Shard leaves Stormveil behind and enters the mist-covered lands of Liurnia, where sunken ruins, wandering scholars, and forgotten roads lead toward Raya Lucaria Academy.
Her journey begins with an encounter that proves far more stubborn than expected. A Runebear guarding little more than a handful of Silver Fireflies turns into a long and exhausting struggle. Sleep, steel, repeated deaths, and wounded pride eventually bring the beast down, though the reward hardly justifies the effort. It is an early reminder that Liurnia does not measure danger by value.
Further north, Shard discovers the Church of Vows, where sorcery and faith once stood beneath the same roof. Miriel offers history, spells, and the quiet wisdom of someone who has watched great promises fail. From there, the road leads through crystal fields, flooded settlements, Albinauric camps, wandering caravans, and the broken remains of Carian rule.
As always, Shard rarely fights alone. Soldiers, mages, knights, dogs, jars, corpses, and even Academy scholars are persuaded to reconsider their loyalties. Some prove useful. Others remain confused, unreliable, or unexpectedly dangerous. The difference is not always clear until it is too late.
With the Academy Glintstone Key stolen from beneath a dragon, Shard finally enters Raya Lucaria. Its halls are filled with hidden walls, forbidden sorceries, stone crowns, mechanical guardians, and scholars more interested in defending knowledge than sharing it. She finds Comet, Shattering Crystal, Azur’s staff, and several relics of Carian authority, though most remain beyond her current intelligence.
The Red Wolf of Radagon, Moongrum, and the Academy’s many traps test her patience repeatedly. Thousands of runes are lost through carelessness, pride, and one poorly timed return. Yet each failure forces another adjustment.
At the heart of the Academy waits Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon. Even her sweetings can be charmed, turning the first phase into a strange rebellion beneath their mother’s protection. Beyond that sanctuary, Ranni’s illusion restores Rennala to her former majesty, surrounded by moonlight, summoned spirits, and the memory of power.
The battle becomes a long contest of endurance. Shard falls again and again, learns little by little, and returns each time with less elegance but greater resolve. Eventually, Rennala falls.
Raya Lucaria is conquered, though many of its greatest spells remain beyond Shard’s reach. With new intelligence, new relics, and another road opening to the north, her education has only begun.
✨ Join Shard as she wanders the Lands Between in search of crystals, starlight, and forgotten mysteries: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQRPy70pDgKUIRbSikcnyDq-duXxLTmhh
#EldenRing #RayaLucaria #Rennala #CrystalMage #Exploration #Narrator
Chapters:
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00:00:00 Entering Liurnia
00:04:47 The Runebear
00:18:34 Church of Vows
00:31:39 Stealing the Glintstone Key
00:49:16 Entering Raya Lucaria
01:11:04 Red Wolf of Radagon
01:33:21 Moongrum, Carian Knight
01:47:15 Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon
02:10:03 Rennala Falls
02:13:04 The Road North
Liurnia’s mist is honest in its way: it does not conceal so much as soften the edges of hunger. The Runebear’s lesson is an old one… how often the world demands a life’s worth of effort for a handful of dim light. Value here is not a measure, only a rumor; those silver fireflies gleam like coins on a closed gaze, payment not for triumph but for witness.
In the chapel where faith and sorcery once knelt together, even kindness speaks in the past tense. Beyond, scholars clutch knowledge like a starved organ and name the pain “protection,” while Shard drafts deserters from their ranks… loyalties made of fog, briefly solid, quickly wet and cold in the hand. The key taken from beneath a dragon is less theft than exhumation, pried from history’s sleeping jaw.
The wolf, the knight, the clever machines… each exacts tuition in runes, and the ledger is written on pride. Death comes as an editor, crossing out flourishes until only resolve remains. Rennala’s nursery hums with revolt, then the moon resumes its borrowed light, polished by illusion and memory. Victory tastes like chalk and comet dust, and the road north opens like a question that has learned your name.
The mist looked like sky soup, and that Runebear probably just hated silver fireflies tickling its nose. Best cure is a nap, a snack, and a polite shovel pat; also, keys usually grow under dragons, which is why dragons sneeze treasure.
The academy floors seemed slippery… unfair to fast wolves in socks… while the jars studied hard by keeping everything inside. Rennala’s moon looked like a big round shovel face, and falling a lot just means you’re digging in the right place.
Ah yes, Liurnia, where the economy runs on damp air and bad decisions. Watching Shard spend a small eternity wrestling a Runebear for the privilege of owning glow-in-the-dark bugs really set the tone: danger-to-reward ratio measured in comedy units. Miriel offering wisdom like a turtle-shaped therapist while Shard nods and pockets everything not bolted down was a lovely touch.
The “convince-everything-to-help” strategy remains delightfully chaotic. Dogs, jars, scholars… an adventuring party assembled by rummaging in the world’s junk drawer. Stealing the Academy key from beneath a dragon felt like Raya Lucaria’s admissions process: “Prove you’re worthy by doing something profoundly unwise.” Then it’s hall monitors (hi, Moongrum), hidden walls snickering, and a Red Wolf who thinks it’s grading on a curve. Thousands of runes donated to the Church of Hubris.
Rennala’s library revolt was a masterpiece… weaponizing sweetings like a student union strike. Phase two: moonlight, summons, and the bitter memory of GPA. Final result? Shard graduates with honors in Bruised Arrogance, a staff she can’t properly wield, and a transcript stamped “See me after class.” Northward, then… where the tuition is higher and the refunds are imaginary.