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LOG · Elden Ring · Tome I · The Specimen Storehouse
The Specimen Storehouse
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The Specimen Storehouse

The preserved dead of the Land of Shadow, and the dispute that split the Fire Knights

The Specimen Storehouse is the vast multi-storey storehouse inside Messmer's Shadow Keep where the specimens of the Land of Shadow are preserved. The Storehouse's existence is canon's clearest evidence that Marika's purge of the Realm of Shadow was not pure extermination, specimens, Hornsent and divine-beast alike, were preserved and studied for what their bodies could teach about the Crucible's older life-forms.

What makes the Storehouse the canon's most morally compromised single location is that it split Messmer's own intimates. The Fire Knight Hilde Spirit Ash flavour text records the rupture: 'Hilde was a dear friend to Salza the sage, and joined those who urged that the specimens be preserved.' Salza, in turn, the Salza's Hood entry states, 'refused to burn down an old ruin, at the risk of his own life.' The old ruin is likely the ancient ruins of Rauh, though the text never names it. Hilde and those who urged that the specimens be preserved prevailed in the strangest way the canon records: her ashes were enshrined as a charm to protect the Storehouse itself. The Tarnished walks past shelf after shelf of what that protection kept.

◆ Sources
Spirit AshFire Knight Hilde

A spirit who belonged to the Fire Knights; an order which answers directly to Messmer. Hilde was a dear friend to Salza the sage, and joined those who urged that the specimens be preserved.

ArmorSalza's Hood

Hood of Salza, sage of the Fire Knights. A disciple of the elder Wego, he refused to burn down an old ruin, at the risk of his own life.

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