The Lore of Elden Ring is in Ruins

The lore of Elden Ring is in Ruins, literally. With Ruins, you can not only tell the story of how a thing came to be, but you succinctly tell the story of its downfall as well. And in Elden Ring, we even see future civilizations building upon the ruins of the past, learning from or ignoring the lessons therein. This video centers around the most prolific ruins of them all, the 'Rauh Ruins', echoes of a civilization of black stone that, at one point, spanned the entire lands between. Their influence can be seen in the golems, the fire giants,

the astrologers, in flowing water, rot, the crucible and even the mysterious Titans. Rauh has been the key to unlocking so much. So let's talk about it starting here with this statue. To me, this statue is perhaps the most intriguing thing in the realm of shadow. It's the figure of a woman with braided hair, long robes, and an octagonal headpiece. And it has an aura, doesn't it? It's found all over the place in Rauh, and in each spot, it just radiates power. In front of this statue is the item that will kickstart this entire video. The

Verdigris Discus, a round talisman made of verdigris, which is a real-life term for the blue-green patina that can form on copper or brass. In Elden Ring, though, verdigris is described as a corroded metal, known for its heft. Verdigris is incredibly heavy, and yet the metal is also described as supple. This is, apparently, thanks to its rusted nature, which, instead of detracting from the quality of the material, actually seems to enhance it. And this isn't our only example of this phenomenon in the realm of shadow. The Forager Brood's pickled delights, too, are enhanced by the rotting

or fermentation of the ingredients. So here's the proposal: I think Verdigris is essentially a metal that has become rotten as well. Or, put another way, it's like the metal has fermented. Verdigris is, after all, a good thing. The lore even calls it a gift. A gift from an outer god who seems to be the same god, that is the Scarlet Rot. But unlike the Scarlet Rot, Verdigris doesn't threaten anyone. If anything, it's the opposite. Verdigris is all about protection. This is a principle that is embodied by Moore, who we first encounter outside Belurat, coveting a

pot that is almost identical to many found in Rauh. He's covered head to toe in their weighty Verdigris, and his shield in particular is the epitome of defence, with A skill that actually just harmlessly pushes enemies away. And the shield has such a high guard capacity that it will continue to protect its target even if its bearer should die. So it is that his Forager Brood are in good company, for as the talisman says, "Great weight makes for great strength," "the strength to protect others." And this concept of safeguarding others brings us to the weighty

entities known as the Guardian Golems, one of whom fights on in the ancient ruins of Rauh. Named so by their weaponry, these are protectors, and indeed, you'll commonly find them in your way as you approach many of the fortifications across The Lands Between, Castle Morne, Leyndell, the Caelid Colosseum, a Divine Tower. Many appear to have put these tireless beings to use over the ages, But there's a second set of places that these golems appear, and I think these areas help to define them even more. Here at Caelid Cliffside, here in the Mountaintops of the Giants,

and here in the High Road Cave, we see the golems occupying the exact same ruins that make up the majority of Rauh. These ruins appear to be made from a sort of black & grey stone, and they're the same hue as the Blackstone weapons of the Guardian Golems, which are said to have been crafted by a civilization now gone to ruin. So I think it's totally fair to argue that these golems are connected to the Blackstone Ruins, and that the Blackstone Ruins are connected to Rauh. The pillars in particular even have an octagonal cross-section, which

is not unlike the eight-sided headpiece of our Rauh Queen. Now, while I do think that Rauh would have been a cornerstone of this civilization, these ruins are found all over The Lands Between, so I'm not sure it would be correct to call this the Rauh civilization. Instead, I'm going to be calling it the Blackstone civilization from this point forwards. By the way, it's fair if you're still skeptical of the Golem's links to the Blackstone civilization, and to Rauh. I was too, at this point in my research. But there's one more piece of evidence that I

think connects the golems to Rauh, and it relates to what a golem is at its core. FromSoftware's idea of a golem goes back all the way to the first Dark Souls, which featured an iron golem that had a big cavity in the middle where its soul belonged. This concept was then repeated with these golems in Dark Souls 2, which came to life if you killed an enemy near them, because the disembodied soul would actually float up into the golem's empty core and activate it. This idea returns somewhat in Elden Ring with the Rauh Burrows, relics

that you can find in the ancient ruins of Rauh. It's an oval-shaped stone bearing an engraving, and in the center of the stone is a small nest-like hole that can become inhabited by a sprite, at which point it becomes known as a sprite stone. The word 'sprite' is a Middle English spelling of spirit also refer to an elf or fairy type creature. And I think these definitions are useful. Sprites in Elden Ring do seem to be a sort of soul, just with a bit more character. The fire sprites, for example, can be found within the

embers of Messmer and they can cRauhl, smoldering across the ground. Then, when released from a burrow, they bounce chaotically along the ground, almost as if they have a will of their own. Of all the sprites, it is said, the fire sprites are the most boisterous in nature. That wording of all the sprites also seems to suggest that there's more than just a couple of types of sprites. Now I wish I could remember where, but somewhere I read a comment where someone proposed that the lightning orb enemies might be sprites as well. And I love that

theory because these things are literally never mentioned anywhere, and you can't target them like a normal enemy. So the idea of them being some elemental sprite of nature is a great theory, I think, and I think that's the best theory we've got on these guys. As for the regular sprite stones, anyway, these require crafting materials from horned beasts. which are noted to be particularly spiritually potent. With a piece of their calculus and their horn and a burrow, one can house and release the captured sprite at will, which results in a spiritual explosion and glittering lights.

So we learn about these sprites from the Antiquity Scholar's Cookbook, crafting techniques left by the hornsent academics who studied the ancient ruins of Rauh. It's a reminder of how ancient Rauh is, that even in the times of the Hornsent, these were still ancient ruins, and they saw great value in digging through them. It's for this reason that I think the true purpose of the Rauh burrows might not have been particularly well understood. Sure, the bonds with the sprites were made to be broken with these sprite stones, but I think that, more generally, they were also

proof that Rauh was learning how to harness spiritual energy and put it to use. And the best use for spiritual power that the Blackstone civilization could have found, I think, would have been the golems who, just like the sprite stones and other traditional FromSoft golems, appear to be stone inhabited by soul. In one theory proposed by 'Nameless Singer', who is a creator that I'm going to be citing throughout this video, The Guardian Golems, which burn at their core, might have even been powered by fire sprites. But if the Guardian Golems date back to Rauh, does

that mean that all golems do? Well, maybe. The Crystal Dart says that, long ago, it is said that a golem crafter employed a similar crystal tool. And if you throw a shard of impure crystal at any golem, they will short-circuit, forgetting their allegiances and attacking anything nearby for a time. Given this shared vulnerability, it seems like they were all built in the same manner to one another. They might have even all been created by that one aforementioned Golem crafter. Crystal just seems to be a common conduit for the golems. And there is evidence of crystal

being used by Rauh. The bond stone, for example, is an item that was used to control the spiritual explosions of the sprite stones. And it's made of polished crystal. The Golem Smiths, too, have a red gem embedded in their back that they cannot function without. Of all the Golems, the ones that I feel most confident dating back to the Blackstone civilization would be the Golem Smiths. For starters, one of their ruined forges is actually within the bounds of Rauh, and all of these forges have these braziers in common with Rauh, with bowls that are almost

identical in design. What's more, they're called ruined forges, which obviously matches the ruined state of the Blackstone civilization. As far as golems go, these ones have a particular humanity to them, as they can commonly be found petting the molten silver tears. Incidentally, the golems peering so intently here might align with the part of the description of the smithing talisman, which reads: These Smith script weapons, as they're called, have the ability to be restored to the wielder's hand after being thrown, and their crafting became a signature technique of the Realm of Shadow, an art that would

be lost to The Lands Between over time. The most well-known Golem Smith was named Taylew, a stalwart stone golem who launches his own fists as projectiles. His description goes on to read, Taylew reminds me a lot of the later tutelary deities that the Hornsent would cultivate, who essentially were guides that showed a path to godhood. However, unlike these later tutelary deities, Taylew is instead called a Guardian deity, which is again a potential reference to the Rauh culture of protecting others mentioned in the Verdigris set and also in the other Guardian golems. Interestingly, Taylew is noted

to have become the Guardian deity despite being the first to stop moving. This makes some sense, since as the first to stop moving, he was the first to essentially die and thus become deified in death. Incidentally, I also think this is a little bit of extra proof that the Golem Smiths originated in Rauh, since Taylew's forge is actually the one that's in Rauh, where he was the first to stop moving, and thus it might be one of the earlier forges. The description also notes that Taylew became the Guardian deity despite being the runt of the

litter. And this is very interesting because it's yet another example of a derogatory attitude towards smaller folk in The Lands Between. We learn this from the Vulgar Militia Ashes, which state that the small were scorned. And then there was also the giant Milos, who committed the cardinal sin of being undersized for a giant, and was thus viewed as sullied and terribly grotesque. Alas, belittling the short has done nothing to stop them being born. It appears to be this unstoppable trend downwards. Like how the fire giants were likely descended from the Titans and how the lesser

trolls are descended from the fire giants. Even man, according to the Giant Crusher, has grown feeble in comparison to his forebears. According to the Hammer from the base game, the art of smithing is said to have originated among the giants. So I think Taylew likely lived among such giants and was thus scorned for his size. The golems might have even been built by them. The smithing talisman of the golem smith states: which seems to be a reference to the same line mentioned on a giant troll's hammer. In Rauh, you can also find the talisman of

all crucibles, which is a tangle of crucible attributes that were rumored to have sprouted upon giants. But maybe it's obvious that there were giants here. Of course, the Blackstone ruins are massive, as are the hallways and elevators in Rauh. With the exception of these tiny passageways that I speculate might have been like service tunnels or shortcuts for a smaller race that the giants could have coexisted with. At the end of each ruined forge, we find a "great treasure". And in doing so, we find a clue as to what these people might have valued. Taylew, the

guardian deity of smithing, is one. And then at the lava intake forge, we find the anvil hammer that is shaped like an altar, and was indeed used as such in rite and ritual once. We know the people of Rauh partook in rituals thanks to their burrows. So I think it tracks that rituals and this hammer shaped like an altar might have been something that they valued as well. But the most fascinating treasure, I think, comes from the ruined forge of Starfall past. It's called the Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword, and it reads: This item is such

a curiosity. To start, it's not actually a greatsword, but an arrowhead. And it's not even a full arrowhead at that, but it's a mere shard of an arrowhead, which suggests, obviously, that the original arrow, let alone the giant capable of firing it, must have been enormous. What's more, this thing is a treasure of the forge, but the description says it was excavated, meaning it was a treasure dug out from the buried remains of some ancient culture. And if it really was the Blackstone Civilization who excavated it, just think about that. Rauh is so ancient that

the Hornsent excavate its remains, but even to the Rauh, there were even older remains to dig through. That's kind of insane, and i think it would make the Ancient Meteoric Ore Greatsword, one of the oldest, if not the oldest, artifact we've come across in The Lands Between. This take seems valid to me also because the description mentions that this arrowhead was once part of the Old God's arsenal. And who the hell are the Old Gods? No other description mentions these entities, so yeah, they must have existed so far back that they've fallen out of Elden

Ring's history almost entirely. Whoever they were, their arrowhead generates an electric charge of white light that, again, is unlike anything else seen in-game. The only other items that I can think of that generate this sort of light are the Serpent Hunter, which manifests a long blade of light and was also a weapon used in the ancient past, or maybe the Sword of Light or Crucible Bloom. But even compared to these, the electric white light generated by the arrowhead is very unique. My headcanon is that the Old Gods mentioned by the Arrowhead might have even had

something to do with the Titans that are entrenched in The Lands Between, who really are the only beings large enough to conceivably shoot something like this as an arrow. And as I'll go over in my next chapter, it's a popular theory that the Titans are those who built the Divine Towers, which do feature light within them. These are structures that have been co-opted by the fingers, but their true purpose has been lost to time. The Divine Towers actually also have meteorite embedded within them, and might have even originally had a large piece of meteorite encased

in the center at the top of the towers where the two fingers eventually came to be. Thus, this veneration of Starfall and its meteorite is likely something that traces back to an age of Starfall past. There's one piece of evidence that even suggests the giants were some of the earliest astrologers, but it comes to us from cut content, so I'm a bit wary of putting too much stock into it. Nonetheless, here it is. The legendary spell, 'Founding Reign of Stars' thought to be the founding Glintstone sorcery was once instead called Goliath's reign of stars. with

the name Goliath surely being a reference to the giant from the biblical tale of David and Goliath. Now again, this is cut content, but I do think at the very least that it proves that we're speculating in the right direction. That there was a veneration of Starfall and meteoric ore amongst the giants and that it would form the foundations for many cultures of the world to come. This leads us to the astrologers and the fire giants, who seem to connect to almost everything we've discussed so far. Starting with the fire giants. The most damning piece

of architecture that links them to Rauh are the pillars that prop up their forge, which are of that signature black stone. Speaking of architecture, however, the Forge of the Giants itself was to me, for quite a long time, really baffling. It just has a lot going on visually, and all of these things seem to link it to more than just mere fire giants. It's propped up by Blackstone pillars, yes, but it also has chains that are attached on rings that depict great serpents. Not only that, but if you look at the patterns on the forge

and its platforms as well, you'll notice that these patterns are an exact match for patterns upon the Divine Towers. And finally, the forge itself, like the Divine Towers, is enormous, dwarfing even the architecture of the Blackstone civilization and the fire giants as well. Thus, I was kind of forced to reject the obvious idea that the fire giants built the forge, or at least I was forced to reject the idea that it was built by any of the relatively small fire giants that we know. One theory I found that helps to explain this situation comes from

'Tarnished Archaeologist', who in this video points out that two of the three chains coming from the Giants Forge actually don't connect to anything. which leads him to conclude that the Giant's Forge is a sort of mobile blacksmith's forge. The smithing golems do carry around similar forges on their heads, and while I personally can't find much evidence online of mobile forges that exist outside the world of Elden Ring, Tarnished Archaeologist does provide a couple of images that seem to depict mobile forges that could have been carried with chains. So let's assume that these chained forges do

exist, because this Forge being able to be suspended by its chains does make sense on a few levels in this context. For one, I figure that the fiery Forge might have been impossible to handle without holding it by the chains. It is burning with the everlasting fire of the Fell God after all, and the Giant's Forge is far bigger than the fire giants we know. So I can't really imagine them being physically able to place it where it is in game, even with these chains. But the Titans could. The name Titans, by the way, is

the community name that I prefer for these dead gargantuan giants found all around The Lands Between. And it just so happens that there are significantly more Titans near the forge than at any other singular location in the entire Lands Between. So okay, let's assume that the Titans built the forge. Where does this line of reasoning take us? Could these Titans really have been followers of the Fell God? Well, maybe. Their physiology is on the whole quite different from that of the modern fire giants, but if we assume that the Titans also built the Divine Towers

long ago, then there is something in these towers that could link them to the Fell God. This discovery comes to us once again from 'Nameless Singer', who wrote this really detailed post linking the fire giants to the Divine Towers. And in it, they note this recurring motif, which here features a meteorite, flanked with eight dots. The same sort of visual that we're faced with when the last Fire Giant calls for aid, opening the Fell God's eye. Okay, so the Titans might have built the Divine Towers, and they might have had a connection to the Fell

God of Flame, and they might have placed the Giant's Forge atop a mount built during the time of the Blackstone Civilization, assuming that they shared a world with them back then. But then what? What could have caused these Titans to fall? Well, to cite another theory by Tarnished Archaeologist, there might have been a cataclysm. Much of the architecture of the Blackstone Civilization is underground, to a point that seems to go beyond simple stratification over time. These ruins are encased so often within solid stone. The Divine Towers, too, are each touched on one side by stone,

almost as if a wave of molten rock has splashed and solidified against them. As TA (Tarnished Archaeologist) notes, these waves appear to have assailed the towers from different sides, suggesting many points of impact from meteorites, perhaps? The Lands Between is certainly no stranger to Starfall, and I do like this theory for that reason. This event could explain why the Titans died out, becoming encased themselves in stone. It could explain why Rauh would later excavate treasured shards of meteoric arrowheads from an earlier civilization. It could explain why the surviving fire giants were physically displaced from the

peak of the mountaintops, but not ideologically displaced from their Fell God, the worship of whom could have persisted in the years to come, surviving amongst the smaller giants who, like smaller creatures so often are, might have been better suited to live through an unprecedented meteoric impact. But I really should offer a big disclaimer here, because this isn't just my usual speculation, it's speculation being built on top of speculation. I basically just argued that the Giants Forge has unique architecture. Therefore it must have been built before the fire giants. Therefore, the Titans put it there because

it looks like a mobile forge. And that the modern fire giants lost their connection to this place thanks to a cataclysm of molten rock. That's a bit of a house of cards. And if any of those premises turn out to be wrong, then the subsequent theories built upon them will suffer as well. But all that said, this is still definitely the interpretation I choose to believe for now. It's a theory that has reconciled a ton of questions I had about the lore, and as such it's extremely satisfying to believe it. But therein lies the danger,

I guess, right? Anyway, if I ever change my mind, I'll try to work it into a different video and let you know. But I really love this idea that the Titans set up the forge and then were wiped out. Because it answers another question I had while making this video, and that was, why did the modern fire giants so desire to access the peak of the mountain tops in the first place? According to the Borealis's Mist incantation, Before, I was having trouble understanding why the fire giants would want to build the forge so high up

in the mountains. But if we assume that the Giants Forge was already set up by the Titans, then the Titans were wiped out, and then the ice dragons settled here, then that would explain why the fire giants would have fought so hard. They weren't just fighting for the mountain tops. they were fighting for access to the peak specifically, perhaps because they wanted to reclaim the peak that held the Giants Forge, a key part of their heritage, and an everlasting source of the Fell God's flame. Although again, this is just speculation. As for how Rauh fits

into all of this, I do think the Fire Giants could have existed peacefully in Rauh culture, though I certainly don't think that they were the only element of that culture. There's no literal evidence of fire giants in Rauh, per se, but the Last Fire Giant does have a round weapon and badge that looks suspiciously like they could have been made of Rauh's verdigris. So who's to say? Even the verdigris discus itself has that same signature circle flanked by eight dots, which could be a nod again to the fell gods eye. And remember, the Verdigris Talisman

likely already references the god that is Scarlet Rot. So, to have two outer gods potentially referenced by the same item is kind of crazy, and it might even support the idea that the Rauh were a polytheistic society, which is a theory I really like proposed by user 'illentertainer3249' on Reddit. All of this speaks to me of a wider theme of nature being in balance when it comes to the Blackstone civilization, a point that we'll touch on more in the next chapter. That's not to say that there wasn't conflict in this pre-Erdtree world. The ice dragons

were displaced by the fire giants and the Zamor, too, called They were perhaps simply opposed to the fire that threatened their ice, or perhaps they feared the fell god of the fire giants, as so many others would come to do in ages to come. But soon, the fire giants would be accompanied by friendlier neighbours, a group who desired the peak for altogether different reasons to the giants. These were the astrologers, who studied the stars. In contrast to the fire giants, it's easy to understand why the astrologers sought the icy mountaintops. High places are the perfect

locations for stargazing in The Lands Between. We can look at the skies from the moonlit plateau in Liurnia or even the sky from Rauh as some proof of this. So it is that according to the Sword of Night and Flame, As stated in a previous video, the word 'neighbors' certainly seems to suggest friendly relations between the two factions, which is significant considering how the fire giants treated the Zamor and the ice dragons. However, the astrologers were likely different. These were people that venerated the stars, and as we speculated, the giants too might have adored the

meteoric awe of Starfall past. So perhaps they had this in common. In the mountaintops of the giants, across an invisible bridge that 'Nameless Singer' points out as suspiciously similar to the one found in Rauh is the founding Glintstone sorcery. With it, the glimpse of the primeval current that the astrologer saw became real, and the stars amber rained down on this land. In this way, the astrologers were the ones who became the primeval sorcerers, exploring unrestrained lines of inquiry that would go on to become prohibited. For their discoveries unearthed many disturbing truths, truths that broke the

sorcerers that discovered them entirely. One such distasteful practice was the imbuement of Glintstone with one's soul. In this way, the old sorcerers would slice open their hearts to preserve and transplant their souls to die and rise again, provided they could find a compatible new body. So stone imbued with a spirit, Where have we heard that before? Yeah, so turns out Primal Glintstone looks eerily similar to the Rauh Burrow with a ridged exterior and a hole for a sprite or rather a larval tear or the soul within. Earlier we mentioned how Crystal was commonly used alongside

the burrows of the Rauh with their bondstone and the golems, and apparently Glintstone was applicable for this similar ritual as well. So here we return to the idea that the fire giants liked having the astrologers as neighbours. In fact, they might have even been more than happy to have them settle nearby, for they both might trace their origins back to Rauh. They might have even been kin. Again, I do think that the founding Glintstone sorcery originally being called Goliath's reign of stars might have been hinting at a relationship like this. If you're interested in following

this line of inquiry further, then I'd highly recommend watching Nameless Singer's excellent video on the topic. In it, they share some incredible observations regarding the black rises, which actually feature a cross-section identical to that of the black stone pillars and my project partner, Mispap also noticed that this exact same gap that's present here is also present here in Rauh. Oh, and it kind of looks like the top of a divine tower as well. Nameless Singer eventually goes on to suggest that the people of Rauh might have had a sort of alliance with the taller fire

giants. And they also suggest that the golems might cleave close to the same wisdom in stone that the Crystalians possess. In this video, they also point out that the primeval sorcerers coined many of the aqueous terms for the cosmos like torrent and rain, words that might have been inspired by an importance of flowing water to Rauh society. Now it seems paradoxical that flowing water could be so important to the Rauh who we've established have a strong connection to rot. which is characterized by stagnant water. And yet that's what Nameless Singer proposes in their video. And

I think it's true. I think the Rauh did value flowing water, as did the Blackstone civilization. So in this next chapter, we'll address that paradox. And in doing so, we return to where we began. Visit all of the Blackstone ruin sites in The Lands Between, and you'll probably be struck by something. From Caelid Shore, to the seaside ruins, the ruin-strewn precipice, the glaciers in the mountain tops, High Road Cave, and more, almost all of them are found near bodies of water. Now, one could argue that it's the water. that has eroded the land and revealed

these sites of ruin. But what if it's the other way around? What if FromSoftware want us to question the importance of water to this civilization? After all, some of the ruins in Rauh literally are aqueducts, artificial channels for conveying water. Thankfully, there's also an item description that supports this aqueous connection in the Dewgem, which glows at night and blossoms mainly at the waterside, said to have been used in the practice of sprite medicine long ago. Sprite medicine. It's nice to know that there was a productive use for the Rauh sprites other than just making them

explode, though I'm not sure we get access to any of these ancient medicines in game. The closest thing to a dewgem medicine that we have is the fingerprint Nostrum, which was a medicine administered in an attempt to turn humans into fingers. But since a Nostrum is by definition an ineffective medicine, I doubt it was one of the ancient sprite medicines of Rauh. At any rate, I still think we can relate the Dewgem to Rauh simply because of its use in sprite medicine. And thus can we link the importance of flowing water to the Blackstone civilization

at large. And speaking of sprites, the word 'sprite' is quite synonymous with the word 'fairy'. And as discussed in our Malenia lore video, it's quite possible that the two biggest rivers in Elden Ring, the Ainsel and the Siofra, are or contain a type of river spirit. The name Siofra is, as many of you guys have pointed out, a name of Irish origin that means elf or fairy, and the name Ainsel has connections to fairy tales as well. So maybe it's no coincidence that Rauh's sprite or fairy medicine included the power of dewgems, which grow by

the waterside. But this connection to water spirits goes further. Inside the flooded High Road Cave, there's a guardian golem surrounded by black stone ruins, a three in one linking water, the ruins and the golems. And the item the golem drops is actually the blue dancer charm, which itself references a fairy of flowing water who would go on to play a part in the ceiling of an ancient god, a god that was rot itself. I don't think I'll get into the specifics of how or when the rot god and its stagnant waters might have been washed

away by the power of a water spirit in this video. Rather, I'm more interested in reconciling the issue that this blue dancer charm presents. Namely, how are we supposed to believe that the Blackstone Civilization simultaneously venerated flowing waters while also venerating the rot god and its gifts of verdigris? How are we supposed to explain the fact that a pest standing in stagnant water is literally venerating a statue of a civilization that seems to have links to flowing water. To explain this contradiction, I simply think that the Blackstone civilization may have had a healthy relationship with

the rot and maybe even with all of the Outer Gods. Rot, for example, is a plague, but it's also a part of the natural cycle of life and rebirth. And rot bestows blessings in verdigris, and maybe even the similarly rotten, pickled delights of the forager brood. The fell god, too, eventually comes to be considered evil, but it's also a god of flame that likely played a part in the smithing culture of the giants. A smithing culture that venerated Starfall and meteorite. All of this has made me wonder if the outer gods might just be more

like natural forces of the world. Indeed, this idea reminds me of a theory proposed in a Smoughtown video, where it was claimed that the Outer Gods might more accurately be considered akin to the Kami of Shintoism, who are essentially these divine manifestations of nature. I'll leave a link to that video down below. But what changed that so affected the perception of these Outer Gods in the modern age? Well, I think that when the outer gods were suppressed, these so-called natural forces of the world might have become baleful. To give an example of such suppression, when

Marika ordered Messmer to cleanse the realm of shadow with fire, that cleansing included the ruins of Rauh. We can tell this from the burnt, shadowy Hornsent scholars who fight with the Rauh's fire sprite stones, and also from the hood of one of Messmer's men who guards the path to Rauh. This man, Salza, actually refused to burn down an old ruin at the risk of his own life. These ruins had value that even he saw. Alas, the Hornsent were in Rauh, and so the purge of the Hornsent continued amidst these ancient ruins, reaching its apex here

at the Church of the Bud, which burned. In Elden Ring's DLC trailer, we saw the silent figure of a woman here, kneeling as her world burned around her. Now the DLC is out, we know who this woman was. It was Romina, the same creature that now inhabits the Church of the Bud. The Church of the Bud despite its location in Rauh, appears to be a Church of the Hornsent. There are a few clues for this, but the best piece of evidence is this spiraling pillar the same pillar as those in Belurat, except this one culminates

in a bud at its tip. The spiral is of sacred importance to the Hornsent, and they believe that the spiral will one day form a column that stretches to the gods. For them, it's a symbol of an ascent towards divinity. In this case, I think it's no coincidence that this spiral culminates in a budding flower. The scarlet bud obviously has a connection to rot, with its flowers that are always on the very precipice of unfurling. Thus, it's a very fitting symbol that this spiral of the hornsent culminates in the budding divinity of the Scarlet Rot,

which is an outer god. In this scene, as her church burned, it was the bud that Romina clung to. You can actually see her holding the pole blade of the bud here specifically, which is a Scarlet glaive with a dangling bud-like blade. The description reads, But here, Romina discovered a twisted divine element, which she weaved into the baleful scarlet rot. Perhaps then, the buds might find somewhere to gain purchase once more within the scorched remains. So I believe this poleblade had been enshrined in the Hornsent Church, perhaps out of reach, until the church burned down.

And then, later, just like the bloodfiends, who also discovered a twisted deity as a result of their torment, Romina made contact with Rot, and it began to change her. The Scorpion, as we speculated ages ago with the Scorpion Stinger, is an aspect of Rot's divinity. So the form of the Scorpion was the one that Romina took on. Oh, and she's a centipede too. I guess. The most interesting part of the lore here, to me, actually comes from Romina's purification, which is the unique skill of the Poleblade. It imbues the Budblade with Scarlet Rot butterflies before

unleashing two large sweeping slashes. This was once considered a sacred act of purification. The idea of this being a sacred act of purification seems ironic, coming from a weapon that inflicts Scarlet Rot. How can the rot be seen as purification or, as the Japanese call it, an exorcism? Who was using this weapon in such rite and ritual? Well, I feel like there can be two answers for that. Option one is that it's a purification in the Hornsent sense, which reminds me of the Rotten Tooth Whip that was a part of the ritual to stuff shaman

in jars and get them to ascend to sainthood. The Hornsent have a bit of a bad habit of issuing suffering in the pursuit of divinity and dismissing any notions of wickedness while absorbed in such ritual. So perhaps, since the poleblade of the bud was in their church, perhaps they wielded it in their rites as well. Option two is that the purification ritual of the poleblade was used in an earlier age that predated the Hornsent. The Hornsent don't seem to have created the poleblade, after all. Rather, they likely found it in the ruins of Rauh and

built a church around the spiralling bud, which they accurately identified as an aspect of divinity. So it is that the scarlet bud became the symbol of the small church deep in the ancient ruins of Rauh. And I should mention, as per the description of the Scarlet Bud, back in those times, the Scarlet Buds had not even been touched by the Scarlet Rot's blight. Thus, the purification ritual of the Pole Blade really might have been more of a positive thing. This supports our earlier conclusions about Rot contributing positively rather than negatively to Rauh culture. And assuming

that's right, it begs the question: what changed that rot would become such a blight? In my opinion, it comes back to that theme that is so common in FromSoftware games: that suppression of natural forces in pursuit of some order will inevitably create pressure on some other part of the system, as things fall out of balance. We can look to Gwyn's Suppression of the Dark in Dark Souls, or Marika's Suppression of Death in Elden Ring as other examples of that. In the case of the rot, it would eventually be sealed by the Blue Fairy and the

Blind Swordsman. Then later its resurgence too would be denied by Malenia and her flowing blade. And eventually her scarlet butterflies bereft of a Master were soothed by Romina, who reached out to them. She too had lost everything. Romina's Remembrance tells us that she found the twisted divine element and weaved it into the baleful scarlet rot. To be baleful is to harbour a harmful or destructive intent. And the fact that Romina wove the rot into this baleful form I think could suggest that the Scarlet Rot was not baleful here before. Now, I will note that this

description is significantly different in the Japanese text. So to be clear, I'm not claiming that Romina created the Scarlet Rot. Rather, I think she simply brought out the most ominous part of it in response to her world being burned down. In doing so, she was able to bring back the scarlet buds that once grew in this small church, albeit now touched by blight. Thus has Romina emboldened and empowered the life that is native to Rauh. She cannot burn the ceiling tree behind the church because she does not have Messmer's flame. However, she is likely content

to be a haven to those that have been abandoned. Those who yearned to be accepted, as they were long ago. Before I start this next chapter, I want to quickly let you know that Displate are having their Black Friday sale, so this is literally the best chance you have to save a ton of money if you want to decorate your room with some Displate prints. Buying with the link in the description also supports this channel, so if you do end up getting some, thank you. This is my newest Displate design, and it can flipped. Doing

so reveals a dark underworld, which mirrors the world above. I just can't stop commissioning these flipped prints. They work so well with Displate's magnet system, and I think it's fun to be able to have a piece of art in your room that you can interact with to change the mood. And if you buy this print in texture, there's another benefit to getting up close, which is that texture prints add gloss, ridges & texture, giving it a more 3D look. Again, there are huge discounts going on right now, so click the link in the description, and

thank you for the support. The spider scorpions of the Realm of Shadow have grown larger in recent years, owing to Romina's rise at the Church of the Bud. They've become a far cry from their smaller ancestors, which were once a staple in Hornsent stews. Many of these larger scorpions have grown insect wings, which on top of the scorpions having spider legs as well, is a lot, and I say that as an Australian. Such is the influence of the crucible, which often presents as a chaotic conglomeration of physiological aspects on creatures that do not typically bear

them. Our best example of such medley comes from the so-called Mother of All Crucibles, which is a giant mass of intermingling crucible attributes. As mentioned earlier, this is found deep within Rauh, and these aspects were rumored to have sprouted upon giants. Rauh is where the vitality of the Crucible flourished long ago. The aspects of the Crucible Thorn's incantation literally tells us this, as remains of the vitality of the Crucible can be seen in the ancient ruins. Our other piece of proof that Rauh is the place of the Crucible's origin is Devonia, who can be found

standing here, looking wistfully off into the distance, as Crucible Knights so often do. The Crucible Knights are this disparate collection of knights from a time where the Crucible was still looked upon without scorn. But now we receive the revelation that even they do not seem to know the true origin of the powers they wield. Devonia, for example, is the longest serving of the Crucible Knights, and yet, it is said Devonia quested in search of the Crucible's origin, and departed from the lands of the Erdtree alone. Divorced from her heritage, she alone has undertaken pilgrimage to

understand where or what her roots even are. If we are to narrow the Crucible's physical origin down to one point, then I wonder if it might be at the base of the Tower of Enir Ilim. It is so close to Rauh that it might as well be a part of it, and Devonia casts her gaze towards this structure, perhaps having found the Crucible, but met a dead end. The vitality of the Crucible flourished specifically before the land was enshrouded in shadow, and the Tower of the Hornsent was sealed away in shadow at this time as

well. So, perhaps Devonia is lamenting that fact. According to the Spira incantation, (starts from "The spiral") This is what the Hornsent built: a spiral tower suffused with life, death and spirituality. So the Hornsent had a good deal of understanding about what the Spiral of the Crucible was or represented. But the Spiral is such an enduring symbol in Elden Ring that I think it's wrong to attribute it to just the Hornsent. It's in the braids of queens. It's in the weapons of divinity. It's in the glintstone magic devised by the Karolos conspicuous. Some furnace golems even

have this long-range attack of spiraling flame. So no longer do I think that the Crucible is just a physical location. Rather, I think it's also quite a metaphysical concept that infuses all things. It's hard for me to explain, but basically now I tend to think of the Crucible as if it's the causality of life, repeating itself in a spiral as empires rise and fall, but always slightly moving forwards with slight differences. There's actually a chapter in Berserk that talks about causality being a spiral in this exact same way. And in Elden Ring, I also think

the world and its causality often changes course thanks to mutations in the DNA of certain characters. In real life, DNA is a spiral, and it's the beneficial mutations in this spiral that are the driving force for evolution in our world, which leads to mutated organisms that are potentially better suited to compete for resources. Incidentally, there's even a crucible item in Elden Ring that references this same crucible of competition. So I think, thanks to these mutations, certain characters are suited to essentially break the established order of things. Take Bayle, for example. In our last video, I

speculated that he and his horn-strewn heart were essentially born of a crucible mutation. And it's thanks to this mutation that he was in a position to challenge the Golden Order of the Dragon Lord, potentially altering the fate of the world to come. So yes, the crucible might have a physical origin in Rauh somewhere, but its spiral is so ubiquitous in Elden Ring that I feel like there has to be a deeper meaning to all of it. But until FromSoftware eventually expands on this topic, who knows? So this video is pretty long already, but there's so

much I still haven't mentioned regarding the ruined places of this world. For example, I really wanted talk about the ancient dynasty of Uld and Uhl in this video, which also has its story told in Ruins, but I feel like it might be a bit more digestible if I just keep this video about Rauh. So I'm calling it here for now. If you really want to learn more about the prehistory of Elden Ring specifically, Tarnished Archaeologist has a wealth of content that can teach you a lot. So I'd highly recommend check out their channel. And of

course, again, please check out Nameless Singer's channel as well. There's only two videos on there so far, but considering just how much their video on Rauh inspired and educated me, I'm very excited to see what they put out next. When it comes to Elden Ring's prehistory that isn't mentioned in item descriptions, I think it's especially important to watch a wide variety of different viewpoints. if you can, because so much of this is open to interpretation. Personally, I think peer reviewing a bunch of different people is probably one of the best ways that we can arrive

at an accurate conclusion here. So that's what I tried to do today, and that's what I'd recommend you do as well. And at the end of this, if you read enough primary sources and secondary sources, you'll eventually be able to arrive at the conclusion that's the most important, and that's your own. Before I go, shout out to Mispap for directing and capturing all the visuals in this episode. Special thanks to John Devlin for consistently delivering incredible artwork for this series. Please give those guys a follow, and thank you all for watching.