In the shadowed corners of the Lands Between, where ambition coils like a venomous serpent, the sorcerer Seluvis weaves his silken threads of control. A preceptor in name, yet a puppeteer in soul, his tower stands not as a monument to knowledge, but as a gilded cage for his dark experiments. When a Tarnished enters the service of the enigmatic witch Ranni, they are drawn into Seluvis's web, handed a vial of shimmering, ominous liquid with a single, deceptively simple command: deliver this to Nepheli Loux. But what lurks within that glass? And why has the warrior Nepheli, adoptive daughter of the All-Knowing Gideon, been chosen as its recipient? The answer is a tale of arrogance, rivalry, and the ultimate corruption of the soul.
The Illusionist's Dungeon
To obey Seluvis without question is to walk in blindness. The potion itself offers no clues, its description a void of intentional mystery. Yet, for those with eyes to see, the truth is hidden in plain sight—or rather, beneath it. Beneath an illusory floor outside Seluvis's Rise lies a secret chamber, a dungeon not of stone, but of stilled flesh and silenced wills. Here, in macabre rows, stand his collection: puppets. These are not mere constructs of wood and string, but the hollowed husks of previous victims, Tarnished and warriors who once lived, breathed, and fought. Each is a monument to Seluvis's success, a being whose autonomy was dissolved by a draught not unlike the one he now proffers. This revelation transforms the simple delivery quest into a moral crossroads. Is the Tarnished merely a courier, or are they becoming the accomplice to a soul-snatching parasite?
Why Nepheli Loux?
Seluvis's selection of Nepheli is no accident. On the surface, she is a formidable warrior, proven in the crucible of Stormveil Castle against the grafted horror, Godrick. To a collector seeking powerful specimens, she represents a prize. But the threads run deeper, stained with personal history. Does the sorcerer's vendetta extend beyond mere acquisition? Consider the spirit ash of Dolores the Sleeping Arrow, another puppet purchased from Seluvis. Its description whispers of a past where Dolores was a critic and friend to Gideon Ofnir, and it was because of her that Gideon and Seluvis parted ways. This implies a prior theft, a wound inflicted by Seluvis upon the All-Knowing. Could targeting Nepheli, Gideon's beloved adoptive daughter, be Seluvis's way of twisting the knife in an old rivalry, a cruel experiment in poetic revenge?
Furthermore, Nepheli's destiny hints at latent, regal potential. If her questline, intertwined with that of the noble Kenneth Haight, is seen to its conclusion, she is crowned the new Lord of Limgrave, succeeding the demigod Godrick. While not a demigod herself, her ascent to a Shardbearer's throne marks her as an individual of significant stature and power. For Seluvis, whose ultimate, audacious goal is to brew a potion capable of enslaving a demigod, Nepheli represents the perfect stepping stone—a high-value target far less guarded than an Empyrean like Ranni.
A Vile Alternative: The Dung Eater
The path of Seluvis's potion need not end with Nepheli. Later in a Tarnished's journey, a far more repulsive candidate emerges from the filth: the Loathsome Dung Eater. This creature, who seeks to defile all of creation, presents a stark moral foil to the honorable Nepheli. Offering him the potion is an act of preemptive damnation, turning the defiler into a tool. The reward is the Dung Eater Puppet spirit ashes, adding the strength of a notorious murderer to one's arsenal. Yet, this choice lacks the intricate narrative resonance of targeting Nepheli. It is a transaction of pure utility or moral convenience, severing one of the paths to the Blessing of Despair ending but offering little insight into Seluvis's personal schemes.
The Practical & Moral Calculus
So, what is a Tarnished to do with this cursed vial? The Lands Between offers no easy answers, only consequences woven into fate.
| Recipient | Consequence | Moral Alignment | Quest Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nepheli Loux | She becomes a puppet. Seluvis sells her spirit ash. | ❌ Betrayal, Evil | Ends Nepheli's questline prematurely. |
| Dung Eater | He becomes a puppet. Seluvis sells his spirit ash. | ⚖️ Utilitarian/Pragmatic Evil | Ends Dung Eater's questline; prevents his ending. |
| Sir Gideon Ofnir | He "disposes" of it. Seluvis remains unaware. | ✅ Prudent, Neutral-Good | Advances Seluvis's quest; saves both Nepheli & Dung Eater's stories. |
| Keep It | The potion sits unused. | 🤷♂️ Indecisive | Stalls Seluvis's quest until a decision is made. |
The most narratively rich and often recommended path is to expose the plot to Gideon. He recognizes the potion for what it is—"Bloody Seluvis," he mutters—and offers to dispose of it, allowing the Tarnished to feign ignorance to Seluvis while protecting Nepheli. This choice preserves the most questlines and aligns with a principled stance against Seluvis's atrocities.
The grand irony of Seluvis's machinations is their ultimate futility. His arrogance blinds him to the tempest gathering around Ranni's fate. Whether the Tarnished aids him or not, his final plot—to enchain the witch demigod—ends in catastrophic failure. Ranni's power far outstrips his petty sorceries, and his defiance earns him not a glorious puppet, but a cold, permanent death, leaving his body frozen in a final, contemptuous pose within his tower. The puppet master, in the end, finds his own strings cut.
Thus, the potion of Preceptor Seluvis is more than a simple quest item; it is a crystalline reflection of the Lands Between's moral decay. It represents the corruption of knowledge for control, the exploitation of strength for servitude, and the personal vendettas that fester in the shadow of a greater war. To hold it is to hold a choice: to be a pawn in another's game, or to seize one's own agency and, in doing so, decide the fate of souls caught between a sorcerer's pride and a cold, uncaring sky. The silent puppets in his basement stand as a warning: in this world, to lose one's will is a fate far worse than death.