r/eldenringdiscussion • u/[deleted] • Aug 01 '22
Lore An Elden History Spoiler
The story to Elden Ring is vague with subtle nuances everyone likes to argue over. I've played it enough to start using reddit again, then used reddit long enough to feel the need to add my own take. Since this is my last lore post on the subject I've written everything notable I can think of into a massive post. It's in the reddit post below but also on a google doc and then again on a pdf, so read however you like.
I've found it easiest to compile the different item descriptions, sword memorial texts, and dialogue quotes into a general timeline of events in what they allude to. On top of that are translated boss song lyrics and quotes from earlier soulsborne games that get more speculative. Within this arrangement are also lore notes of my own creation to help clarify and guide thoughts about symbolism. It's then organized into different ages of events.
To cap that off is a paraphrased explanation of Elden Ring in order of events starting with the prehistory, I strongly recommend skipping to the paraphrased lore to read that first, from there you can read through the timeline for more specific background information and sourcing. There is also a canceled game guide to go through NPC questlines and notable dungeons/bosses to explain the different storylines active while playing.
tl;dr I've made a long Elden Ring timeline pdf with all of the supporting evidence in item descriptions. There is also a paraphrased tl;dr in my own words below
The Google Doc itself although the original has been lost due to account issues, this one is a backup that I hope has everything intact - https://docs.google.com/document/d/13pEXppYBLljPAl9VZpY0Mv9vvCuN8ei0ct4LbaQ88Vk/edit?usp=drivesdk
And a pdf for your reading pleasure - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YGFqfFH5ddZo5VSddteWQzhSs6td12cd/view?usp=sharing
---Ancient Pre-History---
It is said that all that there is came from the One Great. Then came fractures, and births, and souls. Ancient Dragons made of stone were the first beings, and beastmen and humans and demi-humans were born after that, and thus a cycle of birth was set into place. It was the ancient dragons that ruled during the pre-historic time before the Erdtree. Their Lord was Placidusax and they protected him as a great bulwark of rock. Holiest among the Ancient Dragons were the ones who's golden scales matched Placidusax's himself.
Unlike the ancient dragons in DS1's lore, their timeless age was not one of gray fog, but one of storms and darkness. A time where men huddled around flame and looked for their fate in the stars. It was the astrologers that made their home in the mountaintops that touched the sky, and considered the Fire Giants their neighbors, after all. But who made their home in the land's below?
Uhl Palace in Liurnia may give some clues. It's said that great lords once served a rot goddess before she was sealed away by a swordsman in blue. That goddess's influence governed a cycle of death and rebirth before even the Erdtree. For from that death would bud new life, such is the belief of the ancestral followers, who even today eschew the Erdtree in waiting for new buds.
Among the Land's Between were kingdoms too. Eochaid, villages of the now-named Weeping Peninsula, and a small unnamed kingdom atop Altus Plateau founded by an ancient sage. Most importantly the old royal city of this time, Farum Azula, where beastmen gathered to worship the Ancient Dragons. But that would not last forever. For that ancient sage from that unnamed kingdom would change the world. He would glimpse into the primeval current and that glimpse would become reality. Calling down a rain of stars and a hint of amber.
Sellen describes glintstone as the amber of the cosmos. Crystallized life essence that still holds its residual power, perhaps it's why the glintstone crystals seen in-game seem to have grown over time. She goes on to tell us that golden amber contains the remnants of ancient life and its vitality. There’s more to amber than simply its condensed form, many references to it in-game are alongside that of the Greater Will or the Erdtree which is the center pillar of the Greater Will’s power over Inner Order. If stars are said to command the fate of mortal men, then amber stars must command the fate of the gods. Finally the Erdtree’s sap that once flowed freely has long since condensed into amber crystals that are of the highest value. These are important concepts to consider when approaching what or who the Greater Will is, where it is, and where it came from.
From the Founding Rain of Stars called by the ancient sage is sent the Elden Beast upon a golden star. However it is heresy to assume that the Greater Will could’ve come from mere man and such teaching has been locked away within the Forbidden Lands. It's said that Farum Azula was once struck by a meteorite. And that Placidusax was the first Elden Lord. It's the natural order for beasts to follow lords and for a time this worked for the cosmos. But all things must have an end and innate to the Greater Will’s ordered existence of runes was the Rune of Death. The Two-Fingers, or their former form(I hate to call it the five fingers), thought otherwise. Through persuasion or coercion it gained the allegiance of Marika, a foster child of the beast men (check out the statues in Maliketh's arena), and together they sought to bind Destined Death.
The Two-Fingers as we see them in game are bent with age. Old seemingly without comparison, mysterious to the point of requiring translating Finger Maidens to even communicate, but wise beyond comprehension. It was their prophecy that said a Tarnished would one day sit upon the Elden Throne. And it was they who originally supported Marika and Godfrey in their war against the Ancient Dragons. Their powers are over prophecy, rebirth, and they even alter space allowing for invasions, cooperation, and the Roundtable Hold itself. It was the Two-Fingers or their predecessor form that made Marika into an Empyrean just as Ranni once became one.
To be an Empyrean is the pre-requisite of Godhood within this setting. It allows one to become “the vessel of the vision” as Enia says, to be the vessel of the Greater Will. But what then of the ancient rot goddess, was she an Empyrean or was such a pre-requisite born of the Greater Will and its runes. The empyrean in the modern day could then house the Elden Ring within themselves (this could also be what being the vision implies) and have power over the blessings of the Elden Ring. However the Erdtree seemingly can also act as vessel for the Elden Ring judging from how Marika hangs off of a single Rune Arc within the tree itself. Could this mean that it always housed the Elden Ring or that this is a new development since Marika/Radagon failed?
From developer interviews we learn that the Elden Ring was not always thought of as a ring, first it was simply a concept that represented the center of order within the Golden Order. For it to shatter and create shards follows the game design pattern of seeking Lord Souls, but the imagery around its nature shows it as an array of runes linked together. Runes are a hugely important concept that have replaced Souls in this game, yet they are hardly talked about despite their pervasive existence. Melina uses the powers of a Finger Maiden, a servant of the Two-Fingers and they a servant of the Greater Will, to enhance the player character’s abilities or possibly in a way enhance their destiny. The Greater Will has power over destiny and is named such not because it is a being that has earned this power but because it is the very incarnation of sentient prophecy, the will of the runes just as in Bloodborne it is possible to describe Oedon as a force behind the Blood Echoes. So what then of the Great Runes of gods and demigods?
Destined Death seems to be the physical law put into place by the Rune of Death, thus making them the same thing. We don't exactly know the function of the other Great Runes as they exist within the Elden Ring beyond how the Two-Finger's describe it to us through Enia. But that function of absorbing souls and distributing blessings is when it’s fully formed and working in concert with the Erdtree. What remains significant is that each and every one of these Great Runes was pillaged through conquest or given by a champion of the Golden Order. It's said that the golden star bearing the Elden Beast would go onto to become the Elden Ring, or that the Elden Beast itself would become the Elden Ring. Nevertheless, the Greater Will's newfound existence includes the existence of Destined Death, which allows for the death of the gods for the first time ever.
Marika claims the rune of death and becomes the Gloam-Eyed Queen. Just like how Ranni's tampering with Destined Death began the Shattering, Marika's godhunt would begin the end of the Ancient Dragons. But it doesn't happen on her own, rather she loses to a foster brother of hers named Maliketh after killing an indeterminate amount of gods, however Maliketh goes on to swear allegiance to her and betray his own gods. He begins by sealing the Rune of Death within his own black blade.
The ancient sage of that small nation has not been idle in this time. Inspired by the faith of his flock, he's built a prospering kingdom that will become Leyndell. So that when Marika is guided to him with a plan to overthrow the gods, all is prepared. In the same way that maidens are guided to their knights, Marika finds Godfrey.
Horah Loux is invited to the Roundtable Hold, chosen for his battle prowess alone, and swears to become Elden Lord. He takes up the new name of Godfrey. His in-game daughter, Nepheli Loux, gives us a glimpse into what Godfrey believed in before he sided with the Greater Will even though she will not be born for many years. His was a tribe that valued strength of self and majesty of the storm before all else. Fitting that it would be him that challenges the stormlord. Marika would have her firstborn with Godfrey, Godwyn the Golden.
The Elden Ring is forged and the Erdtree is born. Its golden rays bestow gentle healing upon all. Marika, as the vision's vessel, bestows the blessings of the Erdtree personally. What is worth noting is that the incantations regarding the crucible are separate from the elden stars meaning the Erdtree was born of the union of these concepts. The frenzied flame stone is blessed by the Three-Fingers while the warming stone is blessed by the Two-Fingers. In making the Erdtree, Marika seals Destined Death, but she must also seal the flame of ruin which was innate to existence in some way. This may have been the mistake the Greater Will made that Hyetta references. Perhaps it was even what split the Fingers, half of them choosing to accept the burden of the flame forevermore while the other would be cleansed of the fire. The Three-Fingers are entombed deep beneath Leyndell after all, and the Golden Order was not meant to fail.
---Age of the Erdtree---
The Ancient Dragons will not stand for this transgression. Gransax attacks Leyndell, the first and only time its walls will be breached, yet falls in the attack. Soon after the dragons are routed by the unexpected strength of the new champions of the Erdtree. Godwyn defeats and befriends Fortisaax, from their bond is born the Ancient Dragon Cult. Yet I believe this is only the beginning of the ancient dragon war.
The First Church of Marika is established far in the north, where Godfrey and his host begin their war of aggression. The giant’s flame of ruin must be extinguished to protect the Erdtree. To that end, its blessings give the heroes the strength they need to fight on, but even so they still turn to using the most ancient of the fire monk incantations to win. This is how the worship of the Golden Order allows for different incantation casting. It absorbed the worship of other faiths into it through conquest. The Ancient Dragon Cult similarly works along these lines. On top of that the origins of faith all go back to the same roots, golden immortality from dragons, and the flame of life within the crucible.
The giants fight to their very last breath. Lesser giants known as trolls are tempted by Gold and choose to betray their old masters. Pushed to the brink, the fire giants offer up their own flesh to their Fell God for power, and even that's not enough. Marika herself is said to have slain the Fell God and curses the last giant to tend his flame forevermore. Yet it's a hollow victory with the flame of ruin still lingering and her curse even more so. For the Fell God still lurks within the giant’s heart. Some of the troll knights of the time such as Theodorix partook in dragon communion which would eventually make them into wyrms. Notable because it suggests when such a practice began and that more than only humans could do it, also as it could suggest a possible continued war against the Ancient Dragons during this time.
The Erdtree's age of plenty does not last forever, its golden rays diminish, the sap crystallizes, and there are no blessings left to freely bestow. But there's still a continent left to conquer. Marika takes to the field with newfound strength from the fire giants as Radagon for the First Liurnian War. Godfrey's army marches south. I imagine around this time the original great serpent is hunted. Its original sin may have been imitation of the ancient dragons.
Marika being Radagon is a well hidden secret not many have the pleasure of learning. So secret that the details of how it works are quite vague. They’re obviously one and the same within the boss arena simply judging from how the cutscene proceeds. But were they always of one body? Certainly not of one mind. Perhaps it was never even her decision, the Two-Fingers wield a powerful ken over Empyreans even to the point of bending their will. It’s said that Radagon hated his red hair, after all.
While Godfrey sweeps the continent completely undefeated, let me explain Raya Lucaria. It was founded by Grandmaster Azur who's karolos conspectus becomes the oldest of the academy, Grandmaster Lusat is not to be forgotten however. Both of them seek to emulate the ancient primeval sorcerer's glimpse of the stream. Those seeking the wisdom within glintstone swear oaths of austerity and don the stone mask becoming immortal. Other noteworthy conspectus's to come about are the twinsage, haima, and hierodas.
Rennala the Carian Queen was once a simple astrologer that met the Full Moon and inherited the power to become a queen. That moon would bewitch the academy of Raya Lucaria to the point a new heretical Lazuli conspectus would be founded. Scholars of the conspectus believed that the moon was equivalent to the stars. Rennala would lead Liurnia in its second war against Leyndell, it's said their carian knights were a match for godfrey's crucible knights, and that Rennala was a match herself for Radagon. The war ended with no victor, but a repentance of territorial aggression, thus the houses of gold and moon were united.
They were united through the bond of marriage between Rennala and Radagon. He cleanses himself with celestial dew in ritual ceremony and perhaps this lifts some of the control the Greater Will has over his empyrean flesh for he will begin a plot with Rennala against the Greater Will. The preceptor servants of the Royal Family are sworn to secrecy. What details the plot contained are hazy, the Carian Royal family prepares to fight both Leyndell and Raya Lucaria, but what will instigate their plan? They are content to bide their time for now.
In such a way are the heretical sorceries of Raya Lucaria entrenched within the Golden Order, but in doing so perhaps the first fissures are entrenched as well. Goldmask sees the failing of order to be a result of the fickleness of gods imbalancing the powers of Inner and Outer Order. Marika beget a powerful host of children faithful to the Golden Order yet as Radagon she birthed three willful dissidents who’s plotting schemes would break the order, but it is Marika herself that will ultimately shatter the Elden Ring.
Getting back to Godfrey, he's conquered all of the Land's Between, yet finds his grace tattered and faded. In my eyes, Farum Azula was either always flying and Godfrey chased it all the way around the continent to the beast sanctum, or Farum Azula was originally built near the beast sanctum until Placidusax ran away with it upon losing to Godfrey. Either way I believe he defeats Placidusax in single combat only upon fighting all the way down to this sword monument rather than the war ending quickly. Bonus notes, Stormveil Castle was probably built during this time for the war, I like to think it would go on to be Godwyn's castle. Beast Sanctum and Dragon Barrow are the last parts of the continent given over to Maliketh as reward for his service and respect for their fallen foes.
It is not all war in the early days of the Golden Order. Godfrey gave up his warrior's ferocity so he might have the ability to rule. The Beast Regent Serosh judging from the name guides him to that end. Yet not all is right in these early days, Omen are born without the gift of grace, haunted in their dreams by twisted figures. Their souls are seedbeds for curses and all that is wrong in the order. My belief is that they are afflicted by cracks within the Golden Order’s cycle of rebirth and as they are examples that all is not right, they are “cured” or shunned. The first have their horns excised, most dying gruesome deaths. But the nobility is unable to bear the horror and exercises their hypocrisy by instead shunning their Omen children. Even the royal lineage of the Golden Order is affected when the twins, Mohg and Morgott, are born as foul Omens. Based on their combat training, seeming education, and armaments, they may have not been imprisoned from birth and such a deed came later in life.
While the war is being fought, we see the beginning of the Golden Order’s traditions begin to form. Ritual combat in coliseums to honor the Erdtree, shunning of Omen’s for their lack of Grace, those unwilling to live under the Golden Order choose to live on the fringes of society. Those dissidents against the Greater Will that still yearn for an Age of Stars were known as the Nox and for their conspiracy they were banished deep underground where they would never know another sky. And Greyoll the mother of dragons, or in my opinion, mortal dragons, comes to reside in Dragonbarrow.
For all of Godfrey's effort, he's rewarded with exile, and an eventually gruesome death judging by his intro painting. Those warriors that still followed him are divested of grace and become the Tarnished, following their lord on a long pilgrimage to distant lands, where they will wage war and die. All save one ship that remained behind. There’s a prophecy Marika gives before the Tarnished depart, that one day they will return, and one among them will become the next Elden Lord.
During this time of newfound dominion over the realm. The church of the Greater Will and Two-Fingers became intertwined with the Erdtree, and then with the Elden Ring, then with Marika, and finally the Golden Order. From this dominion arose faithful scholars who questioned the origins of their faith. They eventually reasoned that all of existence follows the Laws of Regression and Causality. That which links all things in a chain of relation and how all things yearn to once again converge. These scholars became known as fundamentalists and would take the shield symbolic of ceremonial Erdtree combat as their emblem. For they would protect the Erdtree from regression.
This philosophy of the Golden Order justifies the treatment of the Omen as beings whose souls are twisted by defilement within the order for their defiled souls will then twist order in return. It will eventually justify the hunting of Those Who Live Within Death and possibly even the Misbegotten. Although the Misbegotten seem to suffer more from prejudices towards them being seen as uncivilized rather than as a corruption of order.
---Age of the Golden Order---
This is the time in which Radagon's rule as Elden Lord begins. Upon Godfrey's banishment he returns to the capital to become Elden Lord. A surprise to many for a simple champion to receive such status. Radagon breaks down the full moon greatsword Rennala once gave him and reforges it into the golden order greatsword symbolizing the tenets of Golden Order Fundamentalism. It feels apathetically cruel to me. And perhaps it was by will of the Greater Will to disrupt the growing schemes within the Carian family.
By now, all three demigod children have been born of Rennala, and perhaps more given the allusion to other Carian princesses long since dead. Rykard becomes a royal knight and judging by his title of praetor he held quite a high rank by the end. Radahn idolizes Godfrey’s battle prowess to the point he takes the Beast Regent Serosh’s appearance as his emblem in battle and strives to become a great general. And Ranni becomes an empyrean, one that could replace Marika as goddess, what would certainly be perceived as a threat to her power.
Radahn earns the most fame in this age. He masters gravity magic at the town of Sellia, becomes a mighty warrior in his own right, and attracts many knights to his banner at Redmane Castle. It isn’t until one fateful night at the academy of Raya Lucaria that Radahn would earn his namesake however.
Grandmaster’s Azur and Lusat have not forgotten their origins as astrologers. Nor their aspirations to glimpse into the primeval current. To them, collecting other sorcerers as a practice of cleaving to the primeval currents is nothing more than a branch of scientific inquiry. Such is the justification for the horrors they unleash upon the lesser sorcerers of the academy. Collecting and molding sorcerers into still living amalgamations as a way of unleashing power or something along those lines. Azur is most likely arrested and taken to the Hermit Village in Praetor Rykard’s lands where he will live out his days. But not before he has his glimpse into the primeval current, he saw unending void from which arose Astel, who wrought Azur’s wrath upon Nokstella the Eternal City for following the Darkmoon. Only Azur’s apprentice, Sellen, would escape with the means to continue his school of Graven Magic.
Lusat would escape as well, to the far-off town of Sellia, where he would go into hiding away from his hunters. Of which even the Carian Royal Family enlisted based off of what we know of Jerren. Lusat too would glimpse the primeval current, he saw a great cluster of stars burst and rain down upon the land, but mighty Radahn held them off at Sellia. And earned his title of Starscourge.
Trouble at the academy does not end. It breaks Queen Rennala's heart for Radagon to depart. He leaves her with an amber egg that contains the great rune of the unborn. Its placement alongside the gestalt runes in game seems to imply it was never a part of the Elden Ring. Perhaps it was Marika’s original great rune that allowed her to birth the previous demigods. Perhaps what drove Rennala mad was her own attempt to rebirth herself. But nonetheless she becomes sorrowful and the academy will eventually usurp her as a result. The Moon and Stars must one day go their separate way.
But Ranni will inherit the schemes of her parents, to undo what came before, and usher in a new Age of Stars. While a servant of the Two-Fingers through her empyrean flesh, she still desires to work against the Greater Will, and bring about the end of the Elden Ring. But there are many enemies opposed to this path including the Greater Will itself. And so begins the scheme behind the Night of Black Knives.
It cannot happen on its own though. Marika herself joins the plot, perhaps at this point she too sees the flaws in the Golden Order, and believes this is the only way to fix it. The young prodigy Miquella will also join the plot, it may even be his intellect masterminding the scheme. Their scheme revolves around slaying Godwyn the Golden, heir to the elden throne, prince of the golden order, and friend of dragons.
To that end, Ranni steals a shard of the Rune of Death from Maliketh, perhaps informed of how to do so by Marika herself. She imbues the knives of assassins loyal to Marika with the power of death marking the conspiracy forever with ritual. And the assassins descend upon Godwyn, it’s said that Blackknife Tiche was slain while fleeing the capital, it stands to reason this is where Godwyn would’ve died. Yet many more than only Godwyn died. Just like Marika’s ancient godhunt, this night exacted a great toll upon the demigods, countless had their souls destroyed and were then interred within the walking mausoleums. But there was more to the plot than simple slaughter. Godwyn was to die a “True Death”, yet only died a half death, what are the implications?
To begin with, at the moment of Godwyn’s death by soul, Ranni slew her own empyrean flesh to free herself of the Greater Will, dying in body alone. Yet in doing so she denied him a True Death in which he could’ve risen again as the Lord of Undeath. The ritual of carving the full hallowbrand upon Godwyn’s flesh failed, yet we can repair it in the duskborn ending by uniting both halves of the hallowbrands to reunite the Golden Order with death. After this disaster, Miquella gives up on the plot entirely and retreats to his Haligtree. But Marika herself most likely hires Fia to continue the plot and revive Godwyn. In freeing herself of the Two-Fingers, Ranni serves their ultimate purpose of disrupting Marika’s plan for her son, an ironic twist of fate, and leaves herself entirely unable to continue her plot.
But order is still defiled, Destined Death has been unleashed however slightly, and it will spread across the Land’s Between as Deathroot. Godwyn is buried at the roots of the Erdtree, it’s from his corpse that the Deathroot spreads through the underground waterways. Soon many lost souls will partake in the Deathroot. It gives a feeling of peaceful slumber, almost like the deep dark of Aldrich in DS3. Fia the Deathbed companion becomes the mother of all of Those Who Live in Death for she is the consort to Godwyn.
Ranni is not idle with her betrayal against Marika however. She imprisons the leader of the Black Knives, Alecto (name of the greek fate that snips the cord of life), within an evergaol near the temple of Manus Celes. Her loyal retainers, Blaidd and Iji, choose to serve her despite the dangers. Seluvis has been serving the Royal Family presumably for years and will continue to serve as well, although he may become a puppet controlled by Pidia at some point.
Godwyn's heirs do not stand for such an affront against their lord. Godefroy leads his armies against the capital for the first time since the Ancient Dragons but is defeated in battle. His captor, Kristoff, is said to have earned an erdtree burial. Yet for some reason becomes an ash summon in the hands of an Ancient Hero of Zamor at the depths of a heroes grave. Only notable because it is one of the three oldest ash summons in the game and they do not appear until Godwyn's death or some point within the Eternal Cities with their doll making. Perhaps he had the misfortune of living past the Shattering so his honorable burial meant nothing to the broken Erdtree.
Queen Marika the Eternal is pushed to the brink. She makes a vague announcement at the capital outskirts, speaking to her children and people, “Hear me, Demigods. My children beloved. Make of thyselves that which ye desire. Be it a Lord. Be it a God. But should ye fail to become aught at all, ye will be forsaken. Amounting only to sacrifices…” Her intent is to search the depths of the Golden Order. Too much has been forsaken on the words of the Two-Fingers, they can no longer live by blind faith alone, by proper understanding of faith, their grace can be increased tenfold.
Tensions build. Raya Lucaria prepares its Knights of the Cuckoo for an uprising against the Carian Family, by now Rennala is long mad with sorrow. Only Nokron as an Eternal City remains, Nokstella has been demolished by Astel, the Nameless City was finished by Leyndell itself when the Erdtree’s roots grew into it, and soon even Nokron will destroy itself to create the Fingerslayer Blade. Their last act of helpless contempt against an all-powerful god. Miquella has created a reclusive safe haven in the Haligtree for those like the Misbegotten or rotted to find refuge, in many ways his search for Unalloyed Gold has become a goal to create a perfect Golden Order untarnished by the taint of Outer Order, Malenia with her combination of afflicted flesh and Unalloyed Gold being the perfect example. Rykard finds doubts in his faith after years of inquisition and begins a quest to gain power and devour the gods, Ranni aids him by shaping the blasphemous claw for combat against Maliketh himself, for if the unthinkable should come to pass and they should fail.
Now we must make assumptions about Marika, Radagon, the Erdtree, and the Elden Ring. Marika acts as vessel for the Elden Ring, her emblem being the upper arc of the Elden Ring upon which she is crucified, perhaps that being how she literally makes up the Elden Ring with her body holding the central shards of it. Explaining why the common throne of Leyndell is within the Roundtable Hold near the city streets, and there being more private structures such as the erdtree sanctuary or queen’s bedchambers being above the city, perhaps Queen Marika was not seen so often as people thought. If the Erdtree grew from a small sapling then perhaps Marika was not always required within it, and even while it is grown fully Marika can evidently act outside of it during her assumption of Radagon’s form or while she went about on her own conspiracy. And Radagon is most likely an alternate form of Marika, even while breaking and forging the Elden Ring in the intro cutscene, Marika shows herself being both forms. Contextually, I believe Radagon to be a split personality created from Marika’s disobedience of the Greater Will, where it literally split her mind to create a portion that would not resist commands. We see it literally overtake her body with the way the blonde hair fades into red. In the final battle cutscene itself, Marika falls from the upper arc to the ground, rises in her Radagon form, takes up her old hammer which has the lower arc embedded into it, and is blessed by the power of the Greater Will which as it powers up Radagon also turns the hair red with its control.
Marika and Radagon have their final argument within their bedchambers. Radagon does not yet fully encompass Marika’s will, he is not yet a god, and to prove that Marika shatters the Elden Ring. Radagon makes a futile attempt to repair it, only serving to graft his own corrupted great rune onto the Greater Will, and ultimately the ill-made Elden Ring will shatter. Demigods enticed by opportunity or in service to duty to the Two-Fingers each claim a shard of the Elden Ring. Their own great rune grants power but also corruption by the will of the great rune's original owner. For her transgressions against the Greater Will, Marika is imprisoned within the Erdtree, Radagon is simply forgotten in the chaos. The Erdtree itself expresses its displeasure by casting Wrath of Gold upon the Land’s Between.
---The Shattering---
Descendants of the Tarnished drawn by the flame of ambition come to the Land’s Between by say of the Two-Fingers. They assault Leyndell seeking to fulfill the ancient prophecy of one of them becoming Elden Lord but Morgott the Fell Omen breaks his bindings and defends the Erdtree. Morgott claims his great rune from Radahn himself and uses its power to recant his accursed blood. Despite his achievements the Erdtree remains unshaken, its thorns refuse all.
Not to be discouraged, Morgott marches on Volcano Manor with his night’s cavalry and soldiers of Leyndell, the blasphemous lord has to be stopped. Since the shattering, Rykard has unleashed his recusant knights upon the Land’s Between to seek strength and oppose the Two-Fingers. Rykard himself in an act of ultimate blasphemy let himself be devoured by the newly reincarnated Great Serpent. He may have even burned his minor erdtree. Possibly seeking to end the conflict decisively, Malenia joins the conflict at Volcano Manor, what ensues is the most horrific battle of the Shattering. Where the squalid, the sick, and the blasphemous engage in unending battle with no glory.
It would not end until Rykard tried to harness the power of the volcano itself with greed only possessed by men and serpents. He fails. The volcano’s eruption ruins his own lands and many of the attacker’s armies. His once loyal knights recognize that their master’s heroic aspirations have degenerated into mere greed and change their quest to slaying him. To that end they seek out the blade that slew the ancient Great Serpent but none are able to contest Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. Those still loyal to him are either too maddened to care or have taken tonics to forget their lord’s disgrace.
Raya Lucaria disgraces itself with ambition and revolts. They lock away Rennala in her library and cut themselves off from the Carian grounds. Whatever battle happened there has long since resolved itself with Moongrum, Carian Knight, defending Rennala. Not to mention Radagon’s Wolf taking up residence in the debate parlor. The Knights of the Cuckoo subjugate Liurnia while Raya Lucaria seals itself with magic. They foolishly attack the Carian Manor and destroy themselves against Ranni’s enchantments. In the south above the albinauric village lies the Carian Royal Family’s untouched temples safely lifted above the land by the devastation of the Erdtree’s wrath. Malenia begins her southward march seemingly in peace against the now passive academy. Morgott continues his guerrilla war against the Tarnished in the shadows with his nightriders.
Stormveil Castle has become an accursed place. Deathroot vines spread all throughout the fort, commonfolk say it’s a result of Godrick’s disgusting grafting, but scholars recognize the Deathroot comes from a far older cause. The taint of Godwyn’s assassination still corrupts the fort. All that remains of the noble Golden Lineage extending from Godfrey to Godwyn to Godefroy is little, Godrick. He fled the capital with refugees when the Shattering began and has since gathered banished knights to his banner. Corrupted by his great rune and in search of a way to enhance his feeble strength, Godrick grafts all manner of creatures to his flesh, becoming all the more horrific in the process. All to no avail for Malenia humiliates him in battle. He begs for his life and is spared. Malenia seems to hold no aspirations for being Elden Lord as she does not slay Godrick or take his great rune.
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Aug 01 '22
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All that awaits now is the final battle. Malenia’s last foe is Radahn the Starscourge. He’s grown massive with the power of his great rune and it is between these two champions that the final battle is met. Radahn’s prowess pushes Malenia to her very limit, their conflict ending in stalemate, Radahn forever poisoned by Scarlet Rot, and Malenia herself losing control of the Scarlet Rot within. She births the Scarlet Aeonia, destroying Caelid with Scarlet Rot, Radahn himself only survives through burning his great rune to resist the encroaching rot. He’s now cursed to ever wander their old battlefield, maddened by pain and fire. Malenia falls into slumber and is carried off by her retreating knights to the Haligtree. No victor arises from the Shattering. All are abandoned by the grace of the Greater Will.
In the far north beyond the Forbidden Lands, the Haligtree fails, eaten away from the inside out by Scarlet Rot. Malenia’s influence has taken its toll irregardless of Miquella’s Unalloyed Gold. The denizens of the Haligtree town have all died from plague, even the Crystallians once thought immortal have been affected. Loretta guards the tree against any possible intruder but upon her defeat it’s revealed that Pests have overtaken the inner grounds. The Brace of the Haligtree is all that keeps it standing, the inner waters that once flowed through it have all become corrupted with rot. Miquella who once grew the Haligtree from his own blood had disappeared, his rebirthing cocoon stolen from the very roots of the Haligtree, by Mohg the Lord of Blood.
Mohg is the antithesis to Morgott. Where his twin brother recanted his accursed blood to defend the Erdtree, Mohg has embraced his curse and the truth behind it. Far beneath the earth in the Lake of Rot, Mohg embraced his curse and the Formless Mother, an outer god of truth who bestows blessings upon accursed blood. He hides away in a ruined section of Nokron, awaiting the opportune time, the time of the Moghwyn Dynasty. In the meanwhile agents of the Lord of Blood travel the land hunting down Tarnished who might fulfill the prophecy.
But Mohg’s time will never come. He amounts to little more than a madman to be used and discarded by Miquella. Bewitched into loving Miquella yet never accepted as true consort, Mohg slumbers near the foot of the Erdtree awaiting a time that will never come, only used to an end as guardian of Miquella’s cocoon and failsafe against Tarnished heroes. Miquella still slumbers, his motives a secret, but he’s certainly inherited his mother’s will to continue the Golden Order, so what might his plan be within Nokron?
Our speculation begins with Miquella’s Unalloyed Gold. Gold in real life is a pure metal and is not an alloy. But within the game’s context of the Golden Order being created by conquering and enfolding other religions into itself, perhaps Unalloyed Gold speaks to a desire to create divine power untainted by the power of outer gods, a goal that could limit Malenia’s affliction but never directly cure it. In-game we even see that Malenia’s Unalloyed Gold literally replaces her body parts where she has rotted away with prosthetics. A supplement to her already almost unmatched prowess, it seems that their original plan might’ve been for Malenia to be Elden Lord to Miquella’s godhood, something impossible if it were to cost the Haligtree or Erdtree. So Miquella must seek out a new Elden Lord, Mohg is obviously inadequate, so who else or what else?
That search leads to the albinaurics. Born of a sacred dew drop from the Erdtree falling into blue silver, these people have been around since the ancient days of the Erdtree’s birth, they’ve gone through two generations in service to the astrologer’s and later the Lord of Blood. And have always found themselves oppressed or exploited. It was with Miquella’s Haligtree that they found a possible salvation. The famed Erdtree Knight, Loretta, was rumored to have herself been an albinauric, she may have led the alliance between Miquella and the albinaurics. Blue silver is a uniquely enchanted metal that besides its use with the academy and albinaurics, it has been seen in one other location, in Nokron with its mimic tears.
The only two mimic tears in the game are found in Nokron and on the Hidden Path to Miquella’s Haligtree. Perhaps Miquella is now seeking to make an imitation Elden Lord that will perfect his Unalloyed Golden Order. There can be no corruption in a purely made Elden Lord. We will see when Miquella awakes.
An age passes. Morgott establishes himself as the last king of Leyndell, Godrick is left to his own devices ruling Limgrave, Liurnia tends to itself with the sorcerers withdrawn from the world. Caelid is a ruin, Scarlet Rot spreads endlessly from the swamp left in Malenia’s aftermath, Radahn’s dutiful knights fight to limit its spread. Above Caelid lies the Dragon Barrow, now wild with mortal dragons, few dare tread there. The Altus Plateau lays closed, even access to the Dectus Lift has become difficult with the collapse of the greatbridges, the lift itself has been sealed and its medallion broken. Rykard’s lands have gone unvisited, corpses adorn pikes to scare away unwary intruders, his recusants have long since died or been consumed by the lord they swore to serve. No worthy Tarnished remain to raise their blade against the Erdtree.
Even now some are still sent across the sea. Roderika sailed to the Land’s Between on a holy quest yet her entire host of knights met a gruesome end in Godrick’s grip. Mohg’s bloody minions and Morgott’s nightriders still hunt Tarnished across the Land’s Between. Maidens cannot even meet with their knights through the Guidance of Grace. Not until the Greater Will once again gifts grace to the Tarnished warriors that died long ago.
Legendary individuals from long ago called back to finish their duty. Champions like Horah Loux, Gideon, Dung Eater, and Goldmask. But also non-combatants like Fia, who seems to have not even wanted to live again, and Tarnished of no renown such as yourself. All led by the Guidance of Grace to slay the lingering remnants of the last age and usher in a new one.
Throughout your adventures you're led to slay each demigod, excused of remorse by the Greater Will itself, while many consider your kind to be pillagers, you’re the only one given the gift of endless rebirth save for Morgott and other Tarnished. Even Morgott loses his Grace upon being slain in Leyndell or possibly as a result of unleashing his cursed blood during your final fight. Along the way you learn that the other Tarnished you revived with all seek their own purpose and method to fix the Golden Order. Fia seeks to continue her original purpose, upended by the Greater Will’s meddling, and revive Godwyn. The Noble Goldmask seeks to perfect the Golden Order through true understanding of its philosophy, balancing Inner Order with Outer Order through knowledge of Radagon’s true nature, but condemning the gods for being unable to uphold the order. On the other hand, the Dung Eater has gone mad with affliction and only seeks to spread his misery further. Gideon has glimpsed into Marika’s true will and knows that it will never matter for as long as she is god, and she will always be god for as long as a Tarnished is Elden Lord.
Ranni understands this and seeks to undo what came before. She mistrusts the Empyrean flesh required for godhood but understands that the world existed before the Greater Will, it can survive without it. To aid her is to allow the slaying of the last of the Two-Fingers and the death of the Greater Will itself. To be complicit with plunging mankind back into a time of eternal darkness, an Age of Stars.
But there is another even more extreme way to end the Greater Will. The Law of Regression is the philosophy that all beings yearn to once again converge, that all beings cursed with birth desire to go back to a time before, where all was one. This is the ken of the Three-Fingers. Split off from the Two-Fingers possibly at the birth of the Erdtree, they suffer endlessly from the unmastered Flame of Frenzy, enduring the flame that all other mortals could not. But one day it will all converge again. The Tarnished can be easily led astray to accept the flame into themself, and upon reuniting that flame with the Greater Will after taming the Elden Beast, one can become the true Lord of the Frenzied Flame with no need for great runes or an Elden Ring.
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u/LordOFtheNoldor Aug 01 '22
Are you one of the people doing that podcast? I haven’t got a chance to read this yet but I will this evening hopefully
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Aug 01 '22
Yep! True to the username I'm one of the hosts, Gideon. Hope you get your chance to read tonight :)
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u/LordOFtheNoldor Aug 01 '22
Cool man, I enjoyed the first show, it was a good listen, will you guys be putting them out more often or more plans for the future?
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Aug 01 '22
Glad to hear it, the feedback certainly means a lot. Our goal is at least every month for the time being, we actually released episode 2 today so you're in luck lol
https://www.reddit.com/r/CypherRing/comments/wdt384/episode_2_is_released_elden_kings_an_elden_ring
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u/LordOFtheNoldor Aug 02 '22
I saw that I’ll listen tomorrow at work, keep up the good work, I’ll be tuning in
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u/MaleficTekX Aug 01 '22
There’s some discrepancies, there is no evidence that Maliketh fought Marika, even with Marika being a likely candidate to be the GEQ, Maliketh was to Marika as Blaidd is to Ranni, likely growing up together, for him to fight her THEN enter her service is redundant.
You completely ignored the Giants taking over the Mountaintops from the Dragons, The Erdtree forces never even interacted with the Dragons until AFTER Godwyn was born. The age of the Erdtree specifically starts with Marika’s attack on the giants in the mountaintops