Elden Ring: The Deaths of Tirek

by Blackdrag-rose

A Terrible Surprise

After resting for a time Tirek stood up and walked over to the edge of the lake, allowing him to look out over the area that the dragon was resting in and the rest of the lake that was available for him to explore right now, so he could plan out what to do next. His thoughts were due to the fact that the dragon might be too strong for him to handle right now, yet another foe that he would have to come back to later, when he was stronger and had more than the two spells that he had access to right now, so he needed to find another area to tackle. With that in mind he only had two options if he wanted to stay near the lake, the first being investigating the path to his right that seemed to lead right to a cave, while the other had to be the ruins that were off in the distance. If he didn't want to stay in this area there was always the road that was now clear, as he found that the other knight he had seen was no longer present, confirming that it had to be a night warrior of some kind, no doubt tied to the moonlight, so with him gone he could investigate the rest of the road and see what else it might hold.

As he thought about that Tirek glanced down at the dragon once more, which was now resting where it had landed during his first, like it was sleeping or something, and sighed as he came up with his next plan of attack, because he had to search for more power before worrying about this beast.

"Very well, I'll check the ruins out next." Tirek remarked, not that it mattered since there was no one to talk to, save for his steed when he called Torrent, who couldn't talk at all when he thought about it, so this happened to be a way for him to keep his sanity while he was stuck on this world.

With that in mind he called forth Torrent and headed down the walkway once more, this time making sure to avoid even going near the dragon, he wasn't in the mood to be killed multiple times, before he stopped as he recalled that his Runes would be over there, where he died. Tirek cursed the fact that he needed them to empower himself as he changed course for a time, making sure to go in a circle around where the beast was resting so he could spot the marking that indicated where he had perished exactly, doing his best not to awaken it. He spotted his target a few moments later, resting off to the side of where the dragon was currently sleeping, though close enough to where he was sure the sound of Torrent's hooves hitting the water would awaken the beast and cause it to attack him again. Such a thing meant he would either have to do this on his own and summon his steed to get to the Grace he had rested at, or just rush through without a care in the world and hope that he was able to grab his Runes before being incinerated by the powerful dragon.

In the next few moments he made up his mind and spurred Torrent onward, where he rushed forward and leaned as he got close to where his death marker was resting, allowing him to take his Runes once more as he heard the sound of the dragon getting up. As he heard the growing growl Tirek made sure to spur his steed away from the lake, to escape what was no doubt the building up to a burst of fire that would scorch his flesh, which would incinerate him and his steed in an instant most likely, so he focused on escape. In the next few seconds he reached the path that lead down here and quickly headed back up to where the Grace was positioned, where he heard the dragon's roar as it fully woke up as he reached his destination, allowing him to touch the golden floating crystal. Sure enough his efforts were rewarded as everything in the area seemed to go back to normal, causing him to sigh as he rested at the Grace for a few more seconds, just to be sure everything was safe, before he bothered to get back up.

From there he and Torrent returned to the path leading down to the lake and avoided the dragon entirely, since this time he didn't have to worry about his Runes, before focusing on what he wanted to explore this time, the ruins that looked like a dragon, likely the one resting nearby, had roasted at one point.

What he discovered was that it was inhabited by a number of Hollows and their fallen dogs, with maybe a rat or two as he carefully circled the area outside the ruins, as the walls were mostly fallen at this point and made him wonder what they had done to piss off the dragon, to the point that this happened. After taking stock of everything that was here, and all of his enemies, Tirek dismounted and readied himself, where he loosed pebbles into the Hollows in front of him right now, finding that they either had no idea what was going on or didn't care, as none dared to challenge him. In fact the dogs and the rat he had spotted were the only ones that were aggressive to him right now, as he had to avoid being bitten or even hit by them as he lashed out with his magic, though he was fine with this since he didn't have to worry about the dragon flying over to see what was going on. He carefully moved through the ruin as well, making sure he could see what was on the other side of the walls before he actually did anything or revealed himself to his enemies, absorbing their Runes while littering the ground with their bodies, since none of them dissolved upon their deaths.

After clearing out the ruin he found the area that the rat had been guarding and discovered that it had been protecting a gray stone that was shaped like a dagger and had some key markings on one side, a Stonesword Key he guessed, which he pocketed before exploring the rest of the area. Tirek discovered a few fallen golden discs that looked like a collection of Runes, likely a number of them packed into a sealed container or something, where he suspected that if he shattered it he would absorb the Runes and be able to use them in addition to what he had on him at the time. He also found a passage leading down into the depths of the ruins, two to be exact, where one was on the outskirts of the ruins and one was in the center, so he tackled the outer one first and found that it lead to an iron door he had to lift into the ceiling. Such a thing let him find that it ended in a single chamber with a wooden chest, where he opened it and found a weapon inside it, which had a blade on either side of the handle, a 'twinblade' he guessed, an item that he added to his item pouch before making his way to the second one he had found.

At the bottom of the second passage he found a large chamber with a few rats, which he quickly dealt with before raising the iron door and approached the chest, but as he opened it the chest released some white smoke that enveloped him in seconds, causing the world to go dark... only for Tirek to reappear in what appeared to be a shack in the middle of a mine, due to the earthen wall outside.

"What the... where am I?" Tirek inquired, where he pulled out his map not a few seconds later and found that his marker was no longer in the Limgrave section of the map, rather it had enlarged slightly and revealed that he was to the east of the province he had been carefully exploring, and, more importantly, he was unable to warp out of here, "Great... guess I'll see what sort of trouble I'm in now."

As he peeked outside the doorway, however, he found someone who walked slowly and seemed to be made of earth or even stone, while there was a chest near him that only had purple crystals inside it, causing him to sigh as he pocketed his new treasure and studied his surroundings. He was, in fact, inside a mine, based on the tiered levels that had paths made out of either stone, as in hewed from the ground itself, or made of wood that had been hauled in so the workers could do their work, before he heard something above him. In that moment he found what appeared to be some sort of insect or centipede human who carried a glaive, a pole weapon with a curved blade at the top, in one hand, as it looked like it had multiple hands, but it seemed to be commanding the Earthen Miners. As he listened to it, however, Tirek heard the sound of multiple Pests, he had nothing else to call them right now and he didn't want to spend too much time worrying about such a thing, before he determined that he needed to leave before something terrible happened.

The instant he tried that, so he could figure out where to go so he could leave, he heard a hissing sound and noticed that the Pest that was on top of the shed he had appeared in had noticed him leaving the container, where it lifted it's weapon for a moment and did what seemed to be a dance, before white strands burst out of it's back and struck him in the chest, killing him instantly. Instead of reappearing at the last Grace he had visited, however, Tirek found that he was stuck in the mine, causing him to sigh as he considered what to do next, not that it mattered since he only had one option, forcing his way out of the mine by finding the exit and the Grace it likely had. As he did that his first action was to recover his Runes, he wasn't about to lose them anytime soon, if he could help it, before searching for an opening or a path he could use to get out of here, where he spotted one down in front of him and heard the sound of the Pests hissing. With no time to do anything else he rushed down the path and found that he was able to avoid more of what he assumed was sharpened string, crafted to a point where it could do some serious damage to their targets.

He wasn't sure if luck was on his side or not, but at the end of the short tunnel he found a Grace on the level below him and jumped down to it, activating it and resting before any of the Pests followed after him, causing him to let out a sigh as he channeled his Runes into new power before something happened to him.

Once he was done with that Tirek decided to leave the mine entirely, because if a foe was able to kill him instantly it meant he shouldn't be here at all, where he headed outside and immediately stopped as he confirmed that he was no longer in Limgrave, in fact it looked like a whole new continent. In the following moment he discovered something disturbing, as the sky, the ground, and even the air was corrupted by some sort of rot or foul substance, like someone's power was tainting the entire environment, before he frowned as he noticed a massive poison spewer that was releasing red gas into the air, likely a key figure in producing more corruption. Everything around him was foul and he instantly knew one thing, he had to get out of here before something terrible happened to him, which caused Tirek to call forth Torrent once more as he noticed that there was a city of some kind to the left of where the mine was located, just on some ground above where he was positioned. With a destination in mind Tirek got moving instantly, as the longer he stayed here the more he worried that he was going to be tainted by the foul corruption that was in the air, though as he did so he noticed two figures that instantly worried him, one being a large undead dog of some kind, it looked like it had been bulked up by the corruption, and a large black bird that was half decayed, but still looked dangerous.

Fortunately he was able to avoid them, and what looked like a poison swamp full of corruption, as he spotted a Grace site at the bottom of some stairs, which he reached by avoiding some smaller cursed dogs and sat at it after activating it, as it meant he was able to put his mind at ease before anything else happened.

"Forgive me, Tirek, for I have been...testing you." Melina spoke up, appearing out of thin air not a few seconds after he sat down at the precious Grace site, where she glanced around at the area that was around them and seemed to be slightly disgusted by what she was seeing right now, or maybe it was his imagination, "It was merely oo see whether or not Grace truly does guide you, and... whether or not you are fit to face the challenge that such a thing entails. It seems that most of my worries were unfounded, despite your rocky start, and I must admit that Torrent had your measure from the moment he laid eyes on you, from the very beginning... whereas I merely pretended."

"Normally I'd be mad at someone testing me, pretending to be an ally, I'll let it slide." Tirek remarked, because without her power to turn Runes into power there was no way he would be able to survive anything that he had faced so far, so it was in his best interest to keep her on his side for the time being.

"I understand that you are displeased with something, and I have good news: there is but one other thing I can do to offer you guidance." Melina replied, where she noted that the figure she was allied with for the time being hated being here and it gave her an idea on how to make him happy, or at least truly forgive what had happened so far, since he believed that she had been the one to bring him here, "I can take you to the Roundtable Hold... it is a gathering place of Tarnished champions, guided by Grace... you do not have to remain here."

Tirek didn't need to be told anything else as he accepted her offer, where he raised his hand and held it out as she started to channel her power, as it would be nice to get out of this area and figure out what in the world he needed to do to get his life back on track, and what to do in regards to his quest for absolute power.

Comments

[Arvers1987]

Yeah, the Sellia Crystal Tunnel is extremely dangerous at the beginning of the game. Not surprised he got one-shot.

[Arvers1987]

He is close to Sellia, Town of Sorcery. He could find some useful spells there. Also, there are a few key talismans I would recommend Tirek find. They are the Stargazer Heirloom that raises Intelligence, the Graven School and Graven Mass talismans which increase the potency of sorceries, the Radagon Icon which lowers spell casting time, and the Ancestral Spirit's Horn which restores FP when an enemy is defeated. These are all end-game talismans, but they are potent.

[ThrowingPotato]

Damn he really got sent to Calied