After making your approach 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 in the event you enterprise into these depths, you will 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 really fairly vital to the occasions you see on the earth above. Not solely is the final Shardbearer hidden right here, however we study some issues in regards to the previous of the Lands Between, and what impacts the occasions of the sport’s historical past, just like the Night time of Black Knives, have had on the world ever since.

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

Spoilers comply with, in fact, as we uncover the tales hidden beneath your toes as you enterprise by means of Elden RIng.

Extra Elden Ring story explainers

Elden Ring Story Information: The Lore and Historical past of The Lands BetweenWhat Occurs in Elden Ring? The Recreation’s Story, Half 1: LimgraveWhat Occurs in Elden Ring? The Recreation’s Story, Half 2: Liurnia Of The LakesWhat Occurs in Elden Ring? The Recreation’s Story, Half 3: CaelidWhat Occurs in Elden Ring? The Recreation’s Story, Half 4: Mt. Gelmir and Volcano ManorWhat occurs in Elden Ring? The Recreation’s Story, Half 5: Leyndell, Royal CapitalWhat Occurs in Elden Ring? The Recreation’s Story, Half 6: Mountaintops of the GiantsWhat Occurs in Elden Ring? The Recreation’s Story, Half 7: Fort Sol and the Consecrated SnowfieldWhat Occurs in Elden Ring? The Recreation’s Story, Half 8: Miquella’s HaligtreeThe Frenzied Flame and the Recreation’s Bleakest Ending, ExplainedThe world underground

When you did a whole lot of exploring in Limgrave, you probably came across the Siofra Properly, 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 have been constructed there: Nokron, Nokstella, and a metropolis that’s anonymous.

As with a whole lot of areas in Elden Ring, the high quality particulars about what is going on on with the underground lands aren’t at all times clear. The open areas themselves are populated by the spirits of Ancestor Followers, that are huge, humanoid of us who put on horn headbands. Not like the general public you encounter within the sport, 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 perhaps a extra historical individuals 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 loss of life, which sounds fairly far at-odds with the Golden Order model of the world, through which Destined Loss of life is locked away.

The world beneath the Lands Between suggests a special algorithm from the Golden Order, a method life and loss of life labored earlier than the Erdtree.

Linked to those areas is the Lake of Rot, a spot the place you will 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 Appeal 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 would possibly nicely be the situation the place the Outer God answerable for Scarlet Rot is trapped, though exploring the realm, you may’t discover out a lot about it (or do something about it).

The cities you discover underground, nevertheless, usually are not these created by the Ancestral Followers, who “eschew letters and metalwork.” These had been created by the Nox, a gaggle of people who as soon as went up in opposition to the Higher 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 sport; the truth is, the way in which to Nokron solely opens as soon as you’ve got defeated Radahn and launched the celebs, inflicting a meteorite to fall into Limgrave and open the trail under floor. We all know essentially the most in regards to the story surrounding Nokron, though precisely the place it matches 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 houses to some individuals, however the two places have seen important calamity. From the armor of the Nox enemies, we study that the Nox individuals angered the Higher Will indirectly lengthy previously, and for that, the 2 cities had been forged underground. What the Nox did, how precisely their cities had been buried, and the way the Higher Will was capable of enact that punishment is not precisely clear. It is also not clear whether or not the cities had been forged down earlier than or after the individuals of Nokron tried to struggle and destroy the Higher Will.

Nokron and Nokstella are largely intact underground, however are reduce off from the cosmos due to their treachery in opposition to the Higher Will.

There’s quite a bit happening with the Everlasting Cities, nevertheless it’s a little bit bit combined up and difficult to untangle. In some unspecified time in the future previously, the cities had been above floor, and the Nox appeared to be carefully tied to the celebs. The places are an enormous a part of Ranni’s storyline, which can be all about destiny associated to stars and the cosmos. We are able to collect that the Nox hoped to throw off the management of the Higher Will, and had been additionally making an attempt to achieve the identical purpose as Ranni in some unspecified time in the future previously, enacting an Age of Stars to overhaul that of the Erdtree. The Higher Will intervened, nevertheless, 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 had been variations that had been able to mimicking different creatures and altering their kinds. If you struggle Mimic Tears within the Everlasting Cities, they typically turn out to be humanlike, and even mimic you at factors while you encounter them. The substance on the coronary heart of the Silver Tears is critical for Rennala’s entire bizarre rebirth factor along 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 in regards to the Silver Tears, nevertheless, is that they’ll turn out 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 may need summoned a meteor, bringing the fabric that created the Silver Tears to the lands between–and that motion may need had some seirous penalties. It sounds quite a bit just like the Nox had hoped to make use of their Mimic Tears to take over the function of Elden Lord, most likely as a method to bypass or usurp the Higher Will’s management of the Lands Between. We are able to guess that this may need been what made the Higher 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 had been an enormous a part of life for them, and so they had been now subjected to the “false night time” of their underground world. The timeline of this can be a little tough, nevertheless it looks like the rebuke by the Higher Will drove the Nox to search out one other approach to struggle again in opposition to the Higher Will. When you work by means of Ranni’s story, you will 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.

In keeping with objects you get from the creature, a dwelling star referred to as Astel was answerable for the destruction of the Everlasting Cities.

It appears the individuals of Nokron had been by no means fairly capable of execute this plan, nevertheless, and the creation of the Fingerslayer Blade was itself “excessive treason” in opposition to the Higher Will. As talked about, it isn’t solely clear what occurred when, though–the Nox’s try and create a lord Mimic Tear might have occurred similtaneously the creation of the Fingerslayer Blade, with each acts enraging the Higher Will, or it might simply be the blade itself that led to the Higher Will’s reprisal. And the final word destiny of Nokron, and whether or not it was additionally an act of the Higher Will, is not precisely clear, both.

If you discover Nokron, your time within the place ends with a struggle in opposition to 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 like different creatures you’ve got 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 break made manifest,” which means that the lack of the sky and stars had been the downfall of Nokron. From that, we’re left to marvel if Astel was despatched to the Everlasting Metropolis by the Higher 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 individuals of the floor have tried to search out and discover the Everlasting Cities, it appears; within the Siofra Aqueduct and Nokstella, as an illustration, 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 had been slaves despatched under to discover the Everlasting Cities, however they ran out of provides, ultimately 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 DeathGodwyn’s assassination modified the whole lot within the Lands Between.

The pathway by means of 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 way under the Erdtree, the place you’ll find a lot of its roots. You will rapidly 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 a substitute, they’re black and liquid, stricken by one thing else: loss of life itself.

When you make your approach to the highest of the Deeproot Depths, you will 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 means of a number of completely different sidequests, is that that is the physique of Godwyn the Golden–now deformed and unusual, like some type of Eldritch terror. What stays of Godwyn is the Prince of Loss of life, the supply of Deathroot and These Who Reside in Loss of life.

The story of Godwyn is a bizarre one, and it has had a significant affect on the Lands Between. We have talked about it a number of instances earlier than, however here is a fast rundown. Earlier than the Shattering, a gaggle of assassins, the Black Knives, managed to steal a bit of the Loss of life Rune (which additionally goes by the identify Destined Loss of life), which Marika had faraway from the Elden Ring, altering the way in which loss of life labored within the Lands Between and making a type 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 had been killed, their souls would return to the Erdtree to stay on. Destined Loss of life was the pure method of the world and labored otherwise. It was indiscriminate, visiting common individuals, demigods, and even gods, and our bodies in addition to souls might die, ceasing to exist.

So with Destined Loss of life faraway from the Elden Ring, no demigods had ever died in historical past. That modified on the Night time 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 loss of life.

Godwyn’s twisted, mutated physique has turn out to be one thing wholly new, and appears to contaminate the Lands Between, rising new items and copies of him in every single place.

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 vegetation in varied locations all through the Lands Between, and there is even a complete second Godwyn face situated far under Stormveil Fort. 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 quite a bit about who the Black Knives had been and are. We do not know all of the ins and outs of precisely why they did what they did, though there are a whole lot of theories. We do discover out in the course of 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 Higher Will and the Two Fingers. The assassination of Godwyn appears to have really been a step essential to get Ranni away from her Two Fingers. Destined Loss of life kills each physique and soul, however the Black Knives had 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 in the course of the sport, and that appears to have gotten her out from beneath the Higher Will’s affect.

As for the Black Knives, there are a whole lot of tidbits associated to who they’re and why they may have helped Ranni. They’re described within the lore as a individuals referred to as the Numen, of which Marika was one–and the truth is, the Black Knives lore tells us the assassins, all ladies, had been carefully tied with Marika herself.

You’ll be able to really select to be a Numen initially of the sport, while 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 in the event you discuss to Rogier, a personality you meet at Stormveil Fort, you may study extra in regards to the assassins as he investigates what occurred to Godwyn. Rogier tells you that it was stated the ladies had been “scions of the Everlasting Metropolis.” If that is the case, then Godwyn’s assassination may very well be an extension of the conflict between the Everlasting Cities and the Higher Will. YouTuber Bandit has an important video delving into the Black Knives and the reference to Marika, the Everlasting Cities, and Ranni–who Rogier tells us was really behind the assassination itself. Ranni’s entire story is deserving of its personal rationalization, so we’ll skip it for now.

Searching These Who Reside in Loss of life

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 little one, Marika ultimately would shatter the Elden Ring, though there appears to be a little bit extra to it than that. Nonetheless, Godwyn’s loss of life positively was the catalyst that might ultimately 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 Reside in Loss of life and destroy them, seeing their impure existence as a defilement of the Erdtree.

That brings us again to Gurranq, the Beast Clergyman. You may need present in him in Caelid; in the event you work together with a personality named D in Limgrave and assist him slay a few of These Who Reside in Loss of life, he’ll ship you Gurranq’s approach to enlist your assist in combating the undead. These Who Reside in Loss of life are created, apparently, by coming into contact with Deathroot, and though D believes them to be evil individuals whose souls refuse to return to the Erdtree, Rogier discovers the truth–people turn out to be undead by means of 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 obligation to destroy Deathroot and These Who Reside in Loss of life in an try and stomp out the corruption created by Godwyn. There is a purpose for that, which we’ll discover in better element in Crumbling Farum Azula.

These Who Reside in Loss of life do not select to be that method, it appears, and there are those that hope to guard the undead. When you work your method by means of the hunt of Fia, the Deathbed Companion, you will study that she’s considered one of these individuals, hoping to cease the persecution of These Who Reside in Loss of life. You’ll be able to select which aspect of the state of affairs to be on, nevertheless it’s not clear what penalties there is perhaps of serving to the undead, or what the continued corruption of the Prince of Loss of life would possibly do to the Lands Between and the Erdtree itself. Possibly that is one thing to be revisited in some future Elden Ring DLC, as a result of there’s completely extra happening with Godwyn than we’re conscious of. You’ll be able to even discover his mutant fish face on the backside of Stormveil Fort, as if it has been drawn there by means of the roots of the Erdtree–and that positively would not appear good.

The Lord of BloodIn the Mohgwyn Mausoleum, you will discover out what occurred to Miquella.

We briefly talked about Mohg, Lord of Blood in the course of the Haligtree portion of the story. When you make your method by means of the teleporter within the Consecrated Snowfields, you will 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 method by means of right here, going through corrupted crimson Albinaurics, festering creatures, cursed corpses of followers, and Mohg’s noble disciples. Enter the mausoleum on the middle of the realm, and you’ll 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 in regards to the Lord of Blood in a little bit of a roundabout method. White Masks Varre, one of many very first characters you work together with within the sport, will ultimately lead you to becoming a member of the followers of Mohg. Varre’s gear tells you that he was as soon as a conflict surgeon in the course of 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 little one of Marika and Godfrey, and was saved 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. In some unspecified time in the future, 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 means of blood and wounds and it looks like, for the primary time, Mohg noticed his Omen type as one thing optimistic, fairly than a curse. If you struggle 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, nevertheless, 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 conflict 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 method out of the sewers and slipped into the situation the place you discover him underground, biding his time and rising his energy from there.

Mohg provides his allegiance to the Formless Mom, gaining quite a lot of energy from drawing on the blood of the Outer God.

Varre offers 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 in regards to the Roundtable Maintain and offer you details about the Steerage of Grace, however ultimately 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 special path, ultimately enlisting you in Mohg’s service. There’s additionally a concept that the lifeless Finger Maiden you discover early within the sport 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, can 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 Higher Will, or, maybe extra probably, to subtly information you towards becoming a member of up with Mohg.

Throughout the Haligtree portion of this sequence, we talked about how Mohg kidnapped Miquella from his place throughout the Erdtree, however we did not talk about why. If you lastly meet Mohg in his Mausoleum, you study what he needed: to turn out to be Miquella’s consort. Miquella is an Empyrean, and as such, he can turn out 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 purpose is not to turn out to be a god himself–he cannot pull that off–but to make use of Miquella to realize the function of Elden Lord and rule the Lands Between that method. He needs to ascertain 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 Higher Will.

Recall from our dialogue of Miquella his capacity to bewitch individuals, to drive them to like him and, in that method, 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 would possibly occur if Miquella ever awakens and ascends to godhood; not even Sir Gideon Ofnir is conscious of what that might imply. In truth, Sir Gideon offhandedly considers destroying the cocoon and Miquella inside it to forestall that from occurring. Even after you kill Mohg and declare his Nice Rune, Miquella stays within the Mohgwyn Mausoleum, and we do not know what would possibly 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 tip of all of the demigods, save Miquella, who slumbers in his cocoon, and Ranni, who, as Sir Gideon says, “forged apart her Nice Rune,” and thus is not considered one of your targets. There’s one very last thing to assert: Destined Loss of life. It waits for you in Crumbling Farum Azula, the ultimate merchandise earlier than you may return to Leyndell and restore the Elden Ring.

The merchandise mentioned right here had been independently chosen by our editors.
GameSpot could get a share of the income in the event you purchase something featured on our website.