The Lands Between is a truly astonishing place, and nowhere is the grandeur of Elden Ring more astounding than Leyndell, Royal Capital. A city of gold, Leyndell is most enormous and intricate, a maze where Tarnished can easily get lost trying to approach the Erdtree to become Elden Lord. And yet, somehow, one artist has managed to capture Leyndell’s complex architecture in one tiny model. Sky Burkson is both an Elden Lord and a miniaturist who specializes in recreating scenes from video games in itty-bitty form. At the end of 2022, Burkson was approached by an Elden Ring player who asked to recreate Leyndell as a hand-crafted paper model, and after spending several months planning and building, his latest creation is finally ready for display."Took me twice as long as I thought it might but here it is!" Burkson wrote on Twitter (via Kotaku). "Made by hand primarily out of paper / + bits of basswood, toothpicks, clear resin, floral wire, & wool batting on a hardwood base," and also "tea leaf grounds" for the foliage. It wouldn't be an Erdtree without a few fallen leaves around. Or without winding and coiled roots interwoven through the city's ramparts.
The diorama isn't an exact replica of Leyndell, which would have required much more space, but there are plenty of Leyndell's features. The central structure is the cathedral where Marika's bed chamber can be found, and behind that, the steps leading to the Elden Throne and the door to the Erdtree. On the left is an Erdtree sapling where you can likely find two Golden Seeds, and beneath that, Leyndell's sewers heading to the Subterranean Shunning Grounds.
It's the attention to detail that really makes this piece. If you go up the forested path on the left you'll eventually find a tiny Goldmask pointing at the Erdtree. In the sewers, there's a teeny fingercreeper crawling around. Yellow LEDs give the city a golden glow and the entire Erdtree lights up with embedded LED's inside.
Sadly, this model isn't for sale as it already has a "forever home." But can certainly look at more close-up images of Leyndell as well as progress photos over on Burkson's Instagram.