#AND told me that he thinks i've 'ruined' cooper. ('in a good way!' he added) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

tarnishedinquirer · 1 month

Text

Case: Fort Haight

While traveling I came upon a particularly large ruin arch, bridging the gap between a cliff and a nearby hill.

As I approached, I heard someone calling out for help. Something told me that it wasn't the Demi-humans lurking below the arch. Instead, it was a pompous ass named Kenneth Haight. He looked at me like you'd look at something stuck on your shoe and couldn't even hide the contempt in his voice. Seemed disgusted that a mere Tarnished had been the one to rescue him.

He claimed to be the next in line to Limgrave, but I'll believe that when I see his pedigree. When he asked me to reclaim his fort for him, I was about to tell him to stuff it until he mentioned who had taken the castle from him.

"A knight commander from Stormveil took it. A fool, and plumb mad to boot! Simply obsessed with blood!"

That got my attention. Blood, huh? Another trace of this mysterious "blood lord"? Well, couldn't turn that down. His promised reward was as lavish as it was vague, but information is its own reward.

Speaking of which, he offered a wealth of information about Godrick. Granted, it was in the form of an unrelenting string of invectives, but it was nonetheless very informative. Doubts of Godrick's legitimacy, shameful defeats, dishonorable behavior... Granted, the source is a little biased, but I've seen nothing to contradict him either.

Had a detour on my way there involving a wolf, but I'll talk about that in a different entry.

Eventually I found my way out of the woods, but before I could assault the castle, I found myself with an army already at my back. Normally I'm better at detecting ambushes, but visibility is limited in the woods, so I rode right past a tribe of demi-humans.

They didn't really stand a chance, and after I took care of them, a nearby ghost gave me a little context. He said that the Demi-humans mother had been taken by the knight "bedeviled by blood." He implored Lord Kenneth to return, but I think his faith was a little misplaced.

So the demi-humans are attacking the castle to rescue their mother? I guess it's too much to hope for cooperation, but they could still serve as a distraction. I waited until the next wave charged up the hill and past the barricades, then looped around the back of the castle with Torrent.

Found some unusual flowers growing around the castle. Voice called the "Bloodrose" and it was easy to see why. They were slick with blood, seemed to be oozing out of their petals. It said they grow in festering blood. Cessblood, perhaps?

The voice said it was beloved by those who favored the Lord of Blood and added, "glory to his inevitable reign!"

It rarely editorializes to that extent. Was it on his side?

The demihumans did a good job distracting the the soldiers. The only one really standing in my way was a Pumpkinhead, and as tough as they can be, they don't do well against a wolf pack.

The courtyard was dominated by the massive corpse of the demi-human mother, but I didn't have much time to appreciate it before I was set upon by giant rats, presumably here for the feast. Long-necks (the first I'd seen alive) started throwing firebombs at me from above, so I had no choice but to press on.

The keep's master seemed to be your basic Godrick Knight, but as soon as he saw me, he swung his sword with an arc of blood, similar to Bloody Finger Nerijus. He was tougher than your average knight as well, but in the end, he was still just as predictable as his erstwhile brethren. He couldn't keep track of the glintblades when they were behind him.

I collected my spoils, including an ash of war for his bloody slash ability, and a Nomadic Warrior's Cookbook detailing recipes for Bloodrose. At the very top of the lookout tower, I found half a medallion depicting a masked figure.

The voice told me I could find its twin to the east, and that with the two I could get to the Altus Plateau, wherever that is. I've been east, and I don't plan to go back there anytime soon. If I gotta go to Altus, I'll probably find another way.

Task complete, I returned to Ken for my lavish reward.

A dagger. How generous.

All the voice had to say is that it was made from Erdsteel, had a grass crest engraving, and that it was a noble's self-defense weapon, all stuff I could have deduced on my own. Sensing my disappointment, he also offered to knight me into his service, all I had to do was visit him at the fort once he pacified the Demi-humans.

I'll go back and check on him later. Not because I want to be a knight to such a pompous ass, but because I want to see him squirm once he truly runs out of excuses.

Mystery: This case ties into the larger "Lord of Blood" mystery. Either Godrick was unaware of the usurpation at Fort Haight, or he supported it. If he supported it, then he must be allied to the Lord of Blood, and must have gotten something out of the arrangement. And somehow, killing the Demi-human Mother was part of the Lord of Blood's plans. I don't see the big picture here. There's nothing connecting the Lord of Blood followers I've met so far.

How does the blood knight connect to Nerijus?

Why did he kill the demi-human queen? Because blood touched by grace would not fester, and would not sprout Bloodroses.

Does Godrick know? If so, did he get anything out of it?

Is Kenneth Haight's claim legitimate? No.

Who can take the throne of Stormveil?

Post-script: I returned later to the castle. The Demi-humans had reoccupied it were none too pleased to see me, but still took orders from Kenneth Haight. So at least that part was true. Beyond that, he sounded utterly crushed. Gone was his haughty demeanor. He didn't seem pleased to see me either, but confessed that he didn't have the authority to grant me a title. He even admitted that he was not of the proper lineage and could not take the throne of Stormveil.

I'll give the guy some minor credit. He vowed to find someone who could take that throne. I'll keep a lookout, but it's a moot point until I unseat Godrick.

Additionally, during my adventures I recovered some beast blood. The voice informed me that blood with the gold flecks of grace would never rot or fester, which reminded me of how Kenneth Haight referred to the Demi-humans as outside the light of Grace. If Bloodroses grow from festering blood, then the blood of normal beasts and men could not be used. Only the blood of those who reject or are rejected by grace could sprout Bloodroses. A Demi-human queen would be a strong source of such blood.

#elden ring #elden ring lore #in character blog #let's play

11 notes · View notes

lucreziaq2001 · 6 months

Text

•TV show: "Criminal minds".

•Content warnings: Bullying the victim is blamed for and the culprit partially tries to justify, mentions of the fact that someone was humiliated in front of all his friends and his bad boy reputation was kind of ruined, mentions of the fact that a girl apparently made most of her schoolmates uncomfortable and of fights between her and another girl, plus this other girl being referred to as "vicious" by her former boyfriend and a man trying to flirt (in a way) with the daughter of the writer who is questioning him.

•Some of the lines are almost the same that are in a scene of the "Cold case" episode this story is inspired by. I did modify them a bit, though. I didn't just copy and paste them.

•Tags: @lex13cm, @golden1u5t, @avis-writeshq, @chrrysgirl, @hugyourlungs, @achillmango, @marie-sworld, @iluvreid, @babygirl-garcia, @rynwritesreid, @strangermoonlove.

The bridge to Heaven

Chapter 6: Aaron Hotchner

After hearing what Matthew had to say, as the man had predicted, everyone almost immediately agreed to cooperate.

"Good. Then if it's okay with you, I'd like to ask you some questions in another room, one person at a time" David then said, and again, everyone agreed to it.

It took longer that time, maybe because they understood that even though Dave wasn't a policeman and hadn't used the word "interview", they were considered suspects.

In the end, however, they accepted.

Aaron asked to be the first person to be questioned, just as David hoped, so the two men went into the dining room and closed the door, then the interrogation began.

"Aaron Hotchner. Elizabeth Prentiss has told me a lot about you" Dave began.

He wasn't lying.

The day after the one of their brief meeting, Emily's mother had asked one of the nurses at retirement home she lived in to look up David's phone number and had called him, mainly to talk to him about the difficult relationship between her daughter and Aaron Hotchner.

"You had quite the bad boy reputation in high school. Ladies' man, cool car" he added a few seconds later, and Aaron laughed, clearly pleased that Dave knew those things about him too.

"I still have it, actually, it's in my garage. Maybe your middle daughter wants to come take a spin. Her name is Diane, right? I've heard she's single and she and I are almost the same age" he then said, and although David didn't like the fact that Aaron was practically hitting on his daughter, he couldn't help but smile.

"Some people, at least for certain things, never change" he thought, shaking his head, then he decided to continue with the interrogation.

"I'll ask her" he replied "But let's get back to us now. People still remember those crazy races near the pine forest".

"Undefeated. All through high school" Aaron boasted "That car was like a rocket".

"Oh. Actually, I heard a different story" David replied, finally getting to the point "One night, you lost a race and were humiliated in front of all your friends by a girl".

"Who? Emily Prentiss? Oh, she wasn't like other girls" Aaron replied.

Thankfully, he had clearly changed his opinion on Emily over the years.

"You used to bully Emily at school, and after she showed you off, you only hated her more" Dave said, and as a response, at first Aaron just nodded.

"Now I regret what I did, but I also still partly think that if she had just dressed like a woman, no one would have made fun of her" Aaron told him, partly trying to justify the actions of his teenage self.

"You felt threatened by her, didn't you, Aaron?" Dave then asked him, irritated by the man's attempt to blame Emily for his mistakes.

"She made me feel uncomfortable, actually!" Aaron responded "She did it to everyone, even the girls".

"Are you saying Emily had argued with one of them too?" David then asked, not really expecting those words from the man sitting in front of him.

"Oh, yes!" Aaron exclaimed "I think you know how some women are: vicious. And my girlfriend at the time was just like that".

Then he too, just like Elizabeth Prentiss had done over the phone, began to talk about an event he had kept secret for almost fourty years.

11 notes · View notes