Highlights

  • Elden Ring has maintained relevancy as one of the most influential RPGs, with deep lore and hidden narrative that captivates players.
  • The game features multiple ancient civilizations, such as the Nox, the Uhl and Uld Dynasty, Farum Azula, and worshippers of the Deathbirds.
  • The history of the Zamor people and their conflict with the Fire Giants is shrouded in mystery, potentially involving betrayal by the Golden Order.

Despite releasing nearly two years ago, Elden Ring has maintained relevancy as one of the most memorable RPGs released in the past few years. Featuring deep lore in a world that tells a story through subtle details instead of direct exposition is the signature style of FromSoftware, as it ensures that interest is maintained by players invested in its hidden narrative as much as they are in its gameplay. With a rich history established throughout Elden Ring's sprawling regions, there are even aspects to its storytelling that are obscured beneath even the more recently fallen civilizations of the game.

The Lands Between is already quite barren aside from the enemies that fill up its areas, as it depicts the aftermath of many epic battles that have led to the ruined state of the world as a whole. What could be considered civilizations like the Golden Order and the Carians have remnants that still linger across their respective zones, but there is far more to Elden Ring than just the most recent fallen societies. Architectural stratigraphy hides the remains of past people beneath layers of buildings and ornamentation, but many fans have created theories from these details over time.

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Why Elden Ring's Melina Remains One of the Game's Biggest Mysteries

Answers to many questions in Elden Ring's lore can be found scattered throughout The Lands Between, but lore regarding Melina remains uncertain.

The Eternal Cities

While there may still be some Nox enemies found roaming around these areas, Nokron, Nokstella, and the Nameless Eternal City are ruins of what used to be thriving societies of magic. With hints like the similar architecture found on bridges to the Divine Towers and the alleged banishing of the cities underground by the Greater Will, some players have theorized that this civilization existed above the surface before the other eras that followed.

The Nox of these cities seem to have been deep into experimentation with the creation of new life, as evidenced by the presence of the shapeshifting Silver Tears and Mimic Tears, along with the artificial Dragonkin Soldiers. A mysterious giant skeleton seated in a throne has been the subject of further theories regarding an attempt by the Eternal Cities to create a new lord, but the ruined state of their culture makes it impossible to truly confirm.

The Lost Ancient Dynasty

The Uhl and Uld Palace Ruins are areas found adjacent to the underground cities of the Nox, but evidence in the game indicates that these ruins actually originate from a different civilization entirely. The more simplistic architecture found in these places contrasts heavily from the ornate designs of somewhere like Nokron, leading some fans to theorize that the dynasty of Uhl and Uld could have predated the existence of the Nox entirely. This same style of architecture can be found in places like Mohgwyn Palace’s aptly named Dynasty Mausoleum and the Grand Cloister above the Lake of Rot, potentially tying these disparate locations together under the banner of a long-dead civilization. Whether the society of this time consisted of the Numen of the surface or another mysterious people, the ruined remains of Uhl and Uld leave little to be known for certain.

Farum Azula

The player may find Crumbling Farum Azula in a state far beyond its glory days, but the context clues found in the area indicate it used to be a far more prosperous place. Said to have been ruled by dragons in ancient times, the beastmen would worship and serve them in a way that earned them the approval of the Greater Will. While the beastmen since seem to have lost the intelligence that they were once blessed with, the remnants of their burial practices and potential craftsmanship show that they were likely a far more sensible group at one point in time. Said to have been struck by a meteor that caused it to begin crumbling apart, the chaotic disrepair of Farum Azula makes it hard to concretely determine if the story of Godfrey and Serosh could also have contributed to its downfall.

Followers of the Deathbirds

Likely the most mysterious and lesser-known of the alleged ancient civilizations of the Lands Between, worshippers of the Deathbirds are said to have existed in an era before the Erdtree's dominance. They are described as having used ghostflame to burn the dead, with this process possibly even being part of a rite to infuse one's essence into the wings of a Death Rite Bird itself. The Twinbird is said to have been the mother of all Deathbirds and the envoy of an Outer God, but this lost age is only described in sparse item descriptions.

Mt. Gelmir

Rykard may have established his Recusant forces in the Volcano Manor and fought a fierce battle with the Golden Order, but there is even more to the history of this mountainous zone. There are hints of a lost culture revolving around serpents, as hinted at by item descriptions like that of the Serpent-Hunter, said to have been used to "hunt an immortal great serpent in the distant past". The manor's Temple of Eiglay further supports the idea that the giant serpent that has consumed Rykard is not a new presence at all, but an entity that was worshipped by a lost group of people. Even the magma sorceries found in Mt. Gelmir are said to have been derived from "ancient hexes", showing that there could have even been powerful magic-wielders in the forgotten past.

Zamor and the Fire Giants

Many players have likely encountered a boss known as the Ancient Hero of Zamor, and later the Knights of Zamor as regular enemies, but few know about the implications these warriors leave behind. Said to have been mortal enemies of the Fire Giants for a long time, these people have seemingly been reduced to a small group wandering around ruins while the giants have been all but exterminated. It's unclear what led to the Zamor Ruins being the biggest remaining piece of their history, but several players have theorized that the Golden Order could have been responsible for their downfall.

The people of Zamor may have aided the Golden Order in their attack on the Fire Giants, but also ended up subsequently betrayed and even imprisoned once they outlived their usefulness. While the remnants of the Golden Order may still linger throughout the Lands Between, there is no telling just how much damage its rise was able to do to the historical preservation of several other civilizations that fell in its wake.