Elden Ring: Could this be a friend? Therefore enemy

[Part of my Elden Ring journal]

It seems the Godskins are haunting me as I explore some towers I previously missed, which proves great practice as they fight individually in these instances and I can beat them. I also come across my buddy Blackguard deceased at the capital moat, and must fight his murderer - Dung Eater! I probably would have lost but a giant crab decided to help and kill the Dung which worked out nicely for me.

Speaking of deceased allies I also find Seluvis and Iji slain by the angry halfwolf Blaidd who I put down again in our rematch, and free hugs Fia is killed by hobo D while I deal with a lich dragon. As I opt not to slay the hobo, he returns all the equipment and wanders off to return to his hoboism. D's beast clergyman friend also goes berserk when I visit him again but he manages to calm down mid-fight, and I locate sorceress Sellen as a prisoner in another basement but am unable to set her free.

Bad dog!

With more level and upgraded weapons I return to face the Godskin Duo with Volcano Knight Bernahl and win! All focusing on one is the winning strategy. Afterwards, I have to fight and slay Bernahl because "there can be only one" I guess and then find the main boss of this floating place is the freaking beast clergyman!? Pillars help escape his robed form but when he dons his armor and hops around like a jumping jiggowat he becomes a real pain! Getting close and clubbing him to death is the only solution, and not as hard as I initially thought.

Elden Ring: Praise the lift

[Part of my Elden Ring journal]

With Stormveil conquered I revisit some sites that I felt I could handle now, killing Alduin Agheel the lake dragon, scaring off the magic dragon Adula (similar moveset), then slaying the giant slumbering dragon (tail whacking), some catacomb bosses and a magma wyrm nesting in a mine! I also light the towers of spirit mage town which undoes the magic barriers and lets me cure Millicent of the plague. This is the same girl that previously invaded me and lost an arm. Maybe there's hope for her yet?

I then try the South Castle, as random people keep telling me of a festival happening there but everyone must be lying. I have to skirt through siege artillery and sneak around the back wall to gain entrance while avoiding as many magic weapon wielding knights (and the two massive lions in the courtyard) as I can. This eventually brings me to battle against the Crucible Knight who starts out as a slow and steady heavy hitter then progresses to an airborne speedy heavy hitter. LOL I have no chance against this guy yet so I decide to warp back to the lake mire for exploration.

I'm quite enjoying the dragon fights!

Here I meet a turtle pope, the dragon Smaug Smarag who has the same move set as Agheel so is easily beaten, and the barbarianess Nepheli who helps me slay a half giant but refuses the potion Seluvis wanted delivered to her. I also finally find a path to the part of the map I've been trying to get to, by hopping down a cliff face of giant tomb stones. Only when I get there do I realize that there was ramp access past a spot I'd been in previously, and I now have the key to the magic lock on the bridge that also leads there. Even better, the road leads to some sort of gigantic lift which I can activate because apparently I found stuff for it previously and finally arrive at the Altus plateau. Servant girl Rya is waiting for me here, and offers a free warp to Volcano Manor. Sure!

Elden Ring: Let there be monarch

[Part of my Elden Ring journal]

Beyond that handsy manor is a cliff face that doesn't get me closer to where I was trying to go, but I do find the tower of doll witch Ranni who recruits me into her team investigating the treasure of Nokron City, which includes Iji, Blaidd and the sorcerer Seluvis. A quick warp back to ghost viking land lets me meet Blaidd there, but he has no idea how to get to the higher city. This time around I have stonesword keys though and I can activate the elevator to the North! This takes me up to...

What the hell, I'm back in plagueville? A narrow golem guarded valley only leads to the local PvP coliseum so I go the other way and find myself back in the horrible plaguelake. This time I fight a slow moving knight commander though, after I find out the nearby geysers can really damage him. Turns out to be a super easy job and I never even have to attack him directly! My reward for this a clue to the secret of ghost magician town: Lighting fires. Seems there's always fires to light...

Godrick the Grafted is good at lighting fires...

It's also worth noting that the soldiers here in plagueville actually have a base - a huge castle at the South most end. I opt not to raid that one though, as the "main quest" I'm supposed to be doing is raiding Stormveil Castle, which I've been so deftly avoiding until now. Using my mount to deftly skip the blockade defenses I beat up the towering gate guard with a rotten dog summon (my spare if I ran out of FP to summon ghost viking), and then sneak my way through most of the place until I find and slay the Grafted Lord who rules over it. My ghost viking was very helpful here! The Roundtable Hold members rejoice at this news and let me meet their "god", a literal silent two finger giant but basically I get "good job, now kill another lord". Lol.