Before returning to Liurnia to deliver the second Glintstone Key to Thops, the Tarnished made a stop at the Roundtable Hold. Earlier, Nepheli Loux had contacted him through the golden sign he'd given her.
The message was brief: her adoptive father, Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing, wished to speak with him regarding urgent matters. The Tarnished was curious. Had the man with a hundred ears finally decided that he was a threat, or an asset?
As he walked toward Gideon's study, Ensha stood in his usual silent vigil outside the door. The Tarnished knocked, and Gideon's voice drifted out immediately: "I have been expecting you, Tarnished. Come in."
The Tarnished pushed the door open and sat unceremoniously in a chair. "What's so urgent that you've sent your daughter to play messenger?"
"You have obtained Great Runes and the recognition of the Two Fingers," Gideon said, setting down a heavy tome and looking over his spectacles. "As comrades with shared goals, I believe it is time we established a long-term partnership."
"A partnership? I thought you knew everything. What could I possibly offer the 'All-Knowing'?" The Tarnished leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand.
"Knowledge and intelligence have no end. Even I have blind spots," Gideon replied with a thin smile. "I desire information to confirm the rumors I hear. You are powerful. I provide the leads, you provide the proof. If you intend to become Lord, you must know every corner of these Lands Between. It is mutually beneficial."
"In theory," the Tarnished countered. "But if your 'leads' lead me into a deathtrap, I'm the only one losing out."
"Heh. You aren't as simple as you look. Very well... I shall have Nepheli assist you. Together, there are few foes in this broken land that can threaten you."
"Are you offering up your daughter already?"
"Nepheli is a warrior. She craves battle, and she respects your strength. It is her choice as much as mine." Gideon stood up, leaning on his staff. "Now, as a gesture of good faith, let us discuss the other Great Runes."
Gideon listed the demigods: Godrick the Grafted, whom the Tarnished had already slain; Starscourge Radahn, who halted the stars; Malenia the Severed, the undefeated Blade of Miquella; Praetor Rykard, the judge of Mt. Gelmir; Rennala of the Full Moon; and the mysterious lord of Leyndell, Morgott the Omen King.
(Morgott became the 'Veiled King,' huh?) the Tarnished thought. (He's probably hiding that Omen face of his. Always was a stubborn, duty-bound boy.)
"You possess the Rune from Rennala's amber egg," Gideon noted. "A tragic hero. She had peerless leadership and terrifying power, yet she was undone by her heart. Radagon left her that egg before he abandoned her. No one knows where it came from; Radagon's own origins are... murky, to say the least."
"And Radahn?" the Tarnished asked. "You said he 'halted the stars'?"
"Indeed. General Radahn studied gravity magic under an Alabaster Lord in his youth. When he reached mastery, he single-handedly challenged and sealed the movements of the stars. He is the strongest of the demigods. Even Malenia struggled against him."
"He's Rennala's son. A Prince of Caria," the Tarnished mused. "Why would he lock away his own family's fate? The Carians live by the stars."
"A fascinating question. He loved his family, but he idolized the Golden Order—specifically his father Radagon and the First Elden Lord, Godfrey. He wears the red hair of his father with pride and uses Godfrey's lion as his crest. Perhaps he sealed the stars to protect the Lands Between from the same fate that befell the Nox... to prevent the 'Void' from encroaching."
The Tarnished nodded. It made sense. If Radahn saw the stars as a threat to the Order he loved, he would chain them.
"But the General is a shadow of his former self now," Gideon sighed. "In the battle between him and Malenia, she unleashed the Scarlet Rot. Caelid is now a wasteland, and Radahn has lost his mind to the decay, reduced to a maddened beast devouring the corpses of friend and foe alike."
As the Tarnished left Gideon's room, he encountered a man he hadn't noticed before. He was dressed in the austere robes of a cleric, with a wooden wheel-like collar around his neck and a cloth covering his eyes.
"Ah... a new Tarnished?" the man spoke gently. "I am Corhyn. I am a man of the cloth... I teach the incantations granted by the Two Fingers."
"I've been here before, but you're a new face to me," the Tarnished replied.
"My apologies. I was away on pilgrimage. May the Two Fingers forgive my oversight." Corhyn clasped his hands in fervent prayer. "Tell me... can you still see the Guidance of Grace?"
"I can," the Tarnished said.
"Oh, truly a blessing! So many have lost the sight lately... if you follow the path, would you like to learn the holy incantations?"
The Tarnished didn't have much "faith" in the Two Fingers, but power was power. He accepted a book from Corhyn—a collection of fundamental Golden Order prayers: Urgent Heal, Cure Poison, and Magic Fortification.
However, as the Tarnished flipped to the final pages, he found something unexpected. Tucked away in the back were incantations for Flame.
Not the chaotic, world-ending Flame of Frenzy or the Giant's Flame, but a more controlled, "civilized" fire—the Flame of Slumber and Catch Flame.
"Strange," the Tarnished muttered. "A devout follower of the Erdtree teaching fire magic? Fire is the Erdtree's greatest enemy."
"It is a 'purifying' flame," Corhyn explained, though his voice wavered slightly. "A tool to burn away the rot, so that Grace may flourish. But... even I find the warmth of it unsettling at times."
The Tarnished closed the book. The Roundtable was full of contradictions. A "King" who knew nothing of his own god's origins, a "Cleric" who taught the very element meant to burn his world down.
"I'll take the book. Thanks, Corhyn."