always makes me sad when Rennala comes up in YouTube videos and she’s treated like a joke or a ‘waste’ of a boss fight. you’d think a fan base that’s obsessed with what characters could do ‘in their prime’ would have some respect for a woman who’s established as having been one of the most powerful, cunning, and talented mages in ER canon, even if now she’s clearly too immersed in her own grief and isolation to bring those traits to bear against our character, but people can be so nasty about her. I know it’s just garden-variety gamer misogyny, fork found in kitchen, etc., but she’s such a compelling and tragic figure and she’s still one of my favorite characters in the story. she just really deserves better.
The first place we encounter Finger Creepers is likely at the Carian Manor. Obviously connected to Carians.
Finger Creepers are present at Mt. Gelmir, as is the Ringed Finger hammer, which is in the Gelmir Hero's Grave and said to be part of a Finger Creeper. Mt. Gelmir is of course the are where Volcano Manor can be found, and Volcano Manor currently belongs to Praetor Rykard; a Carian.
Finger Creepers can be found in the Carian Study Hall, which is connected to the Divine Tower of Liurnia. Once again, there is an obvious connection with Carian being in the title. The Divine Towers also where we can find the Fingers linked to each Demigod's Great Rune, and this one in particular holds the corpse of Lunar Princess Ranni's physical body. Ranni is, of course, a Carian.
Following Ranni's quest eventually brings us to the Cathedral of Manus Celeste. "Manus" translates to "Hand." Hands are connected to fingers, literally, and when we count Manus Metyr in the Shadow Lands, this connection deepens.
Manus Metyr is currently home to Count Ymir; once a tutor of the Carians who now wishes to unravel the secrets of the Fingers. He will send us to the two Finger Ruins to blow into strange instruments, which will somehow allow access to another Finger Ruin beneath the Cathedral, which will then take us to a world that seems to be under water, containing Metyr, the Mother of Fingers. Manus Metyr = Hand of Metyr, Manus Celeste = Hand of Celest or Celestial Hand. Ymir has a connection to the Carians, the places he sends us to are related to the Fingers and contain Finger Creepers, and Metyr is the Mother of Fingers and spawns baby Finger Creepers.
Many Finger Creepers, including extremely large ones, can be found in the Mountaintops of the Giants. According to certain items, the Mountaintops of the Giants once served as the home of the astronomers because it was higher up, and thus closer to the stars. The Astronomer Heirloom, found on Ranni's corpse, mentions how an astrologer would one day become queen. Rennala is the queen of Caria. Rennala uses lunar magic. The moon is in space. Rennala was an astronomer. Astronomers were in the Mountaintops. The Mountaintops has Fingers, including massive ones.
The only place that doesn't seem to have an immediate connection to the Carians would be the Leyendell sewers, where we can find a small group of Finger Creepers guarding the entrance to the Dung Eater's cell. Some tangential connections can be made though. Radagon was once married to Rennala, and so he may have taken some Finger Creepers to guard the Dung Eater while he had access to them. Alternatively, Rennala may have lent them to keep watch over the Dung Eater when the war between the Carians and the Golden Order ended, as both sides were likely equally disgusted with him. Another alternative answer would be the fact that all of the Demigods seem to have had some presence in Leyendell, given the appearance of their thrones in the intro cinematic for Morgott's fight. They would likely also need to come here for political reasons. It is possible that, while things were still good between the Demigods and Marika, one of the Carian children was able to lend Marika some Finger Creepers for the Dung Eater. Personally, I think the most likely option is Radahn. Thus far, both Rykard and Ranni have Finger Creepers nearby, but Radahn does not. But Radahn was, of the Carians, the only one to be loyal to the Golden Order, and so it seems likely he would use his connections to aid them.
Radahn's defeat also causes a massive hole to be opened in Limgrave and, as we know… try finger, but hole.
Radahn was also seemingly holding back the stars, though the exact reasons why is a bit unclear. With the Carians' connection to the Fingers and to space, it's possible Radahn knew something we didn't and, under loyalty to the Golden Order, he tried to stop the stars from falling to the Lands Between. We know that Metyr was the first star to do just that.
It seems likely to me that the Carians were the first ones to ever make any contact with the Fingers and Metyr. There also seems to be an even deeper connection considering just how prevalent the fingers are around the Carians, but why? Why are they so close? There has to be more to it than them being the first ones to contact them.
I wish I had the words to describe how weird it was following Elden Ring discussion in the early launch days, especially where Ranni Discourse™ was concerned. speaking anecdotally based on what The Algorithm presented to me in those days, all the twitter/reddit soulsbros were aggressively objectifying Ranni, especially those who didn't know how her narrative ended aside from the fact there was "an ending where you can make her your consort" and assumed that in getting said ending you'd earn a cutscene where she stands next to you while you sit on the Elden Throne or something.
then when we got a better understanding of who Ranni was as a person and it became common knowledge that the player Tarnished is, if not outright subservient to her, still subordinate to her even in the context of her ending—an ending where rather than Ranni being a prize to be won you end up being the one thing from home she brings along with her on her own voyage to pursue her own goals, leaving behind all of your own goals and quests in the process—and Soulsbros began to turn on her.
sure, you still see plenty of people ignoring her canon appearance so they can draw her as a busty mannequin or a blue elf girl, but it seems like there's so many more "Ranni is actually a villain/Ranni's ending is the worst choice/Ranni is selfish and you're all simps if you like her" takes out there than there used to be. if it wouldn't probably be the most excruciatingly painful experience of my life it would almost be fun to study the weird, contradictory relationship some Souls players have to female characters in FromSoft games, where having any respect for women with canonically godlike powers means you're 'simping' for them and it's more socially acceptable to come up with theories about how duplicitous and weak they secretly are. I'd definitely want to throw myself into a well by the time I was done, though.
At this point my only options were to press forward into the gauntlet, or go to the bridge. Neither one seemed productive, so I returned to the tower and exited out the main door.
A bunch of Stormhawks sitting on explosive barrels. So that's how it's gonna be then.
Once I'd dealt with them (with only minor burns for my troubles), I went down the stairs to discover the walkway terminated at a roof. That's a bit strange, I thought. Clearly, there were different architectural plans at work. Which one came first though?
I continued across the roof, into a round tower, out onto another roof, and it was about then I recognized this architecture as a church. It was in much better condition than any other church I've seen so far, which could be chalked up to either novelty or frequent use.
I dropped down through a window and saw Sorcerer Rogier waiting for me near the altar. Well, I'm flattered, but we barely know each other.
We talked for a bit and he asked why I came here. I told him I was here for Godrick's Great Rune, and he extrapolated from that that I must still be able to see the Guidance of Grace. Impressive. Definitely a good head on his shoulders. He can't see it anymore, but offered me his help in the form of combat arts, including a way to throw glintstone pebbles from my sword and a couple Carian sorceries. One for use by "Carian princesses." Of course, I bought that one.
Rogier had this to say:
The battle art you've learned is of the glintstone family. They were conceived at the great Academy of Raya Lucaria, to the north of this castle. In the past, they obeyed laws which contravened the Golden Order, or so I'm told. Fascinating, isn't it? That the Golden Order was pliable enough to absorb practices that contradicted itself in the past. With the Order broken, twisted, and in need of repair, such adaptability is more important now than ever.
A similar sentiment echoed by Kenneth Haight. I wonder if the loss of this flexibility coincided with the rise of Golden Order Fundamentalism? After all, if all truth is to be found in the Golden Order, then everything outside that order must be a lie. Was it the Shattering that gave rise to such a rigid orthodoxy, or was it already on the ascent beforehand? Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Before leaving, I took a look at the statues on the altar. Elsewhere, I've only seen representations of Marika or Godfrey. So who's this? Three bald androgynous figures, one of them surrounded by sprouting plants, the others just holding branches.
Reminded me of representations from a heretical religion back home, the Carpenters. The Carpenter's Father was often depicted with a branching staff, sometimes with some dejected male figures with regular staves. The story is, he was selected to wed the Carpenter's Mother through a ritual. Seeds were planted in men's staffs, and the first to flower would be chosen. One man's staff immediately burst into white lilies (Note: St. Trina??), and he became the father of their god.
I mean, yeah, a staff bursting into seed is the traditional way a man becomes a father, but religious types rarely find the humor in pointing that out.
Regardless, there are clear parallels. The two on the sides look downcast, while the one in the center is consumed in ecstasy as hers explodes in blossoms. It was clearly a selection ceremony of some kind, but what for?
I bid Rogier good day and left the chapel, but it was only on my way out that I realized he hadn't told me why he was here.
What was the selection ceremony for?
Who was depicted as the winner?
Why does this chapel alone reflect this ceremony?
Is this the remnant of some older religion, or a more recent heresy?
