Kixsicks will be releasing a video on the Origins of Hoarah Loux www.youtube.com/@kixsicks I am sorry for how long this video has taken- I have been working near ceaselessly on my next longform video, and have been in the middle of moving houses which has coincided with Christmas (a nightmare ngl). I figured I don’t want to hedge my bets on getting this longform video done anytime soon, but I haven’t released anything in a very long time- So I would compromise and show you all but a part of what is to come- and another short video later on with another find I am excited to share. I cannot wait to show you all the things I have discovered about the Realm of the Sun, and am sure it will change the way you look at many parts of the game forever- Even if you don’t agree with my conclusions. As you can probably appreciate from this 10min lore bomb, there are quite a lot of things to consider and tie together- so I need to take my time, so that I do not miss anything too crucial, and make something worth your time. If I don’t get the video released before the New Year, I wish you all the absolute best time, and the happiest of holidays! ~ Infa EXTRA NOTES: A few people have asked if it is possible to see without freecam: Answer is YES. You can see it JUST from where you vs Margit the Fell Omen, and on the other side of the gate you can access a high-up balcony that is after a keystone sealed room (Opposite of the room that leads to the Divine Tower) and from there it is easily visible, especially with a telescope.
Infa, had a thought I wanted to share - Miquella's path to the realm of shadows is not just a geographical one, and the realm of shadows isn't just an obscured place - it's a time. A time LOOOONG past. Everything we see in base game points to the golden order being in place for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Entire civilizations have grown and collapsed. Godfrey's people set out from the lands between, colonized several distinct regions, before returning. Enough time has passed for an entire age - that of abundance - to pass. And yet, the hornsent grandam and Hornsent (the man) act as if what happened is a recent occurrence. Marika "the Eternal" is Eternal not just because she's lived so long, but because her past - what happened, and the location itself - is veiled. No one in the lands between knows what was before her. Miquella sought to undo the past. I think the devs said at one point that the dlc timeline runs concurrent with the timeline of the base game, but that just can't be true
This is too interesting a theory for me to stop watching but I also will give you a bit of advice from a guy with me misophonia that you probably want to either get a pop filter if you don't have one or move away a little bit further from the mic and just turn up the volume and post when you record because I can hear your mouth smacking every so often as you talk and it's making it very hard to keep watching to the point that I've turned on captions and turned it ridiculously low to try to stop hearing it... Like legit people with my condition feel immense anger and rage and the same feeling most people tend to have when they hear nails on chalkboard to have whoever or whatever is making the sound that's pissing us off stop so it does make it hard to watch videos just so you know for future
The moment you pointed out there was something about Stormveil's gate, I immediately saw the resemblance to the divine gate! Amazing! Personally, I think that in this part of Elden Ring's history, the Twinbird should be more looked into. Their presence in the lands between and lands of shadow is huge for how little we know of it. There are deathbirds and vestiges of ghostflame found everywhere. My belief is that they must have been the primary god or represented the primary god of their time. Besides, we only know of one half: the black bird of death, the scavenger crow that burns ashes. However, the twinbird kiteshield depicts a golden half that's referenced nowhere else.
@@zeppie_ If you want some lore on that I would recommend my last video (Though it is... 1.5 hours long LOL), I delve into the Tibia Marina and the DeathBirds and their Parent entity the Twinbirds in that, and how they tie in with this time period :D
My take is that the Twin-bird represented some kind of harmony between light and darkness/the world of the living and the afterlife. The Golden Bird incarnated life, the Black Bird incarnated death, and each one tasked with ordering their respective side, which (for the Black one) included burning away Kegare with Ghost-flame. From the Golden Bird came the Grace of Gold that guided folks in life, from the Black Bird came the Red Light of the Helphen which guided them on their way through death via the tibia mariners. If the Feathered Branch-sword descriptions give any indication, the culture at the time seemed to *greatly* emphasize risking one's life, likely in battle or towards some greater deed, to both cherish their lives and enter the afterlife as a worthy sacrifice; Valhalla style. We don't see the Black Twin-bird because Death was not incorporated into the Golden Order's Elden Ring, and the GEQ had (likely) already "replaced it" before the game's events. We don't see the Gold Twin-bird because Marika's long since taken over the role of Life/Light and has fully supplanted it, she's even encroached on the Black one's arbitration of death. Alternatively, it's possible that the divine bird which Ornis tamed and whose wings he claimed *was* the Gold bird, but long after the Order it served had vanished.
@@papanurgle8393 Fantastic take. It also plays right into the SOULS games general theme of the wrong that follows bypassing nature's law ; here, in ELDEN RING, cheating death, by not allowing it to follow its course.
Holy shit. This plays in incredibly with all of the details we're uncovering connected Godfrey's Lordship to Radahn's ascension, beasts, storms, goddamn dude. That gate of divinity catch gave me chills.
What lives truly rent free in my head lately is that in the story of Apollo and Daphne the end result is that Daphne runs as far away from him as possible, until finally resorting to becoming a tree. Which Apollo proceeded to declare sacred. So yeah, I can dig the Apollo parallels you’re tossing out here. :P
My mans, seeing faded figures on barren grave stones. If this isn't validation of the many crazy ideas I've had over the past 18 months or so about this game, it's at least comforting to know the journey into madness won't be a lonely one. Looking forward to the video, sounds like it'll be a good one!
10:15: i want to remind you that there is another gate that resembles the Gate of Divinity, that is the gate to the Scadutree altar Another thing is we take the position of the sun in each of the locations then that tracks well with the theory that the Shadow Realm is the center of the Lands Between (without any need to reorient the position). Belurat and Enir Elim would be just south to Liurnia's forest where the ruins there would also connect with the ancient ruins of Rauh, and the summit of the Jagged peak also heavily implies that Farum Azula used to sit there with how the giant crater on top fits with Placidusax's arena. The fixed position of the sun literally connects all 3 locations, and if there's still any doubt the Scadutree would also be sitting exactly where the Erdtree is located
Its another classic miazaki entropy story. The sun is almost gone in game. Day is not much brighter than night. The erdtree is the new nurturing light in the land.The erdtree has fed off the suns power, bled it almost dry, (imo age of plenty was when the erdtree could feed off the sun) Now it relies on erdtree burial to recoup runes/lifeforce. The sorcerers and nox worshipping the moon are just looking at a reflection of the sun.
@@AppliedGats The age of plenty was when death wasn't given to Malekith since in the intro cutscene we see death of every tarnished before they arrive to the lands between again. 1.Godfrey dies in the badlands crucified to a tree. 2. Gideon gets burried into the tomb. 3.Gold mask dies scribbling formula somewhere in the sand. 4. Fia died in bed possibly with a noble either sleeping with them or keeping them company. 5. Dung eater dies by public execution. He wouldn't be able to die by public execution if the rune of death was taken away when he lived.
@@AppliedGats Day is significantly brighter than night in Elden Ring and in its Story Trailers, even if the nights are well-lit and colorful. Needing a torch at all times and otherwise hardly having visibility on the overworld whenever it was night would probably be frustrating for players.
@@rafsandomierz5313 Destined Death was "plucked from the Golden Order at it's creation" so I don't see the interpretation that the Age of Plenty was before that. All the dead tarnished we see probably died outside the Lands Between. Case in point: Godfrey, who we know did not die in the Lands Between.
The plant engraving you mention that's found everywhere in buildings 02:25 is also seen on Godwyn's robe. Think I heard someone call it "the herb of many aspects".
I think that herb design only shows up on Godfrey's cape, Godwyn's waistcloth, the Ordovis-style Crucible Knights' capes, and as ornaments strung on top of the Siluria-style Crucible Knights' capes. The name "herb of many aspects" comes from an item description referencing the design in the on-disc 1.00 version of the game.
I think this video and Godwyn might be proof that all the Tarnished come from the Sun Realm judging from that dialogue in the intro about “ye dead who yet live” but more importantly, from Nepheli who is Tarnished like us. The Stormhawk Axe she dual wields like Godwyns Death Knights with Godwyns Golden Lightning integrated into the AOW has the same tentacle pattern as Godfrey’s Axe who also share similarities with the FA Beastmen who live in an TWLID city in the sky. Given that the Axe is found in Sol and the Roundtable Hold, it makes me think the Stormhawk/Stormclans were the original builders of Stormveil who worshiped the Eclipse with the Mausoleum knights and originally, many of the banished knights, before being transitioned under Godfrey’s rule. Nepheli is evidence of this since she wields that axe and reinforces it with her dialogue of “reminds me of my first hawk” and “summoning the storm” also chosen by the Stormhawk King and Kenneth Height, Erdtree royalty who recognizes her “proper lineage” instead of Godricks who is confirmed to be Godfrey’s Blood. It’s curious she only helps you with the Godrick and Godfrey fight and talks about witnessing a massacre when she was young which was likely Horauh after being tamed by Serosh and described by the Giant Crusher which details “man turning against man in violence” after the Giants were felled. You find the Brick Hammer in Stormveil and Nepheli gives you the Arsenal Charm which belonged to the Morne Avenger, an entity Godfrey faced in the Weeping Peninsula and a place where it’s always raining(it rains in the Duskborn Ending too) and you find Fulgarbloom which only grows in “lightning struck” lands. Her storyline is evocative of that story because she finds a massacred village and enacts justice without realizing it was her own “father” and I often wonder if she could be retelling Godwyns story. Maybe Godrick calls the dragon a “trueborn heir” for a reason since the book with the oldest dragon cult Incantations is found in Farum Azula stating “never reached the Lands Between”.
The axes Niephil wields belonged to the Stormhawk that was Lord of Stormveil before Godfrey defeated him. The engravings on Godfrey's axe might be simply a trophy Godfrey engraved probably as a sing of honor if you take into account he is a warrior and he went on multiple crusades after becoming an Elden Lord of Marika's order.
As for Dragons being true born heir it could be that there was a moment where people mated with the dragons when war was over by Godwyn's diplomacy. Like Vyke did millenia later after shattering with his dragon priestess. It could be that Godrick might be the result of this mating of Godwyn with a dragon.
@@realtoreii And Godfrey’s or Horauh’s clan could be descended from the Stormlord is my point. Nepheli is evidence of this because she is a “Loux” and has ties directly directly to the Stormclans(hawks) since she wields the Stormhawk Axes and reinforces it with her dialogue of “reminds me of my first hawk” and “summoning the storm” also chosen by the Stormhawk King and Kenneth Height, Erdtree royalty who recognizes her “proper lineage” instead of Godricks who is confirmed to be Godfrey’s Blood. It doesn’t all have to start with Godfrey.
Very few channels have talked about how Sol has been the biggest elephant in the room from the start and then the DLC Hinterlands region has THE best shot of a much closer Sol, which brightens the whole map, not the Scadutree. Why did Marika abandon Sol in favor of the Erdtree and why does it push a connection between the Banished knights, Castle Sol, Miquella, Godwyn, and Godfrey?
I can't answer that, but this might be interesting- The Light of the Moon is just Reflected Sunlight. The Energy that fuels Trees comes from photosynthesis- it's the Sun's golden power the Erdtree is glowing with, like it supplanted it
She didn't. She took everything the sun brought for the land when she usurped the Gloam Eyed Queen. She took the light half of the primordial Erdtree with her, leaving a withered and darken Scadutree behind, and it's golden ray now shines upon Leyndell as the Erdtree we know while leaving a Minor Erdtree in her home land to forever bless it.
Sarosh was 100% a feudal lord of the Elden Lord Placidusax. Enir Elim and Farum Azula are likewise twinned areas, as one was the seat of the God and the other is the resting place of her husband, Placidusax. Stormveil was always the most likely place of where Sarosh ruled, as the eponymous Storm Lord. Which also plays into the similarities to the abilities of the Divine Beast Dancing Lion and the idea of the Storm Lord. (Not to mention how the Divine Beast Lion head bears a stark similarity, to the point of identicalness, to Sarosh himself.)
Well Seroh could come from Farum azula after the defeat of beast men that were granted intelligence (intelligence is associated with the 5 th finger in Elden ring). Hornset also worshipped beasts in general.
You know what? That first part tracks pretty well with the "spiral" style considering to the west (day's end) lies the beautiful city of Belurat and Enir Elim (life) as the Gloam Eyed Queen's (Death) seat of power while to the east (day's begining) lies the great mausoleum of Farum Azula (death) as Placidusax's (Life) seat of power. And it makes perfect sense for the Dragon Lord to be Elden Lord, because when you look at him you see every aspects of the Crucible blended perfectly into him, making him the most powerful form of life and the perfect compliment to his Empyrean consort who wielded Death itself
Holy shit, youre bridging so many things i've been struggling to link together. I'm only halfway into the video and this is pure genius. I never saw those braids and carvings of braids, that's incredible.
I got chills when you brought up the similarities between the towers in Stormveil and the Gate of Divinity. I've been looking forward to your Grandmother video, and now even more excited!
Man, your channel is honestly fantastic. Wandered across it a few months back, and have smiled from ear to ear every time you let loose a new video. keep it up man!
I wouldn't say it 'is', sure it looks like his wings but the resemblance could be to a bunch of other things too. It seems more to me like a tree formation, an alternate cultural depiction of a Greattree. TA reckons it looks like a phosphorescent sea creature. If you look at the Sellian Sealbreaker you can see a crypt chair below a moon device, surrounded by spiralling stars. What you're suggesting looks like the Elden Beast looks a lot more like a tree to me. If you look at the cover of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" by G.R.R. Martin (let's say the 2015 HarperFaber edition), you can see a shield with a tree with a curvy spiral motif below a shooting star. This symbolism is very prominent and significant in ASoIaF. What's even more interesting is that the Elden Beast, for my money looks like a bunch of influences; he has parallels to the nightwalker from Princess Mononoke, but he also looks like some Kabbahlistic depictions of the sephirot/tree of life, as well as looking like a nebula dragon. With the maxim "as above, so below" the elden beast could represent the whole of space contained within the form of something that represents time (a dragon) as well as looking like a tree (golden roots) that reaches into the cosmos (body and wings look like fronds/branches) and also somewhat human having legs and arms with fingers and thumbs. It's a synthesis of human, tree, dragon, light, gold, cosmos and void. Human connects to the tree, and the tree seeks light to grow, thus it connects with outer gods, the sun, the tree and the dragon represent time and cycles. Thus does the outer (above) god take the form of the Erd/earth (below). The gold is in the mind's refinement of knowledge and concepts. Individuation through self-examination. So, the tree parallel works for me.
Was waiting for a video like this. Stormveil is one of the deepest castles in the game. Couldn't really find any additional information until this released.
Its worth noting that despite having a moon, stars, a day night cycle and moving shadows but the sun itself is nowhere to be seen. The dung eater's armour is also covered with sun symbology.
The sun can be easily seen in Limgrave, Liurnia, etc. It rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest. Whenever a region gets cloudy, both the sun and moon tend to disappear from the skybox before the weather effect fully begins, so that might be why you haven't seen the sun much in Elden Ring. Now, what is odd is that there are moving shadows at night despite the moon not moving.
Putting together the details of the wood carving of the jar women with the Divine Gate is nothing short of genius. That implies that what Marika got from the Divine Gate she then passed out to everyone in the Lands Between via the jars. That ALSO helps with the timeline. Excellent job and great video!
this video threw me into a rabbit hole about what else looks like a divine gate. and the first thing i thought was the giant empty gate beyond the shadow keep, the one with the basin-like top. it looks like an artistic rendition of the divine gate, it is defended by a gravity warrior inseparable from his stead, and even closer to the gate a feminine figure and love interest of the gravity warrior. in analyzing Miquella's character model, some people found that there are traces of like a bow weapon miquella would have used during phase 2. so we got 2 archers at the closest point of the gate. and beyond the gate? the scadutree chalice, gatherer of blessings. if we assume that erdtree and scadutree space-wise are on the same spot, it all became like a smaller fake divine gate leading to "god".
🤯 Mind blown as always man. So happy for the sneak peak of what's cooking. The main course is gonna be exquisite. Also subbed to Kixsicks as if your recommending them they must have some great insights lorewise. Also happy holidays man. Can't wait for the next one.
Let's goooooo! I gotta pick up the pace if I'm gonna manage to find the Lord of Sunlight before you! Stormveil's relation to the sun is such a huge and cool find!! Oh man, so much to unpack and digest. Looking forward to the next one!
Makes it more curious knowing that Apollo is misjudged for the Sun god in our history or this title was added to him much later as opposition to Dionysus cults. Interesting how it turns out in ER Waiting for more content !
idk man sometimes a pattern is just a pattern. Like it just looks nice and it's easy to put a vine on a strip of detail over any other type of ornament lol
Most of this detail is handled by outsourcing tbh. Or just lifted from some irl mural. It’s not meant to be read into for the most part, even in older dark souls it’s just irl paintings unless it’s a specific lore portrait, etc
Fantastic video!!! I always felt like Stormveil was way too compelling and thoughtfully designed for it's relatively minor role - few other locations felt as heavily refined - definitely not Leyndell, for example - but I wrote off my feelings to thinking that it maybe Stormveil was the first working concept level in the early stages of development for the game, so it just has that depth of flavor, or maybe that it was repurposed late in the dev cycle for the early role it takes...nope. This makes perfect sense. There was NO mistake. NO oversight. The history that you can feel in the place, the DS1-tier density and level design, all of that...wow...how the ***F*** did From Software make this game?!?! Elden Ring is not just a masterpiece of game, world, character, and art design, but contains a museum's worth of artifacts for several historically layered cultures!!! How the heck is that even possible?!?!?! I cannot fathom how any game will ever come close to this!!!
I love your videos SO. MUCH. man. For real. Since its launch, ive been obsessive about watching ER lore, big channels small channels and everything in between; and while that doesnt qualify me in any way, and im sure you dont need me to validate this or tell you so, I still feel compelled to let you know that you are definitely one of greats. One of those special content creators who just has that x-factor that is impossible to formally define but that is so inescapably palpable in the work that it cannot be denied. You have that x-factor my friend. I am genuinely _fuckin excited_ to watch you grow and see the impact you leave on our little community here. Alright, im sure you're probably already done with my glazy compliments, so ill end this here! 😂 Cheers!
That's an excellent detail about the two front gate spires of Stormveil Castle! I thought those battlements were broken too, with most of the debris lying near the gate itself, but that's a genuine structural pattern. How well can you see the same thing using the normal camera and player perspectives? Seeing the sun at high noon between the spires was cool too, though I think the view's too limited to match the Sun Realm Shield's image of the sun adorning a central tower that rises above the front gate. I agree that Stormveil's battlements add to your point about the Sun Realm though, but I think these ornamental merlons do so in a way that suggests the nation actually lay elsewhere. The diamond patterns that brace Stormveil's crown-like spires also appear along the low walls and pillars of the Elden Throne area at Leyndell. Together with the elevated walkways featuring large windows beneath the Sun Realm Shield's battlements, I believe that the Sun Realm might be Leyndell with an older name. Leyndell is the only place in Elden Ring to so prominently feature large walkways running right below the battlements of its outer walls, and the central tower on the Sun Realm Shield might be the same building that now houses Marika's Bedchamber. Additionally, Marika's tower rises above Leyndell's walls from several places on Altus Plateau, and it's the one round tower in Leyndell. The round tower of Stormveil is largely obscured by the castle walls. After Marika conquered the Sun Realm, she may have removed the crown merlons and repurposed the gold for the rooftops of the city, and in time the central tower's roof was turned into a dome. Furthermore, the shape of the crown merlons reappears on the smaller points of the Erdtree Burial Watchdogs' crown "collars", adopting the symbol but reducing its importance. The one place where the relevance might remain is on the front of the Elden Lord Crown, though the side points hardly flare out on Godfrey's weathered version and the reach is still limited on the pristine version from the Story Trailer. Culturally, that kind of battlement design seems to have lingered in Altus' architectural conscious during the construction of the Shadow Keep, judging from the walls with the boat pyres. The Shadow Keep has a number of curious structural details too, such as the outside archways being black and pointed yet the inside archways of the same doorways being white and round. Messmer's fortress is another location that people have speculated is the Sun Realm, and there's even a potential fallen army of Banished Knights in Gaius' arena, along with their spears being used to kill hornsent just past the Ellac Greatbridge. The "goat Nessie" design on the Banished Knight armor is indeed reminiscent of Enir-Ilim's boat carvings, but there's another detail on the armor that I think might relate to both Enir-Ilim and Farum Azula. Slightly above each creature, near the middle of the chest plate, is a round, embossed design that might be a shining sun. If so, these suns may represent the constantly shining stars of both Enir-Ilim and Farum Azula. These two suns, the Banished Knights' "horns" curling and not being limited to their helmets, and their various weather arts might imply that the Sun Realm was a nation trying to curry favor with both ancient civilizations while learning how to contact their own star to perpetually shine. If the Sun Realm was trying to emulate these other perma-day places, then perhaps their "sun" was never the true sun in the sky at all, but an outer god they hoped to communicate with for power. The Elden Beast is already made of stars and the void of space, introducing the idea of divine stellar bodies, and the Moonlight Altar has a hidden moon reveal itself in the permanent night and shine down rays like those of the Erdtree, implying it's an outer god. The Stargazer Heirloom says that Rennala "met" the moon too, implying that the moon is alive. To begin wrapping up this post, Leyndell has a number of porticos and pediments, which could match the pointed arches on the Sun Realm Shield's gate and windows. The shield may have taken some stylistic liberties, since such protrusions directly on a window's outline seem to have no real-world equivalent and might be structurally unsound. Also, the pointed arch above Morgott/Godfrey's fog gate could match this arch design too, and the similar half-arches atop the Elden Throne's pillars look like they could join together to form sets of pointed arches. By the way, the next time you're in Leyndell, pay attention to the light source casting shadows -- it seems to almost circle the sky before setting! There are three points that are always bright in the sky too, so it's quite sunny through those clouds! The sun in Elden Ring normally rises in the northeast and sets in the southwest, already a peculiar arc through the sky, but Leyndell's sky takes it to another level. Perhaps the influence of the Sun Realm could also explain why most of Altus' skies are gold but the capital's is not -- the Erdtree has to compete with whatever other energies are there. Thanks again for a great analysis of Stormveil's architecture! I love seeing the artistic identities each place has in From Software's games and the overall stories they can tell and augment in each setting. Apologies if this comment comes across as too long! I look forward to your additional videos and Kixsicks' analysis of Hoarah Loux!
i love these videos because every time i see the title and thumbnail my initial reaction is something along the lines of "this community has lost its damn mind" then by the end of I'm not outright convinced I'm at last thinking "if it doesn't mean anything that's a genuinely bizarre series of coincidences" honestly I've been kind of looking forward to lore channels really trying to figure out what the hell is going on with the sun realm ever since i found that shield item description
@obamabiden that's the exact type of reaction and experience I am trying to relay so I am glad to hear it LOL I have a 1.5 hour video on the sun realm coming in Jan so hopefully that should cover about everything :P
If hawks and such are important to dragon communion, it's important to note that hawks do eat carrion and might even have inspired eating the hearts of dragons
😯 What if the drakes are stormhawks who ate dragon hearts? This just hit me because the drakes appearance is decidedly more avian than reptilian and they even have feathers.
@MrJordwalk it's a great idea, but I'm not entirely sure how Bayle would fit into this, flame lightning would be an interesting combination of lava and lightning (which we've seen stormhawks use) but i think we would need to see a bit more evidence before we could say drakes are draconified hawks
on my 7th playthrough and just found the gateside chamber from jumping down the side of the ramparts to the lone crucible knight with one of the aspects. its the best dungeon
Only just realized that for as much as we learn about the moon and the stars, we never learn a single thing about the nature of the sun or how it relates to the world. In a multiple ways I think the Erdtree eclipsed the importance of the sun. Also with how much the crucible represented life and its evolutionary potential, it's easy to see how the sun would play an important role in periods of abundant life before the Erdtree. It may also be possible the Nox were founded in retaliation of the sun realm kingdom seeing as how much their focus became on the night and the coming age of stars.
Acquired: Sun realm location. Nice work, man! I love all of the detail and the argument itself. Simply showing all of those elements and pointing out that they are also often made out of gold, only to finish it with the location of the sun at high noon. Killer conclusion. I can honestly say that with all of your talk about the sun, hawks and goats, I'm really surprised that you did not also mention Ra, especially since you dipped into Egyptian art history. Ra was depicted as a Falcon-headed god, yes. However he also had an aspect that was Ram/goat-head. This usually was the form he took just before the start of a new day. Interestingly, the falcon or hawk was often shown to be the literal power behind the throne/king in Egyptian art. Many statues of pharaohs will show a small falcon just behind their head, often unseen by the casual observer. This is supposed to represent the presence, influence of Ra. Ra would also ride a boat through the underworld every night, after his death at sundown. He would then sail the river and go through numerous gates. Along the way he would fight many serpents including his arch foe, the mighty chaos serpent Apep. Apparently Set plays an important role in defeating Apep every evening, this is supposedly due to Set's unmatched beast-like strength. Finally Ra eventually reached the ed of his boat trip and then is reborn at the start of the new day, by the divine cow. Interestingly, Ra also has a scarab beetle aspect in Ra-khepri, which may also link him to the scarabs of the game. Egyptian mythology also has a tree of life myth in the goddess, Hathor of the Sycamore fig tree. Egyptian art also has a quality to it where the more powerful a person was the larger they were depicted. Part of me feels that all of From Software games are made this way but few more so than Elden Ring. I love it all but I especially love the well produce Elden Ring art history montage. What a great collection of in-game art and architecture, al so well juxtaposed. That must have taken a lot of digging. I also subscribed to your friend's channel and look forward to their 1st video. If I were to guess anything about Godfrey I would say this. Because the Axe in the round table is likely Godfrey's original axe and because it is clearly made out of bronze ( verdigris) I think I can use that to point in the direction of his origin. The main people who all have bronze gear in the base game are the Grave wardens who were ex-gladiators. There is also this odd story on the brick hammer item description about a champion who rose from being a slave. Something about that narrative utterly screams Sparticus to me. In fact your discovery of the extra-incredible importance of Stormveil adds a bit to me theory because I am now almost certain that Godfrey started as a slave and then fought his way up the ranks through the Colosseums, gaining respect of local warriors and eventually becoming Elden Lord. At one point he was able to command enough respect to become leader of his own army and presumeably sacked Stormveil, where he defeated Serosh and claimed his axe. =)
Do you think Marika could also be Placidusax's fled god? Mayhe she presided over two ages, and suppressed knowledge of the prior one? It would make some sense if Placidusax and Farum Azula had knowledge of the Gate of Divinity, and Marika created it and used it to ascend to Divinity. Only other option is that the Gate precedes Marika and has been used before for the same or similar purpose..
Something I noticed but have not seen any youtuber pointing that out: the similarities between Shaman Village and the Windmill Village, including the cut-off left braid of the celebrants.
Usually wind is associated with the movement of the sun's surface so their wind techniques make sense as well another connection to add if you think about it. Not to mention lightning is usually associated with the clouds (Despite that lightning is usually created above the clouds in earth's atmosphere). So there are connections as well with the hornset that use techniques associated with the heavens like lightning, wind and cold. Despite worshipping a different god, hornset eventually reached out to the sun unknowingly. Opening a way to the star realm where the sun is and thus being able to ascend someone else into godhood eventually replacing the sun with the Erdtree. Even though they wanted to ascend someone to ascend their god crucible which has form of horned beast covered in flowers instead.
Couple of things I would like someone to look at. 1. Alignment of stormveil gates with both he gates of divinity and the pillars of stormveil mentioned at the end of this videoif both the shadow realm and farum azula inserted in their original location on the map (the original world map) 2. Since I began the game I was always curious as to what lies beneath stormveils throne. There's definitely something but I can never make it out. If these questions have already been answered, then I'd really appreciate someone to let me know :) Great video btw! New subscriber
I always assumed stormhawks descended from Modern Dragons like Dinosaurs do to birds, and Stormveil was some Descendant or inheritor of beastman society
Actually at 4:10, this is far from the only place you see this symbol, but it is the only one that isn’t a borderline easter egg. It’s hidden all over, but specifically it’s hidden around either the astrolabes or the *places that astrolabes point to*. There’s a beautiful series of Reddit posts written up about it, ‘Renna theory’ or something, but between these symbols and the astrolabes, there’s a consistent scavenger hunt that always points you to either an NPC or something similar. For this one, I can’t remember which one points here. I want to say it’s on the Mountaintops, but I swear it’s the only one missing a pointer and Stormveil is the most unique location to have this hidden insignia (given that it’s not hidden here lol) I’m recounting much of this poorly and by shaky memory, but it is sincerely the #1 most unheard of secret in Elden Ring. Also, fantastic observation with the Stormveil gates! I had seen you talking about it on Reddit before seeing this video, so I was already primed to hear more about it 🙏
I knew what that unaffiliated crest was the first week Elden Ring was released. My question was why it was there. DS3 Lothric Knights crest, but newer and higher resolution/detailed to match Elden Ring's art style. It solely exists where banished knights have been.
6:21 Actually, that symbol on the birds reminds me more about the center of the big circle carried by a bull that is on the stones in the Lord of Blood palace.
Saw a theory on reddit about 8 months ago about how Ensha was the King of Stormveil in the Sun Realm Era before Godfrey, and the Banished Knights in Castle Sol are trying to bring him back. With the multiple Octopus faces in older, more ancient catacombs that Death Knights are now guarding as future surrogate cadavers of Godwyn Duskborn, all despite the Land of Shadow being separated long before the Shattering, it makes sense that Godwyn is not the first Soulless Demigod, and Deathroot did not begin with Godwyn's transformation. The Sun Realm also having wormfaces and most undead being Sun Realm soldiers also connects with Ensha being the old Prince of Death.
You aren't very familiar with Dark souls aren't you? The sun theme is the part of Dark souls trilogy my guy. It's not first time they wrote about the sun, the sun is their strength magnum opus. It wouldn't be weird that it's also part of Elden ring as well.
Hey man, I want to apologize because on another video, I commented that these kind of videos seemed like a stretch to me and that the lore youtuber's claims lacked substance sometimes, which I still think is true for SOME videos but man, I retire my words. This is some SOLID evidence, very logical and well held together speculation. Good job.
Sun worship was a fairly widespread practice (as part of a larger cosmology) in pre roman iron age northern europe. The spoked wheel motif appears in a lot of places, including britanic and gaulish coins, and it is suggested it represents the sun.
You may have the best eye for noticing patterns and symbols in the whole lore-hunting community, every post of yours is like that doctor who noticed the shape of the human brain in Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam
Also not forgetting that the 'bowl' silhouette appears at the top of the big arch in the shadow realm. Makes me wonder whether all the places are designed to somehow draw power from/connect to celestial bodies such as the sun or moon. The sun drained of colour is a recurring motif in From games. And the smithing stones hint at the significance of the loss of colour and its connection to Placidusax. And warriors that seem connected to dragons and storm veil have white (drained of colour?) hair. On a slightly different tangent, I noticed the other day that the lids on the jars in Bonny Village are actually gold, but this is only apparent in certain light. Otherwise they look very dull brown - tarnished gold?
When looking at the history of Sun worship why do we stop at Greece? A lot of hellenic culture/religion was inspired by the Phoenicians/Babylonians. There you'll find a more prevalent Sun themes going on. Look at the Zodiac, Saturn which is Kronos in Greek and the nocturnal counterpart of the Sun, the "Sun of Night/Black Sun" even in old Sumerian astronomy passed down to the Phoenicians, Amorites, Babylonians, etc. The 'ancient' history of Elden Ring is much more older to be a Greco-Roman counterpart, in fact i'd say it is currently in that classic era, ancient Mesopotamia is a closer match to the Lands Between's ancient history. Specially because of the prevalent Sun religion.
In minute 6 you mention the conexion between Apollo and hawks. Althou is true in certain myths is related to hawks, probably from the Egyptian link falcon-sun of Horus, he is more often related to Swans. But in any case, those arent "the pillars of the temple of Apollo", those are Corinthian pillars, used for many purposes and many kinds of buildings, its an artistic style, they werent unique to Apollo or related to him. Is like saying gothic decoration its a symbol of the Virgin Mary because they are present in Notre Dame. In fact, there isnt one temple of Apollo, there were many temples, and a bunch of them are still standing, and those pillars are only present in a few of them. Im afraid that doesnt hold up :)
I noticed if the area around liurnia wasn't sunken or depressed, there would be a path from the four belfries to I think the church of the cuckoo, but the path leads straight to Raya lucaria. It's interesting because they lead to some influential ancient areas like farum azula and the dynasty ruins. But also where the player first starts, with the hawk king chilling there. If people from Raya Lucaria used to be able to go to these places, they themselves could have a lot of influence, and they seem to me to be the best candidates for creating the magic imbued sword seals, so it's like they locked the doors after something bad happened.
The reason for that could be shattering. They sealed themselves away after Marika shattered the ring, somehow with help of Radagon if you count his rune pattern on Raya Lucaria entrances where special key must be used. Or it could be because of Veil so where the road would be there would be something and there are few areas related to Carrian's in realm of shadow which is Rellana's castle.
Check out the tree motif before the mirror knight in ds2 has a great tree with 2 humanlike figures, and a strange bust of a knight which resembles the raging wolf in front of it. Couincidence? Also the horned figure with the wings silouette reminds me of the oldiron king/ and the dragonlord. Another wierd thing is all the wierd painted shields with historical paintings on them (demS)(Ds3)(Elden Ring) which i think hide deep lore.
I truly appreciate your work, for its proper depiction of the work of archeologist: pinpointing iconographic connexions in architecture and artefacts, associating it to established fragments of text and cultural chronology, and only propose structured hypothesis of links when they are logical and stand the okham's razor.
Wow the braids on the gates of divinity. Funny how in the impression pillars they look more like clouds and on the gates they merge the iconography of the two
As fun as it is to draw these connections, I think many of them are just reused assets to fill in small details of the environment. I just really doubt that the devs put that much thought or intention behind the lineage/history of some of these designs. Like there's no reason why the Farum Azula bird/dog thing pattern would be in Rennala's boss room on the floor, it just doesn't make any sense to connect Raya Lucaria or the Carians to Farum's culture at all, except for maybe some vague emphasis on wolf-man servants
I'm glad to find another person who noticed that Farum Azula pattern around the central design of the Grand Library! That case probably is one where the texture was intended to be too small for most people to notice. The Farum Azula pattern over the high, distant Erdtree designs above the gate near the Capital Outskirts Margit and the one leading to the Fortified Manor are probably meant to be too far away to really see either. However, the weathered Farum Azula pattern on the step-like battlements flanking the roads to Leyndell could be valid, since they're within normal sight and Farum Azula's own debris has similar weathering. The Erdtree Sanctuary features beast head pillar tops just like in Farum Azula too, and a similar floor pattern, so in those cases there might be a genuine link as opposed to asset reuse.
I haven't seen it! My friend Kate is begging me to watch it but I always avoid lore videos on the topics I'm exploring because it puts someone else's head canon in the back of your mind for the whole process (poisoning the well) It is on my list to watch after I'm done with the topic though, that's for sure!
@@ScumMageInfa Very understandable, I'm actually curious as to how similar your conclusions will be to other theories on the Sun Realm (I think if multiple people come to the same conclusions separately it's a decent sign said theory is on the right track)
The same winged bull figure is on the beastmen graves, it would be interesting if the humans of Farum Azula eventually settled in the lands between as the Storm Clan, the ancient clans of humans before the erdtree seems to vary but it would make sense that the humanoid civilization of Farum Azula was it's previous monarchy. The Astrologers would eventually become the Nox, and the Ulh Civilization would become the Shaman clan. 3 sister clans with Lunar, Crucible, and Storm. All likely sharing a common ancestor known as the Rauh.
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
Kixsicks will be releasing a video on the Origins of Hoarah Loux
www.youtube.com/@kixsicks
I am sorry for how long this video has taken- I have been working near ceaselessly on my next longform video, and have been in the middle of moving houses which has coincided with Christmas (a nightmare ngl).
I figured I don’t want to hedge my bets on getting this longform video done anytime soon, but I haven’t released anything in a very long time- So I would compromise and show you all but a part of what is to come- and another short video later on with another find I am excited to share.
I cannot wait to show you all the things I have discovered about the Realm of the Sun, and am sure it will change the way you look at many parts of the game forever- Even if you don’t agree with my conclusions.
As you can probably appreciate from this 10min lore bomb, there are quite a lot of things to consider and tie together- so I need to take my time, so that I do not miss anything too crucial, and make something worth your time.
If I don’t get the video released before the New Year, I wish you all the absolute best time, and the happiest of holidays!
~ Infa
EXTRA NOTES:
A few people have asked if it is possible to see without freecam: Answer is YES. You can see it JUST from where you vs Margit the Fell Omen, and on the other side of the gate you can access a high-up balcony that is after a keystone sealed room (Opposite of the room that leads to the Divine Tower) and from there it is easily visible, especially with a telescope.
Infa, had a thought I wanted to share - Miquella's path to the realm of shadows is not just a geographical one, and the realm of shadows isn't just an obscured place - it's a time. A time LOOOONG past.
Everything we see in base game points to the golden order being in place for hundreds, if not thousands of years. Entire civilizations have grown and collapsed. Godfrey's people set out from the lands between, colonized several distinct regions, before returning. Enough time has passed for an entire age - that of abundance - to pass. And yet, the hornsent grandam and Hornsent (the man) act as if what happened is a recent occurrence. Marika "the Eternal" is Eternal not just because she's lived so long, but because her past - what happened, and the location itself - is veiled. No one in the lands between knows what was before her. Miquella sought to undo the past.
I think the devs said at one point that the dlc timeline runs concurrent with the timeline of the base game, but that just can't be true
This is too interesting a theory for me to stop watching but I also will give you a bit of advice from a guy with me misophonia that you probably want to either get a pop filter if you don't have one or move away a little bit further from the mic and just turn up the volume and post when you record because I can hear your mouth smacking every so often as you talk and it's making it very hard to keep watching to the point that I've turned on captions and turned it ridiculously low to try to stop hearing it... Like legit people with my condition feel immense anger and rage and the same feeling most people tend to have when they hear nails on chalkboard to have whoever or whatever is making the sound that's pissing us off stop so it does make it hard to watch videos just so you know for future
They...praised....the sun? What a quaint notion
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The moment you pointed out there was something about Stormveil's gate, I immediately saw the resemblance to the divine gate! Amazing!
Personally, I think that in this part of Elden Ring's history, the Twinbird should be more looked into. Their presence in the lands between and lands of shadow is huge for how little we know of it. There are deathbirds and vestiges of ghostflame found everywhere. My belief is that they must have been the primary god or represented the primary god of their time.
Besides, we only know of one half: the black bird of death, the scavenger crow that burns ashes. However, the twinbird kiteshield depicts a golden half that's referenced nowhere else.
Can't wait for your next video!
Absolutely the same experience for me when he put up that image. As he said, hidden in plain sight. 🤯
@@zeppie_ If you want some lore on that I would recommend my last video (Though it is... 1.5 hours long LOL), I delve into the Tibia Marina and the DeathBirds and their Parent entity the Twinbirds in that, and how they tie in with this time period :D
My take is that the Twin-bird represented some kind of harmony between light and darkness/the world of the living and the afterlife. The Golden Bird incarnated life, the Black Bird incarnated death, and each one tasked with ordering their respective side, which (for the Black one) included burning away Kegare with Ghost-flame. From the Golden Bird came the Grace of Gold that guided folks in life, from the Black Bird came the Red Light of the Helphen which guided them on their way through death via the tibia mariners. If the Feathered Branch-sword descriptions give any indication, the culture at the time seemed to *greatly* emphasize risking one's life, likely in battle or towards some greater deed, to both cherish their lives and enter the afterlife as a worthy sacrifice; Valhalla style.
We don't see the Black Twin-bird because Death was not incorporated into the Golden Order's Elden Ring, and the GEQ had (likely) already "replaced it" before the game's events. We don't see the Gold Twin-bird because Marika's long since taken over the role of Life/Light and has fully supplanted it, she's even encroached on the Black one's arbitration of death. Alternatively, it's possible that the divine bird which Ornis tamed and whose wings he claimed *was* the Gold bird, but long after the Order it served had vanished.
@@papanurgle8393 Fantastic take. It also plays right into the SOULS games general theme of the wrong that follows bypassing nature's law ; here, in ELDEN RING, cheating death, by not allowing it to follow its course.
Interesting addition: If you wait long enough, the sun will set through the church window on the Storm Lord's island, where we first spawn in game.
Holy shit. This plays in incredibly with all of the details we're uncovering connected Godfrey's Lordship to Radahn's ascension, beasts, storms, goddamn dude. That gate of divinity catch gave me chills.
What lives truly rent free in my head lately is that in the story of Apollo and Daphne the end result is that Daphne runs as far away from him as possible, until finally resorting to becoming a tree. Which Apollo proceeded to declare sacred.
So yeah, I can dig the Apollo parallels you’re tossing out here. :P
Bring out the Sun! Infa carrying the glorious Sun Banner, May it rise again!
AND SO THE CYCLE CONTINUES!
but the question is.... is this sotrmveil structure a mimic of the divine gate in the scaduland?
@@jonathan0225
I think it's the other way around, actually
My mans, seeing faded figures on barren grave stones. If this isn't validation of the many crazy ideas I've had over the past 18 months or so about this game, it's at least comforting to know the journey into madness won't be a lonely one.
Looking forward to the video, sounds like it'll be a good one!
It is so bad for my mental health I stg 😂😅
10:15: i want to remind you that there is another gate that resembles the Gate of Divinity, that is the gate to the Scadutree altar
Another thing is we take the position of the sun in each of the locations then that tracks well with the theory that the Shadow Realm is the center of the Lands Between (without any need to reorient the position). Belurat and Enir Elim would be just south to Liurnia's forest where the ruins there would also connect with the ancient ruins of Rauh, and the summit of the Jagged peak also heavily implies that Farum Azula used to sit there with how the giant crater on top fits with Placidusax's arena. The fixed position of the sun literally connects all 3 locations, and if there's still any doubt the Scadutree would also be sitting exactly where the Erdtree is located
We're so back
Got a frog in your pocket?
Ahhhhh the Sun Realm. Most ancient of Elden Ring mysteries that vexes me!!!
Three things occupy my mind: Sun Realm, "sinister Rift" and "spirit world" from Helphens Steeple description.
One civilization praised the sun and it's power to grow trees, and one grew a tree to replace that power
Its another classic miazaki entropy story. The sun is almost gone in game. Day is not much brighter than night. The erdtree is the new nurturing light in the land.The erdtree has fed off the suns power, bled it almost dry, (imo age of plenty was when the erdtree could feed off the sun) Now it relies on erdtree burial to recoup runes/lifeforce. The sorcerers and nox worshipping the moon are just looking at a reflection of the sun.
@@AppliedGats The age of plenty was when death wasn't given to Malekith since in the intro cutscene we see death of every tarnished before they arrive to the lands between again.
1.Godfrey dies in the badlands crucified to a tree.
2. Gideon gets burried into the tomb.
3.Gold mask dies scribbling formula somewhere in the sand.
4. Fia died in bed possibly with a noble either sleeping with them or keeping them company.
5. Dung eater dies by public execution.
He wouldn't be able to die by public execution if the rune of death was taken away when he lived.
@@AppliedGats Day is significantly brighter than night in Elden Ring and in its Story Trailers, even if the nights are well-lit and colorful. Needing a torch at all times and otherwise hardly having visibility on the overworld whenever it was night would probably be frustrating for players.
@@rafsandomierz5313 Destined Death was "plucked from the Golden Order at it's creation" so I don't see the interpretation that the Age of Plenty was before that.
All the dead tarnished we see probably died outside the Lands Between. Case in point: Godfrey, who we know did not die in the Lands Between.
Makes no sense, since the sun is about "smiting" and "binding souls to stone" as the dlc revealed
Conducting Archeological and Architectural research in a fictional Castle inside a video game, thats the stuff i love to see!
Ever since I noticed the hawk elevator in Castle Morne... I've been hooked on that Storm lore.
The plant engraving you mention that's found everywhere in buildings 02:25 is also seen on Godwyn's robe. Think I heard someone call it "the herb of many aspects".
Could this herb be Altus Bloom?
I think that herb design only shows up on Godfrey's cape, Godwyn's waistcloth, the Ordovis-style Crucible Knights' capes, and as ornaments strung on top of the Siluria-style Crucible Knights' capes. The name "herb of many aspects" comes from an item description referencing the design in the on-disc 1.00 version of the game.
@@nightscout9979 Oh damn, didn't know that. Thanks for the details!
Your voice makes this borderline Elden Ring lore ASMR. There is something soothing about the way you talk in your videos.
Where is the grandmother damnit. I don’t need sleep, I need answers
it's the moon :)
I think this video and Godwyn might be proof that all the Tarnished come from the Sun Realm judging from that dialogue in the intro about “ye dead who yet live” but more importantly, from Nepheli who is Tarnished like us. The Stormhawk Axe she dual wields like Godwyns Death Knights with Godwyns Golden Lightning integrated into the AOW has the same tentacle pattern as Godfrey’s Axe who also share similarities with the FA Beastmen who live in an TWLID city in the sky. Given that the Axe is found in Sol and the Roundtable Hold, it makes me think the Stormhawk/Stormclans were the original builders of Stormveil who worshiped the Eclipse with the Mausoleum knights and originally, many of the banished knights, before being transitioned under Godfrey’s rule. Nepheli is evidence of this since she wields that axe and reinforces it with her dialogue of “reminds me of my first hawk” and “summoning the storm” also chosen by the Stormhawk King and Kenneth Height, Erdtree royalty who recognizes her “proper lineage” instead of Godricks who is confirmed to be Godfrey’s Blood. It’s curious she only helps you with the Godrick and Godfrey fight and talks about witnessing a massacre when she was young which was likely Horauh after being tamed by Serosh and described by the Giant Crusher which details “man turning against man in violence” after the Giants were felled. You find the Brick Hammer in Stormveil and Nepheli gives you the Arsenal Charm which belonged to the Morne Avenger, an entity Godfrey faced in the Weeping Peninsula and a place where it’s always raining(it rains in the Duskborn Ending too) and you find Fulgarbloom which only grows in “lightning struck” lands. Her storyline is evocative of that story because she finds a massacred village and enacts justice without realizing it was her own “father” and I often wonder if she could be retelling Godwyns story. Maybe Godrick calls the dragon a “trueborn heir” for a reason since the book with the oldest dragon cult Incantations is found in Farum Azula stating “never reached the Lands Between”.
The axes Niephil wields belonged to the Stormhawk that was Lord of Stormveil before Godfrey defeated him.
The engravings on Godfrey's axe might be simply a trophy Godfrey engraved probably as a sing of honor if you take into account he is a warrior and he went on multiple crusades after becoming an Elden Lord of Marika's order.
As for Dragons being true born heir it could be that there was a moment where people mated with the dragons when war was over by Godwyn's diplomacy.
Like Vyke did millenia later after shattering with his dragon priestess.
It could be that Godrick might be the result of this mating of Godwyn with a dragon.
what? nepheli is descended from godfrey's clan
@@realtoreii And Godfrey’s or Horauh’s clan could be descended from the Stormlord is my point. Nepheli is evidence of this because she is a “Loux” and has ties directly directly to the Stormclans(hawks) since she wields the Stormhawk Axes and reinforces it with her dialogue of “reminds me of my first hawk” and “summoning the storm” also chosen by the Stormhawk King and Kenneth Height, Erdtree royalty who recognizes her “proper lineage” instead of Godricks who is confirmed to be Godfrey’s Blood. It doesn’t all have to start with Godfrey.
@@puzzleheaded6195 they're both godfrey's blood
Very few channels have talked about how Sol has been the biggest elephant in the room from the start and then the DLC Hinterlands region has THE best shot of a much closer Sol, which brightens the whole map, not the Scadutree. Why did Marika abandon Sol in favor of the Erdtree and why does it push a connection between the Banished knights, Castle Sol, Miquella, Godwyn, and Godfrey?
I can't answer that, but this might be interesting-
The Light of the Moon is just Reflected Sunlight.
The Energy that fuels Trees comes from photosynthesis- it's the Sun's golden power the Erdtree is glowing with, like it supplanted it
She didn't. She took everything the sun brought for the land when she usurped the Gloam Eyed Queen. She took the light half of the primordial Erdtree with her, leaving a withered and darken Scadutree behind, and it's golden ray now shines upon Leyndell as the Erdtree we know while leaving a Minor Erdtree in her home land to forever bless it.
It's possible that the over-the-top iconography was just Godrick overcompensating for his low standing in the Royal Family.
Sarosh was 100% a feudal lord of the Elden Lord Placidusax.
Enir Elim and Farum Azula are likewise twinned areas, as one was the seat of the God and the other is the resting place of her husband, Placidusax.
Stormveil was always the most likely place of where Sarosh ruled, as the eponymous Storm Lord.
Which also plays into the similarities to the abilities of the Divine Beast Dancing Lion and the idea of the Storm Lord.
(Not to mention how the Divine Beast Lion head bears a stark similarity, to the point of identicalness, to Sarosh himself.)
Well Seroh could come from Farum azula after the defeat of beast men that were granted intelligence (intelligence is associated with the 5 th finger in Elden ring).
Hornset also worshipped beasts in general.
You know what? That first part tracks pretty well with the "spiral" style considering to the west (day's end) lies the beautiful city of Belurat and Enir Elim (life) as the Gloam Eyed Queen's (Death) seat of power while to the east (day's begining) lies the great mausoleum of Farum Azula (death) as Placidusax's (Life) seat of power. And it makes perfect sense for the Dragon Lord to be Elden Lord, because when you look at him you see every aspects of the Crucible blended perfectly into him, making him the most powerful form of life and the perfect compliment to his Empyrean consort who wielded Death itself
Now, now. Given that Miquella is Radahn's spouse ('consort'), Serrosh could be Placidusaxx's consort :D
The demon face he mentioned looks a lot like the silhouette of a furnace golem
Holy shit, youre bridging so many things i've been struggling to link together. I'm only halfway into the video and this is pure genius. I never saw those braids and carvings of braids, that's incredible.
I love how there is a very thin line between world building and simply reused assets in Elden Ring
I got chills when you brought up the similarities between the towers in Stormveil and the Gate of Divinity. I've been looking forward to your Grandmother video, and now even more excited!
most basic shape possible: "OMFG ITS SUCH A REVELATION!"
@@shocked-by-your-nonsense nah this was pretty damning
You have been doing some amazing and groundbreaking work on deciphering Elden Ring's lore.
Ok, my mind is blown like when I watched Tarnished Archaeologist for the first time. You have my respect, sir.
0:25 - this is me when I realize Malenia is just too powerful
This game is a masterpiece in so many ways... i keep learning things after watching over 100hrs of lore videos....
Game is quite legendary in terms of lore.
Miquella abandons his flesh twice.
Man, your channel is honestly fantastic. Wandered across it a few months back, and have smiled from ear to ear every time you let loose a new video. keep it up man!
Unrelated to this video, but I saw this somewhere and now I can't unsee it ever: the design on the back of the Nox Crpyt-Chairs is the Elden Beast!
I wouldn't say it 'is', sure it looks like his wings but the resemblance could be to a bunch of other things too. It seems more to me like a tree formation, an alternate cultural depiction of a Greattree. TA reckons it looks like a phosphorescent sea creature. If you look at the Sellian Sealbreaker you can see a crypt chair below a moon device, surrounded by spiralling stars. What you're suggesting looks like the Elden Beast looks a lot more like a tree to me. If you look at the cover of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" by G.R.R. Martin (let's say the 2015 HarperFaber edition), you can see a shield with a tree with a curvy spiral motif below a shooting star. This symbolism is very prominent and significant in ASoIaF. What's even more interesting is that the Elden Beast, for my money looks like a bunch of influences; he has parallels to the nightwalker from Princess Mononoke, but he also looks like some Kabbahlistic depictions of the sephirot/tree of life, as well as looking like a nebula dragon. With the maxim "as above, so below" the elden beast could represent the whole of space contained within the form of something that represents time (a dragon) as well as looking like a tree (golden roots) that reaches into the cosmos (body and wings look like fronds/branches) and also somewhat human having legs and arms with fingers and thumbs. It's a synthesis of human, tree, dragon, light, gold, cosmos and void. Human connects to the tree, and the tree seeks light to grow, thus it connects with outer gods, the sun, the tree and the dragon represent time and cycles. Thus does the outer (above) god take the form of the Erd/earth (below). The gold is in the mind's refinement of knowledge and concepts. Individuation through self-examination.
So, the tree parallel works for me.
Was waiting for a video like this. Stormveil is one of the deepest castles in the game. Couldn't really find any additional information until this released.
Its worth noting that despite having a moon, stars, a day night cycle and moving shadows but the sun itself is nowhere to be seen. The dung eater's armour is also covered with sun symbology.
The sun can be easily seen in Limgrave, Liurnia, etc. It rises in the northeast and sets in the northwest. Whenever a region gets cloudy, both the sun and moon tend to disappear from the skybox before the weather effect fully begins, so that might be why you haven't seen the sun much in Elden Ring. Now, what is odd is that there are moving shadows at night despite the moon not moving.
Can confirm you can still see the sun, although it can be hard to spot.
Putting together the details of the wood carving of the jar women with the Divine Gate is nothing short of genius. That implies that what Marika got from the Divine Gate she then passed out to everyone in the Lands Between via the jars. That ALSO helps with the timeline. Excellent job and great video!
Big Praise from THE Nameless Singer
this video threw me into a rabbit hole about what else looks like a divine gate. and the first thing i thought was the giant empty gate beyond the shadow keep, the one with the basin-like top. it looks like an artistic rendition of the divine gate, it is defended by a gravity warrior inseparable from his stead, and even closer to the gate a feminine figure and love interest of the gravity warrior. in analyzing Miquella's character model, some people found that there are traces of like a bow weapon miquella would have used during phase 2. so we got 2 archers at the closest point of the gate. and beyond the gate? the scadutree chalice, gatherer of blessings. if we assume that erdtree and scadutree space-wise are on the same spot, it all became like a smaller fake divine gate leading to "god".
Duuuuuude!!!
That was amazing!!!
I've never noticed the similarities between Storm Veil's twin towers and the towers of divinity.
That's so rad!!!
🤯 Mind blown as always man. So happy for the sneak peak of what's cooking. The main course is gonna be exquisite. Also subbed to Kixsicks as if your recommending them they must have some great insights lorewise. Also happy holidays man. Can't wait for the next one.
@imjohnfinnegan ♡♡♡ Happy Holidays to you too!
Kick won't disappoint!
Let's goooooo!
I gotta pick up the pace if I'm gonna manage to find the Lord of Sunlight before you! Stormveil's relation to the sun is such a huge and cool find!!
Oh man, so much to unpack and digest. Looking forward to the next one!
wow, I always wondered about those buttresses and the background of the castle, thanks for doing the work. Keep it up! Great vid as allways!
Makes it more curious knowing that Apollo is misjudged for the Sun god in our history or this title was added to him much later as opposition to Dionysus cults. Interesting how it turns out in ER
Waiting for more content !
idk man sometimes a pattern is just a pattern. Like it just looks nice and it's easy to put a vine on a strip of detail over any other type of ornament lol
Nah not with fromsoft man
@@jerrbear5958Fromsoft is great
Not with Fromsoft.
You should check out their previous games and they will have the same amount of detail put in them.
Most of this detail is handled by outsourcing tbh. Or just lifted from some irl mural. It’s not meant to be read into for the most part, even in older dark souls it’s just irl paintings unless it’s a specific lore portrait, etc
@@GastonGock yeah that's what i'm saying there's no way devs have the time to make sure every texture is hand crafted just so
Fantastic video!!! I always felt like Stormveil was way too compelling and thoughtfully designed for it's relatively minor role - few other locations felt as heavily refined - definitely not Leyndell, for example - but I wrote off my feelings to thinking that it maybe Stormveil was the first working concept level in the early stages of development for the game, so it just has that depth of flavor, or maybe that it was repurposed late in the dev cycle for the early role it takes...nope. This makes perfect sense. There was NO mistake. NO oversight. The history that you can feel in the place, the DS1-tier density and level design, all of that...wow...how the ***F*** did From Software make this game?!?! Elden Ring is not just a masterpiece of game, world, character, and art design, but contains a museum's worth of artifacts for several historically layered cultures!!! How the heck is that even possible?!?!?! I cannot fathom how any game will ever come close to this!!!
Elden Ring is Miyazakis Magnum Opus
@@Al-ww4bs Not Magnum it's a atomic bomb in gaming industry.
A number of shots in the video are wallpaper worthy
I love your videos SO. MUCH. man. For real.
Since its launch, ive been obsessive about watching ER lore, big channels small channels and everything in between; and while that doesnt qualify me in any way, and im sure you dont need me to validate this or tell you so, I still feel compelled to let you know that you are definitely one of greats.
One of those special content creators who just has that x-factor that is impossible to formally define but that is so inescapably palpable in the work that it cannot be denied. You have that x-factor my friend. I am genuinely _fuckin excited_ to watch you grow and see the impact you leave on our little community here.
Alright, im sure you're probably already done with my glazy compliments, so ill end this here! 😂
Cheers!
That's an excellent detail about the two front gate spires of Stormveil Castle! I thought those battlements were broken too, with most of the debris lying near the gate itself, but that's a genuine structural pattern. How well can you see the same thing using the normal camera and player perspectives? Seeing the sun at high noon between the spires was cool too, though I think the view's too limited to match the Sun Realm Shield's image of the sun adorning a central tower that rises above the front gate. I agree that Stormveil's battlements add to your point about the Sun Realm though, but I think these ornamental merlons do so in a way that suggests the nation actually lay elsewhere.
The diamond patterns that brace Stormveil's crown-like spires also appear along the low walls and pillars of the Elden Throne area at Leyndell. Together with the elevated walkways featuring large windows beneath the Sun Realm Shield's battlements, I believe that the Sun Realm might be Leyndell with an older name. Leyndell is the only place in Elden Ring to so prominently feature large walkways running right below the battlements of its outer walls, and the central tower on the Sun Realm Shield might be the same building that now houses Marika's Bedchamber. Additionally, Marika's tower rises above Leyndell's walls from several places on Altus Plateau, and it's the one round tower in Leyndell. The round tower of Stormveil is largely obscured by the castle walls.
After Marika conquered the Sun Realm, she may have removed the crown merlons and repurposed the gold for the rooftops of the city, and in time the central tower's roof was turned into a dome. Furthermore, the shape of the crown merlons reappears on the smaller points of the Erdtree Burial Watchdogs' crown "collars", adopting the symbol but reducing its importance. The one place where the relevance might remain is on the front of the Elden Lord Crown, though the side points hardly flare out on Godfrey's weathered version and the reach is still limited on the pristine version from the Story Trailer.
Culturally, that kind of battlement design seems to have lingered in Altus' architectural conscious during the construction of the Shadow Keep, judging from the walls with the boat pyres. The Shadow Keep has a number of curious structural details too, such as the outside archways being black and pointed yet the inside archways of the same doorways being white and round. Messmer's fortress is another location that people have speculated is the Sun Realm, and there's even a potential fallen army of Banished Knights in Gaius' arena, along with their spears being used to kill hornsent just past the Ellac Greatbridge.
The "goat Nessie" design on the Banished Knight armor is indeed reminiscent of Enir-Ilim's boat carvings, but there's another detail on the armor that I think might relate to both Enir-Ilim and Farum Azula. Slightly above each creature, near the middle of the chest plate, is a round, embossed design that might be a shining sun. If so, these suns may represent the constantly shining stars of both Enir-Ilim and Farum Azula. These two suns, the Banished Knights' "horns" curling and not being limited to their helmets, and their various weather arts might imply that the Sun Realm was a nation trying to curry favor with both ancient civilizations while learning how to contact their own star to perpetually shine.
If the Sun Realm was trying to emulate these other perma-day places, then perhaps their "sun" was never the true sun in the sky at all, but an outer god they hoped to communicate with for power. The Elden Beast is already made of stars and the void of space, introducing the idea of divine stellar bodies, and the Moonlight Altar has a hidden moon reveal itself in the permanent night and shine down rays like those of the Erdtree, implying it's an outer god. The Stargazer Heirloom says that Rennala "met" the moon too, implying that the moon is alive.
To begin wrapping up this post, Leyndell has a number of porticos and pediments, which could match the pointed arches on the Sun Realm Shield's gate and windows. The shield may have taken some stylistic liberties, since such protrusions directly on a window's outline seem to have no real-world equivalent and might be structurally unsound. Also, the pointed arch above Morgott/Godfrey's fog gate could match this arch design too, and the similar half-arches atop the Elden Throne's pillars look like they could join together to form sets of pointed arches.
By the way, the next time you're in Leyndell, pay attention to the light source casting shadows -- it seems to almost circle the sky before setting! There are three points that are always bright in the sky too, so it's quite sunny through those clouds! The sun in Elden Ring normally rises in the northeast and sets in the southwest, already a peculiar arc through the sky, but Leyndell's sky takes it to another level. Perhaps the influence of the Sun Realm could also explain why most of Altus' skies are gold but the capital's is not -- the Erdtree has to compete with whatever other energies are there.
Thanks again for a great analysis of Stormveil's architecture! I love seeing the artistic identities each place has in From Software's games and the overall stories they can tell and augment in each setting. Apologies if this comment comes across as too long! I look forward to your additional videos and Kixsicks' analysis of Hoarah Loux!
could the horned demon emblem be the bull from the coffin ships?
I thought this too
@@likeasonntagmorgen It was torrent. He was the GOAT all along
i love these videos because every time i see the title and thumbnail my initial reaction is something along the lines of "this community has lost its damn mind" then by the end of I'm not outright convinced I'm at last thinking "if it doesn't mean anything that's a genuinely bizarre series of coincidences"
honestly I've been kind of looking forward to lore channels really trying to figure out what the hell is going on with the sun realm ever since i found that shield item description
@obamabiden that's the exact type of reaction and experience I am trying to relay so I am glad to hear it LOL
I have a 1.5 hour video on the sun realm coming in Jan so hopefully that should cover about everything :P
Worth mentioning that Stormveil is very close to Belurat if you imagine the Shadow Lands restored in the central bay of the map.
If hawks and such are important to dragon communion, it's important to note that hawks do eat carrion and might even have inspired eating the hearts of dragons
😯 What if the drakes are stormhawks who ate dragon hearts? This just hit me because the drakes appearance is decidedly more avian than reptilian and they even have feathers.
@MrJordwalk it's a great idea, but I'm not entirely sure how Bayle would fit into this, flame lightning would be an interesting combination of lava and lightning (which we've seen stormhawks use) but i think we would need to see a bit more evidence before we could say drakes are draconified hawks
@@MrJordwalk No the Drakes are children of Bayle and they were hunted for communion.
I been checking the channel every day and today is the day!
So stinking good. And the fact that we all raged our ways past Margit into the castle was just so spot on 😂.
on my 7th playthrough and just found the gateside chamber from jumping down the side of the ramparts to the lone crucible knight with one of the aspects. its the best dungeon
You're absolutely smashing it ! This is amazing stuff !
Only just realized that for as much as we learn about the moon and the stars, we never learn a single thing about the nature of the sun or how it relates to the world. In a multiple ways I think the Erdtree eclipsed the importance of the sun. Also with how much the crucible represented life and its evolutionary potential, it's easy to see how the sun would play an important role in periods of abundant life before the Erdtree.
It may also be possible the Nox were founded in retaliation of the sun realm kingdom seeing as how much their focus became on the night and the coming age of stars.
Acquired: Sun realm location.
Nice work, man! I love all of the detail and the argument itself. Simply showing all of those elements and pointing out that they are also often made out of gold, only to finish it with the location of the sun at high noon. Killer conclusion.
I can honestly say that with all of your talk about the sun, hawks and goats, I'm really surprised that you did not also mention Ra, especially since you dipped into Egyptian art history.
Ra was depicted as a Falcon-headed god, yes. However he also had an aspect that was Ram/goat-head. This usually was the form he took just before the start of a new day.
Interestingly, the falcon or hawk was often shown to be the literal power behind the throne/king in Egyptian art. Many statues of pharaohs will show a small falcon just behind their head, often unseen by the casual observer. This is supposed to represent the presence, influence of Ra.
Ra would also ride a boat through the underworld every night, after his death at sundown. He would then sail the river and go through numerous gates. Along the way he would fight many serpents including his arch foe, the mighty chaos serpent Apep. Apparently Set plays an important role in defeating Apep every evening, this is supposedly due to Set's unmatched beast-like strength. Finally Ra eventually reached the ed of his boat trip and then is reborn at the start of the new day, by the divine cow.
Interestingly, Ra also has a scarab beetle aspect in Ra-khepri, which may also link him to the scarabs of the game.
Egyptian mythology also has a tree of life myth in the goddess, Hathor of the Sycamore fig tree.
Egyptian art also has a quality to it where the more powerful a person was the larger they were depicted. Part of me feels that all of From Software games are made this way but few more so than Elden Ring.
I love it all but I especially love the well produce Elden Ring art history montage. What a great collection of in-game art and architecture, al so well juxtaposed. That must have taken a lot of digging.
I also subscribed to your friend's channel and look forward to their 1st video.
If I were to guess anything about Godfrey I would say this.
Because the Axe in the round table is likely Godfrey's original axe and because it is clearly made out of bronze ( verdigris) I think I can use that to point in the direction of his origin. The main people who all have bronze gear in the base game are the Grave wardens who were ex-gladiators.
There is also this odd story on the brick hammer item description about a champion who rose from being a slave. Something about that narrative utterly screams Sparticus to me. In fact your discovery of the extra-incredible importance of Stormveil adds a bit to me theory because I am now almost certain that Godfrey started as a slave and then fought his way up the ranks through the Colosseums, gaining respect of local warriors and eventually becoming Elden Lord.
At one point he was able to command enough respect to become leader of his own army and presumeably sacked Stormveil, where he defeated Serosh and claimed his axe. =)
Do you think Marika could also be Placidusax's fled god? Mayhe she presided over two ages, and suppressed knowledge of the prior one?
It would make some sense if Placidusax and Farum Azula had knowledge of the Gate of Divinity, and Marika created it and used it to ascend to Divinity. Only other option is that the Gate precedes Marika and has been used before for the same or similar purpose..
Something I noticed but have not seen any youtuber pointing that out: the similarities between Shaman Village and the Windmill Village, including the cut-off left braid of the celebrants.
Usually wind is associated with the movement of the sun's surface so their wind techniques make sense as well another connection to add if you think about it.
Not to mention lightning is usually associated with the clouds (Despite that lightning is usually created above the clouds in earth's atmosphere).
So there are connections as well with the hornset that use techniques associated with the heavens like lightning, wind and cold.
Despite worshipping a different god, hornset eventually reached out to the sun unknowingly.
Opening a way to the star realm where the sun is and thus being able to ascend someone else into godhood eventually replacing the sun with the Erdtree.
Even though they wanted to ascend someone to ascend their god crucible which has form of horned beast covered in flowers instead.
You know what needs a sun…an eclipse. Maybe the eclipse iconography is descended from sun?
Just wanted to let you know I am continually grateful to have your voice in the community 💖 Cheers from Louisiana
1:58 I never noticed the mini tree coming out of the top of the big tree
It's fractals, all the way down. Or up.
Couple of things I would like someone to look at.
1. Alignment of stormveil gates with both he gates of divinity and the pillars of stormveil mentioned at the end of this videoif both the shadow realm and farum azula inserted in their original location on the map (the original world map)
2. Since I began the game I was always curious as to what lies beneath stormveils throne. There's definitely something but I can never make it out.
If these questions have already been answered, then I'd really appreciate someone to let me know :)
Great video btw! New subscriber
I always assumed stormhawks descended from Modern Dragons like Dinosaurs do to birds, and Stormveil was some Descendant or inheritor of beastman society
Like the Chicken and the T-Rex :'D
2:55 Maybe that's not a demonic figure, but a bull figure. Like the one we see in the stone coffinships.
My thoughts exactly.
Actually at 4:10, this is far from the only place you see this symbol, but it is the only one that isn’t a borderline easter egg. It’s hidden all over, but specifically it’s hidden around either the astrolabes or the *places that astrolabes point to*. There’s a beautiful series of Reddit posts written up about it, ‘Renna theory’ or something, but between these symbols and the astrolabes, there’s a consistent scavenger hunt that always points you to either an NPC or something similar.
For this one, I can’t remember which one points here. I want to say it’s on the Mountaintops, but I swear it’s the only one missing a pointer and Stormveil is the most unique location to have this hidden insignia (given that it’s not hidden here lol)
I’m recounting much of this poorly and by shaky memory, but it is sincerely the #1 most unheard of secret in Elden Ring.
Also, fantastic observation with the Stormveil gates! I had seen you talking about it on Reddit before seeing this video, so I was already primed to hear more about it 🙏
I knew what that unaffiliated crest was the first week Elden Ring was released. My question was why it was there. DS3 Lothric Knights crest, but newer and higher resolution/detailed to match Elden Ring's art style. It solely exists where banished knights have been.
What convinced me is the part of Castle Stormveil made to purposefully frame/cradle the view of the Sun
fantastic video!
I wonder how well Stormveil aligns with Bellurat & Enir Ilum when the two world maps are combined
6:21 Actually, that symbol on the birds reminds me more about the center of the big circle carried by a bull that is on the stones in the Lord of Blood palace.
Saw a theory on reddit about 8 months ago about how Ensha was the King of Stormveil in the Sun Realm Era before Godfrey, and the Banished Knights in Castle Sol are trying to bring him back.
With the multiple Octopus faces in older, more ancient catacombs that Death Knights are now guarding as future surrogate cadavers of Godwyn Duskborn, all despite the Land of Shadow being separated long before the Shattering, it makes sense that Godwyn is not the first Soulless Demigod, and Deathroot did not begin with Godwyn's transformation.
The Sun Realm also having wormfaces and most undead being Sun Realm soldiers also connects with Ensha being the old Prince of Death.
Youre actually a genius. WE NEED MORE
I absolutely love lore videos. I wonder if From watches these are like, “yea that’s what meant, totally👀”
You aren't very familiar with Dark souls aren't you?
The sun theme is the part of Dark souls trilogy my guy.
It's not first time they wrote about the sun, the sun is their strength magnum opus.
It wouldn't be weird that it's also part of Elden ring as well.
Hey man, I want to apologize because on another video, I commented that these kind of videos seemed like a stretch to me and that the lore youtuber's claims lacked substance sometimes, which I still think is true for SOME videos but man, I retire my words. This is some SOLID evidence, very logical and well held together speculation. Good job.
@@olivierallaire6302 I'll try to bring evidence enough worthy of such a change of mind and heart.
Thankyou for the comment and your words ♡
Awesome, as always
Amazing!
Can’t wait for the longer video
2:57 you can find these faces even in Enir Ilim, near the Divine Gate
Sun worship was a fairly widespread practice (as part of a larger cosmology) in pre roman iron age northern europe. The spoked wheel motif appears in a lot of places, including britanic and gaulish coins, and it is suggested it represents the sun.
RETURN OF THE KING!!!!!! 👑
The rabbit hole keeps getting deeper and deeper
anyone know the deal with the piles of oozing bodies outside the murkwater catacombs
Totally agree, I do have a theory on them, but that'll be in my wisdom of stone video ❤
Likely victims of grafting that follow the flowing waterways
2:57 up top giving big Primordial Serpent vibes
You may have the best eye for noticing patterns and symbols in the whole lore-hunting community, every post of yours is like that doctor who noticed the shape of the human brain in Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam
Also not forgetting that the 'bowl' silhouette appears at the top of the big arch in the shadow realm. Makes me wonder whether all the places are designed to somehow draw power from/connect to celestial bodies such as the sun or moon. The sun drained of colour is a recurring motif in From games. And the smithing stones hint at the significance of the loss of colour and its connection to Placidusax. And warriors that seem connected to dragons and storm veil have white (drained of colour?) hair. On a slightly different tangent, I noticed the other day that the lids on the jars in Bonny Village are actually gold, but this is only apparent in certain light. Otherwise they look very dull brown - tarnished gold?
And weapons with white light attribute (like Ancient meteoric ore greatsword which is actually a piece of giant arrowhead ).
When looking at the history of Sun worship why do we stop at Greece? A lot of hellenic culture/religion was inspired by the Phoenicians/Babylonians. There you'll find a more prevalent Sun themes going on. Look at the Zodiac, Saturn which is Kronos in Greek and the nocturnal counterpart of the Sun, the "Sun of Night/Black Sun" even in old Sumerian astronomy passed down to the Phoenicians, Amorites, Babylonians, etc.
The 'ancient' history of Elden Ring is much more older to be a Greco-Roman counterpart, in fact i'd say it is currently in that classic era, ancient Mesopotamia is a closer match to the Lands Between's ancient history. Specially because of the prevalent Sun religion.
(Because this is the 10min 'trailer' to a 2 hour video I am releasing on the topic hehe)
In minute 6 you mention the conexion between Apollo and hawks. Althou is true in certain myths is related to hawks, probably from the Egyptian link falcon-sun of Horus, he is more often related to Swans. But in any case, those arent "the pillars of the temple of Apollo", those are Corinthian pillars, used for many purposes and many kinds of buildings, its an artistic style, they werent unique to Apollo or related to him. Is like saying gothic decoration its a symbol of the Virgin Mary because they are present in Notre Dame. In fact, there isnt one temple of Apollo, there were many temples, and a bunch of them are still standing, and those pillars are only present in a few of them. Im afraid that doesnt hold up :)
Will always remember this castle
I wasn’t expecting the hawks too..
Been waitin’ for this one, let’s gooo!
I noticed if the area around liurnia wasn't sunken or depressed, there would be a path from the four belfries to I think the church of the cuckoo, but the path leads straight to Raya lucaria. It's interesting because they lead to some influential ancient areas like farum azula and the dynasty ruins. But also where the player first starts, with the hawk king chilling there. If people from Raya Lucaria used to be able to go to these places, they themselves could have a lot of influence, and they seem to me to be the best candidates for creating the magic imbued sword seals, so it's like they locked the doors after something bad happened.
The reason for that could be shattering.
They sealed themselves away after Marika shattered the ring, somehow with help of Radagon if you count his rune pattern on Raya Lucaria entrances where special key must be used.
Or it could be because of Veil so where the road would be there would be something and there are few areas related to Carrian's in realm of shadow which is Rellana's castle.
Check out the tree motif before the mirror knight in ds2 has a great tree with 2 humanlike figures, and a strange bust of a knight which resembles the raging wolf in front of it. Couincidence? Also the horned figure with the wings silouette reminds me of the oldiron king/ and the dragonlord. Another wierd thing is all the wierd painted shields with historical paintings on them (demS)(Ds3)(Elden Ring) which i think hide deep lore.
I truly appreciate your work, for its proper depiction of the work of archeologist: pinpointing iconographic connexions in architecture and artefacts, associating it to established fragments of text and cultural chronology, and only propose structured hypothesis of links when they are logical and stand the okham's razor.
Wow the braids on the gates of divinity. Funny how in the impression pillars they look more like clouds and on the gates they merge the iconography of the two
Elden Ring needs more content my god please this can't be the end
As fun as it is to draw these connections, I think many of them are just reused assets to fill in small details of the environment. I just really doubt that the devs put that much thought or intention behind the lineage/history of some of these designs. Like there's no reason why the Farum Azula bird/dog thing pattern would be in Rennala's boss room on the floor, it just doesn't make any sense to connect Raya Lucaria or the Carians to Farum's culture at all, except for maybe some vague emphasis on wolf-man servants
I'm glad to find another person who noticed that Farum Azula pattern around the central design of the Grand Library! That case probably is one where the texture was intended to be too small for most people to notice. The Farum Azula pattern over the high, distant Erdtree designs above the gate near the Capital Outskirts Margit and the one leading to the Fortified Manor are probably meant to be too far away to really see either.
However, the weathered Farum Azula pattern on the step-like battlements flanking the roads to Leyndell could be valid, since they're within normal sight and Farum Azula's own debris has similar weathering. The Erdtree Sanctuary features beast head pillar tops just like in Farum Azula too, and a similar floor pattern, so in those cases there might be a genuine link as opposed to asset reuse.
With everything you're suggesting exploring in the next video, I'm curious, what is your opinion on Occam's Onion's video on the Sun Realm?
I haven't seen it! My friend Kate is begging me to watch it but I always avoid lore videos on the topics I'm exploring because it puts someone else's head canon in the back of your mind for the whole process (poisoning the well)
It is on my list to watch after I'm done with the topic though, that's for sure!
@@ScumMageInfa Very understandable, I'm actually curious as to how similar your conclusions will be to other theories on the Sun Realm (I think if multiple people come to the same conclusions separately it's a decent sign said theory is on the right track)
Always a hit with you infa
mostly sold, but the people on the ends are not merging with pillars, they are placing pots onto their shoulders
Thank you for opening my eyes, Margit definitely did hate crime me. I wish he was more like that cool guy that looks a little similar, morgott
The same winged bull figure is on the beastmen graves, it would be interesting if the humans of Farum Azula eventually settled in the lands between as the Storm Clan, the ancient clans of humans before the erdtree seems to vary but it would make sense that the humanoid civilization of Farum Azula was it's previous monarchy. The Astrologers would eventually become the Nox, and the Ulh Civilization would become the Shaman clan. 3 sister clans with Lunar, Crucible, and Storm. All likely sharing a common ancestor known as the Rauh.