From Software loves to hide interesting details in places where players may not find them, and Elden Ring is no different. It's all but certain Elden Ring players will be discovering new clues tied to the RPG's lore and story months and years from now. The latest example was discovered by an Elden Ring player who had been summoned as a cooperator by another player. While their co-op partner was interacting with Goldmask, the ghostly apparition for the NPC revealed a hidden truth about them.
Elden Ring players who have interacted with Goldmask already know that the tall, skinny character isn't particularly animated. They stand almost entirely still with their arms and fingers outstretched, a behavior that Brother Corhyn describes as cogitation and contemplation of the Erdtree and the Golden Order. However, if summoned into another world, Goldmask's ghostly apparition is instead in an altogether different pose. Goldmask is grasping their head in their arms as if they're being tortured or going mad.
Those who have already progressed through Goldmask and Brother Corhyn's story likely already understand what's going on here. Corhyn explains it to the player directly, saying that as they neared the Erdtree Goldmask envisioned Marika, the one true god of the Golden Order. However, King Consort Radagon also appeared to Goldmask. To Corhyn, Goldmask appeared puzzled, but clearly the subject wracked Goldmask to his very core. He didn't move an inch, physically, but his mind unraveled.
This revelation isn't likely to change many Elden Ring players' views, as compelling a discovery as it may be. Following this moment in-game, the player discovers that Marika and Radagon are one. Goldmask takes this knowledge and uses it to ultimately create the Mending Rune of Perfect Order, a key component to an Elden Ring ending where the player "repairs" and continues the Golden Order. If Goldmask did go insane along the way, it perhaps taints this ending in a way players didn't realize before.
Perhaps the biggest question is if this discovery - that the shade of Goldmask was different from the way he was presented in the player's own world - can be found for other NPCs, too. Elden Ring players may need to comb the game again as a summoned cooperator, checking NPCs to see if they're different.
This just goes to show that there are surprises to discover in Elden Ring yet. The odd Goldmask discovery could be an insight into other secrets, or it could have been a bug that From Software left uncorrected mid-development. Either way, Elden Ring's lore is continuing to expand in an exciting new way.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.