"Oh look, it's another wannabe Tarnished Archeologist" you say. Well, you're just gonna have to get past it because we need to talk about the Gloam Eyed Queen.
For this we will start at the end and move backwards. The Gloam Eyed Queen is the thread that stitches together much of the unspoken lore. We begin in the lord of chaos ending, where we meet the Queen herself. The word 'gloam' means twilight. The dusky time when the sun sets, and stars start to appear. Gloam. Eyed.
The Gloam Eyed Queen
Now, this character that we see and hear. She sounds like Melina. She looks like a bizzaro wartime version of Melina. But is she Melina? No dear reader, she is not. The Gloam eyed Queen is not Melina.
Visually Melina has a brown right eye, a sealed shut left eye, and brown hair. The image we see of the GeQ is markedly different. A milky right eye, twilight in the left, and much darker hair with...whisps of silvegrey. Importantly, the Melina who helps the tarnished is only a remanat of the spirit of Melina. 'Burned and bodiless'. Ageless. Unchanging in death. The GeQ is not Melina with a makeover, she is a different person.
The GeQ is a Numen. Born in another land and migrated to the Lands Between (like Marika, but we'll get to that). Melina explicitly states she was 'born at the foot of the Erdtree'. Melina was born, at the earliest, the end of the Crucible age or the start of the age of the Erdtree. The GeQ ruled begining in the crucible age, before Melina was born. This again is proof that the GeQ is not Melina.
The Gloam Eyed Queen is not Melina
So where do we go from here? Who is Melina then?
Is Melina a child of Marika? I mean, she was born at the foot of the Erdtree where her mother gave her her purpose, right? Well, we need to consider that this may not be what she is referring to. In all the dialog from Melina in the Churches of Marika, she never refers to Marika as her mother. Markia's children are the demigods. They are known and discussed throughout the Lands Between. Gideon, the (not quite so) all knowing has extensive records on the demigods and is searching for them so he can find the shards of the Elden Ring. Morgot shows the thrones of his siblings, and calls them by name. But neither one mentions Melina. Melina is not a scion of Marika. So who else would have a child brought to the foot of the sacred and holy Erdtree? Could it be the previous Queen? Who ruled perhaps into the spawning of the Erdtree at the waning of the Crucible? Now the visual similarities start to make sense. Melina is the Gloam eyed Queen's daughter. Born at the Erdtrtee, given purpose by her mother to burn it to the ground, razing the symbol of her Usurper [GRRM loves nothing more than a userper].
Melina, who first presents herself reminiscent of a godskin apostle
The one who walks alongside flame, Shall one day meet the road of Destined Death.
Who carries a miniature godskin peeler
Melina's Blade of Calling
Who looks like the GeQ, who sounds like her, who had a birth that only royalty would.
Ok, so assuming that's true, can we strengthen the ties even further? I think we can. Lets shift to the night of the black knives. The firstborn of the new queen is murdered by a conspiracy. From the black knife armor, "The assassins that carried out the deeds of the Night of the Black Knives were all women, and rumored to be Numen who had close ties with Marika herself." So we have Numen assassins, after a Numen Queen is deposed by another Numen. This was revenge by the GeQ. It's not a stretch to assume that a newly arrived people in a foreign land would maintain close relationships. Even close enough that the GeQ and Marika were equals [possibly even friends?] until the GeQ's ascension to Queendom. Marika of the Golden Order, and the GeQ who ruled Destined Death. They seem like the perfect match. Yin and Yang. Then Marika usurped the throne [from the monument in Altus Plateau: 'The First Defense of Leyndell. A sovereign alliance rots from within. Traces yet remain of bloody conspiracy"]. Once Marika usurped the throne, the GeQ used her contacts within the Numen [known, possibly trusted by Marika], to develop a plot to assassinate her golden son.
But wait, didn't Ranni lead the assassination? Well, yes, but now we get to the Snow Witch. Ranni's mentor who lives through a forest in a cold, snowy land. Ranni's mother sent her through the forest in the Forbidden Lands, and to the Mountaintops of the Giants to be trained by the Snow Witch. The lore never says the GeQ was killed, simply that she was defeated. Once defeated, where could she go? Where would she be safe from the new Order? Where is the order's influence the weakest? The Queen of Destined Death headed to the mountaintops where the death rite birds, skeletons, and ancient enemies of the Order still survived. Even sites of grace - the symbols of the Order's influence - are rare in this walled off part of the world.
From the Snow Witch Set: Once worn by the snowy crone who the young Ranni encountered deep in the woods. She was a witch, and well versed in cold sorceries. It is said that the doll that houses Ranni's soul was modeled after her. That old witch was Ranni's secret mentor. The doll that houses Ranni's soul. We do not ever see Ranni during the whole game. Only the doll modeled after the snow witch.
Gloam Eyed Queen and Snow Witch
It's not a perfect copy, but it's darn close for a doll.
Edit because I forgot an important bit: So once Marika's son is murdered, what does she do? She shatters the elden ring for the purpose of removing the Gloam Eyed Queen's influence - Destined Death - from it once and for all.
So, summary/TLDR:
During the Gloam Eyed Queen's rule, she sired a daughter - Melina. Melina along with the Godskins were the equivalent of Marika's tarnished. Her enforcers. The Gloam Eyed Queen was then usurped by Marika and fled into exile. She hid in the mountains and was forgotten, only to become the Snow Witch. Rennala knew of her whereabouts and after being betrayed by Radagon, sent her daughter Ranni to be the GeQ's disciple. Together, they plotted the night of the black knives using Numen who were close to Marika, but still loyal to the GeQ. The GeQ for revenge, and Ranni to be free of the fingers. This caused the shattering as Marika needed to end the GeQ's influence.
What say you fellow tarnished?

Saw these popping out , sadly the design wasn't free so ended up making my own. Which means I downloaded a dragon face a dragon and then added parts into a blender square to get this.
Printed version came out last night, can't say Im liking the white filament but pretty happy with it
But, printing v2 , (last pic ) which is just a bigger one, with the dragons head tilted up.

Abu Dhabi's Technology Innovation Institute Unveils Falcon 2 11B: Open-Source LLM Competing with Llama and Gemini. Supports Five European Languages. A Game-Changer in Language Technology! Falcon2 #LLM #LanguageTechnology #Innovation
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• The Abu Dhabi government's Technology Innovation Institute (TII) has developed Falcon, a significant artificial intelligence model, marking the emirate's entry into the global AI competition.
• Falcon, launched in 2023, is an open-source large language model, demonstrating Abu Dhabi's commitment to transparency and collaboration in AI development.
• The updated version of Falcon, Falcon 2 11B, surpasses the performance of the latest open-source model from Meta Platforms Inc. and matches Google's Gemini on some levels.
• The emergence of Falcon positions Abu Dhabi as a "serious player" in the AI domain, challenging established global entities like OpenAI and Google.
• Falcon's development and its open-source nature encourage innovation, collaboration, and advancement in AI technologies worldwide.

In 2023, Falcon made headlines not just for its technological prowess but for its strategic release as an open-source model. This approach allows researchers and developers worldwide to access, use, and improve upon Falcon's code, facilitating a global collaborative effort towards advancing AI technologies. It's a bold move that invites a collective push towards innovation, rather than keeping advancements behind closed doors.
"Falcon is a large language model like OpenAI’s GPT and Google’s Gemini — computing systems that power chatbots, image generators and other generative AI tools."
Despite being relatively new to the AI scene, Abu Dhabi's Falcon model has rapidly positioned itself as a significant challenger to established players. Its performance outstripping Meta's latest open-source model and equalling Google's Gemini on certain metrics has set a new precedent for what emerging players can achieve in the AI domain. This not only shakes up the competitive landscape but also highlights the potential for rapid innovation and progress in AI technology from new corners of the globe.

GPT-4o Text and Image Capabilities Now Available to ChatGPT Plus and Team Users! 🖼️📄 Voice Version Coming Soon. Revealed: The mysterious gpt2-chatbot was GPT-4o all along. OpenAI #GPT4o #ChatGPT #AIInnovation
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• OpenAI announced a new flagship model, GPT-4o, which aims to enhance real-time voice interactions and bring GPT-4 level intelligence to all users, including those using the platform for free.
• The advent of such powerful AI models like GPT-4o signifies a shift in tech companies, including giants like Google, Microsoft, and Apple, towards a future centered around generative AI technologies.
• GPT-4o distinguishes itself not only by speed and ease of use but also through its enhanced conversational skills and personality, a significant leap from previous models.
• The model is part of a broader trend wherein OpenAI and its competitors are positioning themselves in anticipation of a major shift in how the world searches for and processes information.
• OpenAI's strategic move to unveil GPT-4o just before Google's developer conference highlights the competitive landscape and the race to dominate the AI-driven future.

In one of the demonstrations, OpenAI showcased GPT-4o’s ability to provide a real-time tutorial on taking deep breaths, highlighting its potential in delivering personalized and interactive experiences. This level of personalized interaction exemplifies the profound changes AI technology can bring into our daily lives, from stress management techniques to educational tutorials, demonstrating a significant leap in how AI can understand and respond to human needs in real time.
"The special thing about GPT-4o is it brings GPT-4 level intelligence to everyone, including our free users," - CTO Mira Murati.
The reveal of GPT-4o included demonstrations of multimodal capabilities across visual, audio, text, and even language translation interactions. This showcases the model’s versatility in understanding and responding across different mediums, hinting at a future where AI could seamlessly integrate into every aspect of human interaction, from educational tools to emotional support systems, thereby significantly expanding the scope of AI’s applicability beyond what was previously imagined.