Godwyn the Golden

Godwyn the Golden was a demigod and son of Queen Marika the Eternal and Godfrey the First Elden Lord. In the "Night of the Black Knives" he was assassinated by Ranni and her accomplices from the land of "Numen" with the use of special weapons created with the Rune of Death.

Lore

Godwyn the Golden was the firstbornson of Queen Marika the Eternal and her consort Godfrey, the First Elden Lord. Godwyn was a scion of the so-called "Golden Line", of which Godrick the Grafted was the final descendant. Early in his mother's divine reign, The Erdtree came under assault by the Dragons, who had ruled the world before Marika's ascent. The forces of the Erdtree managed to triumph against the dragons, with Godwyn prevailing against the dread Fortissax, earning the mighty dragon's friendship in the process. Godwyn would eventually meet his end during the Night of Black Knives. Seeking to be free from her fate as a pawn of The Greater Will, Godwyn's step-sister Lunar Princess Ranni stole a fragment of the rune of death from Maliketh, imbuing the weapons of her Numen assassins with the rune. Ranni wished to shed her Empyrean body, but preserve her spirit, which meant that someone else's spirit would need to die; Godwyn's. The assassins fell upon the Royal Capital and murdered Godwyn, his soul destroyed by Ranni's ritual leaving only his soulless body behind. He was the first demigod in history to die since the ascension of Marika to the throne of the "Lands Between". Godwyn's death would be the catalyst for The Shattering of The Elden Ring, plunging the kingdom into chaos without the guidance of the Greater Will. Due to Ranni's ritual, Godwyn's flesh was branded with a half of the cursemark of death and he became the first of Those Who Live in Death. His body was laid to rest deep in the roots of the Erdtree, but it would eventually corrupt it, leading Deathroot to sprout across The Lands Between, causing others to also rise in undeath. These undead worshipped Godwyn as the Prince of Death, believing he would eventually return and lead them. An aspect of Godwyn's corpse appeared in the depths of Stormveil Castle. It is responsible for the loss of Rogier's legs. Many figures, including his half-brother Miquella and his companion Fortissax, tried to cure him of his condition, and allow him a proper death, but to no avail. The deathbed companion Fia would become a leading figure among Those Who Live in Death, eventually making her way to Godwyn's corpse. Having received the other half of the cursemark, which lay on Ranni's discarded body, from a Tarnished champion, Fia lay with Godwyn, to grant him a second life as the Prince of Death.