Somewhat Damaged is a very novel quest, as a Resident Evil fan, I love this section, the tenseness, hiding from the Cerberus, so on and so forth. Very awesome.

But for some fucking reason, the devs made it so I can't read the lore in the laptops and computer terminals in peace without getting jumped by that damned clanker!!!

I've never seen a game so eager to fuck me over for trying to read its writing. Just why? Why not pause time when I'm reading those texts and emails?

I want to appreciate what you've written!

Elden Ring has one of the worst cases of lore misinformation I've ever seen on the internet, with the worst offenders often being loretubers throwing around their theories as fact.

I know this might as well be Sisyphus rolling that boulder uphill and there might be no point but at least I want to try to correct at least some of these most egregious cases.

Throughout the Japanese text, the phrase 善き人 (yoki hito) is used over and over again. It simply means a good person, a virtuous person, or a morally good individual.

The English localization consistently translates this as "saint" or "sainthood" in the DLC. While this isn't wrong, it introduces very strong Christian and religious connotations to the minds of Western players who have blown this whole thing out of proportions.

The result is that many people have come away believing the Hornsent literally believed they were creating "saints" in the religious sense (as in with holy powers and all). That is not what the Japanese text actually says.

Let's look at every use case of "saint" in relation to Jars in the DLC.

1. Innard Meat

English

>This is what becomes of the condemned, who get sliced up and stuffed into jars to become saints instead.

Japanese

>善き人になるために切り刻まれ、大壺に詰め込まれた罪人どものなれの果てである

The phrase is 善き人になるために (yoki hito ni naru tame ni), literally "in order to become a good person."

Nothing here implies canonization, holiness, or sainthood. The text is simply describing the purpose of the ritual as the Hornsent transforming what they considered condemned criminals into morally good or virtuous people.

2. Greatjar

English

>They offer their prayers to the innards of the greatjars, such that they might be reborn one day into sainthood. This is the cycle of death and rebirth, taken into the hands of mortal men.

Japanese

>その祈りは大壺の中身に捧げられる
いつか、善き人として生まれ変わるように
それは、人の手による輪廻である

The important phrase is 善き人として生まれ変わるように (yoki hito to shite umarekawaru yō ni), literally "so that they may be reborn as good people."

The final sentence, それは、人の手による輪廻である (sore wa, hito no te ni yoru rinne de aru), explicitly describes the process as "reincarnation brought about by human hands." The jars as an artificial cycle of rebirth whose goal is moral improvement.

3. That one Whipping Hut Spirit

English

>"For pity's sake, your place is in the jar."
"Nigh-sainthood itself awaits you within."
"For shamans like you, this is your lot."
"Life were you accorded for this alone."

Japanese

>…さあ、大人しく壺に入りなさい
そして、善き人になりなさい
お前たちは、巫子なのだから
そのために、生まれてきたのだから

The line here is そして、善き人になりなさい (soshite, yoki hito ni narinasai), literally "And become a good person."

This is probably the biggest rewrite.

The English replaces the direct command "become a good person" with "Nigh-sainthood itself awaits you within."

That is not a translation of 善き人になりなさい. It is a reinterpretation that once again substitutes "good person" with "sainthood."

The Japanese is straightforward. The speaker is telling the shamans that entering the jar will make them into good people because that is the purpose assigned to them.

4. That one Hornsent Criminal in Belurat Gaol

English

>"Oh please. Not the jar... Anything but that!"
"I promise. I won't ever do it again!"
"I swear. A living saint I'll surely be!"
"Please...you must forgive me. Forgive me, please."

Japanese

>…嫌だ、壺は嫌だ
もうしない。二度としない
天に誓う。善き人になる
だから、許してくれよ…

The line is 天に誓う。善き人になる (ten ni chikau. yoki hito ni naru), literally: "I swear to heaven. I'll become a good person."

The Hornsent (because yes, it is a Hornsent, not a Shaman, if you look closely at the spirit, they have horns) is begging for mercy by promising to reform. He is saying he'll become a better person if spared. The Japanese does not suggest he is promising to become a literal saint.

TLDR: Every major occurrence of 善き人 in these texts simply refers to becoming a morally good or virtuous person.

I genuinely don't understand why CDPR had V take on this shrimp-like pose rather than a proper lean with an arched back. See any of the random people riding a big motorcycle that I found online for a better proper posture.

It bothers me so much, the only bike I ride is the Yaiba Kusanagi CT-3X who seems to be the only one with a proper posture. It is, at least in my opinion, the best bike in the game but when it is the only one you ride, you do grow bored of it pretty quickly.

The only mod that I could find that changes riding postures is Better Bike Animations. It has two sets of animations: Ruff Ryders which does have an arched back but looks way too ridiculous with an upright posture fit for a moped, not the sports bikes the game has.

While Fast N Furious is a proper riding posture but it's the super aggressive competitive one where they pretty much lie flat on the bike (like MotoGP) because they go up to 300+km/h and need to reduce air resistance/better aerodynamics.

Are there no other mods out there that fix this?

As a preamble, under most lenses they would be incredibly overpowered in DnD IF we were to take them as they are from Warhammer Fantasy, as you'll understand in a minute.

So I do not mind any caveats or plainly getting as close as possible by RAW but ultimately compromising on some details that simply could not make it in. Or plainly requiring two players with two PCs rather than one player with two PCs (which I believe is a taboo?) to make this concept work.

To be honest, they almost seem more appropriate as a boss enemy for players but that'd be a different question altogether perhaps for another post.

The concept is as follows:

"Once a single being, divided into siblings by The Weave, Naestra and Arahan are two sides of the same coin. They work together in the service of Queen Ariel, marshalling the woodland warriors at her command, and cannot be slain unless both fall in battle."

Naestra and Arahan, the Sisters of Twilight, are legendary Wood Elf heroines of Athel Loren who serve as the representatives and heralds of the Mage Queen Ariel. They might have been a single elf girl, Naestrahan, who wandered into the deepest Wildwoods and was somehow split into two beings by the Weave, the mystical life force of Athel Loren. Or they might be a daughter(s) of Ariel who inherited her divided nature. Each embody her mercy and passion as separate entities.

They are regarded as fairly supernatural even by the standards of the Wood Elves.

The sisters are opposites in all things. Naestra is calm, noble, compassionate, and would only resort to violence as a last resort and only to prevent greater harm. Arahan is fierce, impulsive, and revels in battle for its own sake. However, they're still inseparable.

Their most distinctive trait is that they effectively share a single existence. So long as one remains alive, the other can recover from even fatal wounds, making them nearly impossible to kill unless both are slain in quick succession. When one falls, aspects of her spirit seem to flow into the survivor. Naestra becomes frighteningly savage when Arahan dies, while Arahan displays unusual focus and precision when deprived of her sister.

(I suppose one could interpret that the characters can still be downed and effectively out of the battle, but permadeath would require both being downed in one battle?)

They both wield bows. Naestra wields the Talon of Dawn, a bow that fires blessed light and is associated with healing and restoration, while Arahan carries the Talon of Dusk, whose arrows splinter into "poisonous thorn-like shards formed from the spirit husks of bitter Dryads". Even without their signature weapons, ordinary weapons touched by the sisters become infused with their nature whatever that means.

(Perhaps Naestra would be a druid then? While Arahan is a rogue, to better reflect ranged poison attacks?)

The sisters are identical in appearance but Naestra has dark hair and a serene bearing, while Arahan has white hair and a wild predatory behavior.