Look, if you’ve been scouring the Land of Shadow lately, you’ve probably heard players whispering about the seven relics of ill omen 2025. It sounds like some creepy urban legend or a deleted creepypasta, right? Honestly, it’s mostly a mix of deep-cut item descriptions and a massive community effort to piece together the tragic lore of the Hornsent. People are obsessed.
You can't just walk into a boss arena in Shadow of the Erdtree and expect a straightforward story. FromSoftware doesn't work that way. Instead, we’re left clutching weird, cursed objects—items that basically scream "this was a mistake" in their flavor text. These relics aren't just loot. They’re a history of a civilization that got absolutely wrecked by Messmer the Impaler.
What Are the Seven Relics of Ill Omen 2025 Anyway?
First off, let’s clear the air. There isn't a literal quest log entry titled "Collect Seven Relics." This is a player-defined grouping of specific cursed items found within the expansion that represent the "Ill Omen" or the "Curse of the Crucible." Most of these center around the Belurat, Tower Settlement and the Enir-Ilim areas.
The Hornsent viewed the "Omen" traits—those tangled horns and growths—as a divine blessing. To the Golden Order, it was a foul curse. This fundamental disagreement is why everything is so messy. When we talk about these relics, we’re talking about things like the Remembrance of the Shadow Sunflower, the Spira incantation, and the various Mangled Hallow items that depict the gruesome process of being stuffed into jars. It’s dark stuff.
The Jar Innards: A Relic of Pure Suffering
If you want to talk about bad vibes, you have to start with the jars. In the base game, Living Jars are kinda cute. They’re "warrior jars" like Alexander. But in the 2025 deep-dives into the Land of Shadow, we’ve realized the relics found in the Gaols are horrifying.
The "relic" here is the physical remains of the "Saints." The Hornsent would take people, hack them up, and shove them into jars with "shaman" flesh because they believed it would cause a spiritual evolution. It didn't. It just created a mass of suffering. When you find the Innards Meat or the Empyrean-Blood Burials, you're looking at the primary relics of the Hornsent’s ill-fated religion. It’s why Marika eventually lost her mind and nuked the place with fire.
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The Omen Transformation and the Lion Dance
You've seen the Divine Beast Dancing Lion. It’s a masterpiece of boss design, but it’s also a living relic of the omen. The Remembrance of the Dancing Lion is technically one of these "relics of ill omen" because it represents the pinnacle of the Hornsent’s spiritual practice—invoking the storm through ritual deformity.
Think about the movement. It’s erratic. It’s jarring.
That’s because it’s actually two people under a cloak, pretending to be a beast. It’s a ritualistic relic of a time before the Erdtree, when being "of ill omen" was actually the goal. Players have spent the better part of early 2025 debating whether the "ill omen" refers to the literal Omen curse seen in Morgott and Mohg, or if it’s a broader term for anything that defies the Golden Order’s logic.
Why the "2025" Label is Trending
The timing is the thing. While Shadow of the Erdtree launched in mid-2024, the community "Lore Hunters" (shoutout to VaatiVidya and the Reddit sleuths) took months to cross-reference the Japanese translations with the English text. By early 2025, a consensus formed around seven specific items that tell the story of the "Great Betrayal."
- The Iris of Occultation: A literal seal placed over the eyes to hide the light of the Erdtree.
- The Forfeited Eye: Found in the deepest parts of the Shadow Keep.
- The Remembrance of the Mother of Fingers: Representing the "broken" nature of the Greater Will.
- The Tangled Horn: A crafting material that is actually a piece of a "divine" deformity.
- The Heirlooms of the Fire Knights: Specifically those who followed Messmer and saw the "omen" in his own snakes.
- The Lamenter’s Mask: A horrifying item that literally transforms your head into an omen-like entity.
- The Scadutree Fragments: Not just a leveling mechanic, but a physical relic of the "Shadow" of the world-tree.
The Lamenter’s Mask: The Most Cursed Tool
Honestly, the Lamenter’s Mask is the creepiest one. You get it after a boss fight in the Gaol, and it doesn't just give you stats. It changes you. In the lore of the seven relics of ill omen 2025, the Lamenter represents the absolute end-point of the omen curse.
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The mask's description mentions that the more you try to hide the "ill omen," the more it grows. It’s a classic FromSoft irony. The more Marika tried to suppress the "crucible" and the "omen," the more it festered in the shadows of her own family. It’s why her children, Morgott and Mohg, were born with horns in the first place. They were the "ill omen" she couldn't burn away.
Is There a Hidden Reward?
People keep asking if collecting all these items triggers a secret ending. Short answer: No.
Long answer: Sorta.
While there’s no "Ill Omen Ending" cinematic, having these items and reading their descriptions is the only way to actually understand why Miquella did what he did. You can't grasp the tragedy of the Land of Shadow without looking at the relics of the people who lived there before. The game rewards your curiosity with context, which, in a Miyazaki game, is more valuable than a gold trophy.
How to Handle These Items in Your Playthrough
If you’re hunting for these relics, you need to be prepared for some of the toughest platforming and hidden walls in the game. Most of the "ill omen" lore is tucked away in the Manse of Midra and the Abyssal Woods.
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Don't just rush through.
Read the descriptions. Look at the icons. Notice how the "tangled horns" on the relics look exactly like the "curse" that Morgott tried to hide with his robes. It’s all connected. The 2025 community consensus is that the "ill omen" isn't a disease; it's the natural state of the world that the Golden Order tried to prune away like a bad branch.
Expert Tips for Lore Hunters
- Check the Japanese Text: Sometimes "Ill Omen" is translated from "Miko" or "Cursed Blood," which changes the vibe entirely.
- Visit the Shaman Village: If you want to see the origin of the relics, go to the village hidden behind the Shadow Keep. No enemies. Just music and flowers. It’ll break your heart.
- Equip the Mask: Try using the Lamenter's Mask near certain NPCs. Some have unique dialogue or reactions to the "omen" form.
The seven relics of ill omen 2025 aren't just pixels; they're the breadcrumbs of a story about genocide, religious fanaticism, and the cycles of revenge that define Elden Ring. If you want to "complete" the game, you haven't finished until you’ve sat down and really looked at the garbage the Hornsent left behind.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Locate the Lamenter’s Gaol: Head to the Charo's Hidden Grave region and find the entrance to the Gaol to claim the mask.
- Re-read the "Brain" Items: Check your inventory for any item mentioning "Jar Innards" or "Saints"—these provide the crucial link between the Omens and Marika’s past.
- Visit the Shadow Sunflower: Defeat the Scadutree Avatar to gain the remembrance that explains why the sun itself turned "ill" in this realm.