'The kindling that burned inside Messmer the Impaler. A dark thing, eaten away at by a wicked serpent. Burns the sealing tree said to be found at the old Rauh ruins.' The Sealing Tree at the foot of the old Rauh ruins in the Land of Shadow is a relic of the era before the Erdtree itself : an ancient, unliving tree fed by Marika's mother, the Hornsent crone known to the canon only by the burning fingerprints she left on Marika's foundation myth. The tree sealed something, the lore is careful never to specify what : a god, a memory, a vow, a ledger of crimes. Marika sealed her past inside it. To break the seal is to let the Land of Shadow remember what was done to its people.

'Message left by Dryleaf Dane, addressed to kindred spirits who also pursue Miquella's trail. We've found the sealing tree just ahead. But if we are to burn it, we will need to bear the legacy of Messmer the Impaler.' Miquella's questline routes through the burning of the tree because Miquella needs the seals broken. Messmer was Marika's eldest son, made into a fire-and-serpent weapon and exiled as the punisher of the Hornsent ; he is also the only family member who could spare the kindling that breaks his own mother's seal. The Tarnished completes Miquella's pilgrimage by burning the Sealing Tree with Messmer's flame, then arriving at the gate of Enir-Ilim where the new god is being born, and the Promised Consort waits to be summoned for the marriage.

◆ Sources

ItemMessmer's Kindling

The kindling that burned inside Messmer the Impaler. A dark thing, eaten away at by a wicked serpent. Burns the sealing tree said to be found at the old Rauh ruins.

ItemAncient Ruins Cross Message

Message left by Dryleaf Dane, addressed to kindred spirits who also pursue Miquella's trail. "We've found the sealing tree just ahead. But if we are to burn it, we will need to bear the legacy of Messmer the Impaler."