Ranni’s Questline
Ranni’s questline is the longest and most loved side story in Elden Ring. You join the service of a secretive Carian princess who has thrown away her own body to escape the fate the gods planned for her. Her trail leads you from a quiet church in Limgrave to the starless underground of Nokron and the Ainsel River, and finally to the Moonlight Altar high above Liurnia.
Finish it and you unlock the Age of the Stars ending, plus one of the best magic swords in the game. It is a long road, but nothing on it is truly missable as long as you avoid one particular potion.
Rewards
While you are at the Divine Tower of Liurnia, look at the body slumped at the top: it is Ranni’s own, and it carries the Stargazer Heirloom.
Walkthrough
- Meet Renna at the Church of Elleh (optional). Once Melina has given you the Spectral Steed Whistle and you have ridden Torrent at least once, rest at a Site of Grace and travel to the Church of Elleh at night. A woman calling herself Renna sits on the broken wall. Talk to her until she runs out of words and she hands you the Spirit Calling Bell and the Lone Wolf Ashes. Miss her and you can buy both later from the Twin Maiden Husks.
- Fight through Caria Manor. In northwestern Liurnia, work your way through Caria Manor and beat the spirit of Royal Knight Loretta at the top. The path behind her leads to the Three Sisters.
- Swear yourself to Ranni. Climb Ranni’s Rise and talk to her. Agree to serve her, then go back downstairs and speak to the projections of Iji, Blaidd and Seluvis. Return to Ranni once more. After that she falls asleep and stays silent until you make progress.
- Make the stars move again. Defeat Starscourge Radahn on the Wailing Dunes in Caelid. His fall frees the stars, and a falling star tears a crater open in eastern Limgrave.
- Find the Fingerslayer Blade in Nokron. Drop into the new crater to reach Nokron, Eternal City. The Fingerslayer Blade waits in a chest northeast of the Night’s Sacred Ground Site of Grace.
- Bring the blade to Ranni. Give it to her at Ranni’s Rise. In return she hands you the Carian Inverted Statue and leaves the tower. The statue is not needed for Ranni’s own story, but Fia‘s questline needs it to reach the Divine Tower of Liurnia through the Carian Study Hall.
- Take the Sending Gate at Renna’s Rise. Once Ranni has left, the seal on Renna’s Rise lifts. Climb to the top and step into the Sending Gate, which drops you deep underground on the Ainsel River.
- Pick up Miniature Ranni. Right next to where you land lies the Miniature Ranni. Rest at the Ainsel River Main Site of Grace and choose to talk to the doll three times until Ranni answers through it. She speaks again at a couple of later graces in Nokstella, but those talks are optional.
- Defeat the Baleful Shadow. Push through Nokstella, Eternal City. Just past the Nokstella Waterfall Basin grace, a shadowy invader attacks you. Beat it and Ranni gives you the Discarded Palace Key.
- Open the chest in Raya Lucaria. Defeat Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon in the Grand Library of the Academy of Raya Lucaria if you have not already. Use the key on the chest behind her to take the Dark Moon Ring.
- Cross the Lake of Rot. Back underground, make your way across the Lake of Rot to the Grand Cloister and ride the coffin down to Astel, Naturalborn of the Void. After the fight, take the lift up. It only works once you carry the Dark Moon Ring.
- Reach the Moonlight Altar. The lift brings you up to the Moonlight Altar. Head to the Cathedral of Manus Celes and take the tunnel near the altar down into the earth. Ranni sits there, on the body of her Two Fingers. Give her the ring, watch the scene, then talk to her again. She leaves you the Dark Moon Greatsword.
- Choose the Age of the Stars. After you defeat the Elden Beast at the very end of the game, a blue summon sign appears beside the Fractured Marika Site of Grace. Use it to call Ranni and choose her ending.
Missable steps & failure conditions
- Do not give Ranni the Amber Draught. Seluvis asks you to slip it to her while she sleeps. If you do, she wakes, scolds you and sends you away, and her story stops moving. Keep talking to her and she kills you. You can undo it by using Celestial Dew to seek absolution at the Church of Vows.
- Attacking Ranni does not kill her. She simply disappears, and the same absolution at the Church of Vows brings her back.
- The Three Fingers. If you meet the Three Fingers beneath Leyndell, Ranni’s summon sign will not appear at the end. To fix it, defeat both Malenia and Dragonlord Placidusax, then use Miquella’s Needle in Placidusax’s arena in Crumbling Farum Azula.
Endings & consequences
- Seluvis and Pidia. When Ranni leaves her tower with the Fingerslayer Blade, or if you give her the Amber Draught, Preceptor Seluvis turns into a lifeless puppet and Pidia dies at the hands of his own puppets. Finish anything you want from their stories before you hand over the blade.
- Blaidd. After you give Ranni the Dark Moon Ring, her loyal half-wolf Blaidd turns hostile at Ranni’s Rise, surrounded by dead Black Knife Assassins. Defeating him gives you his armour and the Royal Greatsword. You can tell Iji about his fate at the Kingsrealm Ruins afterwards.
- Fia. The Carian Inverted Statue from this quest opens the way to the Cursemark of Death that Fia needs, so the two stories run side by side.