The open world of Elden Ring is filled with many of the dangerous perils commonly associated with Soulslike RPGs – relentlessly powerful enemies, twisted death traps, and steep cliffs players can easily plummet from if they roll the wrong way. Elden Ring’s game world is also full of intriguing secrets, side-paths, and lucrative dungeons tucked away in strange alcoves and forgotten grottos – and how better to chronicle these secrets than from the perspective of an Elden Ring player character (and their player) exploring the Lands Between for the first time? To this end, let it be known that in the twilight of the Shattering, when the Demigods of the Lands Between had fought each other to the point of exhaustion, a lowly, humble Tarnished character seeking the Elden Ring known only as Ascalon the Astrologer, journeyed to the land of Limgrave – not for glory or Grace, but to learn forbidden knowledge and uncover ancient truths.
[Warning – Spoilers for Elden Ring’s early game follow.]
In the months leading up to the release of Elden Ring, the author of this article wrote many speculative pieces about FromSoftware’s newest dark fantasy RPG – analyzing the gameplay footage from the Network Test, speculating about the storyline crafted by FromSoftware President Hidetaka Miyazaki, his team of developers, and fantasy author George R.R. Martin. After purchasing Elden Ring upon its February 25 release, the author was faced with a quandary; write more articles about Elden Ring‘s grotesquely beautiful world, or play through the open-world RPG blind and mostly spoiler-free. How could these two desires be reconciled?
The solution was to write an article filled with secrets and lore discovered during this Elden Ring playthrough, using both fictional interludes and analytical paragraphs to recount the trials and tribulations of the author’s Astrologer PC (Astrologer being the Elden Ring equivalent to the Sorcerer starting classes seen in Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls). Ascalon has no urgent desire to slay the Demigods, claim their power, or become the Elden Lord. Rather, he seeks knowledge and understanding – a practical knowledge of Glintstone Sorceries, and a better understanding of why his ancestors were reviled and exiled from the Lands Between. He also tries – and fails – to not get killed repeatedly in the process.
Elden Ring Secrets Gleaned From The Astrologer’s Starting Equipment
“Before the Golden Order came, Glintstone Sorcerers could truly see fate within the stars, not just glimpse it darkly. But alas, those days are gone, and we live on in a fractured world.”
This is what Ascalon learned from his academy teacher, a weary, sad stargazer who shivered in his robes at night and polished his brass astrolabes with trembling fingers. The other Astrologers in Ascalon’s class, upon learning of the glories they had lost, were also seized with a quieting melancholy. But for Ascalon, this knowledge of loss lit a flame of ambition within his heart. If long-lost Grace could be reclaimed by the Tarnished peoples, couldn’t the legacy of Caria and the old Academies also be restored? Surpassed, even?
The answer to such questions, if any existed, surely lay in the Lands Between. And so Ascalon the student Astrologer took up his teacher’s staff and his mother’s old side-sword, setting out on a journey to the home of his exiled ancestors.
The starting equipment for Elden Ring‘s powerful, magic-wielding Astrologer class is clearly the garb of scholar, not a trained warrior. The Astrologer Hood, Gloves and Robes are each described as being made of “fine, supple cloth” and the Astrologer Robes have a brass astrolabe (historically used to navigate by and chart the stars) dangling from the belt. Every article of Astrologer clothing also contains the following line:
Worn by those who look to the cosmos above.
They read fate in the stars, and are said to be heirs of the glintstone sorcerers.
But alas, the night sky no longer cradles fate.
This description, the descriptions of other Glintstone Sorcerer-related items, and the dialogue from sorcerer NPCs in Elden Ring paint a picture of a world where both Astrologers and Glintstone Sorcerers have lost much of their former power and glory – their ability to commune with the cosmos somehow blinded or limited by the Demigods, their Golden Order, and their Erdtree. Knowing full well what Glintstone Sorcerers used to be capable of, Ascalon’s journey is driven in part by a desire to reclaim and surpass the power and wisdom of his stargazing predecessors.
Elden Ring Secrets Gleaned From The Fringefolk Hero’s Grave Within The Stranded Graveyard
Ascalon’s journey did not start well. In the Chapel of Anticipation, Elden Ring’s dreadful Grafted Scion boss charged through Ascalon’s volleys of Glintstone Pebbles without a hint of fear. Gilded blades ripped through Ascalon’s flesh. He was battered, pierced, cast off the cliff’s edge, dashed against the sodden ground, killed in nearly every way a mortal could be killed. Yet still, he was of the Tarnished, and death was merely an obstacle.
Reviving in a Stranded Graveyard, haunted by foggy memories of a horned horse and a woman’s voice, Ascalon ascended a set of stairs, discovering a veil of shimmering mist – and a stone imp statue with a strange slot in its brow. Suddenly, he recognized it: this was a magical lock to an ancient tomb or dungeon of horrors, a seal that could only be broken by a Stonesword Key! Fumbling through his pack, the excited Astrologer drew forth an old Keepsake, passed down to him by noble ancestors.
If a player of Elden Ring chooses the Stonesword Key Item as their starting Keepsake during character creation, they can immediately unlock the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave area, located within the Stranded Graveyard tutorial level. Within this dungeon complex of broad ramps, alcoves, and steep drops, skilled players can pick up Rune items for leveling up, a special Seal for casting faith-based Incantation spells, another Stonesword key, and even rare items such as Spirit Ashes and Golden Seeds.
Be warned, however: the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave is an extremely treacherous area filled with perils capable of killing a player in one hit. A massive chariot of stone and spiked gears zooms up and down the ramps of the dungeon, while ghostly apparitions of Stormveil soldiers materialize in many of the alcoves where players can find shelter. With careful timing and observation, Elden Ring players can evade the ghostly enemies, drop down onto ledges where the chariot can’t go, and even find the dungeon’s boss, an Ulcerated Tree Spirit that attacks players almost immediately after they pass through the fog wall.
As the thrice-damned chariot, topped with the icon of a historic cavalry warrior on horseback, pursued Ascalon down the ramp, the young Astrologer loudly cursed his noble ancestors for giving him the Stonesword Key and making it possible for him to enter this living hell! In the brink of time, Ascalon ducked into an alcove as the chariot ground past, slumping against the nearest wall in exhaustion: no ghostly warriors there, thanks be. In the room ahead, perhaps he could catch his breath, search for an exit, acquire some items of historical, arcane, or monetary significance. Perhaps, at long last, Ascalon the Astrologer could finally start enjoying the adventure he’d embarked on!
With a light step and renewed hope fluttering his heart, Ascalon entered what could almost be described as a Bed of Chaos: a chamber overgrown with roots…and in the far corner, a pustulant, writhing tree-creature with multiple limbs and a maw frothing with golden flame. The Ulcerating Tree Spirit leapt forward and crushed Ascalon the Astrologer flat.
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Suffice to say, Elden Ring players want to find hidden secrets, but those who also want to have an easier time in the early game might be better off not following Ascalon’s example and steer clear of the Fringefolk Hero’s Grave until they’ve leveled up a bit.
