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Perhaps you’ve noticed a particular crumbling church during your travels through Liurnia. There are a lot of collapsing churches in Liurnia, but the one I’m talking about has a massive bulbous red growth blocking the entrance and a particularly annoying figure standing next to it. That would be the Rose Church, a previous haunt of the Pureblood Knights and the current hangout of our good pal in the white mask. Whether you’re looking for a more economical way to invade other players, or you’re just after payback for the first time someone called you maidenless, this guide will walk you through everything you need to know about the Rose Church and its associated questline.
Quick Facts
Enemies
- Albinauric
- Lesser Sanguine Noble
Loot
- Bloodrose
- Nomadic Warrior’s Cookbook (12)
- Festering Bloody Finger
- Bloody Finger
- Lord of Blood’s Favor
- Pureblood Knight’s Medal
NPCs
- White Mask Varre
Where is it and What’s There?
The Rose Church is located on an island in the southwestern portion of the Liurnia of the Lakes region, just north of the Folly on the Lake site of grace. You can reach it on foot from any direction, but the front entrance of the church is blocked by the red nastiness mentioned above. Fortunately, the sides of the church are broken open to allow easy access to the gross interior.
Threats
Albinaurics
Be aware that the area around the island is patrolled by troops of Albinaurics, Miranda Sprouts, and crabs. You will also find a small group of Albinaurics on the shore.
Lesser Sanguine Noble
A much greater threat waits inside the church itself. Upon entering the interior of the Rose Church, a lesser sanguine noble will spawn from the blood pooled on the ground and attack the player. Sanguine nobles are tall, armored enemies wielding bloody rapiers and daggers.
This enemy is quite agile and capable of dealing significant damage at close and medium range. Additionally, sanguine nobles can cause rapid bleed buildup and are one of the few enemies capable of parrying player characters. Keep an eye on the way they hold their weapons. If their weapons are crossed, they are getting ready to counterattack. While not a significant threat later on, this particular noble can cause real trouble for lower-level characters.
Free Stuff
There are a few items worth picking up once you are in the area of the Rose Church.
- Bloodroses
- Unsurprisingly, the area in and around the island the Rose Church sits on is flush with bloodroses.
- These flowers are useful crafting materials and are required to create several different bleed-based consumables and ammunition.
- Unsurprisingly, the area in and around the island the Rose Church sits on is flush with bloodroses.
- The Nomadic Warrior’s Cookbook (12)
- Found along the southern wall of the church.
- This cookbook will add the recipe for cursed-blood pots to your repertoire. Crafted using an empty ritual pot and bloodroses, cursed-blood pots can cause any spirits you have summoned to target and aggressively attack any enemy you douse with it. This makes for a useful addition to the armory of players who regularly make use of spirit summons.
- Found along the southern wall of the church.
White Mask Varre’s Questline
On to the real reason you came to the Rose Church. Out in front of the building, standing beside the blocked entrance you will find White Mask Varre. The very same masked NPC who insulted you as soon as you exited the tomb where you started the game. As tempting as it is to immediately smack some manners into him, Varre is a powerful Pureblood Knight and will easily overpower lower-level players. Besides, he has a quest for you.
Starting the Quest
Varre will not appear at the Rose Church until you have spoken to Enia the Finger Reader inside the Roundtable Hold. This means that to begin Varre’s questline, you will first need to defeat one of the demigods causing havoc in The Lands Between and acquire at least one Great Rune. It does not matter which rune you recover, so long as the doors to Enia’s room open and you speak with her.
Once you have a great rune and have spoken to Enia, speak to Varre at the front entrance to the Rose Church. Talk to him until he gives you a stack of five Festering Bloody Fingers and asks you to invade other worlds.
Invasions
At this point, there are two possible ways to progress White Mask Varre’s quest. Both methods will result in the same rewards.
Route 1: Invasions
The simplest way to complete Varre’s quest is by simply invading other players’ worlds three times. Using a festering bloody finger from your inventory will send you to another player’s world as an invader, where your goal is to defeat the host of the world. However, you do not have to succeed in defeating the host to progress the quest, nor do you actually have to fight at all. As long as you enter another player’s world as an invader, how you leave does not matter. Using the Finger Severer upon entering another world to send yourself back also counts. Note that using the Recusant Finger does not count.
Route 2: Magnus
If you aren’t fond of multiplayer or can’t get good internet connection there is another option. In a location called the Writheblood Ruins, you can find an invasion sign for an NPC called Beast Claw Magnus. Invading this NPC and defeating them also fulfills the requirement for this part of the quest. Although this route does not require multiplayer, it is a bit more difficult. The Writheblood Ruins are located in the northwestern portion of the Altus Plateau, a much more dangerous and higher-level area than Liurnia. Additionally, Magnus’s invasion sign is surrounded by Bloodhounds, a particularly annoying enemy that can easily kill a high-level player if they attack as a group.
Maiden’s Blood
After completing one of the above routes, return to Varre at the Rose Church and speak to him again. This time he will ask you to join his order overseen by the Lord of Blood. Accepting this has no negative consequences and Varre will then give you the Lord of Blood’s favor and ask you to dye it in the blood of a Finger Maiden. No, you can’t kill Melina and use her blood. There are, however, three alternative sources for the blood you need.
Route 1: Church of Inhibition
The closest finger maiden corpse is located northeast of the lake at a different crumbling church called the Church of Inhibition. Inside the church, right next to the sight of grace is a dead finger maiden sitting in a chair. Use the item on the corpse and you’re done.
Route 2: Chapel of Anticipation
This route is a bit more complicated, but if you’re on a mission of revenge, maybe you prefer it this way. You will need to head along the ridge that follows the western ring of Liurnia’s lake. There you can find a hill bearing four belfries accurately labeled “The Four Belfries.” At the top of the hill is a chest containing an Imbued Sword Key. Once you have that, head back down to the second-highest belfry and use the key at the statue to open the portal.
The portal will take you to the chapel of anticipation, the very first place you saw when you began the game. To reach the corpse of the maiden, you will have to face off with your old nemesis, the grafted scion. But this time you have a real chance of winning. After you’ve avenged yourself, head across the bridge to the chapel you woke up in, and find that the corpse of the maiden still lies next to the door.
Route 3: Murder
If you’re not opposed to murdering an NPC in cold blood, you can kill Irina at the mouth of the Weeping Peninsula. While she is the easiest to reach, murdering her can create problems with her questline if you haven’t completed it yet. Alternatively, you can use the blood from her corpse at the end of her questline, but this method is a bit buggy and does not always seem to work.
Completion
Rewards
- Bloody Finger
- Pureblood Knight’s Medal
- An opportunity to murder Varre
Returning the Blood Lord’s Favor to White Mask Varre once it has been dyed with a finger maiden’s blood will complete the quest. Varre will then reward you with the Bloody Finger. It is implied that Varre cuts off one of your fingers to create this item, but there are no visual differences to your character to correspond with this. This item functions identically to the Festering Bloody Finger, allowing you to invade another player’s world, with the added benefit that it is not consumed upon use.
Additionally, if you speak to Varre again, he will offer you the Pureblood Knight’s Medal. When used, the medal teleports you directly to the entrance of Mohgwyn’s Palace, giving you easy access to the Mohg, Lord of Blood boss fight as well as the other points of interest around the palace.
Afterward
Once you have completed Varre’s questline, you are free to do with him as you please. I suggest using the Pureblood Knight’s Medal and reaching the Mausoleum Dynasty Midpoint site of grace before attacking Varre though. Very near to this site is a summon sign that allows you to invade and fight Varre. Killing him in this way will reward you with his Bouquet weapon whereas killing him any other way will only net you a few Festering Bloody Fingers.
Hopefully, this helped bring you up to speed on what you need to know about White Mask Varre’s quest and the Rose Church, even if I still have no idea what that bulbous red stuff is. If you enjoyed this, check out our other guides on Elden Ring locations and quests, and best of luck in your journeys, Tarnished.
FAQ
Question: Does Killing Varre Have Any Effect on the Story?
Answer: No. Killing Varre after you have completed his quest has no negative effects.
Question: I Accidentally Killed Varre, is There a Way to Bring Him Back?
Answer: Unfortunately, no. If Varre is killed, he cannot be revived at the Church of Vows, so if you haven’t completed his quest before he died you will be locked out of it.
Question: Does Joining Varre’s Order Change the Story?
Answer: No. Joining Varre’s order has no impact other than progressing his questline.
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