My interpretation of Elden Ring.
In the world of Elden Ring, there are powerful forces known as the Outer Gods. Not a lot is known about them or their motivations. We know that they do not have a physical form but exert their influence upon the world to bend events to their will through their envoys and vassals.
The known entities are:
- The Greater Will
- The Frenzied Flame
- The Formless Mother
- The Fell God of the Giants
- The God of the Ancient Dragons
- The God of the Moons
- The God of the Twinbird
- The God of Scarlet Rot
Most of these beings are mentioned in passing, but a few are important to the story and the events that take place in the Lands Between.
Age of the Crucible
The primordial form of the Erdtree is close in nature to life itself.
Long ago, the Crucible was the primal source of all life in the Lands Between. It was a great tree, within which aspects of every living creature were merged together. This great tree was the primordial form of what later became the Erdtree.
In the primordial lands, the crucible gives life to all sorts of creatures. As they evolve and gain intelligence, some continue to exhibit vestigial features, which are considered divine signifiers.
The ancient dragons ruled these lands, and the other creatures served them. It is said that the Dragonlord Placidusax becomes the Elden Lord and presides over the lands until his Outer God flees from the Lands Between, ending the Dragonlord's reign.
The Outer Gods take notice of this evolving land, and some begin exerting their influence in varying degrees. The most influential one being the Greater Will who sends a golden star carrying an Elden Beast into the Lands Between to spread its teaching and control over the land's civilization.
As the vassal of the Greater Will, the Elden Beast takes over the Primordial Crucible, creating the Erdtree, and becoming the Elden Ring.
Age of the Erdtree
In the beginning, everything is in opposition to the Erdtree. But through countless victories in war, it becomes the embodiment of Order.
The Elden Ring is a metaphysical embodiment of the concept of Order: the amalgamation of laws that govern the reality of the Lands Between as envisioned by the Greater Will. A vassal of the Greater Will can then represent this Order and apply and enforce these laws on the world.
The physical manifestation of the Order is the Great Runes that each hold a special power. For example, the Rune of Death dictates that everything is destined to die.
Besides having the Elden Beast as its vassal, the Greater Will also has envoys called the Two Fingers. The Two Fingers can communicate with the Greater Will to enforce its will and provide guidance to the people of the land.
However, the Fingers "speak" through trembling, so their words need to be interpreted by ancient women known as the Finger Readers.
The Fingers select potential candidates, called Empyreans, to become the head of the Order and lead the populace. The Empyrean who is then chosen becomes the Elden Ring's vessel to carry out Greater Will's vision. Her consort will become the Elden Lord, and her children will become demigods.
Out of all the Empyreans, Marika is chosen. She is to serve as the head of the Order and as its goddess, to spread the influence of the Greater Will. She takes a mighty warrior named Hoarah Loux as her consort to lead battles and wage war on behalf of the Erdtree.
Marika ascends to godhood, becoming Queen Marika.
After becoming Queen Marika's consort, Hoarah Loux pledges to put aside his bloodthirsty nature, takes the name Godfrey, and is given the title of the First Elden Lord.
Marika and Godfrey have three offspring:
- Godwyn, the Golden
- Morgott, the Omen King
- Mohg, Lord of Blood
Godfrey’s Conquest
The Erdtree governs all. The choice is thine. Become one with the Order. Or divest thyself of it. To wallow at the fringes; a powerless upstart.
Queen Marika wages war on other forces and fractions on the Lands Between to expand the Order and impose the Greater Will's dominance on the land. Godfrey wins battle after battle on her behalf, helping to establish the Age of the Erdtree after the fight against the Giants.
War Against the Giants
Once worshiped by the Giants, this evil deity is believed to have been slain by Queen Marika.
The Giants live in the mountain tops to the north. They worship the One-Eyed Fell God and are bound to tend the flame of their god for eternity. Queen Marika fights the Giants as their flame has the power to burn the Erdtree.
Hark, brave warriors. Hark, my lord Godfrey. [...] Put the giants to the sword and confine the flame atop the mount. [...] Brandish the Elden Ring, for the Age of the Erdtree!
Upon defeating the Giants, Queen Marika realizes that their fire is eternal, so to keep the flame contained, she curses the last remaining survivor of the Giants, the Fire Giant, with the task to tend and guard the inextinguishable Flame of Ruin. This ensures that anyone who intends to use the flame against the Erdtree would have to go through the Fire Giant.
The Gloam-Eyed Queen
The apostles, once said to serve Destined Death, are wielders of the god-slaying black flame. But after their defeat by Maliketh, the Black Blade, the source of their power was sealed away.
The Gloam-Eyed Queen possesses the Rune of Death. Her followers, the Godskin Apostles, are able to slay gods using its powers. Wanting to limit the influence of death, Marika orders her half-brother, Maliketh, to defeat the Gloam-Eyed Queen and seal away the Rune of Death in his sword.
The Golden Order is founded on the principle that Marika is the one true god.
Marika plucks the Rune of Death from the Order, thus removing Destined Death from the Lands Between and forging the Golden Order.
People who die in the Lands Between are reabsorbed, body and soul, by the Erdtree and born again. This is the Grace given by the Erdtree. So long as this blessing is bestowed on them, they have golden light in their eyes and live an eternal life.
Liurnian Wars
First and the Second Liurnian Wars, during which the red-haired Radagon joined the heroes' ranks.
Liurnia of the Lakes is a misty region on the west side of the Lands Between, housing the Carian royal family's manor and the Academy of Raya Lucaria. The Carian family is descendants of astrologers and practitioners of the glinstone sorcerers.
The head of house Carian and the Academy of Raya Lucaria is Rennala of the Full Moon. She is a powerful sorcerer who defends Liurnia of the Lakes against Marika's forces.
Two wars are fought in the Liurnian Wars, where Radagon of the Golden Order leads the battle, but there is no victory.
However, something unexpected happens: Radagon repents his territorial aggressions and pledges his love to Rennala. The Golden Order and the Carian family are conjoined, and all past war-related grievances are forgiven.
Radagon and Rennala have three offspring:
- Praetor Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy
- Starscourge Radahn, Conqueror of the Stars
- Lunar Princess Ranni
Godfrey's Banishment
My Lord, and thy warriors. I divest each of thee of thy grace. With thine eyes dimmed, ye will be driven from the Lands Between. Ye will wage war in a land afar, where ye will live, and die.
At the end of Godfrey's campaign when his last enemy falls, it is at that moment when Erdtree's Grace is taken from Godfrey and his warriors. And they are banished from the Lands Between.
However, Marika also declares her intention to summon them back after their death. To return to the Lands Between under the Grace of the Erdtree. And so Godfrey relinquishes his title and status, becoming Hoarah Loux once more. He and his warriors embark on a journey to leave the Land Between, becoming the first Tarnished.
Marika & Radagon
Radagon, who is closely linked with Golden Order, leaves Rennala and returns to the capital after Godfrey's banishment from the Lands Between.
Queen Marika takes him as her King Consort, and he becomes the second Elden Lord. As stepchildren of Queen Marika, Radagon's three children with Rennala are then elevated to demigod status.
However, Radagon's departure causes Rennala heartbreak and her subsequent imprisonment by the academy when they see her broken. Over time, she descends into madness, dedicating herself to the art of reincarnation.
Being protective of her mother, Ranni employs her magic to shield Rennala in her vulnerable condition. Though unspoken, this also fuels Ranni's desire for revenge against the Two Fingers and the Erdtree.
Queen Marika and Radagon have two children: the twins Malenia and Miquella who are both Empyreans.
- Malenia, Blade of Miquella
- Miquella, The Unalloyed
However, Malenia suffers from Scarlet Rot while Miquella is afflicted with eternal childhood.
Night of the Black Knives
To stop the Greater Will from having control over her, Ranni orchestrates the Night of the Black Knives, an event that brings an end to the Age of the Erdtree.
Her assassins steal a fragment of the Rune of Death from Maliketh's sword and imbue it in their knives, which they use to kill Godwyn the Golden. This is the first recorded death of a demigod, which serves as a catalyst to the shattering of the Elden Ring.
On the same night, Ranni has the assassins brand her with one half of the Cursemark of Death (the other half was used on Godwyn), in a ritual that kills her flesh but preserves her soul. Whereas Godwyn's soul is destroyed, but his body remains.
The body of Godwyn, devoid of a soul and incapable of experiencing true death, mutates into an unrecognizable entity known as the Prince of Death.
Deathroot emerges from it, spreading throughout the Lands Between via the Erdtree's roots and giving birth to beings known as Those Who Live in Death.
Shattering of the Elden Ring
After Godwyn's assassination, Queen Marika shatters the Elden Ring, fracturing the Golden Order and bringing instability to the lands. Because of her transgression, Queen Marika is imprisoned within the Erdtree by the Greater Will as her punishment.
In contrast, Radagon stays faithful to the Golden Order and endeavors to mend the Elden Ring using the same hammer Marika had used to shatter it.
The Shattering
Following the shattering of the Elden Ring, the demigods who inherit the broken shards of the Elden Ring are referred to as Shardbearers. Influenced by the power of these Great Runes, the Shardbearers engage in war for control of the Lands Between, leading to the event known as the Shattering.
Ranni discards her Great Rune, with its current location unknown.
Rykard's ambitions turn to depravity, leading to his demise when he feeds himself to a giant serpent. His consort, Tanith, leads the recusants of Volcano Manor in a war against the Erdtree.
Godrick, a distant relative of Marika, seeks power through grafting.
Morgott becomes the Lord of Leyndell, defending the Erdtree by slaughtering any champions that challenge it.
Mohg, who aims to build his dynasty, abducts Miquella to raise him to full godhood, so Mohg can become his consort. However, Miquella remains unresponsive in his cocoon.
Radahn, leading the Redmane Knights, clashes with Malenia's Cleanrot Knights. The battle ends in a stalemate until Malenia unleashes her Scarlet Rot, driving Radahn mad and leaving herself in a state of comatose.
The Tarnished
Forsaken by the Greater Will, none of the demigods manage to become the Elden Lord in the aftermath of The Shattering. Thus, the Grace is extended to the Tarnished once again, and they are recalled to the Lands Between. Compelled by the Two Fingers in search for Shardbearers to take their Great Runes and restore the Elden Ring and the Golden Order.
It is here where our story begins. We meet Melina, a spectral girl who becomes our companion throughout our journey to become the Elden Lord.
Marika's Secret
It is revealed that Radagon and Marika are one entity, with Radagon being Marika's male "other self." It is not known whether this was always the case or if Radagon merged with Marika at some point.
Regardless, despite sharing the same body, they do not share the same will.
Marika's Plan
It is hinted that the shattering of the Elden Ring was conspired by Marika.
She started off as a champion of the Greater Will and a strong believer of the Order, but with time, she began to have doubts and wanted to break free from the control of the Greater Will.
Use my masterpiece to slay a god. That is all that I have lived for. And my promise to Queen Marika.
The banishment of the Tarnished, guiding them with Grace upon their return, orchestrating the Night of the Black Knives with the help of Ranni and Melina, and the shattering of the Elden Ring was part of her plan all along. She sets this plan in motion, in hopes of having a Tarnished kill the Elden Beast, removing Radagon from within her and the Greater Will's influence from the Lands Between.