eXputer
Subscribe

Locationmajor

Bonny Village

Bonny Village is a ruined settlement in Scadu Altus, within Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.

Importancemajor

Key takeaways

  • Bonny Village lies in Scadu Altus, south-east of Moorth Ruins and east of the main Scadu Altus road.
  • The normal entrance is through a subterranean route beneath Moorth Ruins There is also a road connection across a rope bridge towards the Whipping Hut and the Bridge of Ellac.
  • The most important item is the O Mother gesture, found north of the settlement beside a headless kneeling figure.
  • O Mother is used at a statue of Marika near Shadow Keep, Back Gate to open the way to the Scaduview Hinterland.
  • The village contains the Bonny Butchering Knife, a Revered Spirit Ash, two Hefty Cracked Pots, Kukri, and a Broken Rune, alongside enemy drops and ordinary crafting materials.
  • Bonny Village has no confirmed merchant, friendly resident, functional shop or conventional NPC quest giver.

About this guide

Shadow of the Erdtree location guide Spoiler warning: This guide discusses the Realm of Shadow, the O Mother gesture, Shadow Keep’s hidden route, the Hinterland, the Hornsent’s jar practices and late-game areas connected to Bonny Village.

Overview

Bonny Village is a ruined settlement in the eastern part of Scadu Altus, in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree. It is not a conventional town with merchants, friendly residents or a central quest hub. Instead, it is a compact but unusually important exploration area built around the remains of the Greater Potentates, the jar-makers associated with the grotesque treatment of human bodies.

The village’s importance is easy to underestimate. Its visible ruins contain several useful items, the Bonny Butchering Knife, two Hefty Cracked Pots, a Revered Spirit Ash, and the O Mother gesture. The gesture is the critical discovery. Used much later at the rear of Shadow Keep, it opens the route to the Scaduview Hinterland, including the Finger Ruins of Dheo and areas associated with Count Ymir’s questline.

Bonny Village is therefore both a self-contained ruined township and a gateway location. Its immediate contents are modest, but its northern path has consequences across the wider DLC.

---

Named places within and around the scope

Neighbouring or connected places

The last group should be treated as neighbouring or progression-connected locations rather than subareas of Bonny Village.

---

Within Bonny Village

Neighbouring or connected places

Reaching Bonny Village from Moorth Ruins

The most direct route begins at Moorth Ruins in Scadu Altus.

The descent is more dangerous than it first appears. Some drops are high enough to kill the player, and the route is not simply a normal staircase. Move slowly, check ledges and avoid treating every lower platform as a safe fall. Bonny Village is commonly reached this way because the settlement is positioned below the level of the surrounding plateau.

Reaching Bonny Village from Moorth Ruins: steps

  1. 01
    Travel to Moorth Ruins.
  2. 02
    Search the ruined area for the underground opening.
  3. 03
    Enter the tunnel and descend carefully.
  4. 04
    Follow the passage through the underground section.
  5. 05
    Continue until the route opens into Bonny Village.
  6. 06
    Activate the Bonny Village Site of Grace before exploring the settlement.

Reaching it from the Scadu Altus road

Players normally reach Moorth Ruins after progressing through the eastern side of Scadu Altus. The route is available without treating Bonny Village as a post-boss area. The village is therefore accessible relatively early in the DLC, although the most important use of its gesture occurs much later.

Castle Ensis or the Scadu Altus approach → Highroad Cross → Moorth Ruins → underground descent → Bonny Village

Defeating Rellana is not intrinsically the village’s entry requirement, but many players arrive from the route opened by progressing through Castle Ensis and the nearby Scadu Altus roads.

Eastern rope bridge

From the settlement, a rope bridge leads east towards the Whipping Hut and the road approaching the Bridge of Ellac. This route is useful for continuing exploration and for understanding Bonny Village as part of a wider road network rather than a dead-end ruin.

The bridge is narrow and exposed. Deal with nearby enemies before crossing if you are carrying a large number of runes, and be careful when fighting on or beside the bridge. Falling is a more serious risk here than the normal village enemies.

Northern route and O Mother

From the Bonny Village Site of Grace, travel north rather than following the main ravine. The path leads towards trees and the northern edge of the settlement. There, a corpse lies beside a distinctive headless, kneeling figure. Looting the corpse gives the O Mother gesture.

This item is easy to miss because it is outside the most obvious cluster of huts and is not placed beside a major combat encounter. It is the single most important pickup in the area.

---

Bonny Village Site of Grace

The Site of Grace sits near the central approach to the settlement. It is the natural checkpoint for exploring both sides of the ravine and the northern gesture route.

There is no special service attached to this Site of Grace beyond the normal functions of a DLC Site of Grace. It is a checkpoint, fast-travel point and rest location, not a merchant or quest hub.

The ravine and hanging-pot area

The ravine is the defining physical feature of Bonny Village. Huts and enemies are positioned around its edges, while hanging pots and pits reinforce the impression that the village was designed for processing and containment.

Search both sides rather than staying on the obvious road. Several useful items are placed in or beside ruined structures, and the vertical arrangement makes it possible to walk past a corpse without seeing it from the upper path.

Western ruined huts

The western portion contains the Bonny Butchering Knife, found on a corpse inside a burned or open wooden structure. The item’s position also places the player near one of the hostile potentates, so entering without checking the room can lead to a close-range ambush.

Northern outskirts

The northern outskirts are quieter than the central settlement. This is where the O Mother gesture is found. The gesture corpse is beside a headless kneeling statue or figure, making the location recognisable once the player is looking in the correct area.

Do not leave after collecting the gesture without checking the surrounding trees and edges. The northern route is easy to overlook when following the ravine south or east.

Eastern bridge approach

The eastern side of the village leads towards the rope bridge and the roads beyond. This is primarily a transition route rather than a separate dungeon-like subarea. It is useful for connecting Bonny Village with the Whipping Hut, Bridge of Ellac and the wider eastern part of Scadu Altus.

---

Residents and ordinary NPCs

There are no confirmed friendly residents living in Bonny Village when the Tarnished arrives. The settlement is abandoned or functionally destroyed, and the figures encountered there are hostile enemies, spirits or environmental remains.

The village’s social importance is instead inferred from its remains and item descriptions. The Greater Potentates are associated with the settlement, but the hostile individuals encountered in the area should not be treated as ordinary non-hostile townspeople.

Greater Potentates

The village’s principal hostile inhabitants are the Greater Potentates, sometimes described in guides as lesser or greater potentate enemies depending on the enemy entry and translation used.

They wield large butcher knives and attack aggressively at close range. Their attacks are particularly dangerous in the huts, where there is little room to roll around a multi-hit swing. Pull them into open ground when possible.

The enemy’s weapon and the village’s environmental remains deliberately overlap. This is not a conventional guard patrol: the potentates are part of the village’s grotesque craft tradition.

Living jars

Living Jar enemies can be encountered around the pits and ruined structures. They are less dangerous than the potentates but can distract the player during a close fight. They may drop Living Jar Shards, which are ordinary crafting materials rather than a unique Bonny Village reward.

Shadow Undead and Shadow Strays

Shadow Undead and Shadow Strays are listed among the enemies associated with the Bonny Village area. These enemies are generally less threatening than the potentates but can appear around the settlement’s edges and add pressure while the player is collecting items.

Because enemy placement can be easy to misread around the ravine, clear the immediate area before opening menus or examining a corpse.

Bosses

Bonny Village has no major boss encounter and no fog-door boss arena. The area’s challenge comes from ambushes, close-quarters enemies and the terrain.

Bonny Gaol, encountered in the broader Bonny area, is a separate dungeon and should not be counted as Bonny Village’s boss area.

---

The following directory separates fixed pickups from enemy drops.

Fixed items

The core item list is supported by the Bonny Village location index and independent location guides. The two Hefty Cracked Pots are separate pickups, not a single stack of two.

O Mother

Location: Northern outskirts, beside a headless kneeling figure.

Function: Gesture used at the statue near Shadow Keep, Back Gate.

Importance: Opens the hidden route to the Scaduview Hinterland.

The gesture is not consumed when used. Once obtained, equip it through the gesture menu or use it directly from the menu when standing before the relevant statue.

Bonny Butchering Knife

Location: Corpse inside a ruined or burned wooden hut in the village.

Function: Unique DLC weapon associated with the village’s butchering imagery.

The nearby potentate makes this pickup more dangerous than its apparent simplicity suggests. Enter the structure carefully and be prepared for a close-range attack.

Revered Spirit Ash

Location: Along the ravine, near a tree and the village’s edge.

Function: Improves the power of Spirit Ashes when taken to the appropriate Revered Spirit Ash upgrade system.

This is a fixed pickup and should be collected even if you do not normally summon. Revered Spirit Ashes are part of the DLC’s separate progression system and are not interchangeable with ordinary Golden Seeds or Sacred Tears.

Hefty Cracked Pots

Location: Two separate bodies within the village.

Function: Containers required for crafting Hefty Pot throwing items.

A Hefty Cracked Pot is a reusable crafting container in practical terms. Throwing a crafted Hefty Pot does not simply remove the container permanently. The item is particularly relevant to builds that use the DLC’s larger throwing-pot recipes.

The item description links these containers directly to the greater potentates of Bonny Village and their storage in a frozen gaol.

Kukri ×5

Location: Fixed pickup within the settlement.

Function: Throwable blades that cause Bleed buildup.

Kukri are useful for finishing weakened enemies, pulling a target away from a group or applying ranged pressure without spending FP.

Broken Rune

Location: Fixed pickup in the village.

Function: Consumable rune item.

It is a minor reward, but it belongs in a full Bonny Village sweep because it is a fixed collectible rather than a random enemy drop.

Fixed items

Enemy drops and repeatable materials

Enemy drops should not be confused with fixed location loot. Living Jar Shards are obtained by killing living jars and are not guaranteed as a single named corpse pickup.

---

Where to use the gesture

After collecting O Mother, progress through Shadow Keep until reaching the Shadow Keep, Back Gate Site of Grace. The gesture is used near a statue of Marika in the area adjoining the grace and the route towards Commander Gaius.

The exact interaction is not at Bonny Village. The village supplies the gesture, while Shadow Keep supplies the statue and the secret passage.

Opening the passage

This route is needed for access to the north-eastern part of the DLC map and connects to content including the Finger Ruins of Dheo. It also intersects with progression associated with Count Ymir and Jolan, although those characters are not residents of Bonny Village.

Guides consistently identify O Mother as the key to this passage.

Opening the passage: steps

  1. 01
    Obtain O Mother in Bonny Village.
  2. 02
    Reach Shadow Keep.
  3. 03
    Explore through the keep until you arrive at the Back Gate area.
  4. 04
    Locate the statue of Marika in the nearby chamber.
  5. 05
    Equip or select O Mother.
  6. 06
    Perform the gesture facing the statue.
  7. 07
    The statue moves, revealing the hidden way forward.
  8. 08
    Follow the route into the Scaduview Hinterland.

Missability and progression

The gesture is not normally lost through ordinary story progression. However, it is easy to miss because:

For a thorough DLC playthrough, collect O Mother before completing your exploration of Shadow Keep’s Back Gate route. If you have already reached the statue and the route is closed, return to Bonny Village and search north of the grace.

---

This route aims to collect the important fixed content without unnecessary backtracking.

---

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Arrive from Moorth Ruins. Descend carefully through the underground route and activate the Bonny Village Site of Grace.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Sweep the central approach. Deal with the first visible enemies before opening any corpse inventories.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Search the ravine edges. Check both sides of the trench, including trees and the lower edges of the ruined structures.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Collect the Revered Spirit Ash. Look around the tree and ravine edge rather than following only the central road.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Search the huts. Enter slowly and bait the Greater Potentates into open ground.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Collect the Bonny Butchering Knife. Search the corpse in the burned or open wooden structure.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Find both Hefty Cracked Pots. Do not assume that one pickup accounts for the entire reward. They are separate bodies in different parts of the ruins.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Collect Kukri and the Broken Rune. These minor pickups are easy to leave behind if you only search for major equipment.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Ride north from the grace. Follow the trees and northern outskirts to the headless kneeling figure.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Take O Mother. This is the village’s principal progression item.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Cross the eastern rope bridge. Continue towards Whipping Hut and Bridge of Ellac if you want to connect the village with the eastern road network.

Missability and progression: steps

  1. 01
    Return later to Shadow Keep, Back Gate. Use O Mother at the statue to open the route to the Hinterland.

Close-quarters ambushes

The ruined huts favour the Greater Potentates. Their attacks cover much of the doorway and can punish a player who rolls backwards into a wall. Pull them outside whenever possible.

Vertical drops

The route from Moorth Ruins and parts of the village’s ravine use uneven elevation. If you are trying to recover dropped runes, first establish a safe descent route rather than jumping directly towards them.

Narrow bridge combat

The eastern rope bridge is not an ideal place for prolonged fighting. Use ranged attacks, quick strikes or lure enemies back onto solid ground.

Distracting minor enemies

Living jars and shadow enemies are not individually overwhelming, but they can interrupt the player while a potentate is attacking. Clear groups in stages and avoid beginning an item pickup while a nearby enemy remains active.

No local healing or trading hub

There is no confirmed shop, merchant or friendly settlement facility in Bonny Village. Rest at the Site of Grace before and after the sweep, and do not expect the village to provide ammunition, crafting materials for sale or weapon upgrades.

---

Bonny Village’s lore is primarily environmental and item-based.

The settlement was associated with the Greater Potentates, whose craft involved producing large pots and handling human remains. The Hefty Cracked Pot description identifies the potentates as the makers of these vessels and says that they stored them in a frozen gaol. The village itself shows the implied brutality behind that practice: bodies are dismembered, pots hang over pits and the ruins are populated by butcher-like hostile figures.

The village also helps explain why the DLC’s jar imagery is more disturbing than the comparatively benign living jars encountered elsewhere in the series. Living jars may be presented as people or creatures made from flesh and blood, but Bonny Village reveals the ritual system and social practice from which some of that imagery derives.

The environmental arrangement suggests a cycle of death, storage and attempted purification or rebirth. This fits the wider Hornsent fascination with sainthood, bodily transformation and ritual vessels. The village therefore acts as an archaeological site for the culture rather than a conventional inhabited location.

The O Mother gesture adds a separate but important layer. Its use before a statue of Marika reveals a hidden route into the Scaduview Hinterland, linking the ruined settlement’s northern outskirts to one of the DLC’s most concealed map transitions. The gesture is mechanically simple but narratively effective: a small remnant of the village opens a road into a secluded region tied to Marika, the Fingers and the DLC’s deeper religious history.

---

Not confirmed within Bonny Village

The ruined huts and buildings should not be described as businesses merely because they resemble homes or workspaces. Their role is environmental and hostile rather than commercial.

---

There is no local boss, friendly NPC questline or shop-based activity confirmed within the village itself.

---

Is Bonny Village part of Scadu Altus?

Yes. Bonny Village is a ruined township in the eastern part of Scadu Altus.

How do I get into Bonny Village?

Enter the underground route beneath Moorth Ruins and descend through the tunnel. Take care with the vertical sections.

Where is O Mother?

O Mother is north of the Bonny Village Site of Grace, in the northern outskirts, on a corpse beside a headless kneeling figure.

What is O Mother used for?

Use it at the statue of Marika near Shadow Keep, Back Gate. It opens a hidden route to the Scaduview Hinterland.

Is there a boss in Bonny Village?

No major boss is located in the village. Bonny Gaol is a separate dungeon and should not be treated as the village’s boss area.

Are there any friendly NPCs?

No confirmed friendly NPC resides in Bonny Village. The visible inhabitants are hostile enemies or environmental remains.

How many Hefty Cracked Pots are in the village?

Two are found on bodies within Bonny Village. They are separate fixed pickups.

Is Bonny Butchering Knife missable?

It is a fixed pickup in the village, but it is easy to overlook because it lies inside a ruined structure near a hostile potentate. Return and search the huts if it is missing from your inventory.

---

The major boundaries, progression connection and principal fixed items are supported by multiple location guides and item references. The village’s core directory is consistent across the sources consulted.

Some minor details vary between guide terminology and enemy databases:

Accordingly, this guide does not claim that every ordinary crafting-material pickup or every enemy drop table in the settlement has been exhaustively verified. The fixed named rewards and major progression function are covered, while uncertain minor placements are deliberately separated from the canonical directory.

Sources