The Misbegotten
The Misbegotten. A perplexing subject, and one that requires a thorough examination of their origins, their nature, and the regrettable position they occupy in the hierarchy of the Golden Order.
They are not mere beasts, yet neither are they true men, which is why the Order finds them so intolerable.
The Abhorrent Nature of the Misbegotten
The Misbegotten are a twisted reflection of a very old truth. As you know, the Golden Order is a system predicated on Marika’s belief in a purified form of life, one centered on the Erdtree. Anything that predates or deviates from this rigid law is deemed an impurity—a relic of the world's primordial, crucible past.
The Misbegotten are just such a relic. Their malformed bodies—the animalistic heads, the scales, the tails, and yes, the rudimentary wings some possess—are vestiges of the Primordial Crucible, the golden, undifferentiated state of life that existed when the Erdtree was still young and its laws were not yet fixed.
They are proof that life once flowed in a unified, grotesque current. This offends the sensibilities of the Golden Order, which seeks to categorize and govern everything. They cannot be ignored, for they are born of man, yet they defy the clean lines of the current age.
Their Role as Scapegoats and Slaves
In practice, the Misbegotten have been relegated to the lowest rung of society—a persecuted class, little better than slaves.
Forced Labor: We see them everywhere, pressed into servitude. At Castle Morne, they were used as slave-soldiers, until their inevitable, bloody rebellion. Their sheer brute strength and ferocity, ironically, makes them prized laborers by the very people who revile them.
A "Punishment": The Golden Order often frames their existence as a punishment for contacting the impurities of the Crucible, a convenient moral cudgel to justify their enslavement and to prevent others from looking too closely at the past.
The Curious Red Thread of Radagon
What makes them truly interesting—a piece of knowledge that I found difficult to uncover, I assure you—is a subtle, unspoken connection to a figure of great importance: King Consort Radagon.
Internal whispers and forgotten records strongly suggest the Misbegotten are sometimes considered "Radagon's kin." Note the prominent red hair on some of the Misbegotten Warriors, the same striking color as Radagon's own. Even more telling is the sight of the Misbegotten Crusader wielding the Golden Order Greatsword, a weapon forged by Radagon himself. Why would he entrust such a symbolic armament to one of the most despised creatures in the Lands Between?
It suggests a lineage, perhaps an experimental or unfortunate product of his own secretive efforts to understand or even draw upon the power of that primal Crucible. If they are Radagon's kin, their persecution is not just an act of intolerance, but a profound secret the Golden Order is desperate to bury.
They are a fascinating tragedy, the Misbegotten. A low-caste race, despised for their heritage, whose very existence calls into question the clean perfection of the age that condemns them. It is one of many inconvenient truths that I, the All-Knowing, have cataloged.