The Shattering Explained - What really caused the war of the demigods?
Long before the Tarnished set foot upon the Lands Between... there was harmony beneath the Erdtree's golden boughs. But one night changed everything. A single act of betrayal--of god-slaying ambition--shattered the world.
Opening
Welcome, lore-lovers. I am Liandrug, and today we delve into the story of The Shattering, from Elden Ring, the night blades danced in shadow, demigods turned on kin, and war tore the realm apart. Let us trace the downfall of an age... and the beginning of a broken one.
The Chronicle
In the golden light of the Erdtree's reign, when the Lands Between basked in the Order's brilliance, a shadow took root. Lunar Princess Ranni, disillusioned with the Greater Will, stole a fragment of the Rune of Death. With it, she forged black knives, god-slaying blades meant to sunder immortality itself.
On a night that would echo through the ages, cloaked assassins--silent, ruthless--slipped into Leyndell. Their target was none other than Godwyn the Golden, son of Marika and the living symbol of the Golden Order. He died not in body, but in soul, his spiritual death a blasphemy unlike any before. His lifeless shell, buried beneath the Erdtree, began to fester, birthing the cursed Deathroot and spawning those who would come to be known as the Undead.
As Godwyn's soul faded, Ranni performed her own act of defiance. She shed her mortal flesh, her spirit freed from the gods' chains. The Cursemark of Death split in two--one half bound to a rotting god, the other to a fallen princess.
In those final moments before the knives were drawn, Ranni met with her brother, Praetor Rykard. She entrusted him with a slab etched with remnants of Death itself--should Maliketh, the Black Blade, ever stand in his way.
Godwyn's unnatural demise shattered more than a soul. It broke the world. Queen Marika, enraged and grieving, struck the Elden Ring with her hammer. The divine order fractured, and in its place chaos bloomed. Her other half, Radagon, tried desperately to mend what had been broken, but the Ring remained splintered. For her rebellion, Marika--along with Radagon--was sealed within the Erdtree's heart, imprisoned by the very Order she once upheld.
And so came the Shattering: war among gods, demigods, and mortals alike. The Great Runes, fragments of the Elden Ring, were claimed by Marika's scattered children, each consumed by the power they held. Their squabbles would reshape the Lands Between into a graveyard of ambition and blood.
Morgott, the graceless Omen son of Marika, stood guard over Leyndell. Known as the Veiled Monarch and masquerading as Margit, he slaughtered all who sought the throne. His Great Rune, known as the anchor ring, tethered him to the Golden Lineage he was born to protect.
Rykard, once a noble Praetor, fed himself to a blasphemous serpent, becoming the Lord of Blasphemy. His manor atop Mt. Gelmir welcomed only heretics and recusants, waging a war against the Erdtree's will.
Godrick, a coward of diluted blood, fled the capital under disguise and hid in Stormveil Castle. Rejected and humiliated, he took to grafting limbs from the fallen, building his grotesque strength piece by piece, dreaming of reclaiming the throne he was never fit to hold.
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General Radahn, mightiest of Marika's sons and master of gravitational magic, led the Redmane Knights. He clashed with Malenia, Blade of Miquella, in the poisoned fields of Caelid. Their battle--epic and ruinous--ended in calamity when Malenia unleashed her Scarlet Rot. Radahn was driven mad, left to wander the battlefield as a ravenous beast. Malenia, comatose, was rescued by her loyal knight and taken back to her brother's Haligtree.
Elsewhere, Mohg, Lord of Blood, plotted in silence. In the depths of the earth, he stole away the slumbering Miquella from his Haligtree cocoon, hoping to awaken him as a god and claim him as consort. But Miquella remained silent, unyielding in his divine sleep.
Ranni, the puppetmaster of the night's betrayal, discarded her Great Rune. She vanished from the world's affairs, a spectral presence watching as her plans unfolded.
The Shattering was not a single war but a storm of sieges and betrayals. Leyndell, the capital, was besieged twice. In the first defense, Godefroy the Grafted was captured. The second defense saw Morgott face Radahn himself. Though Radahn survived, his forces failed to breach the capital.
On Mt. Gelmir, the Assault on Volcano Manor spiraled into madness. Frenzy consumed the attackers, who resorted to cannibalism. Even Rykard's own men abandoned him, unable to stomach the grotesque depths of his blasphemy.
Godrick, in a brief and humiliating encounter, dared insult Malenia. She crushed him without mercy. He groveled. She spared him--and moved on toward Radahn.
Their clash in Aeonia was legendary. Redmane Knights met Cleanrot steel in the swamps. Malenia's rot infected the land, and Radahn, once the Scourge of the Stars, became a shell of himself. The battlefield was left a festering scar, and neither warrior claimed victory.
In the end, none of the demigods claimed the title of Elden Lord. The Greater Will turned its back on its broken children. The divine light, once reserved for the gods, now shone upon the Tarnished--banished souls called back to the Lands Between.
Guided by Grace, they would challenge the Shardbearers, collect the Great Runes, and attempt to mend the world the gods had shattered.
Closing Words
And so, the pieces of the Elden Ring scattered across the land, each guarded by gods, monsters... and the madness of ambition. If this tale stirred something within you, lore-lover, leave a like, share it with your fellow Tarnished, and subscribe to Liandrug for more journeys into shadowed histories. And if you hunger for more discussion, more theories, and a cozy sanctuary for storytellers and seekers--join our Discord. Let's build a realm of lore-lovers, together.
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