Elden Ring: Time for snake

[Part of my Elden Ring journal]

Leaving Thollier in the garden, the time has come to take on the Shadow Keep which includes dodging another giant fire effigy and slaying numerous black knights. Hornsent and Freyja aid against the courtyard guardian, a golden hippopotamus that eats the hapless Freyja before Hornsent finishes it off allowing me to enter the really tall tower that serves as a research station full of inscribed stone tablets and hanging giant corpses. Among the many enemies and flame knights (not so scary since they have little poise/are easy to stagger) I assist Sir Ansbach in doing some research on Miqella and assist Hornsent in fighting off Leda who is coming to kill him!

She escapes the battle but Hornsent is grateful enough to assist in fighting Messmer, the snake and spear wielding boss of this keep. It takes me three tries to get him down then I back track to the Keep's flooded church district (jumping puzzle time) and unflood it via a handy lever? Why would that not just be open all the time? Big monsters wait in the muddy bottom there whom I skip for now, and instead find the back door where the boar riding Commander Gaius awaits! He's another tough fight until I realize all I have to do is roll INTO his attacks.

Yes, roll into the giant armored boar.

While its a dead end beyond, there are a whole bunch of Scadutree fragments to collect which are a new thing that provide bonuses to people in the shadow realm. A separate path leads to a pair of mounted Tree Sentinels who I now classify as weak, followed by some worthless snake aliens and another falling star beast which poses no threat what so ever. Beyond the next camp is true horror though... as there flocks of giant hands crawling around! YUCK!!!