In the vast and bewildering expanse of the Lands Between, the first friendly-ish face a Tarnished is likely to see belongs to a fellow in a rather drippy white mask. White Mask Varre, stationed near The First Step, greets newcomers with the cheerful news that they are, in fact, maidenless, before shooing them off toward Stormveil Castle like a teacher sending a child on a terrifying field trip. He is the tutorial NPC who forgot the part about being reassuring, a harbinger of the delightful absurdity to come. But dismissing him as just the opening act would be a mistake, for his personal saga is a winding, bloody, and surprisingly rewarding detour that involves betrayal, dubious rituals, and a shortcut to one of the game's most infamous late-game areas. Completing his quest is like being invited to join a secret society only to discover your initiation involves stealing cookies from the jar—if the jar were guarded by dragons and the cookies were soaked in the blood of a holy woman.
Invader of Worlds, Reluctant or Otherwise
Varre won't stick around his initial spot forever. Once a Tarnished has had a chat with the enigmatic Enia at the Roundtable Hold, the masked man will pack his bags and relocate. His new digs are the decidedly less welcoming Rose Church, a spooky little chapel on a lake island south of Raya Lucaria Academy. Finding him there and cautiously agreeing that the Roundtable Hold crowd "didn't seem right" is the key to unlocking his... peculiar brand of friendship. He'll be so pleased with your shared skepticism that he'll gift you some Festering Bloody Fingers.
Now comes the part that makes some players sweat: you must use these fingers to invade other players' worlds three times. For the PvP-averse, this can feel as appealing as volunteering to be a piñata at a giant's birthday party. But fear not! The rules are surprisingly lax:
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Victory is NOT required. You can lose all three invasions and still progress.
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Fighting is OPTIONAL. Use a Fingercalling Finger, then immediately use the Finger Severer to retreat. It still counts!
For those playing offline or who would rather pick on someone their own size (who can't fight back), there's an NPC alternative. Journey to the Writheblood Ruins in Altus Plateau and repeatedly invade the world of Magnus the Beast Claw. Just remember: don't finish him off on the first try. You need to use three separate Festering Bloody Fingers, making Magnus the unluckiest training dummy in the Lands Between.
The Maiden's Blood: A Shopping List for the Morally Flexible
After your trio of invasions (or harassments of Magnus), report back to Varre at Rose Church. He'll be thrilled and invite you to join his cult—ahem, "order." Accept, and he'll hand you a pristine white cloth called the Lord of Blood's Favor. Your next task? Get it nice and soggy with the blood of a Finger Maiden. Varre, ever the helpful fellow, reminds you that you're maidenless, so you'll need to go find one. It's like being given a coupon for a free meal at a restaurant that burned down last week.
Here are your options for sourcing this macabre ingredient:
| Maiden Candidate | Location | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dead Maiden #1 | Church of Inhibition (NE Liurnia) | Already deceased; no messy moral dilemmas. | A bit of a hike. |
| Dead Maiden #2 | Chapel of Anticipation (West of Stormveil) | Also pre-deceased. | Requires a imbued sword key from The Four Belfries and defeating a boss to access. |
| Irina | South of Bridge of Sacrifice (Weeping Peninsula) | Easily accessible early on. | You must kill her yourself. If she dies naturally later in her questline, her blood becomes useless, which is bureaucracy at its most sinister. |
The choice is yours, Tarnished. Will you be a grave robber, a dimension-hopping looters, or a straightforward murderer? The Lands Between doesn't judge (much).
The Mohgwyn Dynasty: A Shortcut and a Showdown
Once your cloth is suitably stained, return it to Varre. He'll knight you—a ceremony about as formal as getting a sticker—and give you two gifts: a reusable Bloody Finger for more invasions, and the Pureblood Knight's Medal. This medal is the real prize: a one-way ticket to Mohgwyn's Palace, an endgame area teeming with runes and danger. Varre advises waiting, but ignoring him is a tradition at this point. Using it immediately is like finding a warp whistle in the first level of a game; it breaks the sequence in the most glorious way possible.
Upon arriving in the blood-soaked palace, fight your way up the stairs past armies of vile albinaurics until you reach a massive mausoleum. Inside, stay alert for ambushes. Just before the exit, you'll spot a red invasion sign on the floor. This is your final exam. Activate the nearby Site of Grace, take a deep breath, and invade. Your target? White Mask Varre himself. Defeating him rewards you with a Furcalling Finger Remedy and a Rune Arc.
Returning to your world, you'll find the now-mortally wounded Varre crumpled on the ground, praying futilely to his blood lord. His story ends not with a bang, but with a whimper and a loot drop. Searching his body yields six more Festering Bloody Fingers and Varre's Bouquet, a unique hammer that scales with Arcane. It's a peculiar, almost poetic end for the first NPC you met: a journey that begins with a condescending welcome and ends with you beating his ambitions to a pulp with a bouquet of flowers. Such is life in the Lands Between, a place where loyalty is as fragile as a soap bubble in a hurricane, and every friendship has a price—usually payable in blood.