After wandering for hours in Leyndell, mostly rethreading the same areas over and over again, Shaw was excited to stumble upon a lift.
This lift led up to a majestic bridge, flanked on either side by solemn statues, and ending in a smoky portal.
Sadly, the portal was locked by someone named Morgott, a likely relative of Margit or Magritte (this is not an Elden Ring blog post); so it was with disappointment and a heavy heart that Shaw returned to Google/Reddit to find out where to go next, which lead her straight up the dead stone dragon’s wing.
After a little bit of exploration, Shaw found a lifesize replica of the Roundtable Hold, although this one was uninhabited and it appeared to have been abandoned for quite some time.
Exploring a little further, Shaw ran into the Lands Between most famous pair of social media influencers: Goldmask and Brother Corhyn; which incidentally, would be a great name for a hip-hop act.
Then Shaw went inside to beat on Godfrey, First Elden Lord, and just now realized while looking at the screenshot, as she typed this, that by doing so, she had unlocked an additional talisman slot. Yippee.
Now that Shaw had defeated the golden glowing ghost of Godfrey, she was free to explore the building and its surroundings. She wondered why the Erdtree leaves were greenest on the branches that got little to no sunlight, but it certainly made for a soothing interior decor.
Outside the building, the adjacent balconies were literally littered with the corpses of dozens of finger-reader crones. What happened to them?
Further up, she came upon the queen’s bedchamber. A rather sterile place, filled with stone tablets, and a single stone slab for a bed covered with a thin white sheet; which would partially help to explain the dearth of heirs in the royal lineage.
Just beyond the bedchamber, a sallow mistwall announcing an upcoming confrontation. The majestic, regal surroundings hinted at an epic confrontation.
Ghostly thrones hovered in the middle-distance, one for each defeated Elden Lord, while a shadowy, slightly insulting, figure slowly advanced from the top of a staircase.
A menacing shoeless figure carrying a staff demanded to know what Shaw was doing in this place.
He didn’t spend much time on pleasantries, opting instead to pull out his large, gleaming, iridescent sword.
He then uttered one last threat, which given the fates that befell his brethren, should have been far less cocky.
As expected, Shaw made short work of him.
Unfortunately, the way forward was blocked by a wall of thorns, which Melina assured Shaw she could get rid of in due time.
In the meantime, Shaw went back to exploring the Leyndell sewers, in case she had missed something important, and this is how she found a shaft filled with corpses, stringed-instrument players, and coffins.
After spending roughly 30 minutes, and countless attempts, trying to reach the bottom of the shaft without falling to her death, when Shaw finally reached the bottom, she decided to strip down and open the glowing fleshy door that was down there, as one does.
Once the door was open, she made a few tentative steps forward.
That’s when she saw the giant glowing fingers.
Fingers which proceeded to wrap around her naked body…
…and crush Shaw in a fist of burning flames.
Which left her charred, but mostly intact.
Although Shaw was now covered with burn scars.
Shaw immediately regretted her decision to get fingered by the frenzied flame, since it betrayed Melina’s trust somehow, and led to a bitter farewell. Oh well, according to the internet, there was a sidequest that would allow Shaw to somewhat repair the damage done.
This led Shaw on a wild goose chase looking for wherever the fuck Millicent had fucked off to. Turns out she was in the most obvious place.
Wait, was she always missing an arm? And why was the stump still bloody?
Problem fixed.
Millicent’s next location would be in unexplored territories; time to start exploring the snowy peaks of the Mountaintops of the Giants.
Bonus: Shaw may have accidentally released the Dung Eater from his cell, an action which could not possibly have any negative consequences in the future.
