Shadow of the Erdtree: Somewhere a Great Rune Has Broken Meaning in Elden Ring

Jun. 27, 2024

When you cross the Gravesite Plains and reach Scadu Altus for the first time in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, you’ll see a message called “Somewhere a Great Rune has Broken.” For people seeing this message, it might catch you off-guard. I got freaked out for a few seconds when it happened in my game. However, this message has story implications when it happens. So, what is this Somewhere a Great Rune has Broken message in Elden Ring? Let’s find out!

Elden Ring Somewhere a Great Rune Has Broken Meaning

After defeatingRellana, Twin Moon Knight, and entering the Scadu Altus, you must move to the Shadow Keep. Right after you cross the encampment in front of Shadow Keep and reach the gates of the third central legacy dungeon of the game, you’ll get a message saying, “Somewhere, a great rune has broken.” Immediately following that message, the game says, “And so too has a powerful charm.“

It’s important to know that you won’t get this message outside of this place. This message denotes game progression. So, if you want to explore Scadu Altus, you can do so freely. However, if you’re going to exploreThe Cerulean Fieldsyou must first have gotten the “Somewhere, a great rune has broken” message first. Otherwise, you are greeted with a yellow barrier stopping you.

Breaking the Great Runebreaks the barrier stopping you from accessing this portion of the map. So now, you can explore the Cerulean Coast and visit a secret portion of the map to access thePutrescent Knight boss fight.

Now, the second part of the message is an important NPC questline message, which you’ll figure out if you keep an eye on the various NPCs of the game.

In Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree, you are following and tracking the footsteps of one of the Empyreans,Miquella the Kind. You’ll hear about him prominently when fighting the bossMohg, Lord of Bloodand even tracking down Malenia. Alongside you are other NPCs that are similarly tracking Miquella down.

However, when the “Somewhere, a great rune has broken” message flashes, it follows another message saying, “And so too has a powerful charm.” So, when you talk with NPCs like Leda or Ansbach, their motivations might sound slightly different.

They’ll act as if they were enchanted in following Miquella, which is the case. Specifically, Leda starts acting significantly different than usual when the great rune breaks.

So now you know what “Somewhere a great rune has broken” in Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. It is worth mentioning that you don’t have much to worry about outside of story implications.

So, be merry and enjoy the Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree. That being said, what do you think about this Elden Ring message? Let us know in the comments below!

Meet Sampad, Beebom’s in-house video game enthusiast and writer. With two years of freelance experience, he has passionately crafted articles about the games he loves. You can find his writings on Sportskeeda, Gamingbolt, and GGTalks.

During work hours, he covers the latest gaming news, creates how-to guides, and occasionally shares video game reviews. In his free time, he enjoys building Gundam model kits, planning his next cosplay, and play his favorite RPG games.