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The loathsome Dung-Eater is one of the most mysterious and sinister NPC’s inElden Ring. Once he appears in Roundtable Hold, you’ll be greeted by his cryptic comments and the warnings of Roderika not to go anywhere near him. But the Dung-Eater actually has a questline that ends up giving you one of the rare alternative endings to the game.
Related:Elden Ring Complete Endings Guide
In this guide, we’ll tell you everything you need to know to start and finish this creepy quest, and where to find all the items you’ll need for it.
Appearance At Roundtable Hold
You won’t be able to begin this quest until the Dung-Eater has appeared in the backroom of the Roundtable Hold, which he will only do once you have physically reached theAltus Plateaulocation. You can talk to him and Roderika in the Hold for more info, but his quest will not begin properly until you bring him aSeedbed Curse. There are only six of these highly limited items in the game, one of which is missable, and you will need five to complete the Dung-Eater’s quest. We’ll cover all of their locations later in this guide.
Beginning The Quest
Once you bring the first Seedbed Curse to Dung-Eater, his quest will begin properly. He will give you theSewer-Gaol Keyand ask you to free his physical form from where it is imprisoned. The Dung-Eater is located in theSubterranean Shunning-Grounds, which are found beneathLeyndell, Royal Capital.
The easiest way to get here if you have not already been to the Shunning-Grounds is to start at theAvenue BalconySite Of Grace, go down the stairs, and turn left, follow the balcony, and jump down onto the roofs below. The entrance to the Shunning-Grounds is a well to the North. Be very careful when you descend to ground level here, as there are some Albinaurics that will swarm and grab you.
In the Shunning-Grounds, find your way to theUnderground Roadside Site Of Grace. From here, go out of the room, turn left, and run until you see an open grate. Drop down here and then turn left. Run past all the rats, then turn left and run past the flowers until you reach a ladder. Climb this, and you will be in an area with Lesser Fingercreepers on the ceiling. When you round the corner here, the Gaol door will be at the far end. Run along the edge of the walls as a Fingercreeper will emerge from the center of the floor, go straight to the door, and unlock it — inside, you will find the Dung-Eater. Speak to him and tell him he can leave. He will stay where he is, still bashing his head against the wall, but this step is now complete.
Duelling The Dung-Eater
Return to Roundtable Hold, and you will find the Dung-Eater is missing and has left a message for you. He wants you to meet him at theOuter Moat, which is located just outside the walls of Leyndell, Royal Capital. The closest Site Of Grace is eitherCapital Rampart,from which you will need to ride over the bridge and out of the castle from here and then down the slope to the Moat, orOuter Wall Battleground, in which case you may ride South-East and up to it.
Before you head to the Moat and trigger Dung-Eater’s invasion, it’s worth checking the Blackguard Seedbed Curse step later in this guide, as you can miss this otherwise. If you do head here, when you reach the far end of the moat, the Dung-Eater will invade you and attack you with a two-handed sword. He also occasionally casts a ranged, multi-projectile homing spell.
There is a unique Giant Crab underneath the moat here, which will emerge and attack both you and the Dung-Eater if you go near it. This Crab’s breath attack causesDeath Blight. It can very quickly kill you or the Dung-Eater if it hits either of you.
Once the Dung-Eater is defeated, he will drop theSword Of Milos, an FP-restoring Greatsword.
Completing The Quest
Return to Roundtable Hold again, and the Dung-Eater will be back. Speak to him, and he will ask you to bring more Seedbed Curses to his physical body back down in the Subterranean-Shunning Grounds. You can bring all of the remaining four you need at once or one at a time as you find them, but either way, once you have given him four more, the Dung Eater will give you a final line of dialogue and the itemMending Rune Of The Fell Curse. This can be used after you have beaten the final boss of the game to get one of thesix endings.
Related:Elden Ring: Golden Halberd Build Guide
How To Find Seedbed Curses
As mentioned earlier, there are six Seedbed Curses attainable in the game. Below is a list of their locations and steps to obtain them.
Leyndell Royal Capital
Near theFortified ManorSite Of Grace, there is an area that looks exactly like the Roundtable Hold. If you go to the room that is the equivalent of the one the Dung-Eater sits in, you will find a Seedbed Curse on a corpse tied to a chair there.
The second is accessed from near the entrance to Leyndell City from theEast Capital Site Of Grace. Follow the path into the city past the Envoys and then through into the room containing the elevator at the end. Take the elevator down and then straight ahead into the next building, where you will find a ladder on the right. Climb this and then go up again until you find the corpse on the top floor, where you will find the Seedbed Curse.
For the third, you need to have progressed theBlackguardquestline to the point where you have bought Boiled Prawns from him. You can then find him at theOuter Moatbefore you fight the Dung Eater in the same location. Read all of the Blackguard’s dialogue and leave the area. When you return, interact with his corpse, and it willtrigger Dung-Eater’s invasion. You can then find a Seedbed Curse on the Balckguard’s corpse. This Curse ismissableif you have previously killed the Blackguard or not advanced his quest to the right point.
Volcano Manor
This curse is best acquired when you have already completed theVolcano Manor quest lineand fought Rykard already. You should start from theTemple Of Eiglay Site Of Graceand then proceed all the way through the zone near to the point where youtrigger the fight with Rykard. From here, head into the building where you find theMan-Serpent Ashesand then up the stairs until you find a room sealed by aStonesword key. Use the key and then jump down the hanging cages below until you reach the ground. The Seedbed Curse is once again found on a seated body here.
Elphael, Brace Of The Haligtree
There are two curses here. For the first, start from thePrayer Room Site Of Grace, head out of the door to the right, and down the path, keeping to the right, until you reach a balcony with an arch that you’re able to jump onto below and a platform with aGolden Teardrop Scarabbeyond. Go past the Scarab and onto the next arch, follow this up to the left, and then turn right along the new balcony and run straight to the end, where you will find a seated corpse containing theSeedbed Curse.
For the second Curse, start at thePrayer Room Site Of Graceagain, and head all the way down the path to the right until you reach a room containing two Cleanrot Knights. From here, turn right and jump onto the arch below, and then right and drop down again. You will now find another staircase leading down behind you. Follow this down and then turn right again, and you will see an area with some cages and boxes. At the back of this is another seated figure holding the Seedbed Curse.
