Elden Ring: Dung Eater and Seedbed Curse (Despair secret ending)

The Blessing of Despair is a secret ending that you can obtain in Elden Ring. It requires you to free a deranged prisoner in the sewers, before empowering it further with cursed items. Here’s our Elden Ring Blessing of Despair secret ending guide to help you with the quest involving the Dung Eater, Sewer Gaol, and Seedbed Curse.

Note: For more information, check out our Elden Ring guides and features hub. Likewise, please be reminded that this guide contains spoilers.

Elden Ring Blessing of Despair secret ending guide – The Dung Eater, Sewer Gaol, and Seedbed Curse

Elden Ring – Meeting the Dung Eater and getting your first Seedbed Curse

The Dung Eater NPC in Elden Ring will appear once you’ve reached Leyndell Royal Capital. You can find him in Roundtable Hold past the hallway with the Twin Maiden Husks. This crazed individual will talk about murdering and defiling you, but pay no heed since he can’t do anything in Roundtable Hold.

Now, assuming you’ve ventured inside the capital already, then you’ll come across a Site of Grace called the East Capital Rampart. From there, run past the mobs until you reach a lift.

Ride the lift down and go to the next chamber to find a Fire Monk enemy and a ladder. Climb the ladder and get to the top of the building to pick up your first Seedbed Curse in Elden Ring.

Note: For the next steps, we suggest completing these before you clear Crumbling Farum Azula. Doing so will cause the capital’s layout to change, making a few areas inaccessible.

Elden Ring – Freeing the Dung Eater in the Sewer Gaol

Return to Roundtable Hold and talk to the Dung Eater. He tells you to free his corporeal form from its shackles in the Sewer Gaol. He’ll also hand over the Sewer Gaol Key.

To find the Sewer Gaol in Elden Ring, you’ll want to head to Leyndell’s cemetery area (it’s on the ground level from the Eastern Capital Ramparts).

There, you should see a well that leads further down below.

Ignore the mobs until you can open the doorway with the Sewer Gaol Key. Eventually, you’ll find yourself in a secret area called the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds. The first Site of Grace here is the Underground Roadside. From there, look to your left and run past the Omen enemies. You should stumble upon a hole in the ground.

Note: The Subterranean Shunning-Grounds is also where you’ll find the Leyndell Catacombs dungeon and Mohg the Omen. Mohg’s chamber even leads to a hidden passageway with a different ending trigger.

In the sewers, ignore the rats and make a left. Get past the Poison Flowers and climb the ladder.

Above, you’re going to get ambushed by several Spider Hands, so make sure you can handle them.

You should then see the Dung Eater’s prison from here. Use the Sewer Gaol Key and tell him to leave.

You’re not done yet. If you return to Roundtable Hold, the Dung Eater will be gone. Instead, there’s a message saying: “I’ll defile you next. Come to the outer moat.”

You’ll find this area at the northern outskirts of Leyndell. There’s a sloping path leading to the watery pond where the Dung Eater will invade. Watch out for his Cursed Skulls, as well as the other mobs here. After beating him, you’ll receive a Furlcalling Finger Remedy and the Sword of Milos.

Other Seedbed Curse locations in Elden Ring

After taking out the Dung Eater at the moat, go back to Roundtable Hold and talk to the fella. He says that his flesh must be the one to receive the “blessing.” At this stage, we’ll need to find Seedbed Curse items in Elden Ring so we can give them to the Dung Eater.

Seedbed Curse location: Leyndell Royal Capital – Fortified Manor

If you’ve been exploring Leyndell, then you’ve come across the Fortified Manor. This can be entered once you reach the West Capital Ramparts. From there, look for ledges that you can use to fall down to the sandy area. Then, go to the wooden shed that leads to a passage.

The Fortified Manor looks just like the Roundtable Hold, albeit completely destroyed (the plot thickens). There are lots of nifty items here, including an Incantation Prayerbook.

Our goal, however, is to get a Seedbed Curse. You’ll find one in the Dung Eater’s room.

Seedbed Curse location: Volcano Manor

The next one is in Volcano Manor in Mount Gelmir. Head deeper into the dungeon until you reach the chapel that’s filled with Snakemen. This is also the chapel with a balcony that has a teleporter leading to the Rykard boss fight.

Instead of going to the portal, turn around and go upstairs to find an Imp Statue dungeon. Inside, you’ll find a jumping puzzle of sorts.

Be cautious here as you try to make your way down. At the bottom where all the Leaper mobs are, you can pick up the Seedbed Curse.

Seedbed Curse location: Miquella’s Haligtree/Elphael Brace of the Haligtree #1

Two more Seedbed Curse items in Elden Ring can be found in Miquella’s Haligtree/Elphael Brace of the Haligtree. To get here, you need to obtain the two halves of the Haligtree Secret Medallion so it can be used on the Grand Lift of Rold. This takes you to the Consecrated Snowfield where you’ll solve the Ordina Liturgical Town puzzle.

Now that you have access to Miquella’s Haligtree, explore at your leisure until you come across the Prayer Room Site of Grace. Upon exiting, you should see a walkway with several soldiers.

Run past these fellas until you’re close to one of the ledges that allows you to jump to a spot with a gazebo.

Past the gazebo is another ledge that you can follow to a higher floor.

At the edge of those ramparts, you’ll find a corpse with a Seedbed Curse.

Seedbed Curse location: Miquella’s Haligtree/Elphael Brace of the Haligtree #2

You can also get this one in the same location. Again, from the Prayer Room Site of Grace, exit and run past the mobs. You should see a ledge, but this one is closer to the Site of Grace than the one that you used to reach the gazebo earlier.

Below that ledge is a small nook with a doorway. Inside is a corpse with yet another Seedbed Curse.

Elden Ring – Mending Rune of the Fell Curse and Blessing of Despair secret ending

After acquiring five Seedbed Curse items in Elden Ring, head back to the Sewer Gaol and talk to the Dung Eater. Hand over the Seedbed Curse items, causing the screen to fade to black. You’ll then be able to pick up the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse.

You can also attack the Dung Eater to make him drop the full Omen armor set. If this doesn’t work, you may need to fast travel back or reload your latest save.

Note: There are actually six Seedbed Curse items in the game. Unfortunately, one requires the completion of an NPC’s quest that’s very easy to miss.

From here, all you need to do is progress further to clear Crumbling Farum Azula and Leyndell Ashen Capital. After beating the game’s final boss, you can interact with a statue of the Fractured Marika. Choose the Mending Rune of the Fell Curse to watch the Blessing of Despair secret ending in Elden Ring.

Note 1: If you’re doing this quest much later (i.e., Leyndell is already covered in rubble and debris), you’ll find a manhole close to the Leyndell Ashen Capital Site of Grace. This takes you down to the Underground Roadside where you can pick up the Crimson Amber Medallion +2. However, be forewarned that causing Leyndell’s layout to change will also make some areas inaccessible (i.e., the lift with the first Seedbed Curse and the Fortified Manor). If you grabbed those earlier, then you shouldn’t have problems. But, if you missed out on either of those two, then you’re out of luck since you’re going to need five Seedbed Curses for this ending.

Note 2: Make sure that you didn’t access the Flame of Frenzy/Three Fingers’ chamber or this will lock you out of other ending selections.

Elden Ring is available via Steam. For more information, check out our guides and features hub.