The Elden Ring is not a single thing. It is a constellation of runes, laws, held in the body of a vessel and projected through the Erdtree onto the world. Whoever holds the Ring decrees what lives, what dies, what is permitted. Marika held it; Radagon, when he was Marika, held it; before them, no record remains.

The Ring's central runes encode the Order's deepest tenets: the immortality of Erdtree-graced souls, the rule of golden lineage, the proscription of mixed forms. Marika tore one rune out long ago, the Rune of Death, and gave it to Maliketh to hide. When she shattered the Ring, the demigods scattered with shards called Great Runes; the Tarnished must gather them to be crowned. To replace any rune is to remake reality itself, which is why the endings of the Tarnished's path are not endings of a story but of a world.

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Item / MiscMending Rune of the Death-Prince

Rune gestated by Fia, the Deathbed Companion. Used to restore the fractured Elden Ring when brandished by the Elden Lord. Formed of the two hallowbrand half-wheels combined, it will embed the principle of life within Death into Order. The Golden Order was created by confining Destined Death. Thus, this new Order will be one of Death restored.

Item / MiscMending Rune of Perfect Order

Rune discovered by the noble Goldmask. Used to restore the fractured Elden Ring when brandished by the Elden Lord. A rune of transcendental ideology which will attempt to perfect the Golden Order. The current imperfection of the Golden Order, or instability of ideology, can be blamed upon the fickleness of the gods no better than men. That is the fly in the ointment.