#disclaimer: im SO not a ranni scholar im almost certainly missing something lol

[un-local]

"Heretical Practitioners"

Also of note, there's another hat outside of Rogier and Alberich's that mentions heresy in its decription.

Ranni's.

Snow Witch Hat Witch's pointed hat, frigid and frozen through. Of a style associated with practitioners of heretical sorcery. Strengthens cold sorcery. Once worn by the snowy crone who the young Ranni encountered deep in the woods. She was a witch, and well versed in cold sorceries. It is said that the doll that houses Ranni's soul was modeled after her. That old witch was Ranni's secret mentor.

Now, I do think "cold and heretical" can be pretty easily tied to the Mountaintops of the Giants. The Bloodthorn family comes to mind, but I'm not entirely sure that's what's being referenced.

Of possible interest here is the Sword of Night and Flame. From it, it sounds likely that other kinds of magic predate Bloodthorn/Abberant magic on the mountaintops:

Sword of Night and Flame: Storied sword and treasure of Caria Manor. One of the legendary armaments. Astrologers, who preceded the sorcerers, established themselves in mountaintops that nearly touched the sky, and considered the Fire Giants their neighbors.

Sorcerers of some kind have long-held ties there, and I'd presume that Ranni's mentor was one of these sorcerers who lived near the Fire Giants. (Or was otherwise a descendant of those sorcerers, since all we know is that Ranni found her in an unspecified forest.)

(Although... the sword mentions those who precede the Astrologers. Alberich's staff, which improves thorn sorcery, mentions those blinded by thorns finding the "blood star...")

(I don't know. Maybe this thorn sorcery mentor theory has something to stand on. Unsure. Anyway.)

Idk what my point here is, other than that I like that Rogier is linked to both Alberich and Ranni implictly via descriptions of their respective hats.

Alberich's Pointed Hat Mad Tongue Alberich's pointed hat, a sign of a heretical practitioner. Set with red glintstones said to be formed by the blood of sacrifices. Strengthens thorn sorcery.  Alberiches was an aloof yet disturbed heretical sorcerer said to have been driven mad by jeering tongues during his service to the Roundtable Hold long ago. 

Spellblade's Pointed Hat Glintstone sorcerer Rogier's traveling attire, graced with an intricate, aristocratic decoration. Strengthens glintstone sorcery skills. Rogier spent his entire life behaving with utter detachment. No one noticed the anger, grief, regret, or fear that existed along with it.

Alberich and Rogier had a lot of obvious similarities, which I've haphazardly outlined in the past, but Rogier and Ranni...

Godwyn's killer, and the one who would seek to save him. Both seek to better the world, in different ways. Consider Rogier's lines about Glintstone sorcery:

They were conceived at the great Academy of Raya Lucaria, to the north of this castle. In the past, they obeyed laws which contravened the Golden Order, or so I'm told. Fascinating, isn't it? That the Golden Order was pliable enough to absorb practices that contradicted itself in the past. With the Order broken, twisted, and in need of repair, such adaptability is more important now than ever.

His sounds more partial to the idea of salvaging the current order. Trying to “fix” the flaw in the Order created by Ranni’s plot.

I don't know. it's all fascinating to me. How The Lands Between treats people, how they seek to change it in turn.

Alberich served the Hold in some capacity, was ridiculed by its members, and so he turned on them.

Rogier lost the guidance of grace, but still seemed to be more favorable to the idea of sustaining the Order—of changing its form and using it's power to fix things.

Ranni was set to become a god, but she sought to rid the world of the whole thing in pursuit of something better.

Individual Revenge/Retribution (Alberich) vs. Structural Change (Rogier) vs Complete Redefinement (Ranni).

Anyway. No big closer on this one. Just a little thing I thought was cool.