Perfumers and Omenkillers Deep Dive | Elden Ring Lore

[@lalonmallosson208]

It's fascinating how perfumers, seemingly a very small aspect of the lore, ends up being connected to nearly every major aspect. I did not expect this, but it was a welcome surprise

[@CheckUnderYou]

I'm still surprised they didn't make the video twice as long, seeing as how the depraved perfumers seem to be directly connected to the nomadic merchants. They may have saved it for another video.

[@wind-flower]

These kind of microcosms are a really interesting part of Souls Game lore. You could easily write a multi-book fantasy saga based on the pointers in this video alone ... it's amazing how dense it is.

[@holyphrofici]

@@CheckUnderYou I just ate.,…”9

[@holyphrofici]

Mmmm

[@Gwyn1stborn]

Immediately thought they were interesting and cool as hell. Only missing plague doctor beak mask but that would have been too cliche

[@dtsnelson]

Rollo's story gets me every fucking time. Dude was trying his best to keep everyone safe, and lost everything in the process. I think people always forget that without the propaganda, and control of information the royals had someone like Rollo who was super committed to the safety of everyone could've done great things, but instead they were lead to be a monster by the powers that be.

[@joshuakim5240]

A man who sacrificed everything to protect others from monsters ended up being misled into becoming a monster that does nothing but hurt others.

[@KonRoge11]

Because the Greater Will is a germophobe who calls the Crucible-born Omen Loathesome

[@potatoterror]

I guess it not good for publicity if the New King is an omen

[@theobell2002]

"Stop politicizing my Elden Ring 😡" - Gamers

[@joshuakim5240]

@@theobell2002 Pretty sure that the main argument about political stuff is that it should be as fictional as possible with little or no relation to any real-world ongoing politics (mainly because that ages extremely poorly as times change). Everyone looooves fiction politics that is extremely far removed from reality (Fallout, Dragon Age, Warhammer, Dark Souls, etc are 90% politics in their lore) due to how uniquely unlike reality they tend to be from real world politics. But they hate it when a game's politics are based entirely or heavily on real-world events since that's very lazy, uninteresting, uncreative, and oftentimes inconsistent with the game's own setting. Anyone who wants to learn about real world politics will learn about it since it's really easy to do with a google search. That google search is also why real-world politics in games is lazy and uncreative since that's how the material is obtained and copy-pasted with no imaginative flair.

[@galacticnightmare]

Just a thought: the land octopus require humans for reproduction and their parts are used in the blood boil perfume, another connection to humanity in the recipes.

[@omnissiah6697]

I’m sorry they require humans???? Do I even want to know how that works?

[@KitsuneShapeShifter]

For... For reproduction?

[@JM-iu7qx]

@@omnissiah6697 If you look at the Land Octopus Ovary it mentions they're full of human blood (presumably from people the octopus has eaten).

[@ghoulbuster1]

"require humans for reproduction" "octopus" _"reproduction"_ *The Implication*

[@amberhernandez]

@BearSeek Berserker And the FromSoft vore obsession continues!

[@ozsun9736]

Finally we have arrived at a time where acclaimed youtubers have covered what to them seemed to be most interesting about Elden Ring, leading to them covering more obscure topics like the Miranda Flowers! This is showing that the Game really is full of details in every single part of its World! Most people would say a full first blind playtrough is the best way to experience the Game, but what im saying is, that the more you know about the Worlds Backround, what everything represents and how its all connected really catapults my enjoyment trough the Dark-Souls-Lover roof!

[@___.51]

You think the same way I do 😂 I’ve been waiting for lore videos on topics like this

[@elwynn9931]

Absolutely. This game is meant to be played multiple times. Just the gameplay alone is designed to give you a ton of options to entice you to try a different build each time. And the experience is enhanced each time you learn something new about the lore of the game, giving a deeper and richer look into the story.

[@sono1951]

​@scalpel exactly. blind playthroughs leads to the big "wow" when you start piecing the world for yourself.

[@jackreacher7495]

Preach. I can't stand how people say the last third of the game is lazy with copy/paste enemies and has no environmental storytelling. Thing is, the world beyond the Forbidden Lands has so much copy/paste because it shows us all the dirty secrets of Leyndell and how much they've stolen from their predecessors. The giant crows and dogs that are in Mountaintops and Caelid, they're strange because they seem to have come as a result of a mutation of the Rot Goddess, given how sudden and horrible their presence in Caelid feels when you stop and consider the human settlements these monsters now surround and nest near. Point is, upon replaying and seeing so many similarities between the Outer Gods, it makes me feel like the Fell God, Goddess of Rot, and Formless Mother are all related or are many faces of the same malevolent deity. Like, come on: a twisted, fiery presence which haunts your very blood and mutates and twists all it touches. It vies to ravage the land and wrest control over it from the Greater Will. It's a theory. And it all started from me realizing how Fell God and Goddess of Rot and Formless Mother (those bloody crows in the swamp) all seem to have the power to mutate wildlife.

[@jameskazd9951]

@@elwynn9931 i havent yet finished my first playthrough, currently doing a spellsword build (intelligence strength and some dex) but am already thinking about future builds. next build will probably be a faith/dex build with an emphasis on weapon buffs. i have played through most of the game blind and am just now watching videos on it, im around level 80 but i feel like i am missing so much as there is a lot of hidden or hard to find things

[@HenryGreenEngine3]

"Depravity is only depravity until it outcompetes: then it becomes mainstream as everyone gets onboard," Words to remember. Bless you lads and your fantastic Elden Lore.

[@a.r.h9919]

Fashion pretty much is the bread and butter of society

[@summonfish]

I’m still so sad that the musical perfumer was patched out. I listened to that tune for at least half an hour before I accidentally aggroed them.

[@joshmay2944]

Wait he was patched out?! When? That was one of the most magical moments of exploring Leyndell

[@IsaacClodfelter]

For real, why though? It was entirely functional and only added to the game. It is not like it was bugged but charming it was just a good part of passive story telling. I hope you are mistaken.

[@mac1bc]

Huh? If you are talking about that violin enemy in the capital, he's still there. I just found him yesterday

[@XonixDerps]

@@mac1bc The one in the video, inside the hidden village for the albinerucs

[@mac1bc]

@@XonixDerps ok I don't know about that one

[@arabidllama]

Some *really* good cinematography here! The shot at "let us return to Rollo" after the omen section is gorgeous

[@adiksaff]

23:27 for those looking to witness the great cinematography again.

[@briankay3146]

That yellow fire also looks like the wraiths that you can summon by ringing an accursed bell. The accursed that ring those bell as well are hurt by healing spells it seems that this curse energy is opposite from healing and the Greater Order/Erdtree.

[@Exisist5151]

I have a feeling they’re connected somehow but can’t find too much concrete information on it. Purely because we see it on the Eclipse Shotel, Wraith Calling Bell, and the Omen Bairns all have the same looking effect. The Wraiths summoned by the Wraith Calling Bell are said to be the spirits of those who died cursed. The Regal Omen Bairn also says that it summons wraiths. The only outlier is that the Eclipse Shotel is said to be lit with the Prince of Death’s flame. The only tying element I can think of is that you can’t get more cursed than what Godwyn has to go through.

[@TheHarrisontemple]

@@Exisist5151 well maybe it has to do with what Miranda flowers eat they are maneating plants perhaps they are fed the cursed.

[@asdergold1]

@@Exisist5151 more his corpse, which is buried in the Erdtree's roots. It's kinda funny how close it is to the 3 fingers.

[@grfrjiglstan]

So any way you slice it, the art of perfuming involves either consuming liquidized human remains, or spraying them upon your enemies. You've gotta wonder, was that a George thing or a Miyazaki thing?

[@MapleFried]

As with most things in the game, probably a combination of both. One probably came up with the basic idea and the other elaborated upon it.

[@andrewbowen2837]

I'd wager a Michael Zaki thing. George was mostly hands off and probably only wrote stuff relating to the gods and their history

[@SuperNeilAdams]

@@andrewbowen2837 Unless From release their GRRM literature we'll likely never know exactly how many ideas he gave them to work from, but I suspect you're underselling it a little. He wasn't involved in the game development process but that was never his remit, he was tasked with developing the lore for a new fictional universe and you have to imagine he gave them a lot of detailed notes, I doubt they just got a couple of a4 pages describing the main bosses. The name "Miranda" following George's GRM motif kind of lends to the idea that George did in fact go into some further detail on the flowers in his manuscripts.

[@energyfitness5116]

Alchemy. Look into the Calcination and Putrefaction ideas. Also think: soil is dead stuff consumed and turned into reduced waste that other things live in/on. One strata of the environment feeds the next, which feeds the next. Elden Ring is pretty heavy with Alchemical motifs.

[@schnoz2372]

I think george for sure

[@IdToaster]

"Why not make a perfume to instill fear and panic in the enemies' hearts?" Maybe they couldn't in time for the war... or maybe there was a line even the perfumers weren't allowed (or were too afraid) to cross. It's worth remembering there are Miranda flowers in Liurnia whose pollen causes Madness, which sounds perfect for the task... except that that particular trait likely came from eating the flesh of those of the Frenzied Flame Village nearby. No matter how dire the Shattering was, I doubt the forces led by King Morgott (who personally sealed the way to the Three Fingers) would be permitted to use such a thing. Assuming that any perfumers would be willing to experiment that closely with such maddening ingredients, of course.

[@luvlols4462]

The perfumer has to hold the bottle in his mouth before diffusing it. So the panic and fear would also have an impact on him which might be too dangerous for his allies. Another possibility is that frightened, panicked creatures fight much harder than when just squabbling over resources and territory. It could have been an inadvertent buff for the enemy.

[@abigcupofwater]

Cool! The perfumers and the Zamor are the two factions that really stuck out to me in this game

[@darkhobo]

Zamor are interesting. Very Sidhe and/or Other like. And the only race describes as "long lived" besides Marikas Numen.

[@Shmethan]

@@darkhobo interesting! I wonder how deep their lore goes, there are a few different pre-erdtree races like them & the alabaster lord's & the nox, I wonder how much they'd interacted back in the day

[@tonyogar6936]

Thanks for this piece. For a seemingly minor group (at least I thought so until about 50 mins ago) there is so much lore. This in my opinion is what, I'm finding out as a new Souls player, makes FromSoft games stand the test of time - not graphics, not mechanics, not even the exhileration of beating Malenia or Radagon, but the attention to detail - the lore. Everything has a story, a place, a function in the game. I'm on my fourth playthrough and finding out more and more everyday.

[@iamamaniaint]

Hell yeah! It's so exciting to see people getting into this for the first time :)

[@splunkmastah4609]

I always thought that the perfumers in Leyndell were operating an opium den of sorts for their own ends. Interesting.

[@eliaspanayi3465]

At first I honestly thought they were just traveling cologne salesmen that nobody liked for some reason

[@splunkmastah4609]

@@jeffcarroll1990shock I think it's interesting that what's happening wasn't what I had interpreted. I dunno who got on your bad side today pal but leave me out of it.

[@rdc4461]

The Lands Between drug trade

[@ironbadger8985]

Christmas came early this year.

[@AP-qr8en]

So did I

[@sachahjkl]

That's because santa came early

[@SuphaNinja]

Amen brother

[@julianlee7870]

@@sachahjkl oh that naughty old elf

[@alexgroot2508]

The Perfumers had completely passed me by during my playthrough and now I'm itching to do a perfumer lore run. Spectacular video, really like the subjects you tackle. Looking forward to more!

[@hunterburguillo5891]

Lol. Doing the same. Using arcane and dex. Arcane for obtaining mats and inflicting status. Dex, since some perfumer items require dex.

[@theguileraven7014]

@@hunterburguillo5891 I like the idea of an Omen Killer who ultimately kills Morgott and takes his sword.

[@spacejam5486]

@@theguileraven7014 Bad ending

[@jeffcarroll1990shock]

Same for me. The only difference being is that I still don't care about these stupid things despite this child attempt at poetry.

[@orangerightgold7512]

the miranda flower item descriptions aren't scarcastic. I believe it is either a perfumer that is describing the flower and its components, or the effects of perfumes were so intoxicating that everybody revered the flower because it is required in every perfume.

[@cnut7383]

I assumed most of the spirit descriptions are from Roderika. Especially the ones with character that stand out

[@cbpuzzleworm9616]

Never noticed that the huge arrows were topped with incense holders for perfume warfare. That is so insanely cool. Great catch!

[@ethanbowler5879]

Just realized that miranda flowers are found just bellow the arena in the capitol... so the defeated go on to be plant food...

[@soarel325]

I’m not sure if Omens were something that began to be born later, after the Perfumers were already an established culture. Rather, as society began to turn against the Crucible sometime during Godfrey’s reign (it was still seen as divine early on when the Crucible Knights fought for him, but as civilization advanced came to be seen as “impure”, some point during his reign before the birth of the Omen Twins). Following that, I think the attempts to cure Omen appeared after the Omen stopped being viewed as a blessing, and began to be viewed as a curse. The Omenkillers’ masks to me indicate a shift in the priorities of the Omenkillers. Rollo may have been an emotionless mercy killer, but the Omenkillers we see are actively taunting and tormenting the Omens, prolonging their suffering as they kill them. I don’t think the present Omenkillers use physick to suppress emotions the way Rollo did. Omenkillers targeting Albinaurics is…interesting. Unlike the Omens, their “accursed blood” seems not to have any effect like the Omens’ blood does. Albinaurics are discriminated against since they’re artificially-created beings, but the Albinauric Shield description says that it’s mostly the Liurnia/Carian society that persecutes them rather than the Leyndell/Erdtree one. As for them using fire, it’s said only those who served the Erdtree were forbidden from using it, so maybe if you used it outside Leyndell or were not officially associated with the Church or with the Leyndell society it was fine? Fire was clearly okay for lighting, for example (there’s candles, torches, and campfires everywhere).

[@Coast2CoastFlyin]

Absolutely, I think that the current generation of Omen killers take pride and enjoyment from their 'craft' hence why they were more than happy to be employed by Rykard for his torture, or Gideon for his slaughter at the village. Alternatively, emotion is tied to decision making. Without emotion you cannot make decisions, as studies have shown. Perhaps the imbibing of this emotion killing perfume has resulted in the omen killers essentially becoming the perfect servants, easily controlled by those in power and directed to do all sorts of horrible deeds outside of their original purpose

[@anodyne-4736]

Yeah, most likely under servitude Society as a whole under the Erdtree is fine with fire as a 'tool'

[@gudmundur-heimisson]

We don’t know when exactly the golden order turned on the omen. Personally I think it happened sometime after the omen twins were born, otherwise it’s difficult to account for Morgott’s devotion to it.

[@soarel325]

@@gudmundur-heimisson If it occurred after their births, why were they imprisoned in the sewers since infancy? Also it seems to be all of human society that turned on them, it wasn't a change Marika made to the Order.

[@gudmundur-heimisson]

@@soarel325 do you have any source for them being imprisoned since infancy? I’d be genuinely curious to see it, I did a quick scan of Morgott and Mohg item descriptions and as far as I can tell there’s no reference to when they were imprisoned.

[@theDoctorwitTardis]

You have no idea how much I was looking forward to this video once I spotted the premiere of it in my notifications. The parfumers were amongthe most anigmatic and interesting factions I came across in Elden Ring.

[@pkeod]

With this work, the golden age of Elden Ring lore truly begins.

[@ChristophelusPulps]

Another note: omens weren't a new thing. They were simply touched by the Crucible, a primeval power that predated the Golden Order. The new thing was omen being seen as cursed instead of blessed.

[@turbo558]

Perfect background music selection AND at the perfect volume? 😩😩 This channel fucking slaps

[@mrloboto]

Wonderfully interwoven story from a small, otherwise undermentioned faction. Well done on your research and editing.

[@spacedoohicky]

One thing is for sure. Trying to do a perfumer character run in Elden Ring is hard. The ingredients are so scattered, and can be hard to collect. It's possibly the longest running, and hardest playthrough possible. I want to try it, but the effort is daunting. Also it ain't easy to collect the cookbooks.

[@clickbaitable6320]

I like that they are basically just Berserk’s Bakiraka one of my favorite enemies in Elden Ring even if they’re relatively easy.

[@rossknoles5117]

This has got to be one of the best Elden Ring lore videos I have ever seen. I notice the speculation, but I don't mind if it creates a story. Excellent work, sir! Thanks for the good content!

[@thebombdiggity3941]

Would suggest smoughtowns recent videos, they scratch that deep lore itch too

[@diandrea4]

Your level of insight is like no other, huge fan of your dark souls vids. I wish to gain eyes on the inside just so I can understand the story of elden ring.

[@geordiejones5618]

You've joined Smoughtown and Tarnished Archaeologist as my favorite Elden Ring lore channels. Great choices for videos that stand out and I really enjoy how your process and connect ideas.

[@Coast2CoastFlyin]

What i want to know is, what the heck are all the nobles searching/digging for that they've forgotten what it is exactly, and how/why is it tied to the ruins of the sky temple (not sold on the idea its Faram Azula, possibly another floating Dragon city) we find throughout the lands between? their most common drop is ruin fragments, they're found digging in vitually every corner of the Lands Between...why? I only bring it up here because Hawkshaw does some of the most in depth analysis of From titles I've seen, and should they ever decide to tackle that issue, I'm sure it would be very enlightening

[@The.Nasty.]

The mages like Sellen who studied the stars aspired to become star seeds, rights? That was one of their ways of ascending if I’m not mistaken. Maybe Miranda was a Perfumer who wanted to become closer to the materials she studied similar to that?

[@gunsevenwhillans420]

A year late but no they did not. The "star seeds" were actually the reason why the conspectus studying the Primeval Current was taken out of the picture - people who gazed upon it - most notably Sellen - would go mad, and they would create artificial seeds of stars out of other students, and then would study those seeds for their research.

[@SkaerKrow]

Fantastic work folks. Everything from the cinematography to the narration to the script itself. You really outdid yourselves this time.

[@ragnarok2160]

It’s always an event for me when Hawkshaw publishes a video. I don’t understand how you aren’t above 100k subs yet. You’re such a valuable aspect of the souls community that everyone who plays the games should be subscribed. Hit like and subscribe people!

[@stefvanroey8191]

Tbf i believe their channel might take off if they keep making vids of this caliber about subjects that are not really covered by anyone else yet

[@robTCGZ]

As always, the level of analysis is superb. It goes to show how much detail and nuance Fromsoftware puts into their games. And this is why their worlds work and are do immersive. It's not only the major characters or events that require polishing. It's the little things, the little idiosyncrasies that actually create a living, believable world. It's culture, it's society, it's everything.

[@RashFever26]

They are my favourite faction in Elden Ring. They have so many details, and I especially love that they used to be commanders during the Shattering.

[@ForenzaAudio]

I didn't even realize the bolts thrown had poison pouring from them! This is brilliant in tactics and HOLY CRAP I LOVE THAT YOU CAUGHT THIS!! Perfumers are one of my favorite lore pieces in the game and seeing this video just makes me all the more happier uvu

[@taylorkaykay5137]

I was searching for lore on miranda. The first lady to turn into a mirnda flower. But saw this. This works too. I wish more lore was on miranda. Miranda prayer cut item gives a little more lore on her. But not enough.

[@staxmcgee9760]

Sweeeeeet.... my favorite souls lore theorist on KZbin covering Elden Ring lore, cheered up my day immediately. Thank you!

[@JohnDoe-tt5qc]

For a possible connection between Elemer and the Depraved Perfumers, it could be that Elemer is one of the poachers they get their supplies from. The guy kills merchants in particular, and if he does it for a reason it might be to take their stock and sell it to the perfumers at his own price. Elemer himself might even be responsible for the ransacking of Jarburg mid-game.

[@mothh7600]

The depraved perfumers do operate a sort of black market so having Elmo be their supplier is very likely

[@spacemanspiff5322]

Excellent video! I never saw the giant projectiles outside the capital as being perfume diffusers - that was a very good catch! I love how you've woven together a story for these perfumers and their development.

[@LexIconLS]

Love your work! Thanks for the hard work and fantastic insights! A bit late to the party, but something to consider, provided by Tarnished Archeologist, is that people in the Lands Between are born from the Erdtree itself, and that Omens are the in-game representation, not of something new, but of the reemergence of the crucible from the original roots of the Erdtree, the current one we see in-game being a grafted on phantom tree, and not a fully corporeal one. The Omens are a representation of a late-stage aspect of real-world plant grafting where the plant used for the roots and base begins to take over, starving the grafted-on limbs of nutrients and inevitably killing it. This, combined with your insights into the relationship between the perfumers and the omen as part of an early attempt to "cure" the reemergence of the crucible from the grafted, physical stump of the phantom tree paints a pretty desperate picture as the former healer Rollo dulled his emotions so he could cut away the metaphorical "root suckers" of the failing Erdtree.

[@cappytan2626]

Y'know how there's a little ad underneath the video? Yeah, the ad was Old Spice LOL

[@feathertop]

Would love to see a video on the "beasts" of Elden Ring. I have so many questions about beast incantations, shadows, the evolution/devolution of life in the lands between, Farum azula, etc. And how they relate, if at all

[@deepfriedrobo]

Such a great video! I was surprised you were able to extrapolate so much on such few items. Never noticed the perfume on the giant arrows during the shattering war!

[@MAveric215]

Wow I was literally looking into their lore last night, crazy timing lol

[@Kuj0M0j0]

Im a little late to the party just found your videos, but you're highly underrated. The quality and information in your video is amazing. Looking forward to binging all your elden ring content

[@ShatteredPulsar]

Thank you for coming back. Ever since vatti told me about your channel i have been blown away at the lore you can peice together. Amazing work as always i had no idea the balista arrows outside lyndell were full of perfumes. So cool and makes sence why the had the bulbs on top. Thanks again for your dedication

[@splunkmastah4609]

Now this is gonna be interesting. I always thought something shady was going on with the perfumers, and that Leyndell had something to do with it.

[@puklinnn]

This video is so well done, I didn't notice it's length until it was over. It was so good to watch, gj

[@fuzzpope]

One of the absolute best Elden Ring lore uploads I've seen. Incredible depth and detail, I salute you with my follow.

[@Rakshael]

wonderful video Hawkshaw. Great dive into the inner workings of this aspect of Leyndell culture

[@Lila_S.]

Brilliant video, Hawkshaw. ER lore is vast and impenetrable in many ways, and I am always blows away by work you put in it. Thanks for shining some light on perfumers!

[@rwberger6]

I see Omens as remnents of the influence of the crucible from when it and the erdtree were connected. The crucible is gone, but its influence remains. And as another great tree the omen under its influence have no connection to the erdtree and thus no Grace.

[@wabbit2099]

Great work, as always. This channel is really one of the best sources in the community.

[@harry-matakios1344]

Left a like just because you quoted the confessions of an English opium eater , my favourite book !

[@chriswyer7144]

The "Familyyyyy" bit gets a like on its own!!!

[@tinminator8905]

Amazing deep dive into an underappreciated subculture of the lands between.

[@nbmoleminer5051]

Exactly perfectly put.

[@Yallan]

19:00 is when he starts talking about Rollo the Omenkiller, for anyone looking for that point like me

[@Redbeardblondie]

This was amazing. I don’t know how I’ve never heard of this channel before, but if this video is indicative of the quality of the rest of your work, I’ll be subscribing!

[@stefvanroey8191]

Their vid on Izalith basically set the basis upon which the whole lore community builds now. Quality is an understatement imo

[@AneggoctopuS]

What an interesting perspective to deconstruct the game!!! I can not appreciate more of your hard work! The true lore master!!

[@valormyth]

ahh how I missed hawkshaw. caught your first videos on dark souls 1 and was saddened when no uploads were coming. so excited to see these again

[@not_a_bt.wavformat2909]

I think the deathbed companions are foreign fia says she is from a land were woman like her are respected or at least aspired too and I think the perfumers are only for the lands between (but history has worked with pheromones homemade scents everywhere) Also this is very well done it’s very perfect I love this video and really respect the effort

[@mortuarycookiezshane4192]

Ah thank you!! I’ve been waiting for a good lore video on perfumers!

[@stormbreak13]

The Miranda flowers being carnivores doesn't necessarily mean the perfumers "had to harm as the first step in their healing" if they were giving already dead bodies to the flowers as food-

[@Writh811]

This was amazing. I love this, more please, more sir! Some folks are already trying to thrown in the towel on lore for Elden Ring which confused me because there is still so much to look at, it's just the rest doesn't sound as "sexy" as talking about Gods and OuterGods and game of thrones style plots.

[@nunyabisness7055]

I think you're forgetting that, while Morgott does consider himself a fell omen, a being that is inherently undeserving of love, he comes to that conclusion as a result of decades of abuse and imprisonment since birth. He's not making a rational declaration, he's trying to get love from that which abused him; the Erdtree. If you were locked in chains for your entire life, told that this was what was right and good, because *you* were a fell omen, would you be able to not have that be what you believed? Would you grow up to have a healthy conception of your existence? Would you not think that you were cursed, if that was all you were called as a child? I wanna give Morgott a hug.

[@Sophia-sh1ky]

I think with the omen bairn, the line of text comes from a mother of an omen, referring to the forced excision of the omen horns on literal babies, often rrsulting in an excess of child death. The bairns are created for the grieving mothers, so i imagine them begging not to be hated or cursed, refers to them asking their dead children to forgive them for the sins of the golden order

[@JessyLemieux]

Absolutely amazing video. So many details I had not heard about or considered before. Thank you!

[@horrorsran]

oh man, i'm so glad i watched this, i literally never noticed so many of these things that now feel like they've been staring me in the face - the perfume furniture in fia's room, the reason omenkillers know about the omen's nightmares, the perfume dispensers being repurposed in those giant arrows!! my first playthrough i kind of just dismissed the perfumers as a sort of monk-style class specific to leyndell because of how indulgent/wealthy leyndell is, plus the association with the word perfume, and they were just dangerous because Everything In Elden Ring Is Dangerous - i literally never connected the dots or saw how they evolved into part of the fabric of the military might and oppressive force of the golden order, this makes the whole view of the societal structures in elden ring so much clearer. god this game is so full of detail, it's crazy, thank you for this video!!

[@dap0]

This is one of my fav lore vids to date. Great video!

[@Niloc624]

If we believe that there is a connection between the deathbed companions and the perfumers, maybe Deathroot is the key binding them together. There are Those Who Live in Death all over the Lands Between, and their presence is attributed to deathroot, even in places there isn't any around This could imply that, after the Night of Black Knives, the perfumers may be responsible for Death spreading, a byproduct of them roaming around during the Shattering. We don't know what deathroot was actually used for, but if Gurranq is said to have a craving for it, it could have been something as simple as it's flavor or smell, addictive and eventually sinfully indulgent

[@SorowFame]

I think Gurranq’s appetite is specific to him considering his circumstances

[@ArchonJon]

Ahh shit here we go. The goat makes more

[@ReturnoftheLightning]

So, I’ll be honest, your interpretation of Gwyn back in Dark Souls pissed me off a bit, but I must thank you for what you said regarding Rollo. It would have been very easy to do a “The Golden Order irrationally hates omens because they’re ugly/different, prepare to cry”, but you went through this pretty accurately, even explaining how the omen curse affects normal humans, as we’ve seen with Boggart, or even the Albinaurics under Mohg. Rollo understands the gravity of the situation at hand, and decides to act for the greater good, taking upon himself a heavy emotional toll. My favourite minor NPC character by far, I’ll dedicate all my powerstanced jumping attacks to him.

[@jessewatson35]

Great video, I love all the linkages you found.

[@hateful8bit]

I absolutely hold Hawkshaw videos as the the BEST in analytical work for Fromsoft games. Thank you for this amazing video and I look forward to the next video.

[@sakrefunholy]

I completely missed the detail with the ballistic shots from the shattering War. I did wonder why they had a weird back for a big ballistic bolt but now it makes sense.

[@gostreiver8036]

The amount of research and story/ world building you have done, peicing things together. Should be worthy of Being hired by Fromsoft as a writer. The fact that you start out with the history and lore and show how the world depicts it in present time (where we play the game) is masterful. I hesitated to watch a 50 minute video. But truly it was like an E-book where an entire story was opened and closed to make the world more relevant and expansive. Truly wonderful work my friend

[@ToddHowardBethsoft]

I liked the part with the Tsungi horn music in the background. Seems fitting for the perfumers.

[@NihilisticRealism]

Never caught that the Huge Arrows were actuallp poison despensing devices great catch

[@ИванБанных-п6о]

what a great piece of content ty very much Hawkshaw it fascinates me how much story lorehunters are able to derive from small pieces of game elements again, ty for the story you tailored, was a very fun watch

[@doubleh3978]

The image on their robe i think it could be a reference to the rod of ascelpius with those serpents around a sort of tree or something.

[@catacutan96]

I’m at the 19 minute mark but it’s kinda weird that we seem to imply that being Omen is a bad thing. Like, the horns, hair, and skin color are all that seem to separate them from humans. I mean, even the giant omen aren’t that weird, when you consider just how many giant humans you fight in the game. Imagine being a disabled fan, or someone with an exotic condition, and watching this. Watching, like, divergent conditions being seen as a “problem” with a “solution”. It’s a bit Final Solution-y, isn’t it? I wonder if there is commentary in here. That Leyndell society had the Omen problem backwards-that it wasn’t the horns that were the problem, but the society. I mean, there exists a literal magical artifact in the game whose *sole* purpose is to tell a child, “You’re beautiful”. As a further note: *where*, exactly, are the perfumers getting the dead human bodies for their gardens? After all, if perfume is medicine, and it has to come from feeding flowers dead bodies, then why is there so much death going around? It could be chalked up to happy accidents; that maybe there’s so many healthy people going around that natural causes can meet demand. But then… why is there a perfume for casting explosions? I think back to the sheer volume of bodies, in Leyndell’s sewers. Patrolled, literally, by legions of Omen and, iirc, perfumers. I’m not sure yet what to make of it

[@mistersharpe4375]

3:42 "... even animals get drunk by mistake." Fun fact, in nature, it's mostly not a mistake, lol.

[@BeggarsNight]

Just a couple things: 1. Quotation marks are very rarely used in item descriptions to indicate opinion or unreliability. Looking at the word “loathsome” and interpreting it as a fact of some kind doesn’t make much sense, even ignoring the punctuation issue, as it’s a word signifying extreme emotions, which aren’t any sort of universal, factual element. 2. Omen horns, Godskin tails, scales and feathers are all indicated as once being seen as holy in the age of the Great Tree, long before the Erdtree. So it’s a pretty safe bet to attribute the cultural treatment of Omen as simply an effort by the Golden Order to suppress any preceding or opposing beliefs. Their immediate willingness to make use of the Omen when it served their interests is pretty telling in just how untrustworthy they are, so…

[@knavenformed9436]

Perfumers might be my favourite part of the world, but man trying to play as one especially online is so tedious when Perfume Arts are not incantations but very hard to gather consumables compared to their frequent use.

[@SorowFame]

There really should be bells for most ingredients

[@cazadora397]

Consider my mind blown... Beautifully-crafted vid.

[@ishnoll]

Perfumers straight up acting like hunters of the healing church.

[@ChristophelusPulps]

I wonder if the Miranda Flowers adapted/evolved over time in response to being harvested by perfumers, developing defenses and a taste for human flesh that they didn't have before. It would fit within the Golden Order principle of Causality. Perfumers then adapted in response, learning to harvest ingredients without harming the flowers and forming symbiotic relationships with them. Like the history of beekeeping.

[@TheKaptainKombat]

FINALLY! Now I just have to wait till I can buy elden ring so I can watch your delightfully detailed work on it! Thank you for putting so much work into these videos. I can’t explain to you how excited I am to have your channel to come to. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

[@YouTubechangedmyhandle1]

It must take a whole team to make these…..well done

[@3lithepunk]

Talking for an hour about one character of Elden ring Hell yea bois we are celebrating

[@magimon91834]

Great video there are a lot of connections here that i never made

[@shadowlicked]

this is top notch. I'm amazed this doesn't have ten times as many views. I'm on my second viewing. hope to see more eventually!

[@dylano6804]

I highly appreciate the berserk music in the background

[@dylano6804]

Oh wait is it Avitar music

[@weaselrampant]

It would have been cool to have a perfumer starting class.

[@jeffcarroll1990shock]

you mean a medic?

[@amberhernandez]

You guys produce such high-quality content; I'm about to binge your catalogue while I'm playing through ER for the thirtieth time lmao

[@ariavergil9631]

Wasn't expecting the Rome: Total War ost in a video on FromSoft lore, but goddamn if I wasn't pleased as hell seeing my two favorite franchises come together for a beautiful moment.

[@FTZPLTC]

As soon as you mentioned the idea of using Omen horns to make perfume, the idea that everything bad about the Omen is made up to make it easier to justify harvesting their horns loomed into focus.

[@thememeilator2633]

When i found out about the perfumers and saw their attacks it made me want to make a build around them, i may make a perfumer character that uses those bottles for both offenses and defense

[@warrenwoodley2708]

Top notch narration! Keep up the good work