*This article is nothing but spoilers for Elden Ring<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cQueen Marika is the vessel of the Elden Ring, carrier of its vision. A god, in truth.\u201d \u2013 Finger Reader Enia<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n To understand why this is Ranni\u2019s story, you must first understand the state of the world when Ranni was born into it. The Outer God<\/a> known as \u201cThe Greater Will<\/a>\u201d chose a woman from a faraway land named Marika<\/a> to be the God-Queen of The Lands Between. To do this she was merged with the conduit of their power, a magical rune capable of rewriting the rules of reality called the Elden Ring<\/a>. But as she merged with it, she removed the part of the rune that governed death\u2014making both herself and all her future children immortal in both body and spirit. During her reign, Queen Marika the Eternal bore at least eight children. One of these was Ranni.<\/p>\n \u201cI was once an Empyrean. Of the demigods, only I, Miquella, and Malenia could claim that title. Each of us was chosen by our own Two Fingers, as a candidate to succeed Queen Marika, to become the new god of the coming age.\u201d \u2013 Lunar Princess Ranni<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Even among Marika’s other demigod children, Ranni was special. She was an Empyrean<\/a>\u2014a person chosen by the greater will that had the potential to replace Marika as God-Queen of The Lands Between. Only the twins Malenia<\/a> and Miquella<\/a> shared this potential\u2014and they were born with curses which made them uninterested in taking their mother’s throne. However, as she learned more about what it meant to be an Empyrean\u2014and what it truly meant to be the God-Queen under the Greater Will\u2014Ranni became determined to be free of her fate. You see, Empyreans lack true free will. Their bodies are constantly monitored by The Greater Will through their associated Two Fingers and their seemingly loyal beastman companions. Should an Empyrean seek to directly oppose The Greater Will, their beast man companion would be forced into a rage of madness and kill them.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I would not acquiesce to the Two Fingers. I stole the Rune of Death, slew mine own Empyrean flesh, casting it away. I would not be controlled by that thing.\u201d \u2013 Lunar Princess Ranni<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n To free herself of The Greater Will’s oversight, Ranni determined she needed to do away with her Empyrean body\u2014after all, without it, she wouldn’t be capable of merging with the Elden Ring. There were just two problems to overcome. The first was the fact that, thanks to Marika removing the Rune of Death<\/a> from the Elden Ring, there was no way for Ranni to kill her demi-god body. The second was that even if she did kill her body, she would need to figure out a way for her soul to survive.<\/p>\n \u201cThe person who orchestrated the Night of the Black Knives. Lunar Princess Ranni.\u201d \u2013 Sorcerer Rogier<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n To overcome the first problem, Ranni was able to convince her divine mother’s old companions, the Black Knife Assassins<\/a>, to steal the Rune of Death from its guardian. To solve the second, she chose to sacrifice her oldest brother: Godwyn the Golden<\/a>. You see, the Rune of Death kills a person completely\u2014in both body and soul. This rule cannot be changed. However, Ranni was able to divine a way to kill her body but her brother’s soul instead of her own\u2014leaving her in a spectral form and Godwyn as a soulless, undead husk.<\/p>\n \u201cBut after the Elden Ring’s shattering, she was imprisoned in the Erdtree. A grim punishment for shattering the Order, despite her godhood.\u201d \u2013 Finger Reader Enia<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Ranni\u2019s murder of Godwyn triggered a whole slew of world-altering unintended consequences. Marika, deep in grief for the death of her son, shattered\u00a0the Elden Ring\u2014hoping that in\u00a0doing so the natural order would be overturned and he could be brought back to life. In response,\u00a0The Greater Will imprisoned\u00a0her within the Erdtree<\/a>\u2014and prevented the ascension\u00a0of a new Elden Lord in the process. With their mother removed from the playing field, her children warred over the broken fragments of the Elden Ring. The world was thrown into chaos\u2014quickly becoming a shadow of what it had been before Ranni set about her machinations to free herself from The Greater Will.<\/p>\n \u201cI am the witch Ranni. I stole Death long ago, and search now for the dark path. That I might one day upend the whole of it, and rid the world of all that came before.\u201d \u2013 Lunar Princess Ranni<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Unfortunately, it didn’t work out as intended\u00a0for Ranni either. While she gained\u00a0a puppet body through the mage Seluvis<\/a>\u2014based on her old magic teacher\u2019s form\u2014she still wasn’t free. Her\u00a0beastman companion, Blaidd<\/a>, remained by her side\u2014unwittingly watching for her betrayal, even as her Two Fingers were hidden away on a remote, dragon-filled plateau.\u00a0To be truly free, Ranni would need to kill her Two Fingers. However, it was clear she couldn’t achieve this alone.\u00a0Even with its power diminished by the shattering of the Elden Ring, The Greater Will still held her in check.<\/p>\n \u201cThe moon was encountered by a young Ranni, led by the hand of her mother, Rennala. What she beheld was cold, dark and veiled in occult mystery.\u201d \u2013 Ranni\u2019s Dark Moon<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Thus, she made a pact with a different Outer God, the God once worshipped by her human mother\u2019s family: the god of the Dark Moon<\/a>. Unlike the Greater Will seeking to impose its will on the world (or the Frenzied Flame<\/a> seeking pure chaos), the Dark Moon had no interest in mankind in general and was more than happy to allow both them in general and Ranni in specific free will should it replace The Greater Will as the Outer God in control of the lands in between.<\/p>\n A falling star, right before our eyes! I can\u2019t fathom how Radahn was holding back something of that scale. \u2013 Blaidd<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n The first step would be to set Ranni free by killing her Two Fingers. However, to do this she would need a special blade<\/a> hidden deep within the buried city of Nokron<\/a>\u2014one she couldn’t access alone. Thus, the Dark Moon sent a meteor to smash into The Lands Between and grant Ranni access to the ancient city. But there was just one unforeseen problem\u2014her older brother Radahn<\/a>. Seeing a meteor falling towards his territory, he stopped it with his gravity magic. Soon after, he began his final battle against his sister,\u00a0Malenia, and, while their fight ended in a stalemate,\u00a0Radahn was left as little more than a mindless beast roaming the desert. The only way to let the meteor fall would be to kill\u00a0Radahn\u2014a bit of problem when, even driven insane through rot and pain, he was still the most powerful warrior the land had ever seen.\u00a0For the next age, Ranni had little choice but to bide her time. She had Blaidd hunt for a different way into Nokron and had Seluvis prepare a puppet for the eventual battle against\u00a0Radahn but could do\u00a0little else.<\/p>\n \u201cTo Nokron, where Ranni\u2019s fate will be decided. Let\u2019s meet where the falling star bit the earth. We\u2019ll take up our swords once more. For mistress Ranni.\u201d \u2013 Blaidd<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n It is here that the player character enters the story. Knowing next to nothing about what is actually going on, you enter Ranni’s service. With you, Ranni finally has the weapon she needs to continue her quest to be free of The Greater Will. After proving your strength by attempting to find a second path into the sunken city, you, Blaidd, Seluvis\u2019 puppet<\/a>, and a score of the ages’ greatest warriors defeat\u00a0Radahn and allow the meteor to fall. You then progress through the underground ruins and retrieve the weapon Ranni needs to kill her two fingers.<\/p>\n \u201cI go now, to the night sky. It is there I shall find mine order. I bid thee travel the path of the Lord. And once all is done, we shall see each other, once more.\u201d \u2013 Lunar Princess Ranni<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n With the blade in hand, it’s obvious to The Greater Will what she intends to do. She transfers her soul\u00a0into a tiny doll<\/a> better suited for stealth and begins her journey. Unfortunately, her Two Fingers send assassins<\/a> after her. Luckily, it is here that the player character catches up with her, defeats the assassins, battles a dragon, and brings\u00a0her to her two fingers\u2014which she then promptly kills, freeing her from The Greater Will forever. You then propose to Ranni<\/a> and she accepts<\/a>\u2014naming you her consort and asking you to call upon her when you stand on the cusp of becoming Elden Lord. She then communes with the Dark Moon, spending the rest of the game building the foundation of her new order.<\/p>\n Mine will be an order not of gold, but the stars and moon of the chill night. I would keep them far from the earth beneath our feet. As it is now, life, and souls, and order are bound tightly together, but I would have them at great remove. And have the certainties of sight, emotion, faith, and touch… All become impossibilities. Which is why I would abandon this soil, with mine order. Wouldst thou come to me, even now, my one and only lord? \u2013 Lunar Princess Ranni<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Should you choose to summon her as promised upon defeating the final boss, Ranni ironically becomes exactly what she had fought against becoming her whole life: Marika’s replacement and the new god of The Lands Between. However, the world under her rule is quite different from The Greater Will’s Golden Order.\u00a0Rather than have mankind guided by The Greater Will’s grace, with the two fingers translating their words and\u00a0their god-avatar ruling over the people, Ranni wants to keep the gods and humans as separate as possible.<\/p>\n Luckily, the Dark Moon has no wish to impose its will upon the people. Likewise, Ranni, as their avatar, and the player character, as her immortal consort, will live removed from the rest of the world. It will be an age without divine guidance of any sort\u2014one without fate. While this will leave mankind without all the security\u00a0of The Golden Order, it will also leave mankind with the freedom Ranni herself longed for. It is the greatest gift she can give. But even then, unlike the other potential orders the player can choose to create, Ranni’s will only last 1000 years as opposed to all eternity. After that, mankind will once again have the freedom to choose\u2014will they wish for their continued self-determination or will they long to once again be guided by the will of the Outer\u00a0Gods? Perhaps we’ll find out in Elden Ring 2<\/em>.<\/p>\n Top image copyright: \u00a9Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. \/ \u00a92022 FromSoftware, Inc.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biggestinjapan.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Ranni02.jpg?resize=640%2C360\")
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