Elden Ring Story
The realm, once graced by the Ring and the Erdtree that symbolizes its presence, is now ruled by Queen Marika the Eternal's demigod offspring, each wielding a shard of the Ring that corrupts and taints them with power. Players take on the role of Tarnished, exiles from the Lands Between who lost the Ring's grace and are summoned back after the Shattering to find all the Great Runes, restore the Elden Ring, and become the Elden Lord.
Tension Grows
Many exiles have been summoned to the Lands Between in the hopes of repairing the Elden Ring and becoming the next Elden Lord. The Tarnished meet a young woman named Melina early on in their journey who offers to stand in as their maiden to assist them on their journey, on the condition that the Tarnished bring her to the Erdtree's base where she can fulfill her purpose. She also transports the Tarnished to the Roundtable Hold, where other Tarnished seeking to repair the Elden Ring congregate.
The Tarnished learn from their divine benefactor, the Two Fingers, that following the Shattering and Queen Marika's disappearance, her demigod children had taken the Great Runes, pieces of the Elden Ring, for themselves, and are now fighting each other to obtain the remaining Great Runes. Godrick the Grafted, General Radahn, Praetor Rykard, Morgott the Grace-Given, Malenia the Blade of Miquella, and Rennala of the Full Moon are the last known Great Rune holders.
The Tarnished then travels into the lands between, investigating its various locales and defeating each demigod one by one until the Two Fingers believes they have enough Great Runes to travel to the Erdtree and confront Morgott, the tree's final obstacle. After his defeat, Morgott claims that the Erdtree will not allow anyone to enter it before they die, especially a Tarnished. When the Tarnished approaches the Erdtree and encounters a wall of thorns, they confirm this.
Melina appears and suggests that they go in search of the Flame of Ruin, which they can use to light the Erdtree on fire and burn away the thorns. The Two Fingers withdraws from the mortal plane to consider its next move in light of the Tarnished's rejection from the Erdtree, leaving the Tarnished free to pursue Melina's plan or search for the imprisoned Three Fingers to gain the power of the Frenzied Flame.
Alternate Endings
If the Tarnished did not free the Three Fingers after obtaining the Flame of Ruin, Melina will take the flame and sacrifice herself to set the Erdtree on fire. If the Tarnished free the Three Fingers, Melina will abandon them, forcing them to set the Erdtree on fire with their own power. Regardless, the Tarnished travel to the Erdtree, where they face off against fellow Tarnished warrior Gideon Ofnir the All Knowing, as well as the First Elden Lord Godfrey, in order to gain access to the Erdtree's interior.
Inside, they battle the godlike Elden Beast and the reanimated remains of Queen Marika's consort, Radagon. The Tarnished finally gains access to Queen Marika's shattered corpse, which contains the remains of the Elden Ring, after defeating both foes.
Six different endings are possible depending on the Tarnished's actions throughout the game, ranging from the Tarnished becoming the Elden Lord in some form, allowing Ranni the Witch to usurp Marika, to using the Frenzied Flame to destroy the Erdtree and the Lands Between.