u/metafauxric

Following my last post where we explored the furtive colors of the Godslayer's Greatsword, I would like to present the inconspicuous colors found within Black Flame itself: purple and green.

Zoomed in Black Flame from GSGS

Some different examples of this phenomenon, starting with the Black Flame Incantation:

Black Flame

Godslayer's Greatsword:

GSGS

GSGS

Black Flame attacks from Godskins:

Black Flame Tornado

Iji (Dead):

Iji's Hand

Gargoyle's Blackblade:

Attack on Troll

Lamenter's Mask transformation:

During Transformation

I did testing with a few weapons that deal damage with the Rune of Death and could not find these two colors that appear with Black Flame specifically.

Attack from Black blade

I was always under the impression that the Godslayer's Greatsword was mostly a silver colored sword with some minor gold embellishments towards the handle as seen below.

Godslayer's Greatsword item description image

I believe that the image above image shows the weapon in a certain light to obscure the real faded and/or light color, same as in the game.

in-game with no shaders (base)

The truth is that most of the sword itself seems to be a faded gold/bronze color. Shoutout to Discord user T-Bone for pointing out that "wood [instead of gold color] makes more sense if it's a literal mini spiral tree too...I do think it looks like bronze but honestly I now see it as wood + stone mimicking metal with a little bit of gold in the hilt for good measure".

brightness up

brightness up

brightness and saturation up

texture file

I had also assumed that the "gem" found towards the handle of the sword was a black color (which makes sense because of Blackflame) but it turns out to be not only black but also with purple hues. This isn't that surprising since we also find purple/black gems on the Godskin Peeler.

Godslayer: in-game base

Godslayer: brightness up

Godskin Peeler

Evidence using Caelid's Divine Tower indicating that the Divine Towers were not hit with lava from an impact but instead were hosts to something (seems like tree roots) growing on/through them as seen in Nightreign.

growing underneath the rock/ground

growing through architecture (not a splash)

growing through architecture (not a splash)

nightreign example of tree growing on side of divine tower

nightreign example of roots growing through/on divine tower architecture

I also noticed the squatting guy motif that appears in Elphael also appears directly on the Divine Towers, they were just always hard to see. This could mean that the Divine Towers were built after Elphael came into existence.

elphael depiction

divine tower overhead view

Something I haven't seen mentioned in lore spaces as well as the Wikis is the inclusion of the white/silver Runebear (with a light purple chest motif instead of yellow/gold) found in Caelid near Deep Siofra Well.

night

night

night (no front light source)

daytime

possibly unique roar?

For reference, I will include the normal and snow Runebears.

normal

snow

We can confirm through Smithbox as well that this variant does exist with the "Strong" name.

https://preview.redd.it/sgqx2tcabg5h1.png?width=1654&format=png&auto=webp&s=214adf66fad3d8e2fb3a572e857b225366ceb6bf

Special thanks to u/Kathodin for sharing the knowledge of the Caelid Runebear with me and u/_Bancho for checking through Smithbox to confirm my findings as well as point to another location of this unique Runebear in the mountaintops (possibly making the only two) which is actually a Mimic that drops a larval (silver looking) tear.

https://preview.redd.it/waxvfnzcfg5h1.png?width=1446&format=png&auto=webp&s=0eb11d249539c457af69ec6923b33a3855087c95

https://preview.redd.it/3wbu7hcgfg5h1.png?width=1449&format=png&auto=webp&s=7f6f1cb5b27b752fb45c7f8544fa9edce5bba804

https://preview.redd.it/8fj8wu7lfg5h1.png?width=979&format=png&auto=webp&s=b8c5dc588ce75cce14e15cf43456a0c5639cf3db

>[2062000] The very center of the Lands Between. All manners of Death wash up here, only to be suppressed.

While "center" can mean "in the middle", it can also mean "a point, area, person, or thing that is most important or pivotal in relation to an indicated activity, interest, or condition". A synonym for "center" can also be "heart", such as "The very [heart] of the Lands Between. All manners of Death wash up here, only to be suppressed".

>[2062000] 狭間の中心 あらゆる死が流れ着き あらゆる死を鎮める

中心 (chūshin) — center / core / heart

Example: The place where things and matters are concentrated/centralized. or, a place, thing, or person of paramount importance to the things and matters, center of government and culture” “the heart of the matter”, a meeting/gathering/association centered around a (specific) literary person.

Note how FromSoftware could have used "中央" (which means literal middle, see usage examples) instead of "中心" (which means metaphorical center, see usage examples) which was used for the Suppressing Pillar. Basically, 中央 (chûô) primarily refers to a geographic central area or middle zone, whereas 中心 (chûshin) refers to a pinpoint, focal core or the heart of an idea or object.

中央

中心

中心 is also used in the description of the following noting that it can mean a metaphorical center:

>Erdtree Seal [34070000]
A formless sacred seal decorated with an Erdtree crest, once the focus of religion in the Lands Between.

黄金樹の聖印 [34070000]
黄金樹の紋章を象った、幻影の聖印 狭間の信仰、かつてその中心にあったもの

>Old Lord's Talisman [3060]
A legendary talisman depicting the ancient king whose seat lies at the heart of the storm beyond time.

古き王のタリスマン [3060]
時の狭間、嵐の中心に座すという 古き王を象ったタリスマン 「伝説のタリスマン」のひとつ

>Alexander's Innards [8222]
A keepsake of the warrior jar Alexander. Found at the core of the dead flesh that once filled the great jar.

アレキサンダーの中身 [8222]
戦士の壺、アレキサンダーの遺品 壺を満たす屍肉の中心にあったもの

>Godrick's Great Rune [191]
A Great Rune of the shardbearer Godrick. Its blessing raises all attributes.
This Great Rune is known as the anchor ring, found in the center of the Elden Ring.

ゴドリックの大ルーン [191]
破片の君主、ゴドリックの大ルーン 恩恵により、すべての能力値を上昇させる
その大ルーンは、要の輪とも呼ばれ エルデンリングの中心に位置していた

Last but not least, we can also refer to other Elden Ring official translations, such as the one in the Spanish version of the game where it uses the word "corazon" which literally translates to "heart" (thanks to WayofColors for pointing this out).

Suppressing Pillar (Spanish version)

To sum it up, when we are told by the Suppressing Pillar "this is the center of The Lands Between" there we should be understanding this as one of the most important places in The Lands Between, not necessarily that the pillar is at the literal center of the map as shown by the evidence provided by FromSoftware.

Rennala:

>Hush, little culver. I'll soon birth thee anew, a sweeting fresh and pure... Where did ye flee, my sweetings? Ahh, my beloved...Have no fear, I will hold thee.

Miranda Sprout Ashes:

>Spirits of sweet little miranda flowers, carnivorous blossoms that feed upon human flesh. They creep slowly, scattering toxic pollen. Vulnerable to fire—do take care of the little darlings.

Miranda Sprouts can be considered as scions/children of the Miranda Flower, similar to the relationship between Rennala and her sweetings.

miranda flower and her children in caelid catacombs

rennala and her sweetings

Rennala's sweetings will crawl/creep to attack you by chomping at the player's flesh (also seen/heard in Rennala's cutscene around 0:12 seconds).

intro cutscene

sweeting lunge bite attack in potato quality

We can find the Miranda Sprout Ashes in Caelid Catacombs, which host the Carian Blue flame throughout (also found in Caria Manor) next to a rotten Miranda sprout. It reminds me of Rennala's children who seemed to have suffered from afflictions (Rykard with his skin, Radahn and Ranni with their feet).

miranda sprout ashes location

caelid catacomb with rotten miranda next to blue flames (and two ghost gloveworts behind her)

Caria Manor with blue flame and \"sprout\" maidens

\"sprout\" maiden in raya lucaria

Rennala is able to use her children as weapons surrounded by holy light and flinging them from the above at the player, similar to how Miranda flowers can cast spears of light from the heavens to attack the player.

rennala

ouch

miranda casting spears of light

Rennala and Ranni are known to be associated with spirits and the ability to summon them. In Caelid Catacombs we can find the previously mentioned Miranda flower with two Ghost Gloveworts (spirits) nestled behind her.

rennala summoning spirits

two spirits (ghost gloveworts) right behind the same miranda flower

I put together a few images of winged snakes (literal and what I consider to be metaphorical as well) in Elden Ring.

Do you agree or disagree with any of them, and why? What do you believe is the theme being represented, if any? Are there any other examples I missed?

statues from volcano manor

deathrite bird

marika

rennala

ancient dragon (credit: zlofsky on twitter)

messmer's winged snake companions (official artwork)