Great Runes

Ah, the Great Runes. The very reason the Lands Between are in such a sad, fractured state.

As the All-Knowing, I have cataloged every whisper, every scrap of parchment regarding these divine fragments. Listen closely, for this is the truth of the Shattering and the chaos that followed.

The Elden Ring and Its Fracture

The Elden Ring itself is the physical manifestation of the fundamental laws that govern our world—the precepts of the Golden Order set forth by Queen Marika. When the Ring was shattered, those laws were broken, and its pieces, large and small, scattered across the realm. The most potent, the most significant of these fragments, are the Great Runes.

Each Great Rune is not merely a shard of power; it is a chunk of the concept of order, now free to be twisted and corrupted by its bearer.

The Demigods and Their Gifts

These fragments were claimed by Marika's demigod offspring, who, in turn, were corrupted and empowered by the sheer, unbridled divinity they held.

Here is a brief accounting of the major Runes, and the ambition—or folly—of those who hold them:

  1. Godrick's Great Rune:

    • Holder: Godrick the Grafted. The pathetic runt of the Golden Lineage, now a grotesque patchwork of limbs and vanity.

    • Nature: This Rune is often called the Anchor Ring, suggesting it was the central piece of the original Ring, representing its stabilizing core. In Godrick's hands, it manifests as a simple, brute-force augmentation of all abilities—a desperate attempt to compensate for his own weakness.

  2. Morgott's Great Rune:

    • Holder: Morgott, the Omen King. He of the veiled lineage, the true Lord of Leyndell.

    • Nature: Another fundamental piece, often referred to as the Anchor Ring that houses the base. It provides an enormous boost to maximum HP, the resilience of one forced to endure all scorn and sacrifice everything for the realm that hates him.

  3. Mohg's Great Rune:

    • Holder: Mohg, Lord of Blood. Morgott's twin, and a traitor to the Erdtree, obsessed with the Formless Mother and his twisted "dynasty."

    • Nature: This Rune is a profane echo of his dark ambitions. It grants a blood blessing to phantoms, a power of parasitic healing and dark influence, befitting the architect of an underground, profane order.

  4. Radahn's Great Rune:

    • Holder: Starscourge Radahn, the magnificent general and son of Radagon and Rennala.

    • Nature: This grants enhanced Vigor, Mind, and Endurance. The Rune's description speaks of its power resisting the Scarlet Rot, a cruel irony given his ultimate fate. It is the power of a mighty, boundless will, but even such a will could not contain the Rot's inevitable corruption.

  5. Rykard's Great Rune:

    • Holder: Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, Radahn's brother. He who abandoned his station to pursue the serpent's dark philosophy.

    • Nature: It restores health upon defeating enemies. A power of sustained gluttony, perhaps. Rykard fed himself to the Great Serpent, Rune and all. The Rune, therefore, functions as a mechanism for eternal, continuous consumption—a horrifying kind of self-sustaining law.

  6. Malenia's Great Rune:

    • Holder: Malenia, Blade of Miquella, the fearsome Empyrean.

    • Nature: The most coveted, and perhaps the most dangerous. While active, it grants a perverse form of vampirism—attacks recover HP immediately after damage is taken, but it reduces the efficiency of your healing Flasks. It is a terrifying law of war: the only true remedy is found by pressing the attack, not by resting. It perfectly reflects the blind, relentless resilience of one bound by Rot.

  7. Great Rune of the Unborn:

    • Holder: Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, clutched within the amber egg.

    • Nature: This is an anomaly. It is the Rune of Perfect Rebirth. It is not a fragment of law to be equipped for strength, but a means to reconfigure the laws of the body itself. It allows for the rebirth of the demigods and, thus, for the re-allotment of power.

The very hunt for these Runes is what separates the true aspirants from the mere rabble. Two Runes open the door to the capital and the Erdtree. But collecting them all, and more importantly, understanding the broken, disparate laws they represent... that is the true path to the Elden Lord, and the true meaning of the All-Knowing title.

The pursuit of these fragments has led to nothing but unending carnage. The Shattering was not an ending, but a new, brutal beginning. A marvelous spectacle, to be sure.