Unraveling the Disturbing Curse of Stormveil Castle in Elden Ring – Lore Theory and Speculation

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"stormveil castle itself has a cancer" yeah its gostoc

While most of Elden Ring's music is pretty somber and dark, I always felt curious about how Stormveil's music feels like it's a prelude to something very bad about to happen. Like we are really not supposed to be here. It has this foreboding element to it that Godrick isn't the main threat of the castle, and we ought to not hang around too long, less the real danger unfolds.

In vers 1.00 the Exile guard helms and armor directly speak about the curse and the need to keep one's face and body covered, lest exposure lead to infection.

these sore-like marks on the sides of Stormveil have been living rent free in my head for 2 years now.

I think the fact that you can find the Godskin Prayerbook and the Godslayer’s Seal in Stormveil Castle further reinforces this theory. Perhaps grafting Demigods is a different/more difficult process than grafting Tarnished, and the book and seal were there for Godrick to study how the Godskins graft the skin of Gods/Demigods to their own? That would open up a whole new can of worms as to how he’d even get his many, many hands on such a thing. Did he know a Godskin personally? Were the Prayerbook & Seal some of the treasures he took when fleeing the Capital? (in which case what were Godskin-related relics even doing there?) If the book was studied by Godrick, why doesn’t he use any Black Flame when we fight him? Was he unable to master it? I’d be very surprised if it wasn’t his, because there’s no one else in Stormveil Castle who would have any use for it. Another thing tying them together, is the fact that Godskins and Dragons seem to have something to do with one another, particularly in Farum Azula with the mummified Dragon Head in the Godskin Duo Boss Room, and the Divine Towers with the Cursemark of Death in Liurnia, and the Dragon Imagery of the Divine Towers, particularly the one in Caelid. Less relevant, but still notable, is the Godskin Noble in Volcano Manor in the Temple of Eiglay. Godrick grafts a Dragon to his arm, calling it “O Kindred” implying some kind of relation? Maybe he knows something we don’t about the Godskins, Dragons, and/or the Golden Lineage…

I had a similar theory to this. Mine was that Godrick got his Great Rune from grafting a peice of Godwyn to his body which spread the deathblight throughout the castle.

I think the Pustule itself is what caused the curse. It's not wholly unreasonable, we've had other items in other From games being massively important lore objects that the players just equip as trinkets. The Pustule was the piece of Godwyn's corpse, whether already a bubbling Pustule or not, and became what we find it as after it was thrown into the depths of the castle when Godrick realised he couldn't/shouldn't graft with it.

I love the idea of a stolen relic being the cause. Honestly this makes me imagine a narrative of Godrick trying to use a piece of Godwyn for grafting, to boost his royal claim, but for one reason or another it fails-- maybe every piece of Godwyn's flesh carries the deathroot affliction. Godrick, impulsive and angry, tosses the relic down into the depths where it starts growing into the face of Godwyn and starts infecting the castle. There's scraps of fabric around the scene which suggest there were attempts to cover it up, to no avail.

It is a cool parallel, that Godrick can only graft other limbs to him, while Godwyn's corpse (a part of it) can graft with the castle itself. Apart form the story implications, really shows how far Godrick is from what he aspires to be. Godwyn seemed to have commanded respect, which is why you see he still has influence, while Godrick's influence does not extend his strength. Even his other castles have fallen. Also there could be something to say about how Godwyn's hollow corpse spawned a cult, yet he has no agency in it because he's dead. The image of a saint being used for ulterior motives after their death, for good or ill.

I knew about the thorns all over the castle, but I always just assumed the holes were from some old battle, like how you can see craters all over the ground in front of Leyndell. When you really think about it though they show up in some impossible places, like on the sides of a sheer cliff bordering the ocean

Very well thought out. I always wondered why that creepy-ass face was down there in the depths of the castle. Your theory makes a lot of sense that Godrick probably smuggled out a piece of Godwyn from Leyndell when he was exiled.

5:55 I never noticed that Torrent leaves footprints on the ground..

So, I've always felt that Stormveil once belonged to Godwyn, which is why Godrick chose it as his base of operations. With that in mind, the site of the relic is probably where he was slain (the area kinda matches with the art of his death as well), and it's likely that his flesh and blood seeped out until his body was retrieved. As far as the "wounds" in the castle itself, I think it has to do with both Godwyn's death within the castle, and the Godrick's grafting. A lot of killing (and therefore death) goes into grafting, so that much condensed death must have an affect on the relic.

Considering that godrick’s soldiers are nowhere to be seen but droves of spurned knights and soldiers from a faraway land are, and given the amount of thorns on both them and the holes in the wall, I always assumed that Godrick was a hostage in his own castle but was too mad to ever notice

The gashes and holes within the western wall are somehow caused by the storm winds imo. This is also why the exile soldiers cover their body with a red cloth. I wrote a theory on this last year. Basically it's that the storm winds are cursed by the spirits of the tarnished that have been grafted within the castle. Nepheli mentions how "the winds run foul with his(Godricks's) deeds" or "he's tainted the very winds". And Roderika mentions the suffering of the spirits that have been grafted.

My first video recorded on PC instead of PS5. Two things I realized: 1. So many more possibilities 2. I need a better computer 😂 Game stuttered and crashed constantly but I hope the pain was worth it! What do you guys think?

Someone claimed the holes came from Radahn’s gravity magic spells when the castle was besieged, with another claiming the castle is rotting due to the curse of Godwyn. It’s noticeable that many of the holes are partially or completely covered in thorny roots, which maybe lends more credence to the rotting theory 🤷‍♀️

I was too busy dying in this game and didn't noticed everything! 😅

This all makes so much sense… I feel like perhaps, the head and its effects reflect a more “benign” version of the curse? It seems like grafted limbs often end up being weaker than their un-grafted counterparts, as instead of working as part of a harmonious whole, they become part of a mismatched menagerie of parts that don’t all seem to fit well together. In this case, the body below Stormveil might be able to mimic the effects of Godwynn’s corpse, but without the same potency. Instead of the tendrils commonly associated with Godwynn’s corpse, thorny vines overtake the landscape while an aching void takes the place of the characteristic mounds of deathroot. I’m not sure, but it’s definitely got me thinking.