What Happens In Elden Ring? The Game’s Story, Part 9: Eternal Cities, Deeproot Depths, And Mohg

After making your solution to the Haligtree, there’s just one Shardbearer remaining in Elden Ring. The Lord of Blood waits for you in a hidden place deep underground, and should you enterprise into these depths, you may discover an enormous world. These subterranean locations have their very own historical past with the Golden Order and the Lands Between, and regardless of their destruction way back, they’re truly fairly vital to the occasions you see on the planet above. Not solely is the final Shardbearer hidden right here, however we study some issues concerning the previous of the Lands Between, and what impacts the occasions of the sport’s historical past, just like the Evening of Black Knives, have had on the world ever since.

The underground world and the Everlasting Cities you discover there have so much to do with Ranni and her quests, and it is right here you may discover out concerning the final destiny of Miquella and Godwyn the Golden. There’s so much to study down right here within the false night–and even an enormous nicely of Scarlet Rot, the “Lake of Rot,” that may even home the essence of the Outer God liable for the affliction that plagues Malenia, Radahn, Caelid, and the Haligtree.

Spoilers comply with, after all, as we uncover the tales hidden beneath your toes as you enterprise by Elden RIng.

The world underground

When you did lots of exploring in Limgrave, you seemingly found the Siofra Effectively, discovering an enormous underground space surrounding the Siofra River. That is your first inkling of the land beneath the Lands Between, and the cities which were constructed there: Nokron, Nokstella, and a metropolis that’s anonymous.

As with lots of areas in Elden Ring, the nice particulars about what is going on on with the underground lands aren’t all the time clear. The open areas themselves are populated by the spirits of Ancestor Followers, that are massive, humanoid of us who put on horn headbands. Not like the general public you encounter within the recreation, these creatures appear extra linked to nature, the forests, and the creatures who inhabit them, particularly due to their proximity to a boss you may tackle referred to as the Ancestral Spirit.

The arrows the Followers shoot at you deal magic harm because of the truth that they’re stated to be imbued with the spirits of small animals, and their use of horns–something we all know to be considerably taboo among the many Golden Order, because of Omen–all recommend they is likely to be a extra historical folks from a time earlier than the Erdtree. The lore on their garments talks about Erdtree buds sprouting from their flesh and even “their souls,” which additionally gives the look that these are of us whose faith is about nature; not only one Erdtree, however all of them, in addition to the spirits of individuals and animals.

The Ancestral Spirit additionally appears to be from a creature that’s maybe not linked to the Erdtree, however a spirit from the extra pure model of the Lands Between from earlier than the Golden Order. Lore linked to the Ancestral Spirit suggests new life springs from demise, which sounds fairly far at-odds with the Golden Order model of the world, through which Destined Dying is locked away.

Linked to those areas is the Lake of Rot, a spot the place you may discover ruins populated by the creepy centipede pests, the Kindred of Rot, present in Caelid. The Lake of Rot appears to be the place from which Scarlet Rot springs. The Blue Dancer Allure lore tells of a legend through which a blind swordsman sealed away a god “that was rot itself,” and the map for the Lake of Rot means that some divine essence is sealed there. Thus, this may nicely be the situation the place the Outer God liable for Scarlet Rot is trapped, though exploring the world, you may’t discover out a lot about it (or do something about it).

The cities you discover underground, nonetheless, are usually not these created by the Ancestral Followers, who “eschew letters and metalwork.” These have been created by the Nox, a bunch of people who as soon as went up towards the Better Will–and misplaced.

Nokron, Nokstella, and the Anonymous Everlasting Metropolis

You’ll be able to’t attain the Everlasting Cities correct till later within the recreation; the truth is, the best way to Nokron solely opens as soon as you have defeated Radahn and launched the celebs, inflicting a meteorite to fall into Limgrave and open the trail under floor. We all know probably the most concerning the story surrounding Nokron, though precisely the place it suits within the timeline of Marika’s story or the better historical past of the Lands Between is not particularly clear.

The cities of Nokron and Nokstella are nonetheless properties to some folks, however the two areas have seen vital calamity. From the armor of the Nox enemies, we study that the Nox folks angered the Better Will indirectly lengthy prior to now, and for that, the 2 cities have been solid underground. What the Nox did, how precisely their cities have been buried, and the way the Better Will was capable of enact that punishment is not precisely clear. It is also not clear whether or not the cities have been solid down earlier than or after the folks of Nokron tried to combat and destroy the Better Will.

There’s so much occurring with the Everlasting Cities, however it’s just a little bit blended up and hard to untangle. Sooner or later prior to now, the cities have been above floor, and the Nox appeared to be intently tied to the celebs. The areas are a giant a part of Ranni’s storyline, which can also be all about destiny associated to stars and the cosmos. We will collect that the Nox hoped to throw off the management of the Better Will, and have been additionally making an attempt to achieve the identical aim as Ranni sooner or later prior to now, enacting an Age of Stars to overhaul that of the Erdtree. The Better Will intervened, nonetheless, and so they failed.

Nokron and Nokstella are the house of the Silver Tears, in addition to the Nox. These are creatures that appear to be made from a dwelling liquid metallic, and it looks like the Nox cultivated this substance to create Mimic Tears, which have been variations that have been able to mimicking different creatures and altering their kinds. While you combat Mimic Tears within the Everlasting Cities, they typically grow to be humanlike, and even mimic you at factors once you encounter them. The substance on the coronary heart of the Silver Tears is critical for Rennala’s entire bizarre rebirth factor together with her Nice Rune, and the shape-shifting substance additionally appears to have some hyperlink to what the sorcerers of Liurnia have used to create the Albinaurics, though the connections are considerably tenuous.

What we do know concerning the Silver Tears, nonetheless, is that they’ll grow to be considerably flawed people-like creatures, and it appears the Nox hoped to make use of Mimic Tears to “forge a lord.” There’s some suggestion that the Nox might need summoned a meteor, bringing the fabric that created the Silver Tears to the lands between–and that motion might need had some seirous penalties. It sounds so much just like the Nox had hoped to make use of their Mimic Tears to take over the position of Elden Lord, most likely as a method to avoid or usurp the Better Will’s management of the Lands Between. We will guess that this might need been what made the Better Will offended sufficient to put the cities low, sending them under floor.

This was a fairly tough state of affairs for the Everlasting Cities, as the celebs have been an enormous a part of life for them, and so they have been now subjected to the “false evening” of their underground world. The timeline of this can be a little tough, however it looks like the rebuke by the Better Will drove the Nox to seek out one other solution to combat again towards the Better Will. When you work by Ranni’s story, you may discover the “hidden treasure” of Nokron: a dagger referred to as the Fingerslayer Blade. You’ll be able to most likely guess what it does.

It appears the folks of Nokron have been by no means fairly capable of execute this plan, nonetheless, and the creation of the Fingerslayer Blade was itself “excessive treason” towards the Better Will. As talked about, it is not completely clear what occurred when, though–the Nox’s try to create a lord Mimic Tear may have occurred concurrently the creation of the Fingerslayer Blade, with each acts enraging the Better Will, or it may simply be the blade itself that led to the Better Will’s reprisal. And the last word destiny of Nokron, and whether or not it was additionally an act of the Better Will, is not precisely clear, both.

While you discover Nokron, your time within the place ends with a combat towards an enormous beast referred to as Astel, Naturalborn of the Void. From what we will inform about Astel from its Remembrance and the gear you may create from it, this creature is actually a dwelling star, a cosmic horror from area that fell to the Lands Between, very similar to different creatures you have confronted earlier than. Astel’s Remembrance says it destroyed Nokron and “took away their sky,” and the truth that you continue to discover Astel within the metropolis means that this was the very last thing to occur to Nokron. The Everlasting Darkness spell says it was “the despair that led to its damage made manifest,” which means that the lack of the sky and stars have been the downfall of Nokron. From that, we’re left to surprise if Astel was despatched to the Everlasting Metropolis by the Better Will, or if Astel was summoned by the Nox themselves, maybe by accident or as a side-effect of the summoning that created the Silver Tears.

Simply how the occasions performed out is hard to say, with info misplaced to historical past. The folks of the floor have tried to seek out and discover the Everlasting Cities, it appears; within the Siofra Aqueduct and Nokstella, as an example, you discover pale undead-looking enemies referred to as the Falling Hawk firm. Ashes and equipment you discover associated to those poor souls says they have been slaves despatched under to discover the Everlasting Cities, however they ran out of provides, finally turning to burning the corpses of their lifeless to keep up mild as they explored. They might by no means make it out of the Everlasting Cities, and who is aware of how lengthy they, or their descendants, have been trapped there.

The Prince of Dying

The pathway by Nokron and into the Siofra Aqueduct leads you to a different part of the underground world of the Lands Between: the Deeproot Depths. This location is much under the Erdtree, the place you could find a lot of its roots. You will shortly uncover that a few of them are rotted and corrupted, though they are not affected by the Scarlet Rot just like the Haligtree is. As an alternative, they’re black and liquid, stricken by one thing else: demise itself.

When you make your solution to the highest of the Deeproot Depths, you may uncover what’s infecting the Erdtree. A wierd, twisted physique has melded with the roots. What you discover out, must you pursue extra info by a number of totally different sidequests, is that that is the physique of Godwyn the Golden–now deformed and unusual, like some sort of Eldritch terror. What stays of Godwyn is the Prince of Dying, the supply of Deathroot and These Who Stay in Dying.

The story of Godwyn is a bizarre one, and it has had a serious impression on the Lands Between. We have talked about it a number of instances earlier than, however this is a fast rundown. Earlier than the Shattering, a bunch of assassins, the Black Knives, managed to steal a bit of the Dying Rune (which additionally goes by the identify Destined Dying), which Marika had faraway from the Elden Ring, altering the best way demise labored within the Lands Between and making a sort of immortality. After that, not one of the demigods ever died; the truth is, it looks like nobody would die of pure causes within the Lands Between, and in the event that they have been killed, their souls would return to the Erdtree to reside on. Destined Dying was the pure approach of the world and labored in a different way. It was indiscriminate, visiting common folks, demigods, and even gods, and our bodies in addition to souls may die, ceasing to exist.

So with Destined Dying faraway from the Elden Ring, no demigods had ever died in historical past. That modified on the Evening of the Black Knives, when the assassins used their rune-infused knives to assault and kill Godwyn. However although they did homicide Godwyn, what they killed was his soul. His physique lives on as an empty husk, a kind of dwelling demise.

Tangled with the roots of the Erdtree, Godwyn’s undead physique appears to be spreading corruption out into the land–you can see his eyes rising from roots and crops in varied locations all through the Lands Between, and there is even an entire second Godwyn face positioned far under Stormveil Citadel. And that unnatural an infection within the Lands Between created one thing new, a plant born of Godwyn’s corruption, referred to as Deathroot.

The assassination itself is shrouded in thriller, though you may study so much about who the Black Knives have been and are. We do not know all of the ins and outs of precisely why they did what they did, though there are lots of theories. We do discover out throughout the course of the sport that the Black Knives labored instantly with Ranni as a part of her plan to free herself from the affect of the Better Will and the Two Fingers. The assassination of Godwyn appears to have truly been a step essential to get Ranni away from her Two Fingers. Destined Dying kills each physique and soul, however the Black Knives have been capable of break up this effect–they killed Godwyn’s soul, not his physique, and so they killed Ranni’s physique, however not her soul. Ranni was then capable of switch her spirit into the doll physique you discover her in throughout the recreation, and that appears to have gotten her out from underneath the Better Will’s affect.

As for the Black Knives, there are lots of tidbits associated to who they’re and why they could have helped Ranni. They’re described within the lore as a folks referred to as the Numen, of which Marika was one–and the truth is, the Black Knives lore tells us the assassins, all girls, have been intently tied with Marika herself.

You’ll be able to truly select to be a Numen initially of the sport, once you’re creating your character, and on that display screen, the Numen are described as coming from “one other world.” That is unusual in and of itself, however should you speak to Rogier, a personality you meet at Stormveil Citadel, you may study extra concerning the assassins as he investigates what occurred to Godwyn. Rogier tells you that it was stated the ladies have been “scions of the Everlasting Metropolis.” If that is the case, then Godwyn’s assassination might be an extension of the struggle between the Everlasting Cities and the Better Will. YouTuber Bandit has an ideal video delving into the Black Knives and the reference to Marika, the Everlasting Cities, and Ranni–who Rogier tells us was truly behind the assassination itself. Ranni’s entire story is deserving of its personal clarification, so we’ll skip it for now.

Looking These Who Stay in Dying

The assassination of Godwyn had a large ripple impact all through the Lands Between. It is stated that, in her grief at dropping her first born and favourite youngster, Marika finally would shatter the Elden Ring, though there appears to be just a little extra to it than that. Nonetheless, Godwyn’s demise positively was the catalyst that will finally result in the Shattering. Miquella would try to assist his soulless brother, to no avail, whereas members of the Golden Order would begin to hunt down These Who Stay in Dying and destroy them, seeing their impure existence as a defilement of the Erdtree.

That brings us again to Gurranq, the Beast Clergyman. You might need present in him in Caelid; should you work together with a personality named D in Limgrave and assist him slay a few of These Who Stay in Dying, he’ll ship you Gurranq’s solution to enlist your assist in preventing the undead. These Who Stay in Dying are created, apparently, by coming into contact with Deathroot, and though D believes them to be evil folks whose souls refuse to return to the Erdtree, Rogier discovers the truth–people grow to be undead by no fault of their very own.

Gurranq, for his half, consumes Deathroot, and is seemingly even hooked on the stuff. He sees it as his responsibility to destroy Deathroot and These Who Stay in Dying in an try to stomp out the corruption created by Godwyn. There is a cause for that, which we’ll discover in better element in Crumbling Farum Azula.

These Who Stay in Dying do not select to be that approach, it appears, and there are those that hope to guard the undead. When you work your approach by the search of Fia, the Deathbed Companion, you may study that she’s certainly one of these folks, hoping to cease the persecution of These Who Stay in Dying. You’ll be able to select which facet of the state of affairs to be on, however it’s not clear what penalties there is likely to be of serving to the undead, or what the continued corruption of the Prince of Dying may do to the Lands Between and the Erdtree itself. Perhaps that is one thing to be revisited in some future Elden Ring DLC, as a result of there’s completely extra occurring with Godwyn than we’re conscious of. You’ll be able to even discover his mutant fish face on the backside of Stormveil Citadel, as if it has been drawn there by the roots of the Erdtree–and that positively does not appear good.

The Lord of Blood

We briefly talked about Mohg, Lord of Blood throughout the Haligtree portion of the story. When you make your approach by the teleporter within the Consecrated Snowfields, you may discover Mohg’s domain–a bloody swamp along with his mausoleum-slash-palace on the middle. It seems that that is additionally a portion of the underground area close to the Everlasting Cities, which means that Mohg most likely did not construct this place, however simply moved in and took over when he determined to create the Mohgwyn Dynasty. You can also make your approach by right here, dealing with corrupted pink Albinaurics, festering creatures, cursed corpses of followers, and Mohg’s noble disciples. Enter the mausoleum on the middle of the world, and you may tackle Mohg himself to assert the final of the Nice Runes and defeat the ultimate Shardbearer.

Mohg’s story is a tragic and horrible one. You’ll be able to first begin to hear concerning the Lord of Blood in a little bit of a roundabout approach. White Masks Varre, one of many very first characters you work together with within the recreation, will finally lead you to becoming a member of the followers of Mohg. Varre’s gear tells you that he was as soon as a struggle surgeon throughout the Shattering, and means that possibly he had an excessive amount of of a style for hacking off limbs. Proceed down Varre’s quest and he’ll ship you to invade the video games of different gamers to kill them; as with the followers of Rykard, murdering different Tarnished is near Mohg’s coronary heart.

Like Morgott, Mohg is an Omen youngster of Marika and Godfrey, and was stored within the sewers under Leyndell. Not like Morgott, although, Mohg positively did not really feel a loyalty to his household or to the system that exacted such cruelty on him. Sooner or later, he was visited by an Outer God referred to as the Formless Mom, and his followers view that is as a kind of holy occasion. The Formless Mom granted Mohg energy by blood and wounds and it looks like, for the primary time, Mohg noticed his Omen type as one thing optimistic, reasonably than a curse. While you combat Mohg, you even see him stabbing into the air along with his trident, which is famous as a method of communing with the Outer God. What you are seeing is actually Mohg stabbing into the Formless Mom to attract her blood and use her energy.

The blood the Formless Mom granted, nonetheless, wasn’t all great–it was additionally a curse, burning inside Mohg, which sounds prefer it was each painful and troublesome to regulate. That is why Mohg kidnapped struggle surgeons like Varre: to “tame the accursed blood.” The opposite surgeons failed, however Varre succeeded, it appears. With the bloody energy of the Formless Mom, Mohg made his approach out of the sewers and slipped into the situation the place you discover him underground, biding his time and rising his energy from there.

Varre provides an impression of how Mohg interacts with the world of the Lands Between, as he principally appears to remain hidden within the shadows. Speaking with White Masks Varre, he’ll let you know concerning the Roundtable Maintain and offer you details about the Steerage of Grace, however finally he suggests that you just should not belief the Two Fingers and that the opposite Tarnished are as much as no good, as nicely. He guides you towards a distinct path, finally enlisting you in Mohg’s service. There’s additionally a concept that the lifeless Finger Maiden you discover early within the recreation ought to have been your maiden, and that she was killed by Varre; that is how he is aware of from the beginning that you just’re Maidenless. The concept, it appears, could be to mess up your capacity to comply with the trail laid out for you by the Steerage of Grace and the Two Fingers, both to mess up the plans of the Better Will, or, maybe extra seemingly, to subtly information you towards becoming a member of up with Mohg.

Through the Haligtree portion of this sequence, we talked about how Mohg kidnapped Miquella from his place inside the Erdtree, however we did not focus on why. While you lastly meet Mohg in his Mausoleum, you study what he needed: to grow to be Miquella’s consort. Miquella is an Empyrean, and as such, he can grow to be a god to exchange Marika. The consort of a god turns into Elden Lord, like Godfrey and Radagon. Thus, we discover out that Mohg’s aim is not to grow to be a god himself–he cannot pull that off–but to use Miquella to achieve the position of Elden Lord and rule the Lands Between that approach. He needs to determine the Mohgwyn Dynasty as a brand new order, pushing out Marika and the opposite demigods and placing an finish to the Golden Order and the management of the Better Will.

Recall from our dialogue of Miquella his capacity to bewitch folks, to pressure them to like him and, in that approach, management them. It isn’t clear if this was the case with Mohg, and it looks like, regardless of having Miquella and his cocoon, the Lord of Blood was by no means capable of wake him up. So it is unclear what may occur if Miquella ever awakens and ascends to godhood; not even Sir Gideon Ofnir is conscious of what that will imply. The truth is, Sir Gideon offhandedly considers destroying the cocoon and Miquella inside it to forestall that from taking place. Even after you kill Mohg and declare his Nice Rune, Miquella stays within the Mohgwyn Mausoleum, and we do not know what may occur with him.

Felling Mohg marks the destruction of the ultimate demigod, and the chance to assert the final of the Nice Runes from the Shardbearers. That marks the top of all of the demigods, save Miquella, who slumbers in his cocoon, and Ranni, who, as Sir Gideon says, “solid apart her Nice Rune,” and thus is not certainly one of your targets. There’s one last item to assert: Destined Dying. It waits for you in Crumbling Farum Azula, the ultimate merchandise earlier than you may return to Leyndell and restore the Elden Ring.