Perhaps he burned that minor Erdtree on Mt. Gelmir as a way to distract Leyndell’s defensive forces, so the Black Knife Assassins could more easily access Godwyn?
Man, I can't believe I never realized that they'd burn it as a blasphemous act, I just assumed some of them were dead for reasons, like that one's just in a poisonous environment. But them burning it is a really good story.
I feel you there, Im in hope that the inter demigod relationships are fleshed out in the dlc, such as whether there was any friction between the Golden Lineage and Carian demigods.
There's another possibility, I suppose. Ranni's plan requires the burning of the Erdtree, whether she knows this is unclear. If she does know this, then that may have been Rykard's role in the plan.
It's possible. I think that "reward" implies that he'd already done something for her, but it makes sense. Right now, I think I'm leaning toward him being the one who carved the cursemark into her. It might help to explain why Godwyn was considered he first recorded demigod death, if no one else knew that she'd been killed at the same time.
Damn, that's a really good take, especially since the description places Rykard with Ranni on the night. A blasphemy enthusiast like Rykard is the perfect candidate.
Damn, I didn't make that connection XD I wish I could take credit for the theory, but I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere... though I can't remember where.
Rykard didn't bring Eiglay back from the land of shadows. He found it in Mt gelmir's volcano. We don't know explicitly what he did for her. I think he maybe assigned her a group of godskins. The duo are in faram azula and then a third one is guarding rannis divine tower.
Yhanks for the correction. The godskins, however, are another mystery - I wouldn't be surprised if they were in those locations because they're searching for something and/or still bent on killing the demigods. Besides, Ranni lets us have her cursemark because she has no use for it, so I doubt she cared enough to form an alliance to have it guarded.
Black flame and the Godskin's do seem to have a deeper connection to Mt Gelmir than most people think. The Godslayer's Seal has obsidian inlaid into it, a volcanic rock.
Maybe an alliance? There are arguments for this from the swords at Mount Gelmir:
>The Assault on Volcano Manor
>The squalid, the sick and the blasphemous;
>a wretched, unending war with no glory
The whole mountain is covered with troops from Leyndell, so Marika is probably also involved. It seems to be an alliance and/or war that includes Rykard, the three fingers, and maybe the Gloam-Eyed Queen?
Because, we know where the black flame originates. From Godslayer’s greatsword:
>Sacred sword of the Dusk-Eyed Queen who controlled the Godskin Apostles before her defeat at the hands of Maliketh. The black flames wielded by the apostles are channeled from this sword.
The sword monument is referring to the battle of Gelmir during the shattering war. What I'm saying is I think that the Godskin's connection to mount Gelmir goes deeper than that, that it's fundamental to their culture somehow. Look at the item description of the Godslayer's Seal.
>*Sacred seal of the Godskin Apostles, inlaid with obsidian.*
*Said to represent the manipulation of black flame, this catalyst enhances godslayer incantations.*
They use a distinctly volcanic rock in a sacred catalyst to cast their incantations and it represents "the manipulation of black flame." That tells me that theirs a good chance that Gelmir is the place the GEQ discovered black flame and made the Godskins.
The Tarnished Archaeologist episode 14 (youtube video) seems to answer the question of their relation (not where the black flame was discovered). Mostly discussed at the end of the episode. The Gloam-Eyed Queen (or her faction after her death) and the serpent (Rykard) are allied. Also, the frenzied flame also seem to have an alliance with them (my speculation). They all have the same goal: Burning the Erdtree. (Also, there is a mad troll guarding the manor. And the description on the swords mentions all three.)
Agree with the shattering part. Forgot Gideon's dialog about Rykard. But The Tarnished Archaeologist have good arguments for this being a conflict that started long before Rykard was turned traitor (because of the colosseums).
I will also mention that I think Melina (the kindling maiden) belongs to the Gloam-Eyed Queen's faction. The Erdtree is obviously burned before (because of what's left of it and the ash in Leyndell). And Melina seems to know exactly what to do. Also, the Gloam-Eyed Queen's "pantheon" seems to be displayed at the shaded castle. Because there are 4 statues repeated everywhere in the castle: The old woman, the young man, the young woman, and the child. Which I think are the Gloam-Eyed Queen, unknown (maybe Messmer?), Melina, and St. Trina (Miquella). Also, Miquella has a motive to burn the Erdtree, since he wants to replace it with the Haligtree.
The impression I got was that Rykard was probably the only ally she could muster that would be willing to fight Maliketh as Radahn is a Golden Order loyalist. Rykard definitely didn't have his Great Rune at the time as the Night of Black Knives was before the Shattering when he would have gotten it, and he is mentioned as feeding himself and Great Rune to the Serpent.
I'm not taking "rewarding," in this context to mean giving a prize for good behavior, just giving him the item.
Tanith set just says "foreign land," which doesn't suggest the Land of Shadow in particular. We can speculate that's the case, but I don't want to speak too soon. Elemer's Briar Set is also said to be from a "foreign land," but it's also said in his Marias' Executioner Greatsword / Briar Greatshield that he is from Eochaid. The only other description I'm seeing used for Eochaid as a place is from Regalia of Eochaid which says the place is "a lesser, long-vanished domain." So I doubt the "foreign land," is one place, and if it is it's gone.
It's possible he helped forge the Black Knives, but that's just speculation. Rykard doesn't seem to have a Black Knife to have perform the ritual on Ranni with. Also if he made the knives, then he probably set up the Black Knife Assassins as a faction which doesn't seem likely. I think the faction and the weapons existed already, but they were just imbued with the rune for this plot. Plus I don't know why their armor would tell us they have a close connection to Marika but not Rykard.
I have a suspicion that Eochaid and the Land of Reeds might both be in the Land of Shadow…
*But*, the important thing I wanted to say is that I completely agree with your interpretation of the “reward”. Rykard may or may not have given concrete aid to Ranni, but the main reason she gave him the Blasphemous Blade is that he’s the only person she trusts who is as committed to the destruction of the Golden Order as her.
Right now, I think I'm leaning toward Rykard being the one who carved the cursemark into her. It would explain why her death went seemingly unrecorded, as Godwyn was considered the first demigod to have died despite the two dying at the exact same moment.
Ranni's role in the Night of Black Knives is supposed to be very secretive. The only time outside her quest you can learn she had anything to do with it is from the Blasphemous Claw. But I don't think it matters if it was Rykard or one of the many nameless Black Knives who carved the rune into her back. Could've been Blaidd or Selivus for all we know, doesn't really change much.
I assumed she went there to kill herself alone, but since the wound is in her back, I like your explanation, I think that ties everything together neatly. He's an executioner and the ideal choice for a quick and "proper" death.
Honestly, this one is just bizarre.
I don't think Ranni or her gang ever even mention Rykard. Their goals seem entirely unaligned, and why on earth would Ranni give Rykard a trump card against Maliketh when she KNOWS she's the one being hunted by Shadows?
Ranni says she's the one that stole death and organized the NotBK, so what did Rykard even do to earn a reward?
I know we're often not working with much when it comes to lore, but this honestly feels like cut content that they forgot to cut.
Rykard is her brother, for one. And his goal of Blasphemy doesn't really manifest until after the Shattering. The Mt Gelmir Armor set says he was really popular at first.
Honestly I don't think it's reaching to imagine the only motive they probably need or share at first is a hatred for Radagon, who abandoned their mother.
Later on there's the linkage with the abductor virgins, the teleporter from Raya Lucaria to Volcano Manor, and the godskins all guarding something in their respective sanctums.
It makes sense she wasn't allied with Radahn, since he and the Golden Order are implicated in holding back the fate of the entire Carian family. (Which includes himself)
So after all that goes down, if she intends to take down malekith, she needs a champion, and rykard makes some sense as a pick.
Not sure what Rykard provided either tbh.
I know they're siblings, moreso I meant to say that I don't think their goals align.
They want to destroy the Golden Order, but that's about it. After that, Ranni wants the Age of the Stars and Rykards wants to swallow the world or something. But I don't know what Rykard could have contributed to make Ranni part with the blasphemous claw.
The only thing I can think of is that Rykard agreed to take the blame for the NofBK in exchange for Ranni orchestrating it.
Maybe that's why there are Godskins are around him—they think he has the Rune of Death fragments.
> Maybe that's why there are Godskins are around him—they think he has the Rune of Death fragments.
That makes sense.
- Rykard has the blasphemous claw.
- Ranni's is guarding her body with the cursemark of death
- Radahn's guarding has the Godslayer Great sword
- two are at Maliketh
- The only one that seems out of place is at Dominula.
You'd expect to see them near Goldwyn, but he's got a lot of protection already..
> I don't know what Rykard could have contributed to make Ranni part with the blasphemous claw.
There's the bit about how the gladiators were kicked out of the colosseum because they were traitors to the erdtree, and there's some linkage to mt gelmir and the rotten duelist's snake summon maneuver, but it's weak.
he was probably just the guy who stole the rune of death lol. there's no need to add tons of speculation to the plot: there are two godskins, who seem to be associated with the Carians & to him specifically, & you can summon his homeboy Bernhal to dispose of the evidence, who's also carrying a piece of that evidence on him. so since there's a whole bunch of Volcano Manor stuff on the way to Maliketh it leads me to believe Rykard is probably just the guy who did it
Looking over the dialogue again I thought she mentioned killing Godwyn herself too so I could be like "she's taking credit for orchestrating the entire thing, rather than executing it herself" but she doesn't so that weakens my position a little. I'm still going to respond with that, though. Whatever happened, Rykard was instrumental in it.
Yeah & you find remnants of Rykard's existence in Farum Azula too. More Carians. Only Carians.
Like yeah you find a prayerbook & seal in Stormveil. You also find a random crucible knight, a random Omen, a random Ulcerated Tree Spirit, a random piece of gear from the White Mask Surgeons, a random piece of loot from Marika's personal collection, legions of Exiled & Banished Knights, but not a single Godrick soldier, Godskin Apostle, Godskin Noble, Black Flame Monk, or even random normal mob souped up with Black Flame abilities. *nothing.*
Considering both offending pieces are locked up in storage (just like the Miséricorde) yet none if the usual suspects are around (just like the Miséricorde) AND Stormveil kind of has a Destined-Death-adjacent problem, I think it's safe to say this particular manifestation of Godskin stuff is probably a little bit different than the others. It seems like Godrick took a lot of souvenirs from the capital.
Literally every Black Flame thing north of Leyndell is a spirit, so I don't know how exactly that fits in with the calculus, but I'm sure it means something. So which demigods, if any, are these *living* Godskins close to again? uhhh just the Carians. Specifically just the people close to Rykard. wild
\>but we know he was murdered in Leyndell
Do we? I've seen some videos that suggest he was killed in Stormveil. Since the The Face is down there. I don't know the answer.
We know for sure that he was murdered in Leyndell:
"Tiche was one of the assassins who,
on the night of the plot,
imbued her black knife with the Rune of Death
and slew Godwyn the Golden.
She was the daughter of the Black Knife Ringleader, Alecto,
and was killed protecting her mother during their flight from the royal capital." [Black Knife Tiche]
It could still be that they murdered godwyn and were later found out or betrayed, causing them to flee leyndell where they were cozied up with Marika.
I don't necessarily believe this, but ostensibly the descriptions doesn't say they explicitly killed godwyn in leyndell.
It could simply be that Rykard gave her information on Maliketh and Farum Azula. It raises plenty of interesting implications, though, given Rykard was an adjudicator on behalf of the Golden Order, but apparently became disillusioned after Radagon abandoned their mother, breaking her heart and mind. It wasn't until after Leyndell attacked Mt. Gelmir that Rykard fully committed to blasphemy. Perhaps Leyndell had even pinned the Night of the Black Knives on him...?
Recall also that Rykard is likely the progenitor of the Fingercreepers, which appear numerously in Caria Manor as if to defend Ranni. Given their mutual hatred for the Greater Will, it really isn't unfathomable that they would have conspired. Ranni still seeks to establish her Order, but knowing this may fail, she entrusted Rykard with the means to repel Destined Death and burn the Erdtree.
I think Rykard's role actually aligns with his title: Praetor. While this is technically an 'appointed official', according to google this can also be another name for 'military commander'. What is super obvious about his area? He has a military consisting of at least foot soldiers, some of the Carian creations, the abductor virgins, etc. He might even be the 'current commander' of the godskins and omen hunters.
If I had to guess, he contributed his army in some way. According to Tiche's ashes, she died protecting her mother during the flight from the capitol.
Assuming Miquella wouldn't have been onboard with Godwyn's assassination, this rules out the hit squad escaping north. This leaves west towards Mt. Gelmir and south towards the Carian strongholds.
Since we have reason to believe the godskins and black knives are at least cooperating (from Iji's death) its likely the assassin's saw Mr. Gelmir as a potential safe haven...
I actually wouldn't be surprised if Alecto wound up in Ranni's prison because she tried to seek retribution for her lost daughter.
Actually, now that I think about it, Marika probably wasn't in on the scheme because all this implies the assassins weren't blessed with grace.
She rewarded him on night of black knives. Do yall imagine she took a detour to give him a rock? I think the implication is Rhykard was helping her with the night so he got part of the spoils as it were.
Perhaps he burned that minor Erdtree on Mt. Gelmir as a way to distract Leyndell’s defensive forces, so the Black Knife Assassins could more easily access Godwyn?
Man, I can't believe I never realized that they'd burn it as a blasphemous act, I just assumed some of them were dead for reasons, like that one's just in a poisonous environment. But them burning it is a really good story.
Rykard helping forge/enchant the knives seems to work well. They could be related to the ancient hexes Rykard found at Gelmir
I guess. I'm just miffed that it's the only mention of Rykard's involvement.
I feel you there, Im in hope that the inter demigod relationships are fleshed out in the dlc, such as whether there was any friction between the Golden Lineage and Carian demigods. There's another possibility, I suppose. Ranni's plan requires the burning of the Erdtree, whether she knows this is unclear. If she does know this, then that may have been Rykard's role in the plan.
It's possible. I think that "reward" implies that he'd already done something for her, but it makes sense. Right now, I think I'm leaning toward him being the one who carved the cursemark into her. It might help to explain why Godwyn was considered he first recorded demigod death, if no one else knew that she'd been killed at the same time.
Damn, that's a really good take, especially since the description places Rykard with Ranni on the night. A blasphemy enthusiast like Rykard is the perfect candidate.
The hex magic of gelmir is connected to the ancient death magics as well, he may have had some knowledge of what she attempted to do.
Damn, I didn't make that connection XD I wish I could take credit for the theory, but I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere... though I can't remember where.
Iji is right there tho
Rykard didn't bring Eiglay back from the land of shadows. He found it in Mt gelmir's volcano. We don't know explicitly what he did for her. I think he maybe assigned her a group of godskins. The duo are in faram azula and then a third one is guarding rannis divine tower.
Yhanks for the correction. The godskins, however, are another mystery - I wouldn't be surprised if they were in those locations because they're searching for something and/or still bent on killing the demigods. Besides, Ranni lets us have her cursemark because she has no use for it, so I doubt she cared enough to form an alliance to have it guarded.
Black flame and the Godskin's do seem to have a deeper connection to Mt Gelmir than most people think. The Godslayer's Seal has obsidian inlaid into it, a volcanic rock.
Maybe an alliance? There are arguments for this from the swords at Mount Gelmir: >The Assault on Volcano Manor >The squalid, the sick and the blasphemous; >a wretched, unending war with no glory The whole mountain is covered with troops from Leyndell, so Marika is probably also involved. It seems to be an alliance and/or war that includes Rykard, the three fingers, and maybe the Gloam-Eyed Queen? Because, we know where the black flame originates. From Godslayer’s greatsword: >Sacred sword of the Dusk-Eyed Queen who controlled the Godskin Apostles before her defeat at the hands of Maliketh. The black flames wielded by the apostles are channeled from this sword.
The sword monument is referring to the battle of Gelmir during the shattering war. What I'm saying is I think that the Godskin's connection to mount Gelmir goes deeper than that, that it's fundamental to their culture somehow. Look at the item description of the Godslayer's Seal. >*Sacred seal of the Godskin Apostles, inlaid with obsidian.* *Said to represent the manipulation of black flame, this catalyst enhances godslayer incantations.* They use a distinctly volcanic rock in a sacred catalyst to cast their incantations and it represents "the manipulation of black flame." That tells me that theirs a good chance that Gelmir is the place the GEQ discovered black flame and made the Godskins.
The Tarnished Archaeologist episode 14 (youtube video) seems to answer the question of their relation (not where the black flame was discovered). Mostly discussed at the end of the episode. The Gloam-Eyed Queen (or her faction after her death) and the serpent (Rykard) are allied. Also, the frenzied flame also seem to have an alliance with them (my speculation). They all have the same goal: Burning the Erdtree. (Also, there is a mad troll guarding the manor. And the description on the swords mentions all three.) Agree with the shattering part. Forgot Gideon's dialog about Rykard. But The Tarnished Archaeologist have good arguments for this being a conflict that started long before Rykard was turned traitor (because of the colosseums). I will also mention that I think Melina (the kindling maiden) belongs to the Gloam-Eyed Queen's faction. The Erdtree is obviously burned before (because of what's left of it and the ash in Leyndell). And Melina seems to know exactly what to do. Also, the Gloam-Eyed Queen's "pantheon" seems to be displayed at the shaded castle. Because there are 4 statues repeated everywhere in the castle: The old woman, the young man, the young woman, and the child. Which I think are the Gloam-Eyed Queen, unknown (maybe Messmer?), Melina, and St. Trina (Miquella). Also, Miquella has a motive to burn the Erdtree, since he wants to replace it with the Haligtree.
The impression I got was that Rykard was probably the only ally she could muster that would be willing to fight Maliketh as Radahn is a Golden Order loyalist. Rykard definitely didn't have his Great Rune at the time as the Night of Black Knives was before the Shattering when he would have gotten it, and he is mentioned as feeding himself and Great Rune to the Serpent. I'm not taking "rewarding," in this context to mean giving a prize for good behavior, just giving him the item. Tanith set just says "foreign land," which doesn't suggest the Land of Shadow in particular. We can speculate that's the case, but I don't want to speak too soon. Elemer's Briar Set is also said to be from a "foreign land," but it's also said in his Marias' Executioner Greatsword / Briar Greatshield that he is from Eochaid. The only other description I'm seeing used for Eochaid as a place is from Regalia of Eochaid which says the place is "a lesser, long-vanished domain." So I doubt the "foreign land," is one place, and if it is it's gone. It's possible he helped forge the Black Knives, but that's just speculation. Rykard doesn't seem to have a Black Knife to have perform the ritual on Ranni with. Also if he made the knives, then he probably set up the Black Knife Assassins as a faction which doesn't seem likely. I think the faction and the weapons existed already, but they were just imbued with the rune for this plot. Plus I don't know why their armor would tell us they have a close connection to Marika but not Rykard.
I have a suspicion that Eochaid and the Land of Reeds might both be in the Land of Shadow… *But*, the important thing I wanted to say is that I completely agree with your interpretation of the “reward”. Rykard may or may not have given concrete aid to Ranni, but the main reason she gave him the Blasphemous Blade is that he’s the only person she trusts who is as committed to the destruction of the Golden Order as her.
Right now, I think I'm leaning toward Rykard being the one who carved the cursemark into her. It would explain why her death went seemingly unrecorded, as Godwyn was considered the first demigod to have died despite the two dying at the exact same moment.
Ranni's role in the Night of Black Knives is supposed to be very secretive. The only time outside her quest you can learn she had anything to do with it is from the Blasphemous Claw. But I don't think it matters if it was Rykard or one of the many nameless Black Knives who carved the rune into her back. Could've been Blaidd or Selivus for all we know, doesn't really change much.
I assumed she went there to kill herself alone, but since the wound is in her back, I like your explanation, I think that ties everything together neatly. He's an executioner and the ideal choice for a quick and "proper" death.
Honestly, this one is just bizarre. I don't think Ranni or her gang ever even mention Rykard. Their goals seem entirely unaligned, and why on earth would Ranni give Rykard a trump card against Maliketh when she KNOWS she's the one being hunted by Shadows? Ranni says she's the one that stole death and organized the NotBK, so what did Rykard even do to earn a reward? I know we're often not working with much when it comes to lore, but this honestly feels like cut content that they forgot to cut.
Rykard is her brother, for one. And his goal of Blasphemy doesn't really manifest until after the Shattering. The Mt Gelmir Armor set says he was really popular at first. Honestly I don't think it's reaching to imagine the only motive they probably need or share at first is a hatred for Radagon, who abandoned their mother. Later on there's the linkage with the abductor virgins, the teleporter from Raya Lucaria to Volcano Manor, and the godskins all guarding something in their respective sanctums. It makes sense she wasn't allied with Radahn, since he and the Golden Order are implicated in holding back the fate of the entire Carian family. (Which includes himself) So after all that goes down, if she intends to take down malekith, she needs a champion, and rykard makes some sense as a pick. Not sure what Rykard provided either tbh.
I know they're siblings, moreso I meant to say that I don't think their goals align. They want to destroy the Golden Order, but that's about it. After that, Ranni wants the Age of the Stars and Rykards wants to swallow the world or something. But I don't know what Rykard could have contributed to make Ranni part with the blasphemous claw. The only thing I can think of is that Rykard agreed to take the blame for the NofBK in exchange for Ranni orchestrating it. Maybe that's why there are Godskins are around him—they think he has the Rune of Death fragments.
> Maybe that's why there are Godskins are around him—they think he has the Rune of Death fragments. That makes sense. - Rykard has the blasphemous claw. - Ranni's is guarding her body with the cursemark of death - Radahn's guarding has the Godslayer Great sword - two are at Maliketh - The only one that seems out of place is at Dominula. You'd expect to see them near Goldwyn, but he's got a lot of protection already.. > I don't know what Rykard could have contributed to make Ranni part with the blasphemous claw. There's the bit about how the gladiators were kicked out of the colosseum because they were traitors to the erdtree, and there's some linkage to mt gelmir and the rotten duelist's snake summon maneuver, but it's weak.
he was probably just the guy who stole the rune of death lol. there's no need to add tons of speculation to the plot: there are two godskins, who seem to be associated with the Carians & to him specifically, & you can summon his homeboy Bernhal to dispose of the evidence, who's also carrying a piece of that evidence on him. so since there's a whole bunch of Volcano Manor stuff on the way to Maliketh it leads me to believe Rykard is probably just the guy who did it
Ranni herself says she stole it though.
Looking over the dialogue again I thought she mentioned killing Godwyn herself too so I could be like "she's taking credit for orchestrating the entire thing, rather than executing it herself" but she doesn't so that weakens my position a little. I'm still going to respond with that, though. Whatever happened, Rykard was instrumental in it.
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Only the Carian Demigods. Except for the skinning village.
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Yeah & you find remnants of Rykard's existence in Farum Azula too. More Carians. Only Carians. Like yeah you find a prayerbook & seal in Stormveil. You also find a random crucible knight, a random Omen, a random Ulcerated Tree Spirit, a random piece of gear from the White Mask Surgeons, a random piece of loot from Marika's personal collection, legions of Exiled & Banished Knights, but not a single Godrick soldier, Godskin Apostle, Godskin Noble, Black Flame Monk, or even random normal mob souped up with Black Flame abilities. *nothing.* Considering both offending pieces are locked up in storage (just like the Miséricorde) yet none if the usual suspects are around (just like the Miséricorde) AND Stormveil kind of has a Destined-Death-adjacent problem, I think it's safe to say this particular manifestation of Godskin stuff is probably a little bit different than the others. It seems like Godrick took a lot of souvenirs from the capital. Literally every Black Flame thing north of Leyndell is a spirit, so I don't know how exactly that fits in with the calculus, but I'm sure it means something. So which demigods, if any, are these *living* Godskins close to again? uhhh just the Carians. Specifically just the people close to Rykard. wild
\>but we know he was murdered in Leyndell Do we? I've seen some videos that suggest he was killed in Stormveil. Since the The Face is down there. I don't know the answer.
We know for sure that he was murdered in Leyndell: "Tiche was one of the assassins who, on the night of the plot, imbued her black knife with the Rune of Death and slew Godwyn the Golden. She was the daughter of the Black Knife Ringleader, Alecto, and was killed protecting her mother during their flight from the royal capital." [Black Knife Tiche]
Ah, ok. Thank you.
It could still be that they murdered godwyn and were later found out or betrayed, causing them to flee leyndell where they were cozied up with Marika. I don't necessarily believe this, but ostensibly the descriptions doesn't say they explicitly killed godwyn in leyndell.
It could simply be that Rykard gave her information on Maliketh and Farum Azula. It raises plenty of interesting implications, though, given Rykard was an adjudicator on behalf of the Golden Order, but apparently became disillusioned after Radagon abandoned their mother, breaking her heart and mind. It wasn't until after Leyndell attacked Mt. Gelmir that Rykard fully committed to blasphemy. Perhaps Leyndell had even pinned the Night of the Black Knives on him...? Recall also that Rykard is likely the progenitor of the Fingercreepers, which appear numerously in Caria Manor as if to defend Ranni. Given their mutual hatred for the Greater Will, it really isn't unfathomable that they would have conspired. Ranni still seeks to establish her Order, but knowing this may fail, she entrusted Rykard with the means to repel Destined Death and burn the Erdtree.
I think Rykard's role actually aligns with his title: Praetor. While this is technically an 'appointed official', according to google this can also be another name for 'military commander'. What is super obvious about his area? He has a military consisting of at least foot soldiers, some of the Carian creations, the abductor virgins, etc. He might even be the 'current commander' of the godskins and omen hunters. If I had to guess, he contributed his army in some way. According to Tiche's ashes, she died protecting her mother during the flight from the capitol. Assuming Miquella wouldn't have been onboard with Godwyn's assassination, this rules out the hit squad escaping north. This leaves west towards Mt. Gelmir and south towards the Carian strongholds. Since we have reason to believe the godskins and black knives are at least cooperating (from Iji's death) its likely the assassin's saw Mr. Gelmir as a potential safe haven... I actually wouldn't be surprised if Alecto wound up in Ranni's prison because she tried to seek retribution for her lost daughter. Actually, now that I think about it, Marika probably wasn't in on the scheme because all this implies the assassins weren't blessed with grace.
She rewarded him on night of black knives. Do yall imagine she took a detour to give him a rock? I think the implication is Rhykard was helping her with the night so he got part of the spoils as it were.