I walked up the Castleward Tunnel, prepared for combat. I had already drunk my Physick, I had applied blood grease to my sword, I readied the ashes of Banished Knight Oleg, and I brushed the golden rune stones to summon Sorcerer Rogier.

  I exited the tunnel and walked forwards towards the first gate of Stormveil. The stone road was broken and cracked, covered in dirt and grass. Various swords, spears, halberds, and Shields lined the sides of the road. A few moments ter I heard the voice of Margit, the Fell Omen.

  "Foul Tarnished!"(Margit)

  Gazing up at a nearby Tower I saw a soldier transform in a fsh of golden light into a towering figure covered in rags and wielding a rge, crooked cane. The figure had numerous horns growing from the right side of their face and a long tail swung from behind them as they spoke.

  "In search of the Elden Ring. Emboldened by the fme of ambition... Hrah!"(Margit)

  Margit Leaped up into the air and dropped down in front of the Gate. Standing tall, over seven feet, he brought his crooked cane up as if it were a club.

  "Someone must extinguish thy fme. Let it be Margit the Fell!"(Margit)

  I quickly backed up and summoned Oleg. Rogier also moved in, casting a spell that brought several glowing blue swords into existence around them. Margit swung his cane and tail in a spin, crashing into me and sending me flying back towards the Tunnel. I saw that almost half my HP was gone, and I certainly felt that damage. I brought my fsk of crimson tears to my lips and drank, feeling the power flow through me, washing away my wounds.

  I looked up and saw Margit smash Oleg into the ground before turning towards Rogier. I moved in and swung my bde across Margit's back. I swung again as Margit knocked Rogier back with a stab of his cane. I noticed Oleg getting back up as Margit fell forwards, I saw the guidance of grace showing me a critical weakness. I took advantage of it and stabbed Margit in his neck. I wrenched my bde free, knocking Margit back towards the Tunnel, our positions now reversed. He stood and gazed at me with a piercing gre.

  "Well, thou art of passing skill. Warrior blood must truly run in thy veins, Tarnished."(Margit)

  Margit conjured a golden hammer, leaping up and bringing it down upon me. I dodged to the side, my sixth sense showing me how Oleg was crushed by Margit's attack, almost dead in a single hit. Margit Leaped aside and conjured a flurry of golden daggers to attack Rogier. I moved in to engage only to get knocked aside by a golden hammer. I quickly rolled aside from the second impact, and I drank again from my fsk of crimson tears. Rogier cast glintstone pebble, getting Margit's attention, and Oleg leapt up and made another strike.

  I rushed forwards as Margit smacked Rogier once again, almost killing him. I stabbed Margit in his back, only to sigh in satisfaction and relief as Margit's body begins to turn to ash.

  "I shall remember thee, Tarnished... Smouldering with thy meagre fme... Cower in Fear... Of the Night... The hands of the Fell Omen shall brook thee no quarter."(Margit)

  As Margit vanished fully, and his voice vanished, I walked over to the site of grace.

  "??????! ????????????!"(???)

  I walked up the stairway until I came upon the closed gate of Castle Stormveil. I looked left, towards a doorway. I walked through and heard a voice.

  "You there. Come over here, would you?"(Gostoc)

  Gostoc, the thief who steals your runes and tries to kill you with traps and sneakiness. Unlike Patches, this guy is actively malicious. Even though he was a foul person, I felt queasy at the thought of killing him in cold blood when he hasn't yet done anything. So, I calmly walked up to him and swung my sword. Channeling the anger and hatred of a dozen separate runs where his theft of my runes stifles my ability to upgrade weapons and level up, and his sneaky tricks locked me in a dark room with a banished knight who killed me over and over.

  His pain was quite visible as I cut him.

  "Bst, what's it to you! Step back, you wretched Tarnished!"(Gostoc)

  He raised a dagger and advanced upon me. Greed and murder visible in his eyes. Despite his malevolence he was no fighter, and I killed him quickly and without effort. His body crumpling to the ground as his blood pools around him.

  "Damn it all. Why is it always me? What did I do to deserve..."(Gostoc)

  I took a deep breath and moved on. Gazing out towards the cliffside. I used my longbow to trivialize the storm hawk encounter, then I equipped a heater shield and proceeded up the scaffolding on the side of the castle. The exile soldiers who were patrolling the area came out to engage me. With the heater shield, I was able to block incoming attacks and knock the enemies off the wooden scaffold.

  Most of the enemies within the castle are low-level foes. I suppose level 74 is a bit over-leveled for Castle Stormveil. Normally, even at new game plus you get absolutely bodied by the elite banished knight in the dark room. But since I killed Gostoc no one knocked me out and locked me in the room, so I was able to sneak around the banished knight and get a sneak attack on him, trivializing his encounter.

  I climbed the dder and after an encounter with a banished knight, who died easy when he turned his back, I reached another site of grace in the rampart Tower.

  After a quick breather I exited the room and found a path filled with storm hawks and a ledge overlooking a patrol.

  Man... My longbow is proving to be VERY useful... You never use it in game, but it is so good!

  With my longbow I managed to kill every single storm hawk and the patrol on the lower path without anything getting close enough to damage me. I then approached a balcony on the castle wall and dropped down onto a ledge, which led to another ledge, which dropped down onto a narrow cliffside. As I walked over a specific portion of dirt and stone I took a deep breath. The sudden drop still took my breath away as the sensation of falling took me down.

  I nded in a bush which cushioned my fall. I knew that a Crucible Knight was down here, but it should be an easier battle than the one in the Evergaol. I drank my physick and prepped some fire bone arrows and fire pots.

  Turns out, most of my preparations were unnecessary. The Crucible Knight couldn't find a path to the ledge that I was on and so was helpless under my fming arrow assault. Once the Crucible Knight died, I obtained an aspect of the crucible. The Horns aspect. I continued on, carefully moving along the cliffside. I could see why the Crucible Knight couldn't find a path to me. I almost couldn't find a path to the pce where he was standing just a moment ago.

  I did manage to climb across and made my way to the elevator that was nearby. On my way I gazed to the right, ying my eyes upon the Chapel of Anticipation. The pce where I first woke up in this world.

  ...

  Moving on I turned and entered the elevator. Getting off of the elevator at the rampart tower, I continued past the balcony and instead entered the rge church from an open window on its roof. Within the Church I walked up to a man standing near the altar.

  "Ah, nice to meet you. The pleasure's mine. Rogier's the name."(Rogier)