Kalé will normally remain in place and sell your Tarnished items, then eventually give you directions to seek out Blaidd, the half-man, half-wolf seen in the Mistwood Ruins. As the guardian and companion of Ranni the Witch, Blaidd can also become a summon, if you play your cards right. Merchant Kalé will inform your Tarnished about wolf howling heard in the woods, and impart knowledge about the Finger Snap gesture, which needs to be used with Blaidd.
While Kalé’s function is a bit more expanded than the other merchants in Elden Ring, he is the only one to actually carry a name. That’s part of what makes him unique, especially when you factor in the content cut from the game that would have granted him more time in the spotlight. In fact, his potential questline would have provided him a much larger role in the game.
Interested in learning more about the Elden Ring merchant Kalé and the cut content the game could have included? Read on for details on how the Kalé storyline might have played out.
Elden Ring Kalé: What to Know About Cut Content
Dataminer Sekiro Dubi originally uncovered the truth behind Kalé’s quest. Instead of leading the Tarnished to Blaidd, Kalé would have explained how the merchants around the Lands Between were actually part of a group called the Grand Caravan.
Though they belonged to one team, the merchants were always seen as outsiders, a status made even worse by the fact that the Grand Caravan has all but disappeared. Kalé is determined to figure out where the Caravan has gone, which kicks off a much larger storyline for the item seller.
Kalé would take the Tarnished on a tour of several areas, culminating in the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds, found in Leyndell, Royal Capital (or Ashen Capital). This is the same location that Dung Eater may be found, as part of an additional quest. More importantly, this is where the Three Fingers, part of the Lord of the Frenzied Flame game ending, may be found—near the Cathedral of the Forsaken.
This area is filled with corpses and a few remaining living souls. Normally, you’d question what happened here—some sort of massacre? There’s little context in the retail version of the game to help you reach the conclusion, or at least one with an answer you can ascertain from the game’s content. Most of the character models here are dressed like the merchants and Kalé himself. The cut content story datamined by Sekiro Dubi allows Kalé to explain what happened here: the Grand Caravan worshiped the Frenzied Flame, and they were put to death for doing so by the Golden Order—along with the Three Fingers.
Kalé, as a result, isn’t exactly thrilled since he lost all of his people. So he now follows the Frenzied Flame, which seeks to bring chaos to the Lands Between. You probably wouldn’t be happy with the Golden Order for destroying your people, either. And that’s what happens with Kalé’s cut content—perhaps in another Elden Ring installment or DLC, we will get to learn even more.
