//------------------------------// // Secret of Caria Manor // Story: Elden Ring: The Deaths of Tirek // by Blackdrag-rose //------------------------------// The first thing Tirek did after besting Rennala, who ended up sitting in the middle of the library, was to ignite a new Grace and utilize his new Runes to ensure his power was ready for whatever was between him and his goal, since he had no idea what he might be getting himself into. Once he was done with his task he made sure that the new Great Rune was in place, as it was nice to have two of them, before teleporting himself to the area near where he fought the Glintstone dragon earlier, as it was the closest point to where he wanted to go. From there he headed to the north by calling on Torrent and rode off without delay, heading towards an area of the map that he didn't have yet, as he had found a pillar out outside the area that held the seal to the Academy and another fragment of the world map. This time around he decided to ignore the rest of the enemies that might be in the surrounding area, as he passed by a small isle that had a tower on it that had what looked like a couple of balloons that had Marionettes hanging from them, waiting to be detached to do battle. Eventually he found another pillar that rested just outside a new ruin, so Tirek added another fragment to his map before making his way to the backside of the ruins, as there didn't appear to be anyone here and he found an Illusiory Wall near the northern wall, allowing him to discover a new path, a new Grace, and a Troll reading a book. "Well, look at you... we don't receive many visitors, much less Tarnished warriors." the Troll said, showing that he was far more intelligent than the rest of his kind, or those that Tirek had encountered so far, though while he talked he set down his book, allowing him to see that he was wearing an odd mirror-like helm over his entire head, "Tell me, what brings you all the way here, to the outskirts of Caria Manor?" "I seek Ranni the Witch. Do not attempt to persuade me that she's not at the end of this path, for I know exactly where she is located." Tirek stated, though it was nice to know that the area in front of him lead to 'Caria Manor', which had to be the fairly sized castle or fortress that rested at the end of the path he had discovered, even if his eyes rested on a tower that was on a cliff just beyond the manor. "Why do you seek her?" the Troll asked, where Tirek could see that he seemed to be defensive about this matter, meaning he had to be like Blaidd, a servant of the Demigod he was after, despite the fact that he made no effort to confirm that Ranni was even in this area, no doubt to give him doubt about his plans. "My business is my own." Tirek replied, though at the same time he ignited the Grace spot and chuckled for a moment, as he could tell that the Troll, while having a large hammer nearby that could be used as a weapon to strike him down, held off on that as he studied him for a time, mentally debating whether or not he was a threat, before he recalled something, "Also, I helped Blaidd track down Darriwil." When he found that the Troll didn't move to strike him down, no doubt taking in the fact that he knew Blaidd, Tirek moved over to the path he intended to take, where he found that there was some sort of defensive spell guarding the manor, as a large number of magical arrows rained down on the path. He stood his ground as Torrent moved forward, utilizing his own power to absorb the volleys of arrows that rained down on him and his trusty steed, allowing him to steal a bit more power as they drew closer and closer to the manor's main gate. Interestingly enough he found a Grace outside the gate and quickly activated it, just to remember where he had been so far and to give him a place to revive at if he died, before entering the manor without Torrent, as there was some magic at the gate that caused him to dismount. What he discovered was that the area in front of him seemed to be a little foggy, though it wasn't hard for Tirek to see that there were some strange and kind of foul looking hand creatures wandering on the ground, along with some larger ones holding onto the sides of the buildings that were in front of him. He took in the information he was discovering and decided not to take chances, rather he rushed forward and avoided the Hands as each one realized an intruder had invaded their domain, as he hard some land on the ground behind him, where he avoided looking back as he followed the path. There was a single door along the path he was following, though he also ignored it since he knew that the doors of this place, however many there were, were likely locked and unable to be opened from this side, so he had to figure out how to get to the roof of the building it was attached to to figure out how to open the door. As such he continued into what appeared to be a waiting room of sorts, given some chairs and paintings he saw, and found that the Hands refused to enter this area, allowing him to relax a little as he found a ghost muttering to itself about Ranni, meaning he was definitely in the right place. What he wasn't expecting was the fact that there was a small church of sorts on the floor above him, containing another Grace for him to activate, and when he walked through the opening that rested nearby he discovered that he had to walk along the stone beams connecting the various towers that existed all over the manor. Tirek discovered that there were a few magical guardians along the beams, magic that took the form of Soldiers no less, a fact that didn't cause him to stop as he made his way over to what appeared to be a lift leading to the upper area, rather he simply walked through the magical Soldiers and siphoned them into his power. A few moments later the lift brought him up to a chamber with another Grace, making him wonder why the force behind them thought that so many had to be scattered all over the place, not that he was complaining since other areas were tough and they were welcome. Once that one was ignited he walked out and found that there were a few large wolves walking around a small grassy area, one he could avoid as he crossed over to some stairs and then found a ladder, something that actually allowed him to get around a Troll and a few Sorcerers. After getting around them he discovered a set of stairs leading right to what appeared to be a large courtyard or meeting area, with a number of important chairs sitting in a ring around the center of the area, so he stepped into the area before anything else happened, such as a golden mist wall appearing behind him. Sure enough he found a magical knight appearing out of thin air and proceeded to attack him, though this time he raised his eyebrow for a moment as it also attacked him with magical arrows, allowing him to absorb the power of it's attacks as he grabbed onto it's actual weapon and stabbed it in the chest. "Magical foes mean nothing to me." Tirek remarked, as the powerful creature burst into energy as he absorbed all of it's power twice over, the magic that had created it and the Runes it possessed, before he activated a new Grace and walked out though the other opening, on the other side of the chamber. Such a thing allowed him to discover that there were some ruins up here, along with three towers, though the one that was to the southeast was his target, instead of the one to the immediate south or the immediate east, causing him to ride over to where it was located. While he did so he found another Glintstone dragon hanging out in the area and, when the beast dared to attack him, Tirek lashed out with his magic as he drained the beast's attacks, something that caused it to flee before he could kill it, meaning he'd run into it later. With the cowardly creature gone he focused on the tower that he was heading towards, ignoring the couple of smaller wolves that were outside it as he dismounted Torrent and headed into the tower, as he could feel Ranni's presence at it's highest point. Like he thought there were books everywhere, which he expected from someone who seemed to be a master of the magic of this world, or a certain style of magic anyway, and he even found a Grace just before a lift that lead him even higher, causing him to activate it before facing the path he had set himself on. At the highest point, far above everything else, he found a small chamber that had a chair inside it, facing the door and the sky beyond it, and sitting on the chair was none other than Ranni herself, who raised her head for a moment as Tirek silently stepped into her domain. "Tirek... what business do you have here?" Ranni inquired, where it was clear that, despite their brief encounter, she did, in fact, remember him, even though she prevented herself from showing too much emotion, meaning she had to be a little curious as to why he was here, "I have no memory of inking you an invitation." "Ranni the Witch, I have come here for one purpose..." Tirek said, though in that moment he did something that would no doubt shock anyone back on Equus if they saw him right now, he knelt before her and lowered his head, because he felt something different when he thought of her and he was eager to see what might be in her future, "I have come to serve you and help fulfill your goals." He suspected that by walking down her path he would grow even stronger as time went on, though he was eager to see what sort of plans she had for the future and what sort of trials he would have to overcome to aid her, causing him to smile as he patiently waited for her answer to his overall destiny.