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The Academy of Raya Lucaria is the most prominent feature of the Liurnia of the Lakes region in Elden Ring. It is an expansive, almost labyrinthian college campus where people from all over the world once came to study and experiment with the magical arts.
However, by the time we come upon it in Elden Ring, the gates are tightly sealed, and the township outside the college has fallen to ruin. What happened to lay this once great academy so low? This article will be delving deep into the history of Raya Lucaria and how it fell into disrepair.
What Is The Raya Lucaria Academy?
Before we get into the nitty-gritty details of what happened at the academy, it is first important to know why it was established and what was taught there in its heyday. This academy was founded by five brilliant minds who all shared the same goal of learning the secrets of strengthening magic. The queen of the region at the time, Rennala was a disciple of Lunar Magic, which explains why the academy was able to grow to such proportions: It had the backing of a queen at its disposal.
The other four founders of the Academy were Master Lusat, Master Azur, and an unnamed set of twin sorcerers. Interestingly, each of these founders has their faces immortalized in one of the Glintstone Crowns scattered around the world. The Twinsage Glinstone Crown depicts the faces of the twin sages together. The Karolos Glintstone Crown depicts the face of Azur before his head grew into a crystal. By the same token, the Olivinius Glintstone Crown represents the face of Lusat before he succumbed to the same fate as Azur. Even Sorceress Sellen has her image carved into a crown showing that any who developed their own branch of magic would be recognized by the academy, whether they were a founding member or not. We will get into the heads of other branches later on.
Each of these founders specialized in their own branch of magic. The twin sages focused on all forms of glintstone magics. Lusat seemed to believe that the power of glintstone and sorceries, in general, were drawn directly from the stars, so he focused his studies on shooting star sorceries. Azur was of the opinion that magical power was drawn from comets and put all of his energy into trying to weave magic into an imitation of a comet. Lusat and Azur believed that magic was drawn from the stars, while Rennala believed it was drawn exclusively from the moon.
You may have noticed that Queen Renala's name was not on the list of founders. That is because she was not actually a founding member. The academy existed long before Rennala. However, as a child, Rennala would gaze upon the full moon and develop a new branch of magic based on it. She was such a proficient sorceress that in time she took over the academy and raised her house into royalty. She was a genius by all means, though some think that her title was not as fairly given as it seems. Her Full Moon sorcery's description reads that the full moon "bewitched" the academy, much like it had to Rennala as a child.
The moon is associated with an Outer God in Elden Ring, so it is likely, that this god influenced Rennala's rise to power.
The Founding Of Carian Sorceries, And Sorceress Sellen
Shortly after Rennala assumed control of the academy, her ideas of the moon being a source of power would begin to be adopted by all members. One unnamed sorcerer, who the Lazuli Glintstone Crown is modeled after, decided to take all of his teacher's lessons into account. This sorcerer believed that sorceries drew their power from both the stars and the moon. It seems that Rennala did find this claim to be heretical, but she let him keep studying despite this.
It is no wonder why - this single individual is responsible for all the Carian sorceries in the game, and they outnumber most other types of sorceries by quite a lot. This shows that Rennala did not forbid the study of certain types of magic lightly, even if she did not agree with them. She was a leader more concerned with results and progress, rather than being right.
Around this same time, a sorceress by the name of Sellen would begin her training. She was an unbelievably gifted pupil, almost to the same degree as Rennala herself. It is not specified which branch of magic Sellen studied, nor the sorceries she produced, if any. However, her skill was so great that she had the Witch's Glintstone Crown modeled after her. The way the description of this item is worded indicates that Sellen may have followed in the footsteps of the Twin Sages, and been proficient in all forms of sorcery. Though she was gifted in all areas, she would develop an unhealthy obsession with Master Azur and Lusat later in life.
Lusat, Azur, Rennala, And The Great Schism
As stated above, Lusat and Azur had differing ideas on where the power of sorceries was ultimately drawn from. Lusat was of the opinion that magic came from the stars themselves. His studies yielded the Glintstone Stars and Star Shower sorceries in his youth. Azur seemed to believe that magic drew its power from the tails of passing comets. As a result, he spent his years at the academy trying to replicate the power of a comet into a spell. The fruits of his labor were the Shard Spiral and Comet sorceries during his time at the academy.
Rennala, queen, and head of the Raya Lucaria Academy believed that the Moon was the source of all magical energy. Lusat, Azur, and Sorceress Sellen would all go on to be banished from the academy in their later years, and we will cover that in the chronological order that it occurred.
It seems that the fervent, almost religious zeal that the leaders of the academy followed their preferred interests were rather distasteful for those students who had a more academic mind. It could have been this desire to study in a less restrictive environment that caused a number of sorcerers to break away from the academy and study on their own. These would have just been feelings of unrest in the golden years of the academy, but the impending war with Radagon would soon change those feelings into action. This Great Schism was almost certainly a direct response to the outcome of the war with Radagon, and the disillusionment it bred within the scholars of the academy.
The War With Radagon
Radagon's siege on Liurnia is perhaps the most significant event in Raya Lucaria's history. This would serve as the catalyst for many of the splintering of factions we experience later on. It would also end up in the outright downfall of Rennala's empire, but not in the way you might think. Radagon did not destroy Liurnia's forces with an iron fist and raze the countryside to the ground. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Who struck the first blow in the war of Rennala and Radagon is unclear, as are the specific reasons that war broke out. It does make sense that the factions would have tension with each other, though. Radagon was convicted that the Erdtree was the ultimate source of power in the world, while Rennala worshiped the moon and the more scientific aspects of magic.
It is said that the war raged for some time before Rennala and Radagon finally met face to face on the battlefield. Rennala repelled Radagon's forces, and it is said that this extreme display of power caused Radagon to fall in love with the Full Moon Queen. Aggressions stopped soon after, and Radagon married Rennala in the Church of Vows. Liurnia would know a brief spell of peace from this union, but all was not settled with the ending of the war.
Thousands had died on Liurnia's end, and the civilians were not as quick to forgive as their queen was. New types of sorceries and armaments were developed during this time, specifically for the purpose of killing mages. The civilians felt betrayed by their queen and were arming themselves against her. It seems that other innovations were made in the wake of the war as well. Heretical Thorn Sorceries were developed by Radagon's forces to inflict as much pain on its victims as possible.
It is likely that during this new age of peace, the Errant Sorcerer Wilhelm began his journey.
Errant Sorcerer Wilhelm was a nomadic sorcerer who the Heirodas Crown is modeled from. He left the confines of the academy to study magic on his own. He carries with him the Staff of Loss, and mainly fights with the invisible sorceries of Sellia. Since he had a glintstone crown modeled after him, it can be assumed that he was as influential as any of the founders of Raya Lucaria. It is very likely that he founded the town of Sellia and its invisible branch of Night Sorceries.
There is in-game proof that Wilhelm ventured as far as Mount Gelmir, so it is possible that he aided Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy, in the creation of the Magma Sorceries of Mt. Gelmir as well. It should be noted here as well that it is likely that Wilhelm started his journey during this time because of the masterful detail with which the Heirodas Crown is sculpted. A country at war would not be so keen to focus on artwork and sculpture.
Banishment Of The Masters
Though Wilhelm's nomadic journey was admirable, it was most likely triggered by a certain event. We stated earlier that Rennala was a very open-minded leader of the academy. Though she disagreed with some opinions held by the other masters, she allowed them to practice them freely. However, and most likely not coincidentally, after her marriage to Radagon she started imposing stricter rules on what her disciples could study.
Namely, she forbade all scholars of the Academy to study the Primeval Current, a likely source of all magic in the world. Rennala's fears were sound, honestly. Glimpsing into the Primeval Current left any who did so a broken shell of themselves, often leading to dark experiments that involved killing other wizards. Despite this, though, Azur, Lusat, and Sorceress Sellen had an unquenchable thirst for knowledge on the subject. They disobeyed Rennala and experimented with the Primeval Current, and she banished all three for it.
It seems that Sorcress Sellen explored the path Rennala feared, as Graven Masses can be found all over Liurnia, in places she likely visited. Graven Masses essentially being grotesque amalgamations of many wizards into a ball or "seed" that something is meant to grow out of. During Lusat and Azur's banishment, they both peered into the Primeval Current. This cost them their minds, but they were able to create their most powerful sorceries: Comet Azur and Stars of Ruin.
The Great Schism
Liurnia's time of peace was, unfortunately, short-lived. Radagon soon left Rennala to become the husband of Marika. It seems that the loss of her husband drove her almost mad with grief, and she quickly became an ineffectual leader. After the frustration of allying with their long-time foe- and the power vacuum left by Rennala's weakness, a great civil war broke out. We will call this event the Great Schism. During this time, certain factions hired sellswords of the Cuckoo clan to eradicate as many mages as possible. It seems like this opposing faction not only wanted to take over the Academy of Raya Lucaria but most likely wanted to dethrone Rennala as well.
It was during this time that Rennala was locked away in the library. Whether this was a measure to protect her from possible double agents in the academy, or if the wizards within were just as sick of her and locked her away to be forgotten about is unknown. It was then that the academy made the decision to close its gates permanently. This would protect them from outside threats, and allow them to more easily identify internal ones.
During this time we had a few new innovations were made as well. First were the marionette soldiers. These animated dolls were most likely created by sorcerers within the academy to serve as scouts outside their walls.
Additionally, all this war and unrest had given rise to a new branch of sorcery: The Haima. Haima sorcerers focused on the most explosively powerful sorceries they could muster and had the philosophy that power could quell any conflict. They created the Haima Cannon and Haima Gavel Sorceries. We know this faction came into being after the academy shut its doors because of the headdress. Of all the other crowns, it is the least detailed and has a cowl as if hiding an unfinished top.
The Shattering
The Shattering is the last great event in the history of the Academy before we encounter it. At this point, the academy was already insulated and happy to further shield itself from this new war. It does seem that the wizards feared the demigods even still, and for good reason. We know this because a few experiments on the more unethical side seem to have gone on in the vicinity. We do not know what drowned the town around the academy, but this could be as much the work of skirmishing Demigods, as an experiment gone wrong by a group of wizards, or even an intentional action to quell a rebellion in the city.
What we do have ample evidence of is the experiment by the academy to create a being that could face down a Demi-god in battle. This experiment can be found slightly northwest of the building, sleeping in the still water of the lake. It seems that the wizards of Raya Lucaria were not certain their wards could hold any opponent, so they entrusted one of their only keys to the academy to Glintstone Dragon Smarag. We see evidence of dragons being corrupted by Scarlet Rot, so it seems that the sorcerers believed this could be achieved via glintstone as well.
This worked, but only marginally. Smarag retained his temper and proved impossible to control, even after it was implanted with the crystals. It was a failed experiment in some ways, but it certainly kept unwanted visitors out, even amongst a battle of Demi-gods.
