Reviewing Monsters: Elden Ring, Part 9

So yeah, I progressed a fair bit into the Raya Lucaria Academy at last, and... the place's a bit less of a maze than Stormveil Castle, I think, but that also means that a lot of the side-paths are not quite as obvious. I also have a bit more trouble with the enemies thanks to the magic resistance, though having since converted to a hybrid build does help to make me less dependent on the amount of FP potions I bring with me. 

After enough item drops and meeting the right NPCs, I've also slowly gotten a bit more clearer on what's going on in Raya Lucaria, and it's surprisingly a bit more human politics instead of a 'big angry evil demigod takes over a realm' the way Limgrave was set up. We'll probably discuss more about it when I reach the boss of Raya Lucaria, Renalla, but it is kind of interesting that we're basically combining 'court politics' plotline with a 'mages are mad scientists in fantasy' plotlines together. 

Again, as far as I get it, Liurnia of the Lakes is a location originally ruled by the Carian royal family -- whose sorcery-wielding knights was one of the few forces that provided a foe against the Golden Order (which is the 'royal family' of all the other demigods, plus the main religion of the setting) during their attempt to unify the Lands Between way before the Shattering. The head of the royal family, the mortal witch Rennala, led the Carian Knights and the Academy of Raya Lucaria and managed to hold her own against the Golden Order. At some point, one of the warriors of the Golden Order, Radagon (who was a demigod?) managed to broker a peace between the two kingdoms, and he eventually married Rennala. 

Peace reigned in the Lands Between... until at some point (which our friend the Turtle Pope noted was strange) Radagon ended up leaving Rennala, and became the second consort of Queen Marika, matriarch of the Golden Order. Thus Radagon became an (the?) Elden Lord, while Rennala was left to manage her heartbreak and her broken territory. With Radagon gone, the Academy revolted and this led to a civil war between the Carian Knights and the Academy -- the ghosts of whom still fight in some parts of Liurnia. 

And after the events of the Shattering, where some of Rennala's demigod children fought and killed each other and the realms crumbled, Rennala ended up being driven insane. Somehow, she was 'locked up' by the sorcerers of Academy of Raya Lucaria. She has Radagon's Elden Ring shard, however, which is why our Tarnished is off to fight her her. 

There are a fair bunch more details here and there, and I'm not the most well-versed in the longer lore, but finding Miriel the Turtle Pope Pastor of Vows did give me a much-needed info-dump about the region's main characters. 

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Fingercreeper

Fingercreepers are not found in Raya Lucaria Academy, but there's a bunch of them in the 'sister' dungeon, the Carian Manor... and what the fuck are these? I mean, giant hands have been enemies since The Legend of Zelda was a thing. And this is also a game where fingers and rings are a major theme, so I suppose a giant hand enemy was inevitable... 

I just didn't expect them to look so creepy! They move and scuttle like the most disturbing spiders out there, only unlike spiders you don't even see a head, just a mass of fleshy fingers moving and trying to flick or grab or claw at you. That's nasty in and of itself, and especially since the Fingercreepers consistently have more, much more than five fingers. They also range in size, with the weaker ones being a bit smaller than the dogs, and the regular ones being big enough to comfortably hold our Tarnished like a doll. 

In addition to essentially being this setting's equivalent to spiders, Fingercreepers also hunt like them, skulking and clinging onto the foggy ruins and trees like and honestly blending in rather well to the terrain despite being, y'know, big giant honking hands. They also hide underneath stuff, kind of like a trapdoor spider or something, before bursting out and surprising you with a grab attack. I'm not sure if there is a proper explanation to why these things exist beyond 'magic' and 'finger magic'. I'm also not sure if they're the remnants of the near-defeated Carian forces, or if they are the ones that wiped them out? 

Rather interestingly, some of them have a bunch of giant rings on the middlemost finger. The Fingercreepers with these rings can cast magic, which... fair enough. Except that they do this by raising up that finger. So in addition to being jumpscared and chased around by a giant disembodied giant hand of doom, it's also flipping you off as it shoots magic balls at you. What a dick! 

Lazuli Sorcerer

I talked about the Raya Lucarian Sorcerers before, and... after discovering some items, apparently the Academy's sorcerers are divided into three different 'Conspectuses', which are essentially like Harry Potter houses, but with giant statue-helms instead of coloured scarves. As enemies, the sorcerers from different Conspectuses are essentially the same, but there are some neat lore discussion in the item descriptions about where they draw their powers from. The moon, the stars, et cetera.

Far more interesting is that these Raya Lucarian 'Crowns' have rather interesting effects, where they increase the Intelligence stats of the user... at the cost of other different stats, like HP or Stamina, which is a very nice little gameplay-and-story integration and totally the kind of wacky shit that these crazy sorcerers would get up to. 

The Lazuli Sorcerer is a rather unique enemy that's a bit different from their regular comrades, with a notably different crown, white robes instead of blue, and they actually fight you with a sword and shield. They also fight us with sorceries associated with Carian Knights (which tend to be more about creating magic swrods and shields to fight with), which does make them feel like rather strange outcasts. They're actually described as 'heretics' by some item descriptions, though apparently not heretical enough not to be chased out of the Academy. 

I do like the idea and commitment into making them fit with the rest of the Raya Lucaria academy theme; it could've been so easy to import some random knights to serve as this area's hand-to-hand combatants, but having them be specialized mages is a cute little touch. 

Avionette Soldier
Oh, these are interesting! I technically met these guys a bit earlier, but they're a variation of the Marionette enemies we've met in earlier areas.  While the Marionettes in the academy are at this point not that troublesome to take down (it's only a problem if they ambush you by dropping down from ceilings), the Avionettes are a bit more troublesome because they can fly around and their weapons cause the Bleed effect. 

I love the whimsy of this thing's design, by the way, which isn't super evident when you're trying to roll around and dodge their wicked-long sickle-spears, by the way. They have these wacky Leonardo-da-Vinci drawing glider wings, but instead of sprouting out of their back like an angel or something, two of the Marionette's arms are actually holding on to the wings, flapping them vigorously while the other pair of arms hold the weaponry. 

In addition to the aforementioned spear-scythe things, Avionettes can also wield swords or throw firepots... but much more fun is that like the Marionette, they can malfunction if you damage them enough, causing them to spin around wildly. Which, just like the out-of-control Marionette, is also pretty devastating if you get caught up in the wild damage strikes. 

High Page

Speaking of non-mage enemies, there are some guys that aren't sorcerers, zombies, or magically-created creatures... like this High Page here. Pages in history are basically attendants to knights or nobles, essentially an internship before they become squires. This High Page enemy is a bit stronger than just a knight attendant, though, and actually stands guarding a corridor that leads to a nice item, making him almost a miniboss. A unique enemy at the very least... there are apparently regular Pages that are not high (hee hee) but due to how I'm playing this game and doing these reviews, I met this guy first.

He sure is a guy. He's got a multi-shot crossbow that shoots three arrows. Eh!

Crystal Crab

There are, for some reason, a lot of crabs in the main courtyard of Raya Lucaria, but hidden throughout the academy are these crystal-encrusted crabs. Or are those Glintstone? These crabs are special in that they are the only ones that will drop the Crowns of the different Raya Lucarian sorcerer conspectuses, since the regular sorcerers won't ever drop them. I'm not sure if there's any real significance to it, or if it's just a gameplay thing. Do the sorcerers use these crystal crabs to make the Crowns, or are these crabs cursed/transformed sorcerers? 

Abductor Virgin

I thought this guy was a mini-boss. She isn't! She respawns, and apparently there will be a lot more of her in a subsequent area. The Abductor Virgin (or Iron Virgin) has been showing up in loadscreens, so I know what it looks like before she shows up. But seeing this in motion is pretty damn cool. The idea here is not super-novel for a fantasy enemy... she's basically a more human-shaped version of a iron maiden torture device, because that 'skirt' opens up to reveal a whole mass of nasty stuff that will stab and pierce you if the Abductor Virgin traps you. 

But the Abductor Virgin also moves around on that little rolling ball -- surprisingly silently for something you'd think would clatter a lot. And she's got two giant guillotine pendulum swords on chains that she swings around like she's goddamn Ghost Rider or something. It's cool and terrifying at the same time. But maybe the thing that adds the most creepy factor isn't the over-the-top Berserk torture implements, but the fact that the 'face' of the Abductor Virgin is a serene porcelain sculpture of  maiden... with two hands sculpted cradling a baby. It's this juxtaposition of what is otherwise a calm (if melancholic) visage on the torso and head... and rusty pain-murder blades and chains below.  

The skirt part of the Abductor Virgin can open, unleashing a fog of red mists and tentacles that burst out to drag you in for a 'grab' attack. It's hard to see when you're frantically dodging around, but closer inspection on screenshots show that those tendrils are actually made up of snakes... specifically, three snakes coiling up into 'arms', and each snake head forms a 'finger'. The Abductor Virgin's main body is actually also wrapped up in snake sculptures. As if spikes aren't spooky enough! Incidentally, this open innards is the weak spot, so the most efficient way to fight these Abductor Virgins is to actually bait them into doing their most powerful attack, which might backfire spectacularly. 

Some Abductor Virgins, as their name implies, will actually teleport (or I guess transport) you to the Volcano Manor north of Liurnia if you are defeated by this grab attack. The reason for this will presumably be made a bit more clear once I explore the Volcano Manor, but I do know that the demigod there is snake-themed, and it's a nice little preview of the next area. 

I do like this, by the way, that some of the enemies are tied to certain 'factions' and are sending their troops to kind of prod into other territories. Like the Academy's Marionettes skulking around in Caelid and some parts of Limgrave; or the Abductor Virgins and Fire Monks coming down from the Volcano Manor down to Liurnia... only Godrick's goons, it seems, are too weak to really do anything.

Between the Abductor Virgin and the Fingercreepers, I think this review contains two of the more 'iconic' enemies I've seen so far. 

Red Wolf of Radagon

This guy is the first miniboss of the Academy of Raya Lucaria Academy, hanging out in the Grand Library at around the halfway point of the dungeon. It sure is a big, mangy red wolf... with the ability to cast spells. Which takes the form of glintstone swords shooting at you, but also -- in a sequence that reminds me of Zacian from Pokemon -- summon a giant red magic sword to attack you. From the name, the wolf probably belonged to Radagon, who is Rennala's ex. Not... not really a whole ton to say here, he sure is a big giant magic-slinging doggo! He's a good dog. Who's a good dog? Yes you are. 

The boss fight is rather annoying not because the Red Wolf is particularly hard. Yes, he hits hard and is likely to OHKO your character, but that's par the course for a dungeon miniboss. No, the most annoying thing is that I have to run through several corridors filled with sorcerers from the Site of Grace to reach the Red Wolf. 

(There is a thematic reason to this; normally you respawn at Sites of Grace or Marika Stakes, but since Marika kind of stole Rennala's husband, there are no Marika Stakes in the entirety of the Academy. It makes sense in a lore standpoint, but is very irritating in a gameplay standpoint). 

Moongrum, the Carian Knight

Another miniboss that rather oddly is placed right before Rennala, is the Carian Knight called Moongrum. He sure is a knight! I do like that he actually alternates between weapons, going from sword to staff and even is able to use a potion to heal himself back up. There is a hilarious way to cheese the fight by getting Moongrum to chase you to a Indiana Jones style rolling boulder trap (which I did to kill him, before being killed by the giant boulder myself). But other than that... he sure is a knight? He feels so mundane placed here in-between the magic wolf and the queen-witch sorceress. 

Juvenile Scholar

Ah, finally. The Juvenile Scholars aren't exactly actual enemies, but they are essentially the 'adds' in Rennala's first phase of boss fight, where you fight her in a central chamber. The Juvenile Scholars swarm around you while chanting a creepy nursery hymn, holding candlesticks and casting rudimentary spells at you. 

It's also not clear from this screenshot (and I can't find a good screenshot of them from the side), but the Juvenile Scholars don't appear to have legs, crawling around with slug-like lower bodies. Which wouldn't be too creepy if their expressions aren't so serene and empty, all the while they chant creepy nursery rhymes and treat Rennala like their mother. 

Apparently, the Juvenile Scholars are all the younger students in the Academy who have been constantly killed and reborn by Rennala's Amber Egg, which have broken their minds so much that they treat death as something that's as harmful as a catnap, and their minds are regressed to curious toddlers. Curious, firebreathing toddlers.

Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon

"Hush, little culver. I'll soon birth thee anew, a sweeting fresh and pure…"

And who is this Queen of the Full Moon, Witch of the Carian Royal Family, the only non-demigod to be a Shardbearer? Who is Rennala, who's been spending time killing and rebirthing these poor scholars into subservient slug-toddlers? She's... she's not all there, actually. All the emotional trauma and confusion that she's been through has her basically lock herself up in this room, nursing her 'Amber Egg' and doing all sorts of rebirthing for these little Juvenile Scholars. Unlike Godrick or any of the other character bosses, Rennala doesn't even seem to be aware that you're around, just floating around in her bubble and casting large area-of-effect spells while her Juvenile Scholars swarm over you. You need to hunt down the Scholar that's casting the spell on Rennala and quickly wail on her when the shield-bubble pops. 

Other than the hectic pace of the fight, again, there's not much that's super special about it if we're just trying to describe it. But a combination of the badass music, the library setting and the creepy children-chanting and Rennala's voice rambling about 'being reborn' over and over just sounding so otherworldly and confused makes this fight against 'just some lady' to actually be kind of cool. 

In the second phase, Rennala does some Tsukuyomi stuff and teleports you to a picturesque realm with a giant moon and a lake, but she still kind of treats you kind of like... a pest instead of an actual enemy? She does cast spells, but does so with such little care. She's also able to summon a bunch of ghostly minions, ranging from wolves to trolls to that one weird bloodhound knight to a freaking dragon. Again, the game keeps wanting us to remember that despite being placed right up there with other demigods, Rennala is still technically 'just' a really super-powerful mortal that's super-gifted in magic.

Again, there's really not much for me to say here without just going too much in-depth into discussing her mechanics, but as we find out, Phase 2 Rennala isn't even Rennala herself -- she's just so absent-minded, and it's one of her children Ranni (who we've met previously in Limgrave as a questionable ally) that's casting an illusion that gives us an impression of how powerful the Queen-Witch was at her full power. 

At the end of the day, I do find the concept of Rennala to be rather interesting. She's just so broken and non-malicious, and she's arguably not even really that dangerous (other than to those Juvenile Scholars, whose minds are as broken as her). She's just locked up in her attic, and we don't even really kill her, just beat her up enough (and it's arguable if we even did) until she does the mentally-checked-out equivalent of a shrug and gives us the Elden Ring shard.

I like her because she's different, and she's a very neat video game boss mechanics and visual-wise. Not much of a 'monster' for the purposes of this review, though!