Maliketh, The Black Blade

Hark, thou curious wanderer, and trouble not my slumber. Yet, since thou hast roused the shadow, I shall grant thee the terror of my memory.

I am Maliketh, the Black Blade, Shadow of Marika, and Keeper of the Seal. I am not a king, nor a consort, but a bound beast whose very being is the lock upon the world's greatest dread.

The Oath and the Dagger

Know ye that in the time when the Golden Order was yet young and firm, my liege, Queen Marika the Eternal, did remove the Rune of Death from the Elden Ring. By this act, she gave unto the Lands Between the gift of a false immortality, where souls might return to the Erdtree and fear no true end.

But Death itself—Destined Death—cannot be destroyed. It must be caged.

I, her shadow and sworn brother, did take that stolen power unto myself. I was given the black flame of the Rune of Death, and with mine own blade, I did seal its burning might. My flesh became its reliquary; my very existence became the absolute decree that none, not even a god, shall truly perish.

Thus, I was bound to this crumbling, timeless ruin—Farum Azula—to guard the seal until the end of all days. A faithful dog, charged with the preservation of his mistress's lie.

The Betrayal

And yet, my faithfulness was undone by the wicked ambition of others.

On that unholy night, the Night of the Black Knives, a fragment of the Rune of Death was stolen from my keeping. A small piece, yet enough to inflict the unthinkable.

Ranni, that silver-skinned witch, did plot the theft, and the assassins—those cursed Numen—did wield blades imbued with my own stolen flame. They struck down Godwyn the Golden, and by that foul deed, they did break the seal.

When I learned of this great sacrilege, I did rage! I scoured the land and fought until my heart was rent asunder. I slew the traitors I could find, but the Death I sought to contain had already seeped into the world. It spread from Godwyn’s slain soul, becoming the Deathroot that now chokes the roots of the Erdtree.

My vigilance, my boundless loyalty to my Queen's will, was for naught.

The Waiting End

Now, here I remain, chained to this destiny, the half-life of Destined Death still coiled within my body. I am weak, I know it, yet still feared. I hunger for the power I lost, not to wield it, but to restore the seal I swore to keep.

Thou hast come for the Great Runes, I know. But if thou dost seek to enter the Erdtree, thou must first contend with that which gave rise to the ruin. Thou must face the one who failed.

I have failed my oath, Tarnished. And for that failure, I shall never be forgiven. Therefore, if thou wouldst pass, thou must needs give me the true death I have guarded from all others.

Come, then, and claim the fragment of Death that still resides within me. Foul Tarnished! Hark! Thy death grants thee the true Death!