Elden Ring - Miquella's Haligtree, Branch & Root – Rob Haines Creative Space

in game photography

All photos were taken on PS5 in Quality mode with ray-tracing, and post-processed in Affinity Photo. Cinematic angles are the result of looking through the telescope, or crouching in front of a large rock to clip the camera through my character.

A view from the highest branches of the Haligtree, down through misty branches to a town of balconies, statues and archways curving around the main trunk.

A trio of white-robed Oracle Envoys, standing on pale, wide-topped mushrooms growing from a vast tree branch. They raise their trumpets to the bright sky in reverie.

A trio of white-robed Envoys with brass trumpets walk along a grey-green branch high above the Haligtree town. Pale pink mushrooms grow in profusion from the branch, acting as natural platforms for their worship.

An archway from a grey-stone balcony into a room where a statue bows its head over a candle. The arch is carved with overlapping branch motifs, and to the left, a tree-like candlestick stands tall, each branch tipped with a lit candle.

A shard of grace in a room decorated with winding-root iconography and a roof of open beams entwined with red-leaved branches. Four statues of women in robes holding a candle face inwards towards the grace.

A curving grey-stone balcony, in daylight, with many carved pillars holding up the floor above. A demi-human with a long cleaver is walking towards you, threateningly, and the right-hand wall is the trunk of the Haligtree, scattered with pink mushrooms.

A statue of a hooded woman holding a candle bows her head over the slumped corpse of a man, before an intricate rood screen. Ornate pillars line the balcony, and curving branches crisscross the sky beyond.

A staircase running alongside the trunk of the Haligtree, leading down towards a sturdy stone balcony with a doorway into a chapel-like structure, its wallls undulating upwards as if to evoke natural growth.

A room with ornate buttresses and flowing walls, with intricate cutaways to the pale light outside. Grasses have started to reclaim the tiled floor, and there's a low dais with an interweaving-branch motif in the centre, overlooked by a candle-bearing statue and a tree-like candlestick.

A crude wooden bridge - adorned with a robed corpse - leads to an ornately-carved chamber, brightly lit with candlelight. It is nighttime, and the tree branches beyond are cast deep blue against the night sky.

A view through the treetop to a large round plaza, balanced upon the meeting point of multiple branches, and a chapel-like building with an ornate roof. A grace shines from the plaza, before a statue of a woman and a child, their heads bowed in shared sorrow.

A round plaza at dawn, full of candlelight. The floor is covered in concentric circles and branching carvings. A statue of a woman and a child - both kneeling, comforting each other - stands at the right-hand side, surrounded by candles. There's a large archway to the left, and scattered tree-growth beyond the railing.

A giant ant stalks a vast tree branch, at night. The branches and canopy are dark against a deep blue sky, and to the right, a building is washed with moonlight from without and candlelight from within.

A chamber amongst the tree branches, suffused with warm light. The ceiling is held up with decorative vaulting, and the path outside is flanked by a pair of statues of a young boy kneeling and holding a candle.

A long rope bridge of rough-hewn planks leads down from a decorative archway in a higher structure down to the camera. To the right, a second bridge leads to a circular platform with an ornately-architectured elevator housing. The air is heavy with pollen and little orange leaves.

A pointed archway into a wide courtyard, with an intricate design in the narrowing section. The archway is flanked by two statues of a woman with long hair comforting a small boy. In the courtyard, a tiny shard of grace is surrounded by large leaning trees.

A view across a fortress of buttresses, spires and foliage-encrusted arches, its stone yellow in the evening sun. The sky beyond is clouded, but with bright patches where the cloud grows thin.

A wide pathway leading towards a stone chapel set against the Haligtree's vast trunk. Fallen leaves gleam pink-red against yellow stone, and tall braziers cast red flame against the overhanging foliage.

An arched stone doorway into a small shrine with a shard of grace before an altar. A statue of a robed figure carrying a a staff is in an alcove behind the altar, flanked by a pair of flowing candlesticks, like tree roots.

A warmly-lit chapel, where a shard of grace sits before the altar. There is a robed statue holding a staff above the altar, flanked by a pair of organically-branching candlesticks. Beside one of the thick stone pillars stands a woman with red hair and a brass prosthetic arm.

A curving rampart of yellow stone, cast into shade by a large buttress tangled with branches. Guards in golden tabards patrol broken stones riven with rot, and a statue of a cowled figure holds a candle in the half-light.

Nighttime on the fortress wall. Guards sit cross-legged in the candlelight with their weapons at hand; in the foreground, one holds a flaming torch, which casts its glow across the creeping vines and branches that spider across the cracked paving. To the right, an series of carvings on the underside of a buttress is silhouetted against the deep blue sky.

Overlapping layers of the fortress in shadow, the waning sunset light catching only the most distant towers. A corpse lies on the closest path, against a stone balustrade; the path leads towards an archway drenched in firelight. Stone buttresses descend from the left, propping up more towers and far-off pathways, some with spindly trees, others wrapped in vines.

A long, vaulted chamber inside the fortress. Statues stand in alcoves, each accompanied by a bowl-shaped font encircled with a row of uneven candles, lighting the room with a rich orange glow.

A view across the chasm that runs the length of the fortress, from a small balcony garden to a vaulted chamber on the opposite side. The sky is nighttime blue above, but the vaults are lit with orange light.

Looking down upon the buttresses and stacked ramparts of the fortress from a high vantage point. This angle emphasises how much the roots and vines of the Haligtree choke the fortress, clinging to the stone and draping from every overhang. Below, the ocean is wind-rippled but otherwise serene.

Pale god-rays wash down upon a rampart strewn with debris. The path leads up a long flight of stairs to a small doorway in a stone tower. All around, stone towers rise from below, bracing each other with ornately-decorated buttresses, wrapped in roots and vines.

A sunlit street running down the centre of the fortress. There is a patch of garden here, with a spindly grey tree and a variety of shrubs in dull greens and reddish browns. The street curves out of sight, and above, fleur de lys decorations hang from arching buttresses.

A blue-hued nighttime scene, looking down the length of a buttress to the other side of the fortress. A squared-off gazebo stands at the edge of the outer wall, and yellow butterflies flit through the shadow. In the distance, indistinct grey cliffs mark an end to the ocean.

A series of terraced spires in the dying light of the sun. In the foreground, they take the form of posts along a guard rail, while further back they're tall towers at the end of buttresses, growing increasingly indistinct as they recede into the pale blue mist.

A ceremonial dais at the end of a long rampart. A large golden bowl stands atop circular stairs, surrounded by candles of varying heights. Beyond, tall spires wrapped in creeping vines pierce the pale blue sky.

Gille the Confessor - her cape ragged and torn, her sword in her hand - stands between shattered brickwork, looking out across a tall, circular chamber washed in pink. Bright sunlight lances through holes high above, where branches have broken through, and the rot-red water below is scattered with cup-like pink flowers.

A field of pink flowers, where thick tree branches descend from above, some still clutching on to their greenery. Beyond, the curving walls of this chamber are densely decorated with arches and overhangs, statuary and bas-reliefs of Haligtree motifs.

A slow-moving river of rot-red liquid, cascading out of sight down a waterfall to the left. A large rock sits lumpenly to the right, scarred with red lesions. Pink flowers break the surface in scattered clumps, leading up a distant winding path to the left. The pink walls beyond are segmented and decorated with repeating motifs and statuary.

A pale green & pink cavern beneath the ground, lit by a shaft of brilliant sunlight from above. A trail of rot-pink flowers wind their way up a slope towards a tree-trunk arching overhead. The floor-level above is grey and jagged, as if something crashed through from on high.

A brightly-lit crack in the ground, revealing the roots of the Haligtree itself. The roots and the ground beneath are white with powder beneath the sunbeam that has penetrated even this deep into the sanctuary.

An underground chamber, where thin tree-roots dangle from the ceiling, containing a large red blossom. Its petals dance like flames, except frozen in place and surrounded by glowing red butterflies. A long stairway leads up the left hand side of the room to an upper level beyond.

A lake amidst the roots of the Haligtree, half-lit and surrounded by pink flowers. A shadowed figure in a winged helmet and carrying a long katana treads slowly through the water with murderous intent.

Malenia - a warrior in a golden winged helmet, a scarlet cape and carrying a katana - stands in a field of flowers, facing you. Pink petals drift through the air, and the roots behind her are shadowed.

Gille and Malenia - both ankle-deep in the lake's water and surrounded by flowers - face each other. Gille's sword glows with holy light, her teardrop shield held ready. Malenia's katana trails in the water, her advance implacable.

In the lake, Gille strikes with holy light, her sword flung backwards and her shield strapped across her back. Malenia is a blur of deadly motion, dodging sideways from the spray of sparks, her head down, ready to leap to counterattack.

Malenia stands alone in the dark water, her blade terribly long, its tip resting upon the lake's surface. Her armour gleams gold, her scarlet cape blowing in a breeze that could never reach this deep.

Malenia walks away through the lake of flowers, the light extinguished, the battle done. Her cape has golden embroidery on the back, and at the far side of the lake, the embrace of the Haligtree's roots awaits.

Gille returns - implacable in her own way - with greater magics at her disposal. Her body is guarded with a shimmering bubble, and she flings streaks of lighting at Malenia, who is already in motion, barely perceptible behind the fading rings of magical energy.

Malenia stands unphased as Gille arches her back, a crackling spear of lightning in her hand, ready to hurl. Six arcing sparks of electricity frame her pose, ready to burst into life and chase down their prey.

Gille stands silhouetted, looking up at Malenia's transformation into a fiery goddess of rot. Flames roar from Malenia's hovering form, long tentacle-like petals unfurl, glowing with potential violence to come, against a backdrop of bright-lit roots and pink flowers.

Malenia, transformed by rot, stands in the lake amidst the Haligtree's roots. Her armour has flayed from her flesh, her skin pink and mottled with rot lesions, her hair flowing and red. From her shoulders rise great wings of rot and butterflies and ribbons of hair, and more butterflies flutter at the fraying edges. She holds her sword with her prosthetic arm, ready to finish the fight once and for all.

Malenia crashes to earth in an explosion of butterflies and rot, her crouching corporeal form barely visible amidst the conflagration. Trailing flares of bright pink energy linger in the sky from whence she came. All around her, small white flowers bloom.