Lunar Princess Ranni's History
Ranni is the daughter of Radagon and Queen Rennala, head of both the Carian Royal Family and the Academy of Raya Lucaria. She had two siblings, Radahn and Rykard.
Ranni was an Empyrean, meaning she had the potential to one day succeed the divine Queen Marika as ruler of the Lands Between.The Two Fingers chose her as a potential successor and granted her a Shadow by the name of Blaidd to be her vassal.He was approved of by Rennala, and was raised as her foster brother. Ranni grew up playing with Blaidd, and they were accompanied by Iji, a blacksmith who served the Carian royals.Led by the hand of her mother Rennala, young Ranni would encounter her Dark Moon. What she beheld was cold, dark and vailed in occult mystery. Deep in the woods, she would also encounter a snowy crone, known simply as the "Snow Witch", who would go on to become her secret mentor.She was an old witch well versed in cold-based sorceries, and she taught Ranni to fear the dark moon as she imparted her cold wisdom.At some point, Ranni's father would abandon her mother in order to marry Queen Marika and assume the title of second Elden Lord. Ranni and her siblings were thus raised to demigod status by their new stepmother.
The Night of Black Knives
Although the Two Fingers had chosen her as Marika's successor, Ranni did not wish to be a puppet for the Greater Will and resented her Empyrean fate, as she disagreed with the ways of the Golden Order. In order to escape it, Ranni stole a fragment of the Rune of Death from Maliketh, the Black Blade, and through fearsome rite, imbued it into the blades of Numen assassins close to Queen Marika herself. She also gave a fragment to her brother Rykard so he could kill Maliketh if necessary.[8] Ranni plotted for the assassins to kill another individual while she simultaneously killed herself, slaying her own body while the other person died in spirit, thus freeing herself from being an Empyrean.[9] In what would become known as the Night of Black Knives, the Numen assassins murdered Godwyn the Golden, killing him in spirit, while Ranni killed herself in body, transferring her spirit into a doll said to be carved in the image of her former master, the Snow Witch.[10] This marked the step-siblings as the first demigod casualties in history.[11]
The Shattering
At some point after the Night of Black Knives, Queen Marika shattered the Elden Ring. Ranni claimed a Great Rune, but appears to have discarded it[12] and largely remained outside of the conflict. As a consequence of her doll body, Ranni required extended periods of hibernation and withdrew from the world, hiding in the Carian Manor while her agents worked to bring about her plan of ridding the Lands Between of the influence of the Greater Will, allowing her to pursue her divine ascension on her own terms. Long after the Shattering, when the Tarnished return to the Lands Between, Ranni hears of a Tarnished champion hurtling about on a spectral steed gifted to hem by Melina. Ranni approaches them at a site of grace, asking if they indeed have the spectral steed. She'll then give the Tarnished the Spirit Calling Bell, noting Torrent's former master had entrusted her with giving it to the next owner.The Tarnished champion, for their own purposes, makes their way into the Carian Manor and comes face to face with Ranni once again. Ranni accepts the Tarnished into her service and bids them to find a way into Nokron, Eternal City, hoping to claim its treasure; a weapon with which she could kill the Two Fingers who had chosen her as an Empyrean. The champion manages find their way into Nokron and secures the city's treasure for Ranni, whereupon she departs to Nokstella. The champion finds her there and she compels the champion to rid her of the Shadows sent by the Two Fingers to kill her. With the last Shadow defeated, Ranni rewards her champion with the keys to a chest containing a ring intended to be bestowed to her future consort, and achieves her goal of slaying the Two Fingers.Should the Tarnished champion find the ring and give it to Ranni, she will take the champion as her new consort, and grant them a greatsword as a symbol of their union. She will reveal to them the full extent of her plan: to succeed Queen Marika as god and usher in her "Age of the Stars", removing herself far from the Lands Between to journey out into the cosmos, allowing its inhabitants to have free will over their own choices and live their lives without the interference of the Greater Will. After defeating the Elden Beast, the Tarnished is able to summon Ranni and usher in her age if they so choose.
