The ENTIRE Lore of Elden Ring - Part 1

Elden ring is a fascinating story but one that is extremely multi-layered and complex from cosmic themes to a colorful cast of demigod characters even after all this time the lore of Elden ring still holds many secrets and questions and how could there not be given the sheer scale and scope of this game and world that has been forged by from software and George RR Martin what is the greater will how did all life come from the one great what what is the nature and role of the earth tree what is the exact order and timeline of events these questions and more are things that I still Ponder to this day and my ideas have shifted and evolved over the two years of me covering this engrossing game so in this compilation lore video I will be pulling together all of my work on Elden ring from the past 2 years into cohesive Mega videos ideal for a long watch while you work or sleep and perhaps in my rambling Lings you will find some answers that you are seeking regarding Elden Rings lore this will be part one of three and given the sheer size of this video I think you can appreciate why we split it into three this video will cover Elden Ring's timeline the ancient dragons the Carion the frenzied flame and much much more and I hope you enjoy but before we get started guys remember that if you like Elden ring lore and Souls Lore then consider liking this video and subscribing to the channel but before we dive into today's Elden ring Bonanza a word from today's sponsor hello fresh with Christmas right around the corner things are getting busy for a lot of us but hellofresh can help by taking care of Meal Time leaving you with more time with your family and loved ones helloof Fresh's 15minute meals are not only convenient but will allow you to stay healthy putting wholesome food on the table faster than a takeway can at this busy time of year I don't know about you guys but I've been back and forth to the shops too many times this December and if you want to cut back on your errands this season hellofresh can help skip that grocery store trip and instead get fresh ingredients delivered direct to your door just choose your meals from the website choose a delivery date and Bobs your uncle if you have a social life and please tell me what that's like hellofresh can help you host your parties this festive season from delicious cold cut boards to stunning desserts hellofresh will make sure you're the talk of your WhatsApp group group this festive season so click the link in the description or use my code and get free breakfast for Life One breakfast item per box while the subscription is active thanks again to hellofresh for sponsoring this video and now back to the lore the story of Elden ring is an epic one A Tale of Heroes and gods of wars and creation spanning a massive timeline yet those familiar with the game and its Mar stories will know that this timeline is far from clear it is a complex mix of events presented to us through half truths rumors and myth with no clear idea of order or the passage of time yet after some time exploring the lore we can get a general idea of an order of events of certain epochs of history of different ages in the lands between and that is what this video will attempt to do to present a plausible timeline that offers my perspective on the order of events born from my long relationship studying this universe's lore the way in which I've ordered the lore I believe is a logical one by ordering events into different eras with the acknowledgement that many events could easily be swapped within each era however with that being said this is no easy task nor is it a simple thing to discard my own preconceived notions and ideas of how things fit and so I'd like to thank L Hunter and tarnished archaeologist who collaborated with me on this video not only by reviewing my timeline and giving their perspectives and corrections but also writing and recording a section each before we begin one final note is that recently George RR Martin well-known father of content creator quag appeared on Colbert's late show and made a brief comment about his work on Elden ring and mention time scills that helps us a bit but I will leave that to L Hunter in his section on the shattering with that said let us take a journey through the histories of the lands between and its timeline and the very first event on our timeline isn't an event rather a state of being the one great it won't be revolutionary to say that the start of Elder Ring's story in Mythos appears to begin with this one great haa tells us that once life exists Ted any singular form before there were any individual life forms all that there is came from the one great then came fractures and births and souls but the greater will made a mistake torment despair Affliction every sin Every curse everyone born of the mistake and so what was borrowed must be returned melt it all away with the yellow chaos flame we do not know what form the one great took where it existed or how long it existed for only that it was the original source of life according to haetta and therefore the three fingers who are speaking through her it was the greater will that then fractured this one great meaning the greater will must have stimulated this change the golden star this brings us to event number two in our timeline which is the arrival of the Elden Beast and the Elden ring As Told To Us by Elden star's incantation which reads as follows it is said that long ago the greater well sent a golden star bearing a beast into the lands between which would later become the Elden ring the greater will never acts directly and so it makes sense that even in this act the act of fracturing the word great that it will have coincided with the arrival of the Elden ring a medium through which the greater will can control the lands between I suggest that the power of the Elden ring its power to influence the world is what reformed and fractured the one great and thus the arrival of the golden star must have happened right at the beginning of our timeline this now takes us on to one of the first dominant life forms that would emerge from this fracturing that we are aware of the ancient dragons which also takes us into our next era we know that the ancient dragons are said to have ruled in what is referred to as the prehistoric era and this is thanks to any of the Dragon protection talismans which read as follows the ancient dragons who ruled in the prehistoric era before the Earth tree would protect their lord as a wall of living Rock now prehistory in ER world is a huge period of History roughly dating from about 2.5 million years ago to about 1,200 BC though dates do vary from region to region as prehistory ends when writing begins and that obviously happened at different stages for different civilizations regardless what it shows is that the Empire of the ancient dragons must have existed very early in this timeline even before the ancient ient civilization that built the old and old palaces which align more closely with ancient history the beastmen gain intelligence serving under the ancient dragons another civilization arose the beastmen who we know live alongside their draconic masters thanks to the archaeological evidence found in Far maula early human history in the real world is generally categorized through three main archaeological periods the Stone Age the Bronze Age and the Iron Age through the beastmen we can follow this same progression of their society first of all learning that they were once a bastial species that eventually had intelligence granted upon them as the chinka reads the following the design celebrates e BEAST's five fingers symbolic of the intelligence once granted upon their kind five fingers are of course symbolic because it is the symbol of an intelligent species ability to use tools and weapons with their hands beastmen Stone Age much like Humanity's ancestors developing into the sentient species that we are today one of the Beast men's First Steps in becoming more complex society is marked by their use of stone tools marking their Stone Age we learn of their use of stone implements via the beastial sling incantation which reads the following it is said that in the time before for the UR Trey Stones were the first weapons of the beasts who had gained intelligence the beastmen would then advance to something akin to our calic period an observation made by the tarnished archaeologists in their Farm aula lore video where they identify that the beastmen burials that we find in far mailla are very much based upon the real life Varna burials the Varner burial site is an acropolis in Bulgaria that possesses the oldest gold treasure and jewelry in the world dating from 4,600 BC to 4,200 [Music] BC now we have placed the end of prehistory here at the beginning of ancient history to mirror our own world's eras as history while not homogeneous across the world is generally accepted to have began with writing the world's first instance of which was in the Bronze Age of Mesopotamia beastmen Iron Age finally the beastmen would make it to their Iron Age an age defin by Wikipedia that marks the Advent of Ferris Metallurgy and the metal working techniques that allowed the use of iron tools and weapons with that in mind we know the beastmen began to wield iron weapons that replace some of their Stone ones as the description of the beastman cleaver reads curved great sword of colossal size forged of dull iron and wielded by the beastmen of farm aula the blade is incredibly heavy but well balanced comparatively easy to wield for the damage it delivers it is clear that the beastmen possess knowledge Beyond human can so the last line of the cleaver is important not only for when we talk about the Advent of smithing under the Giants but also because despite the prehistoric nature of the beastmen in Dragon Society it is clear that their techniques are fairly Advanced as they were able to create some wonders like far maula farilla constructed far maula is described as a mosum such as in the description of the aula beastman ashes but is also described as a Royal City in the old Lord's Talisman suggesting that this Majestic city was the center of their civilization it is widely believed and I share the this belief that farilla was once situated and built on the ground specifically in the Bay area of the lands between adjoining to where Dragon Barrow Now lies we know this due to the archaeological evidence found in Dragon Barrow firstly the Great Bridge outside btio sanctum is known as firearm Great Bridge thanks to the site of Grace nearby and indeed it does share the same architectural Hallmarks as the Royal City then there's of course the beastial sanctum itself clearly a building of aula construction and thus it leads us to conclude that farm aula was once rooted to this same spot emergence of humanity it is possible that Humanity had also emerged around this early era of the lands between around far maula we can find Engravings of human characters leading us to conclude that there must have been human figures at this time while dragons can take human form as shown by L Sax's history how would they even know what a human is to take this form if there was no frame of reference instead I would offer that this is the first archaeological evidence of humankind and is made even more interesting when you consider the appearance preset Draconian which reads as follows the Stony face of the people of the ancient dragons among whom life is typically short plac saxs Elden Lord the dragons not only ruled but seemed to be the first custodians of the Elden ring having both a God and Elden Lord a mirror to America and her Elden Lord consorts ruling over this civilization seems to be the first Pantheon the first God and Elden Lord who first brandished the Elden ring for not only do we see an early depiction of the Elden ring within far maula itself but we also learn of the Dragon Pantheon via the remembrance of the Dragon Lord which reads the dragon lord whose seat lies at the heart of the storm Beyond time is said to have been Elden Lord in the age before the Earth tree Once his God was fled the Lord continued to await its return this early era was the age of the Dragons ruled over by their Elden Lord and God Beyond time obviously the other interesting part of pidio Sax's remembrance is the fact that his God fled the ruling God of his era who he was consort to this God is now gone suggesting some greater Calamity that happened to the dragon civilization much like when Mara disappears in the time of the shattering we can imagine that The Disappearance of this God will have definitely contributed to the downfall of this Society pusx Now lies Beyond Time and the reason reasoning for this seems clear from his remembrance to preserve far mailla and himself for the return of their God in their hope that they can restore the dragon civilization sadly this is an event that never comes to pass and with the god fled and Elden Lord locked behind time we can consider the reign of the Dragons effectively over the dast civilization the next oldest civilization based on AR iology would be the civilization that built the O and old ruins the ancient mosum and the grand cloter I'm sure many are aware but the architectural style of these buildings closely follows the styles of ancient Greece and ancient Assyrian civilizations but it's at this stage that I will hand you over to tarnished archaeologist who has kindly done a full breakdown in analysis of this ancient civilization Elden Ring's world is littered with the discarded and long forgotten remnants of previously great Empires the ruins of fum maula are scattered across limra and leria the Mysterious Divine towers are left as remnants of civilizations with long lost power now barely even conceivable in the modern era all of these evoke the opening lines of the famous Welsh poem called the ruin which begins quote these wall stones are wondrous calamities crumple them these city states crashed the work of giants decaying end quote written by an unknown poet as he marveled at the ruins of a prior great civilization that was so inconceivably impressive he could only imagine it was the work of giants so it is in Elden ring the decaying work of giants is found everywhere and there's no better example of this than the great and mysterious ruins of the ancient Dynasty these ruins which are helenistic and early Roman in their architectural features convey a deep Antiquity to the civilization the ruins themselves are scattered across vast spaces of the lands between from upper leria to shifer River to the Grand cloer attesting to the impressive breath of this once great civilization we know about the existence of the ancient Dynasty from the Oracle bubbles description but beyond this there is essentially no written evidence in Game of their culture in order to place them within the proposed timeline of the lands between we must therefore rely on the archaeological evidence as we've said the architecture is a mixture of classical Greek helenistic and Roman all conveying the Deep Antiquity of this civilization on the specific point of placing this civilization within the timeline of Elden ring we can clearly see that the developers have drawn inspiration from Real World archaeology and history to tell their story The Eternal City of nocon is actually embedded within the grand Viaduct of the ancient Dynasty indicating a sort of cultural continuity between these two civilizations in much the same way you might find Greek ruins in the IRL Eternal City of Rome as the classical Romans borrowed heavily from the culture and architecture of the Greeks and sure enough you can see faint glimpses of this cultural heritage in the grave selay still scattered around noon throughout shifa River and the adjacent mwan Dynasty mum we can see these same steas depicting various animals signifying a dominant naturalistic religion the steas which we light to progress in shifer River are modeled in form off the black Obelisk of shalmaneser a great Neo Assyrian King but instead of the relief scenes depicting various conquered Kings as in shalmaneser stil they depict a ritual involving sacred trees more on that in a future video but for now the point is they clearly had their own naturalistic culture and then there is the so-called dast affectionately termed Elden John whose crumbling Visage scatters the O and old Palace ruins and whose full form we can see in the MN Dynasty mausoleum in the Subterranean Nel River and in the mysterious and impressive Grand clo we've delved into this previously in a separate video but to Briefly summarize the D depiction is that of an itinerant preacher dressed as he is in Humble robes and shown clutching a tablet an object evidently of great importance to both him and his followers the tablet is invariably split in identical fashion not by the processes of time but by the design of the sculpture the lower half lying at his feet is a replica of the real world imigo Mundi also known as the Babylonian world world map a depiction of the entire world as it was known to the Neo Babylonians the upper half which the dynast still clutches simply depicts a great tree the combined symbolism is clear the statue showed the discarding of the old more polytheistic or even secular world and the embracing of a new religion dominated by the singular worship of the great sacred tree a tree that literally sits astride the entire world and is now seen to be even growing Roots out of the dynast himself the dynast modeled off of Moses and other great prophets is preaching a kind of tree monotheism prophesizing the coming age of the great tree so now to place this all within the larger story and timeline of the game we would suggest that the dast lived in a Time perhaps even before the building of these great helenistic ruins likewise if the dynast prophesized about the coming of the great tree it stands to reason that this civilization Rose and fell before the first great tree hence the lack of tree iconography elsewhere amongst its Grand architecture the dast likely did not live to see the age of the great tree but up above in leria at the four belf fries we do see a depiction of a figure suggestively similar to the dest with the similar long beard and even the similar position of his hands all only now the dast is aged and At His Feet the new tree has begun to grow this is his prophecy coming to fruition we'll leave the description of that great Tri era TM for now but rest assured it did come and in the end much more so than the ruined marble columns and Grand viaducts it is the ancient Dynasty's True Legacy the great tree as tarnished Arch ologist has suggested here I am now in agreement that there was a great tree that preceded The Crucible and the Earth tree a great Tree prophesized by this dynast in time the great tree would spread its roots throughout the world including throughout far maula where we can see the roots protruding from the earth still attached to its base suggesting that the spread of the great tree preceded far maula's Skyward departure while there is some controversy over the translation regarding ER tree and great tree where some think the great tree is a separate entity from the ER tree or translators like last protagonist who have confirmed that they are one and the same becomes irrelevant with ta's interpretation of what happened next the theory being that following the demise of the great tree a process known in the real world as sprouting would occur a process known to us in Elden ring as The Crucible but we will touch on this later but but to me this sequence of events explains the long contested differences between the great tree and the Earth tree destruction of far moua some event evidently led to far maula being reduced to a ruin that floated in the sky in quoting the old Lord's Talisman it is a ruin that has been crumbling since time immemorial and indeed these shattered remains of buildings that we find scattered through Leonia and Lim grave appear to have come from far maula as the ruin item description reads as follows these shards of stone are believed to have once been part of a temple in the sky evidently something happened to the Royal City that not only led to it becoming shattered but also airborne and while tackling the Airborne question is a little bit more tricky we know what contributed to it becoming a crumbling Rune it is the result result of a meteorite Collision as we learn via the ruins Greatsword which states originally rubble from a ruin which fell from the sky this surviving fragment was honed into a weapon the ruin it came from crumbled when struck by a meteorite as such this weapon Harbors its destructive power so clearly the shattered remnants of farilla are a result of the meteorite strike that is described by the ruins great sword and if the ruins great sword is imbued with gravity magic a fragment of Fula itself perhaps the same gravity magic is why far maula is skybound maybe all of the runes are affected by the gravity magic of the meteorite that once hit it onx and alabaster Lords another ancient event that we need to place upon the timeline is the arrival of the alabaster and Onyx Lord SWS we learn of this via their swords which both read as follows a weapon unique to the Onyx and alabaster Lords a race of ancients with stone skin who were said to have risen to life when a meteor struck long ago the reason I place this here in the timeline is the fact they are considered ancients making them of course very old but also because it is possible that this meteor strike that brought them could have been the same event that wrecked Old Farm isula regardless we can see this unique race of beings being born a long time in Elden Ring's distant past the death rights they AR Trey in latter parts of the timeline would come to dominate funerary and burial practices but in the ancient times another force would hold sway over this domain I of course refer to the death RS and the death Birds we have it implied that these practices are ancient that took place in a Time long before the arery and we get this by examining the descriptions of ancient death Rancor and explosive ghost flame the fact that death birds are still symbolic of death to this day shows How Deeply ingrained their influence is and leads us to conclude that the death Birds oversaw the death rights a very long time ago War of the ice dragons and the Giants after the fall of the ancient dragons it is implied that an offshoot species would emerge the modern dragons of these modern dragons there was a subspecies that would come to live in cold environments in the region we know as the mountaintops of the Giants these are of course Dragon Kin to Borealis the ice dragon that we actually fight in game at some point the the dragons dominated this Mountaintop a time before the fire Giants dominated it and thus when the fire Giants did come to this region and want to control it the two species would Clash an event we learn of VI boreal's Mist which reads his follows the ice dragons were once Lords of the mountaintops long ago until they were defeated by the fire Giants and chased from the peak and thus this marked the beginning of the fire Giant civilization the Giants invent smithing we learn the following via the hammer description as it reads Hammer comprised of a large Stone affixed to a metal handle originally a blacksmith's Tool The Art of smithing is said to have originated among the Giants this makes sense given the flame of Ruin is located in the Forge of the Giants a forge being a hearth meant for hitting metal so it can can be shaped to me it suggests that the fire Giants learned of these Arts via the fail God given its association with fire it may appear to contradict the lore we looked at earlier with the beastmen utilizing iron weapons but I do not believe this to be the case as the beastman cleaver makes it clear that the beastmen had knowledge Beyond human K suggesting this weapon was created using another unknown technique whereas the more widespread practice of blacksmithing that humans will use appears to have originated here with the fire Giants I also do place this after the ancient society that build the old and old civilizations because the claymen of these cultures do not wield Smith weapons in fact it appears like they are using crude Stone daggers and Blades the Giants an early astrologer Society after the defeat of the ice dragons the fire Giants would be the masters of these mountains and establish their own society and structures but not only that we learned that an early astrologer Community developed at this time on the mountains alongside the Giants we learned this from The Sword of flame and KN which reads the following astrologers who preceded the sorcerers established themselves in the mountaintops that nearly touched the sky and considered the fire Giants their neighbors the astrologer Community is likely the precursor Community to the carians and the real larians especially since their techniques are more primitive the idea of being closer to the Stars by being up a high mountain suggests a lack of advanced tools and advanced understanding of the Stars zore civilization we know that the zore civilization dates back quite a bit as there armor set reads the following these long lived Warriors clad in biting freezing winds are said to have been the mortal enemies of the fire Giants since time immemorial the fact that phrase time immemorial is used suggests that the zore have been fighting the Giants for a long time meaning they must have developed on the mountain tops not long after the Giants dead the arrival of the numin the numin are a race of humanoids from a world described as outside the lands between by America's hammer in fact it is a race that we can choose as our base appearance when creating our characters so let's read that description now the face of the Newman supposed descendants of denisons of another world long lived but seldom born importantly it says descendants of denisons of another world meaning the nen have been here for some time hence placing it far back another reason for placing their arrival this early in the timeline is due to the fact that Queen Marica is one of their kind as we learn via the Newman's Rune which reads the following the Newman are said to have come from outside the lands between and are in fact of the same stock as Queen Mar herself so the numen needed to have arrived become established before the UR tree was even emerging so that America has enough time to be selected as imperion construction of divine Towers the Divine towers are somewhat of a mystery but one thing that isn't a mystery is that they were built before the Earth tree emerged as Eridan a fellow content creator points out in his superb limra lore video there is a painting in Stormville castle that shows storm Hill two things are conspicuously absent in this painting one Stormville Castle itself is not in this painting and we will get to storm Veil later but number two the her tree and its light is also absent in this painting So this at least narrows it down to preer tree and preg Godfree conquest and to me I place it closer to the Giants because the architectural style of these towers is closely matched to that of the forge and while I'm not sure that the Giants would build these or if they actually did the purpose of this video is a timeline and thus the similar architectural styles to me suggests that it must fit in here in the timeline development of leonian society we have already discussed how the astrologist Community once developed on the mountain tops of the Giants and at some stage they must have come down and settled in Leonia the leonian community has had a long history from the establishment of the real larian Academy to the founding of the caran Dynasty and for all of this to have happened before the earthree wars there must have been a good long history before this hence my justification for putting this event in the timeline emergence of The Crucible in the past I have considered The Crucible to be the force that formed at the fracturing of the one great and was the source of all life however tarnished archaeologist has instead suggested another compelling timeline that there was a great tree then there was The Crucible immediately preceding the Earth tree and if you remember tarnished archaeologist has already discussed the coming of the great tree and its significance in early architecture tarnished archaeologist reasoning for this progression is as follows there was once a great tree that preceded the Earth tree which was destroyed but from its remains and stump began a process called root sprouting where there were many competing Sprouts that were growing from the stump in an attempt to regenerate it if you look at this artistic representation of the process you can see that it is very reflective of the depiction in sala's Helm and salura spear and what ta calls The Gardener statues tarish archaeologist will be releasing a video soon on this subject and so I will leave the details to them regarding this Theory but upon reflection I do think it is correct that The Crucible is a transitionary state for the UR Trey that immediately preceded the UR tre's emergence especially if we consider the god-skin noble set which reads Nobles are the most ancient apostles who are said to have assimilated in human physiology not unlike The Crucible the Earth Tree in its primordial form the Earth Tree in its primordial form is as if The Crucible is nothing more than a specific earlier state of the UR Trey horal L Wars it is of course in this time the time of The Crucible and prior to the emergence that hu will have gained his fearsome reputation we know that hu was a far more brutal man than he would be as Godfree hu was a man who believed it was strength that befit a Lord not only through his dialogue whereupon he is defeated and he then states that our strength our strength in defeating him befits our position as a Lord but also the description of the acts which reads the following in the days of the past a crown was warranted with strength and hu's strength would be proven many times over we hear of him via the mour great sword which reads the stored sword of Castle mour a Revengers weapon it is burdened with oceans of anger and regret a lone surviving champion from a country now vanished was so determined to continue fighting that he claimed the swords of an entire clan of Warriors we can get a little claric ation from the description of oath of Vengeance the weapon artc for this weapon it reads swear an oath upon the great sword to avenge the clan to avenge the clan meaning that this Revenger has gathered the swords of his entire Clan who have evidently been wiped out and he is the lone surviving member the reason we know that this clan was wiped out by horu is due to the fact the sword Monument found outside Castle mourn makes it clear that that horu or Godfrey is the target of the revengers ey given what we know of hu's Mantra I.E might equals right I would speculate that it was just one of many Clans obliterated by hu in his quest to prove that he is the mightiest of all The Crucible knights we of course know that The Crucible Knights were an elite category of Warriors specialized in crucible incantations that served God for for The Crucible Knight Helm reads Helm of The Crucible Knights who served Godfrey the first Elden Lord when they were specifically founded is unclear but given their association with The Crucible clearly it must have been during this era emergence of the earth tree of course at some stage the Earth tree would emerge from its transitional form The Crucible as we learn from varying sources such as the godkin noble said the emergence of the tree changed the makeup of the world and immediately its power was seen as a threat by many this is something we learn via the protection of the earth tree incantation which reads in the beginning everything was in opposition to the her tree but through countless victories and War it became the embodiment of order of course it is obvious from Godfrey's armor set that the early age of the her tree was a brutal era marked by War and therefore the UR Trey would have needed some Defenders Marica as imperion we know that imperion are those chosen to be potential Gods candidates for the next era and we learn this via Ran's crucial dialogue I was once an imperian of the demigods only I Micha and Melania could claim that title each of us was chosen by our own two fingers as a candidate to succeed Queen Marica to become the new god of the coming age therefore it is interesting to know that Amica was once an imperion prior to being a god which is told to us via the remembrance of the Black Blade that refers to her specifically as an imperion this means that Marica was elected from among her people the Newman as a candidate to lead the age of the arery I have made the Earth tree wars its own distinct transitionary period because clearly by the time of the war of the Giants the AR Trey had emerged and The Crucible was no more and yet according to the sword Monument found at top the mountaintops of the Giants the age of the arry didn't truly begin until the fire Giants fell and so this tumultuous period is no longer the age of The Crucible but not quite the age of the UR tree thus I've made it its own distinct if transitionary period the founding of lell in the lale maap item description lale is described as the Royal City of the earth tree and thus it makes sense that the city was founded early on in the age of the her tree a Holy City built around the most holy Relic on this Earth to those who believed in it whether it was founded before Before the War of the Giants or when it was concluded is of course speculation but all massive cities throughout history begin small and take several generations to reach their Zenith they aren't just built in one day Rome of course being a great example famously not built in a day so for me it makes sense that as soon as the UR tree emerged those loyal to it would have most likely began flocking to it and building at its base to some degree Godfrey first Elden Lord evidently one of marica's first acts will have been to marry horu no doubt to bind his strength to her with the prospect of becoming a lord Godfrey vowed to be more Lord likee and leave his blood lust behind him and to use his strength for more focused goals and we learn of this transformation via the Godfree icon which reads the following Godfrey was a ferocious Warrior when he vowed to become a lord he took the Beast Regent SOS upon his back to suppress the ceaseless lust for battle that raged within while hu would no longer be a bloodthirsty Destroyer he evidently still had the might and will to persecute Wars on behalf of America and the ER tree as we saw in the protection of er tree incantation everything was in opposition to the Earth tree at the beginning and thus it makes sense that the early era of the AR Trey when it first emerged was one marked by War and therefore the following Wars make sense to have come early in Godfrey's Reign the war with the storm Lord of course this conflict is one of Godfrey's greatest victories and is referenced in his Elden Lord armor set and a lot of what I know of this war comes from eridan's excellent lore video on Lim grave so definitely check that out as Eridan points out now there's a painting in storm Veil that shows the castle was built after the Divine Tower and this is the painting we referenced earlier in the video that shows storm hill without the castle but with the Divine Tower and to me this does track when we consider who the storm Lord really was or what the storm Lord really was and to me the most likely candidate is the storm Hawk King the description of its ashes reads as follows ashes of a hawk revered by all others as Sovereign back in the day when storm veil's winds still raged like no other this ancient Monarch is proud however refusing to answer anyone's summons so quite clearly this Hawk was a monarch and it makes sense that it would rule over a domain and not need a castle given all the associations with storm at storm Hill where Storm Veil will be built I do believe that the storm Lord was this Hawk and we get further evidence that this was the storm Lord via the war hawk ashes which reads Spirit of a storm Veil Warhawk the talons of which have been sliced off so that razor fine swords could be grafted in their place with its Lord vanquished and its wings wounded the hawk perished as it solemnly gazed at its former home to me it's clear that the Lord of this Hawk is the stormhawk king the the storm Lord defeated by hu so that he could claim its domain storm Hill the building of storm Vil idin makes a compelling argument that Godfrey is the one to have built Stormville Castle after the defeat of the storm Lord Godfrey respects strength and his respect for the storm Lord is shown in the hawk iconography displayed around the castle more importantly there is a custom built throne room displaying Godfree iconography and statues again suggesting that this was the seat of his power that he built himself the siege of mourn this of course leads on from the aforementioned Revenger we spoke of in the horor chapter where this story would come to its conclusion and to consider the siege of mourn itself we need to consider the castle M the Weeping Peninsula appears to be an arrival point for many traveling to the lands between as we can see boats littering the coast in this area much like King's Landing from George R Martin's Game of Thrones mour sits right on a coastal area as if it were built where someone first landed given the name mourn as in mourning and that the sword of mourn is the stored weapon of this Castle I would suggest that the Revenger himself was responsible for the construction of the castle mour and that they came here and built their base in order to challenge Godfrey who may well have established himself here after the defeat of the storm king and the building of storm Vil Castle as we know from The Sword Monument found outside Castle mour we know how it ends with Godfrey defeating one more opponent and claiming the spoils Castle mourn and the sword of mour itself it is interesting to note that both storm Vil castle and mor are still in the possession of the golden lineage to this day with these conquests the Ary forces would control the entirety of the Southern peninsula of the lands between leaving their most deadly Rivals to remain in the north the war of the Giants an event that needs little introduction to many but a hugely dense and important event nonetheless upon the defeat of the Giants the age of the Ury would officially begin making it a really important event there are a number of different incidents that happened during this war that are important to note such as the Betrayal of the trolls those giant kin who would fight against the fire Giants and thus explains their widespread presence in the lands between during the Erry era we know that Godfrey and America also personally fought in this war Godfrey is mentioned to have in his armor set and Mar also gave a speech here Hawk brave warriors hark my Lord Godfrey we commend your Deeds guidance hath delivered ye through each ordeal to the place ye stand put the Giants to the sword and confine the flame at top the mount let a new Epoch begin an Epoch glistening with life brandish the Elden ring for the age of the ER tree Mar has also reputed to have slain the fell god of the fire Giants according to the oneeyed shield the zore joined the UR forces to finally destroy their ancient foes and according to their armor set they were heralded as Heroes for their role within this war the confinement of flame we learn via the remembrance of the fire giant that upon realizing the flame of Ruin could never be extinguished even with the fail God and the Giants put to sword Mara can find the first fire giant to stand vigil next to the flame of Ruin amongst the dead of his King it would also o be around this time that the order of the fire monks would be established to watch over and quarantine the flame and with that the age of the AR tree would officially begin the age of Plenty the age of the Earth tree began and we learn of a period known as the age of Plenty which is marked by Life Energy falling as due from the earth tree itself for examp example we learn of it via the Blessed du Talisman which reads as follows it was once thought that the Blessed sap of the UR tree would drip from its bows forever but that age of Plenty swiftly came to a close and with time the Earth tree became more an object of faith we also know that Godfrey was very much still Elden Lord in this early era because when this Jew fell and hardened and became Amber these ambers were priced possessions of Godfrey's reign as we learn via the Amber medallions indeed according to the earthree favor Talisman Queen Mara herself would bestow these gifts upon the faithful in person in general we can see the imagery associated with this era as one of positivity and Bounty showing amoras and chalises full of due however as already seen in the Blessed du Talisman this era did not last long long and to me the reason it didn't last long is because I see this as another transitional State between The Crucible and the Earth tree where the newly emerged Earth tree was still bursting with the chaotic Life Energy of The Crucible the nox heresy we know via the nox armor set that these people were banished underground at some stage for invoking the ey of the greater will and given the description and purpose of the Finger Slayer blade my most likely assumption is that it was for killing A2 fingers and we know that these so-called knocks were once the Newman that Mara herself was a member of as the black knife assassin set says that they are Newman and roier links them to the Eternal City also Newman and nox are one and the same and if you'd like to see a deeper video on those types of connections I would refer you to my eternal City's lore video in all honesty it is hard to place where the nox actually came into being when they did invoke the ey of the greater will and were banished however I am more inclined to place it here further along the timeline because of the sophisticated architectural style of the Eternal cities that appear closer to Gothic architecture of our real world the golden lineage of course one of Godfrey's most enduring legacies is the golden lineage the birth of his America's children I believe this must have come early on in the Erry era to give chance for this famous lineage to propagate before godre was hounded from the lands between we learn of the golden lineage via godric's great Rune which reads as follows the first of the demigods were the Elden Lord Godfrey and his offspring the golden lineage so this is the beginning of the idea of demig gods potential first generation members of this lineage are of course MO and morgot The Omen twins we know that these twins are off the Golden lineage via morg Go's great Rune while they could have course be later descendants of Godfrey the fact that Godfrey acknowledges that he has a relationship with Moro in the scene where he lays morot to rest it's been a long while morot so suest indeed that Godfrey had actually met more God before suggesting he is Godfrey's son rather than one of the later descendants of the golden lineage another presumed member of this first generation is Godwin given his prominence in early AR Tre history regardless this is where the golden lineage and the demig gods begin the Arenas Godfrey was a champion who valued martial strength over everything else and so sitting still even in peace time was not an option and so Godfrey finds the Arenas and we learn this via the ritual sword Talisman which reads A Talisman patterned after the swords used in ritual combat held to honor the Ury the practice had died out by the age of King consort rigan but remains of the Arenas where ritual combat took place can still be found in every Land by implication because this practice had died out under Radigan it means that this practice was established under Godfrey and this makes sense given of what we know of the man caran royalty as mentioned earlier already by this time the people of Leonia will have a rich history and the Academy of real Laria clearly precedes the carians and I see the establishment of their royalty as a fairly recent event given that rala is both the founder and now current Queen meaning that not enough time has even passed for there to be even more than one Monarch the godkin apostasy the godkin apostasy is a difficult one to place again but I think the main thing that we can say with some certainty is that it must have taken place after marica's Ascension because of the black flame monks we learn from their armor set that the black flame monks joined the forces of the Gods slaying black flame meaning that they were active at the same time of the the gods skin apostasy and given that the monks only existed after Mar had confined the flame we must place it after the beginning of the Ury age the reason for my focus on where this important event sits is because of what happens at the conclusion of the war it is very critical upon Malik's victory over the Glide Queen and her Apostles he seals death and death as we learn via the scouring black flame incantation which reads the black flame could once slay the gods but when malakith sealed destined death the true power of the black flame was lost this is the moment that death was confined and thus is super important because this is also the moment that the golden order was founded for The Mending Rune of the death Prince reads as follows the golden order was created by confining death and death this is also my reasoning for placing it at this stage as we know from other sources that the golden order has to have existed within this period before other certain events we learn from sorcerer roier that the leans were adopted into the Erry royal family I.E when ranala and rigan got married when the golden order was already around they were conceived at the great Academy of Rhea 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 this of course means a number of things in regards to the timeline the golden order was a thing before Radigan became Elden Lord and thus the events that led to its formation the removal of death after the godkin apostasy must also have already happened by the time of the two leonian Wars before Radigan married rala and before godfre was hounded from the lands between so now that we have established that what actually happened in this important event well the blackflame ritual incantation tells us that the Glide Queen is an imperion meaning that she was elected by the greater well at some stage as a nominee to replace Mara she and her followers the godkin apostles wielding the power of the Gods slaying black flame an element that wielded death and death as we learn via the numerous items like the scouring black flame we know via the godkin swaddling cloth that the purpose of these beings was to bring death to the gods and therefore we must assume that they were to bring death to Mara and her demigod family of course the godslayer great sword tells us of their defeat via malakith who not only bested the glom Queen but would also seal death and death to sap the power of the Gods slain black flame and death forever the golden order as already discussed the golden order is the New Order that reflects the new shape of the Elden ring one absent the Rune of death it is an order of death conf find it is also founded on another Principle as told To Us by Brother Corin who states the golden order is founded on the principle that Amica is the one true God the gomide queen was an imperion and it's almost as if Marica was so rattled by what another imperion meant it meant that she was disposable to the greater well thus she had to reestablish herself as the one true God not only that but the forces that opposed her the god-skin apostles had the power and the intention to slay her and her kin bringing her mortality starkly into view leading to the radical decision to completely confine death one further thing to note is that the golden order as a general body of rule is not the same as golden order fundamentalism which is a specific subset of Scholars that we will discuss later the two Wars of learia this is of course one of the major conflicts in the early Ary era that we learn of via two sword monuments which read the first leonian war rigan's Glory Burns Red as his hair and the second lonian war no victory for the golden nor for the moon no prize but atonement the birth of a vow it makes sense that These two factions would come into conflict as by now they would be the two remaining major factions in the lands between and given how aggressively the urry forces had been in eliminating all opposition it was inevitable that they would come for the Kens in their land this is one of the most important events in the lands between history and thus there are several points of interest to consider firstly Godfrey is still Elden Lord at this stage because he has not been hounded from the lands between until rigan has married rala as we learn via marriel given what we know of Godfrey's pensent for war it's interesting that we get very little mention of him during this conflict instead the focus goes elsewhere as this is the first emergence of a legendary hero this is the emergence of rigan who joins the Champions ranks seemingly out of nowhere and yet his heroism during these wars is repeatedly hammered home this isn't a l video on Radigan but if you would like to see my take on rigan then please watch my video on Marica but in essence I'm in the camp that believes that rigan has always been a part of America since she obtained godhood so that together they are the perfect alchemical Reus a living representation of the ideals of regression and convergence regardless of rigan's power this would be a hardfought conflict for both sides this would be in no small part thanks to the legendary carrying Knights whose legendary exploits we can learn via their sword description which reads these knight swords could serve as catalysts letting them wield sorceress battle skills despite numbering fewer than 20 this power made them a match for even the champions of gold in battle despite the low numbers of the caran knights their power and skill made them a match for the best of the Ary forces and thus two Wars would be fought to a standstill between both both the Erry and the caran forces but then something crucial would happen at the end of the second war peace peace Bound by marriage between Radigan champion of gold and rala queen of the Moon a ceremony that would take place in the Church of v in sight of both Moon and tree the caran Royal Line and Erry royalty were joined a remarkable display of integration shown by the UR Tre forces that has never again been seen rigan and ranala many important events would happen during the course of rala and radigan's marriage firstly the birth of three important future demigods radan Reichard and rany the other important factor is what rigan learned during his time married to ranala as we learn via the rigan talsman which reads as follows as the husband of renala of Cara the red-haired Radigan studied sorcery and as the husband of Queen Mara he studied incantations thus did the hero aspire to be complete the idea of combining intelligence-based sorceries and faith-based studies is a core facet of the golden order fundamentalism that rigan would later help develop War of the ancient dragons the war of the ancient dragons is another difficult one to place precisely all we can say for certain is that it took place after Godwin's death given his obvious involvement in the war but before the night of the black knives for obvious reasons I'm inclined to place it before Godfrey was hounded from the lands between as I see Godfrey's era as the era of War but beyond that I have no real proof and it could happen anywhere in Godwin's lifetime regardless the main takeaways from this era are gr Sachs being failed in the center of lell and the establishment of the draconic tree Sentinels and a Dragon Cult Within lell and of course the legendary friendship between Godwin and fortox Godfrey and the tarnished Godfrey's armor tells us that after he defeated all his worthy enemies the Hue from his eyes faded and it is clear that this is when Godfrey and his Warriors became tarnished the Hue from his eyes has a double meaning not only does it mean he has lost all purpose but it also means literally he has lost Grace tarnishing is the loss of Grace the sword Monument near kid reads Lord Godfrey At Last At the end of his campaign his golden armies unvanquished and unbowed yet finds Grace lost tattered and Faded it in fact appears that the loss of Grace is not accidental but a purposeful stripping by America as she once said the following my Lord and thy Warriors I divest each of thee of thy Grace With Thine Eyes dimmed ye will be driven from the lands between ye will wage war in a land ofar where you will live and die then after thy death I will give back what I once claimed return to the lands between wage war and brandish the Elden ring grow strong in the face of death Warriors of my lord lord Godfrey Godfrey was the lord of the battlefield and in the lands between he no longer had a purpose yet Mara did have a purpose for him and his Warriors and so she made them tarnished to go and fight out with the lands between and return when they were needed we know that the tarnished those without Grace are seen as lesser by those with Grace and we can see this in the way that Kenneth height reacts to us upon first meaning ah you've come to lend me your Aid have you well that's that's very kind but um no no the help is very much appreciated even from a tarnished and the way in which Mariel describes Godfrey being hounded from the lands between suggesting that he and his tarnish were chased by those with Grace out of the lands between because they were seen as lesser and unwelcome the Long March after being driven from the lands between Godfrey would lead his new tarnished on something known as the Long March which we learn of via his axe while it appears that this was a sort of crusade it apparently did have a purpose as we learn it came to an end via hu's remembrance which reads when Godfrey first Elden Lord was robbed of his grace becoming tarnished he took with with him his kin folk and left the lands between after the long march of the tarnish came to an end Godfrey divested himself of kingship becoming a simple Warrior once more thus he became hu again and after a long time of battling Wars that broke his axe he and his people would finally settle out with the lands between hu specifically became a Chieftain of the bad lands but the tarnish would become widespread throughout different nations the Ascension of rigan a well-known an important event as told To Us by Mariel Radigan abandons renala after Godfrey has been chased from the lands between and returns to the capital to marry Mara this is baffling to many including Mariel given rigan's relatively low standing he is just a mere champion and his abrupt abandonment of his wife upon his marriage to Mar he becomes the second Elden Lord and his children Redan Reichard and rany become marica's stepchildren the Divine twins at some point after rigan's marriage to rala the Twins melenia and Micha would be born special but cursed due to the nature of their birth from the one bodied God I.E being born from Mara and rigan while they are one body liia is Afflicted with the Scarlet root but according to G is elected as an imperion to replace Mara as the goddess of rot leading the New Order of rot and if you want to see a video discussing these ideas then I'd refer you to my outer God L video Micha is also chosen as imperion no doubt on account of his wisdom and together with rany we now have three potential successors to the next age development of fundamentalism we learned via discus of light triple rings of light and rigan's rings of light that Father and Son worked together to help develop the ideals and incantations of golden order fundamentalism and as such I attribute the birth of this theology to be around this time the motivations for Father and Son seem to be very different rigan is extremely loyal to the ideals of the golden order whereas Micha is seemingly seeking a cure for his sister to read her of the Scarlet Raw Micha The unalo rigan's Rings of light also tell us that Micha became disillusioned with the golden order and it must have been soon after that he would choose his own path as the unalo in time he would take the sapling of a minor her tree watering it with his own blood in an attempt to create his own her tree this of course would become the halic tree the holy tree Rea lucaria Rebels we learned from the remembrance of rala that after rigan left she was broken and the r larians took this opportunity to imprison rala within the grand Library something we learn via Mariel and in general it looks like raria and the cucus rebel from the Carion as we learn via a sword Monument which details a battle between the cucko and carry a Manor it reads the resting place of the contemptible cucko lost in the siege of Kara Manor and indeed some of the remnants of cucko forces are now puppets that Patrol the manor they once lay Siege to rany conspires with the nox we know the Assassins of the Knight of the black knaves are women from the Eternal cities most likely the Nimble sorceresses and at some stage rannie must have put her plans into motion some time before the assassination took place and reached out to the Eternal cities this is stage one in her plan to cut ties with her two fingers and it may well be that the event of the cuckoo rebellion and the downfall of her family's prominence spurred her into action though as we will soon see her plans would be halted by her brother the star Scourge night of the black knives the Rune of death is stolen from malakith and we know from malak's Black Blade that he only had the Rune hidden in his own flesh after this night meaning it was still located in his sword at this time and thus probably quite easy to steal Ran's co-conspirators managed to catch Godwin off guard due to their cloaks that fo the eye and carve the half wound of the centipede into his flesh using knives imbued with death and death but at the same time rannie has the other half carved into her own flesh to achieve her true goal the death of her flesh without the consequence of losing her soul and thus God win is basically used as a totem to take the soul death so rany can escape with her soul out of her imperian flesh burial of Godwin Godwin's living in death corpse is buried at the base of the great tree roots and from his body grows the death route which spreads through the lands between via these massive Roots this leads to the rise of those who live in death living reminders of the golden order's flaws and thus it becomes the target for Golden order fundamentalist Hunters fortox Mourns the death of his friend and enters his dream in an attempt to fight off the spread of Death From Within Godwin's own mind redan's studies and the star Scourge conflict I'm placing ranny's plot prior to redan's study of gravity magic at Celia because while he does use it to save CIA in the star Scourge conflict I believe his motivations have to be the arresting of fate and stopping Ran's plans we know that Redan is more golden order sympathetic than his siblings his golden armor set shows us the figures that he admires his father in the red plume and Godfrey lord of the battlefield two massive figures within the golden Pantheon we also know that Redan stopping the Stars directly affects Ran's schemes as Salin says the following the Stars alter the fate of the Kian royal family and the fate of your mistress Rani but long ago General radan challenged the swirling constellations and in a crushing Victory arrested their Cycles now he is the force that repulses the Stars if General radan were to Die the Stars would resume their movement and so too would rani's Destiny and in consort if we read the telescope item description it reads during the age of the Earth tree carrying a astrology withered on the VIN the Fate once WR in the night skies has been fettered by the golden order so it is Redan that fets fate and he's actually referred to here by the telescope as the golden order as we are told by a sword monument in kid redan's victory over the stars is called the star Scourge conflict Celia is kept safe from some Calamity and he earns his famous moniker the star scourge Mar shatters the Elden ring for whatever reason you believe the death of Godwin is the Catalyst for Mar finally shattering the Elden ring the intro cinematic shows the struggle between Mar and rigan and Mar's Hammer item description tells us what's Happening Here Mar is using the hammer to shatter the Elden ring while Radigan is trying to repair it both sides vying for control of the same body clearly the two halves now have radically different different beliefs and Views which leads to this struggle over the hammer oh radan Leal Hound of the golden order Thou Art yet to become me thou art yet to become a God let us be shattered both mine Other Self yeah ultimately we know who's Victorious and what happens the Elden ring is shattered and the world is never the same again and now I'll leave you in the able hands of my good friend L Hunter who will take us through the next era the shattering why hello there now we find ourselves at the shattering War the conflict that ultimately plunges the lands between into a cold war that lasts for 5,000 years according to Author George RR Martin after America shattered the Elden ring the opening cinematic tells us that her Demi God children inherited great runes shards of the Elden ring as well as an empty Throne an Altus plate sword Monument explains that a sovereign Alliance formed between the demigods but that the peace was shortlived diverging ideologies distrust and ambition rotted this Sovereign Alliance in the First Defense of Lanell the ER tree Capital was besieged by godfroy the grafted descendant of Godfree the first Elden Lord Lanell repelled the assault and the Dragonite Kristoff heroically captured godfroy a feat that earned him ER tree burial according to the knight's ashes we learned from godric Soldier ashes and dialogue from Kenneth height that God Fry's kin godric that grafted fled Lanell and was pursued all the way to storm Vil by star Scourge redon around this time morgot the grace given veiled Monarch and Lord Lord of lell took on the Persona of marget the Fel Omen the knights Cavalry set tells us that under the command of the Fel Omen they were deliverers of death for great warriors Knights and champions the war progressed and the perfumers of the capital turned their Healing Arts into Arts of war the uplifting aromatic States they commanded troops by using their Arts to remove their fear of death and to continue fighting as the war Drew on they wielded fire once prohibited for use by those who serve the her tree to burn their enemies according to the spark aromatic now we arrive at the second defense of lell where the fell Omen stacked High the corpses of Heroes and kept the inner wall of lell secure repelling the attack morgot would continue to Dawn the mantle of the fellow Omen through the arrival of the tarnished extinguishing the Ambitions of any who dared seek out the UR tree to be Elden Lord Gideon offir the all knowing explains that around this time the most appalling battle occurred along the slopes of Mount gilir Lanell clashed with the forces of prer Reichard who in the depths of his blasphemy had declared war on the gods and burned a minor her tree this horrific battle took its toll on lel's Army diminishing its power reichard's horrific blasphemy disillusioned and dissipated his remaining forces as Reichard was fully consumed by his plot to Devour the god Gods during this time sword monuments in Leonia and Lim grave state that melenia the severed in her clean rot nights marched Southward The Academy of Ral lucaria had its Gates shut and declared it would not interfere in the shattering according to Tops the blunt Stone melenia defeated godric the Graft in battle forcing him to beg for mercy after insulting her godric would remain within storm Veil following this defeat continuing to graft himself so that he might rise to the the strength of his forefathers of the golden lineage now we arrive at the climax of The shattering War melenia Blade of mola and general redon were the two mightiest demigods remaining according to the story trailer as Illustrated in the prologue melenia in her cleaner out nights met redon and his red Mains in the kalid Wilds the armies clashed and these two demigods locked horns in combat redon and melenia wounded each other and fought to a standstill it was then that melenia blade of Mika gave into the rot within her and unleash the Scarlet aonia an act that decimated the region of kalid and put both herself and redon out of commission redon his mind rotted would endlessly stock the battlefield awaiting an honorable death according to witch hunter jiren melania's Knight Finley would take the slumbering and consumed Melania back to the H tree where she would remain awaiting the return of her brother Mika however had been ripped out of the H tree and kidnapped by morg God's twin brother Moog while melenia campaigned as Illustrated in the prologue Mika's slumbering corpse would remain in M's clutches as he attempted to establish the mwin dynasty with Mika as his God and so the shattering war came to a standstill with every side broken and no Lord to take the throne with no Lord to succeed America the greater will abandoned the broken lands between but that was not the end and now we enter the era that we're currently in what I will call the age of the tarnished the tarnish return ah great rues are the stuff of demigods the children of the Goddess Queen Marica she who is vessel of the Elden ring tainted by the strengths of their ru WS her children Ward but none could become Elden Lord and so Grace was extended to your kind the tarnished Ana tells us everything we really need to know about why the tarnish were returned to the lands between the demigods had failed to take the throne and restore order and so this disgraced warrior class that had been left in the pocket by America and the greater well was seen as the last option to restore order we know that even before the player character enters the frey the tarnish have already been here for a long time and have a fairly storied history we know that varram was one of the first tarnish to visit Round Table hold we know the likes of vik and Bernal had their time in the sun both being serious contenders for lordship and this is the world that we step into a world with a rich and bloody history from the ancient dragons to the battel of aonia what Rich world that both George R Martin and Miyazaki have crafted here in fantasy there is no greater symbol of power than that of the dragon and Elden is no different the ancient dragons are Primal yet sophisticated brutal yet elegant they were the first custodians of the Elden ring and bearers of the greater Wells gold Immortal beings of tremendous power who have carved out an indelible Legacy on the lands between the greater world did not always have Amica as its chosen vessel nor did the earth tree even exist before then the greater well chose to exert its will three more beastial Primal power the dragon pdus sax being chosen as Elden Lord long before Godfrey even swung an axe under the rule of these Immortal custodians civilization took root with feral beastmen being granted intelligence and producing craft and architecture humans of the modern era could only dream of yet no age lasts forever and the rule of the Dragons faltered eventually being replaced with the Earth tree and their rule would collapse and their God would flee yet the dragons did not go quietly into the night and eventually would come into conflict with the lands of the UR Tre and would forever leave their mark on the lands between as a result reminders of their Majesty might and influence are everywhere in the lands between even in lell itself with many seeking to grasp even a fraction of the power that these Immortal beings once possessed so join me this week as we bask in the magnificence of the ancient dragon civilization when I now think of the timeline in Elden ring I begin to see distinct epochs that in some way mirror the evolution of life and the growth of civilization on our own Planet while I see there to be different periods Within These ages the three main stages of life and civilization that I see in the lands between are the primordial era the age of the dragons and the age of the UR Trey the dragons are so intensely tied with the early history of Elden Ring's world as well as the gestation of life itself representing one of the first forms of dominant life and most likely the first civilization in our own Planet IRL the dominant Theory by scientists is that we evolved from a primordial soup essentially a hot broth of molecules that would go on to be the building blocks of life however in Elden ring the development of Life on this Earth seems to have started with something called the one great and this is something we learn of via haetta an adherent of the frenzied flame she says the following the words of the three fingers as your maiden allow me to Define them all that there is came from the one great then came fractures and births and souls but the greater will made a mistake tor despair Affliction every sin Every curse everyone born of the mistake so life on this planet once took a singular form this one great there is no disparity or division of life that is until according to haetta the greater will decided to make desperate life with this one source of Life fracturing into a multitude of different life forms that would form the basis for the world that we know today I personally find it very interesting that the greater well is powerful enough to have started this change and it's even more interesting when we consider that the Elden Beast was sent to the Earth via the greater well we learn this via the Elden Stars incantation which reads as follows it is said that long ago the greater well sent a golden star bearing a beast into the lands between which would later become the Elden ring I I find this interesting because I believe it was this act that began the greater Well's influence over the Mortal plane for we learn from the remembrance of the Elden Beast that this is the living incarnation of order the greater Wills order one of the reasons that I believe that this is how the greater will fractured the one great and begat diverse life is because the greater will never directly acts on the mortal world it acts through vassals such as Mara its vassel God or the Elden Beast which is referred refer to as its vassel beast in the Elden remembrance and so it makes sense that this vassel Beast was sent to the Earth to enact its Master's vision and credit to sin and Sophie at the sinle lore podcast in their America and death video where they made this Nuance pretty clear and I'll link that below the greater Well's main objective in any era is to impose its order upon the world the Elden ring is clearly the main instrument through which the greater will achieves this a power to command the stars and the world around it and I now believe that the greater Will's decision to divide the one great and the arrival of the Elden Beast are two coinciding facts I speculate that it could have been this arrival of the beast of the Elden ring that influenced the division of the one great in the first place influencing the evolution of new life from the resulting fracturing of that life governed by the Elden ring evidently one of the first forms of life that would evolve out of this would be the dragon and as we will see later these are almost the perfect vehicles for the greater Wells Vision almost as if they are custom built for that very role perhaps directly influenced by the Elden ring and the greater will itself obviously the evolution of life on a planet is something that takes millions of years and while I am simply stating that there was once the one great there was in a division of life and then there was the dragons is quite arbitrary we can't really know the exact time skills but sufficed to say there was probably a long period of time between life first fracturing from the one great and the dragons taking command of the world indeed when we look at a later chapter and analyze tarnished archaeologist's work we will see that the dragon civilization takes up the prehistoric era tracing from the Stone Age right up to possibly the Iron Age and allegorical to our own world the difference between the stone Agee and the first emergence of life is of course millions of years so that should give you some understanding of the time scales we're talking about but now let us move to the age of the Dragons as I have just mentioned we consider it the prehistoric era not only because of some of the evidence we will look at later but because it is directly referenced as such in game for example any of the dragon talismans that we find read as follows the ancient dragons who ruled in the prehistoric era before the UR tree would protect their lord as a wall of living Rock so there we have it is dated as prehistoric and again we will further dive into this in a later chapter but for now suffice it to say the Earth tree was only a twinkle in the greater Well's eye really showing how long the greater well has ruled over life and indeed I argue that a greater will is actually responsible for all life on this Earth an idea that I will discuss in the next chapter but for now I want to discuss the general purpose of the ancient dragons and their relationship with the Elden ring the ancient dragons were the first instruments of the greater well and while this well seemed obvious to many people I do need to cover it because I have actually seen people disagree on this fact and believe that the ancient dragon served some outer God so I do think it's relevant at the onset of this video to discuss the dragon's relationship to the greater will and their relationship to the Elden ring my main source for the dragons being tied to the greater will of course comes from pedus Sax's remembrance which reads as follows the dragon lord whose seat lies at the heart of the storm Beyond time is said to have been Elden Lord in the age before the Earth tree Once his God was fled the Lord continued to await its return pusx was an Elden Lord and that a position that would later be held by Godfrey and rigan and then potentially ourselves Elden Lord isn't just a generic title for any Lord of any outer God it is a specific title for a lord associated with the greater will associated with the Elden ring I believe a lot of the confusion surrounding this comes from the part that says once his God was fled which people assume to be an outer God but remember Amica is a God and Godfrey was her Elden Lord and this is the same relationship that's been described here it isn't an God it is a vessel god of the greater well and besides that the association with the Elden ring for the dragons should be clear by the presence of a pretty prominent Elden ring engraving in the center of far maula albeit an Elden ring that has a different makeup an Elden ring for a more primeval and primordial era and if you'd like to watch a video assessing this different Elden ring and the differences between the modern Elden ring I'd highly recommend ratat tasker's video called the greater will doesn't care about the golden order and I will link that below if you want to see the Elden ring dissected any more dedicated lore video but this Elden ring is representative of the dragon's rule it even looks more primeval and primordial far more wild in its appearance than the refined Elden ring of the golden order and this is fitting of both eras the dragon's era was one of chaotic primeval life whereas the golden order is a more sophisticated refined era of convergence and regression however these are both sanctioned eras of the greater will they are both orders of the greater will and as ratas or so aply put it the greater will does not care what form order takes only the order is imposed whether life be represented by the greater will in the form of the cble or in the form of the earth tree and with that said let us talk talk about the CRS and its relationship with the dragons thanks to the godkin noble set we know that the crucible is the primordial form of the earth tree meaning The Crucible grew into what we know is now the Earth tree they are one and the same just different stages of its life cycle they are both a manifestation of the Elden ring they are both nexuses of Life Energy but where the AR Trey represents ordered Coes converged life The Crucible represents a chaotic churn of primeval Life Energy if there are those who are wanting to learn more about my take on the earth tree and what it represents I would refer you to my America and er Tre lore video where I go into that subject in extensive detail but returning to The Crucible it is described not only as the primordial form of the earth tree but the primordial source of life this is something told To Us by The Crucible scale and not Talisman both of which which read a vestage of The Crucible of primordial Life Born partially of devolution it was considered a signifier of the Divine in ancient times but is now increasingly distained as an impurity as civilization has advanced The Crucible of primordial life suggests that Not only was The Crucible a source of life but it may have been the source of all life this idea of The Crucible being tied to all life itself is backed up by the description of salua spear that describes The Crucible as being close in nature to life itself here is a narrative that I'm going to suggest the Elden Beast was sent to the lands between and became the Elden ring which began to exert its power upon the land and it was this that fractured the one great and begat the CH of Life known as The Crucible and from this all life would come while this is a course speculation it does make sense to me and it pieces together how the greater well created diverse life in the first place these types of thoughts have also led me to consider the nature of the greater well itself often I see the greater well described as an outer God but it's never directly referred to as an outer God what other outer God would actually have the power to do what the greater will is done divide the one great and create diverse life what if the greater will is more like elitar from Lord of the Rings the Supreme Creator deity and the outer gods are no more to the greater will than a vassel God Like Mara this is an idea that I am slowly coming around to and I think I will cover it in my next lore Theory video anyway the foundational point that I'm getting at here is that I believe The Crucible had to have existed at the time of the Dragons if it was the source of all life on this planet and again I am going over this because some people disagree on the fact that The Crucible existed at the time of of the Dragons there are also other artistic hints that the dragons assisted at the time of The Crucible we learn via salura spear that this spear is modeled after The Crucible therefore a wild looking tree quag in one of her lower videos brought attention to some of the reliefs that can be found in fire Mazula that appear to show two beings to me either beastman Miss begotten or some form of dragonkin flanking a tree like formation given we know the crucial's importance and its appearance it would appear likely then that these reliefs depict The Crucible lending Credence to the fact that The Crucible was indeed around during the age of the Dragon for these reliefs to have been carved in the first place this may also explain the depiction of the Elden ring inscription we talked about earlier is it possible that the branches overlaid the Elden ring or in fact a rune embedded into the Elden ring that was tied to The Crucible or perhaps it is merely an artistic overlay meant to depict the importance of The Crucible at this stage regardless of the artistic facets the very abilities of the Dragons themselves seem to belay a connection to The Crucible one made apparent to me thanks to last protagonist's excellent video on the great tree Crucible and golden order which I highly recommend and we link below in that video last protagonist quite correctly points out that the lightning of the ancient dragons is red and the gravel Stone seals description implies that this is a red gold for it reads as follows the worship of the ancient dragons does not conflict with belief in the earth Trey after all the seal and lightning itself are both imbued with gold so if the lightning is imbued with gold it must be imbued with red gold and this is important because Red Gold is closely associated with the age of The Crucible we learn this from the weapon of Crucible Knight Ovis for his great sword reads as follows this sword is imbued with an ancient holy Essence its red tint exemplifies the nature of primordial gold said to be close in nature to life itself and is further backed up by the guilded great Shield which reads the red tinge in the gold coat mirrors the primordial matter that became the Earth tree so while it is clear the dragons are tied to the greater well gold and the Elden ring I think there is enough evidence to suggest that they were tied directly to the power of The Crucible and they are excellent avatars for its power in this more primitive beastial era of chaotic life with that said let us now look at the form of these dragons these avatars of Primal life and the power that they were able to must we get a great overview of the two main symbols of the ancient dragon's power lightning and stone via the lightning strike item description which reads ancestors of the modern dragons the ancient dragons had scales of gravel Stone and wielded lightning as their weapon so clearly the most important aspect of their form is their gravel Stone scales for as these scales that give them their immortality and this is something we learn via the dragon scale blade which reads as follows a weapon made by sharpening a gravel Stone scale thought to be the source of ancient dragon immortality what is interesting is that the immortality granted by the scales may be a result of the Stone's manipulation of time for the ancient dragon smithing Stone reads as follows smithing Stone made by polishing a golden gravel Stone a scale of the ancient dragon lord and hidden treasure of farum aula the ancient dragon lord seat is said to lie Beyond Time this Stone lightly twist time allowing the creation of a weapon capable of slaying a God as we will see later in the video this power over time is clearly tied to how varilla exists Beyond time while this item description only refers to the dragon lord ie plac sacks I believe that we can extend it to all gravel Stone as being able to slightly twist time can explain their immortality because what if the stones mean that the dragons do not really exist in time or the timeline as we do as Mortals do what if like fire moua they exist Beyond Time and thus never actually age in effect making them Immortal this is certainly one of the main sources of of their power and is what sets them apart from their lesser modern mortal kin and indeed we see that the gravel Stone covering their entire body actually gives them protective strength and it becomes legendary this protection because in time dragons would come to represent protection and this is something we learn from any of the Dragon talismans which read the ancient dragons who ruled in the prehistoric era before the arery would protect their lord as a wall of living Rock and so it is that the shape of the Dragon has become symbolic of all manner of protections this association with physical defense of course makes sense as their scales are literal Stone and despite being part of a living being it still behaves like regular Stone something that we can see if you look carefully at the remains of grand Sachs who now has moss growing on him unlike a regular soft tissue body that would decompose after time and certainly not have moss growing on it this Stone corpse remains just as any other Stone construction would just as the walls that surround it the gravel stone is a remarkable gift indeed for not only does it provide them with immortality but also great protection and I believe we can see how Central this stone is to their own identity by analyzing their names in an interesting post on the atmology subreddit a commenter called snow Peppers 92 23 wrot down some of the words found in elen ring including the names of the ancient dragons the four named ancient dragons we come across are fortox LX placu sax and grandx in this post snow paper breaks down the Latin beginning participle of each name fortox is the strong Grand sax is the large Lance saxs the bearer of the Lance and pusx the cam or peaceful I think this is fitting for each of them fortox is mighty lanx does bear her Lance or glaive grand sax is undeniably massive and placu sax is beamed when we first meet him or perhaps it is an indicator of his style of rule while he was Elden Lord however it is the second participle that is of interest to me Sachs which snow paper breaks down as Stone and I do think this is a correct interpretation because the description of Fortis Sax's Lightning Spear does appear to transliterate his name in the same way for sax mightiest boulderstone another interesting facet of their physiology is of course their Golden Wings a subject touched upon by Zuli in her a horrible nightmare video and as always I will link that below if you're interested however in the course of that video zulie essentially suggests that it is the fleshy skin of the dragons that that is made of gold pointing out that it appears on the wing membrane and under the wounded portions of placedo Sax's skin this makes me wonder about the very nature of the Dragons themselves clearly they are exceptional beings Immortal powerful intelligent and even seem to have some latent abilities related to time and now we see that gold literally the symbol of the greater will is part of their very flesh these truly are the greatest and most perfect Servants of the greater will as though they were custom designed by the greater will or formed directly by the Elden ring with the basic forms of these Majestic dragons covered I do want to touch upon their Elden Lord and God pusx is obviously a being far greater than the rest of his kin far different he is the Elden Lord and seems so connected to the power of the greater will in the Elden ring that he breathes literal golden and fire as we learn via the placedo Sax's Rune item description indeed there is another Beast that also breeds golden fire a beast so tightly tied to the Elden ring and the greater well that it should highlight just how important it is that placedo sax breathes this gold flame it shows how close he is in nature to the Elden ring and the greater well alongside his ability to breathe gold and fire he also has four heads or maybe five that sets him far apart from the rest of his kin while he only has two now we know he had more thanks to the depiction on the old Lord's Talisman as well as the neck winds that we can see on his body four or five doesn't really matter because it is clear which myth that placu sax is evoking and by examining this myth we may in turn learn more about this dragon lord and their enigmatic God of course believe that placedo sax is drawing on the myth of Tiamat the Mesopotamian god of the sea and to quote Wikipedia the symbol of primordial creation sounds fitting does it not we have at length discussed how the dragons are the very symbol of chaotic primordial life the symbols of The Crucible era and so is it not fitting that their Elden Lord is drawn from a real world myth that also represents this idea to explain why pedus sax draws upon Tiamat we need to go down a little bit of a weird rabbit hole because as you can see from these more ancient depictions of Tiamat the imagery doesn't quite match up as Tiamat appears more like a serpentine Manore type character yeah despite the original Source most people in popular culture associate Tiamat with a multi-headed dragon and this is thanks to Dungeons and Dragons in the 1970s when tmat was reintroduced as the multi-headed dragon we all know and love yet despite that linking places ax to Tiamat feels right for a number of reasons TI is an important figure in Mesopotamian mythology firstly she creates a number of beasts including dragons and a note that in D and D mythology she is directly the mother of dragons and this fits in with placu sax being the lord of the dragons in Elden ring perhaps even suggesting he was the first of their kind and actually birth them into the world through the coupling with the enigmatic God he is consort to pus sax is possibly the father of all dragons the greatest of their kind he also appears to be the first to have commanded the lightning stretching the semantics of the wording found in the dragon King's crck bade it refers to his lightning as primeval lightning reinforcing the idea that he was the first of his kind to master the lightning in and indeed his Mastery over the lightning is far beyond anything else we see with the other dragons while they are able to Fashion it into Spears he is able to divide it into claws even becoming a storm of lightning himself the way in which placu sax fights the way in which he Wheels the lightning and the way he can fade into a storm is truly remarkable and gives the impression that he himself is a force of nature his lightning manipulation exceeds the abilities of any other dragon by a mile and makes it look pretty pathetic in comparison to his powers he is a manifestation of power and life and this is reflected in his Mastery over the storm and primeval lightning and in his unmatched power with the myth of tiat in mind let us try and address the god mentioned in pidio Sax's remembrance for there is no other mention of this God in the lore as discussed this God is presumably comparable to Mara a vessel god of the greater well supported by its Elden Lord placu sax and ruling over a more Primal era of Greater will rule in mythology Tiamat was married to abzu now abzu as a concept is something I discussed a long long time ago on my lower video for Dark Souls where I discussed the deep and I will link that below if you are interested however we are talking about the personified absu and in this sense who was married to Tiamat abzu is the Sumerian god of the deep sea of the Abyss the Primeval sea below the underworld in the anuma Alish a Babylonian Epic on creation Tiamat and her husband asbu are representative of the Overland Sea and the deep sea respectively and the two Me by mixing their Waters giving birth to some of the first deities before they are in turn murdered by their children who over overthrow them in all of the mythologies that abzu and tat appear in they are seen as primordial Gods Who Bore the first generation of deities given pedus Sax's association with Creation in early primeval chaotic life it is fair to assume that this missing God will have taken a similar form and ultimately will have been a god representative of primordial life perhaps the enuma Alish also gives us insight into what happened to placu sax and his God TI and absu were overthrown by their children after all perhaps placu sax and his God face an Insurrection as well from the other dragons they children at the end of the day something did cause the terrible wound on placu Sax's form and cut off his missing heads something drove their God away we will discuss the collapse in Dragon site in more detail but let these speculative ideas percolate for now overall I do view placedes sax as the progenitor the leader of an age of primordial life and with that said let us now turn to the civilization that he and his children built or should I say the civilization that the beastmen built on behalf of them so now it is time for us to discuss the beastmen of farum aula at the start of this chapter I would just like to shout out an excellent video by an extraordinary Channel and that channel is tarnished archaeologist and specifically his video on Far maula people have been recommending this channel to me for weeks and boy is it a special one the tarnish archaeologist goes hard in analyzing environmental details and their attention to detail is remarkable I'm going to directly reference their video in a moment for some specific details however I think it's important to note that their ideas have definitely influence my ideas on beastman society and the timeline as a whole so Props to tarnished archaeologist in their farilla video tarnished archaeologist makes a series of connections that lead us to conclude that far Milla and the civilization therein was the earliest civilization in the history of Elden Ring's World tarnished archaeologist does this by analyzing the burial practices of the beastmen within farilla burial practices being one of the first indicat in human history of society becoming more complex beyond the basics of hunter gatherers ta Likens these burials to a real world burial cache known as the varar necropolis in Bulgaria and one cannot deny that these are clearly the real world inspiration the site is a fifth millennium BC burial site where one of the burials showed a person of great importance surrounded by many gold Trinkets and objects ta even goes out the way to do a side by-side comparison which highlights that the golden bracelets and the flat gold objects are identical to the burial found in Far moua to's conclusion as to what this means is that this Society far Mula Society must have been the earliest to realize the significance of gold for the gold found in these Graves must be on aloid gold due to the period of which the Varna burials took place the calic period period a period in which Alloys were still not a thing so the gold found in the VAB burials and in Philla were unalloyed gold the natural source of gold found throughout both of our worlds this is a really insightful basis for the rest of this chapter as it allows us to fully comprehend how truly ancient this civilization really was as I've said the tarnished archaeologist refers to this as the calal lithic period a transitional period between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age thereby fitting into the notion of prehistory that we had discussed earlier in the video and again for comparison in the real world the Varner burials are dated back to the fifth millennium BC this is a truly old civilization and again I commend the tarnished archaeologists for this really insightful video and really would plead with you to go and give them a subscribe and watch their content these ideas of ancient burials and the allegorical comp comparisons to our own early cultures really gives the impressions of the first complex society resulting from the first sentient species evolving and becoming more intelligent this prehistoric Society of the Dragon Empire can be broken down into two component parts the beastmen and the ancient dragons and as we can see from staty the dragons quite clearly held the dominant position especially when one considers what we have discussed in the prior chapters and the importance that the Elden Lord and the dragons had to this era the Beast men's lore really backs up the idea of an early formative society as their minds begin to develop as their lore gives us the impression that they were newly raised to intelligence at this time and this is something we learn via the beastial Vitality incantation which reads having gained intelligence the beasts must have felt how their wildness slipped away as civilization took hold so these beastmen were granted intelligence and that means instead of having gained it naturally via Evolution and over time it seems as though instead they were granted their intelligence most likely by the greater well or the dragon's God this is of course speculation but I personally prefer the latter explanation that it was the god of the dragons that granted the intelligence to the beastmen apart from anything else it would explain why the beastmen venerate the dragon so dearly as we can clearly see in the staty found around farilla and by the very existence of farilla clergy via the Chena regardless of whoever granted their intelligence the intelligence granted to the beastmen allowed them to behave much as our ancestors did by using their hands to use tools and as tarnished archaeologist points out this Advent of tool use is celebrated by the chinua which reads as follows the design celebrates a BEAST's five fingers symbolic of the intelligence once granted upon their kind the Chena is based on an Italian short sword of the same name in real life with its name meaning five fingers so named as a result of the width of the blade as it is next to the guard which is fitting given the design in Elden ring as we can see five fingers along the bottom of the blade and symbolically this sword is clearly meant to represent the Advent of tool use the Advent of using their five fing fingers to wrap their fingers around tools such as this Blade the use of tools in this manner is the pivotal divider between beings of higher sentients like humans and more beastial life forms indeed the whole Advent of beastmen taking up the tool and being granted intelligence is extremely reminiscent of the famous scene from the classic 2001 A Space Odyssey this film from 1968 is based on a short story called The Sentinel and in essence charts Humanity's history from primate to space travel with one main notable difference the film suggests our Evolution was Guided by an alien intelligence marked by strange unnatural obelisks or Sentinels that appear at pivotal moments in human development to guide and teach us in the film the first instance of this happening happens to our ancestors the homonyms the film opens with a tribe of homonyms being driven from their Watering Hole by a rival tribe before coming across this unnatural alien Obelisk they eventually find the courage to touch the Obelisk before they all Retreat not long after one of their number is inspired for some reason to take op a bone and use it as a tool a smashing Implement with tools in hand the tribe of these hominin returned to the water hole they had been chased away from and easily defeat and drive off their Rivals with these new weapons the film then Cuts away and skips forward millions of years later to an Era of space travel the implication being that it was intelligent intervention that put the tool in hands of our ancestors and thus provided the foundations for our development into a sentient intelligent species and it is how I see the relationship between the beastmen and the dragons SL the greater well upon being granted intelligence it looks as though the beastmen will have used their five fingers to pick pick up stone tools as suggested by tarnished archaeologist who points out the beastial sling incantation which reads as follows it is said that in the time before the erery stones were the first weapons of the beasts who had gained intelligence this again reinforces the extremely early period of civilization that the beastmen represent using stone tools and weapons much like the real world Stone Age which marked the beginning of our ancestors use of tools of which many are believed to have first been built from Stone but it is fascinating because we see the beastmen developing more and more advanced tools and working with more Advanced Materials as time goes on and in essence their Journey represents the entirety of the world's prehistory period I.E the Stone Age moving from the use of stone tools into the later period of the calic as we discussed earlier however we can also track their development Beyond this into what we would know as the Iron Age or the early ancient historical era for the Beast men that we actually fight do not use Stone weapons they use weapons made of iron such as described by the bast's cleaver which reads as follows carved Greatsword of colossal Siz forged of dull iron and wielded by the beastmen of far maula the blade is incredibly heavy but well balanced comparatively easy to wield for the damage it delivers it is clear the beastmen possess knowledge Beyond human can this makes us think of the Iron Age which followed the Bronze Age and is really seen as the true transitional period from prehistory to ancient history while iron is a natural element using iron in a manner that allows it to be used as a tool or a weapon requires more advanced science and I think in this case Wikipedia is apt in describing why the use of iron and the ad vent of the Iron Age marked a true transitional period in human society as it states the following in archaeology the Iron Age refers to the Advent of feris Metallurgy the adoption of iron coincided with other changes in some past cultures often including more sophisticated agricultural practices religious beliefs and Artistic Styles which makes the archaeological Iron Age coincide with the axial age in the history of philosophy although iron ore is common the metal working techniques necessary to use iron are very different from those needed for the metal used earlier through the beastmen we can get a clear timeline of the earliest civilization in Elden R lore that is allegorical to the rise of our own human civilization the granting or gaining of intelligence the use of stone tools the use of unalloyed metals and more advanced burial techniques and finally the use and development of iron weapons the full track of a civilization right from the early Stone Age to the Iron Age fully cementing the idea that this civilization of the dragons and the beastmen was the earliest civilization in this world even pre ancient civilizations of the old Palace etc for while the old Palace civilization and its kin are ancient civilizations based upon the Greeks and the Sumerians the ideas we have discussed read the Stone Age Bronze Age and Iron Age far predates even these ancient civilizations that the O and old palaces were based upon yet despite the Primitive nature of their Origins the beastmen evidently were capable of building some wonders and even outpacing the abilities of later civilizations as hinted at by the description of the beastman cleaver that we just read this is once again reinforced by the beast's jar Shield the item description of which reads Shield fashioned from a tall broken jar carried by the basemen of fire moua the basemen have always fired Earth and wear jars for the express purpose of making Shields such are their ways strange though they are the bizarre practice of firing pots and being able to wield them as Shields is a lost art something that is again Beyond human craftsmanship then of course we have to consider the Magnificent far mailla itself a glorious construction that is far more Grand than many of the constructions that would come from later civilizations Millennia later this is something that is reflected in the real world today many do not comprehend how ancient societies built the structures that they did as I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter I speculate that the intelligence of the beastmen was tied to their Lords the dragons tarnished archaeologists suggest that the beastmen have now reverted to their bastial nature losing their intelligence and they suggest this due to the the animations and appearance of the beastmen in far maula they are crawling around and acting far more like beasts if their fate and intelligence is truly tied to the dragons then I certainly agree with this assertion with the collapse of the Dragon Empire and The Disappearance of the god that likely granted them that intelligence it would make sense that their minds have dimmed and they are shadow of what they once were yet we can still Marvel at their great works and with that said let us have a look at Philla itself while the beastmen venerated the dragons as seen in the statuary and by the existence of the clergy it is clear that the dragons needed the beastmen as mighty as the dragons were and as intelligent as they were surely they were not Builders and Craftsmen themselves their bodies are not built for it they have predatory four-legged bodies without opposable thumbs or fingers and this would have restricted their ability to use tools and craft by comparison we have already just seen that the beastmen have numerous examples of being able to wield tools and weapons and I would suggest this is why they were given intelligence in the first place and granted the power of the dragon's lightning to help defend their civilization they were the workers of the Dragon civilization the Craftsmen the builders the priests and the Warriors as such I attribute the construction of far mazilla to the beastmen it must only have them that built it this is an extraordinary fate that must seem impossible to the later factions of the lands between given the time disparity between this era and the Lan Dale era there is one other detail of interest to me found within far Billa and that is the Engravings and depictions of human characters these human characters also appear to be of high standing as they are dressed in what we could consider aristocratic robes and garbs some carrying items as associated with royalty like scepter so what are we to make of this well as far as I see it there are two plausible explanations one humans also lived within this society and held high positions within the hierarchy or number two these are dragons in human form for we learn via L Sax's glaive item description the ancient dragons are able to take human form however we do get some evidence that humans may have lived amongst the ancient dragon for when creating your character you have the option of a number of Bas template appearances and one of these appearances is called Draconian and the description of that reads as follows the Stony face of the people of the ancient dragons among whom life is typically short now this is obviously really interesting because it does suggest that these people have some sort of association with the dragons they are the people of the ancient dragons suggesting they were humans that lived among them and this is certainly who I can attribute these human characters being and perhaps they did hold positions of authority within Dragon society and perhaps they maybe helped the beastmen build far maula but ultimately I leave it to you to decide what is your truth in regards to these depictions given its Grandeur and its Legend it's obvious that this is an important construction for the beastman and dragon civilization so what was it to them well we know From the aula beastman Ashes that Philla is a mosum for an ancient dragon lord and the fact that this is a mosum is very interesting we have just discussed in length after all how complex burials became a core part of this new fledgling society and as such it makes sense that they would build a mosum for not only does it house the mighty dragons but we can see that this is the burial place for the beastmen and their kin no doubt venerating people of importance with jewelry and ornate burials however phula is not just referred to as a mosum it is also referred to as different titles and I believe that this is because phula is the Apex of this civilization it was the center of their entire world this was the religious and cultural heart of the Dragon civilization we've discussed numerous times how the beastmen venerated the dragons and indeed we see the statuary throughout phula suggesting it is a holy place as well and this is reinforced by the fact it is referred to as a temple in the ruin fragment item description but is also the seat of their lord the dragon lord pusx and it is a Royal City as stated by the old Lord's Talisman which reads it is said that the ancient Royal City of far maula has been slowly crumbling since time in Memorial it is a capital A Temple and a burial ground Allin one indeed the dragon king must still hold it in reverence or sense its importance for the majority of the ancient dragon survivors still appear to be found here we could even speculate that their degenerate cousins the modern dragons also feel the pool of their people here as the models show encircling the Ruins In The Sky Box of Fire mazilla have modern Dragon physiology though admittedly I may be just looking too closely it's something the developers didn't intend us to but whatever species the dragons are in the Sky Box their purpose is to show how important this site is still to The Dragon King thousands of years later after the civilization's collapse let us attempt to look at the atmology of the term farilla to try and grasp what this city truly is and what it means to the dragons in an interesting post on RIT which I will link below a commenter called shabiri grape broke down the root words behind far aula in which they concluded that farm in Latin comes from the Greek word for Lighthouse and aula has ties to azur meaning in totality blue Lighthouse or Lighthouse of blue so what could this possibly mean well I'd suggest that Lighthouse is actually something that fits given what I've just discussed regarding the dragons far moua is almost like a beacon for their kind and in this way it is their Lighthouse and aula or azur could be in reference to the fact it is in the sky in the blue this is just speculation of course but I certainly feel like the lighthouse part does make sense as I see this as a beacon for all Dragon kind however despite its current relation to the sky it's clear to me that phula was not always a floating construction we can see huge chunks of Earth still attached to its Underside as if it was torn from the very Earth including large suedes of land that actually have natural trees growing on it in addition we can see Pathways or bridges that look to have been broken as if they were once connected to something else but have been broken apart now that damage may have come during the city's destruction but in tandem with chunks of Earth attached to his base leads me to conclude that this was once an Earthbound construct possibly part of a larger City but where this then takes us back to one of the earliest Community theories that was going around near the launch of Elden ring that has to do with the Divine Towers in the lands between now I cannot remember exactly who first circulated the ideas but they certainly weren't my theories and the earliest post that I can still find is on Reddit by a user called webs who quite rightly points out that the Divine Towers have a very curious placement they are all aligned and they are all around a coastal Basin and this Basin almost looks like a chunk ripped out the side of the continent the placement is clearly not random but why is it possible that this central part of the map was once where far isula sat and these towers flanked the entire city possible for sure but I'm not sure I fully agree with some who say the Divine Towers were definitely once part of Greater farilla as while the architecture is similar they are not exactly the same however I could buy that this was once where farilla sat and that the Divine Towers were built upon the ruins of what was left or placed to Ward against the Gap that once contained the seat of the greater Well's chosen God and Elden Lord however despite these towers not being an exact match for far Mula architecture there is one Earthly bound example that does exactly match this style of architecture from far maula and I of course refer to the bastial sanctum in Dragon Barrow of kid the dwelling of gank Beast clergyman not only is the sanctum itself an exact match architecturally inside and out but in the surrounding area we also find familiar burial practices of deceased beastmen posed in a dramatic fashion after death a practice we also see throughout fire maula the location of this building is no less significant hanging on the edge of the Basin we have just identified adding weight to the argument that this Basin this Gap in the map was once where far maula's Capital actually lay as the last remaining piece of farilla architecture On Earth Is Right on the edge of this area furthermore the betio sanctum sits on a cliff with a really sheer face almost as if the landmass that it was attached to has fallen or has been torn away I believe that the beastial sanctum is the last remaining structure on this Earth of the far maula metropolis and it greatly adds weight to the idea that the capital would have once sat here in regards to grank malakith I have a full video on his relationship to the beastmen and I will link that below indeed if any doubts remain that this was once the site of fire mazilla then wol they look at the site of Grace near the beastial sanctum called farum gra bridge and by reviewing the details of this bridge we do indeed see that it follows the same architectural style as far moua therefore it is almost a certainty that Philla was once situated in this Basin once attached to the landmark of dragon's Barrel before being ripped away I also note that this is called farum Great Bridge not far aula Great Bridge going back to what I said about far aula before and aula being related to the blue of the sky is it possible it was renamed faram aula when it was brought into the sky due to azur being linked to Blue and that it was just called farum when it was Earthly bound all speculation of course but one cannot deny that the Chunk in the middle of the map is pretty glaring ing what is more important to consider is why far Milla seems to be flying and why it is wreathed in storms now what follows is of course my speculation given we don't have actually any in-game lore that directly tells us why it is floating in the air but I believe it must have something to do with phila's relationship to time we've already discussed that the ancient dragons have a nent power over time and Fara is frequently referred to as being Beyond time so such as in the ancient dragon smithing Stone item description I believe that putting it Beyond time was an action taken by pusx to prevent the collapse of their empire to prevent his own death we know that pusx like his kin has a power over time as well as storms we've already discussed that the dragon lord has a connection to primeval lightning and this connection seems so deep that he is able to transform himself into a literal storm the Primeval manifestation of lightning and given placu Sax's connection to the storms I find the description of the old Lord's Talisman interesting for it reads a legendary Talisman depicting the Ancient King whose seat lies at the heart of the storm Beyond time indeed the words found in the old Lord's Talisman are to be taken quite literally for it states that phula lies at the heart of the storm Beyond Time the time locked farulla is indeed in the heart of the storm that is bearing far maula aoft for when we enter its heart we only enter the time locked phula when the storm expands and engulfs Us in the Cinematic and as it expands and touches the rubble time begins to rewind and the damage is undone highlighting that the temporal aspect that is affecting Philla is to be found in the heart of this storm at the center of far aula so not only is far aula trapped in time it is in a storm Beyond Time this for me means it's the Hallmarks of pedus Sax's power that has created the position that has now trapped far maula I would speculate that using his powers over the storm and over time placu Sax at the time of his Reckoning ripped far maula using his power of the storm and froze it within time of course I am culating heavy here and my main source of evidence is due to the fact there's a lot of storms in phula and placu ax has a relationship with storms so that being said there are definitely other possible explanations for far milla's floating abilities a viewer of mine has offered an alternative explanation valeris rehal has suggested that fire mazilla may be connected to gravity magic and I will leave a link to their post on Reddit if you want to consider this alternate Theory there's a lot to the Theory so I won't describe it here and definitely recommend you read their Theory but one of the points that really interests me is they point out the fact that the meteor that strikes fire Milla might have something to do with its floating ability and just for reference the ruins great sword is the source for where we know that a meteorite once struck far moua as valeris quite rightly says gravity magic is often associated with meteorites is it possible then that when this Mite impacted on far maula when it was still on the ground that its gravity magic could have affected far maula somehow or been exploited by its inhabitants later this is certainly an interesting concept and one I'm actually growing to like more than my own Theory and so again thanks to valeris for these really interesting ideas and I'll link his original post below regardless of how it ended up in the air and its relationship with time we do know that phaz does physically exist somewhere in the world as we can see it from various points in the lands between it isn't another realm or Dimension however it's it physical position does not fully reflect its position in time and while the Royal City has been crumbling since time immemorial as is stated by the old lords Talisman this is its state in only one time and these ideas of time that others find confusing thankfully do make sense to me in my head because I watched a lot of Doctor Who when I was younger so whilst this physical fire moua does exist in our time and is crumbling far mailla truly exists Beyond Time and thus when we go to far mailla into its heart we can step into the far ailla of old far ailla restored before it was destroyed by the meteorite this is Fara of a different time far maula of no time and this is why placei sax is still here still alive despite his Grievous injuries because he is existing Beyond Time and thus his body and his realm aren't feeling the effects of time and with that said let us now look at the Calamity and collapse of the the dragon Empire that warranted this time blck in the first place as magnificent as the ancient dragon civilization was it did not last forever as we well know and now it is truly ancient history the literal destruction of fara's masonry came at the hands of a meteorite something we've just discussed but it's something we can learn of via the ruins great sword which reads originally rubble from a ruin which fell from the sky the ruin it came from crumbled when struck by a meteorite so I had thought when researching this video that this item description alongside the ruined fragments would discredit the notion the meteorite could have struck farulla while it was still on the ground and caused its ability to be able to float because of the way that the ruins fell from the sky however that isn't entirely true as it means that it could have crumbled when it was hit and that its ruins fell off it and crumbled off it when it was in the sky an injury from that past meteoric hit however that being said I am still of the notion that pus Act made the city float in his desperate attempt to save his civilization alongside locking it in time and it was after this point that it was struck by a meteorite either way on either side of this argument it was not the meteorite that actually caused the collapse and destruction of the Dragon King this just serves as a final nail in their civilization's coffin so no I did not believe this meteorite caused the fall of the dragons and that it was caused by something else and this fall must be tied to the abandonment of this civilization's God either because their God fled or it was an event that led their God to flee which would lead their civilization to collapse and for me there's a number of factors to consider as well as the time scales that we have to look at the first time scale is one I've discussed before something that I've discussed in my Ur tree l video in that video I discussed the fact that there is evidence that possibly suggests a large vacuum of power a long time period between the collapse of the ancient dragons rule and the rule of Queen Mar I.E that the ancient dragons didn't rule up till the moment that the Earth tree emerged I suggest this for a number of reasons in that video firstly we have clearly demonstrated throughout this video that the age of the Dragons was so far in the past Millennia ago to the point where it stretched credulity that their empire could have lasted all this way to the beginning of the Ary era which if we're carrying on our earlier allegories of the prehistory period the Lindale era is more like the Medieval era of our world this is a huge stretch of time in addition to this there is an event that is closer to the earthree era which is centered around a subspecies of the modern dragons the frost dragons we learn of s of an via bore alysis mist which reads the ice dragons were once Lords of the mountaintops long ago until they were defeated by the fire Giants and chased from its peak Borealis is a modern Dragon so we know that these ice dragons were of the same type the fire Giants are a civilization that overlapped with the rise of the earth tree as well as the Mountaintop astrologers this therefore places the fire Giants and thus this conflict far far far closer to our current ERA than the ancient dragon civilization the reason that I see this is significant is because I see the modern dragons as a Devolution of their distant ancient kin more beastial Mortal and less powerful we learn of the modern subspecies via the dragon wound gree item description which reads when the dragons were born from their ancient kin they lost their Stone scales which can now be used to cause them mortal harm their name alone conjures the idea that these dragons are far distant kin who have evolved more recently having devolved over time from their Mighty more intelligent forbears losing their gravel Stone scales their four legs and their ability to wield the power of the greater well I.E the red lightning additionally if the ancient dragons were still ruling at this stage would they really have let the fire Giants defeat some of their kin without interference in addition as I pointed out in my American orrie Lord video I think there's evidence of practices and civilizations rising and falling that surely would have been hard to achieve with the dragons and the greater will ruling Supreme just to name a few civilizations and practices there was the ancient Dynasty the rot Lords the death rights and potentially the NOS as we saw during the early conquests of am and Godfrey's reign rival civilizations don't last particularly long and if the greater will was still represented by the dragons at this era why did they not quash all these rival practices and civilizations however that being said I do acknowledge I could just be wrong and that all these developments including the development of the modern Dragon subspecies could have happened alongside ancient dragon rule the reason I'm coming around to this idea is twofold firstly I have already contended that the dragon's power was tied to The Crucible would it not make sense then that their power and their God would dwindle as The Crucible transitioned into the Earth tree marking the end of the Primeval era and Rule of the dragons and marking the beginning of the ordered rule of the earth Tree in Mara and that it was the beginning of the earth tree that marked their collapse this secondary idea may also time better with the war of the ancient dragons this is an event we hear about via Grand Sax's Bol what if find interesting is that it is referred to as a bter war and I've always interpreted the insult of the Dragons as driven by bitter jealousy we are never really told the reason behind Grand Sachs and the ancient dragon's assault on Le andell and we can only speculate on their true motivations and I do want to make it clear what follows will be my speculation but given that the ancient Dragons Were Once the chosen of the greater will but were later supplanted and replaced by Mar Amica and the UR Trey does it not make sense that the dragons would see marica's reign as rival to theirs as taking what was their Birthright that they were being replaced by a new order and that they sought to reclaim their lordship it does indeed feel like the ER Tre and its followers Were Meant to defeat the dragons that they were chosen to succeed them for GR Sax's bolt makes it clear that this war was the greatest challenge that Lanell ever faced and it seems close to unbelievable that a beast such as grandx flanked by beings like fortox and LX could even be defeated the answer may come via the golden lightning fortification incantation as this reads an incantation of er tree worship this incantation was used by the Knights of the earthree during the assault by the great ancient dragon grxs and the better War of the ancient dragons that followed so the AR tree had the power to resist the might and strength of the dragons and thus the Earth tree offered protection to its Warriors during this war the Earth tree and the dragons both are creations of the greater will via the Elden ring and it is clear which side the greater will chose the time of the dragon and The Crucible had passed the AR Trey and its power was ascendant and thus Heroes like Godwin the golden who possessed the gold power of the earth tree and descended from its royalty was able to to beat Mighty dragons such as fortox yet it still speaks to the power of grand Sach and his fellow dragons that despite the greater Well's power going against them they still gave lell a black eye that they would never forget either way it doesn't really matter in regards the timeline because whether the collapse happened thousands of years ago or whether it happens at the Advent of the UR Trey the dragon's assault does make sense in both cases they are trying to restore themselves to their former glory the collapse of an Empire is not such a simple event look at the collapse of Rome for example and while the war of the ancient dragons certainly secured their fate and established AR tree Primacy once and for all there is no doubt that other factors must have played a role in the downfall of their society and Empire and one of the theories I'd like to suggest goes back to our discussion on places sax and the story of his mythological inspiration Tiamat Tiamat faced a rebellion from her children before both she and her husband were killed by them could the wounds found on placu sax be the result of a similar Insurrection a rebellion by his children by his dragons it has always been interesting to me that grx appears to be leading the assault on Le andelle not placedes sax as it was with Tiamat and her children is it possible that gr Sachs clearly an offspring of immense power could have overthrown plac sax and the God I do want to make it clear that this is of course my speculation based only on places Sax's mythological Origins as well as Grand Sach position as leader during the war of the ancient dragons placu sax is so savagely wounded that it would take a being of such immense power to cause such dire wounds to a being who itself is extremely powerful possessed of a mortal skills that could barely be penetrated by mortal weapons another facet of grand Sachs that has always interested me is his Bolt the weapon he has next to his corpse we don't really see any other Dragons using weapons so why does grandac have this weapon and why in this particular shape well the answer may come from placu sax himself for if you slow down placu Sax's attacks you can see that his Thunderbolts take the exact form that grand Sax's bolt does if I am right about Grand Sach overthrowing placu sax could it be that this replica of placu Sax's lightning is like a scepter an artificial Recreation of that Regal lightning a symbol of rule to show that he has taken the dragon Lord's place this would make sense to me because grandx wouldn't have the dragon Lord's Mastery over lightning and thus this spear could serve as an artificial surrogate to reproduce the storm Lord's power and serve as a powerful symbol for grandx perhaps it doesn't matter if the the war of the Dragons happened immediately after their decline or if it was the result of a rebellion perhaps placu saxs did send gr saac for this final attempt regardless it was clearly a Hail Mary attempt by grx and his fellows to restore the luster of their empire his death and the capitulation of their kind marked the conclusion to their Primacy either way and regardless of my speculation the main factors are this the power and Primacy of the Dragons failed for whatever reason placu sax was wounded and their God fled placu sax would then freeze farilla in time in a vain attempt to preserve what was left in the hopes that their God will one day restore them to full Glory gr sax and his fellows attempted to final heal Mary to destroy their Rivals and become the greater Will's chosen once more but all of these failed placu ax is Gravely wounded the God is no more farilla is shattered and gr sacks the mightiest of their kind is dead and now with that being said let us move on to the legacy of the dragons in the aftermath of the war of the ancient dragons while the dragons were defeated they were not Dishonored by their foes quite the contrary one of the Mightiest Heroes on the side of the earth tree was Godwin the golden who we've mentioned already clearly at this stage Godwin was one of the most prominent members of the arry royal family and one of the greatest shining champions of the Ury we hear of his exploits via the sword memorials but more importantly we hear of it via the Lightning Spear incantation which reads as follows long ago Godwin the golden defeated the ancient dragon fortox and befriended his Fallen foe an event that gave rise to the Ancient Dragon Cult in the capital Godwin defeating fortox is no mean feet for we learned via forto A's Lightning Spear that he was one of the most powerful among his King being able to wield two lightning Spears at one time instead of one like his other Brethren and as we have already discussed the atmology of his name suggests how powerful he really was and so it's an incredible fat that he was defeated by Godwin the golden yet he was treated with respect and defeat and as such one of the most legendary friendships in history was established the comradeship of fortox and Godwin which would Inspire the people of the capital to respect their defeated foe this is the greatest Legacy of dragon kind not only is the Friendship of Godwin and for tox one of the most pure in the whole story of Elden ring as I discussed in my Godwin lore video but it shows the best of both human and dragon kind as they create a respectful Alliance that spreads throughout the capital and indeed the actions of fortox and lanx show how intelligent and magnam minous those of the Dragon kind could be they are not just beastial power poers of Destruction they are far more than that via the Dragon Cult the adoption of their ways and Powers would be passed down wielded by the Knights of this new arery order and in a way this is right the Defenders of the UR Trey are ultimately the inheritors of the Dragons they are taking up the same role the ancient dragons did during their Heyday this was a respectful exchange of information knowledge and power and would lead to the rise of some incredible Heroes like vik and prrof the latter even being powerful enough to defeat and subdue the demig god godfroy the easy integration of dragon worship into the worship of the earth tree may seem surprising for an order that would eventually become known for its intolerance of others however it is easily explained by the gravel stolen seal which we read earlier these beliefs of dragon kind do not conflict with those of the arery because they are both tied with gold they are both Servants of the greater will and it wasn't just fortox that helped Inspire this new order his sister LX took on a human form and communed with the Dragon Knights in person as a priestess as we learned via Lan Sax's glaive which reads lanx was the sister of fortox it is said that she took the forn of a human to commune with the Knights as a priestess of the Ancient Dragon Cult to this day lanac still guards the earthree capital sh knowing how close her bond is with her one-time enemies one of her greatest adherance was the Roundtable night VI something we learn of via VI's Dragon Bolt which reads of all the knights vik the dragon spear was the one L sax loved the most vik was loved by lanx and called the dragon spear no doubt as a result of his iconic Spear and his Mastery over Dragon incantations we learned via vik's armor set that he was the closest tarnished to achieving lordship no doubt as a result of his powerful Dragon incantations and had he become Lord the legacy of the Dragons could have gone even further placing a Dragon Cult leader upon the throne this makes me wish that we could have allied with L saxs in the game to become a Dragon Cult Elden Lord even the Sentinels of the UR Trey Mighty Guardians in their own right were inspired by the might of grand sax and his fellows so much so that they too Incorporated their power and symbolism into their get up as we can see from the tronic tree Sentinels who are in essence modified versions of the regular tree Sentinels who believed that by imitating Grand Sax's power that they could be strong enough to protect the Earth tree from True enemies then of course there are the ancient dragon's distant kin the modern Dragon who take on a far more beastial and traditional draconic form having lost their immortality and stone scales they are far far removed from their Regal ancestors to the point that gravel stone is now anathema to their existence As Told to us VI the dragon wound Greece I won't be covering the modern dragons in this video as they are beyond the scope of it however I would highly recommend Ashen hollow's Dragon lore video as he covers each dragon in great detail but in short the legacy of the ancient dragons do live on in these Beast nonetheless for while their bodies might not be coated in gravel Stone scales their hearts are as we can see from their dragon heart item description these hearts are power and these hearts are a prize for some as there is a more Sinister group that cover the powers of the dragon that are a dark shadow to the Dragon Cult of the capital we are talking of the Dragon Hunters of dragon communion whereas dragon cultist have a respectful and almost religious relationship with the ancient dragons the Dragon Hunters are more obsessed with hunting down the beastial power of the modern dragons and it is fitting that the Dragon Cult has a relationship with the ancient dragons and the dragon communion Hunters have a relationship with the modern dragons as the former pair are more Regal and respectful and the latter are more beastial and violent we learn of these practices via Ura who says the following on those who hunt dragon hearts beautiful work faing that dragon and as such there's something you might like to know the heart you brought back it's used in Dragon communion if you should find yourself overcome by hunger for the heart yearning for its strength then seek the decrepit Church on the little island of the western coast you must not forget though those who partake in Dragon communion W they shed their Humanity their hunger for Dragon their yearning only worsens until the flood gates burst unleashing eternal torment the strength of a mighty Dragon magnificent but deadly it's no surprise that Dragon communion is ruinous indeed the Dragon Hunters slay modern dragons and take their hearts before consuming them in rituals at the sights of dragon communion taking the powers of the slain Dragon for them themselves specifically the powers they gain from consuming the heart are a manifestation of that specific Dragon whose heart they have just consumed it's almost as if the dragons themselves live on to a degree in the hearts and when consumed they live on in the Dragon Hunters and given the heart's item description says that they are covered in the gravel Stone scales of immortality this could well be true these dragons literally live on in the host that consume them these sites of dragon communion are of interest to me as well they are clearly religious sites with both having the corpse of an ancient dragon and dragon statues all around I think the connection to the Ancient Dragon Cult can be made all the clearer if we look at some of the iconography found at these sites firstly the statues here depict ancient dragons as you can actually find their heads lying about secondly and more importantly the plants used in the act of dragon communion are of Fire aula design as we can see that if we compare it to similar models found on the beastial sanctum and found in farilla itself all speculation of course but given the presence of an ancient dragon corpse and the weather dragon statues to me it suggest that this was the site of a once more respectful cult but the mistreated and unkempt nature of these statues speak volume for their new beliefs it is less about respect and more about power while Dragon communion works almost instantly by transferring the power of the dragons to its consumer there is a price to be paid and this is warn To Us by Euro it begins subtly at first an unquenchable thirst that leads them to consume more and more hearts and in time it changes from a want to have the power of the dragons to be a dragon oneself in time the effects begin to show first with Dragon Eyes before finally the hunter will become an Abomination a pitiful mockery of the Dragon form a magma worm we learn of this ultimate Dreadful fate via the magma worm scale sword which reads it is said these land-bound Dragons Were Once humans Heroes who partook in Dragon communion a grave transgression which they were cursed to crawl the Earth upon their bellies Shadows of their former selves so the first thing to note is that despite being degenerate they are dragons this description describes them as land bound dragons and when we kill them we do get a dragon heart but they are being punished for a transgression according to the magma worm scale sword remember we discussed in an earlier chapter that the dragons almost seem to be the perfect creation made specifically by the greater will for their plans would it therefore not be a transgression to try and pervert God's first creation and indeed this does sound biblical and that's because it is the idea of being cursed to crawl in the earth is a Biblical one for in Genesis 3:14 God curses The Serpent and His Kind for his role in misleading Adam and Eve the passage reads as follows so the Lord God said to the serpent because you have done this cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals you will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life the language is so similar that it is evident that the author of The item description of the magma worm scal swword is actually directly eliciting the curse laying upon serpent kind by God the magma worms are in the same boat they have transgressed the natural law as set out by the God of this world men aren't meant to be dragons the ancient dragons were divine creations of the greater will at the beginning of time the Dragon Cult is different because they respectfully learn the skills and incantations of the Dragons but they do not take their power and they do not seek to become dragons themselves while the dragons are Majestic beings of power and Grace who can soar through the skies the magma worms are Dreadful Serpentine fat Shadows with mocking Wings which have no hope of lifting up their ungraceful massive bodies into the sky they are cursed to crawl along the dirt A fitting punishment for those who seek to soar amongst the clouds and indeed their fate is also reflect itive of the Dragon King another attempt to artificially gain the power of the Dragons men are not meant to have the strength of dragons and for reaching above their station and perverting the natural order as set out by the greater will at the beginning of time both these pale imitations are cursed ever to stare Skyward in a tortured existence it is a lesson that has been taught to is all through myth and religion since time emorial like in the story of the Garden of Eden greed and coveting that which is not yours is a transgression and while you may get what you want and take it by force it might not be what you expect the time of the Dragons is over and the world is much bereth of their regality and power there are those who respect it those who worship it those who fear it and those who covet it in all cases the dragon will ever be a symbol of power and Majesty the first chosen of the Great will and one can't help but Wonder perhaps they were the most fit to rule and the world has just been on a downward spiral since their collapse and yet they still have a role to play in the great conclusion of our story for within Round Table hold exists a blacksmith working tirelessly towards a singular goal to craft a weapon capable of slaying a god an impossible task if one is to believe Gideon ofer for as he says man cannot kill a God but perhaps a God can be affected by time perhaps they can be moved right to the end of their timeline in an instant having been struck by a weapon that slightly twists time a weapon bolstered by the scale of the ancient dragon lord the more recent history of the lands between is dominated by the golden order Radigan Mara and her demigod Offspring yet as with every from software game the lore of Elden ring is extremely layered with the current civilization being built on top of those that came before one of these past civilizations is of course the beastmen of fire mazilla and on first playthrough it is easy to overlook the significance of these beings as just another enemy archetype but far mazilla is one of the best designed areas in the game and upon closer investigation there's a lot of depth to their culture and significance to their thematics the Beast civilization of far mailla is a fascinating one but it is the significance that beasts hold thematically in later times that fascinates me more so join me this week as we examine the Beast Man civilization their evolution history culture and what they can tell us about the nature of humanity itself at this stage I would like to give a massive Shout out to Loki author of Abyssal archive for not only providing me with translations for this video but also their Keen insights into the subject matter beasts are a very nuanced demon Elden ring and Loki provided some real missing links to my ideas and theories the most logical place for us to start when it comes to talking about the Beast Man is with one of the most important events in their civilization the Advent of intelligence an event that would ultimately make them what they are the several references we get to these beastmen gaining intelligence suggest that before gaining intelligence they were Beasts of the wild we get a couple of instances of connections between regular non-sentient beasts and the beastmen themselves suggesting a sort of kinship between the two for example in GRS side cave in Lim grave we can find a pack of wolves that is seemingly being led by a bastan of farm ailla with them all having slaughtered the godric soldiers here and taken up residence as a sort of pack as pointed out to me by Loki in our discussion regarding this subject there is another instance of a beastman pack so to speak this time in Dragon Barrel cave a cave filled with a rune bear and another pack of wolves all seemingly being led by a pair of Bas men this time found further in the cave perhaps these B men had fallen with the rubble of pH mailla the rubble of course we can see all throughout limra and elsewhere in the lands between the connection between sentient beastmen and regular beasts is also compounded by the depictions of regular animals in farilla I.E the wolf pack that we find in the central part of farilla this being the center of their civilization and regular wolves being venerated in Statue form there's also another another interesting observation made by tarnished archaeologist in their far mailla lore video which is that some of the beastmen found throughout the game and in phula seem to be reverting to their prior beastial behaviors crawling on their hands and knees and eating off the ground as if this is actually their natural state of being my conclusion therefore is that beastmen Society are evolved sentient variants of regular animals such as wolves and given the association of SOS and line imagery we could also speculate that other types of beasts could have joined wolves in their ascendants becoming the species we know as beastmen and later on we will assess the different variations of beasts found within this Society this straight up Evolution from regular animals is supported by in-game lore found in the beastial Vitality incantation which reads the following having gained intelligence the beasts must have felt how their wildness slipped away as civilization took hold the fact this description describes their wildness slipping away suggests that before they gained intelligence they were wild animals and their transformation into a sentient species is a well documented event in a couple of items most notably in the chinqua which reads the following their design celebrates a BEAST's five fingers symbolic of the intelligence once granted upon their kind the word chinqua itself means five fingers and this is in reference to the real weapon of the same name in the real world where the width of the blade at the guard is said to be the width of five fingers but in the world of Elden ring this is more literally depicted as we can actually see five fingers widthwise across the blade indeed the name width and design are all representative of five fingers in all accounts is a well-made symbolic representation of five fingers and the five fingers are significant because it represents the Advent of their intelligence we will revisit this shortly when we look at the clergy of the beastmen but the fact that this is the symbolism associated with a blade wielded by the religious arm of beastman society Beast clergymen really shows how important this event is to beastman society and of course it should be as in a way this is their Genesis it was the event that led to them becoming the bastan society that they are it is the beginning of their story so no wonder it is wielded in a symbolic Way by their clergymen as I have touched on in previous videos the reason that five fingers are symbolic of intelligence is because it represents the use of a hand with opposable thumbs an anatomy that allows intelligent races to use tool and the use of tool is often the first sign of a more advanced culture and intelligence as it was in our own prehistory but also in a more literal sense a five-fingered hand is an anatomical separation between them as an intelligent bipedal race from their non-sentient quadruped ancestors this is the most clear physical difference between beastmen and their less intelligent cousins but the beastmen becoming intelligent is described in a quite unusual fash F in my opinion for example let's again reexamine the description of the Chena which says the intelligence once granted upon their kind the language used here in my opinion is very deliberate and seems to suggest that intelligence was pushed upon them or given to them by an external Force rather than something that came about via Natural Evolution when we talk about the Advent of beastial intelligence I often think of our ancestors picking up the tool is one of the first indications of our own Ascension to a sentient intelligent race again using our five fingers to wield a tool and to take our culture and civilization to something more than just a beast and of course most see this as a gradual case of evolution in the real world that Generation by generation Our homed Ancestors eventually learned how to use tools effectively however there is a fascinating interpretation of this found in the film 2001 aace Odyssey 2001 aace odssey is based on Arthur C Clark's book called The Sentinel and essentially it is a Sci-Fi that charts Humanity's advancement from our primate ancestry to a space fairing race but the main interesting part about the story is how each stage of human advancement is marked with the contact of a cosmic Force represented by alien obelisks the implication is that each encounter with these obelisks somehow imparts Humanity with the knowledge necessary to ascend to the next level of Consciousness and understanding going back to the beginning of the story it starts with our Prime ancestors after a tribe of hominids comes into contact with one of these obelisks they soon realize the usefulness of wielding bones as tools or weapons and thus they drive a rival group of a watering hole using the advantage of essentially having weapons whereas their Rivals have none the film then skips forward to show a space fairing Humanity heavily implying that this alien influence was responsible for granting Humanity the next level of intelligence from picking up a bone and gaining an understanding of fundamental tools to becoming a space fairing race now I'm not suggesting that the beastmen of fire Mazula encountered an Al Obelisk I believe that the wording in the chinua suggests that likewise an external force was responsible for them gaining Consciousness and a new level of intelligence and that this intelligence was in fact granted upon regular beasts which is why Bast men of far maula share a kinship with wolves and other animals because they were once the same once they were quadruped beasts like wolves Bears and Lions but then they were granted intelligence and became an up bright race they would eventually become the beastmen that we know today I do think this ties in with the wording of beastial Vitality which again suggests that the beasts were aware of this transition from Beast to intelligent life something that was sudden and this description wouldn't make sense if it was a gradual evolutionary process now this brings us to the big question if intelligence was pushed upon beasts to make them the Beast men what forces are responsible for this of course we enter speculation territory here but to me the most likely culprits for this were the Lords of the day placu sax and his God the ruling order of the Dragons again this isn't a particularly New Concept for veterans of the channel but it is clear that there was a sort of relationship between the dragons and the beastmen of far mazilla as indicated by the statues found throughout farilla one of servitude the the Beast men serving the dragons now as most will be aware it is more or less outright stated that the dragons occupied the same position that Mara and her Elden Lords would that they had a God and Elden Lord that presided over the Elden ring we learned that the greatest among the dragons pusx was Elden Lord in the time before the ER tree as his remembrance States the dragon lord whose seat lies at the heart of the storm Beyond time is said to have have been Elden Lord in the age before the UR Trey once his God was fled the Lord continued to await its return placu sax was Elden Lord and it means that his God his consort occupied the same possession that Mar would later on the god of the current order as a side note I've never really discussed the god that placu sax was consort to and maybe one day I will discuss it in a later video but as an in side note Loki made the suggestion that the statue found in farilla that shows the female figure surrounded by three wolves could have been the god that places ax was consort to and that the Wolves surrounding her is symbolic of her dominion over aastan so credit to Loki for that interesting observation but let me know your thoughts in the comments below about who you think the god typ CX was finally of course we get a depiction of an older more feral and white version of the Elden ring in far maula and to me it's most obviously representing the Elden ring at the time when placu sax was ELD and Lord and again this suggests that Dragon civilization was once the capital of order as L Del would later become and that placedo sax and his God ruled over the land much as Mar and Godfrey once did thus it would make sense if intelligence was granted to beasts by the dragon God or plac us sax himself given they would have been able to brandish the power of the Elden ring at this stage and given the key role that beastmen seem to play in this beastman Dragon Society it would make sense to elevate another life form so that they may help with the construction of a new culture and civilization as we had already noted the idea of Intelligence being granted to beastmen is closely linked with beastmen clergy via the chena's design and the fact that the beastial clergy wield this weapon as a sort of ceremonial reminder of this key event but we also see Beast clergymen in Statue scenes where they are sort of subservient to dragons and we see these statues all throughout far moua could it not be then that if Dragons and intelligence are both connected to the Beast clergymen I.E the cenal religious body of far maula society that these two events are linked at least to the men that to them they attribute the granting of their intelligence to their dragon overlords and that is why both intelligence and dragons are celebrated by the clergy earlier on in this chapter we acknowledged an observation made by tarnished archaeologist where it seems as some of the beastmen are beginning to revert to their beastial nature crawling on their hands and knees and eating off the ground like their quadruped cousins but why and what can this tell us about the beastmen well we also get discussion of one's beastial nature returning in the lore of gank Malik's Alter Ego we see this in the beastclaw incantation description which reads the following the incantation represents the fury of gank his beastial nature returned as much as it does his Restless agitation again this seems to imply that gank himself now has his beastial nature returning once again implying that this was was his natural state that of a wild beast and that his intelligence is the result of an outside force that is now fading now ganks beastial nature returning could be for a number of reasons it could be because he was once a beast of phula that he is also experiencing the same regression that some of the other beastmen are or it could be that because he is a shadow of the imperian to Amica that because her order is shattered he is beginning to lose the intelligence that was granted upon him when he was chosen to serve as her Shadow indeed let us sidestep for a moment and discuss the Shadows of the imperion as I do believe it's a useful illustration for evidence that these great external forces can actually shape life and push intelligence upon them when needed rannie in her oft qued speech gives us a brief insight into how she received blly her shadowbound beast and their relationship as imp and Shadow I was once an imperian of the demigods only I Mika and Melania could claim that title each of us was chosen by our own two fingers as a candidate to succeed Queen America to become the new god of the coming age which is when I received blly in the form of a vassel tailored for an imperion this speech describes the process by which imperian are granted Ed their Shadow bound beasts with the two fingers themselves playing a pivotal role themselves vassals of the greater well I thus believe that the power of the greater well or the Elden ring can specifically tailor these beasts molding them like clay into forms useful for their imperion one thing before we go further is I do want to discuss the concept of the Shadow bound which is really an addendum to the previous Shadow bound lore video that I did last year in that video I had suggested that these Shadows the Shadows of the emperion were completely made from the ground up by the two fingers but upon reflection of all this lore I would have to say that I've changed my mind the ideas of the beastmen in general being granted intelligence and essentially being reformed as a new species gives precedent that existing life forms can be tailor made altered until they are the forms of the Shadow bound that we see in game namely blly and Malik and so once again I've changed my mind and I believe I was wrong as I so often am specifically what rany actually says here is that blly was tailored to a form that suits an imperian and her needs tailoring the word is a fitting of existing clothes or materials to fit the needs or form of the customer meaning that the shadow is an existing being being altered to fit the needs of s imperion blly looks very wolfing and so to me it suggests that he was straight up tailored from the form of a wild wolf or a man and a wolf being forged together malakith is slightly different he has two distinct identities playing the role of a beastial clergyman within his form of gank and retreating to the old haunts of bastan society far maula and the bastial sanctum in my shadowbound video I had speculated that malakith was simply hiding out in farilla and that he wasn't a real beastman or beast clergyman having reflected on these ideas I do believe that he was truly a beast clergyman like the ones depicted in the statues and that when Mar needed a shadow gank was reformed or tailored into a more powerful shape that would be useful to her the shape that we know as malakith now that Mara has gone malakith Retreats into his former life partially to disguise himself and hide the roote of death because it is a role he knows so well yet like other beastmen he has felt his wildness returning to him as we can see in the Beast claw incantation and in his aggressive behavior when he attacks us almost like a beast without any control so yeah that's my revised opinion on the Shadows that if a whole species of beastmen can be formed and altered by pushing Intelligence on them then surely individual creatures can be tailored so that they fit the needs of an imperion but my main reason for bringing up the Shadows of the imperion is to show that there is precedent for these greater Powers be it the Elden ring greater well or two fingers being able to alter life in ways they see fit and thus I believe that it was the power of order the Elden ring or the god of the dragons that pushed intelligence onto the beastmen in the first place so that they may play a role in their emerging civilization and yet their order couldn't be more clear in their appearance and in the fact that there's plenty of evidence that some are returning to their beastial ways their beastial more natural nature returning to them with all that said in a way I've always seen the dragons as somewhat analogous to the dinosaurs and the evolution of Beast society as early and prehistoric man and so I see the civilization of far moua and the dragons as early on in the timeline especially if you consider the references to the prehistoric time of the Dragons as well as the Illusions to prehistory in Beast man society and that this granting of intelligence to the beastmen was really the start of intelligent and sentient life in the lands between now this ultimately brings us to the central paradoxical themes that surround the beasts in Elden ring and really my main incentive for wanting to do this video the Dual yet opposing themes of beastial nature and wisdom both of which the Beast can represent in this world and at this point I would like to credit the content creator Hawkshaw in their amazing video on colors while I won't be referencing colors that much in this video there are ideas on the thematics in Elden ring especially when it comes to beasts violence and animals and more animalistic instincts that they cover in their red chapter has been highly influential in me assessing these themes through throughout Elden ring in general and so while I will credit them directly at stages throughout this video I just wanted to make it clear that their ideas in this color video has fundamentally altered the way I see the themes in Elden ring so let us start with the most basic components of the beasts in general when assessing their thematics and I do mean this in the most literal sense and physical sense as an Elden ring we have access to all sorts of naturalistic ingredients for crafting and Alchemy including bodily remains of beasts that we have killed so let us start with some of these items such as the Beast liver which reads as follows the fresh liver of a beast a luscious fruit of Life a fruit of life so clearly we are already looking at a thematic illusion towards life and vitality found within the beasts themselves and this is something that may already be quite obvious when we consider that in the real world wild animals are the most obvious depiction of these IDE ideas in myth and symbology then of course we get the Beast blood item description which reads fresh Beast blood glinting with gold this glimmering Blood never rots or decays whilst this is a Less Direct illusion to Vitality it very much is directing us towards the same themes the blood never rots or decays showing the almost Supernatural power of lifely vigor found within a beast blood as if they are life and Vitality made manifest we also know that the gold found within the blood is associated with ideas of Life Grace and gold is very much tied to life something that is very much made clear to us via the greatest lore item in the game the Alban oric blood claw the very name Alban oric most likely means absent gold or absent gold pigment and this makes sense given that these are artificial life forms so they are absent life this becomes all the more clear when we read the item description of the alinor blood clot itself which reads the thick coagulated blood of the Alban orics Alban orics are life forms made by human hands thus many believe them to live impure lives Untouched by the Earth tre's Grace Untouched by Grace Untouched by gold artificial life forms and thus they are seen as impure the Beast blood stands in stark contrast to its pale cousin where the latter represents silver and artificiality an absence of Grace Beast blood represents gold Grace natural life and vitality and this is what beasts as a whole represent vitality and natural life these thematics of course make sense when we look at beasts in their original natural form the wolf The Lion The Bear vicious powerful uncompromising full of life and true to their nature the description of the clawar seal the seal used by gank speaks of garan's Wrath and in tandem with the Beast claw incantation that describes his natural beastial nature returning we can see that wrath and violence is another bastial trait the Wrath and violence of gank this wrathful aspect of their nature is another easy thematic to understand humans behave in a civil Iz manner apparently while those in touch with their primitive beastial side are more likely to succumb to acts of great violence or lust a point well made by Hawkshaw in the colors lore video where they point out the significance of the ruler's mask item description which reads the following such a mask illustrates the qualities of an ideal Lord chiefly wise and possessing a certain defined geniality one at the center of society often finds these qualities most expedient the implication here is clear defined Behavior I.E anti-animal Behavior Poise wisdom Etc is aligned with civilization and fanged behavior violence animalistic urges Etc is associated with beasts and yet beasts with an Elden ring are used to represent both wisdom and this animalistic urge let's take SOS for example a beast himself yet one firmly associated with wisdom above everything else one mention we get of SOS is via the beastclaw great hammer which reads the following great hammer with a striking end modeled to resemble five beastly claws the black nails protruding from the golden fur are said to represent SOS Lord of beasts who went on to become king Godfrey's region here we have a hammer modeled on SOS that surprise surprise makes reference to the five fingers or claws of intelligence furthermore we find the following described in the golden beast cres shield which reads the Beast depicted is SOS aged counselor who guides the golden lineage so here the mighty SOS is described chiefly as a counselor I.E an adviser valued for his wisdom not his physical press in addition to this we see in the description of the Godfree icon Talisman it is sash's presence that actually cams Godfrey's blood lust drains it rather than exacerbates it indeed Godfrey is actually less of a beast when he is paired with SJ SJ himself being a beast and when Godfrey violently severs that connection hu reveals himself as more of a feral Beast than any other real Beast we face in the game so why are beasts of course still the representations of violence and animal urges yet there are beasts like SOS who are chiefly associated with wisdom and cam well this is a dichotomy that I wanted to get to grips with when discussing this video and so I discussed the matter with Loki author of the abysal archive in great detail it was at this point that Loki pointed out the description of bernal's helmet which reads the following the beasts their eyes and ears covered represent an oath see see nothing hear nothing doubt nothing and carry on along the path set in stone Bernal is another champion of great violence and his armor set is covered in beasts and now this description that we just read may seem a little odd and random and it might be confusing as to what it's actually trying to get across this is where Loki provided an astute observation as they observe the animals depicted on the helmet and armor are not literally covering their eyes eyes and ears so we shouldn't be taking this as a literal description rather the item description of bernal's helmet is a metaphorical message and I will quote Loki now when they were trying to explain this from their perspective See No Evil Hear No Evil of the three wise monkeys you could see so this might play into the idea of a BEAST's wisdom or how becoming a beast turns you into someone who blindly follows the path ahead without consideration at the very least it might serve as good commentary on the perception of Beast simultaneously wise yet vacuous as far as low case interpretation is concerned that is what the helmet means when it says simply proceed on the set path with no hesitation and you can see that it could definitely line up with the idea of see no evil speak no evil hear no evil specifically in terms of willful blindness so yeah full credit to Loki for bringing up that idea of this willful animalistic blindness and focus so there maybe is less of a contradiction here when we talk about wisdom and Beast than we might first consider yes there is a wisdom to beast but thematically it can still tie into what we know of their baser behaviors a straightforward wisdom that applies to you when you're on a singular chosen path but blinding yourself to the greater Mysteries and questions of your life and surroundings for example the wisdom of a wolf might be to catch food feed itself and defend itself on a daily basis no deviation required or even thought of and so when we think of soros's wisdom in regards to Godfrey Perhaps it is a simple Beast wisdom keeping Godfrey focused and directed towards his ultimate goal but there is another theory that I've got why the wisdom of beasts is so focused on and it may have less to do with beasts themselves and more a commentary on the nature of man but we will touch on that in the final chapter when we talk about the potential connections between beast and man regardless of what it means and how it came to pass the Advent of intelligence changed the Beast Man Forever they went from Beasts to this new civilization they let go of the wild Power and they came to terms with their intelligence and Consciousness and if this happened suddenly through the interference of a third party as we have suggested this would have been a terrifying moment of Awakening for beastmen who had only known feral impulses and with that idea in mind I do want to revisit the wording of the beastial Vitality incantation once again which reads having gained intelligence the Beast must have felt how their wildness slipped away as civilization took hold the wording to me suggests a sort of panic the word felt is really important here as I said earlier if it was a Natural Evolution you wouldn't feel it or notice it happening and it would happen so gradually over Generations but if they feel in real time that they are losing their true nature their true savagery and are left almost naked waking up to this new Consciousness this would have been terrifying again this idea of baste almost feeling defenseless as they lost their innate savagery is not an idea I can take credit for again it was an observation made by Loki in our discussions on the subject and again I quote them now firstly with a clearer translation of beastial Vitality done by themselves it reads the beasts who acquired intelligence probably felt it civilization eventually causing them to lose their wildness so again this translation by Loki reinforcing those ideas that the beasts will have felt in real time their wildness their savagery and their old feral instincts upon which they used to rely fading away with this in mind Loki would say the The Following on the beasts and their loss of innate wildness we see the idea that they develop a culture and religion they see their innate qualities as wild beasts decline now and they have to rely on cities and tools for protection sort of a tradeoff when you have only yourself your body steps up to the challenge but when you have all these add-ons to fall back on your body slacks and slowly we evolve to be almost dependent on those trinkets until they are ripped away then Instinct takes over and we fall back on Old Habits Like The beastmen Who Fell from crumbling fire mazilla and now hide in caves leading wolf packs so this is an extraordinary quote and insight from Loki in terms of civilization versus nature and I really am grateful to them for sharing this Insight with me in essence what Loki is saying here is that the beastmen didn't build a civilization only because they could rather because they had to in order to survive Humanity as we stand now physically are extremely frail compared to some of the more powerful predators that exist in nature like lions bears or Wolves but because we have walls tools and weapons we are able to circumvent our lack of animal strength and Instinct likewise we have the beastmen here who felt their wildness slip away and thus they lose their animalistic power rage and violence on which they had previously relied on for their survival and losing that would have been a very scary Prospect especially if it happened in an instance being faced all of a sudden with the ideas of mortality and your own Frailty could help explain the almost obsessive relationship that beastman Society has with death something that is clearly Central to their culture far mailla the heart of their civilization is one giant mosum with beastmen bodies on display everywhere in ornate burials post dramatically against columns and embedded in the floors and walls this rather open exploration of death is even more Stark in the vicinity of bastial sanctum clearly a region that was once part of Bas man society here we find pillars absolutely covering the hillside all embedded with the remains of beastmen again a very public depiction of death within their society all sentient species ourselves included need to deal with the terrifying Spectre of death in the real world all religions deal with death and what comes next a set of beliefs and practices that can steal Humanity for the inevitable the ancient Egyptians were a society really preoccupied with death and the afterlife having entire practices around preparing oneself for the journey that comes after death and I see a lot of this same kind of preoccupation with death in Beast man society and alongside their veneration of dragons and their respect for the event of Intelligence being brought to their kind it seems like death is really one of the central pillars of their entire culture death is everywhere in far maula and it makes total sense to me as beasts like wolves and bears and really any non-sentient animal they don't really care or obsess about death in the same way Beyond Basic Instincts of self-preservation going from predator animalistic races to a more intelligent conscious species would have brought death and mortality into terrifying Focus for the Beast man society and no doubt this helps explain their veneration of the dead and what we see throughout far moua and in general I speculate that this newly stin race spent a lot of time thinking about and preparing for the afterlife as tarnished archaeologist shows in their far mailla lore video some of the burials in Far Missoula are clearly modeled on the real world Vara burials at the Varna necropolis in Bulgaria and in these burials they have golden Trinkets and this is also the same in some of the far moua burials where we see they have gold trinkets coins Etc the point of these gold trinkets in burials is a commonplace practice throughout different societies and cultures in essence these are Treasures that one is supposed to be able to take with them into the Afterlife and again the fact that this is replicated in some Philla burials shows that there was this real preoccupation with death and what came after for bastan society mortality was something greatly on the minds of this new community freshly awakened and conscious to the Frailty of life so to surise what we've discussed so far beastmen in an era long past were once regular beasts wolves lions and maybe sheep they were granted intelligence by a higher power an event still memorialized by the beastial clergy of which gank was once a member before he was tailored into a form suitable for his imperion but with this intelligence came a focus on mortality A New Concept for them and as they lost their feral instincts for their defense and survival they would work with the dragons to build a new civilization that would take them from the dangers of the world and Within These Walls they were memorialized the dead preparing themselves for the inevitable and the potential Afterlife with that said now let us look at the evolution of Beast Society through this prehistoric era when it comes to the timeline of Beast civilization and how it developed we have discussed this in Prior videos on the channel such as my dragon L video so forgive me for a degree of repetition but this was an idea introduced to me by the incredible work of tarnished archaeologist in their farilla lore video and the idea that they introduced in that video is that we can trace the various prehistoric eras of the beastmen that basically follows the same trajectory as our own human prehistory and we can do so through the archaeological evidence found throughout the game as well as in game lore so first of all let us justify why we are calling this period prehistory and what prehistory actually is prehistory in the real world is the period of human history that generally predates the invention of writing systems from the beginning of tool use and the development of societies up until the written word prehistory is generally marked by three major ages though there are various sub periods beneath these the Stone Age the Bronze Age and the iron age all named for the main material used for tools and weapons this is of course subject to variation Culture by culture region by region as human society Advanced and developed at different rates throughout the world but is a good General framework to begin to understand this period of History so with that in mind let us chart the evolution of beastman society through Elden Ring's prehistoric era as I have previously said personally I've always seen the dragons as somewhat analogous to the dinosaurs of er World an ancient and giant reptilian race full of primeval power who were very dominant in the early stages of the timeline and whether or not you agree with this analogy very few civilizations in Elden Ring's world are named as becoming before the Earth tree and yet the dragon civilization is clearly placed way before this on the timeline and are actually named as a prehistoric civilization via the dragon Crest Shield Talisman as such given that beastmen Society is intimately tied to the dragons we could feasibly infer that beastman Society is also one that emerged during this prehistoric ERA thematically this also makes perfect sense when we are talking about a species that developed into an upright tool using race much like the real world evolution of humanity from primy ancestor to Upright tool using human who would move into prehistory and interestingly we can actually observe Bas man society moving through the three major ages of prehistory we had mentioned earlier firstly we see their history passing through the Stone Age thanks to the description of beastial Sling which reads it is said that in the time before the Earth tree Stones were the first weapons of the Beast who had gained intelligence Stone Stones were the first weapons of the beasts who had gained intelligence in this prehistoric era again matching with human prehistory where the Stone Age was the first era of prehistory where humans used basic stone tools and weapons then we move to the piece of evidence that was first presented by tarnish archaeologists in their far maula video in which they highlight archaeological evidence that could align the beastmen with the real world calic ER the calic era for those unaware is also known as the copper age and is generally seen as a transitional period between the Neolithic to age and the Bronze Age and to quote Wikipedia it is described as the following an archaological period characterized by regular human manipulation of copper but prior to the discovery of bronze Alloys tarnished archaeologists identifies this era in the strateg graphy of far Mazula and the environmental storytelling and that is in the ornate burials that we discussed in the previous chapters when talking about mortality as we said there these are clearly modeled on the Varna burials of Bulgaria and this was a calic era burial and thus we can see the beastmen also passing through this precursor age to the Bronze Age and if you'd like a more in-depth analysis of the Varner burial and how it pertains to beastman society far maula I would highly recommend the really detailed video by tarnished archaeologist which I will link below finally we move into the Iron Age when we consider the current Weaponry of the beastmen that we actually face for example the beastmen cleaver which reads carved Greatsword of colossal sized forged of dull iron and wielded by the beastmen of farm aula so a weapon forc of dull iron and thus the evolution of beastmen prehistory is complete reinforcing the fact that this is likely the very first or one of the first cultures to develop in the histories of the lands between the fact they are still using iron weapons not steel or any other type of metal shows that they really are from a time that has passed with that said let us talk about the position of far maula in the world itself again a subject I have discussed previously in my Dragons video so I don't want to repeat myself too much here but let's talk about it for the sake of completeness phula was clearly not built as a floating city rather it was once situated in the lands between before being wrenched from it made all the clearer by these segments of Earth and trees still attached to its base but even more compelling is the fact that we generally know whereabout it sat in the lands between because part of this civilization Still Remains in the earth namely the beastial sanctum found in kalid the be sanctum is not only where gank a beast clergyman of this Society resides but also seems the exact same architectural Hallmarks of far moua the burials the line iconography and the exterior of the building just to name a few the final link is of course the site of Grace just south of the beastial sanctum which is called farum Great Bridge indeed this bridge that leads to the bastial sanctum is again of farilla design if you compare it to bridges that are sticking out the side of floating far maula and indeed the land around the beastial sanctum at the side is ripped away and matches with the Earth that we see at the bottom of floating far maula so in short I believe that far maula was attached next to where the beastial sanctum now sits east of Leia but let me know your thoughts on where it was once located in the comments below with that said let us now try and understand the structure and culture of this Society we've already talked about their obsession with death as well as their Beast clergymen and what they worship but let's talk about the constituent members of this Society while the regular beastmen seem to make up the most basic members of society it's hard to tell what species of Beast they once were before they were elevated but if we look closer at some of the other variants and the skeletons around far maula we can see that different species and animals clearly were given intelligence and made up this Society but at the very top of this Society were clearly the dragons worshiped by the bastan clergy and probably the subjects of far Mazula and if you'd like an in-depth look at the dragons themselves for themselves then I would recommend my dragon lore video which I will link below but in short not only are they all powerful but they are incredibly intelligent they aren't just wild beasts and we can see this in the way way that fortox and Godwin developed a friendship as well as the way that LX could transform into a human and commune with humans of Lindell ruled over by Elden Lord pusx and his God they were the order of the day who brandish the Elden ring the very tippy top of this ancient Society indeed far maula the crowning achievement of this entire Society seems to have been built in honor of a particular dragon as the ashes of the far maula beastmen read spirits of beastmen from doomed far maula the slowly crumbling ruins in the skies these ruins are said to be the remains of a giant mosum enshrining an ancient dragon guarded by chosen beastmen who wield weapons clad in lightning again this very much reinforces the subservience of beastmen within this Society to the Dragons Not only is the whole of Pharm Zilla built to honor a dragon but beastmen are the chosen guards meaning they are some sort of Honor Guard in service to the dragons now again without going into too much detail on something I've covered in other videos there's clearly a tie between the dragons and lightning especially placu sax who can literally turn himself into a storm cloud and who I believe to be the storm Lord yet there is another species within fire moua that seems to have an association with the storm as well that is the Storm Hawks of course While most people will be familiar with the grafted Hawks of storm Veil we actually find the Hawks in a more natural form in fire maula living in harmony with the dragons here and it is the first piece of evidence that the Storm Hawks May originate from this beastial Society to reinforce the fact these birds are very much part of this Society we can find bird iconography in the walls of far moua and adorning the claw Mark seal a seal of the beastmen clergy we know that this species of hawks are closely aligned with the storm as the storm Hawk feather reads a feather from a hawk that lived as one with the storms this also seems to be in line with what we see of the storm Veil community of hawks this was a place where Storm Hawks would come to roast a relationship described by the description of the stormhawk king which reads ashes of a hawk revered by all others as Sovereign back in the day when storm veils winds still rage like no other this ancient Monarch is proud however refusing to answer anyone's summons the two places in which we find Storm Hawks are very much aligned with the storms therefore suggesting again this innate relationship between Hawks and the storm a relationship well illustrated by the stormhawk axe itself a weapon fors in honor of these birds and its weapon art summons the power of storms and lightning reinforcing that connection so why do the Hawks have this connection to the storms and how are they a part of this community of farm aula well I would like to make the following speculation that the Storm Hawks are not just aligned with the dragons rather they are descendants of them and I believe this would explain why the Hawks are so innately connected to storms as as the dragons are why do I believe this well it is just speculation but remember how I keep banging on about the fact I believe that dragons are analysis to the dinosaurs of the real world well in the real world birds are the descendants of the dinosaurs hence why Raptors a group that Hawks actually belong to share the same name of the dinosaur species Raptors if the Hawks are descended from the dragons it would explain why the two species share the same connection to the storm and why they come from the same Society now let us turn to SOS we don't find any lionesque beasts per se in far moua but there is plenty of evidence pointing to the fact that Lions do make up a part of this civilization firstly we have the various instances of line iconography all throughout far missula and in the beastial sanctum but aside from that we also Reed the beastclaw great hammer a hammer which celebrates SOS from gank himself again a clergyman intimately connected to the far maula beastman Society we also do see lionesque natural enemies in the game in the form of Guardian beasts again suggesting that Lions as a natural creature exist in this world yet none of these lion creatures appear in Far mazilla itself why well it was as I suggested before the despite the fact the regular bastan enemy don't really give away any Heritage that they might have come from originally we do see evidence of different types of beastmen if we look closely at the skeletons and Undead of fire Mazula for example the undead beastmen look closer to wolves than the regular beastmen their skulls having a longer snout whereas the skeletons of the beastmen found bound to the columns and buried in the wall are very much lionesque if you comp compare their skulls to real world lion skulls in addition if you examine the skulls found in some of the Varna esque brials to me some of the skulls are sheep skulls suggesting that sheep may also have been one of the early forms of Beast that were granted intelligence and we become part of this beastman Society the current actually alive beastmen are a little bit more amorphous and so perhaps over time the beastman form converged via interbreeding between all these different variations but let me know your thoughts below But ultimately I think the archaeological evidence shows that there were different subspecies of beastmen that came from original different beasts sheep wolves and lions now that we've spoken about the constituent parts of this Beast Society let us backtrack a bit as we did just discuss two examples of Lords the stormhawk king and SJ and this is very interesting to me because SOS is described as a lord of beasts and the stormhawk King was considered as a monarch by all other Hawks while it is clear that the dragons were the ultimate ruling force and essentially gods of the early beastman era it doesn't make it impossible that there were Lords among the beasts themselves and SOS and the stormhawk King seem like they were leaders in their own right for whatever reason the dragon civilization fell and their God fled but they lived on through iconography and ideals that were picked up by Godfrey and his conquest and as I said previously phula clearly once existed in the ground in the lands between and thus it makes sense that aspects of their society would bleed out into different regions into different subcultures and successor kingdoms the modern dragons the descendants of the ancient dragons would take up residence in Dragon Barrow and on the mountaintops of the Giants and specifically we get a Nexus of far mailla history at Stormville now the civilization of Stormville is something I discussed in my godfre lore video and how it affected his Reign and so I don't want to retread that here so please check that out if you're interested in the legacy of the Beast civilization so to speak and I would also recommend L Hunter's excellent in-depth look at Stormville in their lore video and I will link that below now the final constituent member of this society that I want to talk about is Humanity now this is a subject I have pondered on in passing numerous times but I'd like to address it head on in this video firstly we have the various human scenes found throughout far maula and we could just write this off as generic artistic filler but I don't ever like really doing that I like to try and find some explanation for it not from software game many people point to the fact that dragons are able to take human form something highlighted by Lan sa's glaive which reads LSX was the sister of fortox it is said that she took the form of a human to commune with the Knights as a priestess of the Ancient Dragon Cult but to me lxs taking a human form is a response to a specific situation I.E the establishment of the Dragon Cult in Lanell and the diplomacy between the remainders of the ancient dragons and the civilization of Lanell and aside from this there is a direct specific reference to humans that lived amongst the ancient dragons via the Draconian race appearance preset in the Character Creator the description of this appearance preset reads the following the Stony face of the people of the ancient dragon among whom life is typic Al short now there is a lot of interesting lore here to consider firstly their life being typically short and this would make sense if they were among the first humans as human lifespan has greatly expanded as history has gone on due to various factors including Better Health diet and hygiene and improved Medical Care and so if this is primeval man this could be very much a nod to that idea and to me the human depictions in phula are of actual humans that lived amongst dragons and to me this Draconian race are the most likely candidates and we could just leave it there and say that humans at some point emerged and joined the main civilization at the time given that piax and his God were the ruling force and would Mak sense for any new sentient race to join this civilization however there is a Wilder yet far more interesting suggestion to be made here that humans evolved from beastman this potential idea was first brought to my attention by dark tar a content creator that does comedic explorations of each area and they made the excellent observation that the skeletal Undead basen of far mailla drop human bone chards so credit to dark tar and I will link that original video below now admittedly this could just be a drop representing that beastmen eat or kill humans but it doesn't drop from any other beastmen and I don't think this is right right as the description of the human bone Shard itself specifically states that these are found by hunting those who live in dead and these beastmen do live in death suggesting these bone shards are actually from their bodies we have already paralleled beastman Evolution with human evolution in the real world from primate ancestor to Upright intelligent prehistory so why not just go the full way that Humanity owes their evolution in this world to the beasts from Beasts to Beast men to humanity making even more sense why human prehistory is being paralleled here in Far moua because they are to Elden ring humans what hominids were to us after all death rout seems to affect Beast men in the exact same way that it affects humans perhaps because they have similar or tied physiology this has rather interesting implications for demi humans as well clearly the demihumans are meant to be related to humanity much like apes are to us in real life perhaps the demihumans are a separate branch that also evolve from the beastmen just diverging at some point in history and now remain Humanity's evolutionary cousins and there is a further connection between the civilization of man and Beast man that comes in the form of a particular Shield the sun realm Shield we can find the shield in the possession of two specific enemies one the human skeleton swordsman two the skeleton beastmen with both of these enemies being fully modeled actually holding the shield reinforcing the fact it is not just a random drop the description of this Shield reads the following Shield of Honor depicting a city crowned by the sun it has seen better days much like the wear upon the shield the seat of the sun is long faded away I'd long believed that this seat of the sun this city was either an Easter egg nod to an Orondo or a reference to lell in the age when the light of the early her tree was brighter a possibility I felt was even more likely given we find lots of these skeletal Swordsmen with the shields in the graveyards that surround the capital yet reassessing the potential evolutionary link between Beast Man and man has made me reassess this is it possible that this is another sign of a shared Heritage given that both beastman and human wield The Shield is it possible that phula is the realm of the Sun or given that phula was once Earthbound was the sun realm a successor Kingdom built by both beastmen and their human descendants this is all just speculation but some real interesting food for thought and if man is descended from Beast then it adds a greater weight to what we see of men like horu and the difference between the age of The Crucible and the age of the Earth tree an age where man was more like beast and remember earlier when I was talking about the dichotomy of the wisdom of beasts Perhaps it is meant to shine a light on the true beastial nature of man revisiting that description of the ruler's mask modern civilization is essentially a defanging process a killing of the things that connect man to Beast violence wildness and animalistic lust and urges one of the item descriptions that haulk Shaw highlights in the color lore video on the chapter on red is the description of turtle neck meat now in the current version of the game it has a very boring and generic description but in version 1.0 of the game it would have said the following turtle is said to boost virility but none in the lands between seem to have much appetite for it these these days in lands between the urge to reproduce has waned long ago now while the urge to reproduce may also be tied to the deathless state of the world or the role in which the Ury takes in providing new life we do see it follow the pattern of more Basic Instincts and wild animalistic urges being suppressed as civilization has advanced or at least that's how civilization in the golden order sees it in this world this is something clearly seen in the examples of the omen and Mis begotten two subspecies very wild and animalistic in nature and appearance who greatly suffered under the Civilized golden order indeed even The Crucible Knights once great Heroes of Order are seen as too chaotic and wild and are sidelined as the ideas of civilization are codified a point well made by The Crucible night gauntlets yet the relationship ship between beasts and champions is clearly still venerated in some quarters bernal's armor is covered head to toe in beasts as we had already discussed but this time I want to read the description from the chess piece of bernal's armor which reads the following beasts are drawn to Champions and to Lords and this armor befits a champion worthy of becoming a Lord and that is what Bernal was until his Maiden threw herself in to the fire Bernal was himself almost a Lord and the Beast symbology may be very well straightforward beasts are strong violent and brave and as we discussed earlier when looking at the helmet beasts have this sort of focus this animalistic desire to complete their task and only their task without a consideration for any other nuance and again this very much fits Bernal both in his aspirations to become a Lord and later in his aspirations to burn the the Earth tree to the ground in these ways Bernal is more Beast than bisar violent focused and strong being like a beast is losing that human Nuance human awareness human morality and focusing solely on your base instinct or goal something very relatable to Champions or Heroes who stand above the rest of civilization and they are willing to do the violent necessary things that the rest of ization is not yet there is something else fascinating in the champion chess piece as it states beasts are drawn to Champions now this was a sentence again brought to my attention by Loki so again credit to Loki for raising the importance of this chess piece Loki suggested that this makes sense given the Beast rallied around Elden Lord pusx the Beast being drawn to this Lord a champion and Lord of unparalleled strength to myself it made me think of the relationship between SOS and Godfrey a Lord and a beast and to me it not only reaffirms the strong connections between man and beast but also on what Loki mentioned earlier with intelligence came new weaknesses a lack of savagery a loss of that willful instinct to survive at all cost and with it becomes the crippling awareness of death and the Frailty of life and perhaps in that respect with the conscious loss of that feral nature Beast or drawn to Violent Champions like horu who are more Beast than beasts themselves following the Advent of beasts being given intelligence for the Beast Within man and The Taming of it is no better Illustrated than by Godfrey and horu upon taking his ax in title of first Elden Lord Godfrey separates himself from his more beastial counterpart his more beastial desires and urges and behaviors and when he sheds his Godfree affectations at the end of the game and becomes hu once more a transformation marked by a violent act the killing of saraj you would be hard pressed at this exact moment to find a more beast-like being than hu even amongst the Rune bears in the lands between here is a man fighting with his bare hands as a beast would fight with claws ripping and tearing with wild abandon and the savagery of a beast these are all points and themes we had discussed in our Godfree lore video a man of the age of The Crucible The Crucible being a stage in history when men were closer in nature to Beasts where Only the Strong survived and thrived but then the age of The Crucible pass because with new ideas of civilization as it is in the real world violence becomes less acceptable and Men Are Meant to behave in a more reasonable and poised fashion again I say that with a pinch of salt but perhaps in Elden ring this evolution of man from a more violent time to a time of civilization is more literal that the Beast Within Godfrey and within all men isn't just tempered by civilization because humans are becoming more advanced and have different ideas of civilization but because the Beast Within man enil ring may be more literal than we first considered perhaps the Beast Within hlu is owed to the beastial Heritage that all Humanity has it's just that horl is much closer to the surface and that is why we can consider the more intelligent Beasts of the beastmen society as less Beast than Violent Men like horu and Bernal who are closer to the beaste from which they are descended the lands between are a perplexing and magical place a world that feels far distinct from the grounded reality of our own world and this is no more evident than in Elden Ring's presentation of death indeed death has always been a central Focus to from software games but Elden ring really takes it to the next level by having death represent by multiple different areas of lore death is one of the great philosophical and existential questions to ponder as is in our world and the denisons of the lands between have varying beliefs and practices when it came to dealing with the end in the modern erre era the systems of death have been hijacked by the earthree and golden order fundamentalism with ER tree burial being the nominal idea of Ideal death and yet there exist far older are symbols of death relics of different funerary rights whose very image still elicits a tie to the other side there are those who cling on to their own practices beliefs and Divinity separate from the Dominion of the earth tree the death need guidance and Coring and in these different systems as we will see there's always a Shepherd or an usher figure a psychopomp a spirit who helps guide the dead according to their factions beliefs and desires at the outset of this video I also want to shout out a few creators whose work has been instrumental for me researching this video this includes vat V limit Crunch and last protagonist a special big thanks to last protagonist for providing translations and vat in general for sharing his own lore notes with me which helped me visualize the section on ghost flame immensely a perfect place to start when analyzing the concept of death is with ourselves the tarnished we who are dead and and yet live oh rise now ye tarnished ye Dead who yet live the call of long lost Grace speaks to us all death is one of the first aspects of the lore that the player will stumble across even if they don't think too deeply about it in an interview with weekly famitsu in March 2022 Miyazaki just describes that the tarnished the player are descendants of those who are originally exiled alongside Godfrey and now I'm going to quote that passage from weekly famitsu the people who live in the lands between have a Golden Glow in their eye from the grace of the Erry some people however have lost that glow and they were called the tarnish and exiled from the lands between the player character and the other tarnish to appear in game are descendants of such people after the Elden ring was shattered the guidance of Grace appeared to the tarnished and others who could not die telling them to return to the lands between gain audience with the Elden ring and become Elden Lord and that is how the game begins so we are descended from those who were originally exiled by am and the greater well alongside Godfrey when Grace left his eyes in marica's own words my Lord and thy Warriors I divest each of thee of thy Grace With Thine Eyes dimmed ye will be driven from the lands between ye will wage war in a land afar where you will live and die well perhaps that might serve you in Li of a maiden's guidance even at this stage it's clear that Mara expects the tarnished to go outside the ls between between battle and die before being brought back by grace in due course and from what we see of Godfrey we know this to be true Godfrey is shown to have died at some point as a tarnished in the introductory cinematic before being brought back once more as Godfrey the first Elden Lord so right at the offset of the game we are immediately introduced to the idea that there is some degree of fluidity in regards to death and it is a necessary building block of any from soft Ware game in every single game death and the respawn mechanic has been built into the lore itself in Dark Souls the very nature of our curse is more directly addressed right from the onset and while it has a lot of depth and Nuance notably explored in Dark Souls 2 the idea of the curse of the UND depth is more headon tackled in Dark Souls whereas in Elden ring the idea of being tarnished is a little bit more obscure in the lore and isn't as is Central as the curse of the undead is to Dark Souls and while that is true another facet of the lore is thrown in our face early on and that is the idea of the guidance of Grace which exists to guide us tarnished and indeed the Earth tree and the two fingers need us and so will not let us die and thus Grace Keeps Us Alive And while this is greatly implied in the game it is directly stated by Miyazaki himself in an interview with Miyazaki in the Overture of Elden ring book Miyazaki says the following on the immortality of the tarnished the immortality of the tarnished stems from the power of the guidance of Grace tarnish that die outside the lands between are given new life through the guidance of Grace and are beckoned to the lands between this is basically the start of the game I guess the guidance doesn't want the player character to be freed so this now mechanically makes sense as when we die we do resurrect at the last sight of Grace but what is Grace how does it have the power to literally prevent us from dying Grace seems to be an extension of the Elden ring of its power and influence as the golden Rune item description suggests that having Grace is the same as holding these runes it reads as follows Grace that dwells within the inhabitants of the lands between the lingering trace of gold runes are the nourishment for the development of any tarnished provided a finger Maiden can be found ruins are fragments of the Elden ring and if ruins are Grace then it means that Grace is an extension of the Elden ring hence why those without Grace are seen as tarnished as dirty as without Grace the tutorial notes the fact that Grace is essentially a tool to transmit the Earth tre's directions for the tarnished in short Grace is just another EX extension of the earth tree and Elden ring and through it the tarnished are bound to its power Shackled Beyond even death until their task is completed or their usefulness is outlived the point of highlighting this example is that it is the first example of the many mechanisms through which death is manipulated and coralled by the Earth tree and other forces it also shows this idea of being guided throughout this video I'm going to talk about the idea of psychop pumps and we'll get on it soon but in short psychop pumps are spirits that guide the dead and the tarnished are the dead that yet live and so in a way the tarnished are kin to the other dead that are manipulated and coralled by these psychopomp forces throughout this video we will see many examples of how the dead are seemingly lost and will only act according to the guidance they are given is this any different from ourselves when we first picked up the controller and played the game would we even know what to do had it not been for the guidance of Grace I want you just to bear that in mind when we talk about all the other dead that are Shepherd throughout this video that we the tarnished may be no different and with that being said I now want to pick up one of the oldest symbols of death in the lands between the death RS and the death Birds to me the most interesting facet of the practices associated with these sin or Birds is that they were developed in a world absent the Earth tree before the Earth tree was around and for the player this should immediately be intriguing as the lands between we actually get to explore is so dominated by the Earth tree both physically and culturally and we learn that these death rats were developed outside the Earth trees perview before its arrival from the explosive ghost flame spell which reads his following sorcery of the Servants of death in the time when there was no Earth tree death was burned in ghost flame death birds were the keepers of that flame as I discussed in my urry lore video clearly there was a period of time when cultures and Society developed and existed outside of the Dominion of the earth tree and given its function in regards to the processes of death it makes sense that prior mechanisms and funerary rights needed to exist I argue in that same video that there was a period of history between the reign of the ancient dragons and queen Mara's reign in which there was no Elden Lords that we know of and there must have been some sort of power vacuum unlike what we see in the current ER Trey era where everything is culturally dominated by the ER Trey itself as such in this period it seems as though there was an outer God that was able to spread and its rights its death rights will become the dominant funerary right of the world at this era I'm of course referring to the outer God that is linked to what we know as the twin bird a being we learn of via the twin bird Kate Shield which reads as follows Shield featuring a vividly painted twinbird the twin bird is said to be the envoy of an outer God and mother of the death Birds this is the only direct mention we get of this twin bird and it's associated outer God yet that being said this small piece of evidence actually gives us a lot to work with and chew over first of all it directly links the death birds and their rights to an outer God as well as placing the creation of these death birds at the feet of this twin bird an Envoy to that greater God now this twin bird is described as an Envoy and an Envoy is of course a messenger meaning this bird was a messenger or representative of this outer God as vatti says in his great video on the death related bosses the image we get of this twin bird is indeed very reminiscent of the mythological Phoenix the Phoenix is of course a bird heavily associated with death through its endless cycle of death and rebirth however I think we can also learn a little bit more from the appearance of this bird as it is known as the twin bird and we can see from The Shield that this title is reflective of their actual or presented appearance two heads and two halves of a body both represented with different colors if I was to guess what this is representing I would Hazard that one half is meant to represent life and one half is meant to represent death symbolizing its remit over the cycle of life and death in crunchy's Hein lore video in his pinned comment he makes an interesting supplementary point to the video content he States the following in that comment the twin bird Kate Shield depicts a black bird against against a red background and a red bird against a blue background if the black bird is somehow represented or manifested by the death Birds it begs the question what the red bird is in alchemical symbolism this would represent the Raven and the Phoenix symbolizing kind of physical death and release into the spiritual World whether literal or metaphorical I agree with crunchy that these halves are different facets of the one hole and that the death half is most certainly manifested by her Raven death bird children though this does leave us curious about the potential children of her other half or whether it is actually also represented by the death birds and we are just missing some of the greater picture we don't know much about the AR God that's connected to this twin bird but as with all outer gods that we know of quote unquote in the game we have to assume that their actions of their followers and their servants in this case the death Birds must be representative of their ideals and their remit so to speak and as this point I'd like to shout out another great lore video and it's Mr hon in his lore video on the outer god of the death Birds which I will link below Mr holon suggests that the outer god of the death Birds is one of death and of battle the reason he does this is he thinks that there is a link between certain items that suggest that this outer God rewards those who die in battle the first item that he points to in order to prove this the is the blue feathered Branch sword an item that we'll see later is closely associated with the death birds and is an item that is dropped by them in fact and its description reads as follows the heart sings When one draws close to death and thus does one clings so tenaciously to life to render up a death worth offering and this similar idea is also reflected in the red feathered Branch sword which reads as follows the heart sings When one draws close to death and a glorious end awaits those who cling so tenaciously to life as Mr hon States it suggests that those who cling so desperately onto their life who fight for their life are to be rewarded in death and indeed this idea of people being rewarded for being great Heroes is something that's also reflected in her tree traditions for we find many uh great hero ashes who seem to have been granted an her Tre burial as an honor for their actions in life and this repeated theme and this repeated idea seems to give water to what Mr hon is suggesting here that this outer God is possibly one of death and of battle that rewards Warriors after life Mr hon then also links it to the heal and steeple sword something I will cover later in this video for other reasons but in short Mr Hen repeats the idea that is said on the hin steeple item description that shows that those who have died A Warrior's death will be guided by the heing in the spirit world I.E being rewarded for their heroics and battle press it's a really great video and actually one of the best explanations or theories on what the outer god of the death Birds could represent so I'll link that video below and highly recommend you check Mr hon out and give them a sub but moving on from the outer God and back to the death Birds themselves I want to talk about their symbolism their appearance as Ravens or crows as is always the case with from software nothing is really done or selected by chance and neither is choosing to make this branch of death custodians to have a crow or Raven form as Birds crop up throughout history and cultures as a symbol or messenger of death and no birds are more associated with death than the crow or the Raven to many people internally they already associate ravens and crows with death and the reason this is the case is because they are carrying eaters no doubt on the battlefields throughout history these birds would have been a common sight among the dead and thus where there was death there would be crows I will soon discuss the idea of psychop pumps spirits who guide and Shepherd the dead a common theme in Elden ring as far as I see it and birds and crows are quite often seen as psychopomps which is why many believed they gathered near where the dead were that these birds were getting ready to guide them and ultimately this is what the death birds actually do in game they gather the dead and do guide them to the other side and they fall into the category for me of death Shepherds or ushers they are just one of many and we will discuss the rest soon and while the crow or the Raven might be closely associated for death with us in the real world for those in the lands between it was the death birds that were closely associated with death synonymous with it indeed indeed we will see that the association of death in these birds is so deeply ingrained within the culture of lands between Society leading to people taking the form of the bird to represent death in many instances and to me that death is so synonymous with these birds suggests that maybe they were one of the first representations or first manifestations of death in the lands between indeed the fact that we can face so many in the game spread throughout the map shows how important the spread of this cult really was one great bit of lore that helps exemplify how important they are to Earth tree Society in regards to death comes from the hidden plummage item description a cut content crafting material from the game which reads as follows death's bearers were once said to have taken the form of birds symbolized by these black feathers but this does indeed carry over into their lore and what their role actually is they were the Shepherds of death overseers of an ancient funerary practice who presided over the burning of the Dead within ghost flames and so now let's take a look at these funerary practices themselves the ghost flame and necromancy we learn of these practices via the instruments that they wield the death's poker the description of which reads as follows the birds are graveyard FireKeepers it is said they rake out the Ashen remains of the dead from their kils these birds are the overseers as something known as the graveyard fires now being someone who pays close attention to semantics in these games this sentence is of great interest to me first of all graveyards now graveyards are not necessary in her tree Society for we have the cat as burial is not done in the ground as we would traditionally see it in the real world for example but in fact the dead are taken to the catacombs to have an her tree burial to be reabsorbed by the great tree roots so what are the graveyards that we see everywhere in game well given what we've just heard in this item description I would suggest that most of the graveyards we see in game such as in Leonia Lim grave and the mountain tops of the Giant are leftovers from this death right practice that was once overseen by the death birds and it wouldn't be the first example of us seeing the remains of other ancient civilizations and cultures Str about the lands between belt around by the new Ur tree Society this item description also suggests that in these graveyards there were great fires or ks in which the dead were burned before their Ashen remains were scraped out by these pokers fire pokers of course are actual instruments used for clearing out Ash and moving around coals Etc in a fire now the burning of the Dead is of course a very common practice throughout real world history such as in ancient Greek society ancient Rome and Hinduism just to name a few however to my own experiences and cultural background it specifically reminds me of Western Protestant crematorium funerals of which I have personally attended one for those unfamiliar with these practices the deceased are placed into a coffin the coffin is then placed into a Kel before the ashes are then retrieved and typically placed into an n and then optionally those ashes can be buried or kept by the family so quite clearly that is the role in which these death Birds play overseeing the ferary rights of a sort of crematorium practice and specifically the dead are burned within something known as the ghost flames and this this is told To Us by the rancor pot item description which reads as follows in times of old the dead were burned with ghost flame and from those Cinders arose vengeful Spirits the ghost flame is a curious phenomena because while the death Birds did use it to burn the dead it also seems to have been produced from the dead themselves this is something we learn from the story of the Fallen Hawks the zombie like Expedition that found themselves trapped underground and and desperate and in their desperation they took to burning the bones of their fellows and produced the ghost flame and this is something we can learn of bya the ghost flame torch which reads as follows metal torch that burns with cold ghost flame tool of the Fallen Hawks who prowl the underground Rivers when the band's last Embers were used up in their long search they began to burn the bones of their fellows acquiring the cold ghost flame but sing in their fate as dwellers of the underground for all eternity so it appears as though burning bones produces this ghost flame but it isn't as simple as that it seems as though burning the bones of the Dead produces the ghost flame because it is intrinsically linked to the dead and the spirits within and I say this of course because we also see the ghost flame in another circumstance when those who live in death are resurrecting something pointed out by crunchy in his heal in Lord video now we do have a fairly tentative way of explaining why the ghost flame appears at this point of Resurrection because it seems that ghost flames are also tied to vengeful or strong Spirits as seen in ancient death Rancor where it's implied that from these ashes can be found vengeful spirits and I would suggest that the ghost flame appearing around the bones of a resurrecting Undead is symbolic of their vengeful Spirit once again inhabiting their form and refusing to to dissipate entirely this idea of those who live in death being a life form that is in essence a spirit that refuses to die is something that can be backed up with a translation and once again I turned to fellow content creator last protagonist who has provided a fascinating translation of one of roer's dialogues in the English roier says the following you may find this peculiar but I've discovered something in my examination of the night of the black knives these Souls have committed no offense they have every right to life only they happened to touch upon a flaw in the order however according to last protagonist's own translation of the Japanese he reads it in a slightly different way you probably think I'm strange but I'm in the middle of researching The Night of the plot they haven't made any transgressions just living determinedly and because of that they run into a flaw of the order living determinedly I.E wanting to live so much to keep themselves alive so much that they in essence refuse to die and thematically this ties into something I've looked at already the blue and red feathered Branch sword talismans which introduce the idea of people holding on so tenaciously to life and again the repeated thematics seems to give some weight to this translation by last protagonist and this determination to live to me well explains the manifestation of the ghost flame and the resurrection of those who live in death they simply refuse to die they are living determinedly the point being is that the ghost flame is a little bit more complex than it first appears to be it isn't just a flame from the bones of the dead it is intrinsically linked to the dead and their Spirits I think this idea is further backed up by the Curious grave Violet item description which had me perplexed for a long time before I had pondered these very questions its description reads as follows a purple flow that blooms in graveyards material used for crafting items the Hue of ghost flame it's believed to be useful in calling forth Spirits now the grave Violet is of course used in one recipe the rancor pot and so it is a material that produces Spirit fire or ghost flame now what follows is of course my own speculation but I believe the fact that this plant specifically grows in graveyards means that its growth must be connected to the dead Andor their Spirits the fact the flower itself can be used to summon ghost flame and the associated ranor spirits to me suggests a sort of cycle that these flowers are directly connected to the dead they have grown from the dead whose Spirits are in turn connected to the ghost flame and thus these flowers the these grave violets are infused with the same power the ghost flame isn't just born from burning the bones it is an element a metaphysical element intrinsically linked to the dead and their bodies which is why we can get the ghost flame from the bones of the dead or this flour which has grown from those areas in which the dead are also located the understanding that the ghost flame is an intrinsic part of the spirit and the dead rather than just a practice or magic of the death Birds is a ential in understanding how it is also associated with other death practices and I find the grave Violet to be a Cornerstone in that understanding but more on those other connections later just bear it in mind for now now returning to the idea that the death birds are able to summon vengeful Spirits through the ranor this does seem to fit into the logic of the world given that we know the dead can be controlled and summoned via Ash in the case of the death Birds these vengeful Spirits these Rancor can be summoned or found within the ash Rak from the fires of the death birds and this is something we learn from ancient death Rancor which reads as follows summons a horde of vengeful spirits that chase down foes they are Cinders of the ancient death hex raked from the fires of the ghost flame by death Birds now this is very similar to our ability to use the spirit calling Bell to summon forth Spirit from the ash and yet the rancor spell suggests that the death right birds were able to manipulate Spirits in a more primitive degree recreating a vengeful facet of the deceased rather than a onetoone creation of the spirit like the spirit calling ban they draw upon this exact aspect of the Dead the vengeful aspect and they fire forth a one-tone version of the spirits within the ash is it possible the more sophisticated version of spirit calling via the spirit calling Bell was developed by building off the practices of these death right Birds the practice of summoning vengeful Spirits I certainly think this is plausible as both practices do directly draw upon an aspect of the spirit From the Ashes of the Dead the idea of death Birds harnessing the par of spirits is further augmented by our understanding of the augmented wings that we see on upgraded death Birds known as death right birds in the game these versions of the death birds have huge magical wings in which sit a number of ghostly people it turns out that death Birds would have been supported in their death rights by certain priests and this is something we learn via the death right spear which reads as follows the priests became Guardians of the birds through the right of death which also serves as an oath sworn to the their distant Resurrection now this is a really interesting idea of dying so you can be revived in the future and is something we will come back to when we visit the mosum and the soulless Demi Gods but in general it seems as though collectively the practice overseen by the birds and their priests were known as the right of death the death rights hence the death right Birds I find it interesting that there were clearly humans involved PRI PR that serve the manifestation of an outer God the death birds and perhaps these priests were priests to that outer God itself the outer God that we discussed earlier in this video and no doubt the priests venerated the death birds and their twin bird mother as well these priests wielded these staffs and made an oath to become the Guardians of these death right birds in exchange for future Resurrection being dead now and being brought to life in the future and as most will be aware these are the priests that are visible in the wings of the death right Birds the upgraded versions of the death birds and it appears as though this is how they act as Guardians as the presence of These Wings and the presence of these priests do Grant the death Birds the death right Birds far more power than their lesser kin to me the death right priests present as ghostly visages in the wings of the death right birds are channeling their powers granting the death Birds their enhanced powers and this is evidenced by the ghostly glow present on these models that is not present on the regular death birds and for those who ask me to explain why these death birds are so difficult to kill there's your answer the death right priests in the wings of these powered up death birds are granting them all those horrendous Powers so these priests are the reason why the death birds are so traumatic to fight now the death right priests are interesting to me because I've suggested that they channel the power of the death birds and now I want to segue into a subject that deals with another human trying to resurrect and channel these powers for their own ends I'm now going to talk about the subject of necromancy and The Necromancer GIS that we meet in game let's try and impact this lore by first of all looking at GIS himself he's wearing the sages set tying up with the name of the Cave the sages cave that we find him in this set reads as follows thick burgundy robe attire of the wise sages who were deemed heretical evidence that the wearer was driven from town I discussed this in my Millennial lore video but we do meet another Sage wearing person in game sage gy in that video I argued that the town that Gary was driven from as is mentioned in the sage set was in fact Celia Not only was he located near Celia but is also very intimate with the secrets of the town and its sorceries which themselves are secret however G has become an adherent of rot and its incantations which he can teach to you and I conclude that it is these interests and veneration of the RW in general that have had him driven from his former town now I don't necessarily conclude that GIS is also from Celia however I would suggest that he has suffered a similar and parallel fate that he was once a sage of some order only to be expelled for his heretical Magics yet for GIS these heretical Magics were necromancy not rot and this no doubt led to his expulsion from whatever town and Order he was a part of before his motivations for doing so for studying a heretical sorcery is quite clear to us was as we can learn his motivations via the weapon he wields the family heads flail and that item reads as follows three bludgeoning copper heads attached to a handle by chains signature weapon of necromancer GIS the heretical sage the heads were made to resemble those of his wife and two children so for those familiar with Dark Souls 1 and its story may find this story extremely familiar to that of the pen wheel a necromancer who stole some of the power of nle the Grave Lord in order to resurrect his wife and child here Gus's aims can definitely be interpreted as similar for what else could a man who is already mourning his wife and two children want with necromancy clearly he only has one goal in mind the resurrection of his lost family now as to why I have included necromancy in this particular particular section is because the branch of necromancy we encounter in Elden ring appears to be an offshoot of the sorceries of the death rate of the death birds for example we can tie the idea of ranor and controlling and guiding these vengeful Spirits as something linked to the death rights and the death birds and in fact is the ancient death Rancor which helps ties us together and I know I've already read it but I will read it again just for the purposes of this section summons a horde of vengeful spirits that chase down foes they are the senders of the ancient death hex raped from the fires of ghost flame by death Birds this now appears to be an ancient Ark that has been resurrected and revived by The Necromancer Gis for the ranol spell reads as follows sorcery of the Servants of death summons vengeful spirits that chase down foes once thought lost this ancient death hex was was rediscovered by The Necromancer GIS so this is an interesting bit of lore for a number of reasons firstly it appeals to my obsessive need to understand in place the Elden rig timeline it uses the term ancient indicating to us that the time of the death birds and their Associated practices happened a long time ago as well as the fact that it was a long time ago when the world was absent the Earth tree secondly it also links this branch of necromancy to the death rights but unlike the death rights The Necromancer GIS is not as interested in the whole rights as a whole as a religious practice but is instead interested in the ability to control the spirits from the ash of the long dead and his need to somehow control and recreate the spirits of his lost family and this motivation and objective seems to have been achieved to some degree and this is backed up by the skill found on Gus's weapon called familial ranor and the description of that skill reads as follows gently rattle the Copperheads to summon vengeful spirits that chase down foes the anguish of a spouse and children invites a cursed wrath given the description of the skill and the description of the ranker rol spell I conclude that GIS has looked in and researched the Spells of the death right to harness the spirits of his long dead family and in a way he has succeeded but as we have already discussed the death rights and their control of rancor only provides A Primitive aspect of the deceased Spirit it isn't a onetoone recreation it only draws upon their Vengeance and while GIS has managed to resurrect his family in a sense I can hardly believe this pale and tortured imitation was his end goal and thus I see G's story as another one of tragedy something far too common in Elden ring so while what we learn of the death right Birds may be threadbear their legacy is far more prominent as these birds essentially become symbolic and synonymous with death we see this on the attire of the Raven Mount assassins including their cloak which reads as follows a ritual Implement for transforming into a death bird if only by imitation we are the birds of prey Bringers of death these assassins want to repres present themselves as the Bringers of death to strike fear into those who would cross them and to give weight to their promise as assassins and thus they have taken the Raven appearance of the death Birds but not only that they attempt to mimic their movements by diving on their opponents from above as we learn via their Raptor Talon weapons and this is all because the Assassins want to appear as death themselves and to this world there's no clear indication of death than the death Birds it becomes clear that in the world of Elton ring the most recognizable symbol of death is the death bird as it might be the skull fro in real life and this really speaks to the cultural importance that these death Birds once held they were death in a world before the AR Trey and even now people take their symbol as the symbol of death but ultimately the death Birds aren't just death themselves they they were shepherds Shepherds of the Dead guiding the death right priests in burning of the dead and controlling and shepherding the vengeful Spirits found within the ash throughout Elden ring many of the beings associated with death play this role as guide or Shepherds and so in the next chapter I do want to have a look at the idea of psychopomps and analyze the different Shepherds and ushers of death that we find throughout the lands between now I've mentioned the word psychop pump numerous times throughout the video and now it's time to really get into it the word psychopomp is derived from an ancient Greek word that is used to describe a being or Spirit whose purpose is to help guide the dead to the afterlife this idea is very much a repeated theme in elen ring as the dead are frequently described as lost Andor needing guidance and Leadership for example the rosis ax reads the following Usher of death roses who shows the path to the catacombs throughout the lands between is depicted on this ritual acts the death easily lose their way and have always been in sore need of a guiding hand the Usher of death roses is quite obviously the most clear example of a psychop pump in the entire game and is actually one of the First characters that we will probably come across in our exploration of the lands between he is of course these statues that provid the blue Guiding Light that lead us to catacombs what's interesting is the idea that there are those who become lost in death and this is an idea that we will see repeated when we examine the tiia Mariners shortly to me it gives the impression that the dead are a sort of resource that each system belief can gather and guide in order to dominate the world's life cycles unlike the death Birds however it's clear that roses is a being or psychop pump that is aligned with the status quo to be a guide to Earth tree burial hence the blue lights that roses statues produce that guide us to catacombs these sites of great root burial Rosa seems to guide and protect the dead in other ways not only does he Shepherd the dead to the roots of the great tree but he also seems to overlook and protect the catacombs in varying ways he very much is the psychop pump of the ER tree order and er tree burial Converse to the golden order we of course have those who live in death and for an in-depth look into this area of the lore I recently completed a very long video on the subject and I highly recommend it and we'll link below however in regards to the subject of Guides of the Dead I think most of you will know when I'm going when I speak of those who live in death we're of course speaking of the tibia Mariners a good place to start with the tiia Mariners is of course with the tiia summons item description which reads as follows summons a group of those lost in death the dead have long been left to wander what they need is leadership as I mentioned earlier we repeatedly see this idea of the Dead becoming lost or that they require guidance but tibia summons actually takes it further by capitalizing a title those lost in death which I take to be a state of being comparable to those who live in death again it gives me the idea that the dead are in this Wayward State and it's up to the varying factions to gather this resource to their cause whether that be through psychop pumps like roses or the tibia Mariners the tibia Mariners while not mention much in in-game lore are actually dripping with lore if you excuse the pun especially when it comes to their appearance they are once again linked to the Aquatic themes of the prince of death stagnation kagari and centipedes again all subjects I dive deeply into in my Godwin L video however in short The Aquatic facet of the tibia Mariner makes sense especially in relation to the relevance of stagnant water to those who live in death however to most their appearance is most likely more evocative of a famous character of myth the most famous psychop pump of them all I of course refer to Haron The Boatman of the river sticks when sending their dead to the afterlife the ancient Greeks would often place a coin on their dead and this was so they could pay the fee demanded by Haron when they reached Hades upon receiving the fee Haron would fery the dead across the river sticks that divided the land of the living and the Land of the Dead no clearer a psychopomp could there be and I think there would be very little argument that the tibian Mariners are not meant to evoke this same image and in concert with the tiia summons we clearly see the tiia Mariners are guides to bring those who are lost in death into living death to join those who live in death indeed we see them use another tool of theirs to this very end their long trumpet which doubles as both a paddle and instrument given the Greek themes behind psychop pumps and the tibian Mariners I liken this trumpet to the salps a trumpet-like instrument of the ancient Greeks and you can see the long design of this instrument is very close in appearance to the same one that the Mariners use historians have speculated that this instrument the sinks was a military instrument meant to give commands before a battle started and in Elden ring I speculate that TI a marina uses it in a similar fashion they use the trumpet to guide and direct the dead those who are lost to our world those who are lost in death and upon hearing the trumpet they are guided to the tiia Mariner's side being pulled into our world and becoming those who live in death and we do see this throughout our fights with the tibian Mariners that those they summon are those who live in death new Warriors for these mysterious boatmen as vatti quite rightly points out in his death boss lore video the tibian Mariners can also be related to another talking point in regards to the psychopomps helin's steeple as the tiia Mariner in the mountaintops of the Giants drops this item and as we will see it really will continue on these themes of guiding the dead so let us start to unpack the ideas found in this item by reading its item description great sword patterned after the black steeple of the hin the lampwood which guides the dead of the spirit world the lamp light is similar to Grace in appearance only is said that it can only be seen by those who met their death in battle again we quite clearly see the reoccurring themes of the guidance of the dead and I believe the choice of the name also illustrates this the spelling of hin may not necessarily mean anything spelled out but phonetically it is the same as the German word hen meaning help or assistance in English and this makes sense given its role in helping the Lost spirits of the Dead in finding their way to the spirit world now the idea of a spirit world is a fascinating concept for the lands between especially when we get visual hints that there may be a spiritual realm in Elden ring and it's made even more tantalizing that we get nothing else mentioned on it apart from this heal and steeple item description and it's at this point I'm going to recommend another excellent video by the Creator crunchy who did a deep dive on the concept of a spirit world in Elden ring and he covers this in his healin lore video which I've already mentioned a few times throughout this video I cannot recommend it enough and please go and give crunchy your support that being said let us break down what we know of the hin according to the description of the sword is modeled after a lampwood or as vat's translation in his video States a Lamplight tree and again thanks to vat for sharing these translations so in short the sword seems to mimic a black Fork tree that appears in the spirit realm as a lamp light to guide them with a sort of Grace the fact that this is a tree that is also giving off a sort of Grace suggests it may be some kind of mirror of the AR Trey in the shadow realm and again this is something that crunchy touches upon in his video fatti theorizes that this sort of Grace mimicking light could be R due to the red gem found in the sword itself now the red is interesting because when the Tibi Mariners summon those who are lost in death to become those live and death a red light can be seen as they are summoned as if the tibia Mariners are harnessing or mimicking the power of the hin and I do think this red light helps L Credence to vat's ideas that this is a red light rather than a golden light as it is for grace and ultimately this idea of a light guiding the dead to where they need to be is also a theme that is backed up by the fact it's is what rosis does as well he uses a blue light to guide the dead to his intended death destination another facet of this sword that's interesting in regards to the greater themes of death is the weapon art attached to it which is called ruinous staple which wreathes The Sword in ghost flame ghost flame is something we have discussed at length in this video and it ties us back to the death R and the death bird as crunchy points out in his video the steeple of the Hein sword is very similar to the death right staffs and also the red feathered Branch sword Tal that were once used in ancient death rituals doubtless the death rights given that these items drop from the death Birds is it possible that the H and tree was the model for these ritual implements as used by the death rights and if so does the ghost flame on The Sword and the possession of the sword by the tiia Mariner tie these two practices together in my opinion the answer is both yes and no I think that D's initial dialogue makes it clear C that the tiia Mariners are essentially manifestations of the death route and Shepherds for those who live in death they are spawn of the mark of the centipede heed my warning The Village here has been touched by death and worse yet it is home to a mariner so they are something separate from the death R birds and this is of course reinforced by the fact that the Tian Mariners are the main holders of the death route and this ties them very firmly to God win yet those who live in death do seem to burn in the ghost flame after they die before resurrecting the ghost flame is wielded by the death Birds is wathed on the H and blade which is in turn born by the tibia Mariner the ghost flame even appears tied to the mums as when we clear the skull Barnacles from their feet a burst of ghost flame is seen and I would speculate this suggests that the mosum attracts these souls or gathers them and this is because of the soulless demigod in tuned within a Nexus of death if you will there are a lot of connections here and going even deeper we can find further connections between all these subjects which can make it confusing as crunchy States in his health and video the ghost flame could easily be described as fire drained of color a white Flame the eclipse tightly associated with the soulless demig Gods is also described as the sun drained of its color and as described in my prior Godwin lure video last protagonist's comment on a v limit Eclipse video makes it clear that the Japanese or Ki for eclipse means worm eaten corroded and the word roses is a Latin word which means nod eaten away so what is the connection between all these subjects well first of all I wouldn't make it too literal and think that all of these practices are linked I think it's just a thematic connection for death as English speakers there's lots of things we're not understanding that thematically these are all death subjects and thus they will repeat a lot of the same imagery and themes and language to evoke a certain feeling from Their audience it's just that culturally we are not up to the same speed as some of the Japanese players will be but if you do want to try and tie it together in the lore as to why there's so many overlaps between these ideas we all have to bear in mind that all of these practices all these funerary rights all these agents of different gods and the greater well all draw from the same place the spirit realm or the realm of the Dead I have already discussed how the ghost flame while often associated with the death Birds is actually more an intrinsic part of all dead and all Spirits hence why it can be summoned via grave Violet which has grown from carrying as well as why the ghost flame is associated with those who live in death necromancy and the hin sword as in the real world funerary rates CR cross over with one another they take ideas from one another and ultimately they deal with the same Grand questions that we do in the real world and this is why traditions in the real world and in Elden ring when it comes to death often deal with similar subjects just in slightly different ways my point is is that we have highlighted several different systems and different Masters Behind these different funerary rights and the different psychop pumps that have their different motivations for guiding the dead to their own ends but you will see similar forces at play in each of the rights because they deal with the same subject and that is the dead and their Spirits so with that subject fairly well covered there's some other connected subjects that I want to cover before we wrap up the video on all things death and I move on from seeing death for the thousandth time the last subject I want to tackle is the mozole and the soulless demig Gods I'd like to start this section off by first of all acknowledging that I have previously discussed this subject matter in regards to its connection to Godwin in my last video and in mea in a far previous video so there will be a degree of repetition but I will be covering it in more depth and more holistically and you will see some thematic Illusions and conclusions that I come to that you won't have seen in my prior videos so let us start with what I see to be the introduction to this faction so to speak the dialogue of the ghost from the Weeping peninsula who says the following so this dialogue presupposes that the mosim appears to hold a relation of Mara a demigod this is then something we can attribute to all Mims when we consider the mosum circot which reads the circot depicts the mosum Bell which rings in constant mourning for the soulless demigods so these structures and their soldiers are entirely formulated around deceased and soulless demigods that are contained within this is of course in some way linked to Godwin's fate given he too is soulless and is referred to as the first of the demig Gods to die as mentioned by the likes of roier and as described on the golden Epitaph it description so we do need to consider how these demigods within the mums became soulless of course it would have been after Godwin's death to me it doesn't make sense that they too were killed on the night of the black knives we looked at the mechanics of this event during my Godwin lore video but in a nutshell the Assassins actually physically carved the curse mark into Godwin's flesh not only that but it was due to rany's machinations in having the curse mark broken in half that would cause Godwin to die only in Soul and therefore this exact scenario would need to be repeated for each of the soulless demigods thus unlikely however that being said I am not Gideon all knowing and if you want a well- reasoned and contrasting view I would recommend a Reddit post by gor XI who makes some excellent and well researched arguments in favor of the demigods intentionally being killed during the nights of the black knives and so I'll link that below and highly recommend you read that after this video however in my opinion what is more likely is that these demigods instead came into contact with the death route that was spread from Godwin's corpse from the roots of the great tree and upon death they became the soulless and given the connections found between the mosum and the Revival of soulless demigods at Castle Saul it does seem to me to firmly link them to Godwin's condition I.E the soullessness brought about by his own undeath so why are they where they are now in the MOs Liams in the way that they are well firstly it seems as though they are preserved in this manner because of the Loyalty of their Le followers who seem to want to preserve their Fallen Lords until they are able to be revived a good source of evidence for this is a description of the mosum knight armor which reads as follows armor worn by headless Knights who endlessly watch the wandering mosum a self-inflicted curse that ties the spirits of these loyal Knights to the land having willingly beheaded themselves so that they may serve their masters in death so the fact this says their masters suggest that these warriors were the forces of the demigod when the demigod was alive they are their soldiers in life and in death and this can explain why the mosum soldiers and knights have armor in keeping with the rest of the forces of the demigods of the Living World this piece of law also indicates that they then be became headless on purpose through some sort of ritual that binds these Warriors as Undead Immortal Guardians tied to their purpose indeed we do see every single mosoan Warrior and Knight is without a head and in fact this also matches up with their masters each of the soulless demig Gods found within the mosum are also without a head but why the Warriors seem to do this as some sort of ritual to become immortal guardians but why are the demigods themselves beheaded while this is a fairly threadbear area of the lore there are some interesting connections that we can make we have already commented on the fact that the funerary practices of the world sometimes overlap when it comes to ideas beliefs and symbolism and in this case there's a most notable overlap with the mosum Knights integrating death bird imagery of course looking at the mosum night armor set we can see the wings of the death bird have been taken upon their back symbolizing death now this is of interest to me because the decapitations associated with the Muslim Knights could also be tied to death bird imagery onee Dragon Powell made a comment on V limits Eclipse video suggesting that the sacrificial axe may have had some connection to the process behind the mosum soldiers decapitation firstly axes are often used historically in the process of decapitation and secondly this axe is also symbolically tied to the death birds for its description reads Hatchet used an ancient sacrificial right a death bird is depicted as a malevolent de the power of the right yet lingers given the mosum knights have already Incorporated death Birds into their symbolism it isn't a stretch to imagine they also could have built this ancient sacrificial right into their practices while I would like to stress that this is specul ation it does tie in very neatly the beheadings and the axe obviously tie in together nicely and it ties together with the death bird imagery that the mosum knights already use furthermore the axe mentions an ancient right and that the power of this right still lingers as if there is a real power to the sacrificial right being performed is it possible that this ancient right mentioned in the hatchet is also the right mentioned in the mosum knight armor I will leave that thought with you but for me it is definitely possible and I thank one ey Dragon pwell for that insightful comment the only other question remaining about this burial practice about having the soulless demigod in the mosum is why the demigods themselves are beheaded before being interred so to that end I do have a pretty speculative theory that I'm basing on my own knowledge of real world burial practices and decapitations so just bear with me a moment so decapitation is obviously something that has happened in real life throughout history for varying reasons most often for banale punishment or execution and you wouldn't think there's much here to relate it to the burial of a soulless demigod however in some cases there are symbolic purposes behind decapitations for example some are done to prevent a soul from reaching the afterlife or it was often used to prevent the unquiet dead from reanimating I.E zombies fear of revenant or the Dead Rising is a fear that's reported all the way back in the Roman era and dismemberment was hoped to be a cure for such reanimation and relating this back to the soless demigods I do not believe these are random or just a artistic choice but are instead a measure to make sure that the bodies of the soless demigods are able to remain as they are until their Resurrection comes consider Godwin's fate his body has grown grotesque and monstrous due to his lack of a soul and as we learned from Lil's ashes as well as the events at Castle Soul the eventual goal of the mams and their Knights is to protect their soulless demigod until they are able to be revived and in comparison to Godwin's corpse the corpses of the soless demigods seem pretty secure pretty nice and pretty uncorrupted they are preserved I may obviously not be right here and I am stretching credulity a little bit but I do believe the idea of decapitations putting the unquiet dead to rest feels right to me these are corrupted soulless demigods at the end of the day and bear in mind that this practice of the mosum night seems to be supported by the ER tree Society given that ltil earns an Ury burial through her actions as a mosim guardian meaning that the practices of the mosum must not be contrary to the beliefs and ideals of the earth tree and I think therefore by decapitating a soless demigod and preventing them from joining those who live in death not only do they preserve their lord until their Revival but they also prevent the spread of those who live in death and therefore it makes sense why a hero like ltil giving her life to defend such an ideal would be given an earth tree burial but that is just my speculation on the matter hear me dumy Gods my children beloved make of thyselves that which ye desire be it to Lord be it a God but should ye fail to become ought at all ye will be forsaken amounting only to sacrifices the OD tree governs all the choice is thine become one with the order or divest thyself of it to wallow at the fringes a powerless upstart let a new Epoch begin an Epoch glistening with life brandish the Elden ring for the age of the ER tree the lands between are rail that is home to many a legendary and powerful figure and as the tarnished we get to rub shoulders with these Giants even if they have seen better days yet at the center of it all is Queen Mara the Eternal the god of the world and the vessel for the Elden ring for the mystery of the game starts with the opening cinematic that declares that Queen Mara is missing it is she who ushered in the age of the Earth tree through Bloodshed and battle and symbolize an era of bounty under its bows marica's hand is felt everywhere in the lands between through her children and through an entire culture that has been built around her image and god-given Authority yet the Grandeur of the earth tree in the realm of Mara would not last forever despite that being the intention Mar's Duty was an immense burden and to understand Marica is to understand the incredible stress that she must have faced over 100 hundreds if not thousands of years the flaws of the golden order and the machinations of others had chipped at the foundations of the world and the final blow would be delivered by America herself with a swing of her Hammer America destroyed herself and the Elden ring leaving the world crooked broken and without leadership yet despite these immutable facts and spending hundreds of hours surrounded by her statues America remains one of the most enigmatic characters in the entire game and multiple questions will always remain so join me this week as we examine the Earth tree and Marica the god of an EPO and I'm really excited to bring you this video as I find both of these subjects some of the more difficult to comprehend in the entire game and to that end I've referenced the work of other great content creators throughout this video such as idin zorm Ashen Hollow quag and last protagonist the latter even being kind enough to provide me with some translations for certain pivotal items I think for subjects like this we are enriched by drawing upon each other's work much like traditional scholarship especially since the lore of Elden ring encompasses such a large breadth of themes and ideas so consider checking out these creators below as we're all fantastic members of this community and their views and perspectives on these subjects has helped round out my perception of this subject matter I've decided to structure this video by first of all exploring the origins of the arery before then tying it together with a history and Analysis of Marica in the latter part of the video the origins of the Elden Ring's influence upon the world began with the coming of the Elden Beast something we learned via the Elden Stars incantation which reads us follows it is said that long ago the greater well sent a golden star bearing a beast into the lands between which would later become the Elden ring the Elden Beast would then become the Elden ring and thus would begin the primordial age of the Dragons where the ancient dragons would rule on behalf of the greater will the setup of this rule is very similar to what we see in marica's Era a God and an Elden Lord this is something we learn from the remembrance of the Dragon Lord which shows that pusx was the Elden Lord to to a god that we don't know much about indeed we can even see what appears to be a more primordial version of the Elden ring engraved in far mailla the capital of the Dragon civilization and this engraving of the Elden ring in a different form just reinforces what we really know already and what we'll explore in this video that the Elden Ring's power has changed form over time in the modern era it is represented by the Earth tree and the tree of course has its origins in The Crucible now whether this engraving of the Elden ring found in Philla is representative of The Crucible or of an earlier version of the Elden ring is unknown and not really that particularly relevant for this video the main important takeaway is of course that the Elden ring has changed over time and now let us go back to The Crucible so we can understand the origins of the AR Trey it is a basic piece of lore but The Crucible is an earlier form of the a tree I'm sure most people understand that by this stage in the game's history but let's cover it anyway so it's something we learn of bya the godkin noble set and it reads the following not unlike The Crucible the her tree in its primordial form this means that to understand the Earth Trey we must first of all look at The Crucible as they are essentially two evolutionary stages of the same Force the timeline in Elden ring is not extremely clear but I believe the era of The Crucible overlaps with both the prehistoric era of the dragons and the early era of the earth tree I think this idea can be supported by some imagery we find in farilla and shout out to quag who made this connection in one of her videos and I will link the relevant video Below in Far maula there are reliefs in certain parts of the area that have some interesting implications these reliefs seem to show a tree flanked by two unusual looking creatures who to me must either be some kind of Dragon Kin or as quag suggests Miss begotten as shown by the description of ca's spear as well as the actual imagery of the weapon itself and her helmet appears to depict the crysal as a sort of wild and natural looking tree and given the crysal is the primordial form of the earth tree this makes perfect sense The Crucible is distinctly linked to the greater will and the power of the Elden ring a period of Red Gold rather than pale gold of the earth tree and golden order the idea of Red Gold being used as an indicator of the crs's influence is an idea that we can learn from the Gilded great Shield which reads the following metal great Shield coated with gold carried by kns loyal to godric the red tinge in the gold coat marass the primordial matter that became the Earth tree the color of homor yearning the nature of this gold is interesting because the two different colors of gold tipe back to an allegiance with the greater will but the different shading of red and pale symbolize two different eras of Golden Rule a point well made by ova's great sword which reads the following this sword is imbued with an ancient holy Essence its red tint exemplifies the nature of primordial gold said to be close in nature to life itself the red tint of the gold seems to be symbolic of the themes of Primal life that we often see associated with The Crucible hence why we see this gold adorning The Crucible Knights armor and weapons and thematically the Red Gold ties in here with the idea of life life being closely associated with the age of The Crucible something we will again examine when we come to the age of abundance chapter an overlapping period between the cral era and the Earth tree era the evolution from Crucible to ER tree from wildli to refined life explains the differences between earlier greater will beliefs versus those of the golden order and in turn leads us to understand why the golden order views the worship of The Crucible as a more primitive worship of life and the greater will the item description of the guild Shield of course calls into question godric's beliefs given that it is a shield wielded by his soldiers that he is linked to Godfree a lord more in tune with The Crucible and his venerations of dragons and the fact he Blends together life in an artificial sense bya grafting but this of course is an analysis in a story for another video as we already discussed gold was a signifier of the greater Will's power in this time and while it was red gold it is nonetheless kin to the paler gold of later eras and later golden order incantations and indeed we learn of the kinship and ties between the Red Gold of ancient dragon lightning and the pale gold of modern earthree worship bya the gravel Stone seal which reads as follows the worship of the ancient dragons does not conflict with belief in the earth tree after all this seal and lightning itself are both imbued with gold creating a bridge between these more primeval eras and the age of the arery one is an evolution of the other for all intents and purposes they are both tools of the greater will the very fact ancient dragons wield the red gold and their lightning powers just reinforces that they were the chosen of the greater well at this earlier stage and again to me it could imply that The Crucible may have existed in the time of the ancient dragons although the timeline is not very clear however we do have to remember that The Crucible is a force where all life was once Blended together it is therefore possible that primeval life emerged from this churn including the dragons very possible though is not without its problems and it's something I will analyze in my upcoming Crucible video the main point of understanding to take from this chapter is that the Elden ring is the force which governs the rules of this world's domain and has done so since the prehistoric year of the Dragons the age of The Crucible and thus the Earth tree these ages are all defined and linked by one single power the power of the Elden ring and thus as we get into the Earth tree proper we must understand that the Earth tree is just the latest extension of the Elden ring a way for the greater well to exert their power over the lands between just as the CRS before that so time has always been tricky in Souls games so how long ago are these past events how long does the timeline stretch while it isn't necessary to bog yourself down in these specifics I do find it an interesting and rewarding idea to ponder we've already seen that the Empire of the ancient dragons is referred to as the prehistoric era and just for reference the term prehistoric is coming from the Dragon shield talismans that you can find different varieties of and that can give us some ideas in regards to scales if we relate it to our real world as an allegorical comparison for us prehistory is the time of human history before Humanity began writing began documenting history and that documentation can take any form from writing inscriptions paintings or symbolism any type of creative medium or tool meant to commemorate past events and effectively in our world this is a huge period that starts about 3 million years ago but only ended about 5,000 years ago and so for me the most reasonable view of this time span is to view the reign of the Dragons as several Millennia ago probably even more the Earth tree had not been born from The Crucible its primordial form and the dragons wielded the power of the Elden ring as we can see from their Red Gold lightning and the fact that they had the Elden Lord and God of this era regardless it is clear that this was a far different era of Elden ring rule with the form of the Elden ring being far different from what we're used to in the modern era quote unquote yet much like America's Reign the rule of the Dragons would come to a close and I do think it is within the scope of this video to at least touch upon this subject we know from pus Sax's remembrance that the God of this era disappeared and is no doubt this that played a key factor in their society's collapse and originally this chapter on the dragons was much more robust but given the size of this video as you will see I really had to tone it down as there was a lot of blow in this video but suffice it to say I will cover the history of the dragons in a later video but for whatever reason the dragon God fled and pusx would hide Beyond Time and between that Reign and Mar's Reign we don't know of any other Elden Lords or any other gods in that period and it is my belief that between these two Reigns there was a little bit of a power vacuum which explains why we see a multitude of different civilizations clearly at different times having risen and fallen in this period and with that said we'll move on to the next chapter where we try and assess this pre- arery era as mentioned in the previous chapter it's unclear whether the dragons ruled all the way up to the period known as the age of the Earth tree but but my suspicion is that they fizzled out quite a bit before the emergence of the earth tree leaving a period without a God and Elden Lord where The Crucible was the main force in the world this is of course my speculation but I base off the fact there's plenty of evidence of Plenty different communities arising in the Years prior to the UR tre's rule I believe there's a good bit of carbon dating in Elden ring if we look at certain events and this is one that I've referenced before in my videos and that is the war of the ice dragons and the Giants as explained by boris's mist and I believe this is a good bit of supporting evidence that there was a good length of time between the fall of the age of the dragons and the rise of the age of the Earth tree the reason I believe this is because the war was fought by the ice dragons who are a species of what we know as modern dragons we learn of the differences between modern and ancient dragons from items such as the lightning strike and dragon wound Greece in short modern dragons are the bipedal more wyvern like dragons like agil Borealis and smag these are dragons who have descended from the stonik quadruped ancient dragons and have lost their immortality due to the loss of the gravel Stone scales the fact that these derivative and modern species of dragons were the ones to war with the fire Giants who themselves would overlap with the early age of the arery is an interesting point of history for me I see the modern dragons as a degenerate Devolution that must have come about through the collapse of their empire and their association with the Elden ring this is my speculation of course but the very fact that fire Giants were able to carve out their own territory and defeat an entire branch of dragon kind without any retaliation from the Elden dragon lord to me simply suggests that the dragon Empire was a thing long since passed by this stage and is a great indicator of a sort of timeline given we know that the fire Giants would be at the Zenith of their power at the beginning of the age of the UR Trey and I do think it makes sense given how long we are talking about we are talking about moving from a primeval prehistoric era of a world moving into an era that is more aligned with the Medieval Era and I'm of course referring to the Lindale civilization of the earth tree and to me there are clear indicators that there have been many other early civilizations that have risen and Fallen within the timeline and they would only really fit in the gap between the age of the dragons and the gap between the age of the Earth tree we of course have the ancient civilization who built the U and old palaces and the mosum that would then become the mwin palace given the architectural similarities to real world Sumerian and ancient Greek civilizations the implication of these architectural choices and influence to me is meant to imply that this is a civilization well in the past before the rise of Lan Dell which again reflects a more modern Medieval Era this is not to mention the fact that it is actually referred to as an ancient civilization in the MN Palace map again we have had two different terminologies used for different time periods the Prehistoric Age of the dragons and the ancient era of the old and old palaces however you look at the Timeline it becomes undeniable that there were cultures that grew up and developed separate from the influence of the earth tree as such they developed their own ideas practices and worshiped their own Gods and conceived their beliefs outside what we know to be as the norm during the reign of America a good example of this idea is rooted in an actual bit of in-game lore and not my own waffle and this is found in the sorcery explosive ghost flame item description which reads as follows in the time when there was no Earth tree death was burned in ghost flame death birds were the keeper of that flame so the death Birds and the twin bird deserve their own video and Analysis of course but they and their Associated beliefs are great illustration of a world without an her tree when death was completely divorced from it and building upon this for a further example of a community and culture that has clearly developed their own beliefs and practices surrounding death we can of course look to the ancestral follower Community this culture has a wholly different burial and funerary practice free from the Dominion and domination of the earth tree indeed these are more than just beliefs as their beliefs on death and rebirth are made manifest in the form of their ancestor Spirits the remembrance of the Regal ancestor reads as follows ancestral Spirits exist as a phenomenon beyond the perview of the earth tree life Sprouts from Death as it does from birth such as the way of the living indeed even in the corpses of these ancestral beings that we find in the areas of the ancestral followers we can see new life forming from their remains Flora budding in a perfect display of the cycle of life and death a ccle that is free from the urry burial of Mar's era and I think we have hit here on an important Point As We Now understand why the arrival of the Ury was not welcomed with open arms these are practices of death and life that have nothing to do with the arery and are completely separate by it and the arery would be a threat to that way of life and with that understanding let us look at the protection of the UR Trey incantation which reads the following in the beginning everything was in opposition to the Earth tree but through countless victories in war it became the embodiment of order everything was in opposition to the Earth tree and now we can start to understand why entire societies communities and cultures had risen up with their own practices Gods religion and their own ways of understanding death so the arrival of the archery would be a massive tyrannical force in respect of your own beliefs and practices instead of being allowed to burn your dead in ghost flames or bury them or honor your ancestral Spirits Earth tree burial would replace that and be seen as the only true way of honoring death Earth tree burial which is essentially becoming one with the great tree being absorbed by its roots in a horrible convergence of life and rebirth that would remove any reverence or individuality from the burial process and indeed when Mara is the representative of the earth tree it is made extremely clear that the Earth tree is the only way of governing life and if you do not get with the program you will be excluded to the ends of the Earth in America's own words the Earth tree governs all the choice is thine become one with the order or divest thyself of it to wallow at the fringes a powerless upstart I really like this quote because it illustrates the fact that the ER Trey and Marica really became to represent a dominant world power with no contenders and no flexibility it is worth bearing in mind that the worship of Mara the Earth tree and the fingers exists beyond the lands between and this is something we learn from the church Confessor armor set which reads the churches outside the lands between dedicated to the teachings of the two fingers send confessors out to follow the guidance of Grace the church is outside the lands between so being no doubt about amica's intention at this early stage the UR tree will govern all or your existence will be that of an outcast and this does line up nicely with what we actually see in game for those who do not fit within the established order do actually exist in the fringes we have the ancestor followers the Mis begotten those of the halic tree The Omen and the Alban orics all of these people are pushed to the fringes of the lands between unwelcome and oppressed struggling to preserve their own ways of life and for a large group of the outcasts one of the main unifying themes is The Crucible But to answer the question as to why the reason behind the people of The Crucible being ostracized we must go to the the heart of what the AR tree represents in comparison to The Crucible so with that said let us move on to the next chapter where we attempt to answer the question what actually is the earth tree let us backtrack slightly now and discuss the evolution of The Crucible into the Earth tree that would trigger the events leading up to what we know as the age of the Earth tree at the conclusion of the war with the Giants in the first chapter we have already examined that in the godkin noble set that The Crucible is defined as the primordial form of the ER tree and so it's time to address what this actually means and how it can inform our understanding of the 's Form and Function let us examine what is meant by primordial from Oxford languages their definition in regards to biology is the earliest stage of development and so this just reinforces what we've already said a number of times that the Cru is the earth tree just at an earlier stage in its life cycle and revisiting the Gilded great Shield item description we then understand that the energies found within The Crucible would coales and eventually form the Earth tree a new form that would replace what we knew as The Crucible my belief is that the power of the Elden ring funneled into the chaotic matter of The Crucible would grow and solidify into the Earth tree that would then rise from its primordial form to dominate the skyline of the lands between and as already discussed in the prior chapters as evidenced by ca's weapons and her armor adornments The Crucible did actually take the form of a sort of tree prior to being named the ER tree and so I find this interesting because of the recent debates and ideas that have come up in the community regarding the two halves of the earth tree and if you aren't sure of what I mean by this I'm referring to the fact that there's like a golden magic iCal outer layer to the Earth tree and then there's the inner more traditional wooden tree including the great tree roots that go below the catacombs creators like zorm secro duby and quag have highlighted there are clear differences in the earth tree where appears to be split between two different forms a clearly more organic tree in the middle and a bright gold encasement which quag equates to be more like the gravel Stone hide of ancient dragons we know there are lots of references to an her tree and a great tree with the great tree being more associated with the roots and more natural looking part of the tree and this is something we can learn via the root resin item description which reads resin secreted from the roots of the great tree can also be found near trees on the surface the roots of the great tree were once linked to those of the earth tree or so they say and it is for this reason C atbs are built around great tree roots I think it's clear that the great tree facet of the earth tree is certainly more associated with death whereas the aspect of the earth tree the more ethereal part is the source of all life as described by items like the aloric blood clot together they are the metaphysical form of the Elder Ring's power though I admit the game does not make it easy to understand the relationship between the great tree and the Earth tree and what this maybe has to do with The Crucible this chaotic traditional organic tree growing into what we know as the Earth tree yeah is it possible the answer is right in front of us right in front of the earth tree in the form of the giant plaque that hangs over the entrance to the inner sanctum of the earth tree now what I see on this engraving is the Elden ring at the roots in the middle we have another tree which could be the great tree or interchangeably the cryst ible and then growing out of that at the top of the plaque is the her tree now again I refer you to last protagonist video on the great tree and golden order where they identify that contrary to what some believe great tree does actually exist in the Japanese but that it is actually synonymous with the Earth Tree to me they are parts of the one hole and the engraving gives us all the answers that we need in my opinion we spoke of how the CIS of life was clearly connected to the Elden ring and that it influenced the growth of the earth tree from The Crucible and to me what we're seeing here is the earth tree growing from that original organic tree of The Crucible that's now known as the great tree but in totality this is just one form that we know as the Earth tree and going further with the idea that the Earth tree is both the underlying organic tree and roots and the glowing outer case we can look at the symbolism associated with the Earth tree it always includes the roots it is part of the earth tree these roots and the great tree but I encourage you to go and watch last protagonist video where he atly describes the reasons that the great tree and the Earth tree are synonymous and it maybe help you close the book on this current conundrum but despite having grown from The Crucible the AR tree differs quite starkly from the rule of The Crucible and this is something stumbled upon by the golden order fundamentalists and it's ideas that I discuss in more detail in my golden order video so I recommend that you go and watch that one of the main laws of the golden order is regression an idea that is well explained by last protagonist in his great Tree video but in summary regression towards the mean is a real world statistical analysis that posits that over time and gener Generations statistical outliers will pull towards the mean the example last protagonist uses to describe this phenomena is when two above average height parents have a child that child is more likely to pull towards the mean and be shorter than their parents and closer to the average height in the world of Elden ring this idea can be used to explain the philosophical difference between those of the earth tree and those of The Crucible and why it would result in the persecution and expulsion of the latter The Crucible is symbolic of a primeval era of wild diverse life but when the Ury emerges life is coales into a single immutable symbol as the incantation of the law of regression States regression is the pool of meaning that all things yearn eternally to converge to me this is what the arery represents life converged into a single source and as such we begin to see why those of The Crucible would be persecuted the modern golden order represents life refined converged and more order as the archery is itself a singular source of life rather than the uncu primordial diverse Life Of The Crucible and viewing The Crucible as a more primitive era is best described by The Crucible not Talisman which reads as follows a vestage of The Crucible of primordial Life Born partially of devolution it was considered a signifier of the Divine in ancient times but is now increasingly distained as an impurity as civilization has advanced this advancement is the refinement of life in the form of the earth Trey and therefore the unrefined chaotic vestiges of the urry era have no place in the modern order and are thus pushed to the fringes the Ary therefore takes the place of The Crucible as the focal point of life in the lands between as well as acting as a pylon for the Elden Ring's power it is the central Nexus of the Elden Rings governing power and this is why Corin refers to the Earth tree as the source of the golden order the Earth tree heart of the golden order lies before our very eyes the Earth tree is a powerful manifestation of elen ring energy a focal point for its power and I think this becomes clear when you look at the evidence that suggests that the Elden ring Elden Beast Mar and the Earth tree are all intrinsically connected consider for example the Earth tree avatars who can actually wield the same Powers as the Elden Beast the avatars are part of the earth tree and the fact they are manifesting the same Powers as the Elden Beast is something to consider but the most most obvious bit of evidence that these are all connected is the fact that when the Elden ring is shattered so too are the Elden Beast the Earth tree and marer herself I think the design of the Elden Beast itself is also meant to elude to the connection between the two and that the Earth tree is a manifestation of its will for if the Elden Beast jumps above the waters you can see it has root like tendrils attached to its tail and in this idea of connections and links is something backed up by the incantation the law of causality and I feel like the more we examine the golden order and the Ury we begin to understand why these are laws of the golden order for example the law of causality incantation reads the following causality is the pool between meanings it is the connections that form the relationships of all things and we begin to see that the AR Trey is a Nexus for the laws of regression and the laws of causality it is a convergence Nexus as well as something that is connected to the other aspects and vessels of the Elden ring and we can tentatively extend this idea of connections when we look at the two fingers zorm has made some interesting revelations in his video discussing the themes of mushrooms found within elen ring and while I'm not fully in on the entire game being about mushrooms I find analysis of the two fingers in a melal network very interesting and compelling in the video zor makes the comparison of trees being connected to mushrooms through a melal network and that the two fingers might be connected to the Earth Tree in this manner to convey and communicate the will of the greater well and the Earth tree and again this reinforces the idea that the Earth Trey is some sort of cosmic Nexus or pylon and the two fingers are the connect vessels through which the Earth tree communicates it's a really thought-provoking video and I will link the full video below and I recommend you go watch it regardless I think this explanation of the two fingers being connected to the Earth tree directly fits especially given that we have evidence that their deterioration is linked to that of the her trees and this is something suggested by a dialogue from VAR I believe that when the Elden ring was shattered the two fingers were corrupted their guidance skewed and the description of the Lord's Divine fortification now the nature of the earth tree and the way that it operates and the way its internal space operates is clearly not normal being connected to the Elden Beast and the Elden ring obviously has brought some Cosmic elements to this tree quote unquote for example we have the Roundtable hold which exists outside the this world according to the tutorial notes in the game indeed this place appears to be a copy of a real world space the physical Roundtable hold found in lale now I'm going to credit a really great spot to my friend aridan that he made in his in-depth lower playthrough of Elden ring where he spotted that in some tapestries of the ER Tree in lale you can see this kind of building entwined within the upper branches of the Earth tree and I agree with eridan's speculation that this could well be a representation of Our Round Table hold a manifested space created by the Earth tree which has an unusual relationship when it comes to time and space this was a really great find and I highly recommend that you check out eridan's lore through if you enjoy an in-depth analysis of lore and environmental details and this makes sense that the space Burns at the same time that we burn the Earth tree as it is a space that is created and generated by the power of the earth tree and so when the tree burns this created space Also burns the Earth tre's Cosmic nature is of course taken to the next level when we actually get to see its interior quote unquote and it may be that we see the interior of the AR Tre sooner than you might realize the introductory cinematic appears to show our tarnished waking up within an earth tree mention as it looks exactly the same as the Earth tree interior that we see later before being transported into the land's between after grace resurrects us from our death suggesting the Earth tree is a Confluence of time and space a dimensional Rift that we don't fully understand but makes perfect sense given the cosmic origins of the Elden Beast and the greater will which actually gave the Earth tree its form I think this is further backed up by the way in which we enter the central cortex of the earth tree at the end of the game we don't just walk in we appear to be pulled in by a golden Rift before materializing in the central space of the tree again emphasizing its Cosmic Origins and the way it deals with time and space further to this is of course the final battle between ourselves and the Elden Beast where it seems to transport us to some kind of different dimension where we can see multiple Earth tree like forms in the distance I won't pretend to fully comprehend what this means exactly nor are we supposed to but clearly the intention of this space is to make us understand that the world of Elden ring is far greater than the physical world that we perceive in the lands between and that to understand that the Earth tree acts as a Nexis to the cosmic realm from which the Elden beast and probably the greater will H in addition it is to let you know there's a cosmic element to the story considering players may have missed the likes of AEL and ranny's storyline in general it makes us feel small in the face of the greater Well's true nature and perhaps is meant to imply a many worlds theory that this is just one dimension one parallel world all connected by Earth trees and all dominated by the greater will of course this is just speculation and really the purpose of this is to make us realize that we are at the mercy of cosmic Powers far beyond our comprehension and that the Earth tree is a Nexus for that power the final subject I'd like to touch on in this chapter is the earth tree as we see it today as it will become clear as we discuss marica's Reign that the AR tree was once a more complete and perfect form indeed as observed by my friend last protagonist in his excellent video on the great tree which I've referenced about three times now the Earth tree of today is different than what we see in the idealized depictions of it in paintings and in the symbolism of lale forces in these idealized depictions such as the paintings and Round Table hold or again the iconography of lale forces the Earth tree seems to have been straight up and unblemished whereas the tree now is quite tilted off its base and riddled with cracks and scars so it seems as though the UR tree was once a more perfect complete and upright vision and the Earth tree of today while stunning to us is far past its prime and I think the idea of the earth tree being way past its prime is reinforced by the Crimson seed talsman item description which reads as follows the Earth tree was once perfect and eternal and thus was it believed that her tree seeds could not exist and earlier in the video I mentioned that the sh in of the Elden ring was what damaged the Earth tree alongside America and the Elden beast and proof for that comes from the golden seed item description which reads as follows when the Elden ring was shattered these seeds flew from the earth tree scattering across the various lands as if life itself knew that its end had come and previously I spoke of how when Marica shattered the Elden ring she appeared to shatter herself as well as the and Beast and indeed these cracks also seem to line up with what we see on the earth Tre bark now seeing that has been irreparably damaged by Mar's actions no longer in its perfect upright and immutable form so while we can definitely attribute some of the damage to the arery to the shattering of the Elden ring there is of course another massive event regarding the Elden ring that may have contributed to the 's Tilt and that is the confinement and removal removal of the Rune of death from the Elden ring I find this to be important because the role in which the roots of the earth Tre play in the cycle of life that the Earth tree governs we know from various sources that death is associated with the roots of the great tree that were once attached to the Earth tree now it's key to look at the root resin where it says the roots of the great tree were once linked to those of the earth tree meaning that they are no longer linked to those of the earth tree and clearly being disconnected from its very Roots the things that root it to the Earth could cause it to tilt or lean but why is this linked to the removal of the Rune of death well as we've already said the Earth tree and the Elden ring are intrinsically linked when Mara shatters the Elden ring she damages herself and the Earth tree and the Elden Beast does it not therefore make sense that if a part of the Elden ring was removed the Rune of death Death part of the AR Trey would be removed to reflect the change in this new form of the Elden ring and what is the part of the earth tree that governs death the roots and so is it possible that when the Rune of death was removed from the Elden ring so too were the roots removed from the earth tree and now we have an age of endless death where Earth tree burials do not work anymore and no one is absorbed up into the Earth tree it's just stagnated and that's why we see these half absorbed corpses in the earth Tre catacombs this is just my speculation based on what we know between the connection of the Elden ring and the Earth tree but the term once connected to the roots of the great tree has always fascinated me and has always led me to ponder why was the earth tree disconnected from the roots of the great tree and given they are involved with death it makes sense to link it to the removal of the Rune of death so to conclude about the AR Trey what are we really saying that it is well I believe it's a metaphysical manifestation of the AR tre's Power it is a Nexus and focal point of the power of the Elden ring it governs life and death as well as being connected to America the Elden Beast and the Elden ring and it is therefore no wonder that it becomes the focal point of Greater will Authority and that being said we now need to look at the other component part of the age of the AR Trey and that is the greater Well's vassel God Queen America the Eternal The Vessel for the Elden ring as with every new age the greater will nominates certain individuals for potential godhood by marking them as imperion this is a process we hear about via rany herself Once In This Very position I was once an imperian oh of the demigods only I Mika and Melania could claim that title each of us was chosen by our own two fingers as a candidate to succeed Queen Marica to become the new god of the coming age which is when I received blly in the form of a vassel tailored for an imperion following this pattern then Marica received malakith when she too was elected as emperion and this is something we learn via Malik's remembrance which reads malakith was a shadowbound beast given to his imperian marica's sole need of her Shadow was a vessel to lock away destined death Marica was elected as imperion from among a people known as the Numan a connection we make via marus Hammer the black knife assassin armor but most directly via the Numan run which outright says she is from Newman stock the Newen are a fascinating race and according to their appearance preset on the character creation they are supposed descendants of denisons of another world long lived but seldom born so once again I turn to my friend last protagonist for a translation to help us better understand the nature of this race that Mar hails from they provided a translation for the black knife assassin armor and noted that in the original Japanese the word numen is not used instead these people are referred to is maribito according to the ever reliable Wikipedia maribito are as follows an ancient Japanese word referring to a supernatural being who comes from afar bringing Gifts of wisdom spiritual knowledge and happiness the term refers to any one of a number of divine beings who were believed to visit villages in Japan either from Beyond the Horizon or from Beyond distant mountain ranges bringing gifts so this additional context from last protagonist reinforces the idea that the Newen are not normal beings from this world that we inhabit now they live supernaturally long and are overall alien to this world that we live in now and indeed this alien nature can be reinforced by a further translation provided by last protagonist of the night maiden and sorcerous puppets which reads in his words they are a coldblooded alien race now I talk about the relationship between the Newman and the nox in a lot more detail in my eternal cities lore video but in short I pa it the nox are the Newman but now their identity is defined by their allegiance to the age of stars hence the nox Latin for KN roier refers to the black knife assassins as Scions of the Eternal City while the black knife armor refers to them as Newen that really is the briefest of summations and if you want the full Deep dive into it I again refer you to my eternal cities lore video regardless this is already making Amica a really interesting character she comes from an otherworldly race who clearly have a different biology given they are otherworldly long lived and coldblooded especially of interest is the longlasting life given we have two Numan connections that now use the term Eternal the Eternal cities and queen Mar the Eternal in my eternal cities video I had suggested that the term Eternal was something different possibly linked to their curse or the fact they are supposed to live eternally under a false sky is punishment but as often happens with Elden ring lore I have since shifted my position and cannot deny the fact that the term Eternal is used in two instances of long lived beings now we don't know why Mar was chosen to be imperian from among her people perhaps she is called Queen Mar because she was already queen of these newans or maybe she was a powerful leader or Warrior but I do tend to lean towards the fact that she was already Queen Marica of these people but regardless we know the Newen are a remarkable otherworldly race and therefore one among their number would make a very powerful God being raised to godhood is far more than just a title when Mar became God she became the vessel for the Elden ring itself Queen Marica is the vessel of the Elden ring carrier of its Vision a God In Truth Queen Amica does literally carry the Elden ring within her as we see by appearing in rigan am's shared body at the end of the game it clearly became part of her as when she shatters the Elden ring in the announcement trailer we can see that she shatters herself at the same time the greater well will have needed Marica to operate as its proxy in the lands between for the UR tree would face great opposition to its Ascension and it required a god of unshakable power to cement its dominion over the world and so America would brandish the power of the Elden ring and to assist in this endeavor she would take her consort to be Oru hence forth known as Godfrey the first Elden Lord this is evidently a calculated move and a necessary one given the times that America lived in she was aware that to cement her godhood and the age of the Ury she would need martiall might and who better to help her secure this than the mighty hu lord of the battlefield as we discussed in detail in Prior chapters the arrival of the Ary will not have been viewed positively for many people it was a threat to people's ways of life and many will not have taken kindly to the implication of the earth trees arrival as such Godfrey was an excellent choice for Lord and I believe both Elden Lords Radigan and Godfrey are a sign of the times Godfrey is the world's Mightiest Warrior at a time of great conflict and rigan is a man strong of belief in a time of waning faith of course we will discuss rigan shortly joining Godfrey would be The Crucible Knights and we learn of these Warriors from The Crucible ax Helm which reads Helm of The Crucible Knights who served Godfrey the first Elden Lord holds the power of The Crucible of Life the primordial form of the UR tree as we have already discussed the age of The Crucible will have overlapped with the age of the UR tree and at this stage the power of The Crucible will still have been seen as Divinity and as such The Crucible Knights will have been the foremost Warriors for the archery in this early era so with such might at her command Amica would look to secure her new Holdings as a God and brandish the very power of the Elden ring against the most dangerous threat that existed the fire Giants so again this is a subject that I have covered in detail in my legacy of fire lore video and I don't want to make this long video longer than it needs to be so won't go into detail about the actual battles and details of the war against the Giants but it is important to analyze from Marcus's perspective what happened in this war because a lot of what would happen would shape the culture of the UR Trey and amica's Rule itself we know that the decision to make war upon the fire Giants was a logical one not only were they a powerful race that worshiped a God that fell outside the perview of the greater will but they actually posed a danger to the emerging ER Trey we learned this via the Serge of flame incantation which tells us that the flame of Ruin was capable of burning the Earth tree therefore making it one of the few direct physical threats to the AR tree we know that people of AR tree Faith prophets would have visions of the flame of Rune Burning Down the Earth tree throughout history for example we hear of this dire prophecy via the catch flame incantation which reads incantation originating from a sinister prophecy the flame of Ru is anathema to the Earth tree but prophets sometimes Glimpse it within the faith all the same sadly when this occurs their sole reward is banishment so this of course is the background story to the prophet starting class one of the many bits of lore that I discuss in my starting class lore video which I will link below what is interesting is that the incantation describes the flame of Ru as anathema which as a term when used in a religious or organizational context means something denounced or deemed an imporance to said Faith its very existence therefore was in opposition to the UR Trey just by its existence and its allegiance to another God the fail God meant it was something that could never be incorporated by the rising order and indeed the roar Medallion Talisman describes the Giants as mortal enemies of the AR tree and so it seems they were always destined to do battle for supremacy of the lands between it is unclear whether prophets existed at this time and it was Visions like this that informed the decision of Queen Marica to wage war or whether it was just a logical conclusion based of what she already knew of their people at this stage the conviction of Marica is pretty clear that she fully believed in the mission of the UR tree and was strong in her faith and utter without Mercy for her enemies and we can gather this from the speech that Millennia recreates for us at the first church of Marica on the mountaintops of the Giants in amica's own words hark brave warriors hark my Lord Godfrey we commend your Deeds guidance hath delivered ye through each ordeal to the place ye stand put the Giants to the sword and confine the flame a top the mount let a new Epoch begin an Epoch glistening with life brandish the Elden ring for the age of the ER tree one thing of particular interest in this speech to me is the use of the term brandish that Marica uses in regards to the Elden ring the word brandish is usually used in reference to a weapon being wielded therefore suggesting that the Elden ring its power was actually wielded as a weapon in this battle and given the way that rigan uses the power of the Elden ring in the final battle we can only imagine Mara at the height of her power and I do think this is one of the most incredible and interesting things about Marica is we hear so much about her but we never see her at the height of her domain or the height of her powers and we can only imagine what a terrible Force she would have been to meet on the battlefield while brandishing the power of the Elden ring combining this immense power with Godfrey the crisal knights the Betrayal of the trolls and the zore mar had tipped the scales so far in the earth tre's favor that the Giants really had no chance the way in which she deals with the last surviving member of the fire giant race once again tells us a great deal about marica's ruthlessness when it came to her enemies at this early stage I of course refer to the information found within the the fire Giant's remembrance which reads as follows the fire giant is a survivor of the war against the Giants upon realizing the Flames of their Forge would never die Queen Mar marked him with a curse oh trifling giant mayest thou tend thy flame for eternity now before anyone says I'm not judging Marica for being ruthless war is war at the end of the day and Generals need to make a lot of difficult decisions I'm only making this disclaimer because in my golden order and gold mask video I had a couple of comments where people believed I was passing judgment when I described how gold Mass perceived the fickleness of the Gods I admire America greatly and have a great deal of empathy for the position she is in as the god of a difficult era regardless objectively her treatment of the last Chine is a calculated one realizing there was no way to smother the flame of Ruin completely there was no benefit in killing the last Giant in fact as we learned from Burn of flame killing him would have actually been a mercy as death is the only way to break the curse the curse of being destined to tend the flame forever instead Mar uses this curse to her benefit condemning him to a life of solitary Duty he is the last of his kind and he has to endure this period by himself knowing that the rest of his race has been extinguished his duty his curse is tending to the flame and him being there having to tend this flame in a practical sense serves as a last obstacle for anyone who wants to access the flame of Ruin and in that way America is very smart and keeping him alive just in case someone tries to access the flame of ruin the war of the Giants would have an everlasting and indelible effect on our tree culture especially as it pertains to their perception of fire fire would remain reviled and feared something we learn about via the spark aromatic which reads art of the perfumers who fought in the shattering though fire was prohibited to those who served the Earth tree this rule was forgotten as the war Drew ever on the fear of the flame conjured by the conflict with the Giants and the fear of their flame of Ruin would integrate itself into Earth tree culture being a forbidden tool and the burn burning of the earth tree would of course become the first cardinal sin of the earthree faith and those that had the Prophecies of the burning of the earth tree and would begin to brandish fire incantations were of course banished from its Society regardless the charismatic and Powerful Queen Mar had defeated the Giants and is Told By The Sword Memorial found on the mountaintops this is what marked the beginning of the age of the Earth tree proper the age of The Crucible was over through Mar the greater well had established a powerful foothold on the Mortal plane anchored by the power of the earth tree the first church of Mara would be established at the site of the earth tre's greatest Victory on the mountain tops of the Giants and in time many churches to the new God would be erected and in general the faith would sprend beyond the lands between as a god with a human Lord as her husband mark would have the first of her children and these would be the children Board of Godfrey known as the golden lineage to which we can tag Godwin the golden Moog morot and eventually godri though the latter is several Generations separated from the rest and Marica and her golden lineage would become emblematic of these hey days of the earth tree and Central to the pantheon of the arry royal family what would follow would be the Golden Age of abundance which must have been an incredible period to witness and an age that reinforced Mar's own belief in the earth tre's Grace and so with that said let us examine these good old days the age of Plenty the greatest lore item in the game the Alban oric blood clot says the following Alban orics are life forms made by human hands thus many believe them to live impure lives Untouched by the Archer's Grace the implication of this is that the Earth tree would become the center the focal point for all natural life and in no time was this better Illustrated than the so-called age of abundance we can learn of this interesting period of Earth tree history from the incantation her tree heel which reads as follows the Earth tree Once flourished with abundance yet it was only for a fleeting moment such is the course of all life this period of abundance seems to be the he early days of the age of the Earth tree when the bounty of the her tree spelled from it like apples from a fruit tree as keenly observed by my fellow tarnished Erin speculatively we can see Engravings commemorating this period of Plenty at the chapel of anticipation and above the door of the real Round Table hold the reliefs identified by aridan show people carrying vessels that are similar in appearance to ancient Greek and fory and these were traditionally used to store wine oil milk or grain and it was symbolic of Plenty or abundance to me this lines up with the symbolism shown on the icon shield and the Blessed due Talisman both the item descriptions of these items describe this age of Plenty for example the Blessed Jew Talisman reads as follows Talisman depicting a drop of the earth tre's sap a blessed Boon it was once thought that the blessed sap of the earth tree would drip from its bows forever but that age of Plenty swiftly came to a close and with time the UR tree became more an object of Faith again we are getting direct reference to this age of Plenty but that it only lasted a brief time clearly in the opening years of the earth tre's emergence from The Crucible to me this early period of abundance makes sense logically as the Ary emerged from The Crucible of all life a focus of chaotic Life Energy and this blessed due is almost a remnant of the life from which the Earth tree has emerged however this was clearly finite which makes sense as the Earth tree is more representative and symbolic of a period of regression an age where the chaotic uncontrollable life found within The Crucible made way for an age where life is to settle and pull towards the mean we get further Evidence of the bounty or duw being tied to the residual energies of The Crucible from the Amber medallions they all read the following the Earth tre's old sap becomes Amber treasured as the most precious jewels in the age of Godfrey the first Elden Lord a primordial Life Energy resides inside and indeed these were not just aesthetically pleasing relics the Jew or Amber has some real power as we can see by the these talismans actually boost our very life force in varying ways imbuing us with the power of Life contained within the primordial life force once found within The Crucible the word choice of primordial is clearly linking this to The Crucible the primordial source of life and thus I think this period this age of abundance or age of Plenty is an overlap period between the age of The Crucible and the age of the Earth tree where the energies of The Crucible are still flowing bursting forth from the AR Trey before it settles into the age of the AR Trey proper the power and strength of the Vitality that bled from the earth Tree in this early era of its emergence not only took the form of the Jew but seemingly the tree itself exuded an aura as we learn from the warming Stone item which reads as follows it said that the Earth tree was once as warm as the gentle Sun and would gradually heal all who bathed in its rays in paintings of the UR Trey from what we presumed to be the early days we see it bursting with rays of light and the use of the word sun is also interesting because there's evidence to suggest that the Rays of the earth tree were so potent that lell was referred to as the seat of the sun something we glean from the Sun realm shield and we can find these shields on the undead found outside lale itself and I think what cements that it is talking about lell in this sun realm Shield is the fact that it's in line with all descriptions of the age of Plenty I.E it didn't last long and this age of sunlight has long since passed and while the Ary does still go off a massive ray of light it is nothing compared to the luster that we see in some of these paintings of the earth tree of old in general and in totality the vision we have of this age of PL is one of positivity vitality and Bounty clearly Faith wasn't much of a challenge at this point because the rewards and benefits were so plentiful and obvious to see and indeed in early urry Society it appears that Queen marker herself would come down and present blessings to her people in person something we learn of from the her tre's favorite Talisman which reads it is said that when the age of the Earth tree began such blessings were personally bestowed upon their recipients by Queen Mar herself I just find this to be another positive scene that depicts the hey days of the early ER tree rule where Mar herself interacted with her people and blessed them and as said I think that the reason this period is so fleeting is because it is a transitional period between The Crucible and er tree and you could either see it as the late era of The Crucible or the early era of the UR tree and I see as a combination of both and once the residual energy of the faded cble had gone that is when the blessings stopped much like with an Orlando and Dark Souls it is nice to think of lell and the Earth tree as the shattered remains of something truly beautiful in both cases we are blown away by the beauty of these Fallen civilizations even at their lowest points and it is almost beyond our comprehension the Splendor of lale and the Earth Tree in these days of pure Bliss and wonder and we can only look at the paintings faded paintings and wonder what could have been but with those he days behind us we need to now get to the core of who America is and of course we cannot do this at the big twist of Elden ring that Amica is equal to rigan and so now let us examine the immortal Rebus the golden order is founded on the principle that Marica is the one true God however the name of Marica second husband King consort radan also appeared who exactly was Radigan so let's just get to it the big Revelation for us all on our first playthrough Mar is equal to rigan they are two individual beings in one body yet of course they are two distinctly different personalities both with their own ideals and their own actions I think a lot of people struggle with this concept and what the point of it is because it is fairly unceremoniously dumped on You Without Really explaining the how or the why while a lot of questions will continue to be unanswered then you fight Elden Beast and the game's over so I'll do my best to share my understanding of it and what I perceive to be the truth of the mara Radigan question to understand it truly is to understand both the laws of regression revered by the golden order and to understand the ideal of the Rebus the ultimate end goal of alchemy I talk in this my golden order video but one of the tenants of the golden order fundamentalism is the idea of regression a type of convergence we have already discussed how the principles of regression illustrate how The fundamentalists Envision a more refined tighter concept of life where the outliers are pulled closer towards the norm however the law of regression actually goes further than this as it says regression is the pool of meaning that all things yearn eternally to converge this idea of convergent is actually one really well explored by the Dead Space Trilogy and if for some bizarre reason you haven't played those games please drop everything right now and go and play them but in essence it seems as though the underlying concepts of the golden order is that life should be getting closer to convergence that they should be pulling together and there should be less disparity in all forms of life and this is why the idea of an Ur Trey burial of life being absorbed and returned to the arery is very critical to the law of regression as it is life returning to the arery becoming one with the Earth tree and removing that disparity and once we comprehend this idea we start to see the pill of things in many things related to the Earth tree and the golden order intelligence and Faith pulling together to create the golden order incantations rigan studying faith and incantations to become complete twins D and his brother who have converged to share one soul and of course the two beings who share one body the ultimate representation of convergence the god of the golden order this idea of two beings sharing one body one male and one female is an alchemical Theory said to be the great work of the field the Rebus the magnum opus of any Alchemist it is a metaphor for the alchemical process as a whole the bringing together and purification of two things to create something better I believe the golden order is alchemical in its ideals the blending of things together to make something better and thus this Immortal reibus of Mara and Radigan is the very Pinnacle of life as described by the laws of regression and causality represented by the soul or treat itself and the convergence of all life to the arery through erery burial as a result Mar and rigan's merge is obviously fitting as they represent the Pinnacle of the lows exposed by those who study the Earth tree in the golden order meaning it must be linked somehow to the underlying mathematics and form of the Elden ring it also makes sense that Radigan would be pushing the ideals of fundamentalism given he knows the true end result of the law of regression so I now need to speak on what I believe to be the truth behind their Origins as Arbus and when it happened as there are a lot of ideas as to when it happened I used to think it happened when they were married and some people believe it happened when the shattering actually occurred but I'm going to give my view on what I believe happened these are all valid ideas as it all is just speculation but I'm going to give what I think makes the most sense to the surrounding lore upon studying this subject and looking at all the surrounding lore I believe that Mar became a Rebus upon the moment of her Ascension to godhood that Radigan has always been part of her history as a God I don't believe that they were two individuals that later merged at some point and I believe that rigan has always existed as a part of America but not vice versa as America in my opinion was not born AR Reus we know that she wasn't always a God that she was once a human and I believe aside from the unusual nature of human she was just a new woman or queen called Mara she was then selected to become an imperian and then became a god of a new era upon defeating the Giants I've always pondered on the relevance of rigan's hair as we learn from the Giants red braid rigan Associated his hair with the red hair of the Giants and I've always find this item description curious because it implies he is somehow linked to the fire Giants and now I Ponder could it be that this was an imprint of this conflict between am and the fire Giants that upon her Ascension to godhood and the creation of her other half rigan did they somehow leave an imprint on rigan or should I say her rigan half that's of course just colorful speculation so let's get into the real reasons why I believe that rigan America were always aabus from the moment she became a god firstly there are the ideals of regression and convergence that we've already discussed when we talked about the Ury we talked about how it's intrinsically linked to the Elden ring and how its changes to the Elden ring affected the Ur So when Mar became the vessel for the Elden ring and became intrinsically linked to the Elden ring does it not makes sense that the Elden ring could affect who America was down to her DNA we know the ideals of law of regression and law of causality are underpinned by the golden ord's interpretation of the Elden ring if the Elden Ring's form is a metaphysical representation of regression and convergence does this mean it could have transformed America to also represent the ideal given they are now linked I certainly think so secondly in history radican just seems to appear at the time of the leeran wars and made massive decisions such as making peace with the carians through marriage decisions really only Amica should be making given she's the leader of the urry forces how was he able to make these massive decisions returning to the caran betral I think this is also a stage that gives us a lot of evidence that Radigan was already Marica at this stage and it wasn't something that happened later either at the time of am rigan's marriage or at the time of the shattering cuz first of all we have the mask of confidence the mask of the preceptors who served rala the mask reads as follows when rigan married ranala he ordered the caran magic preceptors to Dawn these masks to make it clear that all of their matters were to be kept strictly private this seems to give off the vibe that rigan had something massive to hide a big deep secret and what else could it really be when we're talking about rigan meaning that he was already Mar at this time and the preceptors were to keep that fact hidden this also seems to be the same secret that Mariel described him hiding when talking about the statue that was created by a sculptor in lell you know it's said that Lord rigan harbored a secret a famed sculptor of the earthree capital was once summoned to render Lord rigan's likeness in giant statue when he glimpsed the skeleton in rigan's closet and as such it said the great statue Harbors his secret too and to cement that rigan was always Mara even at the stage of his marriage to rala there's the fact he leaves rala a fragment of the Elden ring the Amber egg that is what the Amber egg is again how would Radigan a mere Champion have access to such a powerful artifact in addition marriel makes some interesting and pointed claims about the bizarre nature of radigan's Ascension his abandonment of rala and his marriage to Maro however when Godfrey first Elden Lord was founded from the lands between Radigan left renala to return to the earthree capital becoming Queen America's second husband and King consort taking the title of second Elden Lord the mystery endures to this day as to why Lord rigan would cast lady ranala aside and moreover why a mere Champion would be chosen for the seat of Elden Lord and if you think about it he is right it is totally bizarre that rigan basically upticks abandons his family simulate on a whim it is also strange that it would be a mere Champion for that is what Radigan is chosen out of nowhere to be elevated to Elden Lord after Godfrey left the lands between yet all of this would then make sense if rigan America were always one and rigan's Ascension is him essentially supporting his other half when a new Elden Lord was needed of course one of the other aspects of the Rebus is that it is two different elements coming together and so just because America and rigan share one body and rigan's actions can be explained by him also being part of America doesn't mean they aren't also individual so I think when people have a problem comprehending that they were always a Rebus is due to the fact that we have actions attributed to Radigan and to Mara so to make it clear they aren't the same person they are two different personalities inhabiting one body and as we can see from the final fight they could clearly switch between different personalities meaning that rigan would go and do things that would be attributed to him and Mar would go and do things that were attributed to her and if no one saw the transformation no one would know they were the same person I think what also causes some confusion is Mar's line in the Queen's bed chamber that Mela can recreate for us so let's listen to that now and we'll break it down in America's own words o radan le Hound of the golden order Thou Art yet to become me thou art yet to become a God let us be shattered both mine Other Self so in this dialogue Mar says Thou Art not yet me and people take this to mean that they aren't yet conjoined when again I think this is a critical misunderstanding of what Arbus is because they are two holy individual people they just share one body and so when marus says they're not yet me I think she's implying the fact that she is still the true God not rigan rigan is merely her Elden Lord and then she goes on to say mine Other Self which to me again cements the fact that radan is already part of mar at this stage and this is why in the introductory cinematic we see it flashing between Mar and Radigan it's both halfes Vine for control of their shared body and we can learn of this fight from Mar's Hammer description which reads as follows Stone Hammer made in the lands of the Newman outside the lands between the tool with which Queen Mar shattered the Elden ring and Radigan attempted to repair it so they both wrestled for control of their body as Marica tried to shatter the ring and Radigan tried to undo her damage yet obviously we know what happens Amica went out she shattered the Elden ring and then they were both imprisoned by the Elden beast but to prevent his golden order from being usurped rigan would then put these spiny Briar and his seal on the entrance to the erery his loyalty to the golden order so blind that he'd rather keep a shattered world than allow someone to repair it something not even the greater well expects as they are stunned into silence after we are denied entrance to the Elden ring the battle between the two halves of the Reus is what sets into motion the events of the game as we see from the introductory cinematic of the game Queen Marica has not been seen since the shattering of the Elden ring and no one in the outside world knows her involvement in Breaking the Elden ring she has just vanished and the lands between are plunged in into chaos so I think that's a sufficient explanation of what my understanding of what Amica is and what she did but why did she do it to try and understand this let us move on to the final portion of this video essay where we actually analyze who Mar was as a human as a person and how far her discontent goes one of the things that I find interesting when we're looking at America is the statues we see of her throughout the world including the one at the first church of America showing her in a crucified position this means one of two things and firstly the most obvious yet I believe incorrect answer is that these statues were sculpted after Mark was crucified however this doesn't make sense as how would people know she's crucified given she has disappeared and no one has seen her now Queen Marica the eternal is nowhere to be found I would instead like you to consider another idea these statues are symbolic of her burden as a God to support this idea let us look at Mar's soreal which reads as follows solemn Duty weighs upon the one beholden not unlike a knowing curse from which there is no Deliverance it is easy to forget that Marica while a mighty God in her time was ultimately one once a human or close enough at least who inherited an incredible burden as described by this sorce I think that one of the main underlying factors of amica's decisions is due to the incredible burden that weighs her down over time as perfectly represented by her statuary and at the same time A Series of Unfortunate Events begin to occur that will have broken her down over time some accuse America of being this kind of mavan bad guy who always PL land to bring down the greater will but I never really got that impression and without them really knowing Marica I'm not sure how they can rush to that conclusion I think it's a bit of a mavian stereotype and I always saw Marica as a more human character I believe her early speeches where she's clearly supporting the Earth tree in the greater well are very Earnest and very impassioned instead I see her as a fairly tragic character Bound by her Duty who experiences tragedy after tragedy difficult ulty after difficulty that eventually would lead her to question her own Duty that she's bound to and being bound to the UR tree there was the war of the Dragons when the ancient dragons themselves attacked lell headed by the mighty Dragon grxs while Lindale was ultimately successful in repelling this attack the bolt of grand Sachs describes how the dragons brought great destruction to the capital and the scars of this conflict still remain there was also the Gods skin apostasy a subject I've tackled in numerous videos so again I won't let this video go on longer than need be but suffice it to say this was a real challenge to her Authority and I truly believe it will have shaken her to the core here was a force that intended to kill her and her kin after no doubt centuries of her being certain in her power and immortality and the same for her golden lineage and family to compound her pain the Glide Queen the leader of the Apostles was an emperion chosen by the fingers as stated by the black flame ritual incantation which reads his follows it is said that she was an emperion chosen by the fingers this is a confusing bit of lore and it means that the Glide Queen was set up to be a God to take Mar's place and we have to ask was it a greater Well's fingers that chose her while we know that other forces can command fingers like the the three fingers of the frenzied Flame the most numerous fingers that we know about are the two fingers of the greater well does this mean it was a greater will that chose the Glide Queen to replace Marica and if so how would this make Marica feel that she's disposable replaceable Not only was she meant to be usurped by this Glide Queen she was meant to be killed by her either way Mar did come out on top of this engagement by using malakith to seal way death and death but one of the major results of it was the isolation of death by malakith and the creation of the golden order a world without death this deathless world would set the stage for a mass of flaw in the golden order and it would be revealed by the next Earth shaking event in marica's reign the night of the black knives now there are plenty of theories on Mar's involvement in this event and no matter where you fall in the debate the result is always really the same it helped further fracture the flawed golden order and it helped push Mar over the edge and shatter the Elden ring for those unfamiliar with the debate surrounding the KN of the black knives there is a prevailing theory that Mara had a hand in it and for a more indepth look at that theory I'd refer you to my good friend Ashen hollow's video on that very subject the item in question that is Central to this theory is the black knife armor which reads the following the Assassins that carried out the Deeds of the night of the black knives were all women and rumored to be Newman who had close ties with Mara herself so of course understandably many people read this as the close ties to Mar meaning that they are marica's servants or marica's people who carried out the assassination of Godwin at her behest I've come to the conclusion that the language used here is purposefully ambiguous and therefore it's unclear what we are meant to definitively know as the truth to try and better understand the intention behind the item description I did ask last protagonist to translate it and they provided the following translation the Assassins who perpetrated the night of the conspiracy were all female and one Theory says that they were numen close to America so I find this version of the translation to be more useful in making it clear that this connection is not clear that it is rumor as it uses the term one Theory and then looking at the English translation in tandem with this translation the English one uses rumored to be num who had close ties with Mar herself so while it does make it more clear that this is just a rumor and not definitive fact it also does nothing to disprove the theory that Marica was involved and I totally accept that I have to take this Theory as a serious one given the language used here it's also kind of backed up by Mara's perceived attitude towards her demigod children as there are two bits of dialogue that reveal that Mar really sees her children as tools one from purportedly Mara herself recreated by Melina in marica's own words hear me demigods my children beloved make of thyselves that which he desire be it a lord be it a God but should he fail to become art at all you will be forsaken amounting only to sacrifices and then we have one given to us by a ghost witness in the Weeping Peninsula and thus many Fe feel that she wouldn't think twice about sacrificing her own son to strike back against the greater will and expose the flaw of those that live in death my personal opinion on it is it doesn't matter because I think that Mark is real reason for shattering the Elden ring is because she became aware of the golden order's flaw that was revealed by the night of the black knives whether she's behind the event or not I still believe it is the final event that pushes her to shatter the El ring as it lays bare the flaws at the heart of the golden order there is another dialogue of Mara where she vows to search the depths of the golden order as if to better understand it and allay the doubts and fears that were beginning to plague the lands between America's own words I declare mine intent to search the depths of the golden order through understanding of the proper way our faith our Grace is increased those Blissful early days of blind belief are long pasted my comrades why must you falter it is easy to understand what these doubts may very well be and as I discussed in my golden order video the biggest mistake America makes is having the Rune of death confined because at this stage the world became a deathless nightmare every human we see in this world is gray Hollow desiccated and generally pretty miserable looking this is the result of no death and this is something we learn from the Aristocrat set warn by the zombie like wandering Nobles and its description reads as follows abandoning their birthplace after the shattering these Undead Wanderers are the pitiful product of unending life given the miserable state of the zombie like inhabitant of the world no wonder America begins to notice that this isn't right and intends to ser search the depths of the golden order for an answer much like gold mask later would there's a really great post by ha that goes into the connections between North mythology and Mar but what's of interest to me is the fact they point out the different tablets in Mar's room in the Queen's chamber area and I have always wondered what these tablets are how links the aforementioned dialogue of am to these tablets saying that this is evidence of her study of the golden order and ultimately she came to a conclusion that she did not like that pushed her to the end result of shattering the Elden ring this is a really thoughtful Reddit post with some good connections to North mythology as well that I just didn't cover in this video so if you'd like a look at that I will link the entire Reddit post in the description below so thanks TOA for that information so in summary the godkin apostasy pushes America to conf find death and death the world becomes a miserable deathless hell Amica noticed the declining faith of her comrades and she herself has doubts and so she plums the depths of the golden order to find an answer and yet in there she finds no good answer and she either organizes the night of the black knives or she does not but either way the death of Godwin and the spread of death through throughout the land reveals the critical flaw in the Elden ring and thus she shatters it and this Brave decision even fighting against her Le other half would cost her dearly and so it's with a heavy heart I must discuss the final tragic fate of Queen Mar I find marica's martyring and her treatment by the greater will to be one of the more brutal aspects of the game and the only thing that makes it a little better for me is that she's not completely perilous and seems to still have some skin in the game so to speak that said to complete marica's story you do need to consider the brutality of her final fate when you ask Ania about marica's treatment the finger say the following on Amica amica's trespass demanded a heavy sentence but even in shackles she remains a God and the vision's vessel confer great runes to become Elden Lord and join Queen Marica as her consort the fingers have willed it so now consider what the greater well is actually seeing and asking of us here Mara despite being a broken shattered shell is still to remain The Vessel of the Elden ring in her corpse-like shattered form additionally we're to marry this form and rule on as a proxy condemning her to an eternity of being nothing more than a container what a tortured and Le existence this punishment does not fit the crime and you could think that the greater will could find a new vessel a new God for their Elden ring yet as mentioned it does seem as though America has taken some steps and isn't completely perilous it appears Marica placed hug in Round Table hold to kill a God to kill her to put her out of her misery as it seems that hu has made some kind of promise to Queen Marica so with that context let us consider the endings of Elden ring that you can choose as with this analysis in hand it does now seem that the four Elden Lord endings are really the worst for America I personally like the dustborne ending the best but after thinking about it I can't help but feel great sorrow for America's ultimate fate for even if I'm giving relief to those who live in death by bringing them in to the New Order America would be condemned to exist solely as a husk for the Elden ring and therefore you can't think but the frenzy flame minding would be better because at least in that circumstance she would melt away one final puzzle piece remains in regards to Mar for me and this is Gideon's purported relationship with Queen Mara as we learn the following from his armor set knowledge begins with the recognition of one's ignorance the realization that the search for knowledge is unending but when Gideon glimpsed into the will of Queen Mara he shuddered in fear at the end it should not be so we know that Gideon has much closer contact with the two fingers and greater will as is told To Us by the Divine fortification incantation his armor set appears to imply that he has somehow communed with Mara and her will as shown by him confronting Us near the end of the game despite him claiming throughout the game that he also wishes to ascend to the Elden Throne he bars your way at the end because he believes Mara does not want this that she in fact wants us to struggle for eternity ah I knew you'd come to stand before the Elden ring to become Elden Lord What a Sad State of Affairs I commend your spirit but alas None Shall take the throne Queen Marica has high hopes for us that we continue to struggle onto eternity while this may be confusing I see this as getting being part right in marica's objectives But ultimately he has peered into something he doesn't truly understand knowledge begins with the recognition of one's ignorance Marica is a God and a god who's essentially imprisoned and basically for all intense purposes dead I Believe by touching her will he is interpreting something so eldrich and Cosmic that he's only pulled certain emotions from it I think he is part right and that he has interpreted that am doesn't want anyone to become the new Elden Lord as we've just discussed this is a pretty horrible fate for Amer so why on Earth would she want that but other actions of hers do seem to belay the fact that she does want us to reach her in the UR Trey and bring an end to her suffering she places hug in Round Table hold so that we may slay a God she also seems to have repurposed Melina her possible daughter to assist the tarnished in making it to the Earth tree bear in mind that Gideon has reached into a being that is actually comprised of two individual halves Perhaps it is actually rigan's will that he is interpreted incorrectly rigan doesn't want anyone to ascend to the Elden throne and in fact wants nothing to change he does want us to struggle for eternity and to have everyone barred from entering the center of the earth tree I think that Gideon has peered into the will of churning emotions of a conflicted God of two halves and misinterpreted the true message yes America doesn't want anyone to become Elden Lord but she does want us to come and put an end to her suffering and so I plead with you tarnished For the Love of All that is good take a sword from hug and put an end to Queen Mar's Eternal suffering most of the greatest fantasy universes have a creation myth a grand tale of cosmic beings weaving the fabric of the world into existence such as eru elitar of The Lord of the Rings Mythos who brings Arda into existence through his great song Elden ring is no different we learn via haa that it is the greater will who is responsible for the diverse life that we witness on this Mortal plane by fracturing something known as the one great while this may seem like a brief segment of the lore it spawns multiple questions about the formation of Life as we know it as well as a bigger question what actually is the greater will many in the community including myself have been Hasty in categorizing the greater well as one of the outer gods and of course there is logic to this given they share a certain nebulous characterization however is this actually true or is the greater will something more the greater will is the dominant force in in this setting controlling life creating it and imposing its order upon it so we have to ask ourselves does this fit the template of an outer God or does the greater will more closely match the template of an abrahamic Creator God these are the grand questions that this video hopes to address for pondering these foundational ideas has added even more depth to this incredible world of Elden ring for me and I hope by the end of this video you you feel the same even if you do not agree with all the points I make so join me this week as we assess the nature of the greater will and the outer Gods but he desired rather to subdue to his well both elves and Men envying the gifts with which alatar promised to endow them and he wished himself to have subjects and servants and to be called lord and to be Master over other Wells such were the desires of melor the first dark lord of the Lord of the Rings saga a cosmic being who envied the ability of his progenitor elitar to create life for melor wished to create for himself rather than being a mere instrument of something greater than he and if he could not create he would dominate warp and control Arda and those who inhabited it melor and delatar both are unfathomable Cosmic beings Beyond human can but only one of them had the ability to create only one of them was the Supreme deity a being based on tolkien's own Catholic beliefs in a supreme Soul deity that idea and difference is the core of this video the differences between a being who can create and one who can merely act upon the world which is already been created it is my aim to do a comprehensive analysis of both the greater will and the outer Gods their abilities their aims and their nature ultimately to highlight their differences I myself I've been quick to name the greater will and outer God such as in my Micha lore video but the more I've studied the lore and attempted to understand the nature of Elden Ring's world and its history the more I have come to disagree with this idea I think that the greater will is something more than an outer God and that it takes the position of the Supreme deity of this world my main reasons for doing so and therefore the outline of my thesis are number one in-game references to Outer gods and the greater will not crossing paths two the language used for both of these different gods three what outer Gods actually are and what they can do and four the greater will as a supreme Creator deity that doesn't fit the mold of an outer God so with this thesis laid out let us tack the first of these and that is the mentions of outer gods and the greater will in game and their lack of interaction there are eight direct mentions to Outer gods in the game with four of these being semi- repetitive as they are tied to michela's Needles but in totality these eight references reference the Scarlet Rock God via the Scorpion stinger and via the lake of rot map then there is the formless mother or mother of blood which is mentioned by mn's sacred spear then there's the the outer god of the death right Birds and the twin bird which is mentioned on the twin bird Kate shield and then finally there is the outer god of the freni flame which is implied to be one via the michas needle and the other versions of this needle because it is used to Ward away the influence of the outer gods and this item's only use is to Ward away the influence of the frenzied flame there's also another mention of the ancient god of rot in the blue dancer Talisman so let's be generous and bring that up to N9 direct mentions to the outer gods in game there are 15 unique references to the greater will in game including item descriptions dialogue and I say unique because there are repeat references in all of the nox armor and the two mirror Helms none of the mentions of the outer Gods name the greater well as one of their number nor do any of the mentions of the greater will label it as an outer God and this should really be our first clue that the greater will stands apart from these nebulous deities or at least make it clear that it is not a certainty that it is an outer God and thankfully from my theory this is also backed up by the original Japanese used a Nuance that was brought to my attention by the viewer the great Cosmic axotal who commented on one of my community posts the great Cosmic aoto claims the information they are providing comes via the famous Italian YouTuber sabaku noo in episode 38 of his Elden ring series which I will link below axotal noted that the term in Japanese for outter God sataro is fitting because it is used to define beings that fall outside a group or a system outside God oxyl then notes that the greater well is never referred to in the same way and in fact the term in Japanese for greater will is a word that is closely related to the biblical God in the Japanese translation ations this idea of the greater well- being linguistically tied to the biblical God is backed up by YouTuber dug mangi a horrendously underrated channel that provides some of the most in-depth breakdowns of the Japanese I have ever seen and I highly recommend you take a look at their channel in a video on hi's dialogue regarding the greater will dug man guy backs up the idea that the greater will is linguistically tied to the abrahamic or biblical God by noting that the Japanese for greater well in the game borrows from the Japanese translation of the Old Testament and they believe that by using the same language the writers of Elden ring are very much trying to evoke the idea that the greater well is the god of the lands between so again a massive shout out to dug man guy for this awesome work but to make sure I covered all my bases I turned to someone I often do for Japanese translations last protagonist he was able to provide the following information when I asked him to verify these translations and last protagonist did indeed confirm that the greater will is not referred to in the same manner as the outer Gods linguistically so thanks again to last protagonist for this verification to the great Cosmic axotal for bringing this to my attention and finally to dug man guy for his excellent work this linguistic proof should be evidence enough that the greater will is meant to be standing apart from what we know as the outer gods that the authors want us to believe it is something something different however this was apparent to me even before I realized there was differences in the Japanese mainly because of the differences in presentation and in the lore I believe the outer Gods behave and operate in a different manner to the greater will so next I think it would be prudent for us to discuss the outer Gods so that we can properly comprehend their nature and see how it differs from the greater well the outer gods in Essence are great Cosmic beings that operate in a different plane of thought and existence to us for those who have played bloodborne and are familiar with the great ones will automatically realize that the authors are meaning to evoke this same kind of idea of cosmic being in the linguistic evidence shown by the great Cosmic axotal and by last protagonist that we looked over in the previous chapter we know that outer gods are outer Gods because they exist out with this plane of existence they are out side the order established on the Mortal plane of Elden Ring The Cosmic and the Divine have often intersected in fantasy before and so this shouldn't be a massive concept for us to understand in this world there are grounded Gods elected by these higher beings to rule on their behalf Gods like Mara then there are the cosmic gods that exist outside our human understanding of life and outside the normal parameters of this world as you have no doubt sense by the amount of quotes I've used my main allegory for this entire video is the SEL morelan and the Lord of the Rings methos the gods of that universe elitar and The Valor are also Cosmic in nature as the events of creation as detailed in the C marilan take place within the void of space but beyond their Cosmic and inhuman nature many questions still remain where did they come from did the greater will create them are they themselves aspect of the greater will or do they exist entirely separately from the greater will what will follow will of course be my own speculation but let us start with a very basic fact about the outer gods that they are very very old firstly the outer God of RW is referred to as ancient in the blue dancer charm as it reads as follows a cloth doll depicting a dancer garbed in blue an ancient heirloom of some sort the dancer in blue represents a fairy who in Legend bestowed a flowing sword upon a blind swordsman blade in hand The Swordsman sealed away an ancient god a God that was wrought itself in addition we know the outer god of the death birds and their death rights has also existed for a very long time given they have existed in the time before the ER tree and this is told to us directly by the explosive ghost flame item description which reads as follows in the time when there was no Ur Trey death was burned in ghost flame death birds were the keepers of that flame so you get the picture so if these beings are so old then it is possible that the outer gods are individual concept that fractured into the existence when the one great itself was fractured and life began to spread this is an idea presented by the Reddit user lapsis 55 in a comment where they liken the OU Gods as representations of certain fundamental laws in the world like death and disease there are those that take this idea further that the greater well created these concept created these outer gods or that they are beings that were also birthed from the fracturing of the one great I.E they too are products of its hands I don't believe that the greater will created the outer gods and personally my favorite theory is that the outer gods are cosmic beings that are completely external to the world of Elden ring going back to those linguistic translations by the great Cosmic axotal and last protagonist that they are not creations of this world nor do they belong to it they are simply Cosmic beings from the great void of space who have essentially been attracted to this world that is at least my understanding on the emphasis that is put on these Gods being external to this world and again we can find Al ories for these beings in tolken legendarium there are cosmic beings that also exist outside the creations of alatar and are knowable and not even understood by the gods themselves for example there's angolian the great spider who corrupted the two trees while allied with meor in chapter 8 of the Cel morelan angolian is described as having unknown Origins even to the Eldar and is believed to have crawled from The abess Sur ing Arda I.E the void of space and chose to remain there angolan therefore is an external being outside of the creation of art who has simply come here and at this point I'd just like to interject that if you are interested in talken lore like I am I would recommend the channel the red book this is a tremendous channel that I've been enjoying immensely recently it goes into a lot of depth and detail about specific Topics in the token legendarium and I will link that channel below if you are interested like angolan I speculate that the outer gods are cosmic beings unknowable and incomprehensible to us separate from the creation of this world that come from a realm Beyond erors and are drawn to this Mortal plane like moths to a flame I have nothing solid to back this up of course beside the linguistic evidence that we've already looked at and the usual tropes of great Cosmic beings with these ideas of the cosmic and external gods in mind let us take a moment to analyze each of the confirmed outer Gods to assess what their abilities and limits actually are the first of the confirmed outer Gods is the formless mother or mother of Truth which Ms communion with it results in him becoming the Lord of blood there was then the outer God of rot one of the most directly referenced of their kind and this is the god sealed underneath the lake of rot and responsible for the spread of of the Scarlet rot and its incubation within Millennia then we have the outer god of the death birds that being which acts through its Envoy the twin bird and her children the death Birds who spread the death rats then finally the only other definitive outer God is confirmed via implication that we spoke about earlier and this is the outer god of the frenzied flame which spreads its influence through frenzy there are other potential candidates such as the forces behind the various moons the god of the crystallion or the fail God but quite frankly we just can't know for certain CU they're not referred to directly as outer gods and no I do not believe there is an outer god of the dragons and I will cover this in my greater will section shortly but let us review the outer gods and attempt to answer some big questions namely what do they want and what can they actually do let us start with one that we have covered on the channel before the formless mother who Mo has become associated with we learn via the blood Bon incantation that blood is this formless Mother's medium of communion and communication as it reads the mother of Truth craves wounds when Moog stood before her deep underground his accursed blood erupted with fire and he was borted with defilement that he was born into via wounds and blood the formless mother is able to spread her influence as we learn via mogwin's spear M's enhanced Powers come via his master blessing his accursed blood telling us that this formless mother is actually able to affect blood to the point where it can Empower Moog because of his defiled blood within his body in turn Mo communes with the formless mother by causing her wounds and spreading blood again the more blood the more her influence spreads sprads in regions where blood is abundant such as mwin Palace and Rose Church in Leonia we can see this corruption taking place in the form of giant cysts blood roses and Afflicted forms of life and this is presumably a sample of how the world would be should the formless mother and her Lord of blood claim dominion and it is also important to note that this order the order of blood replicates the command structure of the greater will there will be a god of blood in Micha and there is a lord of blood in place of an Elden Lord a stark mirror to Mara and her Elden Lord so everything about this order and about the powers of the formless mother and outer God is about corruption nothing here is being created let us look at another of the outer Gods the god of the Scarlet Rock which is again a God we have touched upon in this channel one of the most clear references to this God is via the Scorpion Stinger but probably a more interesting reference comes from the blue dancer Talisman we've already read that item description but in essence it talks about an event where this ancient god a God that was rought itself was sealed away and from the item description of the lake of rot map we know that it was sealed below this Lake of rot like the formless mother this outer God exerts its influence over the world and corrupts it via a material in this case this material is the Scarlet raw like the formless mother it too has selected a vessel God the powerful melenia who serves as an infection Vector for the Scarlet rot as we can see by her effect on kalid which has spread the Scarlet rot significantly I speak on the Scarlet rot in great detail in my Millenia lower video but what is clear is that the Scarlet rot is no mere pestilence but an aspect or a power of this outer God that will remake the world in its image it doesn't just waste away the body as a pestilence as G tells us even the demigods could not read the world of this pestilence it is something more than mere disease however the Scarlet rot isn't just death it is also life and we can get an idea of what this order of rot would look like via the poison Mist incantation which reads as follows the death that begets life that comes to all equally that is to say it is the cycle of rebirth put into practice sweeping death brought via pestilence and New Life rising from the carrying of the Dead such as the silverfish like pasts this is of course realistic as in the real world when things die New Life comes from that death you get maggots and flies in the corpses of the dead as well as bacteria growing with with and carrying the Scarlet rot is a transformative medium that would transform and kill life on this Earth but also bring about new forms of life we get a preview of what such a world would be like in The Afflicted lands of kalid and the hollowed out Halo tree life certainly but also death in abundance a cycle of death and life there's also the most enigmatic of the definitive outer gods and is the outer god of the death birds and their twin bird mother this is again a subject I've spok on in great detail in my death Bird's video but again this outer God is focused upon spreading its influence upon the land notably in its dominion over funerary practices in the age before the UR tree and the spreading of its death rights however the most important probably to consider for this argument is the frenzied flame and like the prior two examples the outer god of chaos does not act directly upon the world but acts through emissaries such as the three fingers maidens like ca and the demon shabiri as well as having a corrupting Force like the others the frenzied flame and the spread of the freny Affliction the aim of this outer God is to once again affect which has already been created by the greater will on making it so that the life is melted down into one form I will be doing a frenzied flame lore video in the near future so I won't go into it too much depth but suffice it to say that this outer God spreads its influence via the frenzied flame much as the formless mother does by Blood and like the god of rot does via the Scarlet Rod so while this outer God does operate in the same general manner as the others it is unique in that it stands more starkly as a mirror reflection to the greater will and indeed it is such an inverse of the greater will that some believe that it was once a part of the greater will that the two fingers and the three fingers were once one making a whole hand or that at the very least it proves that the greater will is an outer God because the frenzied flame is so similar in its nature to the greater will and of course while these are valid I do not necessarily agree with either and instead I see the outer God of chaos and its Stark mirroring of the greater well as posturing as a mockery of the greater will and its ideals mainly because it seeks to undo the greater Will's idea of life and indeed I don't see it as much different from the possessions taken by the outer God of blood for example all of these outer Gods follow the same pattern they are attempting to corrupt the lands between but they will also offer up a new Pantheon directly copying and perverting the established Pantheon of the greater will the formless mother offers the most complete example of what I mean there is a lord of blood in opposition to the Elden lord and there could be a god of blood in opposition to Mar we see partial constructions of this in the other outer Gods as well such as melenia being groomed to become the goddess of rot and the player character who can become the Lord of frenzied flame in opposition to the Elden Lord everything that the outer Gods take they take from the greater will and there may be some Cosmic balance to it that we don't fully comprehend that there needs to be a lord or there needs to be a God my point being is that the frenzied Flame manifesting the three fingers doesn't automatically mean that we need to think of the two fingers and the three fingers being one hand there are many two fingers after all so it's not like there is just one two fingers there are a two fingers in each of the Divine towers and there's of course a two fingers for rannie so there isn't a total of five fingers anyway so this has never really made much sense to me and I see this two fingers plus 3al 5 as too literal an interpretation instead I see it as symbolic that the frenzy flame outer God has chosen three fingers to represent its vision of uniting everyone once again as whole that the three and the two do make a whole five a whole hand but it is symbolic symbolic of its ideals rather than it literally being three fingers that were torn from the two that just doesn't make sense to me I believe that the fren flame is essentially just a mockery of the greater Will's position because it mirrors its own ideals so starkly everything the outer gods do is based around the greater will and subverting something the greater will has already created and established they do not create anything and this brings me to the very meat of why I do not believe the greater will is an outer God for it has done something they cannot it has created life the outer Gods corrupt subvert or destroy that which has already been made by the greater will almost as if they enviously eye the lands between and this Mortal PL a parallel to melor and alatar from Lord of the Rings the god of rot will afflict the world with pestilence so that new life may emerge from the death but all of this is based upon the greater Wells already living creation the greater Wells lands and peoples so too could be said of mog and his formless mother we see a preview of their world in mn's Palace an infested world of blood and blood craze Beast yet a corruption it remains this is not true creation the greater well formed life like clay can be molded on a scale far beyond any of the outer God's Powers yes they have served vants envoys and vassals and they can corrupt but what is that compared to the scale of the greater Well's creation this ultimately begs the question at the core of this video what is the greater will the name itself greater will is a term to me that is always suggested that it is the greatest of these Cosmic beings and throughout the following sections I will attempt to prove this by showing its relationship to life creation and Order remember the outer gods are external Gods because they are external to this world the greater well- created life on this Earth it can't possibly be an external God because it is so intrinsically linked to the life on this Earth and that is what I will show through the next following chapters that the main reason it is not an outer God or an external God is because it is not external to this world it is intrinsically linked to it in fact indeed the way in which the greater will is referred to by NPCs is as if this being is truly the ultimate Authority in this plane of existence the tragic Corruption of the order has taken its tool across the realm life lies in ruin fallen to pieces foul curses and misery spread unabating but the greater will has not abandoned the realm nor the life that inhabits it the Mad taint of their new found strength triggered the shattering a war from which no Lord arose a war leading to abandonment by the greater will both of these references to the greater will and its abandonment of the world already creates an image of a god whose very domain is the safekeeping of this world and the lands found within it much like the biblical God and much like the biblical God his Creations can disappoint him and be renounced much like the demig gods and indeed Marica for her actions the Christian imagery associated with the greater will and its punishments are undeniable with the punishment of Mara being crucified the punishment of the magma worms being akin to the serpent being cursed to crawl along their bellies and the punishment of the guilty with Briar just to name a few and as we will will discuss later there are parallels of the Ten Commandments to be made with the teachings of the two fingers in concert with the biblical language in the Japanese associated with the greater will this imagery and relationship between the greater will and its World very much Paints the picture of a supreme abrahamic deity one of the other massive similarities the greater will has to the biblical God is of course creation and I want to start this discussion with what I see not only as the most important dialogue for this discussion but one of the most important dialogues in the entire game I'm of course referring to hi's dialogue after she has touched the frenzied flame and begins to Divine its will thank thank you I have touched them the words of the three fingers as your maiden allar me to Define them all that there is came from the one great then came fractures and births and souls but the greater will made a mistake torment despair Affliction every sin Every curse everyone born of the mistake and so what was borrowed must be returned melt it all away with the yellow chaos flame until all is one again I do not understand why it took me so long to realize how significant this dialogue truly is of course I understood its importance in regards to the one great and the motivations of the frenzied flame however when researching for my dragon L video it finally clicked the greater will has the power of creation and in fact is most like responsible for all life that we find in this world while this is evident to most as it was for me the importance of it is something that is often overlooked and so let us analyze this dialogue firstly haa states that it was the greater will who was responsible for the division of the one great so what is the one great well there are those who argued that the greater will once formed part of the one great due to the similar ities between the word great in one great and greater will yet again I turned to dug man guy to disprove this where he states that the differences in language use specifically the biblical language associated with greater will makes it far distinct from one great and to me it's a concept that we're not really meant to understand it's back to this idea of cosmic creation But ultimately I just see it as a form of life that was is just whole and not divided and is something that we can't really understand and that ultimately all life that we now see in the lands between was once all melded together in a singular form like different pots cups and plates being made from the same batch of clay the life found within this one great has been taken and divided and distinguished from something that was whole and indistinguishable burn the Earth tree to the ground and incinerate all that divides and distinguishes a May chaos take the world may chaos take the world yet divided it was and life took on new desperate forms leading to the species that we see today in my dragon lore video I did consider the question of how the greater will actually achieved this how it fr capured this one great as pointed out in a Sinar lore podcast which I will link below Sophie and sin made the great point that when the greater will acts it never acts directly hence it has a vassel beast a vassel god two fingers Elden Lord and Elden ring to enforce its rule on the lands between and this then brings me back to one of the most important item descriptions in the game the Elden Stars which reads as follows it is said that long ago the greater well sent a golden star bearing a beast into the lands between which would later become the Elden ring I therefore theorized that the greater will always acts through its intermediaries and that the Advent of the one great being fractured must be no different so the arrival of the Elden Beast and the Elden ring to me is a significant event that marks the beginning of the greater Will's influence on this world and I believe it was the presence and arrival of the Elden ring and Elden Beast that influenced the one great and began the fracturing process that these two events the fracturing and the arrival of the Elden ring or two intersecting events to me the greater well is very biblical in that it has two main facets to its domain the creation of life being number one and the enforcement of order upon that life that it created the idea of order being a primary concern of the greater will is told to his early on in its Mythos with the arrival of the Elden Beast its vassel Beast upon the Mortal plane for its remembrance reads as follows it was the vassel Beast of the greater will and a living incarnation of the concept of order the concept of order was literally introduced to the World by the greater will and those who brandish the Elden ring are representatives of that order the enforcers of the greater Wells order we know that the Elden ring is a tool that enforces the laws and Order of the world for we know via The Mending Rune of the death Prince that each incarnation of the Elden ring built up by its different runes is an order and this makes sense given the ruins of the Elden ring govern the laws of this world in a certain man that together holistically encompasses an order rat tasor has done a great video on this very subject called the greater well doesn't care about the golden order and I will link that video Below in that video ratcore highlights the depictions of the Elden ring found within farilla and speculates on something I also have in various videos that this was the Elden ring brandished by pusx in the time of the dragons rule an Elden ring that represented an order for a far more primeval era in this video ratas or aply says that the greater will just wants an order and doesn't necessarily care what form order takes I agree but we take it further in that I don't think it's necessarily that the greater will doesn't care more that the greater will recognizes that for different eras different forms of order and different laws are required whether that be the more wild era of The Crucible and the dragon's Elden ring or the more refined and ordered period of the golden order and whatever version of order we seek to impose as rigan's successor all that is required that they be in order that meets the need of that particular era and while these actually govern the laws of the world one can't help but see the parallels between the biblical God again with the set of Commandments and the moral code and law that would derive from it this brings us back around to the idea of Life we've already looked at how the greater will fills the biblical role of a god through its creation and its application of Law and Punishment as well as the symbolism and imagery associated with the greater will however I want to look at the greater Will's relationship with life which I believe is pivotal in understanding its true nature and how it stands apart from the other outer Gods thanks to the godkin noble set we know that the crucible was the primordial form of the earth tree and this is important because they are both tied to the greater will and the greater Wells management of Life first of all we know that the crucible was a churn where all life was Blended together for the aspects of The Crucible incantations all read the following this is a manifestation of the 's Primal vital energies and asp ECT of the primordial Crucible where all life was once Blended together we also learn from the Gilded great Shield that once found within The Crucible was primordial matter which reminds me of the primordial soup and the matter found within of our own planet's history this hot broth contained the building blocks to all life on our Earth likewise the crysal seems to be the source of all life on this Earth as indeed the aspects of The Crucible incantations does say not just life but all life and indeed sala's spear item description backs up this idea given that The Crucible is close in nature to life itself it is the source of life now while we learn that all life was Blended together in The Crucible I do not believe that the unity of life is the purpose of this era and indeed I more actually see the Ary era as the idea of convergence and regression but that's something I talk about in more detail detail in my urry lure video instead I believe The Crucible is the way in which the one great was divided up and desperate life was born from it and the reason that all life was Blended together within The Crucible is that it was the next stage in evolution from the one great which itself was life all Blended together and to me it was through the crucible that life was fractured and made desperate the fact that all life is tied to this source and thus the greater well is backed up by its successor and next evolutionary form the Earth tree straight off the back we can establish that all natural life is seen as connected to the Earth tree something we learn via the greatest lore item in the game the aloric blood clot this top tier item reads as follows the thick coagulated blood of the Alban orics alinor are life forms made by human hands thus many believe them to live in impure lives Untouched by the Earth tre's Grace thus if Al BoRics are seen as Untouched by the Earth trees Grace because they are artificial then the implication must be that all natural life is seen as connected to the Earth tree and indeed if the Earth tree is the next form of The Crucible and The Crucible is the source of all life this makes sense that these two mediums of the greater Well's power are intrinsically linked to life itself one begat life and One controls life and again if you want an in-depth look at the Earth tree and what its actual function is I would highly recommend my Earth tree lore video in which I go into detail on its control over the cycle of life but in short the Earth tree establishes a new era of Life a new system through which the greater well and its vassels can control life the laws of regression and causality of the golden order speak of life being connected and how life will regress and ultimately converge regression towards the mean means that outliers cannot be tolerated and life must exist within a more refined set of parameters ultimately moving towards convergence of all life this convergence is achieved by life literally being recycled through the Earth tree via Earth tree burial even in death the materials are reabsorbed and recycled through the Earth tree I have always seen the process of Ary burial as a way of recycling this life that the dead are given back to the AR Trey and absorbed and that this era of the earth tree unlike the era of The Crucible is about the status quo about refining and controlling the growth of life but if the dead are absorbed by the Earth tree and this is a cycle of life I have always wondered are new life forms born from the earth tree well we may have found a plausible answer thanks to the Keen mind of the tarnished archaeologist in tarnished archaeologist video Elden Ring's cycle of Life which I highly recommend as it goes into far more depth on these ideas of the cycle of life he makes an astute observation on the doors found within catacombs where the Ary burials themselves take place on the design of these doors we see bodies being absorbed by the roots of the earth tree and as tarnish archaeologist says this is a literal representation of what we see in earthree burial with that in mind tarnished archaeologist Ponders if what we see at the base of the tree is literal then can the same be applied to what we see at the top of this depiction as we see people being born as a fruit or Dew from a tree tarnished archaeologist supports the idea that life is born from the earth Tree by citing the dialogues of melanina if you go to choose the frenzied flame path in the this dialogue where melan pleads with you not to choose the path of the frenzied Flame melan equates the destruction of the her tree via the burning of it in the frenzied flame as literally the denial of new life as if birth and life is tied to the her tree itself finally tarnished archaeology also backs up the her tre's Association of recycling life with ral's Amber a likening it to an Amber from the earth tree when which enclosed a great Rune of rebirth and the process of its rebirth is a microcosm of the UR tre's command over the cycle of life and at this juncture in the video I do just want to ask you to check out tarnished archaeologist Channel they really are a detail focused Channel and videos like their Ur treat is an illusion video really have me rethinking what I believe about the games's fundamentals again the entire point of this segue about the Earth tree and The Crucible is that the greater will is not just the creator of life but also the God who oversees it controls and manages it but is intrinsically linked to it via the Earth tree The Crucible and the Elden ring life is so intrinsically linked to the greater will that it can't possibly be termed as an outer God an outer God literally is an external God as we have discussed before how can the greater will be one of their number when it is so intrinsically tied to the very nature of Life found within its World it very much is the opposite of an external God and I think the greater Well's deep connection the intrinsic link to life found on this planet is no better Illustrated than by its connection to the dragons and so it's to these ancient beasts that we turn to Next in my prior lore video on the ancient dragons I related the chief of their kind placu sax to Tiamat the Mesopotamian god of the sea and a being symbolic of the chaos of primordial creation and as I said in that video I feel as though this is an apt connection because the dragons are meant to be symbolic of the early primordial era of life on a planet as we know they belong to the period known as prehistory and this is something we can learn from any of the Dragon protection talismans which read as follows the ancient dragons who ruled in the prehistoric era before the AR Trey would protect their lord as a wall of living Rock and so it is that the shape of the Dragon has become symbolic of all manner of Protections in a way they evoke the era of the dinosaur to us the same idea of Primal primeval life in a chaotic era of life that is so beyond human comprehension it is easy to see these Mighty reptilian Beast taking the place of dinosaurs in this fictional World however something else I pondered in that video but didn't really explore was the Deep connection the dragons have to the greater will and the Perfection of their form so let's go over that again with the most obvious connections of all the fact that the dragons had an Elden Lord a position of lordship that is clearly linked to the Elden ring and therefore the greater will there are people who would counter this claim by claiming that the term Elden does not appear in the Japanese as I explained in a pin comment on my dragon lore video this simply is not true and I will now cite the opinion of various Japanese speakers firstly I once again cite dug manangi an excellent source of Elden ring item translations and in his video six essential Elden ring item descriptions in Japanese he confirms that the term ELD found in the Japanese appears both in the item description of Elden stars and the dragon Lord's Remembrance in exactly the same way I've also had this confirmed by a friend of the channel and reputable Authority on the games translation last protagonist who again confirmed to me that the dragon lord Remembrance in the Japanese clearly paints placu sax as Elden Lord there are also other translations which repeat the same sentiment such as the redit comment by user at Lamy 1 which I link below and a comment on my Dragons video from viewer Teo and so if you do disagree with this point I highly recommend that you check out all of these sources especially dug man gu's video so with the semantics firmly tied to the term Elden Lord what other ties can be seen between the dragons and the greater well as I said at the onset of this chapter I feel the very makeup of the Dragons shows that at their core they are closely tied to the greater will and its gold firstly we can see the gold prominently displayed on their physiology on the golden membrane of their wings and this facet of their physiology is explored in detail by zulie the witch in there a horrible nightmare video which I will link below in this video zulie correctly identifies that this gold only appears on the soft tissue of their dragons whereas the rest of their body is covered in the gravel Stone scales the gold appears on portions like the wing m brain or the wounds of pusx I.E on the skin underneath his Stony scales I find this to be a really exciting detail because it means the literal flesh of these beings is gold tying them to the greater well more closely than other beings given their skin and flesh is literally gold this is tied to the fact that the red lightning wielded by the dragons itself is imbued with gold as is directly stated by the gravel Stone Talisman finally the Elden lord of the Dragons pusx has a closer tie to the greater will via his powerful breath unlike the orange fiery breath of his Brethren placu sax has a golden fire as is stated in placu Sax's ruin as I did mention in my dragon lore video golden fire is significant not only because it is the gold of the greater well but because there's only one other being that breathes this type of golden fire the Elden Beast the Elden Beast is very much directly tied to the greater will it is the vassel Beast of the greater will and brought the Elden ring to the lands between that placu sax is granted very similar powers to a vassel of the greater will itself implies a deep connection between the dragons and the greater well especially between their Elden Lord earlier on in the video I argued that the greater will fills the road of the abrahamic or Christian God as a grand Creator D and as I said in my Dragons video I Feel the dragons are almost too perfect they are perfect vessels for its Vision they are Immortal and they wield gold and are immensely powerful and intelligent beings Philla was their domain and in that domain there is an inscription or depiction of the Elden ring any more Primal form myself and many others believed that the dragons were the first custodians of the Elden ring and that pusx and his God that is now fled were the vassel pantheon much like Godfrey and Amica would be later on the dragons are so perfect the perfect instruments to wield the Elden ring so in tune with the gold and so powerful and given the fact that the gold is very much part of their physiology they feel like they are handcrafted in Genesis of the Bible God also makes a handcrafted being designed specifically to rule over on his behalf humans and so now I'm going to read from the Genesis part of the Bible just so you get an understanding of what I'm referring to so God created Mankind in his own image in the image of God he created male and female he created them God blessed them and said to them be fruitful and increase in number fill the Earth and subdue it rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground God made Humanity in His image and they were his instrument on the earth that he had created to rule over all life is it possible that the grand creator of Elden Rings world is parallel with this and made his own perfect Creations designed to rule over all other life forms like the the Christian God are the dragons made in the greater Well's image one can't help but return to the Elden Beast which itself is fairly draconic in appearance a cosmic being and breathes fire like the dragons do this is a being as close to the greater will as we will ever see and is it possible that the dragons too were made in its image the perfect beings to rule over the greater Wells new domain another parallel that sets it as the abrahamic God of this world of Elden Rings world even if you don't believe that this is a parallel the hand of the greater will upon the dragons is undeniable it influence in developing this perfect life form a being that lives beyond time and literally has gold in its very DNA this again seems something far beyond what the outer gods are capable of they corrupt and transform life that already exists but here we have a god manipulating a life form at its very core at its very DNA infusing it with its gold and much like the biblical God it seems as though the greater will has had a hand in helping societies develop and guiding his Creations there's of course the beastmen who we learn have been granted intelligence that before they were just Beasts for the chinua item description reads as follows the design celebrates a BEAST's five fingers symbolic of the intelligence once granted upon their kind the beastmen of Philla were once granted intelligence and as described by the beastial Vitality incantation they were once beasts that became something more they were beings that were given intelligence to them rather than having it evolved and they were moved from Beasts to being beings who wielded stone tools as described by the beastial sling and later iron tools as described by the beastman cleaver this very much mirrors the development of our ancestors from the Stone Age through to the Iron Age but instead reminds me of 2001 A Space Odyssey in which humanity and its ancestors are guided through different stages of development by an outside Cosmic intelligence whoever we credit the granting of intelligence to it will always lead back to the greater Well's designs whether it was placu sax the Elden Beast or the Elden ring and again it makes me think of the biblical God who in the Bible is described as teaching Humanity at various points such as through the lessons taught to Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel and earlier I did speak about the Ten Commandments how in the Bible these came down to humanity via God and they helped develop the idea of morals and laws and indeed in Elden ring we get the idea that it too the greater will gave us Commandments or words of Faith via the two fingers heirloom which reads as follows fingers cannot speak yet these were eloquent persistently did they wle spelling out mysteries in the air thus did we gain the words the words of our faith how closely is this tied to the Ten Commandments coming down from an abrahamic God these are the words the words of Faith the words of the greater will coming down to us again it just fills the role for me of that abrahamic God and now with that all said I think it's time we do a summary of everything we have discussed in this video when the greater well send the Elden beast in the Elden ring down to the Mortal plane the aim was to create diverse life and I am of the belief that the Elden Beast and the fracturing of the one great are coinciding events to stimulate life and that Life as we know it in this world of ring is therefore intrinsically linked to the Elden ring it was begat of it and therefore all life is connected to the Earth tree and the greater will earlier on in this video we determined the outer gods are named so because they are external to this group or this world how can the greater will be considered an external God when it is so closely tied to life on this planet and the creation of this life it is as much part of this world as we are as the tarnished like the abrahamic biblical God the greater will has its chosen vassals its prophets its invoice and its holy scriptures and ideas come from the two fingers life and Society has been Guided by this supreme creator for all intents and purposes the greater World dominates life on this world and imposes its will and Order upon all this to me stands in stark contrast to the outer God Gods who are only able to manipulate and corrupt that which has already been created by the greater will in a way they are lesser versions of the greater will stylizing their own lesser orders and ideals on its established Pantheon in an almost envious display of posturing the connections to biblical iconography and language is undeniable the crucification of Mara the handing down of holy words from the two fingers and the punishment of the Guilty by Briars the outer gods are no doubt Cosmic beings of immense power that we don't really understand but they are external to this world and while they are trying to subvert them and they surely can with our help the power and influence of the greater will Towers above them and for me is something far greater than these outside meddlers at least when it comes to this Mortal plane whether or not you agree that the greater will is different from the outer Gods I believe there's plenty of evidence that helps establish its Primacy and that it is orders of magnitude greater than they are especially when it comes to dealing with this Mortal plane and ultimately for me it takes the possession of a grand supreme deity in this particular epic the outer Gods NE abulous influential and utterly intriguing very few topics in Elden ring are of more interest to the community than the outer Gods no doubt as a result of their enigmatic presentation and permeation through different aspects of the lore bloodborne presented the idea of cosmic gods to the souls born community and as a result it is easy to view the outer Gods through a similar lens and this is entirely reasonable given the massive Cosmic elements present throughout the game and the fact that the term outer God is a term used in the expanded lovecraftian Mythos but is this the correct understanding of these beings or are we as a western audience missing something is there something deeper that the outer gods are meant to convey for whether you ascribe to the theory that the greater will is a Supreme Being or not some of the interactions between the greater Wills order and the outer Gods makes our understanding of the latter confused instances where we see these apparently opposing forces playing a role within the Elden Ring's domain or instances of contradictory information regarding two fingers and imperion do these outer gods in fact present something different concepts of fundamental laws made manifest brought about through the power of the Elden ring itself only to find themselves excluded by the current order in this video we will do our best to answer the question of the outer Gods by looking at it more carefully from a Japanese cultural perspective I was wrong that is how I want to start this video and it isn't the first time that I've admitted such a thing and I do think it is important for me as a lore theorist and for us as a lore Community to continually change and evolve our perspectives on certain subjects in my last lore video on the greater will I posited the theory that the greater will is the god with a capital G and I stand by my premise that the greater will is something distinct from the outer Gods however something that I acknowledged that didn't quite fit right was my characterization of the outer Gods themselves I posited that the greater will was a supreme Creator God and the outer gods were rival Cosmic beings akin to bloodborne's old ones viewers were right in pointing out holes in this argument that I did not address properly such as describing the outer Gods as Cosmic deities trying to corrupt the creation of the greater will but as pointed out by commenters the outer god of the death birds for example is not a corrupting Force rather all we see of the death Birds is that they are guides of the dead and overseers of the funerary rights I acknowledge that these types of questions did hinder my characterization of the outer Gods as lesser Cosmic deities to the greater will and ultimately it has led me to try and understand the outer gods and what they are really to that end I do think that we of the western lore Community have a lot to gain by tapping into the ideas being discussed in the Japanese lore community and that is in part what I aim to do in this video is at this point I need to make it clear that some of these ideas are not my original ones rather they came to my attention via the great Cosmic axelo a VI who commented these ideas on one of my community posts and in turn they site the famous Italian YouTuber zacco noo as their original Source in episode 38 of their Elden ring quot playthrough so I will link that video below and again full credit to Great Cosmic axotal for making me aware of such ideas and nuance is I am going to paraphrase the relevant comment while showing the original on screen the term used in Japanese for the outer Gods is saaru and this term is used to define beings outside of a group or system and in this case the golden order and thus it is what makes them external or outer Gods the idea that they are cosmic beings is largely a western understanding and again the greater will is never referred to as an outer God and linguistically in the Japanese it is more likened to the biblical God and indeed this was the main thesis of my greater will lore video and I will link that Below in case you haven't watched it carrying on with the comment great Cosmic axotal suggests that the outer gods are more closely aligned with the came of Shintoism Divine manifestations of nature which came into existence bya the Elder ring as they are all connected to Earthly Concepts such as blood disease and death to have this idea elaborated on and explain to me in more detail I actually reached out to saku's translator called Miro a source of these exact ideas and a respected member of the lore community and work with saaku to provide translations for their videos and so I am very grateful for their support and helping me with this video they were able to confirm that this is indeed the prevailing opinion in the Japanese lore community and I will quote them now and show the quotes on screen as the commenter said it is more than an idea of mine it is one of the most popular interpretations in the Japanese community and I having played the game in Japanese have found this interpretation more logical and concrete for some evidences in game the general idea we have in the Western Community is that the outer gods are a group of cosmic deities that fight against each other for control over the lands between but the more you delve into the lore more you see that this theory is pretty weak the key detail to understand is that even with a western aesthetic Elden ring and other Souls games are Japanese games therefore they mainly and heavily refer to Japanese cultural Concepts and Kam is a concept not so akin to one we have in the Western World CI are more akin to Natural Forces part of nature itself they are water plants trees Sun Moon snow Etc the outer gods in my opinion and in the opinion of the greater part of the Japanese Community just as that powers energies that flow through the world and that creatures can Channel these energies with prayers and rituals so thanks again merco for providing that information this idea immediately clicked with me as it answers a lot of the issues that I have with my own conceptualizations of the outer Gods it makes them fit more neatly into some of the situations we see in Elden ring but what are the Cami Wikipedia defines them as the following inent CI are not separate from nature but are of nature possessing positive and negative and good and evil characteristics they are manifestations of masubi the interconnecting energy energy of the universe these are interconnected Spirits or entities that are of nature part of the interconnected energy of the fabric of the world and they are not gods in the traditional Western sense rather they take form of Concepts fundamental concepts important to life and more importantly they are not necessarily external to the greater will or the Elden Rings World they are in fact part of its creation but are only external due to their exclusion from the current order's agenda and indeed later we will look at other spirits in the world that may also be Cami but are not described as outer or external such as the Blue Fairy of shifra river so where did the Cami of this world come from if they are part of the Elden Ring's order as Miracle suggests when did they come to be in many videos I have discussed the idea that the arrival of the Elder Beast and the greater well is the beginning of all ordered life on this Mortal plane for those who need reminding of this event I'm of course referring to the description found in the Elden Stars incantation which reads as follows it is said that long ago the greater well sent a golden star bearing a beast into the lands between which would later become the Elden ring I believe that it was this arrival of the Elden ring that ordered Life As We know it that it was its presence and influence that fractured the one great and stimulated diverse life mirle was also helpful enough to give their opinion and the opinion from the Japanese lore community on this subject as well and again I quote them now for this interpretation about the outer Gods being Natural Forces more than Cosmic Gods it is implied they were born the instant the greater will sent the golden star into the lands between between being the Elden ring with this interpretation it is implied the natural forces are born with it I.E the outer Gods therefore this theory proposes that these outer gods are in fact manifestations of the fundamentals of life and are a result of the Elden Rings ordering of Life they are the fundamentals of Life made manifest I referred the subjects of gods to last protagonist a friend of the channel and respected Authority on the Japanese translation of Elden ring on the subject of outer gods they said the following it's kind of difficult to approach linguistically the word for outer Gods can be taken more along the line of being external but it is also used to mean outer gods in lovecraft's work the issue is in English when we hear outer we tend to think of outer space but those connotations aren't as strong in Japanese these ideas from last protagonist line up with Axel's comments and miro's information in which they claim the common idea that in the Japanese lore Community the outer gods are only outer or external because they are external to the current order only and that the connotations of outer space are less prominent in the Japanese itself so to break down this Theory the idea posits that instead of the outer Gods being rival Cosmic beings competing for control of the lands between and the Mortal plain that they are instead a consequence of the Elden ring spirits that govern certain facets and elements of the world that was ordered by the Elden ring spirits of nature entities that represent certain fundamental concepts and they're as much a part of this world as anything else but they're only external because they fall out with the current ruling order their exclusion is essentially political or ideological from those who exist within the lands between this sort of idea helps me reconcile some of the difficulties I've had with perceiving the outer Gods as rival Cosmic beings and the main example of this is related to millenia's story we learn the following from rany on the subject of emperion I was once an imperian of the demigods only I Mika and Melania could claim that title each of us was chosen by our own two fingers as a candidate to succeed Queen Marica to become the new god of the coming age which is when I received blly in the form of a vassel tailored for an imperian rany mea and melenia are the imperion of the current ERA and we learned that this was a position once held by America as well via Malik's remembrance this implies that all imperian are chosen by the greater will as potential candidates to godhood that all gods were once imperion a sort of nominee system and that these are the three nominees to take over America's Reign that is of course until the events of the shattering where the greater will will ultimately abandon the demigods but that is of course another story and another tangent But ultimately what this means is that at one point Millennia was a successor candidate to take over from goddess Mara and this initially seems to mesh well with the information found in millenia's remembrance for it reads Micha and melenia are both the children of a single God as such they are both imperion but both suffered afflictions from birth one was cursed with eternal childhood the other har drought within this is a detail that I have discussed previously in my Millennia lore video in which I had last protagonist verify with their own translation that it is likely the auspicious nature of Millennia and micha's birth that led to their election as an imperion I.E that they are born of the single bodied God of America ran this again is reinforced by millenia's great Rune which reads melenia is daughter to Queen Marica and rigan and her great Rune should have been the most sacred of all again this reinforces the idea that because melenia is born of mar Radigan The Immortal Rebus ruling partnership that she and her twin are special and thus they were chosen to be an imperion alongside their twin Micha yet this has made a little bit more confusing via a dialogue from G an adherent of the order of rot who wishes Millennia to ascend to goddess of rth they say the following she was born an imperion carrying the Scarlet rot an emperion is no mere demigod in the age of the Elden ring and queen manica the precious emperion was born a new God to forge a new order I've always found the terms and language used here by G very interesting I've always explained a way in my head that melenia was born and elected an imperion but later was infested with the Scarlet raw but that isn't really the truth because in the remembrance of melenia it says that she was born with this Affliction so she must have been elected as an imperion despite the Scarlet Rock within her and in fact G even seems to suggest here that she was chosen to be imperian because she could be a potential goddess of raw and so if that is true then it really does contradict the kind of prevailing idea that the outer gods are rival Gods because if the god of RW is a rival God to the greater well that is seeking to usurp the greater well melenia was born with the Scarlet RW why would she chosen as an imperion to succeed Lord Mara in one of my favorite ratas or Elden ring lore videos he covers a concept called the greater will doesn't care about the golden order their thesis being that the greater will is only concerned with a form of order being imposed no matter what form that order takes I will link that video below but in essence what ratat tasor uses to illustrate this point is the engraving of the Elden ring found within far moua which clearly has a different more chaotic and more full Rune makeup than the more stripped back one of the golden order and they suggest that the dragons and their Eld Lord pusx brandished the Elden ring in a more early time and imposed a different type of order far removed from what we would see in the later golden order I too ascribe to this idea for the golden order has now faltered and failed and as the tarnished we are elected by the two fingers and thus the greater will to replace it with a new order and we can rebuild the Elden ring as we see fit and establish a number of new Ord depending on our beliefs the order of fracture the perfect order order of Despair or the order of the dusk born whatever order we choose we will still be Elden Lord because order is being imposed and it doesn't really matter what form that order takes what if the greater Well's intention on electing Millennia as imperion was that Millennia could be the goddess of the new age in age of Ra sanctioned by the greater will until now most of us including myself assumed that the outer God of RW was a rival Cosmic deity but as I've just explained this doesn't really make sense given her election as imperion Gary even describes this new order which could be brought about by Millennia ascending to godhood replacing America I have dedicated myself to her and to the resplendence of the order of Ro the cycle of Decay and rebirth if this theory is correct that the outer God of rot is not a rival God rather an entity that represents an element of Life disease or rot or decomposition it is only outer because it falls out with the current established order and indeed merco has an excellent point to make on this idea of it being external to the current order and again I quote them these gods these CI are considered outer because they are opposite to the golden order founded by America if you notice most of these outer gods are tied to the concept of death rot is decomposition flame of frenzy is chaos and absence of order and the formless mother is blood and loss of blood Etc this is a very accurate and astute observation by mirle as the golden order is very much founded upon the removal of the Run of death and the confinement of death and death as we learn via The Mending Rune of the death Prince which reads as follows the golden order was created by confining death and death thus this new order will be one of death restored but now the golden order has failed Queen Mar has disappointed the greater well and now the time has come for a new order altogether and thus melenia and her potential order of RW was considered and she was elected as an imperion by the two fingers because the outer God of rot and its Scarlet Rock was not a rival Cosmic entity to the greater will merely a fragment or an element of the world that had found itself outside the current order and with Millennia the potential to reverse that position had come again the idea of Millennia being elected as an imperion a successor chosen by the two fingers has always been an uncomfortable point for the lore for me but instead should we see the outer God of rot as an element of the world that was created by the Elden ring then these interactions and confusions begin to make sense so while this helps us to understand some of the difficult and uncomfortable areas of the lore involved with the outer gods and their interactions with the greater will we can't just ignore the fact that the outer Gods is a term that is used in the lovecrafting Mythos for even as I pointed out in my greater well lore video YouTube Creator dug mangy in a deleted translation video points out that the outer Gods can linguistically be tied to the idea of Lovecraft and beings the old great ones and even in English the term outer God is used in the expanded Lovecraft Mythos specifically in the call of cthulu RPG game so if I am claiming that the outer gods are more akin to Kam manifestations of natural forces then how do we reconcile it with the clear Illusions to Cosmic beings well in my greater well lore video I highlighted the dialogue given to us by haa who via the three fingers gives us an account of how diverse life on this world came to be thank thank you I have touched them the words of the three fingers as your maiden allow me to Define them all that there is came from the one great then came fractures and births and souls but the greater will made a mistake torment despair Affliction every sin Every curse every everyone born of the mistake and so what was borrowed must be returned melt it all away with the yellow chaos flame until all is one again the fracturing of the one great is of course a very Cosmic event in of itself it is an event that is meant to be Beyond human comprehension so straight away this fracturing event which would eventually lead to the for of these came is in of itself a cosmic event and thus as suggested by Cosmic axelo these gods or Spirits are a consequence of the fracturing itself of the Elden ring itself and that in a way does indeed make them Cosmic and yet despite these came being more like manifestations of natural Concepts instead of the traditional lovecrafting Cosmic Gods this doesn't mean that they cannot be worshiped or take form for example in Shino the came known as suro or the leader of the Earthly came is depicted as a large man with a beard and each of the Cami can be communed with and worshiped in their own ways likewise we can see the outer gods have their own adherance despite being manifestations of elements there are mentions of the Servants of rot Lords of rot and the faithful of rot led by the likes of G there are mentions of the Servants of death and the death right priests and of course when it comes to the formless mother we have the MN Dynasty and the bloody fingers and in addition we get an example of the outer God of RW being able to manifest some kind of form via the Scorpion Stinger item description which suggests that it was able to take the form of a scorpion so I do want you to bear in mind that while I am proposing that these outer gods are manifestations of natural Concepts that doesn't mean that they don't still share commonalities with gods of other pantheons but that being said the way in which they manifest is what helps set them apart from cosmic beings the way in which their elements are ever present in the world of Elden ring and again this is a point made by mirle and again I quote them the outer gods in my opinion and the opinion of the greater part of the Japanese Community are powers energies that flow through the world that creatures can Channel with prayers and rituals that would explain why despite the Scarlet Rock being sealed inside a lake by the blind swordsman it still manifested in Millennial when she was born it is a power an element in the Elden ring universe and again this is another astute observation by Miro it has always been a bit of a mystery how the outer gods are able to interact so freely with this world or why they interact in which the way they do instead if you just see them as a component part of this world everything does begin to make sense and the more their worshippers and adherance spread their element or help to cultivate that element in the world the more that that outer God that cami has a foothold in this world and so with that being said I do now want to analyze some of the main outer Gods through this Lanes of the Cami I think a good place to start would be with the outer God of raw as we have already discuss this in a decent amount of detail so if we assess this outer God in this new light what is this cami's domain well as we have already discussed Gary describes it as a cycle of Decay and rebirth indeed we get further elaboration on this order via the poison mest incantation which reads those who dwell within poison know rot All Too Well the death that begets life that comes to all equally that is to say it is the cycle of rebirth put into practice this is a cycle of life being born from death and of course this is best represented by the Scarlet rot the medium of the outer God of rot a corroding force of death and a medium through which this outer God can enforce the idea of Life coming from death and disease for fans of the Warhammer universe this idea probably isn't that hard to grasp as this is essentially also the idea behind nurgle the chaos God of disease and pestilence who doesn't really see himself as a god of death but rather one of life life that comes from death and disease a God that sees viruses and bacteria as much Al life as anything else like nurgle's various diseases I see the Scarlet RW is something maybe more than a natural disease it is a manifestation of the god itself and this explains why it cannot be cured as a normal disease could be the rotting sickness that afflicts ment has no cure when the earth tree flourished even the demigods could not Stave off its effects despite their nigh godhood the Scarlet rot is not like the other poisons we find in the world it is truly an Unstoppable Force because it is the purest expression of this cami's M and indeed we see the cycle of life from Death anywhere we find the Scarlet rot while the Scarlet rot eviscerates all other forms of life it touches from this death comes New Life the Kindred of rot the silverfish SL cockroach looking enemies in the game this type of life from Death is of course reflective of our real world where plenty of Life bacteria and other insects and car eaters flourish due to the carcasses of other life forms we see the Kindred of rot rising from Death like maggots and we see the carrying eaters in the forms of the dogs and crows throughout kalid kid isn't as simple as a field of death it is in fact a new ecosystem where new life forms flourish and others die as it is in our world rck Decay death and disease are just natural parts of life and we should see this or order of RW in the same way that its cam is just a manifestation of these natural Concepts and with that said I now want to look at another natural force that I believe is a good example of a came that plays in to the Scarlet rots history and story we had previously discussed the idea of shifra river in my Scarlet RW video we highlighted a Reddit post by the user Nam the singer who confirmed that the word shifra is Gaelic for Fairy and thus posited that the Blue Fairy from the blue dancer Talisman was a manifestation of the river itself and that they provided the tools necessary to The Blind Swordsman to defeat and seal away the outer God of rot looking back on this now the shiffer river and the Blue Fairy should have been our first hint that the natural forces of this world manifest themselves like Godlike beings or spirits and that this came of of the Shaffer river is probably similar to the other outer Gods but instead does not find Itself externalized by the current order we of course learn that these two Spirits came into conflict via the blue dancer charm which reads as follows the dancer in blue represents a fairy who in Legend bestowed a flowing sword upon a blind swordsman blade in hand The Swordsman sealed away an ancient god a God that was rought itself self so the spirit or Cami of shifra river was in opposition to the Scarlet rot and this makes sense given the Shinto concept of flowing water and stagnation I have discussed this concept in a number of videos but in essence flowing water in Shino is representative of life and stagnant Waters which in real life Harbor disease and parasites are representative of death and this idea is actually further alluded to in the blue cloth set of the warrior starting class and the description reads as follows the blue color of its fabric symbolizes brisk Waters as fluid and flowing as the sword in the hand of its wearer just as Still Waters turn foul stagnation leads to Decay Warriors must remain ever drifting this warrior class is described as being part of a nomadic TR in the class selection screen so not only do they represent the flowing Waters and thus life through their combat style but also in their actual lifestyle as Nomads are always on the move if you want a great exploration of these Shinto themes then I would highly recommend ACR Aesthetics video on the Eastern themes found in Silent Hill as they are similar to the ones found in Elden ring regardless given that both the rot and the shifer River represent these two important Concepts in Shintoism really does lend Credence to the idea that CI are present in this game and I'm sure this would be immediately apparent to the Japanese audience but it's something that maybe just goes over our heads as a western player Miracle suggested that the outer God of RW is an outer or external God because it is linked to the concept of death and death of course has been very much confined by the golden order and thus anything connected to it would find itself external would find itself being an outer God but the golden order hasn't always existed so does that presuppose that the outer God of rot was not always the outer God of rot and indeed it is referred to in a different manner in one of the item descriptions in the blue dancer Talisman where it is referred to as the ancient god of rot an interesting semantic point to consider but speaking of death let us move on to the next of the outer Gods on our list and that is of course the outer god of the death Birds now this subject certainly highlighted one of the flaws in my original understanding of the outer gods in my greater well lore video in that video as I have said I was trying to argue the case that the greater well differs from the outer gods and clearly as you see from the premise of this video I still believe that to be the case however where that video was the weakest in my opinion was in the actual description or depiction of the outer Gods which at that point I understood to be Cosmic beings that essentially competed with the greater will to that end I characterized outer Gods as rival Cosmic gods they were attempting to spread their influence in the lands between by corrupting or altering the world with the element that is specifically associated with each outer God I.E the Scarlet Rock for the God of rot or blood for the formless mother however that obviously doesn't really work with the death birds and so I really appreciate everyone's input on that video as it does help me learn and investigate things in new angles so if you have any comments about this video please leave them below so with that said let us reexamine this God through the lens of CI and how we can reconcile its role within Elden Rings World firstly we know the death birds are connected to an outer God via the twi T Bird Kate Shield which reads as follows Shield featuring a vividly painted twin bird the twin bird is said to be the envoy of an outer God and mother of the death Birds this firmly links the death birds and their death rights to this outer God and thus IR relevant for the content of this video we learned that the death rights were funerary rights they existed before the Earth tree and thus before the Earth tree burial would usurp their position we learn this via the explosive ghost flame sorcery which reads as follows in the time where there was no Earth tree death was burned in ghost flame death birds were the keeper of that flame with the idea of Cami now firmly explained this now makes sense this outer God is representative of death and guiding spirits to the other side in my video on the death Birds I likened them to the concept of a psychop pump Spirits whose purpose is to guide the dead to the afterlife the explosive ghostflame description describes them as the keeper of these ghost flame PES and we learn that these PES burned in graveyards via the death poker and furthermore we learned that priests assisted these death birds in these rights via the death ritual spear death birds are symbolic of death in the world of Elden ring as much as the skill maybe for us in our world this is something we see in the Raven Mount assassins who take on the appearance of the death birds as though to represent death itself the reason they are symbols of death isn't just because of the death Bird's prominent role in administering death at one stage it is because they are spirits born of the Cami of death itself manifestations of the fundamental elements of death again the theory that the outer gods or Cami just makes more sense because it makes everything fit more neatly the reason death birds are symbolic of death is because they are of death and while the death birds and their outer God once highlighted a weakness in my argument I think they also highlight a flaw or at least fit uncomfortably in the theory that the outer gods are merely Cosmic beings why would the outer god of the death birds come to a rival outer God I.E the greater Wells World merely just to play a role in that world to assist in the shepherding of the dead of that world and some may see it just as a clumsy attempt to shoehorn some cool ideas about death and coolly designed bosses into the game no again I think the idea of outer Gods being C spirits and manifestation of fundamental laws of this world again makes more sense the outer god of death death fits into this world before the Earth tree administering death as part of the Elden Ring's creation and for many within Elden Ring's lore and World they understand that the death bird is the true symbol of death itself with the golden order having confined death and subsumed the processes of death via archery burial and removing death altogether it is no wonder that the death birds have found themselves pushed to the fringes of this world and indeed one can't help but notice their shattered forms perhaps connected to their irrelevance and externalization with the confinement of death their form reflects their lack of purpose or their confinement from the order of the world and now with that said I want to move on to the most visceral of the outer Gods the formless mother I think that the two prior outer gods were more important for the discussion and that to a degree the formless mother fits more easily into the template of C however that doesn't mean that there aren't some opinions of mine that I will be reforming from my lord of blood L video based on this new Cami theory in that video I painted the outer God as most do a cosmic deity beyond our comprehension that chooses blood as its medium to communicate and interact with a mortal plane and ultimately usurp it with a God and Lord of blood however however with the introduction of the ideas of C we can begin to formulate an understanding of this being as well while there is an obvious connection to blood I feel Miro is onto something when they have tied all of the outer gods that we know of to a form of death and in this case wounding as to cause bleeding a more different aspect a more visceral aspect of death for example the incantation blood Boon highlights the formless mother's relationship ship not only to blood but specifically to winding as it reads as follows the mother of Truth craves wounds when Mo stood before her deep underground his accursed blood erupted with fire and he was besed with the defilement that he was born into blood is of course one of the most important fundamentals of Life a potent fluid that is essential for any living thing and thus the spelling of it is indeed died to death but blood is also an important facet of life and thus the formless mother appears to be the Cami of blood and blood shedding but this is why Omen like Mo are such powerful tools for the formless mother as the our cursive Blood Of The Omen is far more potent as blood than regular blood and thus is a more powerful instrument for this cam however there is another entity that is closely tied to some of these ideas that will need to be addressed here before I move on and I refer to the Blood star now I have essentially tied the mother of Truth to blood and the shedding of blood and there is one particular region of this world that really feels defined by shedding of blood and this is the land of Reids this is the region from which the samurai starting class owes their lineage and we learn a fair bit about this land from the armored description of the Samurai which reads as follow follows the land of reeds has long been locked in a miserable Civil War during which time it has remained alienated from the cultures of its neighbors Little Wonder that the entire nation has succumbed to the blood soap Madness or so it has said I discussed these ideas in my starting class L video but I find a description of this conflict to be truly fascinating while the idea of a Civil War in a region clearly based on medieval Japan is most likely a reference to the real world soku era the era in which SEO is based I think there is something else here the term blood Sal Madness suggests that the Warfare may not be entirely mundane or normal and that another Force may be encouraging this constant shedding of blood indeed the land of reeds is almost entirely characterized by Blood for the Reed Lander appearance default in the Character Creator tells us that this is a land in which blood is a common sight and we know from all of their weapons that they are designed specifically to emphasize blood loss on their opponents this blood soaked Madness is best personified by one of the most infamous among their number okina we learn of this Legend via his mask which reads the more he sharpened his mind the more the absurdities of the world came into Stark relief and so Aina renounced it all and Rose to a higher plane there was only himself his Katana and its Mastery before long okina became a demon of a swordsman okina really highlights what I am getting at here that the shedding of blood for some was embraced with a sort of zeal that is almost religious in nature this item description describes okina as ascending to a higher plane as if he is an instrument of a higher force in a way this is true for Through oken's Blood shedding he is indirectly honoring and empowering the C of Bloodshed the formless mother thus it makes sense that he would come to the attention of her greatest servant Moog the Lord of blood and we learn of this meeting via the rivers of blood item description which reads as follows when MOG the Lord of blood first felt oka's sword and Madness upon his flesh he had a proposal to offer okina the life of a demon whose thirst would never go unsated it makes sense that the Lord of blood would raise okina up and harness his press for Bloodshed the more blood that is shed the more his agenda is progressed in having the Cami of blood at the centerpiece of the next order that is all well and good but there is a connection between the blood soaked lands of the land of reeds and the Blood star we hear of this my mysterious Force The Blood star fire The Thorn sorceries the Briars of sin and the Briars of punishment and they both read the following the guilty their eyes gouged out by Thorns lived in Eternal Darkness there they discovered the Blood star these guilty are of course the thorn Sorcerers that accompany the order of the fire monks and according to the item description we just read they were able to command these Thorn sorcerers after they themselves were blinded with thorns and in their Eternal darkness in their blindness were able to commune with this entity known as The Blood star in a way this star is connected in a similar fashion to the way in which primeval Sorcerers commune with the Stars though in a more bloody and visceral way I discussed this in my primeval current lore video but in essence I discussed how the Primeval sorcerers are able to view the abyss of space in which stars are born through connection with the Primeval current this Blood star also seems to exist in a sort of Abyss the abyss of blindness but specifically connected to the blindness that is caused through violent means through eyes being pierced by thorns and this may make us Wonder does this Blood star have a tie to the mother of truth but why does it connect to the land of reeds well the starting Samurai class wields the red thorn shield and these red Thorns can only symbolize one thing the Briars of sin and by extension The Blood star is it a coincidence that both the mother of truth and the Blood star are connected to this bloody region are they the same thing or do they just draw from the same well I leave it to you to decide but one thing that I would suggest is that some Cami appear in different different forms so it could be that this is the mother of Truth in a different form however there's also the idea that there are different cam for the same fundamental elements I.E there are multiple C of Earthly elements so both the formless mother and the Blood star could be seen as connected to blood and that they are simply Cami that share a similar class I highlight the similarities and I leave it to you to decide whether these two are linked or distin L entities a question that people keep asking me in comments or in my community posts or do I think the fail God or the moon or the stars or the Blood star are outer gods and quite frankly my answer had been I am not sure my previous understanding of the outer Gods as Cosmic beings made it fairly unclear what would fall within this definition and what did not however with this new understanding of CI as Spirits or manifestation of natural forces I am more free to give my opinion yes I most likly believe that these forces such as the fail God Andor the moon could be akin to CI manifestations of certain fundamentals the announcement trailer for Elden ring many years ago now stated that the Elden ring commanded the stars and so while we may view them the stars as Cosmic Powers they too are part of the Elden Rings world and so should they too not have a spirit that guides and binds them we learned via the hammer item description that smithing originated amongst the Giants and the vessel for the flame of ruin that the fire Giants guard is of course known as the forge perhaps the fail God is the Cami of metal work industry blacksmith or simply fire not evil just a force that was painted as Evil by America's ruling order because it had posed a threat the fail God versus the earthree order the Sheaffer River versus The Scarlet rot the golden order versus death we have seen these as struggles between great Cosmic beings but I believe we are wrong these conflicts are just political based on the desires and Ambitions of those who oppose their order upon the Mortal plane they are just opposing forces but opposing forces of the same system all the forces behind them all of these outer Gods fairies ancient gods and Spirits are all part of the same system they are Cami of a world commanded and forged by the Elden ring they are the manifestations of the building blocks and elements of this world but this of course leaves one massive elephant in the room the frenzied flame if it too is an outer God of this world then how does it fit [Music] in life is difficult the world can be an unforgiving place and we all experience grief heartbreaking loss but for most of us these moments are booed by the support of our loved ones and the that can be found in the world yet what if these moments of grief could be distilled into a single element the collective grief and suffering of humanity coest into a single form a powerful force that sought to undo the mistake the mistake of life itself these are the powerful philosophical ideas behind those who have succumbed to the flame of frenzy to those who would seek to bring about a lord of chaos and burn away the diversity of life however behind the philosophy and human element to the story there are other Cosmic facets that are a little harder to grasp the story of a force that exists solely to reduce the work of the greater will and burn it down to Ash a force that is born of the collective suffering of this world and has manifested itself not only as a powerful concept but an actual power that threatens to swallow the world so join me this week as we finally tackle the mysteries of the frenzied flame and the three fingers before we begin this video I do wish to acknowledge two very important videos by other creators that have greatly influenced my core ideas on this subject and some of the lore of the frenzied flame these videos are the lore Hunters sairi video and ratas scor's video on the frenzied flame and while I will directly reference these videos at certain points I wanted to make it clear that these videos have influenced me at a foundational level so I think the best place to begin when talking about the frenzied flame is talking about its gestation within the lands between and how it has come to exist in this world and by this I don't mean it summoning at the hands of the great Caravan nor shabir's role in helping spread this Force throughout the land though we will talk about these subjects both shortly rather I mean the conditions that allow this Force to exist in the first place where it comes from and how it is able to be summoned and spread in the first place in my outer Gods lore video I presented what I believe to be a fairly solid analysis of the outer gods and I would recommend that you watch that but I will still go over the foundational ideas for the sake of analyzing the frenzy flame and the three fingers in that video we posited that the outer gods are akin to the concept of Kam and this idea came to my attention thanks to a commenter great Cosmic axelo and then I discussed the subject with saac no's translator merco and they let me know that this is one of the prevailing understandings of the outer gods in the Japanese lore Community the Kam are essentially gods or Spirits which are manifestations or personifications of Concepts that were created as a consequence of the Elden Rings creation and to basically explain this idea in better detail I will quote merco now Kam are more akin to Natural for es part of the nature itself they are water plants trees Sun Moon snow Etc the gods are in my opinion and in the opinion of the greater part of the Japanese Community just that powers energies that flow through the world and that creatures can Channel with prayers and rituals and these God these came are considered outer because they are opposite to the golden order founded by America if you notice most of these outer gods are tied to the concept of death rot is decomposition frenzied flame is chaos and absence of order and the formless mother is blood loss of blood Etc so Kam is a concept in Shintoism where gods are manifestations of natural Concepts and fundamental elements in the world and of life I was also informed by various commenters that this idea isn't exclusive to Shino and is linked to the idea of animism theide a that all natural phenomena have a spirit as Miracle States here the main reason the outer gods are considered outer is because they are external to the current ruling order but importantly they are still linked to Concepts created by the Elden ring and they are not Cosmic beings that are Rivals to the greater will as I once believed myself so returning to the frenzied flame this concept is heavily implied to be an outer God as well via the descriptions of the varying stages of the unalloyed gold melin needle described as an Implement designed to Ward away the influence of the outer gods and its only true use in game is to Ward away the influence of the frenzied flame thus it is suggested that the frenzy flame is an outer God so to understand where the frenzied flame may have come from we need to explain the origins of this world and how we believe these outer Gods fit into this world so once again as we have so many times in in this channel we need to refer to Hay's important dialogue regarding the creation of diversity of life and the separation of the one great and while we listen to this it is important to bear in mind that the author of this speech is the three fingers as she reveals this after we touch her with the fren flame and divines these words from the three fingers themselves so we of course must consider their bias when considering the following words the words of the three fingers as your maiden allow me to Divine them all that there is came from the one great then came fractures and births and souls but the greater will made a mistake torment despair Affliction every sin Every curse everyone born of the mistake and so what was bored Road must be returned melt it all away with the yellow chaos flame until all is one again so in essence haa here tells us that once life was indistinguishable but the actions of the greater will LED it to becoming fractured I have posited in the past that the arrival of the Elden Beast and the Elden ring as described by the Elden Stars incantation was the event that stimulated ated this change as a result of the Elden Ring's influence in many ways the Elden ring is the body that governs the world itself and its order and so to me it makes sense that the Elden Ring's arrival and its power would have led to the one great forming to reflect the influence of the Elden ring I would thus suggest that each facet of the world was also formed out of this one great by the Elden ring elements and fundamentals such as death life disease fire water Etc this too is an opinion shared by some in the Japanese L Community as we learn the following via merco for this interpretation it is implied that they were born the instant the greater well sent the golden star into the lands between with this interpretation it is implied the natural forces are also born with it therefore the gods themselves it is just one of the many speculations of the Japanese Community but I thought it was right to add this information anyway so thanks again to Miro for that information so it therefore follows that if we are suggesting that the frenzied flame is one of these outer Gods one of these manifestations of a worldly element then we must be suggesting that the frenzied flame was also born with the arrival of the Elden ring and the creation of the world as we know it and the separation of the one great I think that in a way this makes sense as the frenzied flame definitely is the embodiment of a number of ideas however it is unique among the outer gods in that it exists almost as a mirror reflection of the greater Well's order and in opposition to it rather than trying to fit into it miro's understanding of the frenzied flame is that it is the concept of chaos or absence of order and while there are philosophical nuances to this which we will discuss moment arily I do think that this is more or less close to the truth of what the frenzied flame is meant to embody what its Ci or outer God is embodying in this world order is essentially structure giving life structure as the greater well did when it fractured the one great giving life form and ordering it from an indistinguishable chaotic mass and so when the one great was shattered and fractured by the greater will all these Concepts and fundamentals of the world exist in Balance where there is death there is life where there is light there is dark and so of course when the greater well created the idea and the concept of order it must have created the concept of disorder by default every concept has an opposite and therefore I do agree with Miracle's interpretation that these can be came into being due to the ordering done by the Elden ring and with it the creation of fundamental laws and Concepts balance in all things even if that means there is a force in opposition to the very force that created it so with order came a shadow a shadow that opposed the most Central and fundamental facet to the Elden Rings domain order itself and with that we can assume that this force would have had the potential to manifest a god a camei much like the other outer Gods hence the outer god of the frenzi FL and as mirle said each of these outer Gods each of these Concepts can have their own followers and worshippers who can help Channel its power we have of course the MN Dynasty and the bloody fingers who serve the outer God of blood and we have the devoted of rot like G who serve the outer God of rot and in this case with the outer god of the fry flame it is no different there are those who worship the outer god of the the frenzied flame so the story of those who would become representatives of this particular ideology is something quite intriguing and somewhat confusing but it is important for us to assess in order to get a stronger understanding of the frenzied flame for me the best place to start when analyzing the adherence of this particular ideology would be with the fingerprint Stone Shield which reads as follows a great Stone Shield with an intricately carved fingerprint design one of the heaviest of all Shields part of the tomb of an ancient god the reader fingers relayed their messages through these imprints said to be the very seeds from which frenzy first spouted this is a really fascinating piece of lore because it firstly tells us that this is the source of the flame of frenzy but that is something we will consider in the next chapter however what I want to discuss in this current chapter is the idea of the god of the frenzied flame and thus it's interesting in this fingerprint Stone Shields description that we get mention of an ancient god that was placed within a tomb now where this tomb is should be a straightforward one for the player to discern as we find the shield itself in the Tomb of the great Caravan directly above the three fingers themselves indeed the tragic Caravan is described to have been in in tuned in the description of the nomad's ashes but what is this tomb and what is the ancient god that was intuned within we learn via the fingerprint Shield that unlike the two fingers who have interpreters like the finger reader Ana the three fingers have no such readers and thus they used fingerprints to convey their messages but the question remains whose message is it their own or are they envoys like the two fingers are well the first suggestion that I have for you is that it is the message of the three fingers themselves a case of aam's Razor if you will given that it is the three fingers that we find in the Tomb and the three fingers are mentioned in the same breath as the ancient god in the fingerprint Shield's description and that it is the three fingers that are considered the God and they do not play the same Envoy role that the two fingers do for the greater will I do also believe that this is back up by the item note the Lord of frenzy flame as it reads the following beneath lale at the bottom lies our lord lord of the Frid the three fingers who hold us in thrall the specific wording here to me at least suggest that the three fingers are revered not just as envoys of the frenzied flame but as a lord or God themselves I believe that the three fingers are the corporeal manifestation of the Ci or outer God of Chaos and that they take the form that they do because of what it stands for it stands for reunification I've never been one to believe that there was once a five finger hand and that it was split after the one great was split because first of all there are multiple two fingers so the math doesn't add up anyway so rather than seeing these three fingers as something that was literally torn off a five-fingered hand instead see them as a manifestation of the god of chaos itself its chosen form meant to symbolically oppose the two fingers representing the other three of a whole five a reflection of its goal to return the world to a single state of matter the way in which these three fingers communicate only serves to further contrast them with their two finger counterparts the two finger heirloom highlights the fact that the two fingers communicate any more graceful and organized manner as it reads the following fingers cannot speak yet these were eloquent persistently did they wle spelling out mysteries in the air thus did we gain the words the words of our faith the two fingers wle and are interpreted by finger readers and from these come words of the faith transcribed into Cipher as shown by the cipher PA a language of light it is all sophisticated organized and orderly and then you have the three fers that crudely transcribe its messages by animalistically gouging its fingerprints into stone such as we see it doing when we first gain an audience with it and basically just a far more crude and inelegant way of transcribing its message as oppos to its two finger counterparts and I think this contrast is useful in showing how the three fingers are meant to symbolize the complet some version of order and reflect their two finger counterparts the lore Hunter also P the question of what the three fingers are in his excellent video on shabiri and he offers a different perspective on this that I could also bind to and so I will offer it now in his video L Hunter highlights how like Ranny chosen candidates or imperion have their own two fingers L Hunter therefore speculates that these three fingers once served a God who ruled and brandished the Elden ring in some previous age that we don't know about but of course that this God died in due course and is the ancient god that is mentioned in the fingerprint Stone Shield That Was Then intuned alongside its old two fingers without any purpose now that their God was dead they were cast aside and left to rot beside their fallen God these two fingers would warp and become envoys for the frenzied flame warped and driven mad by their loss of purpose L Hunter goes further and suggests that there is no outer God at all per se but instead that this is all the actions of the three fingers former Servants of the greater will cast aside and that they are outer god/ Cosmic due to the fact that they are related to the greater will itself and again I highly recommend you check out that video that I will link below whichever of these explanations you choose to believe I do think it is clear that the three fingers are in some way linked to the ancient god that is in tuned here and for whatever reason and in whatever way they are now representatives of the frenzied flame in this Mortal plane and with that said let us assess the tomb itself evidently we must assume that it is very old given that the God buried here is referred to as ancient but is it older than layale itself or was it built alongside it or after it the answer is really impossible to know for sure but I will give my personal take on it as I believe it's quite interesting to consider the the age and purpose of this tomb I believe that it is pretty clear that some of the architecture surrounding the frenzy flame prescription must have been built around the same time as lale the shunning grounds around it and above it for example appear to be some kind of sewer system which must clearly have been built for the city above it I would also argue that the church that actually acts as a seal to the entrance to the frenzi flame prescription I.E the arena in which we fight fake MOG is at most from the early Erry era because it has the same architecture as other catacombs that we find around the world and also like the nearby lale catacombs by the way which is also adjacent to this sewer system the reason that I think these are similar architecture is of course because you can find these skeleton statues within this church that you can find in other catacombs and if they share the same architecture as the catacombs it means it must have been around from at least the Ary era because these catacombs designs are meant to facilitate our tree burial something we learn about via the roots resin item description which reads the roots of the great tree were once linked to those of the earth tree or so they say and it is for that reason catacombs are built around great tree roots so it therefore tracks that these catacombs are an earth tree Era construction meaning that this underground Church Must also be this does make sense as it is directly connected and built into the wall of the giant sstn which makes up the central Hub of the sewer Network however behind the movable altar lies the frenzied flame prescription the Tomb of the three fingers and this could be older than lell and the church in front of it firstly the architecture is different than that of regular catacombs or at least it doesn't have the same Furnishings that would concretely align it with them such as the skeleton statues and given this church on front of it seems to have been built with the express purpose of sealing and hiding the frenzy flame prescription it surely must have come after the original tomb was built the timeline in Elden ring isn't clear and so while this is an ancient god the founding of L andell itself could also be considered an ancient event and so we can't really use that terminology to determine if this tomb was built before Lan Dale however what I would like to say is that I would guess that this tomb was built independently of L Dale but was later sealed by those of the earth tree behind the false altar we find in the shinning grounds we of course know that the royal family must have been responsible for its cealing because of a more got seal knowing that at least he was familiar with what lay in this tomb and B we learned that the great Caravan of the nomadic Merchants was sealed within the tomb via items like the nomadic Merchant Chapo which reads his follows these Merchants once thrived as the great Caravan but after being accused of heretical beliefs their entire Clan was rounded up and buried alive far beneath underground this also suggests that perhaps it was at the time of the great Caravan being buried that this tomb was actually sealed away the way that it was by the time that we it there are no definitive answers here but personally I believe that the tomb was a separate construction and was later sealed by those of lell once its true purpose was discovered I think this idea can also be backed up by the two different terminologies we hear given to this place it is referred to as the tomb of an ancient god in the fingerprint Shield but is later known as the frenzied flame prescription prescription meaning forbidden this to me me suggest two stages in its existence firstly as the tomb for a god of another era and then later a quarantine forbidden area that would have been determined as such by those of the ruling order of Lane Dale however I also admit that its location beneath Lanell itself could very well be used as a counter to the fact that the tomb was built before Lanell as it is very convenient that it is found beneath the capital city in the entire game and therefore it is very Poss possible that the tomb was built after or at the same time as lell to seal away the dangerous frenzied Flame imprisoning the most dangerous threat to the Lanell ruling classes new ruling order whatever the order in which things were built the location of the Tomb is significant and an interesting thing to consider indeed in a cut content line from one of cie's Brothers inpc 802 they mention the fact the tomb is below those Omen even we are able to access these lost dialogues thanks to the Fantastic work of Securo du who has recreated the nomadic quest lines in two excellent videos which I will link below and I highly recommend you check out these videos because he has actually restored the dialogue itself rather than me just reading the text dump of the game and so getting to witness a reconstruction of these lost quest lines is something truly unique and special and I thank SE OD du for all the work he's done in the community in this dialogue I find the emphasis on the frenzied flame existing even below the omen as a pretty symbolic choice on the surface we have lendelle the Pinnacle of what is considered to be holy and right then below the surface we have the omen beings considered external to the refined sophisticated ideals of the golden order and therefore shunned then even below these despised creatures we have the frenzied flame and the the three fingers and indeed the developers specifically chose to have the three fingers right beneath lell rather than in a deep tomb somewhere else as if we are to view these layers these two forces as above and below Like Heaven and Hell and indeed to those her proponents of the golden order or the Earth tree like more goat and others of the ruling royal family would certainly view the frenzied flame as the devil as heresy as it poses the most direct challenge to their rule to their world and speaking of heresy it is now time for us to look at the spread of the frenzied flame itself and how it first spread from the three fingers and took root amongst Humanity this of course brings us back to the item description of the fingerprint shield and again I will just reread it for a refresher a great Stone shield with an intricately carved fingerprint design part of the tomb of an ancient god the reader fingers relayed their message through these imprints said to be the very seeds from which frenzy first sprouted so these imprints the fingerprint messages of the three fingers on stone slabs are the very seeds from which frenzy sprouted suggesting that the very idea message and philosophy behind the frenzi flame came about from these tablets and as we will soon see it appears as though the frenzy flame can be manifested by those who share certain beliefs and emotions the yellow coloring of the frenzied flame itself is not an idle Choice by from software especially given it is directly referred to as the yellow Flame by haetta and indirectly Through The Eyes of yellow plant a plant afflicted by the frenzied flame these repeated mentions to yellow and the asso Association of the frenzy flame with Madness I believe is meant to make us think of the motif of the King in Yellow a fictionally forbidden play which causes Despair and Madness in those who read it and likewise we could see the words of the three fingers and Associated ideas in the same way as the spread of these words is no doubt what led to its power taking root in the land in the first place and the more these ideas spread the more part as they find in the lands between we get another clue as to the spread of the frenzy flame from the howl of shabiri incantation which reads as follows releases a maddening shriek that causes Madness buildup in foes nearby it is said that the sickness of the flame of frenzy began with shabiri the most reviled man in all history so shabiri is an absolutely key and central figure to understanding how the frenzy Flame has managed to find purchase among the Denis of the lands between we can learn more about this enigmatic figure via the shabir's RO Talisman which reads as follows disturbing likeness of a man whose eyes have been gouged out the corners of his mouth are upturned in an almost flirtatious manner it is said that the man named shaburi had his eyes GED out as punishment for the crime of slander and with time the blight of the flame of frenzy came to dwell in the empty sockets so shabir appears to have been a man at some stage though later it does seem that he is far more than that now this man shabiri became reviled after he committed the crime of slander meaning he essentially spread lies about someone or a group of people to cast a shadow on their character yet apparently this lie would come to light and he was punished for it it and that after this he would become the source for the frenzied flame now given that the sickness of the flame of frenzy began with shabiri it presupposes that he was the first ever to suffer from the flame of frenzy something we see that is now fairly widespread in the lands between and indeed it says that the flame of frenzy rested within his empty eye sockets and now the flame of frenzy Burns people's eyes as if to mimic the way in which the frenzy flame settled within shabiri that first time it is a recreation of that first manifestation of the frenzied flame in his lore video on shabui the lore Hunter connects the description of the fingerprint shield and shabir's hell to create a compelling narrative about the gestation of the frenzied flame they posit that it was shabiri who was one of the first to receive the message of the three fingers through the stone tablets described in the fingerprint Shield that these are the seeds of the frenzied flame and thus it makes sense that shabiri the first sufferer of the frenzied flame must have read these stone tablets and become the first servant of the frenzied flame L Hunter goes further to link the slander mentioned in shabir's wo to the great caravan's ultimate fate this is due to some cut dialogue and some quest lines that can be found in the text files and again this is something that has been recreated in its entirety with the audio by Seco duby and I highly recommend you check that video out in a nutshell Cali would try and locate the great Caravan of his people of his ancestors before finding the shocking truth of their ultimate fate deep below the capital at this stage cie would say the following did you see what they did to my my ancestors the whole clan buried alive sick maddened husks of themselves have you heard their moans they're hardly human anymore they think we worship the three fingers that we called the maddening sickness down upon them well if that's what they expect from us then that is what they shall get from us the world of Grace and its people should have been content to see us sink between the cracks this Di is cut content so I would ask you to take it with a pinch of salt however as Lord Hunter says in that video this doesn't really contradict anything else we have in the existing lore and so it could still indicate the correct intended Story the dialogue indicates that the nomadic Caravan was imprisoned because of their perceived Affinity with frenzy and their worship of the three fingers however Call's dialogue seems to indicate that this wasn't actually true that they were falsely accused but have only now turned to it in Despair and to spite those who would oppress them this is possibly backed up by the description of the merchant Chapo which implies they came into contact with the Fred flame because of their imprisonment not before it it reads the following these Merchants once thrived as the great Caravan but after being accused of heretical beliefs their entire Clan was rounded up and buried alive far underground then they chanted a curse of Despair and summoned the flame of frenzy importantly the Chapo states that the reason they were imprisoned in the first place was because of hercal beliefs this does lead us to conclude that what cie says in the cut content is still very much the case that they were accused of being adherence of the three fingers and that is why they are rounded up and buried here the lore Hunter suggests that the slander that shabiri committed was this false accusation against the great Caravan and C's people one can't help consider shabir's smile in the Talisman described as almost flirtatious despite his gouged out eyes almost as if he knew exactly what he was doing and that it would lead to the further spread of the frenzied flame despite it being quite a neat narrative and a compelling one at that it is ultimately just speculation and all we actually know is that shabui had his eyes gouged out the flame of frenzy then came to Nestle Within These empty eyes and he would become patient zero for this new Affliction that would then affect people in the same way I.E having the flame manifest through their eyes shaburi himself is an interesting case because it is clear that he is now more than a man if he ever was at all he is able to possess ura's body and as we will discuss in the following chapter the frenzied flame takes root in those who feel Despair and we witness yours despair at the end of his quest elanora it seems I am no mat for you but I've learned a thing or two myself you see I've sliced the finger off please please elanora yield to the CES no longer do not stain the immaculacy of your sword your flesh you're fire and thus it is likely that in this moment of Despair that chiri is allowed or able to enter ura's body acting as an Envoy for the frenzied flame to try and convince the tarnish to create up the mantle of the Lord of chaos shabiri is a vessel for chaos a manifestation of it which explains his ability to possess people and in his own words if we try to kill him he says the following sh is chaos incarnate shaburi is no more than flesh and Bone they are a concept A manifestation of chaos and thus cannot die in the traditional sense the choice of shabir's name may also hint at what they are shabui is a demon in Jewish mythology the demon of blindness who spreads blindness to the unsuspecting who drink from the water that they inhabit so to me shabiri is a demon of chaos chaos incarnate in a manifestation of its will and a tool to spread the influence of the frenzied flame much as the traditional shabes spreads blindness I would posit that perhaps shabui was never actually a man and even when he was the most reviled man in history he was always just a demon in the guise of a man I've always found it rather unsettling that shabiri is smiling despite having his eyes GED out extremely demonic Behavior if you ask me regardless of if he was once human or not he is clearly demonic now and the source for the frenzy flame that is spread throughout Humanity but what is the relevance of eyes what is the sickness of the frenzied flame and why do people align themselves with this nihilistic power let us now attempt to answer these questions as we assess the frenzied flame itself when the frenzi flame first took root within shabui it settled within their eyes and thus it makes sense that when this sickness would spread it would spread and manifest the same way it did impatient Zero by manifesting in the eyes of those who host it eyes are the very center of this spread and very symbolic for the ideas behind the frenzied flame and indeed it seems as though Through the flames in time the eyes of the bearer are melted to make them closer to shabiri without his eyes oh it burns my my eyes my eyes they're melting indeed the shabui grapes are themselves eyes Afflicted and melted by the frenzied flame and should we choose to inherit the frenzied flame our eyes will take on a similar appearance so whilst practically the spread through eyes mimic the Affliction of shabui it's quite obvious that from software have chosen the eyes as a focus point for this exact philosophy For a symbolic reason but what is that well early on in Elder Ring's release history a really powerful piece of art circulated on Twitter that you might remember and it was this one and this is the painting Agony by the artist m Johnston and while many believe that this was a piece inspired by Elden ring it actually predates it by a number of years with Agony first being displayed on his Instagram as far back as 2018 and this to me is extremely fascinating given how closely it looks to the symptoms of the frenzy flame leading me to believe was this actually the source of inspiration for the manifestation of the frenzy flame itself though as shown by zorm in one of his Discovery videos this same gesture and idea is also displayed on a magic the Gathering card mind Blaze and given that zorm also points out that a number of Magic the Gathering cards have inspired different Elden ring motifs it is possible that one of these inspired Elden ring or perhaps all these different pieces of art Agony Magic the Gathering and Elden ring are all developed individually but what is important either way is that it shows that this gesture is a powerful choice to display turmoil and despair internally even if it wasn't the basis for it the reasoning and themes that inspired it will 100% help us to understand the nature of the frenzi flame and its symbolic connotations because evidently they are both trying to convey the same thing a single gesture that is to make the viewer feel a certain emotion pain and despair in an Instagram post miles describes the inspiration for this piece and I quote him now I had just been looking at the painting the first morning and something about Eve with two hands pressed against her face felt so profoundly powerful and sad like the artist has condensed all of Humanity's Collective grief into one gesture I wanted to play around with some similar body language that felt inherently evocative and build from there so the artist makes it clear that while inspired by another piece of art he wanted to convey all of Humanity's grief and pain in a singular evocative emotion likewise I believe the similar positioning of those who are suffering from the frenzied flame with their hands on their head is meant to convey something similar that we look at these characters and instantly realize that they are going through some kind of suffering or some kind of pain even before you fully understand the full lore of Elden ring it is really clear what this gesture is trying to convey pain grief sadness indeed even haetta takes on the exact same gesture after her eyes have been melted by the chaos flame as does shaburi when he takes over ura's flesh so this this is a key component of the philosophy behind the frenzied flame and this does become more clear as you progress the game those who fall victim to this sickness are those who have suffered and those who have had enough of the pain that life can bring Edgar overcome by grief and revenge the great Caravan brutalized and treated unjustly Ura lost in his grief over Eleanor's fate and then many nameless Souls who wished they simply had never been born all of them are touched by the frenzied flame rat tasor has done an excellent video that discusses the philosophy behind the frenzied flame called what is the frenzied flame in this they focus on the feelings and emotions behind the frenzied flame seeing it as a proxy for human emotions thoughts and principles concluding that those adhere to this philosophy believe that life is simply not worth living because life is suffering in a way of illustrating the depth and power of this idea rasor then goes on to read a chapter from brothers kazimov and I highly recommend you check out that video in full as it is an extremely emotive and interesting take on the frenzied flame and indeed I do agree with this as in game it does seem that those who suffer from the frenzy flame also wish that life had never happened that there is too much suffering involved when you are granted life those who gave me Grace how without words saying they wish they were never born they come their Lord take their torment despair their Affliction every sin Every curse and melt it all away as the Lord of chaos no more fractures no more birth despair is the unifying emotion despair what these people have suffered during the course of their life indeed the great Caravan summoned the frenzied Flame by chanting a song of Despair an outlet for the injustices they had suffered this is also why the eye of yellow a plant associated with the frenzied flame is a pain reliever the entire philosophy behind this force is to end pain and suffering pain caused by life itself and so this returns me to the original question of this chapter what is the sign ific of eyes well I do think it goes back to that original image by Miles Johnson in our innate understanding and recognition of Despair where he correctly identified that the gesture is one that portrays grief the covering up of one's eyes firstly because we cry through our eyes and secondly everything we witness especially the bad we witness through our eyes and it is a common Trope in tragedy that bad events make characters want to tear out their own eyes lest they see the suffering anymore there's of course the classic example of erus Rex a tragedy written by Sophocles in which the titular character erus unknowingly murders his own father and marries his own mother when the truth is revealed to him he gouges out his own eyes in despair despair is the core tenant behind those who are adherents of the frenzied flame and thus for me their eyes being melted in despair is thematically apt which is why eyes end up being thematically important for the frenzied flame even the plants born of the frenzied flame touch like the eyes of yellow take the form of eyes given the importance of sight then what is the relevance of Hay's weak sight given all we have said about sight thus far in this chapter it must be clear that there has to be some relevance to Hay's weak sight and that has to be Central as to why Arena was chosen as a vessel for this haa is it perhaps because she's not able to see the tragedy of the world and thus is a purer state of being according to the frenzied after all Irena is spared the sights of the horrific and bloody MN Massacre and haa is spared the truth of what she must ingest human eyes or perhaps a lack of sight is needed so that the potential Maiden can see the distant light in their head rather than being distracted by the Caporal world all speculation but her lack of sight is clearly an important aspect to her becoming a three finger Maiden with the symbolism aside let us look at the spread of the frenzy itself it seems that it can be spread in two different ways one the passing from one life form to another like irregular sickness or two manifesting in those who experience great despair is of course referred to as a sickness via the how of shabir item description the frenzied Village in Leia also seems to be an infection Vector for this Force as well what are the chances that everyone in this same Village had the same beliefs that manifested it including the soldiers that seem to be stationed here rather it seems more likely that it has infected the whole village and one of the note key items seems to back up this idea as it implies that we may also catch it should we go there the frenzied flame Village note reads as follows south of the grand LIF of deus lies the frenzied flame Village inhabited by the Sick stay well away again it refers to it as a sickness and asking us to stay away suggesting it can spread like a traditional disease and indeed it can spread like one as we can suffer from The Madness of frenzy if we are accosted by The Afflicted and when the incantation of chaos are Unleashed upon us the very fact that rats can be tainted by the frenzied flame should also indicate that it does spread like a traditional disease as it is doubtful that rats would manifest the flame through emotion rather they most likely get it through eating the corpses of the dead of those who once held the sickness and we do know that the deceased who held the frenzied flame in life are still infected with it as the yellow Ember item description reads as follows a sign that the deceased suffered from the flame of frenzy this grape has ripened and burst so it has spread like a normal disease and as usual rats are a vector or carrier of disease but in this case they carry the disease of the frenzied flame and can spread it to others should they attack them it even seems like this sickness can spread to other parts of nature too manifesting in a perversion of vegetation that could serve to further spread it should it be eaten by Wildlife or humans and I of course refer to the eyes of yellow which read as follows growing in lands afflicted by frenzy it is used for its pain relieving properties though it is also known to be a dangerous intoxicant the fact that this is in lands afflicted by the frenzied flame shows that it spreads not just through the mind and through humans but as if it is a regular plague however as I mentioned the fren Flame can also be manifested as we have already seen with shabiri who is basically patient zero and it also seems as though in the case of the great Caravan it was manifested through their grief rather than it being caught by them like a disease and again I read the description of their Chapo these Merchants once thrived as the great Caravan but after being accused of heretical beliefs their entire Clan was rounded up and buried alive far underground then then they chanted a curse of Despair and summoned the frenzied flame so the great Caravan were not sick nor infected but through the suffering they endured and the despair they felt at their unjust treatment the flame was summoned manifested Edgar is also one who appears to have fallen victim to the frenzied flame through his emotions we can loot AER Brey grape from his corpse when we defeat him in his Revenger form suggesting that in his grief and despair he fell to its power and it manifested in his eyes which is why we can take them as a shabery grape so in short the flame can be summoned but can also be spread like an illness making it very potent indeed especially when a group Channel its power together as we can see in the case of the frenzy Tower a watch tower in Northern Leia that seems to have been taken over by villagers from the nearby frenzied Village and together they seem to be manifesting a huge concentration of the frenzied Flames power afflicting all the wildlife around it which is why there is rats and eyes of yellow nearby the collective power of the frenzied flame also seems to be reflected in the donation of shabiri grapes for haetta for she believes that it is the collective sight of the eyes that she has devoured that will eventually lead her to the three fingers or the distant light is that you over there I've gleaned something very important indeed thanks to you the reason why it was eyes I had to eat the distant light is far and frail so faint it can't be seen by the naked eye but with everyone's eyes together it appears finally it all makes sense I'm certain now I will be a finger Maiden the outer God of chaos may not be the outer God of Despair but it makes makes sense that its power makes purchase Within These people the yellow flame offers a release from life itself a kathartic Vindication of their suffering as order the order that caused them suffering is burnt to the ground so now that we have looked at the philosophy of the frenzied flame and why people might follow it it is time to look at their end goal of their maiden and the Lord of chaos burn the bird tree to the ground and incinerate all that divides and distinguishers ah May chaos take the world may chaos take the world haetta is the second figure within the chaos Pantheon that appears to take the form of someone who we know to be deceased haetta is not available at all until arena is dead she has the same voice actor the same model and even the same bloody dress and both describe themselves as being born with weak eyesight given what happens with Ura and chirri it isn't hard to imagine that haetta is an instrument of the three fingers a reincarnated version of Arena though someone less directly connected to the frenzy flame as shabi as haa doesn't evidently know what shabiri grapes are until we tell her yet I do see Arena as a purpose made instrument of the three fingers as she appears to know that she is meant to be a maen of the three fingers as if this reincarnated or new version of Arena has been reincarnated with a sole purpose in her mind the sole purpose of becoming a maiden to the three fingers and it does raise the question of how the three fingers are able to do this in two different cases or at least why it chooses to do this this it's almost as if because the three fingers do not recognize individuality and they see all as one anyway they are able to shuffle Souls into different bodies as if they already see them as different appendages to the one hole anyway haa is also interesting because she illustrates some of the core beliefs of the adherence of the frenzied flame because the ghosts that want to give their eyes to her appear to know that they need to provide her with shabiri grapes with their eyes to advance the objectives of the frenzied flame you're not like the others who give me grapes are you they rest their trembling hands upon me howling wordlessly they gently stroke my eyes their frail fingers emaciated yet still they give me the grapes but you seem somehow firmer you are most kind indeed May the blessing of the fingers be upon you and indeed these adherence also know about their promised Lord of frenzied flame as we see this Lord of chaos referenced by frenzied ghosts as well for a philosophy so set against order it surprisingly mirrors the structure and Order of the two fingers candidacy a Lord and a maiden and indeed this is a hypocrisy a lie noticed by melan and stated to us in her argument for keeping life going and against siding with the three fingers I ask you one more time please seek not the frenzied flame as one who strives to become a lord deny not the lives the new births of this world those who would are not fit to be called lord when the land they preside over is lifeless one Lord almost Rose in times past to claim the mantle of the Lord of chaos vik once one of the greatest champions of the round table and the closest to becoming Elden Lord we learn of vik's sudden change of heart via his fingerprint set which reads as follows no other tarnish was closer to the throne of Elden Lord than vik but without announcement vik traveled far below the capital and was scorched by the flame of frenzy did he make his sudden choice for his Ma or did some other Force lure him with suggestion F made a decision and chose the frenzied flame his armor suggests that he did this for his maiden or was he convinced by some other Force given the speech that shabiri gives us a speech that leans heavily into our relationship with melan to pull out our heartstrings to become the Lord of chaos it does seem likely that vik had a change of heart due to his own relationship with his Maiden and not wanting to sacrifice her to the flames you were about to sacrifice something precious the life of a fair Maiden that you would toss into the fiery Forge only so that you may be Lord what a horrible thing to ponder your ascendancy requires her sacrifice whether she wishes it or not but how would the Lord Crown so be looked upon indeed his ties to his menen are hinted at more strongly via his invasion location in Leia above the Fred Village and outside the Church of inhibition V will attack Us in this church is the corpse of a finger maiden and while nothing else is said on the matter it is almost as if vik's Phantom form is still protecting his Maiden Still suggesting he was concerned with keeping her safe and thus could very well be his motivation for choosing the path of frenzy yet for whatever reason it does seem as though vik failed to become the Lord of chaos a fat lamented by a frenzied ghost in the frenzied flame Village most likely vik failed because he was imprisoned as we can find him in an Ever jail in the mountaintops of the Giants as if he was on the way to the forge to unleash its power as we later do on our path to unleashing the frenzied flame if we choose the path of the Lord of chaos if you'd like a more dedicated video on vik himself I would highly recommend V limit's video on the subject and in this video vmit makes a compelling case for what happened to vik he references the incantation frenzy burst which reads as follows in times past every single person who attempted to control the flame of frenzy succumbed to its Madness after a desperate internal struggle this incantation is Testament to a meager Victory VM it suggests that vik was no exception and he was one to succumb to its power before achieving his goal leading to the death of his maiden and the spreading of frenzy to the nearby Village before finally being imprisoned and indeed this does seem likely given that the frenzi burst is actually an incantation used by vik and his fight with us suggesting that he is one of the people who tried to master the frenzied flame But ultimately succumbed yet we can take up the mantle and inherit the frenzy flame and go further than VI if we take con sh's advice and we use our own body as kindling to the flame of Ruin and this moment really is a testament to the power of the flame of frenzy within us as Melina does seem to be burned away completely in the process when she acts as kindling and yet we survive and harness this power as if the power of the frenzied flame within us is enough to sustain us through the process while those on the path to Elden Lord will merely burn the Earth trees super officially and essentially restore it with the repairing of the Elden ring however the Lord of chaos is a different matter they use the flame of Ruin to burn the Earth tree to gain access to its heart and at that point the Lord of chaos will unleash the frenzied flame within him to burn the Earth tree right to the ground and the world to follow behind it with the fall of the Elden Beast and the Elden ring left unrepaired there is no longer any order to hold back the chaos and that is why that at this moment the chaos flame can erupt from the player and burn the Earth tree to the ground and the world following it haetta herself is the best source for what happens here thank thank you I have touched them the words of the three fingers as your maiden allow me to Divine them or that there is came from the one great then came fractures and births and souls but the greater will made a mistake torment despair Affliction every sin Every curse everyone born of the mistake and so what was borrowed must be returned melt it all away with the chaos flame until all is one again but not only through her words but also actual her own Caporal fate for by touching her with the flame she too becomes a vessel for the frenzied flame I'll be it briefly and at that point she's able to connect with the three fingers and translate their words and give our purpose to us but unlike us she is not able or meant to contain the power for long and so succumbs to its power as all will for when we return she is gone melted away and only the flame Remains the three fingers in the power of the frenzied flame is the manifestation of chaos and disorder in the universe its aim is to melt away the ordered separation of individual life so that life is more chaotic and unformed it is the nihilistic endgame that appeals to those who despair to those who have suffered and to those who think that life itself is a mistake for without it without life and the choices that come with it they would not have experienced the pain or the things that they have seen starting with their eyes the yellow flame will melt away the very notion of pain for Without Eyes you cannot witness pain without life there is no pain at all there is in fact nothing the fact there is pain and hardship is something even its opponents do not deny but perhaps those on the side of life merely see things differently for without order there is no disorder and without pain there is no Beauty no love or no life if you intend to claim the frenzied flame I ask that you cease it is not to be meddled with it is chaos devouring life and thought unending however ruined this world has become however mired in torment and despair life endures births continue There is Beauty in that is there not if you would become Lord do not deny this notion please leave the frenzied flame alone and indeed are you really a lord at all when you are the Lord of chaos when you rule over nothing at all the age of the Earth tree has not always been and nor did it come about without conflict its Reign was established through Bloodshed and battle with the iron fist of Godfrey lord of the battlefield Queen Mara swept away all who could oppose her new order it was the defeat of the fire Giants that marked the beginning of the age of the Earth tree proper their flame of Ruin and Fa God believed to be the last true threat to the Earth tree and its Dominion for the fire Giants were in communion with the oneeyed god of fire and their closely guarded flame of Rune had the power to destroy the Earth tree a threat that simply could not be tolerated yet after reputedly slaying the fail God itself Mara realized this flame could not simply be extinguished and it was doomed forever to smolder a sleeping dragon on the doorstep of lell itself so Amica did the only thing that she could she sealed the mountain and a new order was established to safeguard its power an order of monks and the guilty would devote themselves to its containment and safekeeping yet in time these monks meant to safeguard the threat it posed would also venerate its power the monks would be forced to walk a line between worship and guardianship and thus it shaped a unique culture in of itself the fear of this flame would never die thanks to a frightening prophecy that saw the flame reignited once more destroying the holy Earth tree a prophecy that we know to have more than a grain of Truth so join me this week as we look at the fire Giants their inheritors and the Legacy they left behind now a lot of what we know about the Giants history prior to the war with the UR Trey comes and dribs and drabs and so it is up to us to pull it all together into the semblance of some kind of timeline we know that the Giants have long lived on the mountain tops and it appears that long ago a tribe of astrologers once coexisted with them there we learn this from The Sword of Knight and Flame which reads as follows astrologers who preceded the sorcerers established themselves in the mountaintops that nearly touched the sky and considered the fire Giants their neighbors so evidently this is a long time past as we are here talking of astrologers who preceded even the Sorcerers of R lucaria and the caran royal family the practice of astrology Would One Day lead to the development of sorcery a fact confirmed by the preceptor robe which describes these Sorcerers as descendants of these astrologers we will also look at the history of smithing as another bit of carbon dating if you will to show how early this society and the fire giant Society was so in this time before the academy these astrologers clearly established themselves at the highest peaks of the lands between to be as close to the sky as possible and this makes sense given that more primitive astrologers would most certainly choose to be as close to the stars as possible the more interesting aspect of this however is that the fire Giants lived in peace with these star studying humans showing they weren't automatically hostile to the rest of civilization it is their relationship to the fire god that determines their allegiance and animosity the greatest examples of this of course being the zore and the earthree peoples even in this period of night and Flame they are still referred to as fire Giants meaning the fire god and the fire Giants had no issue with these studiers of the Stars thus allowing the flame and Knight to live in peace and this is interesting because while we see the Giants as a destructive violent Force they are living peacefully with a human community and it is all based on the fact that the Knight and the flame do not Clash I believe that one of their earlier conflicts is a good way of showing where the community of the fire Giants sits in the greater timeline of Elden ring I'm of course referring to the conflict they waged against the ice dragons an event we learn about from the Borealis mist which reads as follows the ice dragons were once Lords of the mountain tops long ago until they were defeated by the fire Giants and chased from the peak so the ice dragons must have been an offshoot of Dragon Kin to Borealis himself and they once ruled these mountaintops before the Giants even ruled it this is a useful piece of lore for placing the establishment of fire giant Society because Borealis and presumably the rest of the ice dragons are a type of dragon known as the modern dragons we learn this from the lightning straight incantation which reads the following one of the incantations of the capital's Ancient Dragon Cult ancestors of the modern dragons the ancient dragons had scales of gravel Stone and wielded lightning as their weapon it is said that they once attacked lell the Royal Capital so the these ancient dragons are the ones that we see like forto saacs with four wings four legs and stone scales with Borealis and the legs of agil forming the modern dragons the ones with two legs and more classical scaly skin given the dragons that the fire Giants defeated and chased off the mountain these ice dragons were modern dragons quote unquote we can assume that this place is the time of the Giants a fair bit bit after the reign of the ancient dragon but of course before the age of America so it fits neatly in between those we can determine that it was after they had claimed the mountain proper that they would then build a sort of society here as we see evidence of this community we see evidence of their craftsmanship in the form of the forge itself a focal point of their civilization while to us in the modern era it is merely a vessel for the destructive Flame of Rune the term Forge implies that it was used for metal work and smithing we can learn that it was the Giants who actually pioneered and invented the practice of smithing in this world something we learn about from the hammer item description which reads his follows originally a blacksmith's Tool The Art of smithing is said to have originated amongst the Giants given how basic a skill smithing is to any society in history we again realize that this civilization of giants really is an early one that developed such fundamental practices and Sciences indeed the trolls Hammer very much suggests that this was a Cornerstone of their society for it reads the following trolls are descended from the Giants and these were supposedly once used as ceremonial smithing tools in the distant past smithing was considered Divine given that the fire used in the Forge is the fire of their very God and this would have been used in the process of smithing it is no surprise that this practice would have been considered Divine we can assume that the giant Smiths would have forged their jewelry the likes of the metal cooking Bowl wielded by the fire Giant and the giant chains that connect the mountain tops and the forge together the forge itself seems to be built upon the same architecture of the kind we find scattered around the mountain tops of the Giants and therefore speculatively we can argue that the Giants were Builders as well so there is a fundamental Community here yet their God was not one of creation but one of Destruction and as mentioned it is implied the Giants are the enemies of those who are in anathema to their flame enemies such as the dragons of ice and the Earth tree make sense yet it is also reinforced by another early conflict with an ancient foe the people of zamore we can see from the ruins of zamore the collection of structures on the lower slopes of the mountain tops of the Giants that these people also inhabited this region the zore are a people who seemingly worship the winter as described by the zore curved sword which reads in apparent Devotion to Winter the curved blade is styled after an icy wind and imbued with a powerful Frost effect yet their armor set makes it clear that these Warrior people have been battling the Giants even before the war with the AR Tre for the armor set reads these long lived Warriors clad and biting freezing winds are said to have been the mortal enemies of the fire Giants since time emorial the zor's association with ice is already been made quite clear and the fact they are mortal enemies implies that these two were always meant to go to war together indeed zore ice storm sorcery even goes as far to suggest that the zore are cloaked with ice and it therefore makes sense that these two tribes would battle for dominance one is one with the flame and one is one with the ice the term emorial makes it clean to me at least that the zore have been battling the fire Giants since well before the ER Tre conflict and that they just became allies of convenience with the ER Tre at a later stage yet have always been fighting them from their Inception of their communities so let's return to the fire Giants now and what makes them fire Giants have they always been fire Giants and associated with the fail flame were they born this way and what makes them so powerful to answer the core of the fire Giants very beings we must first assess their relationship with their fail oneeyed God we have it suggested to us that the Giants are the way that they are due to a curse binding them to their Duty as custodians of the flame of Ru and thus to the fail God the incantation burn o flame reads as follows the fire Giants borrowed from the power of a fail God and still they were defeated yet their failure released them from their solitary curse to serve as keepers of the flame for eternity whether or not the Giants at one point voluntarily entered into this contractual obligation or whether they were always cursed as a society and species the result is ultimately the same they are Servants of the flame forever they are inexorably linked to the flame and the fail God behind it they must watch over it until the end of time this endless duty is of course illustrated by the fate of the final fire giant who despite being the last of his kind and beaten in a ferocious War still tends to the flame to this day while the fail God has many manifestations of his power through the Spells and incantations the ruinous flame of the forge seems to beam his most potent and important manifestation given the entire purpose of his fire giant race is to safeguard and tend to this very flame we can see that it must be the strongest aspect of the fail God on this Earth and even as the age of the Earth tree has progressed the smoldering power of the flame of run remains and it is is a testament to this God's power given it is the only thing in the Mortal realm that we are aware of that poses a direct threat to the AR tree itself another fairly horrifying result of this curse is that the fire Giants literally have the fail God imprinted upon their physiology and I of course refer to the oneeyed face upon their abdomens this fail God is inexorably linked to each of the Giants it is part of them and this is something we learn from the flame of the fil God incantation which reads the following aranth the chief guardian of the flame had kept this incantation a well-kept secret until it was stolen by Adan the fail God still lurks within the fire Giants so the fail God lies and exists within every fire giant suggesting it as this very connection that makes them what they are the power of these Giants suffused with the power of their fail God is massive and is expanded upon by the roar Talisman which reads the following in ancient times the Giants were mortal enemies of the AR Trey their bellowing Roars desolated nature triggered avalanches and whipped up storms of fire so first of all the power of their Roar is all destructive destroying nature triggering avalanches and whipping up storms and as we will look at in a moment the God and his fire Giants are forces of Destruction which is why he is often referred to as evil these Giants could whip up storms of flame and in our battle with one we can see how true this claim is when the fail God awakens Inside the Fire Giant when he offers his leg as a sacrifice the fire giant is capable of unleashing the fail God's fire upon his enemy wreaking unfathomable destruction on the battlefield and the environment around him to me it is clear that the stomach face is an aspect of the fail God made manifest showing that the fail God literally exists within each and every fire giant they are part of him every single one when it does awaken as it does in the fire Giants fight with us the God is actively present marked by the opening of his eye incidentally I would hypothesize that this is why the trolls have a gaping hole in their stomach regions as they would avow their loyalty to the fail God but we'll discuss the trolls more in a moment we know that this oneeyed face is the face of their fael God as we see his Vis represented in many sources we see it on the oneeyed shield the giant seal and the armor of the fire monks looking at the description of the oneeyed shield we can learn more of this enigmatic deity it reads the following trick some shield made from white stone depicting a malformed oneeyed god once worshiped by the Giants this evil deity is believed to have been slain by Queen Mar so it is possible that this is again the example of an unreliable narrator I.E we are meant to believe that this God is evil as if it is written by a member of the earth tree faithful however as I've mentioned already by looking at the roar Talisman I believe that this God is a God of destruction and chaos and I think by looking at some real world mythologies that have clearly inspired the fire Giants and their fail God we can see that there is truth to this implication I.E that this is an evil being of pure destruction there are a number of beings in real world mythologies who have one eye and are also depicted as evil for example there's Balor lord of the florians of Irish mythology and there's of course the Cyclops of Greek mythology and the O hako of canaban Mythology I think it is clear that the fail God and His Giants draw heavily from these Traditions Bor the Cyclops and the OHA canu are all evil beings of great size and power but I specifically think that the story of the fail God to have been inspired by a combination of Bor lord of the fans and the Ohan canu the Ohan canu were giant cyclopian beings who were the embodiment of Cruelty and brutality and their appearance is remarkably like that of a fire giant R bed and massive and they even sported one eye Bor the leader of the hulking florians was said to have had a single eye that when opened would cause Untold destruction highly reminiscent of the eye opening scene in our battle with the fire giant not only is this interesting in understanding the lightly myths that from software Drew inspiration from but it also lends Credence to the idea that these beings and their God really are ones of pure destruction and therefore inherently evil and I do think it gives us a greater understanding of what this fail God stands for and why he is referred to as the fail God and an evil God the fail Gods Fage would become symbolic of the fire Monk's Devotion to his flame of Ru as well and we can see it ornamenting their chest piece the description of it can tell us more about the God as it reads the grotesque face sculpted on the chest is said to depict the ancient corrupt god of the flame taboos transform into lasting Obsessions By virtue of the fear that they Inspire again we have a negative turn corrupt being used to describe this oneeyed being as it was a being solely possessed of evil intent indeed the only actions we see in game from this Society are ones of Destruction and brutality for example there's the fact that the fire Giant WE battle is only able to awaken his God by offering him a sacrifice in this case his leg and it is therefore implied that this was a God that demanded sacrifice aside from his destructive Powers his flame of Ruin and his evil intent we don't know much so let us surmise this God a oneeyed being was a mighty God of Fire his chosen vessels were the fire Giants who he existed within and also charged with keeping his ruinous Flames forever despite existing in this esoteric fashion he may well also have had a physical form as we see from The onee Shield it is implied that Mara slew a physical form of this oneeyed God but even if that is true the fail God still lurks within his fire Giants and the ruinous flame yet despite the fire Giant's destructive power their reign would come to an end a new age was Dawning and its Origins would be bloody indeed a star broke the atmosphere over the lands between a golden star that would plummet towards the Earth this golden star would be bearing the Elden Beast an event we learn about from the Elden Stars incantation this incredible Cosmic event would be the foundation for the world as we know it today as it would bring the Elden ring and the Earth tree to the lands between the Elden Beast as we learn from its remembrance is a vassel of the greater well and a living embodiment of order this Beast would become the Elden ring itself and thus it would be the source of order that would control the forces of this world following this event the UR tree would grow a towering and Powerful symbol of the Elden Ring's power yet the Earth tree's Dominion was far from automatic or guaranteed and we know that those loyal to it had an upheld battle ahead of them this is something that we learn from the protection of the earth tree incantation which reads the following in the beginning everything was in opposition to the Earth tree but through countless victories in war it became the embodiment of order so despite the ER tre's overwhelming dominance in our current age its early years would be marked by Massive Resistance from all Corners these enemies would of course include the Giants later the carens and presumably the storm Lord so given so much resistance it would make sense that the greater will would need a vassel a God to enforce the Earth trees well and dominance over the lands between Mara a member of the Numan race Who Came From Another World to the lands between was chosen as imperion to one day take the mantle of God and we learn that she was an imperion from malak's remembrance which reads malakith was a shadowbound beast given to his Imperium so with Mara at the helm The urry Crusade was poised to begin yet America would not wage this war alone she would take her first consort who would go on to become the first Elden Lord horal Lou AKA Godfrey lord of the battlefield a full history of Godfrey is a video and of itself but his lore is of course intertwined with the wars with the Giants and so we will explore him from this perspective prior to becoming Godfrey hu was essentially just a badass Warrior Chieftain who possessed immense blood lust and power No Doubt Amica chose Godfrey for the express purpose of harnessing his martial press to destroy the enemies of the ER tree he was the first Elden Lord because this era demanded a combative Lord the early Wars of the Erry are of course dominated by Godfrey and his Warriors and this is something we learn from his armor set which reads as follows the age of the earthree began amongst conflict when Godfrey was Lord of the battlefield he led the war against the Giants faced the storm Lord alone and then there came a moment when his last worthy enemy fell so quite clearly it is put in black and white here the age of the Earth tree was purchased through a period of immense Bloodshed these efforts would be spearheaded by the lord of the battlefield himself and it would be he who would lead the war against the Giants it is made clear to us that the Giants were instant and mortal enemies of the arery and more importantly posed a huge threat to its Reign and we learn this of course from the Royal Medallion which mentions the fact they are mortal enemies meaning that they were just enemies by the sake that they are on opposing sides of the forces of the world indeed we know the Giant's defeat was what established the reign of the earth tree proper and of course it makes sense that the forces of the earth tree would seek to make war on the fire Giant as the Guardians of the flame of Ruin as we learn from various sources and our own in-game experience that the flame of Ruin poses a direct threat to the AR tree and one of the better sources of this Serge o flame reads the following the Giant's flame is the flame of Ruin capable of burning the Earth tree and so following the war against the Giants its ruinous Blaze was sealed and Guardians were appointed to watch over it what I find interesting is there does seem to be a prophecy that predicts that one day the Earth tree would burn and we learn of said Prophecy from the incantation called sin's deadly flame which reads the following incantation originating from a deeply ominous prophecy the prophet despaired looking up at the a tree for soon the kindling would burst into flame bringing ruin the burning of the earth tree is the first cardinal sin that is not the domain of M men so it was sensed by perceptive individuals that the flame of Ruin would have something to do with the Earth tre's eventual destruction the ACT would become the first and therefore most reviled cardinal sin of the earth tree faithful now admittedly this exact rendition in this item description of the prophecy May well be an example of a rendition of the prophecy in our time or closer to our time rather than one that was seen at the time of these wars because it says soon the kindling will burst into flame in reference to melanous sacrifice but I do think it's clear that this prophecy has existed since the early days of the UR Trey I think it is reinforced by the fact that this is the first cardinal sin it was the first concern the first sin to be established in the history of the earth tre's Rule and of course it would give a reason for wanting to destroy the flame of run in we get further evidence that this prophecy is repeatedly witnessed by those in the faith and we learn this from the description of the catch flame incantation which reads the following incantation originating from a Sinister prophecy the flame of run is anatema to the Earth Trey but prophets sometimes Glimpse it within the faith all the same sadly when this occurs their sole reward is banishment so this is is a prophecy that will be seen and presented by many different prophets throughout time and by the way if you choose the prophet starting class it is heavily implied that you are one of these people who forsaw the burning of the urgery for if we look at the prophet blindfold it reads blindfold of exiled prophets who foretold Misfortune were persecuted and driven from their homes as a result so this really neatly ties up with the prophets mentioned in catch flame which incidentally is an incantation that the prophet starts with so again it shows that these are people who have seen the prophecy of the flame and have been banished for it what this prophecy shows is that the event of burning the UR Trey was destined to happen and it was so deeply written into this timeline that it is seen by multiple people and the Ury faith not wanting to accept the truth or spread panic within the Ury faithful simply have these prophets banished so I do think that it is possible that even at this time the people amongst the Earth treath faithful had heard or seen this prophecy but that's just speculation the results the same whether by prophecy direct instruction from the greater well or by a logical conclusion the burgeoning ranks of the Ury faithful would see the flame of Ru as a threat and they would turn their ey towards the fire Giants led by Mara and Godfrey themselves in marica's own words hark brave warriors hark my Lord Godfrey we commend your Deeds guidance hath delivered ye through each ordeal to the place ye stand put the Giants to the sword and confine the flame at top the mount let a new Epoch begin an Epoch glistening with life bre brandish the Elden ring for the age of the ER tree and so the Epic War of Legend would begin the war that decided the fate of the a tree and the lands between the fire Giants are Mighty far more Mighty to a man than those who would assault their Mountain besides Marica and Godfrey of course yet despite their apparent power the forces of the arery would be far more prepared and far more cutting and their approach to this conflict first of all the Warriors of the earth tree were equipped properly to face the threat of the Giants something we first of all learned from the smithing Stone 7 which reads the following Stone used to Smith a variety of armaments found in a polar region thought to have been used to hone the weapons of the champions of the war against the Giants at the birth of the ER tree so the weapons were specifically honed with stones found in cold polar regions to counteract the power of the fire Giants in addition the Warriors of this age were incredible large hammers clearly to smash the bones of these massive foes and we learned this from the giant Crusher Hammer which reads the following a hammer made from Boulder used in the war against the Giants after the Giants were quailed and man turned against man in violence this weapon was all but forgotten man was feeble in comparison to his four bears and so it is also implied in this little bit of flavor text that human warriors were also more powerful and strong at this time of the birth of the earth tree it was not just their attack however that was strengthened and altered to face the Giants but also their defenses something we see from the description of the flame protect me incantation which reads the following the most ancient of the fire monks incantations it is said that this incantation was used during the war against the Giants long ago during which it protected the champions of the Ury so an incantation that would actually go on to be a founding incantation of the fire monks was devised at this time to give the soldiers of the UR Trey a greater defense against the fiery power of the Giants both of these pieces of evidence in regards to the attack and defense of the Warriors of the Ury is a testament to marus cunning and combined with the raw strength and power of Godfrey we can see that the Ury forces were well prepared to fight the fire Giants and yet the scales would tip even further in the her tre's favor when the Knights of zore long better Rivals of the Giants clearly jump to the opportunity to finally destroy their age-old enemies and would join the ER Tre forces and destroying the Giants here we learned from their armor set that they would become decorated ated and celebrated Heroes of this war and one can only imagine that the powerful ice incantations of the zore would have been a great Bo to amica's Arsenal even further adding to the balance of power were the fact that the Giants were betrayed by their own kind by those we now know to be as trolls and it is something we learn about from The Sword monument in the mountain tops of the Giants which reads as follows the war against the Giants Champions battle trolls betray fire vanquished the era of the arery begins so the trolls betrayed the Giants the trolls being the large hollowed stomached enemies that we see around the games and pulling the carriages however it appears that the trolls were in fact once Giants something we learn from the trolls smithing Hammer item description which reads the following trolls are descended from the Giants and these were supposedly one once used as ceremonial smithing tools I see them as a lesser form of giant that has devolved or descended from the Giants that portrayed the fail God over the years they are even interchangeably referred to as Giants in the item description of the trolls golden sword which reads sword given to the Giants who fought for the UR tree during the war against the Giants long ago so we can see that the trolls are former Giants who chose to betray their fail God took up golden swords and sided with the Earth tree it is at this point I do want to revisit the physiology something I mentioned earlier as I said earlier I do find it interesting that the trolls therefore the Giants that betrayed the fail God as we now know have a massive cavity in the place where the fail Gods face would sit on normal fire Giants and so my speculation is that when renouncing the fail God and their fire giant Brethren the presence of the fail God was either removed or disappeared when they renounced him I would also further speculate that this disassociation with the fail God would be the cause of their Devolution into what we now know as trolls having removed a core part of what made them fire Giants in the first place we see that the decision to betray the fail God May well not have been the greatest in the long term for the trolls firstly they are now denigrate versions of the once proud and mighty Giants reduced to little more than pack mes for the human domains in the lands between indeed the trolls golden sword item description implies that they are losing their mind over time they're becoming less sentient and more beastial over time I think that this race of betrayers get their second best chance under the service of the Carion as they at least get the Dignity of serving as Knights something we learn of from the great blade fanks which reads used by the enchanted troll Knights they were comrades of young rala Bound by oath and incidentally rala during her fight with us when she summons a troll she calls them oath sworn Giants again seeing that Giants are interchangeably described as trolls reinforcing the fact that these beings were in fact once proud Giants a another example of how Giants are generally treated better by the carens is of course EEG himself who has been welcomed into the inner circle of caran royalty as he was rany's childhood companion and War counselor a fairly revered Poss for this discarded race and it would make sense that the Kion would treat trolls better given they would not have the lingering distrust of giant kin that those of the UR Trey would have regardless with all of this stacked against them is it any wonder that the fire Giants were utterly wiped out by Godfrey and America's forces I do believe we can learn more of this conflict and specifics of the Giants who were brought down if we examine the bodies of the Giants themselves which we see scattered throughout the mountain tops I would preface this that the following is clearly my own interpretation and speculation from the environmental storytelling of this area as we do not get specific in-game lore for what has happened to the Giants we can see that the fire Giants are completely frozen solid and while this clearly isn't the main cause of death one could choose to see it as the effects of zore magic indeed they are Frozen to such a degree that there are icicles hanging off them though I do admit this could quite easily just be a postmortem effect of the environment they're in however the winds upon the fire giant the one that's alive that is the blackened bits of skin around his legs feet and his forearms look a little similar to the symptoms of frostbite in real life however that is of course quite speculative but what is undeniable is that their cause of death is of course the massive thorny staffs that pierce their body that then grow into bishell of thorn and seemingly grow within their body and break it apart from the inside the growth of these briers is so violent in some cases that the Giants are literally losing Limbs and having their bodies ripped open so what are these thorny staffs and the associated growth of thorns much like the Petrified people in Noella and noon this is something you will need to make up your own mind with the environmental storytelling however I will give you my interpretation of what this is having thought long and hard about what is going on here I first considered if these were man-made staffs use in a sort of impaling ritual as you can see there's a guard that looks to be carved at the top of the staffs however you can see that these Thorns quite clearly seem to be shooting up from beneath the Earth they are not staffs they are growing from beneath the ground so to me this must be a form of powerful Thorn sorcery Thorns are important to the order of grace and the erre society Thorns are used to Mark the guilty and rigan a leading member of the golden order manipulates the powers of thorns to seal off the AR Trey from all trespassers we will talk more on the thorn Magics and the specifics of the thorn Sorcerers and their Origins but I do believe these staffs to be kin to these sorceries indeed the briers of punishment spell likewise pierces from below the ground further Evidence linking these to The Thorn Sorcerers is the fact that not only are these thorny Stakes found in the Battlegrounds of the Giants but they also are found in Leonia in the camps of the fire monks where the thorn Sorcerers are present given these camps are far more recent than the Battlegrounds of the Giants having been erected by the fire monks in the hunt from Adan it leads us to conclude that it has to be the work of sorcerers CU they are present at both these unique locations where these Thorn Sorcerers are as well an opposing theory that I often see mentioned is that these Thorns are death plate and I would first of all like to disprove this before moving on straight up this is not death BL it's something I considered as well for one death plight would not have existed at this stage as it is symptomatic of Godwin's murder which has not happened at the time of the battle with the Giants secondly and probably more convincingly these Thorns simply do not look the same as those associated with the death plate if you examine the Thorns of death blate closely you will note that fittingly the thorns on death blate are actually fly wings very in keeping with the morbidity of death B and the prince of death yet the Thorns of the guilty which are shooting through these Giants are clearly more traditional thorns and given that Thorns are used to punish the guilty in the Ury Society Perhaps it is fitting that these heretical Giants were killed in this manner and perhaps it was the origin for such symbolic punishment but again my speculation however when it comes to the Thorns their relevance and their Origins we will come back and discuss it in full when we reach the section on the thorn Sorcerers to avoid repetition but for now let us turn to the last giant who is not impaled by these great Thorns the fire giant that we do battle with whatever the cause of their actual death the Giants were utterly defeated and put to the sword and according to the oneeyed shield Mara even slew the oneeyed god itself so this may be athology constructed by The Victors to present a myth of complete Victory to the rest of the world however whether she did kill a physical form of the god itself we know either way that the fail God was not entirely destroyed given the lore we have previously discussed where we know the fail God exists within the fire Giants its incantations and the flame of Ruin which would not be put out we know that the fail God is not an ordinary being who exists in one place so even if Marica did slay a physical form the result was the same the fail God's power and threat would still exist within the flame of Ruin Amica would come to realize this terrible truth and that her victory would never be complete and we see her reaction to this in the remembrance of the fire giant which reads as follows the fire giant is a survivor of the war against the Giants upon realizing the Flames of their Forge would never die Queen Mar marked him with a curse oh trifling giant mayest thou tend thy flame for eternity now this item description is interesting for a number of reasons the first bit of interest for me is the term upon realizing which reinforces the idea that America and her followers believe they could utterly destroy the flame of run by destroying the Giants and the physical form of the fail God and that the flame would die and yet at the war's close it clearly became clear that the ruinous flame would never stop smoldering and so a new plan on dealing with its threat became one of containment the fire giant we fight is the so surviving member of his race and we can see that he is wounded and battered and we even end up taking advantage of his leg injury to bring him down it was upon realizing that the flame would never die that am chose to spare this giant and would Mark him with a curse quote unquote the reason she spares this giant is there's no point in killing him because it wouldn't achieve her goal and so many of the fire Giants have been destroyed by this point that their race will never again pose a threat directly it is only the flame of ruin that will cause a threat I see the point of him being spared as twofold am first of all wants to spare him out of spite she refers to the giant as trifling and we know from their curse the fire Giant's curse that by sparing him she is in fact condemning this fire giant to tend to the flame for eternity think about it despite being the last of his kind and alone he is still standing there years after the war of the Giants tending to this flame what a miserable fate and then of course by sparing him we can see it's completely to America's benefit when sailing off the flame of Ruin because when we try to access it we now need to fight this Guardian so by sparing this being that no longer poses a threat to her she instead gains a free powerful prison guard and this of course works because as soon as we approach the flame he is obligated to attack this for he is its Guardian this is a horrifically sad story if you think about it this fire giant has been left to Stand Here tending to a smoldering flame watching over the dead bodies of his Brethren alone for all these years wounded and finally we put him out of his misery and free him from his curse yet the legacy of the fail God does not end here as the fire giant would not be the only only measure that America would leave in place to secure her interests now would come the order of the fire monks an order that would act as both prison guards and worshippers of the flame of Ruin and in a lot of ways they are the inheritors of the fire Giants and so it is to them we turn to next the end of the war of the Giants would Mark the start of the age of the arery and it is also marked by the building of the first church of mar ever on the slopes of the mountain tops however Mar and her people would then depart and go to build Lanell around the foundations of their new her Tre yet as we know the flame of Ruin would always pose a danger and so these lands were declared forbidden with malakith commanding his followers the vulgar militia and the Black Blade Kindred to guard this forbidden route against any who were too interested in what lay beyond the pass and on the mountain itself would be established an entire religious order dedicated to containing the flame at its source we learn of this new order from the Serge o flame incantation which reads as follows the Giant's flame is the flame of Ruin capable of burning the Earth tree and so following the war against the Giants its ruinous BL was sealed and Guardians were appointed to watch over it these Guardians are an order of monks who we now know to be the fire of monks the title of Monk itself tells us that this is a position of sole purpose and focus for monks or people of religion who live aesthetic lives in order to focus on their religious duties separating themselves from the rest of society and its distractions these fire monks are also a militant faction each monk is a stoic and Powerful Warrior well armed trained and well versed in powerful fire incantations the reach of this organization is also very broad for one that is not connected to one of the demig gods or regions in the lands between and we can see they possess very strongholds such as the guardian's Garrison below the forge itself and given its important position and the fact the chief Guardian is also located here we can assume that this is their main base of operations however they also have the giant conquering Heroes grave which seems to be a fully functioning stronghold for the monks and finally there's the newly conquered fort laad in the alter plateau and we will get to that later this is an order dedicated to the containment of fire and at the beginning I'm sure this was their sole motivation is especially if we consider one of their most ancient incantations flame protect me an incantation dedicated to the repelling the power of flame not harnessing it so at this early stage we can imagine these fire monks were very different from the monks we see now which blend guardianship with worship we imagine at this point the fire monks were adherence of the earth tree fearful of the fire's power and dedicated to containing and repelling it if you have any doubt about the order's commitment and connection to the earthree order then you only need look at the banners within the fire monk stronghold at Giant conquering Hero's grave these banners quite clearly have the symbol of the two fingers upon them the training and spiritual fortitude of these monks as well as the immense challenges that they faced is well summarized by the fire monk ashes which read as follows Spirit of a Stout Monk who monitored the Giant's flame first in flame incantations and himself stealed against fire though he was charged with keeping watch over flame after many years of solemn Duty he has succumbed to its Allure we learn in time that the original methodology and belief system would clearly not last and it would blend what's described in the item description I just read a combination of being stealed against fire but also wielding it and we learn more about this from the incantation WHL o flame which reads fire beguiles those who look upon it those who would guard the flame would also come to worship it the very power within the flame whilst causing fear would also come to Mesmerize them and the current state in which we see them the modern flame monks is partway between veneration and containment we can see the worship of the flame which would become so Central to their identity that they would even take the Visage of the fil God himself upon their armor and indeed the item description for this armor is useful in describing their dual relationship with flame for it reads taboos transform into lasting Obsessions By virtue of the fear that they Inspire so through fear the monks have come to respect and worship the flame and from a pychological perspective fear is often one of the greatest tools for inspiring awe and it is no wonder that after some time these monks would come to venerate its power incorporating it into their symbolism and structure and thus we see the fire monks as they are today their robes covered in the flame of Ruin imagery their weapons are shaped like flames and they have fashioned fearsome flame chariots that take on the VIS of giants if you're confused confused at how we know these flame chariots are creations of the fire monks then you need only read the hint note of the flame chariots themselves which named them as a fire monk invention as these devices show the monks clearly respected the power of the Fallen Giants and no doubt saw themselves as their successors in a way for the fire Giants once tended to the flame and is that not now a role undertaken by these monks it is therefore not surprising that the fire monks have taken on the appearance of the fire Giants with their dyed Orange Beards and hair and the fa God's Visage upon their abdomen do we not see that these are trying to emulate the very appearance of the fire Giants however I do think it should be made clear that while they venerate the power of the fire and see themselves as the new Fire Giants guarding the flame they are very much still wanting to contain it Des despite some falling to its allure in general the order respects the fact that the flame is very much something to be feared and contained with those who have the responsibility to understand its power I think that this balance is well illustrated by the description of the incantation flame cleanse me which reads as follows one of the incantations of the fire monks creates a fire that burns away toxins alleviates poison and Scarlet root buildup and these ailments this incantation leaves the Caster with subtle Burns a reminder that they must fear the flame so this incantation is a manifestation of the Monk's belief system and philosophies if one uses the power of the fa flame one should not walk away unscathed lest the monks forget the reason behind their Duty and the fearful power they are trying to contain indeed this is why the focus granted by the aesthetic life of a monk is needed for their very duty is to walk this fine line to never forget the danger and cost of their charge and so incantations such as flame grant me strength are strictly forbidden by their order as we learn from its description which reads this incantation does not burn the caster and so is considered forbidden by the Guardians of the flame so we can see here that the incantations ratified by this order are only those which damage the wielder of the incantations as this fits within their philosophy of balancing power with fear to that end it is the duty of the upper echelons of this order to safeguard the greater secrets and manifestations of the fail God considered too dangerous even for the greater population of the flame monk order these leaders are the mighty prelates prelate being a real world term for a bishop or Abbott and this is suitable as they are not only incredible Warriors but also the most devoted stoic and stalwart members of the order we learn the basics of the prelates from their armor set description which reads as follows the weighty frames of the prelates symbolize the onus of their grave vows as Guardians of the flame to me prelates are the most accomplished stall workk and stoic members of this order and are the only ones who are responsible enough to accept the greater burden of the fail God's greater Secrets a responsibility that they wear upon their shoulders a lot of symbolism therefore associated with the prelates is weight and gravity to symbolize the weight of their burden and the importance of their Duty such as their literal bulky weight and bulky armor this is also reinforced by the weighty Hammers that they wield the description of which reads colossal Hammer with the appearance of roing flames weapon of the prelates who lead the fire monks its heft represents the weight of their guardianship so again the symbolism of the prelates is all about the gravity of their juty they are the most stoic and steady of their Brethren and thus they know the greater secrets of the flame but through the weight of their armor and armaments they are never allowed to forget the burdens of their Duty one needs only look at the story of Barack to see how devoted these members are to their Duty and the important role in which the prelates play in making sure the order remembers this duty of guardianship L they get lazy we learn of this interesting prelate from the cranial vessel candle stand and its description reads as follows candle stand used in worship of Barak the most hallowed Monk prelate of the Giant's flame concerned over the lazy arrogance with which the monks treated the flame Barack severed his own head as a lesson to others intending it to be used as a candle stand so this prelate Barack was so concerned with his Brethren's lack of diligence that he beheaded himself this type of arrogance is what we touched on previously where monks may be prone to getting carried away with the power that they wield as Guardians of the flame and forgetting why they are Guardians in the first place and how important a role it is and almost a religious responsibility for these prelates and Barack literally has taken his own head to show how devoted these prelates can be and indeed the candle stand is his own head as you can see his Ginger beard poking out from beneath the helmet if you look carefully so let's look closer at the helmets of the prelates by reading the description of one it reads the following it is said The Cauldron purched upon the head was originally furnished with Embers and it would surge into flames when the wear's faith reached its Zenith the fire of this cauldron has long since died out so this helmet describes the devotion and power of the prelates the prelates are so unwavering in their faith and so powerful in their knowledge of flame incantations that they can literally cause the Embers in this cauldron clearly designed to be a copy of the forge to explode from their head just from their faith alone and this is why if we own the helmet we simply do not possess those years of faith and devotion and cannot replicate the results yet despite the best intentions of the order and their stalwart prelates the power of the flame is so bewitching that it can easily cause one to be en raptured even the stoic trained monks of this order to a degree all monks venerate it but as we've said it is the fine line between maintaining that respect for the flame alongside your fear of it but we get examples of fire monks who completely forget the duty and fear and instead become singularly obsessed with the power that flame can grant in general this concept is explained through the Advent of the subgroup known as the black flame monks the black flame monk set reads the following the black flame monks enthralled by the gods slaying black flame became traitors abandoning their posts as Guardians the seduction of a taboo is never easily spurned the seduction of power is too much for some flame monks to handle and they abandon their Guardianship and instead went to this new power the black flame seeing the power of the flame being able to slay the gods and cause fear in Mar's order they were so easily Bewitched by its power converted themselves to Black flame monks changing their armor and appearance to venerate this new flame the first of their number being Ammon and it shows that instead of venerating their Duty in the flame of Ruin itself they are more interested in the power that a flame can grant them and in this case they saw the new power of the black flame it is this type of fall that the prelates oversee and try to stop through their statism and commitment they seek to keep their brother monks in line and in fact I think this idea of religious shepherding and enforcement is reinforced by another weapon that some of them wield the thorned whip the item description of this fearsome device reads as follows Hefty whip covered in Crimson Thorns weapon of prelates who lead the fire monks a device of fearsome religious encouragement it is fashioned in the image of the Briars of of sin being described as a instrument of religious encouragement I believe it means that this is a tool of dominance to make sure the Monk and the guilty never forget their charge it is a whip to hold over their head and possibly use if they get out of line and break the tenants of this order having these whips formed in the shape of the briers of sin is no mistake given it is another symbol of this order and again we will talk on that more in the next chapter it is the vision and Clarity of these prelates that also give them access to darker and more dangerous secrets of the fail God these are the incantations that draw directly from the power of the fire Giants the fire giant incantations rather than the derivative fire monk incantations these incantations draw directly from the fail God one such incantation being flame fall upon them the description of this incantation reads as follows one of the incantation that draws directly from the power of the fire Giants there's no record of this incantation in common prayer books only a few prelates know of his existence so the spells that draw directly from the fire Giants that unleash the full unadulterated power of the fail God are not trusted to the ho pooy of the order only prelates are grounded enough to comprehend the knowledge and use it responsibly and again we see this from the prayer book of the fire Giants that seems to be something that isn't seen by regular monks and in fact is actually guarded by the chief Guardian himself indeed the greatest of these incantations is the flame of the fail God in which is thought to reside the fail God himself when it is cast indeed in our battle with the fire giant we can see this truly is one of their incantations as he uses it against us in our battle this incantation is so dangerous that this is guarded by the leader of the fire monks organization Chief Guardian Argan and this is something we learn about from the item description of the incantation itself we also learn from this incantation that in a dramatic turn of events this powerful incantation was stolen by someone known as Adan Adan is called the thief of fire apply named for someone who has taken the flame of the fail God right from under the chief guardian's nose interestingly when we find them they are partially wearing pre armor suggesting he was either aate himself or disguised himself as one I personally like to go with the latter because the armor just looks so ill-fitting on him and I find it comic to degree that he walked in in this massive armor and just stole the spell it's of course speculation but regardless of who he is and why he did it he took this spell and fled to the lands of Leonia although it seemed by our time that we come across him he has already been imprisoned in an Ever jail by someone else yet the fire monks clearly don't know his location or that he's already been imprisoned for there's a large contingent of fir monks that have invaded Leia and this is something we learn about from the monks flameblade which reads the following the monks came to the land of Leia in pursuit of a fugitive who stole their fire for any in doubt about how serious ly the vast majority of the order take their Duty should take note of the resources they commit to recovering this lost relic of theirs a danger to society if fallen into the wrong hands they have even attacked a capital fort fort laad slaughtering all of the capital soldiers here as we can see on the top floor and they've taken it as a base of operation this is speculation of course I'm just going by the environmental storytelling but we do see the corpses of the capital soldiers and we see a good contention of thorn Sorcerers fire monks and they're actually led by prelate himself who is inside the fort and what I would take from this story is that coming down to the lands between to find the Thief they' have taken this fort as a forward base of operations so the monks are a fascinating Bunch really a religious militant order that venerates the flame but also acts as its Guardians guarding its power and secrets from those who could ER responsibly use its power and yet we haven't spoken of another constituent part of this order the monks do not work alone beside them are the thorn Sorcerers the guilty who I see to have been confined to serve this order so let us now examine these people and the Briars of sin as both are an integral part of the order of monks while the fire monks are the emblems of this order the most most numerous members we see in sites occupied by the monk order are the thorn Sorcerers unfortunately there isn't again a lot of in-game lore about these characters but there is some and enough for us to construct the picture of who they are so let us jump straight into what these people most likely are by examining their character models first of all we can quite clearly see that they wear a crown of thorn upon their heads and that they are indeed blind as we can see from their eyes and we can learn that this was a punish of the guilty something we learn from the Briar of sin spell which reads as follows an aberant sorcery discovered by exiled criminals theirs are the sorceries most reviled by the academy the guilty their eyes gouged by Thorns lived in Eternal Darkness there they discovered the Blood star so these were guilty exiled people who have had their eyes literally crushed and gouged out by thorns a punishment for their crimes and of course this is a very on-the-nose bit of Christian imagery of Christ and the crown of thorns we have already seen that the uding of eyes seems to be linked to multiple degrees of punishment like the blindfolding of prophets who have seen the burning of the Ury in their dreams yet with these guilty exiled Sorcerers the process is a far more extreme variation of a theme indeed Briars are often used to Mark and punish criminals throughout the land in slightly different ways we can see this in the case of Elmer of the Brier and the guilty Hood set with the descriptions of both of these armor sets explaining that Briars are inexorably linked to punishing those and marking those who are perceived to have broken the laws of the land what I also find interesting is the description of the staff of the guilty and this is the casting Implement which these Thorn Source were is wied the description reads as follows a heretical staff fash from a smoldering withered sapling that turns the blood of sacrifice pierced by it into glint Stone so interestingly this magic and Associated staffs are considered to be heretical and we will get onto why these Magics are seen as the dark opposite to Glenstone magic momentarily but I think it's important to highlight that while the thorn Sorcerers are considered useful they are of course considered heretical and are exiled criminals I therefore believe that the motivation for assigning them a place among the fire monks is twofold one The Thorn Magics have been proven as a powerful weapon against the fire Giant and two it keeps dangerous criminal Heretics far from society so we do need to briefly retread the ground of the massive Thorns that impale the Giants just to contextualize this discussion and the importance of thorns to the order of monks as I showed earlier in the video I believe the thorn impaling the Giants to be some kind of thorn sorcery conjured by Thorn Sorcerers like the exiled ones we see in game given that we see them in locations both where Thorn Sorcerers are present and so given the Thorns history against the Giants and those who would use the flame of rune for Dangerous purposes it would make sense that thorn Magics that it would continue to find use here far from the eyes of people who deemed it heretical but in a place where it is most useful and inexorably linked to the purpose of the guardianship over their flame of Ruin however to understand the thorn Sorcerers themselves I think we need to delve in to what Thorn sorcery actually is so we can get a full picture of who these people are that are serving alongside the fire monks the briers of sin the spell describes that those being punished by being blinded with thorns live in Eternal Darkness being blind and at that point they make contact with with something known as The Blood star now the Blood star is a highly speculative subject and esoteric it's something that I want to do it's own video one but we need to try and understand this concept to understand the thorn Sorcerers so as with many Concepts in this game The Blood star seems to be a nebulous cosmic power that makes contact with those who are without sight and so therefore metaphorically live in darkness now I have spoken on stars in in far more detail in my primeval current lore video and I highly recommend you check that out for a discussion but in that we look at the fact that stars are very often associated with darkness and the abyss and that while the abyss may be physically far away far removed from this world one can connect to it through the Primeval current this Abyss is referenced repeatedly in the Primeval current spells as well as in association with Estelle a star himself who was born in the sightless void far away what we also discussed in that video is that a translation provided to me by last protagonist who I seem to always thank in all my videos and again you should go and check them out and I'll show the translation on screen for AEL which shows the fact that the word darkness is very much associated with stars so it makes sense that again we're finding a group of people making contact with a star in the darkness we know that the stars have some form of life due to Sal's discussion about glint stones and how glint Stones contain the Vitality of the Stars I.E the stars are alive and of course we do indeed face a living but malformed star in the form of a steel that's the long and the short of the star's connection to the abyss and again I highly recommend you watch my primeval lore video for more detail on that but suffice it to say this association with darkness and making contact with stars that exist in a dark space is nothing new but the fact that this Abyss with this Blood star exists exists within the mind of people who have had their eyes violently blinded creates a more Sinister aspect to it indeed The Thorn sorceries seem to draw their power from blood sacrifice where Glenstone Sorcerers draw theirs from Glenstone and the Vitality of the Stars this is something we can see when a thorn sorcerer pass a thorn spell they seem to cut themselves against the Briars on their thorny staff which then fuels the spell further evidence that it is the power found within the Vitality of blood that powers these Thorn sorceries the sorceries of the Blood star is supported by mad tongue Alber who wears red glimstone upon his robes the description of his robe reads as follows set with red glint Stones said to be formed by the blood of sacrifice strengthens Thorn sorcery so while blue glint Stone uses the Vitality of the Stars these red glint Stones use the Vitality of humans and empowers these Blood Spells so it is no wonder that these spells are reviled by the academy they are a dark reflection of the glint Stone sorceries they are the dark side of the force if you will yet their presence here seems to be well integrated into the order despite the Sinister or and source of their power we can see that they too seem to worship the flame of Ruin as we see them kneeling in religious pration beside the monks at various points throughout the game and as already mentioned it appears to me as if the Thorns are important part of the order given the repeated instances of its symbolism within the order so while having a pretty complicated background L himself and a pretty problematic source of power blood and the Blood star the reason for their integration into the order seems pretty obvious to me they're useful and not only that it gives a purpose to these extremely dangerous individuals and keeps them under the watchful eye of the prelates now before we finish up this video I would like to cover the legacy of the Giants and how it seems like their bloodline is not entirely finished so with the last of the fire Giants canined to serve the flame forever and the mountaintops forbidden and guarded by the monks the age of the Giants was truly at an end and the age of the arery was established upon its grave and yet even before we step foot on the mountain tops we can see the legacy of the Giant's impact upon the lands between we've already discussed the fact that the blood of the giant lives on in the form of trolls a descendant race of giants who are Far Cry from their Mighty ancestors and yet certain trolls like e may well influence important events in the lands between however it is not only the trolls who claim lineage to the Giants but there seem to be humans who claim the same for if we choose the northerner default appearance when creating our character we are treated to the following bit of flavored text a face found among the Hardy people of the unforgiving north some say they are descended from the Giants so this is a really interesting bit of text because it suggests that the blood of the Giants would eventually water down and run through certain humans specifically humans from the north who we could presume being from the north where the mountain tops of the Giants are and so this would make sense of course it is a classic from software description and that it says some say meaning that it could just be an in Universe rumor the fact that Northerners are from the same regions of the Giants are from people just assume they have the blood of the Giants yet whatever the the fact of these Northerners there's another important and pivotal character who may well lend Credence to the rumor that some may have descended from the Giants in the age of the Ury with the Giants destroyed the forces of Queen Mara would turn to expanding their existing Holdings and of course their eye would fall upon learia and the realm of caran royalty who did not yet bow to the UR Trey among the Warriors of the UR Trey who would take part in the two Yan Wars would be a new champion who is rising among the ranks and this is rigan the redhaired and he would come to prominence during these wars something we learn about from The Sword Monument honoring the first leonian war which reads as follows the first leonian war rigan's Glory Burns Red as his hair indeed rigan is often celebrated and identified by his fire red hair something he would pass on to his children through both Mara and ranala looking like a pretty dominant gene yet radigan's red hair is something he was not fond of something that we learned from the Giant's red braids a weapon made from the hair of the fire giant we kill it reads as follows every giant is red of hair and Radigan was said to have despised his own red locks perhaps that was a curse of their kind so it is heavily implied that radan like the Northerners is linked to the fire Giants in a way it says that perhaps this was a curse of their kind as if he is one of their kind one of the blood of the Giants and given how much focus and prominence is given to rigan's red hair we can see that it is most likely true why else focus in on this detail about his hair this must have been a bitter pill for the Le Hound of the golden order to swallow having a constant and Stark reminder that that he Radigan greatest champion of the archery was of the same blood of the Archer's greatest enemy this is of course just my speculation but I think that given the focus we are given on rigan's red hair I think it is most likely true if it is true then the fire Giants Legacy goes far deeper it runs through the blood of Millennia the greatest swordsman in an age and herself a goddess of a potential new order it runs through the blood of Redan the most powerful of the demigods and the scourge of the stars and it would run through the blood of Reichard who like his giant forbears would see the Earth tree shatter and fall and finally it would also run through the blood of Ronnie the once red-haired witch who is on the cusp of bringing the age of the arery to a close so in that way if true the Giants were never really defeated one day the flame of Ruin would be Unleashed against their ancient enemy and perhaps their burning hatred of the earth tree flows through rigan's more rebellious children and so their Revenge would be complete the lands between are dominated by the Earth tree and its God Queen Mara in most recent times Mara and her royal family had rested control of the lands between through military might culminating in the massacre of the fire Giants and the containment of their ruinous Flame however there were one people that the AR tree forces were never able to overcome not through strength of arm at least and I am of course referring to the kingdom of learia led by the powerful caran royal family in the end these two houses would join via the marriage of rigan and ranala producing some of the most powerful demigods of an age yet the truce of the earthree house and the marriage of rigan and rala is just the tail end of their story when we examin the the carens we can see there's an August history of a fascinating family that transformed the power dynamics of learia and the greater lands between so in this L video we will be examining the story of the Karan Dynasty from astrologer roots to lunar monarchy and its eventual collapse and at this stage I would like to thank Loki translator and author of AEL archive for providing their translations and insights throughout which I will reference the story of the caran starts where most of Magic's story in the lands between begin on the mountaintops of the Giants where a fledgling Society of astrologers first lived in years past rala is referred to as an astrologer in the Stargazer heirloom which is how we know that she is descended from them chronologically we first hear of the existence of these astrologers via the sword of KN in flame a relic of of the carians which reads as follows stored sword and Treasure of Karan Manor astrologers who preceded the sorcerers established themselves in the mountaintops that nearly touched the sky and considered the fire Giants their neighbors notably this sword is also described as a treasure of the carens and it's found in Karan Manor reinforcing the fact that they do owe their lineage to these early astrologers and they honor it a factory en forced by the description of the preceptor set as well we find evidence of this old Society in the stone basins and the Stargazer ruins found on the mountaintops the latter of which was presumably their home going by the account given in the sword these astrologers lived peacefully in the mountains alongside the fire Giants meaning the development of this protan Society very much predates the arree Dominion I presume most are aware of this but for those who aren't these early stargazers are the ancestors to the Glenstone Sorcerers as is said in the sword description we just read but it's also reinforced via the caran preceptor set which reads the following a long bright blue gown with the movements of the Stars drawn upon it worn by the magic preceptors who served the caran Royals Glenstone Sorcerers are the descendants of astrologers a fact that the carens remain aware of even if their fate has long been severed from the Stars it is very interesting to me that the Kens do have this habit of remembering and loing their ancestry no doubt a practice enforced by ranala who herself was an astrologer and of course recording and preserving one's lineage is important for monarchies in the real world as well of course the other reason the Carion still likely care about astrology is that they are fully aware of how important fate is especially to them the Stars alter the fate of the larian royal family and the fate of your mistress Rani my understanding of the settlement of learia and R Laria is that R Laria predates the rise of the carens as a royal family and they developed independently of one another I mainly take this from the specific wording of her remembrance which reads the following in her youth ralo was a prominent champion who Charmed The Academy with her lunar magic becoming its Master she also led the Glenstone Knights and established the house of Kara as royalty the fact she made this discovery in her Youth and then Charmed The Academy reinforces the idea that the real larian Academy was already an established Facility by the time renala came to prominence and indeed momentarily we will examine the history of R Laria which predates the rise of Kara when we look at founding OG members like lcat and Aur but returning to the Karan preceptor set the astrologer are the ancestors of those who have become Glenstone Sorcerers these Sorcerers we find in real Laria and so we do have to fill in the Gap a little bit when it comes to the transition from this astrologer Society on the mountain to the glint Stone Sorcerers of the lean Basin however it is clear that in time the descendants of astrologers moved from the study of the sky to the study of glint Stone a material which makes one's position relative to the sky less of a pressing issue indeed if you take a look at Leia's landscape we can see that it is a huge source of glint Stone both above ground and beneath it and thus it makes sense that these adherence of the Stars would gravitate towards this region indeed even now a Glenstone mine lies underneath riia Laria in the form of the academy Crystal Cave and as we learn from the shatter Earth sorcery description Glenstone mining is very Central to their culture it is the Foundation of it with the failures of the academy still being useful to that ecosystem by doing the dangerous job of mining Glenstone that can be studied by their betters and while the Glenstone Sorcerers are the descendants of astrologers there has to be some overlap the astrologers didn't completely cease to be although their community on the mountaintops does seem to have been a thing of the past as I said earlier it seems that renala was still part of an astrologer Community even after real aaria must have been established because in her youth she meets her Moon and then not long after she goes to the academy and charms it ral's early history as part of this astrologer community and her meeting the Moon that would change her life is best explored by the item Stargazer heirloom which reads the following the young astrologer gazed at the night sky as she walked she had always chased the Stars every step of her journey then she met the full moon and in time the astrologer became a queen the obvious conclusion that we have to come to then with this overlap is that ral's Community was either the last to come down from the mountaintops or was simply the last to give up that way of life whilst others had long become glint Stone Sorcerers Loki has an interesting perspective on this gradual migration from the mountaintops something shown by this map here Loki believes that we can trace the migration pattern of the astrologers through the trees the suggestion being that each migration of astrologers brought large conifers with them to their new home we can see these ghost conifers on the mountain tops of the Giants the astrologers original home we can also see dead ones at alasar ruins in South Leonia where they clearly migrated to and in Celia and of course Moonlight alter where the carens would eventually migrate to we can also find them in the area around the shifra river and in the hall horn grounds which lie above the Shaffer River given that both of these areas surround the city of notron Loki suggests that the Conifer presence here is because of a contact between Celia and notron which we of course know exist given selia's deep ties to the Eternal City and the nox my main issue with this is that I personally see Celia as more culturally nox or numen though I believe Loki isn't discounting this either rather Loki sees the town of Celia as the result of a sort of cross-pollination the astrologers settled down here in kalid and made contact with Theo and while the establishment of Celia above ground is definitely because of the noxian influence he believes that the population here are mainly astrologer descendants and I do think this certainly makes sense given that we only see two true knocks in this town and the rest appear like normal glint Stone Sorcerers but I really like this theory of Loki regarding the conifers and the migration patterns of the astrologers and I think it helps illustrate the evolution of the astrologer Community to their glint Stone descendants via conifers that are primarily found on the mountaintops of the Giants but also these conifers are found in areas related to Glenstone sorcery such as Moonlight altar lascar ruins and Celia but to conclude whilst a lot of her astrologer kin had already become glint Stone Sorcerers rala was still part of the astrologer tradition but once again I think Loki puts it in a more concise way and so once again I will quote Loki's notes to me on this subject the carens are still living on the mountain tops during ral's Youth and migrate down while she is still relatively young the alasar and Celia already have a lengthy history with the academy under azur and lcat in short they established themselves as Nobles on the western mountain and become royalty within a short number of years but the par dnamic would shift when she met this Cosmic entity the full moon that would come to Define her and her rule henceforth so as we've just learned from the Stargazer heirloom as a young astrologer rala was essentially observing the stars and at this point she made contact with the moon where this fateful meeting took place for me is most likely to be Moonlight altar mainly because location has a deep connection to the Moon specifically despite this alter and not being the highest point in the lands between one is able to see the Moon far more clearly than in any location a place where we can see the f moon and the dark moon in the sky simultaneously unlike in other areas of the map even just below us in Leia which means it most likely has a special connection to the moon and if this was where rala first made contact it would make sense that this was where a Moonlight altar would be established we learned that ranala tries to recreate her own meeting with her moon with her daughter rany and this is something we learn of via rany's Dark Moon which reads as follows this moon was encountered by a Young rany led by the hand of her mother ranala what she beheld was cold dark and veiled in a cult mystery given that the full moon is foundational to ral's power and she sees rany as her air this makes total sense but returning to Moonlight altar given it is one of the only places in the lands between that we can see the Dark Moon and the full moon in the sky simultaneously it does lead me to believe that this is where rala led rannie to meet her own Moon and it is where originally rala met her moon with that in mind let us consider the archaeology of moonlight Altar and what it can tell us about the early history of the Kens firstly there are two sets of ruins that can be found on the altar in the shadow of the cathedral the lunar estate and the moonfolk ruins as I stated in my hidden Tales video I attribute the lunar estate to be the estate of the caran family prior to them living in Karan Manor the term estate in the real world in Britain is usually used to denote land owned by a Royal or aristocratic family and so I see this as the old caran estate the lunar estate the Stargazer heirloom states that in time ranala became a queen and given she was very young when she met the Moon it is a reasonable assumption that a good deal of time passed between her meeting the full moon and establishing the carens as a royal family she would attend the real Laria Academy as a young sorceress charm them with her unique Magic and then in time build up her power base before eventually declaring herself as monarchy when she had enough power of course and the foundation of that power I think can be found here in the Moonlight Altar and as such I would imagine this lunar estate to be her family's home during this transitionary period established at the site of the most important meeting of her life likewise I would see the moonfolk ruins as the ruins of a community who followed ranala and joined her in the veneration of the Moon there is another feature of interest to this story found on Moonlight Altar and this is what I call the three sister statues which are guarded by a red wolf of rigan now we are never directly told what these statues represent but the statues of the three female figures immediately makes me think of the three sisters found at Karam Manor these towers are called Rena ran and celas's Rise celas's R is clearly named after the current occupant however given this area is called the three sisters I speculate that this is only a recent renaming of the Tower and that at one stage it was also named after a female therefore speculatively there might have been three sisters of which rannie was just one multiple caran princesses indeed the description of the caran filigre crest does imply there were multiple caran princesses and while it is speculation I do think this is the story that has been told to us through the environmental details and it's just another tie to the carens suggesting that this was their earlier home predating Kia Manor then of course we have the cathedral the Mana celes itself and as zorm points out in his video on Moonlight altar this Cathedral shares the same architectural design as the Church of vows marking it as a caran structure really being the final piece of evidence that Moonlight altar is caran the translation of the Latin Mana Celeste that people have provided within the community does vary but the two most likely translations are the hand of God or Hidden Hand the cathedral itself is shattered and spread throughout the ruined fragments of of the cathedral or Starlight shards additionally in the sky we can see blue streaks suggesting that Starfall has damaged the cathedral here and this is something suggested by zorm and while I agree that the cathedral itself was damaged by a Starfall I don't agree with the common notion that the two fingers found beneath the cathedral came down as a sort of meteor and people usually site the different blue colorization of these fingers and the blue streaks in the sky has evidence for this one of my main reasons for not agreeing with it and again this is pointed out by zorm in his video is that the crater or channel that leads down to the two fingers is not a straight up and down line the passage that leads to the two fingers under here actually travels horizontally a fair bit and so if it was a straight meteor site you'd think it would just be a straight up and down Channel and more importantly I think the name of the cathedral the hand of God or Hidden Hand is actually named after the two fingers meaning it is built after the two fingers arrived here and this would discount the notion that the two fingers sort of crashed through the roof of the cathedral because I don't think it would have been built until after the two fingers had appeared so if the cathedral was built in honor of the two fingers as I'm suggesting this really clashes with ranny's future view of the two fingers and the greater well rannie would later come to despise her con ction to the fingers but perhaps at the time it was a cause of celebration for the carens after all their Heir their princess had just been granted imperian status there is one other fact of important that is relevant when discussing Moonlight Altar and this early community of the Kens and that is the connection to the Eternal cities specifically Noella the passageway that now acts as the den of the Fearsome Estelle is sealed with the Seal of the carens marking it as their passageway and this passageway ultimately acts as an underground highway to Noella and this makes sense because the eternals and the Carion do have some cultural overlaps most overtly seen in the Church of vow this church literally houses statues that can also be found in the Eternal cities but more importantly the actual main function of this church is the Basin and this is actually a statue of a noxian sword stress and it requires you to use Celestial due and as the description of the celestial du tells us this is an invention of the nox and so this absolutely speaks to contact between the carens and the nox and is a nice detail when looking at their cultural and ideological development as the tunnels at Moonlight altar that lead to the Eternal cities speak to this sort of contact so to summarize I see the Moonlight altar as the first Bastion of carrying influence when they were more concerned with the power of the Moon and before they became associated with Earth tree royalty as for why they abandoned this significant location well there are a couple of speculative ideas that I have firstly there's the possibility that this region became less significant and more isolated as the land in Leonia fell away after all we're only able to actually access this area by passing through the Eternal cities there's no direct route for Leonia and as someone who is the monarch of Leonia basing yourself in a location that can't even access the lands that you rule is really not a strategic advantage and so perhaps when the lands fell away and the lake of Leonia was created the carians looked for a new location from which to rule from it could also be a shift in priorities when she got married to Radigan and they had children together and her alliance with the earthree family obviously strengthened perhaps she was less concerned with her old ways of venerating the Moon and she cared more about maintaining her Alliance and her marriage and Cara manners location is definitely closer to Altus plateau and if there was an ongoing alliance between these two houses it would make sense to relocate somewhere closer to Altis Plateau so while we've discussed ral's consolidation of a power base we also need to talk about her influence in another area and this is of course in real Laria a instit that she would come to dominate and is definitely one of the pillars of her rule so let's talk about that as we've already mentioned rala was able to charm people at the real Laria Academy because of her unique Magic and when you look at the history of sorcery in the lands between this certainly makes sense because ral's Moon magic would have been like nothing anyone had seen before the lazuli conspectus mask which represents the school that was founded to study carrying magic shines a light on this as it reads Scholars of the lazuli conspectus study caran sorceries a heterodox Pursuit that views the moon as equal to the Stars so this means that Moon magic is unorthodox and it was no doubt this unique nature that led to rala becoming so prominent to the stage where she is honored in paintings alongside other alumni is not just the uniqueness of her magic though rala is of course a very competent Sorceress in other regards a point well made by Loki in his notes to me is that rala in stage two of her fight with us which is presumably rannie recreating her Glory Days she is able to use azor's Comet showing that while she eventually banned the Primeval Sorcerers from the academy she was certainly capable of using their most powerful spells and so with the combination of her raw talent and this unique type of sorcery that clearly blew away the academy and revolutionized its way of thinking it's no surprise that she would become governess of the academy a fact we can learn from Mariel who names her as such rala and her brand of carrying magic eventually claiming dominance over the academy had quite a few consequences firstly of course it is definitely a huge win for her it is a consolidation of power and no doubt helped her legitimacy when she established herself as royalty and we will learn about other things that she did to consolidate her power base in the next chapter when we look at her forces and allies but of course claiming dominance over the academy is a massive feather in her cap but of course it would gain her enemies as there must have been an existing power structure in the academy before rala took full control because while renala became the sole Governor or ruler of RI Laria it seems that before her there were Grand Masters a term coined in the Robes of Aur and lat two Sorcerers that she would ultimately OU it is of course rala who dismantled the par base of those known as the Primeval Sorcerers something we can learn via Selin's personal enity of the carens if you recall I was exiled from The Academy of Rea lucaria it was for attempting to restore the Primeval current of blindstone sorcery the toothless pedantry pedal by the Karan royal family can rot for all her I want Glenstone sorceries that open our minds Unbound by terrestrial taboos even to this day the carens are still trying to wipe out this school of sorcery because selin is been hunted by jiren a retainer of the carens and presumably the one responsible for chaining up her True Body in the witch Bean ruins no doubt intending to return the moment the star started moving again and she could be killed for good and while selin is the most recent heir of this school she isn't the one that founded this in fact this can be traced back to two of the oldest Glenstone Sorcerers in existence lucat and Aur I need your help my Apprentice Master lucat is another founding Glenstone Sorcerer And like Master Azure he was banished from the academy now he languishes in prison somewhere my Apprentice can you find master lucat with this Glenstone key you should be able to cross the boundary that encloses him I need him to restore the Primeval current of Glenstone sorcery he's nigh a child of the Stars such is his body now ral's reasons for banishing this school of sorcerers is never explicitly stated however as always we are able to speculate with the evidence given to us firstly the methods used by selin and her predecessors are extremely dangerous and pretty abhorent and this is of course how selin earned her Monarch selin the Graven witch the term Graven is a reference to the so-called Graven schools or Graven Mass a horrifying Abomination that we can learn of via the Graven Mass Talisman which reads the Primeval current is a forbidden tradition of Glenstone sorcery to those who cleave to its teachings the act of collecting Sorcerers to Fashion them into seeds of the stars is another path of scientific inquiry we can find these horrifying Abominations throughout the lands between tortured beings and we can even find a dead one in real Laria itself in a room where we find azur staff suggesting that he created one within the halls of the academy itself imagine bonding humans together into this Frankenstein ball within the very Halls of the academy itself this no doubt would have caused a lot of Discord and resentment indeed the dialogue from Top suggests that s's expulsion from the academy was indeed tied to her grave inhabits selin was well known the most promising Sorceress in the history of the Academy I followed her at school but there may as well have been an ocean between us but selin was expelled from the academy accused of Unthinkable treatment of certain Sorcerers under the name of the Graven witch I still don't believe the accusations the illustrious selin would never do such things seems pretty straightforward however I do think there is another consequence of exiling the sorcerers and that is that rala got rid of some potential political opponents and solidified her control over the academy s describes both lcat and azur as founding Glenstone Sorcerers heavily implying that these Sorcerers are some of the ogs sorcerers who not only helped found R Laria but helped build the foundations of Glenstone sorcery itself indeed this seems more or less certain when we consider the carolus crown which names this school as the oldest and this school was founded by none other than azur so we really are talking about the Old Guard here Legends who help build the very foundations of the academy and sorcery in general to reinforce their prestigious position that they once held we can look to their robes which read the foll since the grand Masters azur and lcat were driven from the academy no one has achieved their formerly held rank so azur and lcat were Grand Masters a position which hasn't been held since they were expelled and this makes sense if it coincided with rala taking control as Governor a position that essentially made the role of Grandad Masters worthless and it changed the control of the academy from an oligarchy of these ogs to an effect effective monarchy real Laria thus transformed under renala her school of magic her brand of magic would become its own conspectus the lazuli founding your own school is really the mark of being a great sorcerer and again the fact that she is able to do this with her own unique brand of sorcery would definitely have helped solidified her claim to governess of the academy selin describes carrying magic as toothless pedantry a reflection of the fact that under her rule under ral's rule there was no Research into the Primeval current which people like selling see as the ultimate end goal of Glenstone sorcery as a whole and thus practicing magic without this end goal in Mind Is Toothless and so with this clash and ideals and the political aspect of it it is no wonder that Bala would get rid of these Sorcerers from the academy and with it her control was Secure I had previously mentioned that rala did other things to build up her par base all of which would culminate in her being able to declare herself as a queen and her house as a monarchy and so in this chapter let us discuss ker as a royal house and what its makeup is rala founded the house as royalty and so at this point I do want to tackle one of the weird parts of the lore something I've talked about in my previous videos and that is the fact that when rannie conjures the vision of rala that we fight in the stage two she refers to rala as the last queen of Kara and this is a little strange given that she's the only queen of karer she's the founding Queen but rany's language on a surface level seems to suggest that she is the end of a long line however once again Loki was able to provide me with an answer that I find quite satisfying Loki believes that rany's word choice here is a reflection of rany's view of the Karan monarchy and her place within it Loki point points to the ghost found in Cara Manor the ghost of a carrying retainer or Knight and its dialogue belays a certain expectation among carrying retainers that rannie would take the throne so to speak this expectation isn't particularly surprising given all we have discussed so far rannie was clearly being groomed as the air to ral's throne and so Loki suggests that this statement by rannie that rala is the last queen of Kara is a reference to the fact that rannie has no intention of becoming the queen of Kara ranie has her own path which goes far beyond being a queen and as such her mother is the only true Queen of the carens the last with that said let us now look at the forces that are under ral's command and I think what is interesting about the caran Royal House when compared to the Ary Royal house is the way that it enforces loyalty the Ary house very much did it through Conquest whereas the caran house and its vassals are more closely bound through Oaths of loyalty and chalc values the main state of caran forces is of course the legendary caran Knights that numbered only few something we learn of via the caran KN sword which reads these KN swords could serve as catalysts letting them wield sorceress battle skills despite numbering fewer than 20 this power made them a match for even the champions of gold in battle so these Knights are few in number but very elite and given the council chamber seen at the top of carrier Manor it suggests that they served as a sort of council as well although that is just my speculation based on Roundtable culture the caran knights also welcome trolls into their rank as evidenced by BS the caran troll Knight and the unnamed caran troll Knight found in Karan Manor this is a marked difference from how the majority of trolls are used in the lands between as the degenerate cousins of the Giants and hated enemies of the earthree realm they are generally used as slaves or manual labor however the troll Knights are treated with a sort of dignity and the troll knight sword item description highlights just how differently they were treated under the carens as it reads called into service when the queen invoked an oath they swore the trolls are treated as true Knights of Kara and fight arm inarm with their human comrades so in this Brotherhood the troll Knights are treated as equal to their human counterparts and this makes sense as the carens would not have the same enity for trolls that the archery Royals would because they didn't take part in the that war indeed if we remember the caran origins as astrologers both the ancestors of the carens and the ancestors of the trolls the fire Giants coexisted in peace on the mountaintops and so this partnership this welcoming of trolls into the ranks of knights is honoring that past and so culturally we can expect the Kens to have a more even-handed view on Giants and their kin and because of this they gain very powerful allies powerful Knights that served with loyalty but also gaining the guidance of the lake of e we learn via the hammer item description that the art of smithing originated from the Giants hence why e is such a skilled Smith himself jiren even comments on how useful these weapons were in Ran's war against the Scarlet rot and funny thing his swords were all plant as Stone but not one of them decayed when faced with a Scarlet rot again just another par asset for the caran Royal House an asset that would have been left on the table by the UR Trey because they view the trolls as nothing more than just slaves and while the Earth Trey force is clearly also armed trolls to be used as slave Warriors it's hard to compare them against the nightly trolls of the caran house who have been trained to use magic and serve not because they are slaves but because of a powerful oath and something I missed but Loki picked up on so again credit to Loki is that rala gathered other allies to her side through Oaths as well Loki highlighted the summons that rala uses in stage two of her fight with us rala summons Giants dragons and wolves and each time she does so she says come oath sworn so again these aren't just slaves or summons these are beings animals trolls and dragons that have sworn an oath of loyalty to rala that she then calls upon so I think you're starting to get the picture that Oaths are important to Karan culture they didn't just want people to serve them they wanted them to be bound to the carians through loyalty and Oaths the troll knight sword that we looked at obviously tells us that these Knights were bound to them by an oath and this of course makes sense because they are essentially Knights of this Royal house and in medieval history when you are a knight you are indeed bound to your Le through Oaths the term oath is also used in regards to another caran vassel jiren the Witch Hunter and Ali to General Redan we can learn of this via The Eccentric armor set jiren set which reads the following jiren preferred a nomadic existence but after spending time as a guest of the caran Royals he became a guest Commander for General Redan and for the first time the Restless Tumbleweed would be bound by an honorable oath these Oaths are described as honorable and they seem to have the effect of creating real ties of loyalty especially when you consider what jiren went through for the carens he stood by the degenerating Redan for God knows how long his dialogue that we quoted earlier where he discusses EG's weapons suggests he was actually serving by redan's side during the war against the Scarlet rot and he even assisted in putting General radan to his final rest all the while while having Salin tied up so he could fulfill his real oath which was to kill selin now the festival is over and general radan is defeated jiren's Duties are finally fulfilled though we served different Masters I could see he was truly Adept in his role now the time has come to remind him of an old promise made with a stars of fate set into motion a certain sorceress is dispossessed of her her immortality finally we can be rid of a longstanding Kian weed jiren is described in his armor set as someone who is a tumble weed who doesn't want to put down roots and yet because of the Loyalty that the carens Inspire he did put down roots and went through great effort to fulfill his oath to the family there is another rather interesting oath between the carens and another unusual Ally the challans and this is something we can learn of via the magic downpour item description which reads the following one of the sorceries of the caran royal family said to have been taught by the challans to Mark the swearing of the Old Concord as to what the details of this Concord was we can only guess beyond the fact Kens were granted a deeper insight into magic directly from these unusual beings we can also find crystallion present in Moonlight altar along side dragons again implying that rala established these Concords early on in her rise to power before settling down in car a Manor and that she somehow bound these unusual beings to her service rannie as a caran princess seems to continue this tradition of making her Oaths with her vassals this is most clearly seen in her relationship with her Shadow BL and this is in many ways the greatest illustration of the Loyalty that the Carion inspire ired as BL is already bound to rany in a cosmic fashion through the power of the two fingers I was once an imperian of the demigods only I Mika and Melania could claim that title each of us was chosen by our own two fingers as a candidate to succeed Queen Marica to become the new god of the coming age which is when I received blly in the form of a vassel tailored for an imperian and yet despite that rannie still requires blly to take an oath swearing loyalty to her not as an imperian but as his Le and we learn of this via the Royal great sword which reads in defiance of the Fate he was born into blle swore to serve no master but rany as proof the sword was imbued with he called Magic at the moment the oath was sworn BL literally ends up defying his own nature in favor of his loyalty to rank his words and his Covenant with her more powerful than the cosmic forces of the world the caran are even able to bind dragons to their will as evidenced by adula the dragon that guards rany and we learn from adah's moonblade that this dragon is specifically tied to ranie however ranala also summons an oathbound Dragon during her stage two fight with us implying that renala also bound dragons to her service in the same way and then when you look at Moonlight Altar and you see how densely populated it is with Dragons this makes sense I've always assumed that these dragons found on Moonlight altar apart from adulla are ones that the carens bound into their service this sort of chalc culture is the core of the karan's identity and is how they differ from the UR Trey monarchy and as a result while the Carion probably don't have as big an army as the urry forces we we can already see how they were able to put up such a fearsome fight they had trolls dragons and soldiers willing to die for them Bound in a sort of loyalty that the Ary forces could never know of course we can't talk about the caran chaler culture without discussing the most honorable Knight in the lands between Loretta we learn about Loretta via her armor set which reads the following Loretta was once a royal caran Knight and her lapsis lazuli blue cape is the emblem of the nightly Pride that continues to guide her of course Loretta is no longer in service to the carens and we can see this from Loretta's War sicle where her blue Glenstone of the Carion has been replaced with the unallied gold of Micha marking her change of Allegiance however as the armor set says while she no longer serves the caran house the chalc values that she learned under them is what guides her to be one of the most honorable people that we see in this game I think it's greatly implied that Loretta somehow stands above the other caran kns as is evident by her more extravagant armor and armaments and I've always assumed that the Phantom version of Loretta we fight in Cara Manor is a conjured version that rannie has made showing how valued she still is even in her absence and when fighting her it is clear to see why she would be so valued she is extremely powerful both in her martial proess and her spellcraft characterized by her fearsome magic bow yet Loretta of course is most well known for her quest to find a new home for the Alban orics this is what leads her to the halic tree and her service to mea Loretta's Mastery tells us that she traveled long and far to find a home for the Alban oric and given she is settled in the Hal tree changed her allegiance to Micha and we can find Alban orics in the consecrated snowfield it's heavily implied that Micha offered a safe haven for these Alban or and in return Loretta gave him her loyalty the consecrated snowfield became a sort of fabled land a legend to the aloric people a chosen land awaits us aloric The Medallion is the key that leads to the city it's only a quaint treasure for we who cannot make the journey but for dear latena it is needed to fulfill her purpose and this was all achieved by Loretta who clearly showed great compassion to the Alban orics now when it comes to the creation of the Alban orics as you will see in my nox and aloric lore videos I'm certainly of the mind that the aloric were originally created by the nox and I won't retrade that entire video here but a summary of my main reasons for believing so are as follows the NOS have an obsession with creating a lord of Knight there is a cut dialogue from tops that directly States stes that the Alor are a creation of the Eternal cities the NOS are well-versed in alchemy as is evidenced by the celestial duw and the puppet draft they've also worked with other silver beings namely the silver tear beings that can mimic things again suggesting that these beings these malleable creatures Were Meant to create an artificial Lord of night there is a cut dialogue featuring a mimic tier called aimi who directly states that again these silver teers are creations of the Eternal City and thus with all this together it isn't hard to believe that the Alan orics are another creation of the Eternal cities an artificial being created in the hopes of producing a lord of night however in that same video I did also touch on another connection that the Alban ORS have the connection to real Laria that goes beyond their heavy presence in this region zulie the witch did a video in which they revealed the silver armor of the female Alban oric once had a different description pre-release at one point the item description of this silver armor attributed the creation of the female aloric to real aaria and I will let pasmo describe what my thoughts on this contradiction is what is the truth behind their creation did the nox create them or was it a real larian or caran creation well the balance of Truth is for you to decide but I believe both could be true I do believe that they do originate from the work of the nox the evidence we looked at previously is too strong and the thematics fit very well however it could have been expanded upon by real larians and carians my belief is that the work did originate with the nox as an experiment to create a lord of KN but that the real larians and carens may weth piggy backed off it in an attempt to create Warriors and servants and this would explain why there are so many Alban Orcs in Leia specifically some serving the caran royal family and I more or less stand by this however since then my ideas on this have somewhat refined especially in my discussions with Loki where I had previously stated that the real aarian Sorcerers may have just replicated This research one for one Loki goes further to suggest that the female aloric specifically Mark the real aarian contribution to the research the female versions are more sophisticated being able to pursue combat in a way that the older ones are not able to whilst also retaining their intelligence unlike the second generation or frog aloric perhaps speaking to the fact that these are a second attempt or V2 and thus having more sophisticated results I am now however going to directly quote Loki's reasoning on the matter as I find it quite compelling female Alan orics are both young eloquent and unique Al given large wolves from mountain tops to raide same wolves leftovers from hilted experiments are left wandering around carria Manor in short they are carrying first generation built off nox's previous experiments or third generation aloric in general Loretta learns from observing these Adept wolf riding archers firsthand at Cara Manor I'm leaning towards the caran and real larians picking up the work established by the nox and that the f female version specifically may be a real aarian or caran refinement on the same formula but do you agree with Loki that Loretta is a human Knight who learned combat style from the Alban orics and thus grew to pity them or do you think that Loretta is the culmination of the caring refinement of the aloric formula and that she is essentially the ultimate aloric it is hard to Discount the similar styles of combat the horseback archery whatever you believe in the caran or real aaran vent in the Alban orics what is clear is that the caran Incorporated Alban orics into their service as is evident by Pia and other Alban orics found within ker Manor so now we can see why the caran would have been such a formidable Force when the urry forces would attack not only were they led by the most powerful Sorcerer of all time who had United the entire lands of Leonia under her control but she had loyal Elite Knights trolls crystallion and Dragons all sworn to her service never mind the resources of the academy and its Sorcerers as well as being led by renala the most powerful Sorcerer of an age Leonia had developed into a real power with its own culture and thus the stage would be set for the conflict that would become known as the wars of Leonia so if you've seen my Elden ring timeline video you know that I generally place the Le erian Wars as something that happened after the era of the earthree conquest that it happened quite a bit after the wars with the giant after the golden order was firmly established this would take a long time to fully explain once again as I've done it several times throughout my videos and so I will go through my reasoning as fast as possible so not to distract from the subject at hand firstly the leonan wars are not mentioned in Godfrey's armor set as one of his great conquests nor is he even mentioned to have taken place in the Le Ian Wars is all rigan and this implies to me that this is deep into his reign as Elden Lord a period where he is vowed to act more like a lord thus Radigan a champion is given command of the army there is also the barrier of gold incantation the description of which tells us that this was an incantation used specifically in the leonian wars by AR tree forces the casting Sigil of this incantation is the Celtic not looking version of the UR tree the sigil still worn by modern ER tree Knights again suggesting this war was waged at a time when Earth tree Society had been allowed to mature I also ascribed to the theory purported by tarnished archaeologist wherein you can trace the evolution of arye culture and history through the different classes of arye Miracles if you weren't aware there are three classes of incantations associated with the golden order and the the Earth tree and they apply the evolution of changing beliefs under the same system these incantation categories are the ancient Earth tree incantations which include any to do with the age of The Crucible or the age of Plenty then there is the categorization of herry worship which is what barrier of gold falls under and then finally there is the golden order fundamentalists and so given that the ancient urry incantations represent the a of Plenty and the age of The Crucible this must be the beginning of our tree culture on the other side we have the golden order fundamentalist incantations which are of course associated with Radigan second Elden Lord's Reign so this is near the end of the Tim Lane and so in the middle we have the Earth tree worship incantations to which barrier of gold belongs and again to me this is strong evidence that the leonian wars happened in the mid period of er tree rule I hope that makes sense and if you want a deeper look at these ideas I would recommend tarnished archaeologists Creeds of the earthree video from where I get this Theory and so let us return to the event of the lean War itself which we can therefore assume happened at the height of both the Erry and Leia's power while the Erry forces were clearly going to be the dominant military force in the lands between as we've discussed already the leonian Army was able to fight them to a standstill over two conflict we learn of this via the sword monument that details the second war which reads the second leeran war no victory for the golden nor for the moon no prize but atonement the birth of a vow we can imagine the carians were able to hold back the much larger arry armies through a few distinct advantages rala herself who at this stage will have been the most powerful sorcerer in the lands between the elite order of carrying Knights and and other oathbound allies and finally the defensive Advantage it wasn't one-sided of course Radigan from the Erry armies in particular is noted to have covered himself in glory during these conflicts as the sword Monument for the first war States the first leeran war radigan's Glory Burns as red as his hair and so while we don't get any clear picture about the conflicts in this war it was clearly a fearsome war between two kingdoms at the height of their power and it speaks to the power and Prestige of Kara and its Royal House given it was able to hold off this Mighty Empire by itself of course Radigan and rala would eventually make peace peace that was secured through marriage Radigan once cleansed himself with Celestial due repented his Territorial aggressions and swore his love to renala the order of the ER Tre and the fate of the moon were conjo joined and all the wounds of War forgiven before we go any further there is something really interesting in this dialogue Mariel states that the order of the earth tree and the fate of the moon were conjoined the fact he specifically talks about fate being conjoined with order is fascinating to me it makes me rethink some of my prior assumptions the telescope item description reads as follows during the age of the Earth tree carrying astrology weathered on the VIN the Fate once read in the night skies had been fed by the golden order I had always assumed that this was a reference to Redan halting the movement of the stars and arresting their movement as we do know this does affect the fate of the carens and we actually have to kill him in order to restart fate and free up rany's fate however from this dialogue with Mariel of order and fate being conjoined makes me think that this Union was something more than just a marriage between renala and Radigan that fate was also married to order and that somehow it was restricted by order being imposed upon it astrology is really important to the Kens and this is denoted by the fact the Karan preceptors seem to carry on the practices of their astrologer ancestry and the fact that rala was once herself an astrologer and Selin's dialogue that we looked at earlier makes it clear how important faith is to the carens but perhaps it was at this moment when fate was conjoined with order that the fate of the caran truly became restricted maybe it is little surpris that rannie despises the golden order so much and that she would strike out against them just something to think about when think about the wider consequences of this marriage I really do love the lower significance of the Church of vs Mariel tells us that it was constructed at a specific point within Leia in order to have both sight of R Laria and the Earth tree symbolically looking at the moon and the tree representing the union of the House of the tree and the house of the Moon after the church was constructed the marriage was prefaced with an old noxian custom the cleansing of oneself with Celestial du I do think it's important to analyze what happened here as it isn't merely a symbolic gesture there is actually a power to this ritual I discussed this already in this video and in more detail in my nox video but the nox essentially experimented with Alchemy we know that stars are tied to fate something expressed by the Amber Starlight Shard item description and Via Selin's Dialogue on fate and the caran family and thus to me both the puppet drafts of the nox and the celestial du likely manipulate fate latent within the stars for the puppet drafts they shackle the fate of those who em it and in the case of the celestial du fate is Rewritten animosity forgotten for example if I attacked BL and killed him to get a dialogue for my Lord video he would resurrect and permanently be aggroed at me however if I cleanse myself with Celestial due it's like he resets almost as if he has forgotten our previous conflict Our Fate has been realigned and this enity no longer exists I wonder if this contributed to how strongly rala felt about rigan it is clear that the relationship was initially political in Real History often a pact of Peace was solidified between kingdoms with a marriage between the houses and Elden ring is clearly no different however despite this it is clear that there was some genuine affection between the two Mariel describes how radican declared his love for the beautiful full moon Queen and then ral's armor set tells us how much she was devastated by him leaving her so she must truly have been in love with him but we will return to the collapse of the marriage at the end of this video for now I want to talk about the marriage itself as one of the more interesting points of lore within the entire story of Elden ring comes up within their marriage and this is the implication that rala knew the truth of rigan's identity that he is Marica I have discussed this in huge detail before specifically in my Radigan lore video which I would refer you to but I believe that Radigan was already America at the time of his marriage to R and again my full thesis on that is in my Radigan video however for the purposes of this video the main item of relevance is the mask of confidence worn by the caran preceptors it reads the following mask with the mouth SE and shut with gold thread when rigan married ranala he ordered the caran magic preceptors to Dawn these masks to make it clear that all of their matters were to be kept strictly private so I know others have argued that the preceptors are just keeping matters of State private but come on when we are talking about rigan there really is only one elephant in the room when we are talking about Secrets there's also the fact that when Radigan left rala he left her a fragment of the Elden ring the Amber egg as a Parting Gift how would a mere Champion gain access to the Elden ring and take one of its runs well the answer is he couldn't unless he was also Mara the god of the age Who Bore the Eld in ring so it it's quite interesting that The Masks of the preceptors are not part of their original outfit rather it's an affectation born of the caran association with the urry royalty it means that civis was also potentially privy to The Greatest Secret of an era just a nice little consideration this also means that when rakan and rala had children they are true demigods not just by virtue of rigan's later marriage where they became stepchildren Reichard and Ran's great runes say that they became demigods when they became the stepchildren of America through their father's second marriage however I just see this as a political excuse to cover the real truth that they were actually demigods by virtue of their birth during the marriage between rala and rakan we can assume that this was a happy time for both rala being blessed with her different children and grooming rannie to be her successor and eventually they would relocate closer to the shores of Leonia into Cara Manor as we've discussed before in an attempt not only to have a better more strategic location but also to strengthen the ties between these two kingdoms which had now been married into one another and as prosperous as we can imagine this period to be it obviously wasn't meant to last in this chapter I do want to focus on the collapse of the caran household and I won't be covering the children of Anala that much as I already have full erong videos on Reichard radan and rany and I I will link those below however in the context of the collapse of the house I do think it's important that we cover some of ranny's lore as I said in the previous chapter I assume that ranny's meeting with the dark moon when she was young happened when rala and rigan were still together because after rigan leaves rala it appears that she's completely broken and thus I would think incapable of introducing her to her dark moon I would also assume that rany meeting the snowy Crone would take place after Radigan and Allah's marriage fell apart and I think this for a couple of reasons firstly let's look at two bits of lore that cover this facet of the story firstly the snow witch set which reads once worn by the snowy Crone who the young rany encountered deep in the woods she was a witch and well-versed in cold sorceries it is said that the doll that houses rannie Soul was modeled after her that old witch was rany's Secret Mentor and now let's look at the description of the freezing spell which reads sorcery said to have been used by the old snow witch the snowy Crone taught the young Ranny to fear the Dark Moon as she imparted her cold sorcery so this mysterious witch became ranny's mentor and part of my reasoning for it taking place after ral's fall is because maybe rannie needed a new Mentor a new mother figure it is clear that this woman is important to rannie considering she completely models her new form after this figure perhaps this was because this Noy Crone was there for rannie when she needed someone when she needed some guidance secondly the freezing Miss description tells us that it was this snowy Crone who taught rannie more about the secrets of the Dark Moon again this suggests to me that this took place sometime after that initial meeting with the Dark Moon organized by renala it's just that this snowy Crone taught her the deeper secrets of the occult and the Dark Moon perhaps they fall of rany's house her father's abandonment of her mother in favor of the urry order is what led rannie to choose a different path resenting the herry order and all that it stood for after learning the secrets of the Dark Moon she would pledge herself to the age of stars and set herself on a path which would have lasting consequences for the lads between but with that covered we now need to talk about the main event that really heralded the end of the caring house as a serious power rigan's depart depure we know from Mariel that rigan's departure left rala essentially devastated the great and beautiful full moon witch sadly her heart was broken when Lord rigan left her and then when the academy rebelled against the Royals she was locked away in the grand library in the end lady ranala was left alone cradling the Amber egg Lord Ragan bequeathed her now she devotes herself to it through forbidden right the Grim art of reincarnation you would do well to remember severing a vow strongest of bonds has consequences ever more dire indeed this is how we see rala now broken kept in a sort of delusional Slumber by the lullab of her sweetings as to why she creates such beings it is again up to speculation there's the possibility it is just loneliness and that creating these beings gives her comfort and she's just using the last tool that her beloved rigan gave her especially when you consider it is their lullabi that keeps her suspended in this Slumber and as breaking this Slumber is what causes ran to intervene in the first place of course rigan's departure had more radical consequences than just breaking rell's heart it essentially led to the entire collapse of the caran royal family up until this point and as should be made made clear by this video by this point the caran Royal Family's power was based around renala not only through her unique and Powerful sorceries but through her General Charisma and statesmanship but with her basically out of action enemies would now finally be able to act and bring down the hold that the caran had over Leonia and we learn about the real larians essentially rebelling against rala via her own robes which read the following when rala head of both the Academy of raria and the caran royal family lost her husband Radigan her heart went along with him and then those at the Academy realized that rala was no champion at all in short it was a moment of weakness that was exploited by those at the Academy a chance to shake off her rule here was the powerful ruler that had dominated Leia and R Laria for years broken and weak and so they locked her up in the academy but even with rala out of the picture the caran royal family had powerful retainers at their command something we've already looked at and so the real larians would need some muscle and this is where the cucko come in the relationship between real lucaria and their soldy the cucko is described by the real Laria Soldier Ash which reads the following the soldiers of real Laria were also known as the cucko they were given free reign by the academy to wage war as they pleased and they were Infamous for their rapacious ways the academy had a sort of hands-off approach to controlling their Armed Forces indeed this may be due to the fact that the relationship between the academy and the cucko was closer to that of a mercenary Force rather than fty the Scholar's Armament spell reads the following taught to the Knights of the cucko by the academy as payment for their contract so here we learn of a contract between the real larians and the cuckoo sold soy and as such they were given free reign to wage war against the carens in any way they saw fit a brutal War we can assume given the rapacious reputation of the marauding cuckoo forces however we of course know the Kens are also brilliant strategist and so aside from their powerful Knights and Dragons and trolls they also unleashed the puppets against these rebellious upstarts and we can see this actually still happening on the Eastern side of learia again just another benefit of their ties to the noxian people however as this war ended up in the siege of Karam Manor we can assume that the cucus overwhelmed the leaderless Kens and they were held up in the Karan manner however it was at this stage that the carians were able to get a bit of a win as the sword Monument outside of Karam Manor reads the following the resting place of the contemptible cucko lost in the siege of Karam Manor indeed in a dialogue EG confirms that the Knights of the cucko were essentially slaughtered during the siege of Karam Manor thanks to these magical traps and no doubt a result of the defensive advantage that Kara Manor offered indeed we still see cuckoo soldiers being used by pedia or by civis as puppets within the manor I can't imagine being captured by anyone worse than civis or pedia being forced to drink a puppet draft and being their little toy marionettes forever yet despite this the caran power was clearly broken during this war as learia is quite clearly controlled by the cucko now as evident by their tents over the majority of its territory rala is locked away and any remaining caran forces have either scattered or are pinned up in Karan manner indeed dialogue from roier suggests that the Kens have been largely absent in the years past only recently returning to the ker Manor I have have some idea of rani's potential whereabouts there's a Manor to the north of the Academy of rehea lucaria it is the familial home of the Coran Royals from whom Ronnie descends there's been Talk of the old Royals vassals Gathering there in recent years Ron's whereabouts since the shattering are a well-kept secret she hasn't been seen even once but I suspect she might have returned to the manner in which she was born suggesting that while the carens reaped a bloody toll during the siege of Karam Manor this was essentially a victory for the cucko rule under the cucko in this area would be pretty brutal especially for the Alban orics as the aloric pot reads the Knights of the cucko do declare Behold thy defiled blood unlike any humor that flows in our grand realm suggesting that the cucko don't even see the alinor as human a sentiment shared by many as is described by the albor blood CL plot the greatest lore item in the game this is of course a stark contrast compared to caring rule as we saw in the previous chapters the caran would welcome almost everyone into their service as long as they would take an oath indeed we do have alinor still serving the carians now and I can't help but wonder if the albor under Karan rule in learnia were able to live in peace or a relative Harmony and it is only recently under the rule of the cucus and real Laria that they've began to be hunted the description of the alinor Silver Shield suggests that their main enemies are indeed Sorcerers suggesting they are often at odds with the real aarans and their cuckoo mercenaries indeed armed bands of Alban orc second Generations now control the area around real Laria where Academy Town used to be and again I can't help but think that everything was more harmonious under the rule of the caran royal family and its collapse has had disastrous consequences for the unity of Leia making it a very unstable region made only more unstable by the fire monks who have recently come down searching for the thief of fire seeing their mission as Paramount Beyond any idea of nationality or sovereignty and have thus occupied large sedes of Leonia as well I think it's fair to say that the unity of learia has certainly receded and indeed this might be the greatest Legacy of the Kens is seeing how bad it is now in Leia we can only imagine how strong and prosperous a nation it must have been to be able to resist the advancing erre Empire and how unified and strong it must have been under Bala in her hday ultimately this is all that's left of the caran dynasty of old their Queen locked up and broken their previous Holdings broken and abandoned the future of the caran lie with rany and while the Splendor of the family is long since passed they may yet reach new heights but it's clear they will never be what they once were and having studied the carians for this video and understanding how they bound an entire region of the map together through ideals of Oaths and loyalty it makes the fractured and divided state of Leonia now all the more interesting and while we often blinded by the glory of the earth tree royalty and their gods it is actually the carrying who really showed the lands between what it means to be Noble she was known as the Graven witch obsessed by the Primeval current countless Sorcerers fell to her hand the most dangerous Mage in the entire history of R laria's Academy it should not be forgotten that Glenstone sorcery is the study of the stars and the life therein Glenstone to many is just a source of sorceress power and yet to others it is an Avenue of research that leads down a dangerous but extraordinary path in today's lore video I'm doing something a little different instead of looking at an event or in a character we instead will be examining an esoteric theme that is formed from a loose connection of different lower threads ultimately what I wish to examine is the sorcery of glint ststone and the Primeval current and by extension its connection to the stars and the void Beyond the Primeval current is one of the great Mysteries of the game a nebulous concept that despite its elusive nature nonetheless manages to be a source of conflict the Primeval current is fascinating because its lower implications run much deeper than you may think it tackles the very nature and gestation of the Stars themselves and it reveals to us the existence of the Dark Void from which stars hail the Stars themselves are force that influence events in the lands between and so we must examine the influence that they exert through fate in my opinion these are some of the most difficult Concepts to grasp within the game and it can be easy to get lost in the vague and incomprehensible pieces of lore on the subject yet I hope you are ready to open your minds to the void my children of the stars for I believe I will provide you with a plausible and logical explanation of what this all actually means so with that said let us begin our exploration of the stars and the force of Fate that they exude Salin describes Glenstone sorcery as the study of the Stars and so it behooves us to understand a little bit about the celestial bodies before we cleave deeper into the Primeval current in the lands between the stars are intertwined with fate itself and to fully understand what this means let us first Define what we mean by Fate for me it means events that are predetermined by some outward force and is generally something out with the individual's control however we can learn that in the world of Elden ring the fates can actually have a far more active role in determining one's action in the lens between determining fate from the stars is linked to the real world belief known as astrology well what is Astrology within the real world well I find the following description from Scientific American to be an extremely concise one which will help us as a baseline moving forward in understanding this practice within Elden ring the quote reads as follows astrology is generally defined as the belief that astronomical phenomena such as stars overhead when you were born or the fact that mercury is in retrograde have the power to influence daily events in our lives and our personality traits so in a nutshell even in the real world astrology is the belief that the movements and positions of celestial bodies can have an effect on the actions that we take yet in Elden ring this idea is even more potent as we will further determine later in this video in the lands between fate could be observed and determined through this practice of astrology and we learned this from the the astrologer robe a armor set worn by one of the starting classes this gives you an interesting backstory for one of your new characters as the robe reads robe fashioned from Supple cloth worn by those who look to the cosmos above they read fate in the stars and are said to be Hees of the glint Stone Sorcerers but alas the night sky no longer cradles fate this cements the link between Glenstone sorcery and astrology both are essentially the study of of the Stars One observes the Fate that is written in the stars and the other Taps into the Primal source of the Stars however also mentions that fate is no longer part of the Starry Sky but we will discuss that later down the line regardless it suggests that astrology can tread the lines of Fate by observing the movements and positions of the stars and I just ask you to imagine the immense power that that could provide imagine if you could predict and see what happens next on your path you could build your power base accordingly and react to something that is yet to happen it is also suggested that if you follow the strand of Fate you can finally meet your destiny and that to achieve your ultimate goals and ultimate Destiny you need to follow these lines of fate or else you will not meet it and this is suggested as something that happened to rala Via the stargazing heirloom which reads A Talisman engraved with the legend of a queen the young astrologer gazed at the night sky as she walked she had always chased the Stars every step of her journey then she met the full moon and in time the astrologer became a queen so rala herself was essentially an astrologer who followed the strands of fate in stars and literally met her Destiny the moon which we know from ral's Full Moon's description would lead her to establish a dynasty and become the queen of the full moon this is exactly the potential the caran royal family would see in astrology no doubt encouraged by ral's own destiny being achieved a great destiny that it was important enough to the carens that they would devote resources and Manpower as the item description of the telescope reads astrology tool used by members of the Karan royal family a stolen part of a larger instrument during the age of the AR tree caran astrology withered on the VIN the Fate once W in the night skies had been fettered by the golden order so this tells us that the caran Royal Family Once utilized large telescopic devices to practice astrology and indeed we can see evidence of these types of astrological tools along the Ria larian Academy and they use these tools to determine their fate and with the information we learn about astrologers and preceptors later we get the picture that this was a major institution under caran patronage and indeed we later see rannie following these strands of Fate herself to her own destiny showing that is a practice still carried on by the caran arys herself however I want to look at another piece of Lord that the telescope provides us where it states that it essentially wethered and died the practice of astrology that is during the time of the Ury because the golden order fettered fate this is of course a reference to Star Scourge radan a member of the Karan Royal Family actually as well ral's own son yet very much a man of the golden order we learn of this event from none other than selin who we contact at cis's request when we are working for rannie this of course cements the connection between stars and glint Stone as we are going to a Glenstone expert for answers about the fate and the Stars she tells us the following the Stars alter the fate of the Karan royal family and the fate of your mistress Rani but long ago General radan challenged the swirling constellations and in a crushing Victory arrested their Cycles now he is the force that repulses the Stars if General radan were to Die the Stars would resume their movement and so too would rani's Destiny so the fate of the Karan in particular is linked to the stars and through astrology Kens would have been able to read and follow their Destiny and follow their Destiny to their conclusions but without fate they are unable to follow this Destiny to their conclusions so while ran is actually born of Karen royalty we know that he idolized God three and therefore the golden lineage through redan's armor set which reads the golden line is said to symbiz Godfrey the Elden Lord and his Beast region SOS from his youngest years Redan was naturally captivated by the lord of the battlefield in my mind it makes it patently clear that Redan would have been loyal to Godfrey's Legacy I.E the Ury order and this is in fact confirmed by the telescope description the golden order has halted the stars and that is actually a reference to Redan himself he is a golden order member why did Redan do this well the sword Memorial at Red meain Castle suggests it was to save Celia in an event called the star Scourge conflict Celia of course being the village of sorcery somewhere that Redan himself holds close to his heart as he studied there this gravitational magic that he becomes well known for what was this conflict well to me it suggests a couple of things it implies the movement of the stars in one way of another would have resulted in the destruction of Celia perhaps he was foretold this by an astrologer or perhaps a creature like a steel was heading its way or perhaps more simply much like what happens at the end of the Redan fight possibly a star was just heading the way to the town of sorcery and was just going to impact upon it regardless it looks like he was trying to stop the destruction of this town when he fettered the stars and by doing this he not only fettered the stars but he FedEd fate that is connected that is linked inextricably to the Stars fate is of course ultimately more than I suggested at the beginning when I quoted the American Scientific quote it seems to be an actual force that is linked to to control over one's actions and what destinies they are actively able to pursue if the flow of stars is stopped then those Futures those Destinies those lines of Fate are stopped we see this in two examples that I can think of firstly we see this in the progression of Ran's Quest her fate seems to be linked with renouncing her connection to the greater will and then bringing about the age of stars her agents you and bl are actually unable to advance her aims because you cannot reach the Eternal City of notron while her fi is arrested interestingly when fate is released upon the death of ran the path forward is physically opened by a falling star so it seems that following the strands of Fate can actually physically assist you but also rannie seeks the Finger Slayer blade and the description of this blade reads as follows the hidden treasure of the Eternal City of nocon a blade said to have been born of a corpse this Blood drenched fetish is proof of high treason committed by the Eternal City and symbolizes its downfall cannot be wielded by those without fate but is said to be able to harm their greater will and its vassels so not only does fate actually help ranie physically moved forward on her path but also metaphysically as access and use of the blade would have been prohibited all the while that fate was arrested the entire time that her fate is arrested rannie is essentially Frozen in time and unable to act to achieve her fate as cradled by the Stars her Fate has been disconnected from the Stars meaning she can no longer follow the strands of fate to her desired Destiny the age of stars cannot be achieved whilst fate is Frozen in place the idea that the Karan Royals fate and destiny was severed when fate was arrested is something reiterated by the preceptor robes which read as follows Glenstone Sorcerers are the descendants of astrologers a fact that the Carion remain aware of even if their fate has long been severed from the Stars so as an aside keep in mind that Glenstone Sorcerers are the descendants of astrologers as this is an important connecting thread between the subject matters of this video as dictated by Fate Ran's dark path that leads to her slaying her fingers clearly is a fate bound event that is linked to the stars as sellin describes it and this is one that rannie wishes to follow and so to be able to achieve this Destiny and follow the strands of Fate once more to this conclusion the movement of the stars must be resumed what is clear is that the force knowing his fate can have a powerful influence over an individual's ability to act we see this control more clearly through the actions of a nefarious individual who manipulates the power of Fate preceptor celus let us first analyze what we know about the preceptor he is of course a preceptor and we can learn about this class from the preceptor big hat which reads large hat with the movement of the Stars drawn inside the brim warn warn by the magic preceptors who served the caran Royals Glenstone Sorcerers are the descendants of astrologers a fact that the caran remain aware of even if their fate has been long severed from the stars the term preceptor means teacher and to me they are most likely experts and teachers in astrology given the fact that their robes and hats depict the movements of Stellar bodies which we learn is of course related to fate and we will later learn that cis's proclivities are tightly linked to the fate and the Stars so it is quite clear that he was once an astrologer himself these teachers most likely tutored others in the art and probably were the personal astrologers to the royal family I think the fact that rigan had their mouths symbolically sealed as described by The Masks of confidence meant they did operate very closely with the royal family thus it makes sense that rannie would have one by her side A preceptor who is able to read her Destiny and advise her on the matters of fate yet civis uses his familiarity with stars and fate to more Sinister Ends by Reviving an eternal City practice the practice of puppetry The Starlight shards are the ingredient used by civis to create his puppet potions and we know this because we fetch him an Amber Shard to craft a potion for Ronnie and he takes the shards in exchange for new puppets so with that in mind let us read The Starlight shards item description an ephemeral sliver that gives off a pale blue glow what remains of a passing flash of Starlight a prized item that was once used in the Eternal City as an ingredient in intoxicating drafts that of course being the intoxicating draft known as the puppet draft it also confirms that this is an eternal City practice and this is further backed up by the night maiden and sword mistress puppets which we find in Noella and these read an old puppet crafted in the Eternal City used to summon the spirits of a night maiden and sword mistress these sisters members of a cold-blooded race who wield flowing weapons became puppets of their own valtion so we know that the Eternal City in some ways are the precursor to the carens in regards to their study and worship of the night skies and so it makes sense that they too were able to manipulate the fates and create these puppets much as civis would later in this case it seems members of nox Society actually volunteered for this process showing they so fervently believe in the age of stars that they would sacrifice their own bodies one thing I want to note at this stage is that the nox and the Eternal City is evidently so closely associated with fate the moon and the stars and I do think they are important to the greater theme of the age of stars however I do want to keep this video kind of laser focused on the development of glint Stone sorcery and the stars and the Primeval current so they will not feature in this video beyond what I've already mentioned now they are due their own video and will most likely be the subject of the next video as I'm very interested in them so with that disclaimer at the way let us continue so what about fate how does this puppet process work and what does it have to do with our greater thesis on the Stars well let us look at another item description that lays be how fate is the critical factor in this process the Amber Starlight Shard and its description reads the following way an ephemeral sliver that gives off a pale Amber glow if the stars command our Fates then Amber huge stars must command the face of gods such is the belief that inspired the use of these shs to prepare a most special draft as such civis tries to make a puppet of rany because in theory it has command over the fate of gods so these puppet drafts abuse the connection to fate found within the stars and by em bibing it their fate becomes the will of someone else the will of whoever prepared the draft this is a clear manipulation of the Fate that is found within the Stars by creating this draft the Creator can actually take command of someone's own Fate by making them emide this this potion and I find it to be a fascinating perversion of the natural fate we find in the stars but what it does make clear is that fate is the key ingredient in these drafts that take control over someone it shows that fate can control the actions of an individual when Redan arrested the movement of the Stars he halted rani's ability to act in accordance with her Destiny and when manipulated it gives the manipulator to control the puppet's fate and therefore control their very actions speculation warning of this next little portion this is immensely significant when we think about the Amber shards in usual from soft fashion it actually doesn't make it clear whether this is actually a real idea whether this Amber Starlet actually could control a god firstly rannie never drinks it so we never find out and secondly it says this is the belief that inspired the use of these shards the belief so it's not a proven fact but what if it is true what if there are special Fates and special Stars that have the influence over Gods themselves in fact if you look at the Amber sterlite item itself it looks very very close to another thing we see in the game I've always wondered what the Amber blade or whatever that bisects and holds Mar within the Earth Tree to me very well could be an Amber Starlight Shard this of course speculation but what if she is being arrested using an Amber Starlight Shard this is how the great will has in fact had her imprisoned she cannot act because she is being manipulated by the fate of this Amber Shard much as a puppet would be by an Amber Shard draft that was just speculation but I've always found the Amber blade that bisects are very interesting and I do think it looks closely like the amber Starlight Shard speculation over let's move on why is this a thing why is fate actually dictated by the stars and how did fate actually affect anything why does it have power why is it an actual Force within the world well firstly we will learn that the Stars very much an actual Force Force within the world a force that actually contains life fate could be just a human term for understanding the power that is influenced by one of the many forces that operate in the lands between each of the outer Gods influence the world in their own way fate could just be the power that these Stars exude over the lands between does it have The Well of an outer God connected to it possibly my focus is primarily in regards to the stars but I think that the age of stars ending show there is at least a power or a force behind the Moon the stars and the cosmos and like we see in later in this video we will explore certain aspects of the life that can be found within the stars in short fate is simply another Force within the world that influences its agents and people within the worlds between without directly intervening itself consider the effect that fate actually has if it is allowed to run its full course we see that a it leads rala to the Moon allowing her to become the full moon Queen and in turn teach her daughter about the moon and B it will lead rannie to unleash the age of stars there isn't in game a motivation or perhaps just a natural conclusion to fate it seems there is a point to it and it does just seem as if it is just one of the many influences and forces of outside powers and beings that are kind of inscrutable but obviously have some kind of goal to affect the lands between to truly understand the stars and the role that they play in Elden ring it is essential to look at Glenstone sorcery and the Primeval current as we discussed astrology and glint Stone magic are linked they are both the study of the stars and so it is the glint Stone sorcery and the Primal current that we turn to now when it comes to Glenstone the best place to start with is selin for she is a master of Glenstone sorcery and it was her aim to study the deeper applications of Glenstone and this eventually had her cast out from the Academy of R lucaria Glenstone as we will learn is definitively linked to the prim eval current a force that was viewed as exceptionally dangerous as were the methods employed by those who study it selin makes it clear that she will Cho Us in Glenstone sorcery primarily and this is the primary medium that is used by the larian sorcerers to cast their spells indeed Glenstone does appear to be the main form of sorcery practiced by the scholars of R lucaria and I take this from the lazuli Glenstone Crown which reads as follows Scholars of the lazuli conspectus study caran sorceries a heterodox Pursuit that views the moon as equal to the Stars indeed it does seem that Glenstone was the main finding sorcery of the academy in my opinion as evidenced by the use of the word here heterodox which essentially means contrary to Orthodox so as a result it would imply that putting Glenstone sorcery on the same level the moon was not the Orthodox way and the Orthodox way was in fact that Glenstone was the primary source of sorceries the idea that Glenstone sorcery is of course the Orthodox practice of sorcery is backed up by the fact that the crowns of the scholars are adorned by glint Stone as well as the fact of the Robes of the riol larian sorcerers which read those who dedicate themselves to the study of glint Stones formed from a star Amber receive this modest yet elegant deep blue Garb along with their vows of virtue and austerity most of the ri larian Scholars do wear these blue robes and interestingly it is the lazuli Sorcerers who wear the white ones there is a difference but the majority are ones that study Glenstone however despite it being the main medium of R larian magic evidently it was the way in which it was utilized which defines the different skills of magic that are represented by all the different Glenstone masks that are no doubt fashioned after the likeness of their Founding Fathers as well as other groups of sorcerers such as the crystal Cadre that is mentioned in the crystal burst spell the presence of the debate parlor that is set up in two rows of seats facing each other implies that Fierce debates and ideas would be exchanged between members of these schools and thoughts thought Salem belongs to an extremist School of primeval Sorcerers a certain class of glint Stone Sorcerers that believe that glint Stone isn't merely a sorcery but a medium that can be used to open one's mind to the abyss so what is glint Stone itself why is such important place on it well a few lessons in cah describes the glint Stone as the following our art draws upon the powers embedded in Glenstone but what is the nature of such power Glenstone is the Amber of the cosmos golden Amber contains the remnants of ancient life and houses its Vitality while Glenstone contains residual life and thus the Vitality of the Stars it should not be forgotten that Glenstone sorcery is the study of the stars and the life therein a fact lost on most Sorcerers these days to help us comprehend the nature of this material she Compares it to Amber and of course this Amber is most likely the Amber of the earth tree as described in various talismans such as the vidiian Amber Medallion which reads as follows a medallion with a vidiian Amber inlaid the Earth tre's old sap becomes Amber treasured as the most precious jewels in the age of Godfrey the first Elden Lord a primordial Life Energy resides inside as sellin says the Amber preserves ancient life most likely life from the primordial Crucible given the word primordial is used in the aformentioned Amber Medallion the interesting thing here firstly is that it is compared to essentially the Amber of the Ury the Earth Trey and the stars are often seen as opposing yet similar forces and this is why is analogous to it for while there's Amber for the AR Trey there's glint Stone from the stars and it is interesting because you can track back these analogies to different aspects of both forces Salin curiously says that analogous to this glint Stone contains residual life and thus contains the life of the Stars the primordial life contained within the Amber grants the bearer a modicum of its powers to improve vitality and fitness and likewise glint Stone can be used to harness the residual life of the Stars to extraordinary results resulting in the power that we see in Glenstone sorcery so Glenstone while not containing the actual Stars themselves seems to contain their residual essence or an imprint of their life energy that can be harnessed to great effect Salin expands upon this in her final dialogue of her Quest where she says do you recall what once I told you that Glenstone is the Amber of the cosmos and sorcery is the study of the stars and the life therein so Glenstone having the residual energy of the stars is therefore the study of the life contained within the stars because it contains an imprint of that life so how is this actual material formed Amber is formed from the sap of the AR Trey as we saw from the Amber Medallion and essentially it coalesces from the runoff as direct from the tree itself in this way glint stone is similar in that it is formed from the runoff of the stars and we learn about the materials formation within the lands between from the founding rign of stars which reads as follows the eldest primeval sorcery said to have been discovered by an ancient astrologer a sorcery of legendary status summons a dark cloud of stars overhead shortly after the cloud will release a violent Deluge of star rain this sorcery can be cast in motion thought to be the founding Glenstone sorcery the glimpse of the Primeval current that the astrologers saw became real and the Stars Amber rained down upon this land so this spell itself is a reflection of the beginning of Glenstone sorcery and the oldest of the Primeval sorceries itself again highlighting this intrinsic link between the glint Stone and its primeval current let's now walk through the important event that this item description details an astrologer someone we know studies the threads of Fate within the Stars somehow glimpsed at the Primeval current this glimpse of what he saw the glimpse of the Primeval current that the astrologer saw became real and then the glint Stone rained down upon the Mortal realm the astrologer looked into the Primeval void the Primeval abys of the Stars itself and it became real manifesting the reign of the Stars let's look upon the spell itself it seems to open a cloud of nebulous energy and releases a downpour of star rain so what the astrologer must have glimpsed when he looked into the Primeval current was this dark nebula and we will discuss near the end of this video what staring into the Primeval current seems to actually be but what is the Vitality of the Stars what residual life does the glint Stone contain well we do actually meet a star in game and this is a steel also known as Natural Born of the Void or stars of Darkness a Steel's remembrance reads remembrance of a steel Natural Born of the void a malform star born in the flightless void far away once destroyed an eternal City and took away their Sky a falling star of L Omen so AEL is referred to as a malformed star and again a star of L woman cementing the fact that a steel is actually a star but an atypical one given the use of the word malformed meaning that we can assume that the other stars within the void are actually far different from a steel and maybe not even as alive as he looks but nonetheless he is a star and this is of course reinforced by the bastard star item description which confirms that a steel is a star due to the fact this item is made from Star debris of ael's body is it possible that the residual life can contain within the glint stone is like that of a steel and his more regular star kin I believe so and so it makes therefore easier to understand the nature of the life energy that we find preserved within the glint Stone the Amber of the cosmos there is actually life within the stars and it also hearkens back to what we talked about fate now that we understand there is actually life and Consciousness and thought within the Stars it makes it easier to understand why fate could be used to control ponds within the lands between as sellin said the glint stone sword sorcery is a study of the stars and the Very use of that sorcery is an act of unlocking the secrets held within the glint Stone and thus the Stars so to me the toothless peasantry pedal by the caran Royals that she talks about must be the more mundane view that Glenstone sorcery is just another form of magic that can be used in equal balance with that of the Moon rather than seeing Glenstone as a way to unlock the secrets of the abys that Salin sees it as I think the ultimate aim of the Primeval Sorcerers of which Salin is of course one is to ascend to Star hood and I think that her Studies have already been successful to a degree so to help illustrate this fact I want to refer back to the ri luaran sorcerer robes as it mentions something interesting it mentions extended life I believe that their close proximity to Glenstone and this is just speculation of course would have had an effect on the body much like handling a radioactive material and as such they are affected by the glint Stone and therefore the cosmos in a way and to me this is what we see when we talk about sellin's Primal Glenstone this description tells us that this is in essence her soul and it is transferable I speculate that through her studies she has transformed her own soul so that it too is a sort of Amber where the residual life of sellin is contained within this glint Stone where the regular glint Stone holds the life of stars her Primal glint Stone holds her very soul and thus she is effectively Immortal while this Primal glint Stone exists indeed I assume that azur and lcat have done something similar as we can see their body is almost completely glint stone at this stage everything the Primeval Sorcerers do seems to be a step in making themselves closer to the Stars lat and Aur and now as we can see zelin augment their bodies with glint Stone making themselves closer to the stars that the glint Stone contains this type of scholarship and thinking has clearly been driven out by the caran royal family and the academy in general as we can see from the Exile of LCA azur and selin all of the Primeval Sorcerers driven out despite them all actually being prestigious Sorcerers at one time or another azur and lucat both wear Grandmaster robes suggesting they once held positions of great Authority within the academy and Salin seems to been held in a similar regard as we see her in paintings alongside the likes of rala throughout the academy and indeed thops knows that she is an illustrious and well-known student one of the greatest of RI Laria we earn the trust of the Graven Witch by coming into contact with her old Mentor primeval sorcerer azur azur appears to us almost catat iic a yet he cell seems to react to our presence enough to award us with Comet azur a primeval sorcery and the sorcery's description gives us a really clear insight into what this primeval current is and what primeval sorcery is all about but let us return to that in a moment regardless despite the bizarre and alien nature of our interaction with Aur Salin is now willing to trust us as it seems that azur has passed judgment on us and found us reliable selling then unveils the true nature of primeval sorcery and the reason of her study of Glenstone so it firstly gives us a little history lesson on primeval and Glenstone sorcery if you recall I was exiled from The Academy of Rea lucaria it was for attempting to restore the Primeval current of blindstone sorcery the toothless pedantry pedal by the Karan royal family can rot for OA I want Glenstone sorceries that open our minds Unbound by terrestrial taboos no matter what we give in return Master lucat is another founding Glenstone Sorcerer And like Master azur he was banished from the academy now he languishes in prison somewhere my Apprentice can you find master lucat with this Glenstone key you should be able to cross the boundary that encloses him I need him to restore the Primeval current of Glenstone sorcery he's nigh a child of the Stars such as his body now azur and as we later learned lat were founding Glenstone Sorcerers meaning that they were among the first who saw Glenstone as a medium of sorcery and while they would pursue it to its deepest recesses of study the Karan royal family would promote a toothless and reductive skill of this Magic based on their findings she also tells us that the ultimate aim of the Primeval skill of sorcery is to restore the Primeval current of Glenstone and somehow open our minds Beyond terrestrial tabos we can see this opening of the mind when we visit LCA and azur these are the Primeval Sorcerers who have taken their studies into glint Stone to the next level we see that their bodies are covered and augmented with glint Stone it is more than just an adornment as we learn from the description of azor's crown which reads crown of azour primeval current sorcerer set with a prominent blue green glint Stone this crown replaced Azura's brain and skull alt together and now removed from his body it is all but dead what power remains within raises the potency of Air's primeval current sorceries we also find that the description for lat's Crown is more or less the same and so let us examine the ramifications of this piece of lore lat and Aur have essentially replaced their brains with glint Stone meaning their mind is literally glint Stone and therefore connected to the Vitality of the Stars One cannot help recall selling statement about opening our mind Unbound by terrestrial tabos I think it is fair to say that whatever lcat is are experiencing within their Glenstone minds are something far beyond our mortal perceptions and it in turn explains the alien interactions that we have with them both God knows how they perceived our rival and perhaps they did not perceive Us in the mundane sense that a human would sense rather perhaps the lines of fate or the lines of the Stars revealed to them that this was the moment to impart their sorcery it of course just speculation but one can't find these interactions to be rather curious when in fact we learn that their minds are no longer actually brains but in fact made entirely of Glenstone one can't help but wonder what they see think and feel on a daily basis indeed Salin even comments on Master lat's form indeed in her final dialogue she refers to herself and followers as Fallen Children of the stars and that with horning the Primeval current they can Beam with Brilliance once again so it clear to me that these primeval Sorcerers yearn to connect to the stars and even become one of the Stars themselves and to this end lat and azur have replaced most of their bodies with a material connected to the Stars themselves they are children of the stars sellin is now the continuation of the Primeval sorcerer line a self-professed child of the Stars she doesn't see herself as someone on the Mortal plane who should be confined by terrestrial taboos as she calls it in our initial conversation with her about Glenstone and the Primeval current her expulsion title the Graven witched is actually well earned but it can be quite easily missed by the player what she has actually done wrong I admit on my first playthrough I was believed that she was being persecuted mely for her beliefs beliefs that weren't in line for those of the royal family yet jiren a witch hunter of the royal family lays a heavy charge at her door she was known as the Graven witch obsessed by the Primeval current countless sorceress fell to her hand the most dangerous mage in the entire history of R laria's Academy he calls her the most dangerous sorcerer in all of Ray larian history and that she has a body count essentially she is the Graven witch Graven meaning an engraven in stone and it directly relates to the Graven school or Graven Mass which are the odd glint Stone multi-head enemies that we find in the lands between let's not be her in the bush any longer and find out what these things are we learn the truth from the Graven School talisman which reads as follows a Talisman depicting a school of Graven Mages the nightmare of the academy the Primal current is a forbidden tradition of glint Stone sorcery to those who cleave to its teachings the act of collecting Sorcerers to Fashion them into the seeds of stars is but another path of scientific inquiry so the horror of these enemies is fully revealed in their obsession with reactivating the Primeval current and becoming Stars themselves they have committed horrific human experimentation remember Salin considers Earthly tabos as meaningless as a description of the Talisman reads this is just research to them too important to be confined by human morality which they no longer really see themselves as part of humanity we learned further from the Graven Mass Talisman that the Graven Mass was the first of the Graven schools and it continued to haunt the academy and indeed we do find the Graven Mass within the academy the first attempt at a Graven school it is in what looks to be a sealed off and guarded room that is guarded by a page of the academy it is a room filled with crystals and the Graven mass at its Center interestingly it is also where we find the staff of Aur himself this makes sense because azur is a founding Glenstone Sorcerer And one of the first primeval Sorcerers it is most likely that it was he who pioneered this method of Graven schools if I'm allowed to speculate with the environmental storytelling and the item that we find here I would suggest that Glenstone was used as the power source to complete such a ritual and given asur staff's present it was most likely that he oversaw this first experiment and this was the action that L seen him expelled from the Academy's Gates returning to the Talisman it says that it continu continues to haunt The Academy evidently this was a failed experiment as the corpse of this tortured being stares at us with dead eyes it lies there limply as a corpse of an horrific abominable experiment no doubt scared of the potential risk for harm or accident the academy has just sealed off this chamber rather than try and clear it out a stark Monument to the Ambitions of Aur and the Primeval Sorcerers we can see that there's evidently some method to the madness Glenstone is connected to the stars and so attempting to make a living star from its power as if it is a catalyst or a seed for a new star so they can all Ascend together as one amalg star does make sense in a way given that Glenstone is connected to the Stars indeed in the grave Mass lab we can see Star stuff in the air as if the pure concentration of Glenstone magic is opening some kind of connection to the Stars this is also interesting if we look at it in conjunction with something that we've seen sellin say previously she was banished for attempting to restore the Primeval current of Glenstone sorcery this suggests that the Primeval current has been active already and indeed if we look at the Primeval sorceries of Aur and lcat then it seems that both were able to touch and activate its power in some way it is possible that upon the creation of this Graven Mass azur did connect to the Primeval current as described in common Aur and we can speculate that this is actually when he experienced what is described in Comet aer's item description having looked at these beings Selin's title of Graven witch makes sense now as the Graven witch she clearly was Notorious for forging new Graven skills in an attempt to forge a star seed and connect to the Primeval current Selin's final fate makes it clear that these are at least sem semiconscious Sorcerers forged together with glint Stone masks making sorceress Pairs and glint Stones as the main ingredients for this being thops confirms that she was in fact accused of abusing and mistreating other sorcerers sinin was well known the most promising sorcerous in the history of the Academy I followed her at school but there may as well have been an ocean between us but selin was expelled from the academy accused of Unthinkable treatment of certain Sorcerers under the name name of the Graven witch I still don't believe the accusations the illustrious selin would never do such things interestingly her connection to the Graven schools is cemented by the presence of her painting in the room with the Graven Mass the sole painting of any sorcerer in the entire room yet we can clearly see that the Graven schools have not worked and instead of been Stars they are horrific Abominations spewing uncontrollable Magics jiren's accusations now take on a new Sinister Hue and as much as sellin May treat us with kindness as her pupil it is clear that she views much of traditional morality as a hindrance yet what is the purpose of these graveen mask schools well the talismans make it clear that they are meant to be star seeds so I believe that the intention Behind These Graven mass is that they will Forge and become a new star this clearly is the aim of sellin herself as she states at their final dialogue that she and her followers are children of the stars do you see this the queen of ker is no more with the bodies of Masters as zor and lcat returned the academy can hone the Primeval current so that we Fallen Children of the Stars shall Beam with Brilliance once again this is the ultimate and pable fate of selin and her mentors selin tells us upon her victory that the bodies of lcat and azur have been returned to the academy and so the Primeval current can be reached again yet where are they we never actually see them indeed we see that lat and Aur are gone from their original locations and ominously their crowns are left behind would you so easily leave your brain and skull behind after Selin's Triumph if we rest or return to the area later we find that she is absent and the full moon Queen is restored Salin is apparently nowhere to be seen at first and this is until we turn to the side and notice a Graven skull and one of the faces on this graving skill stands out from the rest a witch's glint Stone mask at the top right of the Graven school and upon talking to this thing we can confirm that what is ever left of sellin is now a constituent part of the Graven School my friend I before I fully understood what the Graven schools were I believed rala had a hand in s's fate here and indeed given ral's ability to rebirth it is possible that she still rebirth s and her followers in a type of fitting and ironic punishment but in my opinion given what we actually know about selin I think it is selin that did this to herself she is the Graven witch after all with someone who has the knowledge to produce such Abominations she has told us her plan all along to restore the Primeval current and Ascend to Star hood and in fact one of the last things that she says before we don't see her anymore in her human form is that she and her followers will once again Beam with Brilliance and I believe that she then attempted to form herself into a graveen school she needed lat and azur for this to restore the Primeval current why did she need them we never actually see why she needs them after I was hunting them down for her my conclusion she believed that with Sorcerers such as lat and azur people that were essentially star children that this Graven skill would finally be a success and she and the others that formed the seat alongside azur and lcat would Ascend to the Stars so I believe that lcat azur and selin are all making up part of this grave in school yet from her pain dialogue as the grave in school we can see that she finally understands the futility of this ridiculous practice and it is ironic that she will be forced to exist this way with the Primeval current far Out Of Reach let us now speak on selling Shadow throughout her Quest jiren why is jiren hunting selin what are his real motivations well to me it is a result of Selin's own motivations she sees the caring as an obstacle to achieving her ultimate aim she cares not for the toothless pedantry pedal by the Karan royal family and in fact at the end of her Quest she does usurp the caran royal family so it makes sense that jiren as someone who serves the Karen royal family would want to stop selling jiren is in fact the agent of the Karen royal family and we do learn this from his armor set in case you were unsure as to why I'm saying that as I highlighted via the lazuli glint Stone mask caring schools of thought place the moon on equal footing with Glenstone and this very idea must have infuriated primeval Sorcerers such as selin who saw the glint Stone as the source of everything important the source of the Primeval current the most important thing to selling and so we come to the Crux of the entire video what is the Primeval current warning what follows is a lot of my own speculation and deduction but I do believe it leads to a logical and satisfying conclusion I believe that sellin gave us the answer in some of her dialogue right near the beginning of her Quest she says she wishes to restore the Prime Evil current of glint ststone the Primeval current is something that is connected to the glint Stone itself and in tandem with the Primeval sorceries the answer to me is this the Primeval current is a current of energy that flows through and can be harnessed in Access through Glenstone and the current connects to the primordial birthplace of the Stars the void the aim of the Primeval Sorcerers in my mind is to connect with the Primeval current access this primordial birthing place of the stars and become Stars themselves some of the Primeval sorceries for me are the best evidence for this hypothesis let us look at the stars of Ruin item description which reads when lat glimpsed into primeval current he beheld the final moments of a great star cluster and upon seeing it he too was broken so looking into the current has been able to look beyond our terrestrial lands and into the void of the Stars themselves it is a current that allows one to connect to this far off void Abyss Where Stars exist leading one to witness extraordinary Stellar events like lcat did in this instance when lcat beheld the Primeval current he witnessed the death of an entire group of stars and invent so incomprehensible beautiful terrifying and mind-blowing for a human to witness that he was left broken now let us look at the comet azor's description which reads legendary sorcery devised by azur primeval sorcerer fires a tremendous comet in a torrent akin to the dis Starry expanse the place said to be the origin of Glenstone when azur glimpsed into the Primeval current he saw Darkness he was left both Bewitched and fearful of the Abyss so the first thing of relevant is that it says torrent akin to the Dy star expands the place said to be the origin of Glenstone the origin of the Stars themselves looking at the spell it does look like a torrent a current and when I first heard the word primeval current I did imagine it to be a stream of metaphysical energy that doesn't necessarily exist in one set place or time it is something that connects to where the stars are formed and indeed the wording of this Spell implies that it is a fa simile of the current itself a primeval torrent of energy that can be accessed through the glint Stone and again by reaching and looking into this metaphysical energy source through Glenstone azur was able to Glimpse the birthplace of the Stars the distant Abyss so that leads us on to the next point of interest is that we quite often get reference to the the Primeval current being associated with a Darkness or Abyss as I've said when you look into the lore connected to the Primeval current it becomes ply clear that this energy source connects to the void in which stars are formed and by peering into it by reaching into it by connecting to it the Primeval sourcer may get a glimpse of that deep dark of the void that is something so beyond and incomprehensible to the human world and in this void they can witness the death and birth of stars this too is reflected by the founding rign of stars s that we looked at earlier whereby connecting to the Primeval current the mentioned astrologer opened a rift to the abyss and from that Abyss fell the glint Stone one thing that may help to illustrate and add to this discussion is the original Japanese of the founding reign of stars and how it more clearly connects in Japanese to a steel and the void in general once again like I did in my last video I rely on my fellow content creator last protagonist who was kind enough to translate the following item descriptions for me their Channel coverers l and ring in depth looking at lore translation and NPC triggers and I highly recommend that you check them out and thank you again to last protagonist when I asked protagonist to review the founding rain of stars item description they made it clear that while it is a decent translation it does Miss out a linguistic link to the word darkness and that this item description says something along the lines of call a nebula of darkness in the sky adding to this he claims that the same word for dark n is quite often used in association with a steel who most closely translates to spawn of Darkness rather than Natural Born of the Void furthermore in line with this idea of Darkness they translated ael's remembrance as the following Rememberance of the spawn of darkness in the distant past a star malformed was born in the lightless darkness it destroyed the Eternal City long ago it's a malevolent Comet that stole the sky from them again big big thanks to last protagonist this simply isn't something I can look at myself and I will link their Channel below so again this reinforces the idea that there is an abyss or void that is connected to the birthplace of the Stars darkness is clearly associated with being such as a steel given we can make waves of Darkness Ash of war from a Steel's remembrance more importantly it creates a linguistic link between the Primeval current and a steel given that it is linked to reign of founding Stars which is of course one of the Primeval sorceries and to AEL both using the term Darkness quite clearly in their descriptions this will reiterate what I have said already the Primeval current links to the source of the Stars a place of Darkness a void an abyss that birthed a steel much as it birthed the founding reign of stars the source of all glint ststone the Primeval current is the energy source that Taps into this primordial birthing place of the stars and by channeling the power of Glenstone one can connect to the primal current and thus reach into the void Where Stars themselves are gated therefore the aims of the Primeval Sorcerers are not completely insane are they by touching the source and energy of the Primeval Stars surely they could become a star themselves couldn't they one final note I will end on is whilst it makes it clear that the Primeval current is connected to this primodial birthing of the Stars I think we aren't meant to fully comprehend what it is the whole point of cosmic horror as is described in bloodborne and in this game is that you aren't meant to fully understand it the Primeval Sorcerers don't fully understand it we learned that loat has mind is blown by what he sees when he Taps into the Primal current but what is important to remember is that Primal current is something that can be channeled through Glenstone sorcery and through channeling and reaching into the Primeval current we can view a place that is far removed from the terrestrial bounds of our Earth a place in which the Stars themselves are formed and born Elden ring in many ways may appear to be a classic Fantasy game and yet beneath that surface we find a lot of cosmic lore interwoven masterfully to create a fascinating story incredible beings like Estelle and the Mysterious plots of the nox before the final reveal of the Elden Beast these are extremely Pleasant reveals to the first time player who may not have expected such elements to exist in this world but with these more Cosmic elements come questions like bloodborne part of the appeal with these Grand Cosmic plots is that they are meant to feel beyond our comprehension the crystallion the cataclysm of the Eternal cities and Estelle Natural Born of the Void these are all subjects we can understand on a surface level but they do offer some unusual and challenging questions in the lore why did Estelle destroy the Eternal City what what brought a stale to the Eternal City what are the crystallion and who made them what is gravity magic how can aale jump from point to point during our fight why is there an onyx Lord and an alabaster Lord in this video we will be exploring questions like this and some of the deeper themes found in Elden ring regarding the cosmic elements of the story so join me this week as we explore the various Cosmic elements found in Elden ring i' would like to give a shout out at this point to quag and V limit whose videos were both highly influential on many of the base ideas found in this video I will reference him directly at certain points but I think it's important to note that their videos Have Been instrumental in my own basic understanding these Stars remain distant to the denisons of the lands between as they do for us in the real world and the astrologers of an earlier age would locate to the mountain tops of the GI SCI in order to be closer to the subject of their study the fascination with the Stars would continue throughout the history of the lands between in fact it would become Central to many communities identity such as the Sorcerers of Ria lucaria and to the banished nox and in some ways the silver Power of the stars is seen as an opposing Force to the gold of the greater will we learn that the stars are born in a lightless void via the description found in Estelle's remembrance we assume that this is the same abys witnessed by azur as the description of A's Comet reads when azur glimpsed into the Primeval current he saw Darkness he was left both Bewitched and fearful of the Abyss so it is fair to say that the stars are far removed from the mundane plane of existence being born and existing in a dark abyss this of course makes us think of the stars in our real world which exist in the Dark Void of space No Doubt what this Abyss is alluding to that being said the Primeval current seems to offer some kind of metaphysical connection to said Abyss meaning it may not exist the same way specially as our space does in real life and if you'd like a full look at the Primeval current and how it may connect the lands between to the realm of the stars then please take a look at my primeval current lore video and yet while the Stars remain far removed physically and metaphysically fortunately there is a medium in the lands between that allows Sorcerers to connect with the Stars in a different manner I am of course referring to Glenstone indeed we find Crystal Glenstone growths all over the lands between mostly in learia of course and thankfully we do have some in-game lore as to how this material came to be on the Mortal plane the founding Glenstone sorcery founding rain of stars repat reputedly describes the event as how Glenstone came to be here and the description reads as follows the eldest primeval sorcery said to have been discovered by an ancient astrologer summonsed a dark cloud of stars overhead shortly after the cloud will release a violent Deluge of star rain thought to be the founding Glenstone sorcery the glimpse of the Primeval current that the astrologer saw became real and the Stars Amber rain down on this land in short what this describes is that an astrologer someone researching into the Stars managed to Glimpse or connect with the Primeval current and as a result a dark nebulous space Cloud appeared overhead and Rain Down star rain I find it interesting to note that the glint stone or the element of the Stars that's released here onto the land is described as a liquid as star rain mainly because of the the form that we see glint ststone taking in the lands between in game that of Crystal growths in the real world crystals grow or form usually when superheated liquid rock begins to cool and Harden and the molecules arrange themselves in a uniform fashion and they can grow larger as more and more molecules are added to this Arrangement so again it's a nice attention to detail that from software described the initial Deluge as a liquid so we can presume that this Star Energy rain down as a liquid and then would begin to harden Harden into glint Stone Crystal of course this Crystal is very different from the crystals we'd expect in real life as it is no ordinary liquid that is inside these crystals and indeed sellin educates us on the very nature of Glenstone Glenstone is the Amber of the cosmos golden Amber contains the remnants of ancient life and houses its Vitality while Glenstone contains residual life and thus the Vitality of the Stars it should not be forgotten that Glenstone sorcery is the study of the stars and the life therein so Glenstone is like an Amber that contains the residual Life Energy of the Stars simply put this is crystallized star stuff and that is why selin and her fellow primeval Sorcerers don't want people to forget that this isn't just magic but is literally the study and manipulation of stars and of course stars are essentially in a constant state of thermonuclear fusion and they produce vast amount of energy and radiation and therefore it is no surprise that glint Stone containing the energy of the Stars behaves almost like a radioactive material given that stars and radioactivity give off so much energy it is no surprised that Glenstone is the perfect medium to power sorceries however we can see the radioactive nature of glint Stone when we look at how it affects organic beings that interact with it over a period of long exposure firstly we have the glint stone dragons there are many found on top of moonlight altar but specifically there are two named members of this subrace known as smag and adula both adula and smag are literally suff with glint Stone not only has it warped their bodies with Crystal growths protruding from their skin but it has also tainted their fire with a glint Stone Hue and provided them with the ability to use magic we learn of how this came to pass by reading smags glint Stone breath item description which reads as follows smag was a Devourer of sorcerers and over time his body became corrupted by their glint Stones so this almost seemed seems like it was by accident because he was feasting on Sorcerers which obviously makes sense if he is in Leia and he also swalled the glint Stones they had on them for example in their crowns that they wear or in their staffs and no doubt the other glint stones that They carried on their person and this corrupted him over time with the glint Stone and we learn from adah's moonblade that he too was a Devourer of sorcerers and thus it was obviously the same process that led to his corruption there are of course further examples of this exposure this radioactive reaction especially when we look at the Glenstone miners evidently being a minor of glint Stone would be a prolonged exposure to this material and the effects are plain for all to see so much glint Stone has taken over their body that even their eye sockets have been replaced by the material and of course there are examples of animals that live in harmony with Glenstone that have also been affected by its radio active properties such as the crystal snails who again not only have glint Stone growing out of their bodies but also breathe a sort of glint Stone breath of course one of the main interesting observations of the effects of glint stone is when we look at the Primeval Sorcerers azur and lcat two of the founding primeval Sorcerers as many will know the outfits that azur and lcat wear aren't really outfits they are actually growths that have taken over Lar L parts of their bodies including different organs and I will read lat's Crown now this crown replaced lat's brain and skull alt together and now removed from his body it is all but dead and now his manchetts manchetts corroded by Blue glint Stones lat had reached a near inorganic State indeed almost inorganic more like stone or Crystal even when one swings their sword at one of the legendary Sorcerers your weapon deflects off it with both the noise and effect suggesting that underneath the skin that they have left they are more or less completely glint Stone and this is backed up by the shaky creaky way their hand opens when handing you a primeval sorcery I would suggest that lcat and aer's long relationship with Glenstone and their exposure to the Primeval current is responsible for their transformation whether intentional or not though given the aims of the Primeval Sorcerers to become more like Stars this would certainly be seen as a win given that glint Stone contains the Vitality of the stars and Glenstone has taken over the brain of lat and azur and they are still able to operate shows that they must operate on a new plane that is beyond our comprehension though I suspect azur and lcat really are essentially dead how could they be alive when their original organs their original brains have been completely taken over but yet there is some kind of being here it does hand us a primeval sorcery and it does move and to understand that I think we should finally come to the true focus of this chapter what we have been teeing up for and that is the mysterious crystallion the confusing nature of both lat and azur and the crystallion themselves I think is summed up well by the description found in the shattering Crystal spell which reads the crystallion are inorganic beings yet they live this of course alludes to the fact that while glint stone is an inorganic material it contains Life Energy within it and for those who may be questioned if crystallion actually are made of glint Stone due to their color being different from the regular greeny blue crystals there are more than one shade of glint Stone specifically azur manchetts refer to a green blue variant while lats refer to a blue variant indeed these different color varieties are reflect Ed on the color of crystals found on azur and lcat themselves and smag and adulla themselves who both have green blue and blue respectively the crystallion unlike the alabaster Lords were not born but in fact created and we learn of this via the Cristian ashes which read spirit that Wheels Round crystallion blades both big and small its sturdy body itself human from Crystal long ago these beings were human meaning that they were sculpted from Glenstone as a statue would be from Marble but why would this happen what could be the purpose behind the creation of these bizarre creatures well there does seem to be a purpose to them as their purpose and Creator are mentioned in the description of the crystal spear which reads the inscrutable crystallion have but one clear purpose to safeguard their crystals unto the end one Theory posit that they yearn for the return of their creator who will carve for them new Brethren there is a lot of uncertainty in the statement but it at least hints at a purpose behind the original crafting of these beings defending the glint Stone crystals this being the original reason for their creation does seem to line up with their visual design as they are most likely inspired by the 1915 silent film known as the Golem and credit to Reddit used formal cryptographer for making this connection according to Wikipedia this film is based on Jewish and European folklore and tells the story of a Golem that was created by a rabbi to protect the Jewish people it would there Mak sense if these glint stone golems were made by a glint Stone sorcerer to protect glint Stone this tracks with the placement of every crystallion we meet in game found his bosses in real Laria Crystal tunnel Celia Hideway Academy Crystal Cave and Altus tunnel these are all caves and tunnels that are associated with glint Stone crystals this also extends to the Overworld variants that we face as well found in Moonlight alar and Leia all around Crystal growths the only exception to this rule are the rotten ones we find in the halic tree but this can be explained Away by them being so afflicted by the cosmic power of the Scarlet Rock that they now serve its power and its Vector in this world which is of course Millennia however returning to the crystallion these aren't just Mindless automatons they are spirits that have their own way of thinking referred to as the wisdom of stone for example the crystal staff item description reads the crystallion faint citation is known as the wisdom of stone this staff can only be wielded by those of intellect high enough to grasp such wisdom so let us put some points into intellect and try and understand what is happening here citation is described by Oxford dictionary as the action of thinking deeply about something contemplation so in essence it is just their thinking process and I think this word is used to convey that these beings still make decisions but just without the use of an organic brain or an organ that does something similar so this process for these beings seems to be the result of this wisdom of stone a concept that is apparently hard to grasp for the human mind however we can make some educated guesses by reexamining what the crystallion actually are they are crystal yes but what is inside of these crystals inside of the glint Stone the residual Life Energy of the Stars my speculation is that while these Golems were human and given Automation and a purpose by their creator no doubt by Magic I believe it is the life in inherent Within These beings within their crystals that drives their decision making like a collective memory or a hive mind of the stars that exist within the residual star energies it is through glint stone that primeval Sorcerers like lcat and azur are able to connect with the Primeval current a current which connects the stars and indeed the crystallion themselves are apparently close to the Primeval current for the description of the shattering Crystal spell reads the crystallion are inorganic beings yet they live they cleave close to the ideals of the Primeval current and as such they are revered guests of the sorcerers so the crystallion are closely linked to the Primeval current the metaphysical conduit that connects one to the Stars again suggesting that this is what guides their citation a sort of gel Consciousness that obviously operates in a way that we can understand that is a gift to the celestial so that of course makes the crystallion a unique opportunity for Sorcerers as we just saw from the item description these are the revered guests of sorcerers they are connected to the stars and yet they can operate almost as a human for we know they aren't just Mindless and that they have ranks for example the crystal release spell reads the sorcery used by high ranking adepts among the crystallion meaning that there are different ranks and hierarchy within their quote unquote Society we also know that they are capable of making deals as we learn of an arrangement between themselves and the carens Via magic downpour which reads one of the sorceries of the caran royal family said to have been taught by the challans to Mark the swearing of the Old Concord this spell is very interesting mainly because it appears to be a form of magic rain which again makes us think of that original Star Deluge described in the founding reain of stars again I believe this illustrates how close the crystallion are to the Primeval current and to the very Stars themselves hence the unique interest in them of course others are no doubt interested in the crystallion not just the carens we learn of the crystal Cadre via the spell crystal barage who seem to be a unique group of real larian Sorcerers who are interested in learning from the crystallion and their power of course given that they cleave close to the Primeval current I have no doubt that primeval Sorcerers would be highly interested in communing with the crystallion and many people may question whether a human could have created these beings if they are teaching Sorcerers so much but I think that is incorrect because the crystallion yes were made like any other Golem crafted from a material and probably used magic to give them life but that doesn't change the fact they are made from glint Stone the literal residual Life Energy of the stars and it is that connection that allows them to have unique spells that even their creator may not have known about but that leaves the question who did create these Golems who is the creator mentioned in the crystal spear description well I think I have already mainly answered this when we spoke on their visual design given their purpose and the visual call back to the film The Golem it seems to suggest that it would have been a sorcerer with a vested interest in keeping glint Stone safe that created them perhaps perap an esteemed sorcerer like lat or Aur or perhaps it is the astrologer described in the founding reign of stars we know that lat and Aur are responsible for the other primeval sorceries but we do not have the name of the astrologer that discovered the founding reign of stars perhaps upon finding the glint Stone from his connection to the Primeval current following the Deluge of star rain this astrologer was desperate to keep the new glint Stone safe and thus fashioned the Glenstone Golems known as the crystallion that is my speculation but at this point in time the most likly candidate to me is the astrologer mentioned in the founding rain of stars or one of the other primeval Sorcerers of the capability and power to build such beings so we have spoken on the unique qualities of glint Stone and its power and how this energy can be used to create sorceries yet what many probably don't realize is that gravity magic is actually a derivative form of Glenstone magic and we learn of this the description of the meteorite of aelle which reads one of the glint stone sorceries that manipulates gravitational forces a manifestation of the power with which Estelle leveled the Eternal City so in the next chapter we will be examining gravity magic as well as the beings that are strongly associated with it the Onyx and alabaster Lords gravity in layman's terms is essentially a force of attraction between bodies of mass when there is mutual attraction between certain bodies such as planets Stars Etc then it determines the motion of these bodies in a system of balance such as our solar system so when we learn that gravity magic is just a glint Stone sorcery or a star sorcery that manipulates gravitational forces then this makes sense stars are celestial bodies that have gravitational pools and so it makes sense that beings like Estelle a malformed star can manipulate gravity to redirect meteorites as it sees fit especially when we consider that this is all Magics and so any inconsistency to the science of our real world can of course be choed up to this with that being said there are a lot of fascinating illusions that can be used to enrich our understanding of some of the symbolism found within the game as well as help us understand the mysterious beings who are most closely tied to gravity magic the onx and alabaster Lords we learned that the alabaster and Onyx Lords are an ancient race that came to this world via a meteorite as their swords read a race of ancients with skin of stone who are said to have risen to life when a meteor struck long ago this is a fascinating origin story for these really alien people what is specifically of Interest here is that it states they are risen to life when the meteorite struck not that they came with the meteorite this then brings us to their skin of stone for me it makes sense that these beings are born of the meteorites themselves born of the material found within these meteors and that they Rose to life from the very meteor themselves meteors come in three main classifications Iron Stone and Stony Iron and I think it would be fair to say that most lay men would believe that meteorites to be made of stone hence the choice to describe them as Stony skinned as it would lead us to conclude that these beings are made from the meteorites themselves indeed if we examine their skin up close it looks like they have mineral veins running through the stone skin much like a Stony Iron meteorite might have again I would remind you that gravity magic is the magic of glint Stone which in turn is the residual Life Energy of the Stars if I was to speculate on the precise nature of these beings I would estimate them to be beings formed of the meteorite given Life by residual star Vitality to me they are just another Celestial being and good evidence how intimately connected these beings are to space is the way in which they can appear as in most situations when we encounter them they appear to be physically absent before coming through a nebulous port hole as if they can spatially displace themselves indeed if they deagro from the player they will actually return to where they came from showing that this is an ability that they can use at will it is similar to the abilities of Estelle who is also able to teleport around the arena when we fight them but we will further discuss the significance of this ability and how it can relate to gravity magic later on returning to the Onyx and alabaster Lords themselves the fact they are called Lords is interesting and I ran this by mirco the translator for zaco niku who has done translations on my channel before to see if this lines up with the Japanese and indeed they confirmed that they would be referred to as kings in their estimation either way these titles suggests that they hold some kind of authority in the lands between and this of course makes sense due to the sheer power that they possess indeed this seems to be directly stated as the reason for their Authority in the description of the meteorite spell which reads the sorcery originates from the oric Lords who had skin of stone and were called Lords in reverential fear of their destructive power we witness some of the authority they enjoy over the so-called star cers these are the miners of meteorites that we can see in the rags who have pickaxes evidently digging for some of those gravity Stones which is the item that refers to these beings as star collar in the first place we see a group of these star callers worshiping an alabaster Lord in the Weeping Peninsula no doubt in all of his Celestial nature and his power though it is worth pointing out that these star colors clearly have some weird attraction to gravity as they are also seen worshiping other beings of gravitational power such as the malformed star found in the underground rivers and the falling star Beast found in Lan Dale of course the very fact that Redan went to Celia to study under an alabaster Lord suggests that at least this one enjoyed some position of authority here but let us now talk of the variance themselves the alabaster and Onyx differences not only are different variants referred to as Onyx or Alabaster Lords but they also have different swords that help separate them what is the relevance of these well this brings us to the conflation that Elden ring makes between magnetism and gravity a subject that has been really well explored by quag in a number of videos that I will link below more specifically their video on magnetism and metals the general starting point for this discussion comes from one of the most famous wielders of gravity magic General radan himself as noted by quag and others the symbol found upon Redan swords is curiously not the symbol for Gravity but the one for magnetism or more specifically a magnetic field now not only is this found on redan's sword but is in general the sigil that appears when using gravity magic firmly tying it to this field of Magic conflating the two Prin principles if you will indeed the idea of magnetic poles does seem to be reflected in the two designs of the Lords that we get in game though later you will see I think there's a more specific reasoning why they are onyx and alabaster that is more closely aligned with gravity but for now let's run with the magnetic pole idea as noted by the inhuman one in his excellent Alabaster and Onyx Lord lore videos the materials that make up the swords used by the Lords are different as well the Onyx Lord sword is made from a golden hued meteoric ore and the alabaster Lord sword is made from a blue tinged meteoric ore what is interesting is that both of these swords provide contrasting effects I'm of course referring to the ash of War that's attached to each sword the onic sword repulses and the alabaster sword pools almost as if these variants are meant to represent the two magnetic poles and the two main effects of a magnetic field repulsion and attraction we have could go even further and speculate that in this fictional world because their swords are made out of a different magnetized material that it has a different magnetic Focus this is sorcery after all and indeed gravity is the force of attraction so why then is there this focus on pushing and pulling if not to conflate it with magnetism why is it not just called magnetic magic rather than gravity magic well in trying to determine the answer to this question I determined that one of the answers could simply be that it is an illustrative analogy and indeed we can find examples of this in real world science as well in a Reddit post around this very subject Reddit user Goliath VV said that gravity and electromagnetism are good bodies while linking a Wikipedia article to gravito electromagnetism gravito electromagnetism is a formal analogy between the effects of gravity and magnetism and I will now quote the Wikipedia article that was linked graval magnetism is a widely used term referring specifically to the kinetic effects of gravity in analogy to the magnetic effects of moving electrical charge in a way that is what I think has been done here in Elden ring magnetic principles been used analogously to illustrate the effects of gravity magic in this world and so thanks again to Goliath VV for highlighting this scientific principle so in short I think any references to magnetism in Elden ring are used analogously for illustrative reasons to describe the effects of the gravity magic to make it more straightforward to understand in terms of push and pull yet that being said I do think we do gravity a disservice if we just leave it at that yes there are some illustrative similarities in the magic that makes it analogous to magnetism yeah I don't think magnetism can explain everything for example how the signature spell meteorite works or how the Lords and Estelle are able to jump from point to point and use portals to travel I believe rather than seeing meteorite as an extension of rock sling as a result of pushing or pulling a meteorite we should pay more attention to where the meteorites come from if we read the meteorite spell description it reads summons a void that emits a rain of small meteorites and indeed when we look at enemies using this or whether we use it ourselves we see little holes opening little tears in the fabric of reality that seems to open up into deep space where a meteorite is coming through and to me these holes or tears or portals is similar to the effect that a steale summons when he wants to move around the room it's almost as if a black hole opens and he jumps through it same with the alabaster Lords appearing and disappearing on a whim and indeed I would suggest these are no ordinary portoles but in fact wormholes according to Einstein's theory of general relativity wormholes could be possible if a black hole was connected to a white hole black holes are regions of super dense Mass where the gravity is so strong that everything is pulled towards it towards its Singularity and is Warped around it and this includes light and time white holes are the theoretical opposite regions of outward flowing SpaceTime where everything is pushed out from the center and instead nothing being able to escape the grasp nothing is able to actually enter the region of a white hole if you'd like to learn more about the regions of white holes then PBS have actually done a really great video on YouTube which I will link below but the general idea is that at one end in space you would have a black hole where something is pulled in and at the other end you would have a white hole the exit point in another area of space as shown by this diagram and in between you would have the Wormhole this is of course the idea explored in the film Event Horizon where the titular ship is capable of faster than light speed by using a black hole generator to travel from one point in space to another instantaneously of course it doesn't really work out but we won't go into that it would be easy to get drawn down into a rabbit hole here about the actual science of wormholes black holes and white holes but consider that these are gravitational phenomena and then we have being strong in gravity magic who are able to instantaneously travel from one point in space to another then it also fits thematically in another way that you might have realized by now there is a black hole and a white hole these are two gravitational phenomena and we have two gravitational Lords in game an onyx Lord for the black hole and an alabaster Lord for the white hole it would also realign the push and pull effects of the gravity magic back with the principles of gravity as a black hole is a gravitational phenomena that pulls in and the white hole is a theoretical albeit gravitational phenomena that pushes out this of course my speculation but I do think it ties up things neatly both thematically and in regards to gravity we will return to the idea of black holes when we look at a stale story with the Eternal City in the next chapter regardless these ideas and the power of the alabaster and Onyx Lords should really emphasize why Redan sought them out there really is no greater power in the lands between when it comes comes to mass and movement and indeed now that I've looked more into the alabaster and Onyx Lords and truly understand how powerful they are it makes sense why Redan is such a force to be reckoned with alongside his Braun of course though teaching Redan may have had more far-reaching consequences than his Alabaster Lord Shor expected while redan's remembrance suggests that he learned gravitational magic initially for the sake of his loyal State the description for the collapsing star spell shows that by the end he had another use for the gravitational magic as the description reads as follows a gravitational technique Mastered by the young Redan I thank you for your titil for now I can challenge the stars of course we know via the description of rockling that Redan is speaking here to an alabaster Lord who was his tutor at Celia and then of course we learn via selin and a sword monument that ran would learn his epithet from a conflict of the same name Stars Scourge conflict in which he used his Mastery over gravity magic to Halt the constellations and movement of stars themselves and then it is interesting to note that in the caran Royal jail at Cara Manor there is an onyx Lord redan's actions ultimately stands in the way of his sister's plans rannie no matter what his motivations were for doing so whether it was for the golden order's sake or whether it was for selas either way Redan must be taken out for ranny's plans to succeed and given the we the tarnish do this this could well have set back ranny's plans for thousands of years so it is interesting that we find one of these Onyx Lords in a caran jail perhaps this is some sort of Retribution against their kind the ability to stop fate itself the movement of the Stars open up voids to space and drop meteorites in your enemy no wonder these beings were referred to as Lords but of course there's another being who has an impressive display of gravitational Magic on a scale that's probably far beyond that of an alabaster or Onyx Lord of course refer to the beings known as a stelle and it is to them that we turn to next of course we could not have spoken on the mysteries of space within Elden ring without talking about aelle and the nox we have detailed in a number of videos now how the nox look to the Stars to seize power and bring about an age of stars and their lord of night they tried by various scientific and astrological means creating the Dragon Kin Soldiers the Finger Slayer blade and of course the puppets and Celestial duw the latter two being alchemical formulas built from the Fate latent within the Stars themselves so when we learn of Estelle's attack upon the third unnamed city of the nox it shouldn't come as a surprise but before we go any further let's contextualize this event by in the two main items associated with it starting with the remembrance of the Natural Born which reads a malform star born in a lightless void far away once destroyed an eternal City and took away their Sky a falling star of L Omen and then the meteorite of Estelle which reads A manifestation of the power with which Estelle leveled the Eternal City giving the meddling nature of the nox and their very various attempts to overthrow the greater will the Instinct of course is to believe that Estelle was brought upon the nox by themselves but how is the question of course via limit provides an interesting narrative in his Estelle lore video which I will link below in this video he details the Estelle project Theory vmit suggests that the nox took a falling star Beast as a template and malformed them in the image of the giant skeletons found in the Eternal cities in an attempt to craft another weapon against the greater will a Celestial being to stand in opposition to the greater Well's own falling star Beast the Elden Beast there is a lot that is very compelling about this Theory it would of course explained the humanesque features found on Estelle's body I.E his skull as well as its size similarity to the giant skeletons found in the Eternal cities one can also not deny the thematic Harmony of the struggle between stars and the Earth tree the nox and the greater well and now the Elden beast and Estelle there's something else to be said for estel's epithet while in English it is translated to Natural Born of the Void this may not be correct or entirely accurate two respected translators that I have spoken to translate Estelle's title very differently YouTuber last protagonist translates it to be a stale spawn of Darkness Miro respected translator who works with the YouTuber sabaco noo provided the following information on Estelle also in its original it's not called Natural Born of the Void but is just darkness while osiko a term used for unwanted children but also for unwanted consequences so what stands out here from Miracle's translation is unwanted child or unwanted consequences both of which more closely with the description of aelle as a bastard referred to as such in the bastard Stars item description being a bastard or an unwanted consequence would align quite neatly with vmit Theory Estelle literally is an unwanted consequence of the meddling of the nox a bastard born not naturally above experimentation you could then argue that the other estels we find elsewhere are either other subjects of this project or the spawn of the original cretion made by the nox either way it would still fit so I can't really find any major flaws in this Theory and I would be happy if this was the explanation but let me instead offer an alternate explanation one that posits that Estelle already existed but still came to the Eternal City due to the actions of the nox of course one of my main faults with v limits theory is that the remembrance of the Natural Born says that it was born in the void suggesting it was already as it was in space before it came to the Eternal cities the other area in which I disagree is the Eternal Darkness spell a pivital lore item when discussing the subject it reads as follows creates a space of Darkness that draws in sorceries and incantations originally a lost sorcery of the Eternal City the despair that brought about its ruin made manifest when explaining this in the context of their Theory V limit Likens that to the eye of aelle which would make this piece of L fit within the AEL project Theory as it represents the eye of aelle and of course it is aelle who brought ruin upon the Eternal cities however this is where I disagree as I see this not as Estelle's eye but as a black hole a phenomena that we've already discussed black holes could easily be described as Eternal Darkness for black holes Dev light and are the only thing in the universe that are truly dark dark black holes are regions in space where gravity is so dense that everything including light is pulled towards it and drawn into its Singularity one need only look at the effect of the spell to see that it is most likely representing a black hole for it draws in sorceries and incantations much as a black hole would draw in light and time so what if a black hole symbolize the end of this Eternal City and there are two main ways of looking at this as far as as I'm concerned first of all we know Estelle fell upon the city like a falling star as he has described in his remembrance as a falling star of el Omen then there's of course zuli's video on Estelle that details how once Estelle had a VFX and E movement set that correspond as closely to redan's Comet movement again suggesting that Estelle fell upon the city like a comet and yet there is no sky here so how would it have made it down here like a falling star well when we fight a still we see how it likes to move around from one point to another by using portals that look suspiciously like a black hole perhaps the portal opened above the Eternal City and a stelle came through it like one of his meteorites and crashed down upon the city and thus this black hole this portal would have symbolized and heralded the end of the Eternal City and if that doesn't float your boat I have another way of looking at it in regards to a black hole because one of the other curious aspects of Estelle's attack on the Eternal City is that it stole its sky indeed the other Eternal cities noon and Noella have their fake sky above it yet the third destroyed city does not and curiously Estelle's chamber its layer does have a starry fake sky and we have to conclude that this is indeed The Starry Sky that has been stolen from the Eternal City but but how is it literally possible for a being to take a Starry Sky and move it somewhere else well you can probably see where I'm going with this in the previous chapter we have already discussed how I believe gravity Masters can manipulate SpaceTime to create black holes to move from one point to another a wormhole and I do believe this is what's happening when a stale teleports from one point to another we even see that little bits of rock and Rubble are being pulled in towards a st's portal as teleports from one point to another objects are being pulled in to this portal just as a black hole pulls in everything around it and just as the Eternal Darkness spell pulls incantations and sorceries into its Singularity the Estelle that we face in yellow Annex tunnel in the consecrated snowfield has such a Mastery over gravitational magic that it is able to summon multiple others of its kind Who come out of wormholes and as zulie points out these extras are of the gray discolored variety identifying them as the hanging cocoon variants of the malformed Stars found throughout the rivers distinct from the mature one that we are fighting so perhaps after Estelle had labeled the Eternal City with his meteorites he vacated the area taking the sky with him through a portal a black hole that not only pulled a stale through it but also pulled all light and surrounding matter through it including the Starry Sky that was sucked up like a vacuum through this hole and deposited into a stelle's new layer and thus I would see the Eternal Darkness spell as a very fitting representation of the ruin of this Eternal City the technique through which their sky was stolen and now is replicated by stealing others incantations so if I believe aelle was not created in the Eternal cities what type of life form do I believe him to be aside from being a malformed version of a star born in the void far away well in fact there may be some hints as to a natural life cycle for this Estelle species an interesting discussion on Estelle's form was started by zil the witch on Twitter where they compare Estelle's various clones the malformed star variants with the discoloring in this discussion Twitter user sin compared the life cycle of Estelle to that of ant lions where the falling star Beast is the larval form of the species and Estelle is the adult form linking these two boss variants into a single [Music] species and if you look at this life cycle of an antline image it is super compelling as the antline seem to be a species that share a lot of similar features to both the falling star beaste and the mature Estel so while in V limits Theory it is posited that the falling star Beast is a natural creature that is then Twisted by the nox to create the Estel I do believe that the falling star Beast is a larval or grub form of the Estel creature especially when you consider the AEL head prominent on the mature full grown falling star Beast found in mon gmir which suggests that the humanoid skull isn't the result of human tampering and is naturally part of their physiology even at this laral stage the Marvel grub of ant lions is very reminiscent of the falling star Beast both having mandibles and fairly stocky bodies the antline Cocoon phase could be represented by the malformed Stars found throughout the underground Rivers again these are the variants that hang from the roof like a cocoon and don't have the colors of the mature variants and the way that they hang down is definitely reminiscent of the Cocoon of various insect species though I do also think we see a likeness of the Cocoon Sage already in the falling star Beast as the rock formations upon its skin could easily be compared to the Cocoon structures built by ant lions finally the fully formed mature Estel is of course strikingly like the adult form of an antline with its wings and elongated body so again credit to sin for pointing out all these similarities on Twitter in a nutshell this suggests that these Stellar creatures are their own form of life with their own life cycle and it is the best explanation as to why we meet multiple estels throughout Elden ring but there is still a little more here to be impact in regards to Estelle's behavior and Physiology returning to the tweets on the ant lines sin also makes the point that ant lines are blind and that they use phermones or vibrations to detect prey now this is interesting to me because it makes me think of waves of Darkness the ash of war that we can not only make from Estelle's remembrance linking it to him but it is also a technique that Estelle uses on us in battle perhaps these dark waves these pulses are an extension of how it communicates with others of its kind because they are blind indeed Estelle's eye sockets are empty and we aren't really sure if the blue rolling eye operates as what we would conceive to be an eye indeed it is very reminiscent of lat's crown and indeed took the place of his brain so perhaps this operates in a similar fashion for the estels has a cogitation centerpiece as well as a Locus for their power indeed this seems like a more likely use for it given the way the eye lights up when a stelle uses some of its more powerful gravitational abilities and similarly this ey also lights up on the mature falling star beast when it unleashes its gravitational Powers so in short these are predatory animalistic Stars extremely dangerous and extremely powerful an aggressive star creature that literally shows the full power of celestial magic now while we have explained the animalistic elements to them and while they may be born in a void far away in kns and an oxan lab there is still something distinctly unnatural about them and it is repeatedly hammered home that this creature is malformed it's a bastard an unwanted consequence meaning there must be something fairly unnatural about them nonetheless there is something else in Estelle's various epithets that may fit in with the explanation that Estelle is a fitting punishment for not seeing meddling in his remembrance he is referred to as a falling star of el Omen in qu's video titled the Elden ring keeps me up at night quag brings up the subject of cald astrology a group of astrologers and thinkers from Neo Babylon and I will link qu like's full video on that subject below as they will explain it much better than me and the video goes into a tremendous amount of detail but in short quag brings up the relevance of these astrologers because of the idea of Fate being dictated by the Stars something the caldan astrologers believed one of the other things they looked for were Omens in the stars and that to the caldan a star of el Omen was usually a sign that Divine forces were upset and how relevant this would be to the nox everything they do is unnatural upsetting the natural order of things from forming the Dragon King Soldier creating mimic tears or crafting the Fate blonded blade known as the Finger Slayer blade in particular The Knocks are known to fiddle with fate latent within the Stars distilling it into puppet drafts and the celestial Jew to manipulate fate in different ways perhaps this malform star came to the Eternal City because of their meddling with fate they're meddling with the Stars the nox have played with fate and tried to control it in a way that humans shouldn't be able to do and in that way he is their El Omen a karmic or Newtonian response to their actions and in a more macro view perhaps the prevalence of malformed falling stars across the lands is a result of all the upsets that keep happening to the Natural and Cosmic order the fettering of Fate the halting of the constellations the confinement of death the killing of a two fingers the spread of death rout and of course the shattering of the Elden ring all of these things are capable of upsetting the cosmic order a lot of them represent stagnation in different ways and perhaps this gives birth to malformed versions of stars bastards born of cosmic upset and the meddling of humans and gods that's of course my speculation but I can't help but think this must be close to the truth given that stars are linked to fate and Fate has been messed with so much in Elden ring with humans and gods upsetting the harmony of the universe for the their own ends and goals this would certainly fit The Unwanted consequence translation by Miro a consequence of their meddling an ill Omen whose malformation is a testament to the sins of the nox who grasped it forces beyond their can for all those who would dare challenge the cosmic balance of the universe you may well face your own star of Darkness what a journey working on this video has been a reflective and satisfying project as it makes Mak me realize how far we have come a video I didn't include in this compilation was my original God skins video my first video on Elden ring one that started me on a life-changing journey I didn't include it because my new godkin video from this year somewhat superseded it but I'm still proud of that first video I made I had far less resources and polish but that video changed my life Elden ring changed my life from software changed my life you changed my life and I am eternally grateful thanks to the success of Elden ring in my lower videos I was able to take up this job full-time and achieve my lifelong dream when I am still living and I will always hold Elden ring close to my heart and for that reason I thank you one and all for joining me on this journey Elden ring wouldn't be the same without its amazing community of course other Elden ring creators who have inspired and informed me and some I am lucky enough to call friends and I would like to acknowledge some of these here because my work would not be the same without some of these Inspirations that I quite frequently reference throughout my videos lore Hunter Ashen Hollow Loki quag vatti viia zulie the witch Securo diby tarnished archaeologist zorm honored madman aridan mad Luigi vmit acier Aesthetics last protagonist Moxy Watts amazing chest Dom's Roundtable Sinclair lore lost my sanity ratcore Square table gaming Miss chalice Cosmos AGT Jake and many many more too many to name together we have bounced ideas off each other put out wild theories and helped uncover The Narrative of this epic Odyssey my work would not be the same without those who have inspired me and again for that I'm eternally grateful that said there was still a lot of work to be done reflecting on my work I realize that my position has changed dramatically on certain areas of the lore especially in regards to videos I tackled earlier on and I'm now inspired to do these areas Justice in the year ahead such as my coverage on Moog Micha the greater will and the Earth tree just to name a few but that is the beauty of Elden ring it is so complex and immersed in symbolism that so much of it is open to interpretation to the eye of the Beholder everyone with different backgrounds and educations that read things in a different way this is not even to mention the upcoming shadow of the earth tree which will no doubt flip the lore on its head and so I sincerely hope that you will join me in the years ahead where we will continue to explore this incredible lore that's all for now and I hope you have a wonderful festive season with your loved ones and I will see you again in the new year when we return to Elden ring take care I love you [Music] all

Channel: SmoughTown

Views: 1,306,242

Keywords: elden ring, elden ring lore, elden ring story, elden ring explained, elden ring lore explained, elden ring story explained, marika, erdtree, godfrey, the lands between, fromsoftware, from software, radagon, maliketh, ranni, the nox, godskins, greater will, carians, rennala, liurnia, altus plateau, the tarnished, morgott, mohg, miquella, malenia, godrick, golden lineage, elden beast, elden lord, limgrave, placidusax, fortissax

Id: WD9BJac9GMI

Length: 817min 37sec (49057 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 19 2023