increased Qing’s priority of having troops on their border.
  • Russia’s “Seize Tuva” decision is now tied to the “Secure Central Asia” national focus, and no longer targets only Mongolia.
  • Russia can now annex Dalian in the “Fate of Manchuria” and “Fate of Japan” events.
  • Nerfed the consumer goods bonus in Shanxi’s “Beijing Agricultural Relief Package” national spirit.
  • Shanxi will almost never voluntarily negotiate with Manchu Qing.
  • Clarified several of Shanxi’s tooltips relating to stability changes.
  • Reworded several of Shanxi’s events and descriptions concerning the role of Hu Shih.
  • Shanxi’s Yan Xishan and Feng Yuxiang will be demoted from Field Marshal if the other side wins.
  • Shanxi’s “Japanese Infiltration” event can now only happen once.
  • Shanxi will now rename itself the “Zhongyuan Government” when it becomes a rival government, instead of when it completes the associated national focus.
  • Added a description to the “Strikes in Eastern Shanxi” state modifier.
  • Shanxi can no longer build railroads in states it does not own, and the cost for the decision is now cheaper.
  • Siberia can now be given Sakhalin.
  • Rebalanced several of Sichuan’s factory output, stability and war support effects.
  • Yunnan’s Long Yun now becomes a Field Marshal after winning the civil war.
  • Improved Yunnan’s early game economy and starting factory count.
  • Yunnan will now recover more stability if it goes below zero in its civil war.
  • Kunming now starts with an airfield.
• South Asia & Oceania
  • Australasia’s 1939 elections now add popularity to both the UAP and Country Party if they are in coalition.
  • Fixed German East Asia not returning all of Australasia Papua in the case of a Dutch East Indies collapse
  • The Bharatiya Commune no longer requires cores to join the Internationale.
  • Tweaked the map colour for the Bharatiya Commune and Princely Federation.
  • Tshering Penjor changing Bhutan's capital is now accounted for in the endonyms.
  • Made Bhutan less aggressive in asserting its claims.
  • Germany now starts with claims on the islands it controls in the Indian Ocean.
  • Increased German East Asia’s unit cap, and added a tooltip explaining its surrender conditions.
  • Renamed several German East Asian naval task forces.
  • Adjusted Indian national focus tree priorities and rebalanced several event and focus effects.
  • Each Indian splinter now starts with basic artillery researched.
  • Each Indian splinter now starts with cores on Darjeeling and Uttarakhand.
  • Pondicherry is now owned and claimed by Germany at game start.
  • Revised the starting production for each Indian splinter.
  • Buffed Indochina’s starting templates, number of divisions and stockpiles.
  • Madras no longer exists at game start.
  • Nepal no longer cedes Sikkim to India in the Festival event chain.
  • The Philippines now start with a production line and have an updated starting army and technology.
• Miscellaneous
  • Improved the AI’s behaviour on justifying wargoals, so that they will only do so on neighbours, and if they are not themselves threatened.
  • AI countries will now attack puppets of player enemies, if they're not called into the wars.
  • Increased the AI weight on increasing their conscription and economy laws.
  • Changed the effects of several Chief of Army and Military High Command traits.
  • Tweaked the priority given by the AI on creating an Intelligence agency.
  • AI countries will now never build more than 300 divisions.
  • Changed the extent of several research bonuses / maluses.
  • Renamed several default army and fleet names.
  • Scripted peace deals will now create temporary military access between countries to avoid permanently exiled divisions.
  • Changed the AI’s preferred garrison division template.
  • Overhauled the starting division templates in multiple countries, adding mountaineers, cavalry and motorised where appropriate.
  • The AI will now not begin forming an Intelligence Agency or upgrading it, until it has more factories.
  • The “Scorched Earth” game rule no longer disallows achievements.
  • Hundreds of spelling standardisations and corrections.
  • The AI will try not to use tanks in areas of high attrition (mountains or deserts).
  • “Local Police Force” is now the default occupation law.
  • Added trains to several countries that start without them.
  • Tweaked the firing of introduction events for several countries, so that they no longer fire over several days.
  • Removed the link in the menu to the defunct forum.
  • Improved the “Political Specialist” advisor trait.
  • Added a quote by Boris Savinkov to the loading screen quotes.

We hope you enjoy playing Kaiserreich as much as we did making it!
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Book of Genesis Chapter 1 In the beginning God created heaven, and earth. 2 And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters. 3 And God said: Be light made. And light was made. 4 And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness. 5 And he called the light Day, and the dark- ness Night; and there was evening and morning one day. 6 And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7 And god made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning were the second day. 9 God also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done. 10 And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of the waters, he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. 11 And he said: let the earth bring forth green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done. 12 And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And the evening and the morning were the third day. 14 And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: 15 To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth, and it was so done. 16 And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day; and a lesser light to rule the night: and The stars. 17 And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the earth. 18 And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And the evening and morning were the fourth day. 20 God also said: let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven. 21 And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waaters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
4 22 And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth. 23 And the evening and morning were the fifth day. 24 And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth. 27 And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth. 29 And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat: 30 And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done. 31 And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day. Book of Genesis Chapter 2 So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them. 2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done. 3 And he blessed the seventh day, and sancti- fied it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. 4 These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth: 5 And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth. 6 But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth. 7 And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul. 8 And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed. 9 And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. 10 And a river went out of the place of plea- sure to water paradise, which from thence is di- vided into four heads. 11 The name of the one is Phison: that is it which compasseth all the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth. 12 And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium, and the onyx stone.
Book of Genesis 13 And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia. 14 And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth along by the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 15 And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it. 16 And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat: 17 But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death. 18 And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself. 19 And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature the same is its name. 20 And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself. 21 Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it. 22 And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam. 23 And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. 24 Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh. 25 And they were both naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed.

So, in DS2, there's an item that mentions Quella, God of the Dream. Quella is also associated with tree spirits, divine powers, and the color blue. All of this sounds an awful lot like Miquella. As we know, Miquella is associated with both divine powers and dreams/sleep, especially as his dream-form St. Trina. And St. Trina is also associated with the color blue/indigo. And I don't need to even point out the connection between Miquella and trees or tree spirits. I know it's probably not an actual lore connection. I'm betting it was an idea Yui Tanimura (director of DS2, co director of ER) had while making DS2 and liked it so much that he transferred it into Elden Ring so he could flesh it out more. I'm sure I'm not the first to make this connection, I just stumbled upon it and found it interesting.
Source on Quella: https://darksouls.fandom.com/wiki/Quella,_God_of_Dream

Spoilers for Radahn's, Morgott's, Malenia's, and Maliketh's boss fights
Blood and flame
The first thing I'd like to discuss is the relationship between Caelid and Mohgwyn, which is beneath its eastern side. The theorist Quelaag posited that the blood in Mohgwyn might be the result of the blood from the conflicts and wars fought in Caelid seeping into the soil and into the underworld. My first thought was that the red in Caelid is scarlet rot, not blood; but now I think it could be both.
This gave me some ideas on what the burning stone structures found in Caelid are, and what their purpose is. Throughout the region is something called the "Smoldering Wall", which just looks like burning rocks—kind of like charcoal. There's also the Smoldering Church found at the border of Caelid and Limgrave, which has the same fiery and stony constitution.
the Smoldering Wall
The theory I had went like this: Scarlet rot drives people to madness (e.g. Radahn), provoking them to shed blood and slaughter each other. In alignment with Quelaag's theory, this blood seeps into the soil and drips into the underground, filling Mohgwyn with blood. This blood is then lit aflame with the power of the Formless Mother—which can be seen in Mohgwyn, as the same fire architecture is present here. The fire burns and rises back toward the surface, inciting more conflict and inspiring more bloodshed, thus creating a blood-cycle analogous to the water cycle. In this framework, liquid water is blood, and gaseous water is both a) boiling blood and b) fire.
My take is that the boiling blood is just blood that hasn't been heated enough to become bloodflame. You might notice that the Sanguine nobles' blood emits steam; since they are lesser officials in the dynasty's hierarchy, it would make sense that their blood would not be as powerful, or hot enough to ignite.
Sanguine noble blood
The Formless Mother and god of rot
I think this blood cycle could be more evidence for the view that the Formless Mother and god of rot are the same entity, or closely related. In a recent post, I talked about how the purple and green amorphous patterns visible in the Lake of Rot's map depiction support the theory that the Lake of Blood is analogous to cursed or rotted blood, and is being stabbed with the Ainsel River like the unalloyed gold needle. This is because the same purple and green coloring is found on Morgott's cursed sword, which we know contains the cursed blood of the Omen. So rot is compared to cursed blood, which I think can be brought back to the idea of rotted blood.
In the comments of that post, user ElA1to suggested this design on the Lake of Rot could also be representing the blood of the Formless Mother. I wasn't immediately convinced, because I didn't recall any mention of the Formless Mother's blood being cursed; plus, if the Formless Mother seeks out cursed blood as the game says, this might suggest her own blood doesn't have this quality. Why would she seek it if she already has it? Does she just want more? However, ElA1to's comment gave me the idea that the blood of the Formless Mother might be equivalent to the blood of the Omen, as a result of their symbiotic relationship. I think the Omens' and Formless Mother's blood might go through a blood cycle of its own: one in which the Omen sacrifice blood to her by wounding themselves, and in exchange, receive some of it back as powerups by wounding her in battle; the blood of the Formless Mother is actually their own blood returned to them.
So, there is quite a bit of information linking the Formless Mother to the rot god. As ElA1to mentioned, the Lake of Rot might be the blood of the Formless Mother, or analogous to it. Both rotted blood and cursed blood are something that is often suppressed by the afflicted, i.e. in the second phases of Malenia's and Morgott's fights. Fire architecture, which I think is interspersed with bloodflame, is found in both Mohgwyn (Formless Mother) and Caelid (rot). There are red geysers in both Mohgwyn, and in the Swamp of Aeonia. As Gideon the Half-Knowing noticed, there are only two "exultation" talismans in the game: the Kindred of Rot's exultation, and Lord of Blood's exultation. And finally, as I just discovered, the Mohgwyn swamp even contains scarlet rot.
I haven't been able to find scarlet rot anywhere else in Mohgwyn; it might just be this one spot.
All that being said, there's good reason to object to this theory of the two gods being the same. I'm sure there are multiple valid counterarguments, but the one I'd like to bring to attention is the antagonistic relationship between fire and rot. The description for Radahn's great rune reads: "The Great Rune burns, to resist the encroachment of the scarlet rot." Some have claimed we can see Radahn using this rune in the trailer (since he's on fire), and I think this is probably correct. Nonetheless, Elden Ring is a game with a lot to say about combining things that contradict each other. Even if the Formless Mother and god of rot are not the same, it does seem they share a particularly close relationship. Maybe, if bloodflame burns rot, this is another example of a war between gods, and parallels the conflict between Melina/The Greater Will and the Frenzied Flame?
Here's an additional angle, while we're on the topic: If rot is indeed the blood of the Formless Mother, then maybe this is why she seeks Omen blood—because Omen blood burns, and can resist scarlet rot. This would potentially make Malenia a mirror to the Formless Mother, and Miquella a mirror to the Omen.
More on the smoldering architecture, and its significance
Another idea I had on the fire architecture is that it represents ambition. As mentioned, the wall and church are both described with the word 'smoldering'. When Morgott ambushes us as we approach Leyndell, he says to us:
"I see thee, little Tarnished. Smoldering with that wretched flame of ambition."
So the flame of ambition smolders. This actually appears to relate to the cut content of the Smoldering Church, in which Bernahl's maiden could be found. In the restored content, she is seen covered in bandages, likely because she burned herself at the forge, or because she was preparing for it with lesser burns. Since becoming Elden Lord requires burning the Erdtree at the forge, there is a clear relation between the ambition of ascending to the Elden Throne, and fire. That appears to be the idea this church once, or still represents.
picture by Laurelinarean
There is a second hint in this line of Morgott's: the word 'wretched'. This word is used to describe the swamp in Mohgwyn. The last part of the description for Mohg's great rune reads:
"Mohg and Morgott are twin brothers, and their Great Runes are naturally similar. But Mohg's rune is soaked in accursed blood, from his devout love for the wretched mire that he was born into far below the earth."
I believe that when Morgott calls the flame "wretched", he is referring to the bloodflame rising from Mohgwyn. I also believe he is expressing his loathsome feelings for his brother, as well as himself, since like Mohg, he also possesses the flammable blood of the Omen. Still, I do think the wretched flame Morgott speaks of could also be the giant's flame, and the fire of the Crucible. I don't think there is necessarily a contradiction between these interpretations; Morgott seems to view all fire as bad.
The latter two interpretations, i.e. of the giant's flame and Crucible, actually have some evidence of their own, in the fire architecture I've been describing. I forget who it was (I'd cite them if I did), but someone noticed that the Mohgwyn mausoleum actually appears to be sitting atop, and embedded in, a petrified tree.
from the website Attack of the Fanboy
I'm not sure if they mentioned this part, but you can only see the fire on this petrified texture; the regular rock walls do not contain flames. If the theory is true, which I believe it is, then it's the fourth example so far of a region in the game being placed on or identical to a petrified tree. The other three are the Mountaintops of the Giants (credit to Eredin), Raya Lucaria, and Mt. Gelmir.
It's not hard to apply this new information on burning, petrified trees to Caelid. The smoldering wall and smoldering church might not be stone at all. Instead, I think it's more likely they are burning, petrified wood—once again, relating to Morgott's fear that the Tarnished will burn the Erdtree. This in turn could imply that all of common churches in the Lands Between are made of petrified wood. Also, since the type of fire is bloodflame, this would be another example of organic material derived from wounding/death constituting the world itself, like the giant skeletons in Caelid.
The Wailing Dunes
Basically, the theory is that the Wailing Dunes are not sand, but ash. I've written a post on it where I explain my thoughts fully, so I'll just mention the name of the post here. It's titled "Could the Wailing Dunes be Ash?"
Giants, scavengers, and dragonrot
It's been observed that the giant dogs in Caelid have some similarities with the crows. They kind of walk like birds, and have been compared to T-Rexes, which were likely ancestors to birds. And so, I find it interesting that Gurranq, who is found in the region of Caelid called Dragonbarrow, is sort of like a combination of a dog and crow. Gurranq is a wolf, but the armor he wears, particularly his headpiece, resembles the body of a crow. Furthermore, Gurranq is a giant wolf, and giants are also found in Caelid. So I think you could argue that he's like a synthesis of various creatures found in this region.
Something interesting about the larger animals in Caelid is that they are known for being scavengers. Crows are scavengers, as are some dogs. The theme of scavenging ties into Caelid because the whole area is rotted; and rot arises from corpses, which actually makes Caelid something like the ideal habitat for these creatures. Radahn is also depicted as a scavenger, since he is explicitly said by Jerren to gorge on corpses.
A similar argument could be made for Gurranq. This is because Destined Death, which Melina calls "death indiscriminate" is able to consume (because it's fire) soulless bodies and spirits alike. (This is based on the idea that Destined Death can kill both body and soul, and is in this sense indiscriminate). To destroy whatever is left of the self (body or soul) is arguably similar to scavenging, since scavenging involves taking what's left of an organism, the body, and consuming/destroying it. So Gurranq, as well, is a kind of scavenger. Even more evidence for this is his appetite for Deathroot; if you eat something that is dead, that makes you a scavenger.
Maliketh: a combination of giant dogs (scavengers) and giant ravens (scavengers), who has the power to dispose of the remains of living (or half-living) things, and eats death
As the last part of this section, I wanted to share a thought I had on the dragons, and why Caelid (more specifically Dragonbarrow) contains so many of them. I believe it has to do with the poison-resistant attributes of great dragonflies, and that the regular dragons actually have some poison-resistant qualities as well. The great dragonfly head item description reads: "Head of a large dragonfly. Material used for crafting items. Long believed to have the ability to neutralize poisons." This neutralizing power is proven through the neutralizing boluses and immunizing cured meat, both of which require great dragonfly heads as ingredients.
Edit: The Dragonbarrow map says the dragons escaped the scarlet rot, meaning they were fleeing from it, and that Dragonbarrow might not even be rotted. This seems to refute the argument in the above paragraph.
Howling at the sky
Radahn imitates Godfrey, who is associated with lions. Radahn even identifies as Godfrey's lion, which might be an expression of admiration, or a more specific reference to Serosh. Yet, lions do not howl; they roar. What animal does howl? A wolf. This is probably why Jerren, earlier in the cutscene, likens Radahn to a dog:
"Now he gathers the corpses of former friends and foes alike, gorging on them, like a dog."
https://preview.redd.it/yi9t8yscddra1.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=df91b0d77673279eb2bde7f0642e5564fbf5f97e
More evidence that links Radahn's howling to wolves includes similar behavior from Gurranq and Blaidd. Depending on the conditions, Gurranq can be found outside the Bestial Sanctum, howling at the sky. It may not be a coincidence that this location is right next to the Wailing Dunes. Blaidd also howls at the night sky, atop the Mistwood ruins. So "howling at the sky" is a pattern that establishes Radahn as a character with lupine qualities.
Why is this important? Recall this text from Radahn's helm:
"Helm of the golden lion, with flowing red hair. Worn by General Radahn.
Radahn inherited the furious, flaming red hair of his father Radagon, and is fond of its heroic implications.'I was born a champion's cub. Now I am the Lord of the Battlefield's lion.'"
Radahn used to be Radagon's "cub", since a) he is his child, and b) Radagon is associated with wolves, e.g. in Marika's description of him as a "leal hound", and in Radagon's red wolves.
So Radahn used to be Radagon's cub, and in adulthood, he imitated the Elden Lord he admired most: Godfrey. However, "now", after losing his mind to Malenia's scarlet rot, he is left wandering, scavenging, and howling like the dogs in Caelid. He's been reduced to a contradiction; someone who still wears armor emblazoned with lions, but who no longer has the strength to properly identify with one.
https://preview.redd.it/6vmta5xdddra1.jpg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=44be4bf9fe19f09b2699321fc788feab62b46114
Fire is arguably Radahn's primary visual motif. As the aforementioned description states, Radahn inherited Radagon's "flaming" red hair. You may recall that fire is depicted as a regressive force, e.g. through the Frenzied Flame, and in Radagon himself, who tried to undo the shattering of the Elden Ring through smithing—another process that involves fire. In line with this idea of regression, I believe Radahn not only regressed from lion to wolf, he also regressed to a wolf cub; a child.
Radahn howls at the sky because he has regressed to a childlike state. I don't think this is meant to represent immaturity, exactly, just the often-pitiable emotional states children experience, and their dependence on adults; I also think it's meant to reference the tendency for infants to cry. I believe Radahn is crying out in pain, for someone to kill him, and for his father, Radagon. And he does so by howling—which another wolf would surely be able to understand, even at great distances.
Finally, I'd like to mention a parallel that the conflict between Radahn and Malenia, and the former's regression to a cub, has with Sekiro. In Sekiro, when you die to Lady Butterfly, she says: "You were still just a puppy." Of course, Lady Butterfly is similar to Malenia, because Malenia is also a butterfly, and is associated with them. So in both games, you have butterfly women attacking characters associated with wolves, and reducing them to cubs. Also, the fight takes place in a burning room with flaming columns, which kind of resemble the fire architecture seen in Caelid.
The Red Lion
From what I've found, in alchemy, the red lion represents the maturing of the green lion after it's swallowed the sun, and corresponds with the tempering of primal instincts. This didn't sound like it matched Radahn at first... but the part about the red lion being "matured" does remind me of the wolf-to-lion evolution described earlier. Another factor is that if Radahn is taking after Godfrey, he might have admired his restraint just as much as his strength. Again, he seems to have compared himself to Serosh, who inhibits Godfrey's bloodlust.
It's worth noting that the green lion symbol in alchemy is sometimes depicted as having seven red stars along its side, which may connect to Radahn's role as the starscourge. Furthermore, the green lion is depicted eating the sun, which is a star. If the green lion eats stars, could the other stars along its body represent other stars that it's consumed? Maybe this is in fact what turned the green lion red—the consumption of red stars. (Or maybe this was just the interpretation FromSoft went with.) It could also tie into Rykard's goal of devouring the gods, since he is Rykard's brother, and the sun and stars were frequently identified as deities in ancient times.
the Green Lion with red stars, devouring the sun
It might be important that the final color of the lion, if the alchemical process continues successfully, is gold. Godfrey has a stronger association with the color gold than red, and Radahn may have been trying to reach this final state of development, only to regress back to a red wolf cub. Alternatively, it's possible the red lion imagery was intentional, and that Radahn was trying to fuse Godfrey's iconography with that of his own lineage and father.
A final thought on Radahn and regression
Bosses in FromSoft's games have a tendency to unleash whatever powers they were previously suppressing, as part of their second phase. I believe this became a trend after Bloodborne's The Old Hunters DLC, which features Lady Maria as one of its bosses. The fight is well regarded for integrating the story of Maria's self-loathing as a Vileblood, and her eventual decision to abandon her dignity by using her cursed blood against the hunter in her second phase. This exact narrative can be seen in Morgott's and Malenia's fights.
In Radahn's case, what he is "holding back" are the stars. Thus, it is entirely fitting that he introduces his second phase by becoming the thing he was fighting: a falling star.
by Yzzlthtz
In this case, since the stars are something are external to Radahn rather than something he was withholding as a part of himself, the transformation is not technically regressive. However, this makes comparison to that famous quotation from Nietzsche even more apt:
"He who fights too long against dragons becomes a dragon himself; and if you gaze too long into the abyss, the abyss will gaze into you."
This is highly applicable to Radahn's narrative, for multiple reasons. First, as mentioned, Radahn becomes the thing he fought. Second, Caelid is where most of the dragons live (though the Wailing Dunes are not in Dragonbarrow, as I previously claimed). And third, Radahn did indeed stare into the abyss, since holding back the stars would surely involve looking into space, which is often described as an abyss. Plus, Radahn is a Carian, so staring into space is something he was likely doing from a very young age.
link for the thumbnail: https://imgur.com/a/Szj1x9j
Gurranq howling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umGVg_A0epM

I like doing weather magick occasionally, especially involving rain and storms as they bring me comfort. It’s also good practice for working with different spirits and energy, and learning to harness them for other workings.
However, I discovered I need to work more on grounding and meditation, as well as protecting/ keeping my own energy strong.
Here’s the process I used for this manifestation: - recently while it was raining I went out and collected some into my essential oil diffuser. I then added oils from trees (birch, balsam fir, etc) into the diffuser.

• I used visualization of my own energy flowing through my body and encasing myself with light and the energy of the nearby temperate rainforests, mountains, ocean, and wilderness of my area.
  
• I internally called to the spirits of these lands and let my intentions be known, being sure to acknowledge them with respect.
  
• I then turned on my diffuser, visualizing it’s functions as metaphors for a storm.
  
• I kept it running (with occasional breaks as to give myself a break from the strong smell occasionally- it smelled good, but it’s also good to not overwhelm your senses).
  
• I imagined those breaks as the calm within the storm. After it was empty, I let myself occasionally imagine the manifestation of my released intentions, knowing that patience was important.
  

The results so far have been quite nice- it’s been a several days since the spell, and the past few days have been extra rainy & windy. We haven’t had many of our big wind storms this past year, and it’s just about almost past that season (of course they can still happen outside of their season).
During these windy moments I visualized it continuing to cycle and turn into a true storm.
Today was especially rewarding- I was sleeping in my family’s vintage camper while visiting them. The atmosphere inside the camper was soothing, the sound of rain surrounding me; with the hit of an occasional twig bouncing off the roof.
Upon waking up, occasional gusts of wind shook the camper (not in a scary way- it was akin to the way a boat gently rocks it the water).
Then, the part I’d been waiting for finally happened- thunder. My favorite part. It was only one rumble, but I’m grateful for it nonetheless. Thunder hardly happens here, so finally hearing it was rewarding.
After that it started hailing for several minutes.
While all of this has been incredible, and happened so soon after the spell; I unfortunately realized that alongside these results came a depletion of my energy, and a metaphorical storm along with the physical one.
I had a disagreement with my mom- I won’t go into detail as to not take away from this post, but the disagreement is causing me a large amount of anxiety and has left me completely drained. Ironically, it reached the “calm within the storm” phase.
While feeling drained, I’m sitting and trying not to exert myself. At the same time, the storm has calmed. Clouds are passing overhead and the forecast shows more rain to come. When my emotions were at the their height earlier is when the thunder occurred, causing me to pause and think.
So my lesson to myself here is to be careful with storm manifestation, and to protect my own energy as to not create a metaphorical storm at the same time. The results may be satisfying, but it came at a cost.
This storm is still an ongoing manifestation, as it still has yet to finish later. So during this time I’ll be sure to focus on my own wellbeing alongside the rest of the storm.
Thank you for reading!

I like doing weather magick occasionally, especially involving rain and storms as they bring me comfort. It’s also good practice for working with different spirits and energy, and learning to harness them for other workings.
However, I discovered I need to work more on grounding and meditation, as well as protecting/ keeping my own energy strong.
Here’s the process I used for this manifestation: - recently while it was raining I went out and collected some into my essential oil diffuser. I then added oils from trees (birch, balsam fir, etc) into the diffuser.

• I used visualization of my own energy flowing through my body and encasing myself with light and the energy of the nearby temperate rainforests, mountains, ocean, and wilderness of my area.
  
• I internally called to the spirits of these lands and let my intentions be known, being sure to acknowledge them with respect.
  
• I then turned on my diffuser, visualizing it’s functions as metaphors for a storm.
  
• I kept it running (with occasional breaks as to give myself a break from the strong smell occasionally- it smelled good, but it’s also good to not overwhelm your senses).
  
• I imagined those breaks as the calm within the storm. After it was empty, I let myself occasionally imagine the manifestation of my released intentions, knowing that patience was important.
  

The results so far have been quite nice- it’s been a several days since the spell, and the past few days have been extra rainy & windy. We haven’t had many of our big wind storms this past year, and it’s just about almost past that season (of course they can still happen outside of their season).
During these windy moments I visualized it continuing to cycle and turn into a true storm.
Today was especially rewarding- I was sleeping in my family’s vintage camper while visiting them. The atmosphere inside the camper was soothing, the sound of rain surrounding me; with the hit of an occasional twig bouncing off the roof.
Upon waking up, occasional gusts of wind shook the camper (not in a scary way- it was akin to the way a boat gently rocks it the water).
Then, the part I’d been waiting for finally happened- thunder. My favorite part. It was only one rumble, but I’m grateful for it nonetheless. Thunder hardly happens here, so finally hearing it was rewarding.
After that it started hailing for several minutes.
While all of this has been incredible, and happened so soon after the spell; I unfortunately realized that alongside these results came a depletion of my energy, and a metaphorical storm along with the physical one.
I had a disagreement with my mom- I won’t go into detail as to not take away from this post, but the disagreement is causing me a large amount of anxiety and has left me completely drained. Ironically, it reached the “calm within the storm” phase.
While feeling drained, I’m sitting and trying not to exert myself. At the same time, the storm has calmed. Clouds are passing overhead and the forecast shows more rain to come. When my emotions were at the their height earlier is when the thunder occurred, causing me to pause and think.
So my lesson to myself here is to be careful with storm manifestation, and to protect my own energy as to not create a metaphorical storm at the same time. The results may be satisfying, but it came at a cost.
This storm is still an ongoing manifestation, as it still has yet to finish later. So during this time I’ll be sure to focus on my own wellbeing alongside the rest of the storm.
Thank you for reading!