Having defeated Godrick the Grafted, traveled through Liurnia of the Lakes, and faced the academy of sorcerers, there are two major options facing players in Elden Ring. You can continue to make their way north to the Altus Plateau, home of the foot of the Erdtree, or they can venture east of Limgrave to the festering lands of Caelid. In fact, one of the paths to the Altus Plateau requires you to head to Caelid and fight your way through a fort infested with giant bats. So before moving farther north, we're going to head east to claim a third Great Rune.
You can access Caelid pretty early, but it can be a tough place for any Tarnished to survive. That's because Caelid is ravaged by something called Scarlet Rot. The creeping disease infects living things and pools in a huge, fetid swamp, resulting in a whole region filled with putrefying, monstrous creatures. It's also the home of Radahn, one of the demigod children of Radagon and Rennala. The Shardbearer waits for you on the eastern coast of Caelid, but unlike the others, Radahn isn't gathering power or planning to try to become Elden Lord. You'll soon see why.
The reason Caelid is so messed up is because it was the scene of a major turning point in the Shattering, marking the end of most major hostilities and the beginning of the demigods mostly retreating to their lands and strongholds. The Scarlet Rot is the result of a battle between the greatest warriors among the demigod children: Radahn and Malenia. Their clash destroyed Caelid by unleashing the disease, but it also destroyed both Malenia and Radahn. Here's what you need to know about what's happening in Caelid. As always, there be spoilers beyond.
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The rotten land
Much of Caelid festers with a disease called Scarlet Rot, which infects everything and makes the land extremely dangerous.As you first enter Caelid, you largely find it in ruins--moreso than usual, I guess--with diseased birds and dogs feasting on bodies of the dead. Corpses are piled together and burned in ravaged buildings, but some of those corpses are undead and need to be burned again to prevent them from exploding and spraying disease everywhere. Fire is almost as much a part of Caelid as the Scarlet Rot, and you soon see why: Soldiers and knights still loyal to Radahn are trying to push back the scourge by burning it. Near Redmane Castle, Radahn's former seat of power, you see coordinated groups of soldiers ambushing, attacking, and burning the giant T-rex-like dogs that maraud the land. A reverence for flame has become a calling card of Radahn's formidable soldiers, in fact, and you'll see fires set all over Caelid as they work to hold back the rot as best they can and burn anything afflicted with it. But while the humans are trying to take back the land from the disease, at best, it's a stalemate.
In the center of Caelid is the Swamp of Aeonia, where the rot is worst. The infected water spreads the disease to anything that touches it, making this a dangerous place to cross. You can find Cleanrot Knights here, remnants of the force loyal to Malenia that marched with her to fight Radahn. Scarlet Rot, in fact, came from Malenia (at least, in a roundabout way), and the battle between her and Radahn is why it covers Caelid. The Cleanrot Knights pledged their loyalty to Malenia in spite of the fact that they knew they'd contract Scarlet Rot if they did so; they're not immune to the disease, but have accepted the "putrefaction of their flesh." That speaks to the kind of loyalty Malenia and her brother, Miquella, instill in people. We'll talk about both of them in more detail in later articles.
There are others who are not just willing to succumb to the rot, but who actually worship it. You find these "pests," human-sized centipede-like creatures, in a few places around Caelid. These beings seem to worship the Scarlet Rot, and moreover, the real force behind it: an Outer God. We know little about the God of Rot, but it does seem to have influence in the Lands Between, and it appears to be responsible for Malenia's rot curse. You'll later find the pests in certain locations, like the underground Lake of Rot, that suggests they have a hidden culture and agenda of their own.
The Beast Clergyman
Far in the north of Caelid, you'll find Greyoll's Dragonbarrow, a mesa that has been taken over by dragons and other creatures. The nearby Fort Faroth has been invaded by vicious giant bats, and there you can find half of the medallion that allows access to the Grand Lift of Dectus, which will carry you from Liurnia's Bellum Highway to the Altus Plateau (the first half is in Fort Haight in Limgrave). Among a whole bunch of smaller baby dragons, you can find a huge one in the center: Elder Greyoll, the mother of all dragons. Greyoll won't fight you herself, and actually seems barely able to move, using her dragon children for protection. We don't know much about Greyoll or the dragons who live here, but the title "mother of all dragons" seems significant in terms of what we learn about dragons through the course of the game, especially later in Farum Azula. In essence, you can kill Greyoll, but one wonders if that might put an end to the future for dragons all together.
You can find Gurranq in a strange cathedral in the north of Caelid. He asks you to hunt Those Who Live in Death, a strange group of the undead who have a particular place in the lore of the Lands Between.Heading even further north, you can find a cathedral-like building called the Beastial Sanctum. Inside is a strange character named Gurranq, described as a Beast Clergyman. Gurranq's a bit weird--he covers himself in a shabby cloth and seems barely able to restrain himself. He asks you to bring him Deathroot, something that only grows in the presence of beings called Those Who Live in Death.
Remember Rogier from back in Limgrave? His quest also deals with Those Who Live in Death, and you can meet a second Tarnished, who goes by D, who's also interested in them. Those Who Live in Death are undead people who don't follow the rules of the Golden Order. When people die, their souls are supposed to return to the Erdtree--that's why catacombs in the Lands Between are built near Erdtree roots, which you'll always find in their boss rooms. Those Who Live in Death don't return to the Erdtree, and thus remain in their bodies, living despite having died like zombies (or more often, as skeletons). D hunts Those Who Live in Death on behalf of the Beast Clergyman and the Golden Order, bent on eradicating them, believing them to be an affront.
If you sign up with Gurranq, he'll give you an item called the Beast Eye, which "quivers" whenever you're near Those Who Live in Death. Kill them, and you can bring their Deathroot back to Gurranq, who trades it for various beast incantations. Gurranq eats the Deathroot, but his hunger for it can never be sated, and seems to be nearly driving him mad. In fact, at one point when you interact with him, he'll attack you. If you smack a little sense into him, he'll snap out of it, but it seems like this is an indication that Gurranq's addiction to Deathroot and obsession with Those Who Live in Death is damaging his mind.
For the time being, Gurranq is just a strange character for whom you can do some jobs, killing Those who Live in Death. Venturing further into the Lands Between, however, we'll learn more about his deal, what's up with the undead, what Rogier is trying to uncover, and how it all ties together with the assassination of Godwyn the Golden.