Picture this: it’s 2026, and somehow new Tarnished are still stumbling into the Lands Between, unaware that the blue-skinned, four-armed gal they met in a creepy church isn’t just a tutorial NPC. Her name is Renna—scratch that, she’s actually Ranni the Witch, a demigod sorceress who ditched her own flesh like a snake shedding skin, and she’s holding the key to one of the most brilliant endings FromSoftware has ever crafted. The so-called “Age of Stars” isn’t just a fancy title; it’s a cosmic elopement. If the Tarnished wants to ride off into the night with a doll-sized mastermind, this questline is the way.

First things first, forget everything Rogier said about courtesy—at least at first. The journey proper kicks off after besting Royal Knight Loretta in the spectral labyrinth of Caria Manor. Up in the Three Sisters area, atop Ranni’s Rise, the witch herself is lounging about as if waiting for a pizza delivery. If Rogier’s quest has been accepted, the poor sod will want a report on the cursemark, but until Radahn is dealt with, Ranni will keep blowing raspberries at the player. She doesn’t say it with a raspberry, but the dismissal stings all the same.

With Radahn’s festival crashed and the star-scourge himself put down, the cosmos literally cracks open. A giant crater scars eastern Limgrave, just west of Fort Haight. This is the Tarnished’s first-class ticket to the Eternal Cities. Down the rabbit hole they go, past an obnoxious Mimic Tear that copies their every move—talk about an identity crisis—and across a bridge. Hang a left, hug the wall like a lovestruck octopus, and eventually the Ancestral Woods Lost Grace comes into view. A series of roof jumps follows, and then a parade of mimics. Some are harmless scholars, others a giant troll that probably still haunts the dreams of unga-bunga builds. At the end of this gauntlet rests the Fingerslayer Blade, a relic so sharp it could sever destinies.

Now, the cute part: teleport back to Ranni, present the blade, and she’ll fork over the Carian Inverted Statue. This thing flips the Carian Study Hall on its head—literally. With the statue, the tower north of the Three Sisters opens its arms and a teleporter waits like a lazy butler. At the destination, just before the first Grace, a discarded doll lies in a coffin. Pick it up, sit at the Grace, and talk to it. Nothing. Talk again. Still nothing. Keep pestering the inanimate object until it finally cracks and whispers back. That’s right, the demigod has downgraded herself to a bath toy, and she’s a moody one at that.

Next, the Baleful Shadow. This invader is like an overzealous bodyguard who didn’t get the memo that Ranni wants out. The Tarnished must slice through Nokstella, cross a dam, and put the aggressive swordsman down. Once the dust settles, Ranni coughs up the Discarded Palace Key, and with a sigh of relief, everyone remembers a certain locked chest in the Grand Library of Raya Lucaria. Time to pay Rennala a visit—not for a rematch, just to rummage through her furniture. Inside the chest sits the Dark Moon Ring, a shimmering band that practically hums “Will you be my consort?”

Back to the depths below. The Lake of Rot is, as the name implies, an absolute cesspool. Wading through it, the Tarnished reaches the Grand Cloister and finds a suspiciously welcoming coffin. Into the coffin they go, emerging in a cosmic horror’s front yard. Astel, Naturalborn of the Void, is not in the mood for marriage counseling. After reducing the bug-eyed monstrosity to stardust, a path behind its arena leads to a sealed door. Here, the ring does its magic—literally—and a lift descends into a chapel. A glintstone dragon named Adula might throw a temper tantrum, but sneaking past or swatting it aside both work fine. To the right of the altar, a hole in the floor drops into a hidden cavern where Ranni’s true, charred body rests. Slip the ring onto her finger, and poof—she materializes, calls the Tarnished her lord, and hands over the Dark Moon Greatsword like a wedding gift.

At the game’s climax, when the fractured Erdtree begs for mending, the Tarnished gets a third option: summon Ranni. Cue the Age of Stars, a thousand-year voyage under the chill night sky, with a porcelain bride who finally gets the last laugh. It’s tens of hours of legwork, sure. But considering the average Tarnished has already died a hundred times to a lobster, this questline is practically a honeymoon.