I’ve been thinking about Ranni’s questline, which I’ve talked about before. I want to take you on a journey as to how I experienced this questline because it’s so incredible.
In the beginning, I talked with Renna in the Church of Elleh. She was a four-armed, two-faced, ethereal blue being who looked as if she was about to float away. I immediately wanted to swaddle her in a duvet and feed her a cup of tea. She talked about Torrent and gave me the summoning bell. She also mentioned some stuff that made no sense at the time. I tried to find her again, but couldn’t. She never showed up in the church again.
Then, at some point, I was in the Mistwood Ruins and heard a howl. Then many bears who are unusually strong, and I ran away. I went back to the Church of Elleh to do something, probably upgrade my weapon. Kale told me about his friend who howled in the Mistwood Ruins and gave me a gesture to do in return. It’s snapping my fingers. I went back to the Mistwood Ruins, but I could not find his friend. There were too many hard enemies at the time and if you’re in combat, you cannot open your map. So I could not find the Mistwood Ruins while fending of the hard-as-nails enemies. I really tried to find Blaidd, but I could not. I was sad about missing the wolfman, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. I figured I’d just get it on the next playthrough.
I went through the game and didn’t think about it. Much later, I ran into Ranni in her rise and she asked if I would enter her service (after explaining that she was the daughter of Rennala and a bunch of other stuff). Of course I said yes, little knowing what I’d get into. Oh, and there will be spoilers for this questline, of course, and maybe other parts of the game. She said her appearance was actually a doll and that she was really in a deep sleep.
She asked me to talk to the spirits of three of her professional contacts–War Counselor Iji, the giant blacksmith I had already met; Blaidd, the wolfman I had missed in Mistwood Ruins; and, Prospector Seluvius, who is a creepy, arrogant wizard. I hate him so much. So very much. I talk to the three of them before going on my merry way. Seluvius is so repulsive, I refused to do his questline even though I verbally agreed that I’d do as he asked. I told myself to do it, but I just couldn’t. Why? Because he makes people into puppets. Many hours later, I make the shocking discovery of his secret lab where he has several people-puppets lying around. It’s creepy and gross, and I had a visceral reaction to it.
He wanted me to give Nepheli Loux, the warrior woman, a potion that would make her unconscious and turn her into his puppet. I physically recoiled when he told me what he wanted. I made the potion, but I never gave it to her. I liked her a lot (she was one of my BAEs), but even if I didn’t, I would not have given her the potion, anyway. You can also give it to the Dung Eater, but I refused to do that as well. I just could not. There are four spirit summons that are puppets, and I can’t use them, either. I know it’s just a game, but the ick factor was so strong, I could not make myself do it. Seluvius died before I could do anything with his potion, which is fine by me. It pisses me off that he is the owner of the big hat (which I did reluctantly wear for a bit), because it makes it difficult for me to wear it in the game.
So I continued playing the game, not thinking much about it. At some point, I decided that I wanted to talk to Blaidd. I had to go find him in one of the wells. Now, mind you, I had already gone down the two wells before meeting Ranni. I hit a hard stop in one of them because of the boss. He could one-shot me, which as we all know by now, is my favorite thing in the world. In addition, and this is a problem with many of the bosses, he’s enormous and appears not to be tethered to terra firma, so I could not quite get the spatial aspect of the fight. I was so frustrated with the fight, I gave up on it. When I returned many hours later, I was much more able to deal with this boss.
I can’t tell you how finding out this underground world was massive was such a revelation. The map above the ground is impressive on its own. The fact that you can go down one of two wells (and down, and down, and waaaaaay down) to a whole new world was unexpected and mind-blowing. And it kept going. And going. And going! The two wells were enough on their own, but when you reached the end of them, you then had to fight Starscourge Radahn (which, as I’ve mentioned, is an epic fight that is quite possibly the worst in the game from a gameplay point of view) and defeat him in order to open up the third area of the underground map. Which is one of the most awe-inspiring areas of the game in terms of design. It’s purple and mystical, and there’s an ethereal feel to it.
I went through this area and reached the end, fighting a boss I just did not have patience for. Bosses that are not grounded in the arena (seemingly fighting in an abyss-like area) are bullshit to me because of my spatial issues. If I can’t tell where the boss actually is in the arena or how far they are from me, I just have no chance. I died on this boss when they had no health on their HP bar. That was enraging.
After finishing up these three enormous areas, which probably added 30 hours onto my playtime, I went back to Ranni to finish things up. This included Iji dying and me having to kill Blaidd. That was not pleasant at all because Blaidd is BAE and Iji is a sweetie. So, yes, all three of Ranni’s counselors have to die in her questline. And she does as well. Or rather, her doll exterior does. I don’t think she, herself, dies.
What does this give me? The Dark Moon Greatsword, which is the Moonlight Greatsword of the game (and in every From game except Sekiro). Plus the thing needed for one of the endings. And the satisfaction of going on an incredible journey within the Elden Ring saga.
I said to Ian that I would pay $30 for a game that was simply this questline. And remember that I’ve missed bits of it. But it was such a full, rich, and emotional adventure on its own, I would happily pay thirty bucks for the experience. That says a lot because the game itself was seventy dollars. I will remember this questline for long after I finish this game. Of that, I am sure.