Many thanks to @BinaryApotheosis for betareading and fact-checking.
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52
Interlude - Morgott
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Morgott, Last of All Kings, tore his gaze from the boughs of the Erdtree over his horned head as he heard the click of metal boots on the stone steps up to the open-air throne pavilion. As the approaching figure crested the stairs, his golden armor gleamed in the mingled light of the sun and the glow of the tree at Morgott's back.
"Your Majesty," said Sir Kyne, his armor clinking as he knelt.
"Rise, Sir Kyne," Morgott said wearily, stepping down the last few stairs and approaching the throne of the Elden Lord. For now, as King in Leyndell, it was his. When first he took it after all his siblings abandoned the Order, he had hoped it would be a short stewardship, lasting only until the Queen and her Consort emerged from the Erdtree to set right the Lands Between.
With every passing day, that flickering hope faded still further. Morgott would be the Omen King until the Golden Order was broken utterly and all the world fell into madness and death. Even he could no longer deny that. But loyal he remained, nonetheless.
He lowered himself into the throne—a very large seat for a man, proportioned as it was originally for the massive bulk of Morgott's own long-absent father. But to the Omen King, it was almost too small. "Give thy report," he ordered Sir Kyne as the knight rose to his feet.
"We've received word from the Misbegotten scouts," Kyne said. "They have confirmed the presence of an army marching up from Limgrave, as reported by your guests. By now, the army will have finished traversing the Stormhill Pass and will be crossing Liurnia. Where they intend to go from there is not yet clear."
"Did the scouts identify a banner?" Morgott asked. "Is this Godrick's army?"
"Nay, Your Majesty," Kyne said. "Indeed, it appears the early reports of Lord Godrick's death were true. Stormveil Castle is now held by another force, with banners unfamiliar to our scouts: Three silver towers, one of them broken, on a black field dotted with stars."
Morgott frowned, leaning forward. "I know not this iconography. The stars call to mind the ancient Astrologers… perhaps the Academy? But no—we would have heard if Raya Lucaria were opening its doors. Doubly so as a herald of invasion. Perhaps some local rebellion to Godrick's rule. If he is dead, who now possesses his Great Rune?"
"It is not yet clear," said Kyne. "But—well, to answer your earlier question, the army marches under the red lion of General Radahn, and by all reports the Starscourge himself is at their head."
Morgott drew back. "Radahn liveth?" he asked. "Our scholars concluded that the falling stars some weeks ago were the result of his death."
"It appears he does, Your Majesty," Kyne confirmed. "And some of the scouts suspect that
he may hold Godrick's Great Rune, now, in addition to his own."
"Thus making him the best claimant to the Elden Throne," said Morgott grimly, "if only he were not a traitor." But even as he said it, his certainty wavered. Radahn's treason in particular had never been as rank as those of most of their siblings. While the man had quit Leyndell after the Shattering—despite Morgott's own efforts to compel him to remain—he had only returned to the fief he had been assigned by Queen Marika herself in Caelid. He had remained there until Malenia's assault. Some claimed that he had been gathering an army in Caelid with which he would march north, claiming the Great Runes as he went. Others said he had simply withdrawn to see which of the Empyreans would emerge as a claimant to Queen Marika's godhead, intending to cast his loyalty behind whichever nascent god would best suit him.
At the time, Morgott had not seen a difference between the two possibilities. Radahn's role should have been here, in Leyndell, trying to restore the Golden Order. But as months of sitting the Elden Throne turned to years, his conviction wavered. Perhaps there could
be no Golden Order without a god in the Erdtree, and perhaps with the Shattering of the Elden Ring, Queen Marika's time was truly ended, never to be restored. Perhaps one of her Empyrean children
would need to take up the mantle.
And yet, which? he thought helplessly.
Malenia, who devastated Caelid, who is halfway a vessel of the Rot already? Miquella, who hath declared open sedition in his Haligtree? Ranni, who vanished before the Shattering and hath not been seen since? None are suitable. None are loyal.
But how could Radahn have gotten Godrick's Great Rune? Morgott suspected he knew who had claimed it from Godrick's corpse. He remembered his most recent excursion from the Capital in his guise as Margit, his exploration of Godrick's defenses as he made contact with several of his long-scattered Night's Cavalry. Barrett-12, whom Morgott had called
Unstrung One at the time—an unintended insult that he had come to regret—had claimed he was bringing someone to the base of the Erdtree. He had known about Morgott's seal, though he had perhaps not understood all of its significance, and had realized that he would need two Great Runes to break it.
Could he have challenged Radahn and been defeated, perhaps? Had Godrick's Great Rune pilfered from his corpse by the Starscourge?
Morgott grimaced. Barrett-12 was, by all accounts, unlikely to want to insert himself in the contest over the Elden Ring. He might have
given Radahn his Great Rune in exchange for passage. In which case, he—the man who had beaten Morgott's illusory guise without even
one Great Rune—would be traveling with the General as he marched north.
"Your Majesty," Kyne said, breaking into his meditations. "One of the scouts has proposed expanding the reconnaissance corps by recruiting further among the city's Misbegotten. While I understand the reluctance to further arm the Misbegotten, I am inclined to agree that it may be necessary. Without information from south of the Stormhill Pass, we are half blind."
Morgott looked Kyne in his golden eyes. "Thou claimest to
understand the reluctance to arm the Misbegotten. But tell me, Sir Kyne, dost thou
share that reluctance?"
Kyne hesitated, his eyes darting first to Morgott's half-shorn horns, then to the boughs of the Erdtree stretching over the Altus Plateau. "…I do not, Your Majesty," he said finally. "The Misbegotten of Leyndell have been invaluable these past several years, as the long war fades into a stalemate. They have served loyally and without complaint. And… it has become clear that perhaps, if there is a curse upon the souls of those possessed of… bestial parts, that is a curse that the best among them can certainly overcome. Perhaps there is something admirable in that—perhaps it is nobler to be a being born bereft of the Erdtree's light and to find it even so, than to be born in the bosom of the Order and simply never stray."
One part of Morgott instinctually rose to chastise Sir Kyne for his flirtation with heresy. But the better part of him by far was touched. Humbled by the faith the loyal knights of Leyndell, these noble men and women of the Golden Order, showed in the twisted Omen King. "Very well," he said after a pause. "Thou hast mine approval to expand the scout corps. Find those Misbegotten which come recommended for their loyalty and wisdom, particularly those whose wings have the strength to bear them, and give them arms and training. I shall also leave the Capital again soon to solicit reports from the survivors among the Night's Cavalry."
"Yes, Your Majesty," said Kyne. "Your guest also requests an audience whenever is convenient for you."
"I will speak with her in the library," Morgott said, standing. "Thou hast given leal service, Sir Kyne, and it doth not go unappreciated. You may go."
"It is my honor to serve, Your Majesty." Kyne gave a deep bow, then turned and left.
Morgott watched him go, then glanced up at the boughs of the Erdtree over his head.
Last of All Kings, he thought mournfully. This city was full of men like Sir Kyne—loyal, good-hearted men, who sought only to serve the Golden Order and protect its innocent people. And with every passing year that this long stalemate stretched on, more of them died. The Lands Between needed a god, and the only one they had was still sealed inside the Erdtree.
He sighed, then stood up and left the pavilion.
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The woman was reclining on a couch reading a heavy, leather-bound tome when he ducked his head under the doorframe to enter the royal library. The light of the crackling fire beside her was reflected in the smooth silver curves of her metal plated face, and her glowing red eyes moved quickly as they roved down the page. She marked her place with a scrap of ribbon before closing the book and looking up at him. "King Morgott," she said with a nod and one of her strange smiles, the plates of her face shifting just so to turn the corners of her mouth upward. Her voice, too, was strange—deep and throaty, with an accent unlike any he had heard before.
"Lady Parvati," Morgott said with a nod, sitting down at his own extra-large armchair beside the fireplace. Leyndell was far enough north that the added heat was welcome. "Sir Kyne brought word that thou wishedst to see me?"
Parvati-9's lips quirked in an odd expression, difficult to read in her metal features. "I didn't mean that you should come wait on me, Your Majesty," she said. "I'm happy to go to you, with your invitation."
"Consider such invitation granted, then," Morgott said. "But I had hoped to come to the library in any case. I must consult the records on General Radahn."
"Ah. I've encountered mention of him in my research. The one they call 'Starscourge', yes? A fascinating figure."
"We had thought him dead when the stars fell, not a fortnight ere your arrival," Morgott said. "But it seems whatever happened that day, he survived it. Now he marcheth across Liurnia at the head of an army, and as yet I know not his purpose or destination."
"Do you think he comes to Leyndell?" Parvati asked, sitting up and setting her book aside.
"I think it all too likely," Morgott said. "But Radahn's reasons for leaving the city at the outset of the Shattering have never been entirely clear. It is difficult for me to guess at his motives. He might march on Raya Lucaria in vengeance for their betrayal of his mother, or to put his family's estate at Caria Manor in order. Or perhaps he hath another purpose entirely. I cannot say."
"Even if he does march on Leyndell, it might not be as an enemy," Parvati pointed out. "By all accounts, in the early days of the Shattering he was content to remain in Caelid. I skimmed some histories of the last century, and no account is made of any great battles fought in or around Caelid save the one where Malenia unleashed the Scarlet Rot." She frowned. "I don't suppose there's any way for me to acquire a sample of the Rot for study?"
"I should hope that no trace is to be found of the Scarlet Rot for dozens of leagues around Leyndell," Morgott said.
"True, that would be for the best."
"There is another confounding factor," Morgott said. "Thy fellow, Barrett. I told thee I knew of him, yes?"
"You did," Parvati said with a small smile. "Though you offered little explanation for how—only that he had last been seen in northern Limgrave, and would likely make his way here eventually."
"I gave thee little explanation because there are secrets wrapped within it," Morgott said. His identity as Margit, the Fell Omen, commander of the Night's Cavalry, was not something to be shared with someone not deep within his confidence. Though he might enjoy Parvati's company and value her quiet wisdom, the fact remained that she was an outsider and a guest. Not one to be told such secrets on a whim. "But I can tell thee that he was at Castle Stormveil seeking the Great Rune held there by Godrick the Grafted. Another such Great Rune is held by Radahn. It seemeth likely he would have gone to Caelid after defeating Godrick. The fact that it is Radahn, and not Barrett, who hath emerged from Caelid is cause for some concern."
Parvati's luminous red eyes sharpened, narrowing as she gazed at him. "...Do you think Radahn has killed Barrett?" she asked. "Vishnu hasn't fixed my ansible just yet, so I have no idea whether Thermidor has made contact with him."
"I've gathered that thy kind are not easily slain," Morgott said. "But it doth not seem impossible that Barrett hath something to do with Radahn's sudden movements. What part he hath played in them, I cannot yet say."
"I trust Barrett," Parvati said after a pause. "Both in the sense that I trust his skill, not to be easily put down even by a demigod, and in the sense that I trust his judgment, not to be the unwitting agent of a man who would attack these lands as a conqueror. That's not his way—not
our way. But yes, I agree that Barrett likely had some part in whatever has been going on to the south. Hopefully I'll be able to tell you exactly what, once my ansible is repaired."
"With luck." Morgott shook his head. "Enough of my concerns. What didst thou wish to discuss?"
Parvati considered him for a moment, then gestured at the tome beside her. "I've been trying to trace some of the early history of the Golden Order," she said. "It is difficult for me to sift between the historical facts and the subsequent mythologization. There is a surprising dearth of primary sources from the Order's early history, given that by all accounts there was no absence of writing or skilled scribes at the time."
"Mythologization?" Morgott asked. "I understand not what thou meanest. My mother was a god in truth—accounts of that divinity are far from mythology."
"That's not what I doubt," Parvati reassured him. "Although, another time, I'd be interested in discussing a strict definition of divinity—I've encountered multiple beings which were called gods, and not all used the same meaning of the word. But I don't doubt Queen Marika's divinity. My unanswered questions are regarding more specific events. For instance…" She picked up the book and thumbed through it, finding an early page. "It is recounted in a few places that Queen Marika was chosen as an Empyrean by the Two Fingers and ascended to the Erdtree to claim the Elden Ring. What is
not clear is whether and why the Elden Ring did not already
have a god in possession of it. If so, whom? And why did the Two Fingers deem that they ought to be replaced? If not, why? What happened to the previous god in the Erdtree, and the previous Elden Lord?"
Morgott leaned back in his seat. "I have not the answers to all of these questions," he said. "I know that the earliest records say that the Elden Lord before my mother was the Dragonlord Placidusax, but I know nothing of the god he served. I also do not believe most of the wars my mother fought to claim the Elden Ring were against the ancient dragons of Farum Azula—they did not rise up in significant numbers against the Golden Order until Gransax's invasion of Leyndell many centuries later."
"So where were they when Queen Marika and Elden Lord Godfrey were taking Placidusax's vacant throne?" Parvati asked.
"I cannot say." Morgott considered her. "I do not ask
whether it mattereth, for I know thou wouldst not ask these questions if they had no import. But I do ask
why it mattereth."
"It matters," Parvati said, "because we now find ourselves in a situation where the god in the Erdtree, and her Elden Lord, are absent, and the Elden Ring itself is unclaimed. If we can understand how Queen Marika turned a world in chaos into one of Golden Order, we may be able to chart a similar course out of the Shattering."
Morgott grimaced. "I remain loyal to the Golden Order."
"Yet it was your mother who shattered the Elden Ring," Parvati said. "The god of the Golden Order itself. And she left no instructions for what was to be done with the shards, whether they were to be reassembled, and by whom. The Erdtree's inner chambers are sealed, so we cannot ask her." She shook her head. "I don't mean to make you doubt anything, King Morgott. Your decisions since taking the throne have been very, very near to the ones I made when I was Warlady at New Delhi. But you know as well as I that the current state of affairs is not sustainable indefinitely."
"No," Morgott agreed lowly. "No, it is not."
"That is why I am studying the early days of Queen Marika's reign, her ascendancy to power," Parvati said. "Because that seems to me the best way out of our current mess."
Morgott nodded. "I may not have answers to most of thy questions," he said. "But if thou hast others, pose them. I will answer what I know."
As he began fielding further questions, part of his mind was thinking on what she had said.
Thou mayst mean not to make me doubt, Lady Parvati, Morgott thought.
But perhaps that is why thou hast managed where none other hath.
Morgott, Last of All Kings, still loved Order. He always would. But he was beginning to wonder, through the questions and studies of his guest from far away, whether Gold was the only shade of Order to be borne.
