Okay, so I decided to tackle Ranni’s whole quest thing. Heard it was long, involved, and got you some cool stuff. Figured, why not?
Starting Out
First off, I had to actually find her. Remembered that witch from the start of the game, Renna? Turns out that was her. Found my way to Ranni’s Rise in Liurnia, way up past Caria Manor. That place was a bit creepy, especially those hand spiders. Ugh.
Got to the top, talked to Ranni. She seemed kinda cold, but hey, magic doll lady, what do you expect? She asked if I wanted to serve her. Said yes, obviously, that’s why I was there.
Meeting the Crew and the First Task
Then she introduced me to her buddies via ghost-projections downstairs. There was this big smith giant Iji, a half-wolf dude Blaidd, and some sketchy sorcerer Seluvis. Ranni wanted me to find something called the hidden treasure of Nokron, the Eternal City. Okay, cool. Where’s Nokron?
Blaidd said he’d meet me down in Siofra River Well. So, off I went. Found the well entrance in the Mistwood. Siofra River was pretty, all starry ceiling and stuff. Found Blaidd hanging around near some cliffs. He had no clue how to get into Nokron either. He mentioned Seluvis might know something, and also suggested asking Sorceress Sellen.
The Radahn Detour
Went to see Seluvis first. That guy is just… off. Gave me some potion to give to Nepheli Loux. Didn’t like that, but he did point towards Sellen. Sellen told me Starscourge Radahn was holding back the stars, and beating him might open the way to Nokron. Right. Just gotta beat a demigod holding back destiny. No biggie.
So, the next big step was heading to Redmane Castle in Caelid for the festival to fight Radahn. That fight was chaos. Summoning all those NPCs was the only way I managed. Big dude on a tiny horse, crashing down like a meteor. Took a bunch of tries, but eventually, he went down.
Nokron and the Blade
After Radahn croaked, a star actually fell from the sky, punching a hole near Fort Haight in Limgrave. Cool. Climbed down into that crater, and bam, Nokron, Eternal City. Explored around, fought some mimics, got the Mimic Tear Ash (super useful!). Finally found the prize: the Fingerslayer Blade in a chest under a giant skeleton statue.
Took the blade back to Ranni. She was pleased. Gave me the Carian Inverted Statue. Said our paths were parting for now. Hmm, okay.
Towers and Dolls
Remembered Iji mentioning something about the statue. Took it to the Carian Study Hall. Placed it on the pedestal, and the whole place flipped upside down. Weird. Fought my way through, got past that annoying sorcerer Preceptor Miriam (again!), and reached the Divine Tower of Liurnia. At the top, found a corpse holding the Cursemark of Death. Looked important.
Next, went back to Ranni’s Rise. She was gone. But there was a new grace site and a waygate at Renna’s Rise, the tower next door that was previously sealed. Used the waygate, ended up in Ainsel River Main. Found a Miniature Ranni doll nearby. Picked it up. Rested at the site of grace, and saw an option to talk to the doll. Did that a few times. At first, silence. Kept trying. Eventually, she spoke! Told me to take out something called a Baleful Shadow.
Shadows and Rot
Pushed through Ainsel River. Lots of ants. Found the Baleful Shadow, looked like Blaidd but all red and angry. Tough fight, but managed it. After beating him, Ranni (through the doll) thanked me and gave me the Discarded Palace Key.
Remembered that locked chest in Rennala’s room at the Raya Lucaria Grand Library. Went back there, used the key. Inside was the Dark Moon Ring. Looked like an engagement ring, kinda.
The doll mentioned heading past the shadow, towards the Lake of Rot. Okay. Found the entrance after the Nokstella Waterfall Basin. The Lake of Rot sucks. Just constant Scarlet Rot buildup. Had to dash between platforms, chugging boluses. Made it across eventually, found a Grand Cloister.
Stars and Vows
Down in the cloister, hopped into a coffin (because why not at this point?). It took me down a waterfall. Landed right in front of a boss fog. Inside was Astel, Naturalborn of the Void. Big freaky space scorpion thing. Lots of lasers and grabs. Took a while, but beat it.
Past Astel was an elevator going way, way up. Came out onto the Moonlight Altar plateau back in Liurnia, high above everything. It was pretty dark and atmospheric up there. Headed towards the big cathedral, the Cathedral of Manus Celes.
Inside, found a hole in the floor. Dropped down. Saw Blaidd arguing with Iji earlier (well, Iji told me about it). Sadly, found Blaidd outside Ranni’s Rise later, had to put him down. And Iji… found him dead at his anvil too. Rough. Seluvis was also found dead in his tower, looking like one of his puppets. Guess Ranni cleaned house.
Anyway, down the hole in the cathedral, I found Ranni’s actual body, looking kinda blue and doll-like still. Put the Dark Moon Ring on her finger. She woke up, said some stuff about her Age of Stars, called me her consort, and then vanished, leaving behind the Dark Moon Greatsword!
So yeah, that was the quest. Long, twisty, sent me all over the place, fought some crazy bosses. But hey, got one of the coolest swords in the game and potentially a new ending lined up. Worth it. Mostly.
