Situated atop Crumbling Farum Azula in the far east, the Dragon Temple displays the head of a gargantuan dragon. The church is occupied by the Godskin duo. Votive candles litter the floor, dragon-shaped sconces burn along the walls, and floral banners with entwining patterns drape over the nave.
Situated within Volcano Manor in the far west, the Church of Eiglay displays the head of a gargantuan snakeskin. The church is occupied by a Godskin Noble. Votive candles litter the floor, sconces burn red along the walls, and serpentine banners drape over the nave.
Let’s take a deeper look under the surface - or under the skin - at the practices of each temple.
Dragon Temple
Dragon Communion Seal:
> The sacrificial devouring of the heart gives power. Indeed, Dragon Communion is too primal in nature for the term "incantation" to be appropriate.
Dragon Communion Priestess dialogue:
> Bayle and his bloodline - the drakes - have served as sacrifices for Dragon Communion. Landbound warrior. My lord, Placidusax, has shown your kind what must be done. Seek communion. Sate your boundless appetite. Feel the euphoria of a dragon's essence taking root in your meagre frame.
Magma Wyrm Scalesword:
> It's said these land-bound dragons were once human heroes who partook in dragon communion, a grave transgression for which they were cursed to crawl the earth upon their bellies, shadows of their former selves.
When we look at the Dragon Temple within the context of their history and their feud with the drakes, a question becomes apparent—why is its centerpiece a drake and not a dragon? The most obvious answer is that the temple enshrines not the object of worship, but the object of consumption.
Yet despite instruction from Placidusax himself, Dragon Communion is widely stigmatized, viewed as a transgression. Against whom or what? Yuri’s dialogue sheds some light here:
> “You must not forget though. Those who partake in Dragon Communion will one day shed their humanity. Their hunger for dragon, their yearning, only worsens. Until the floodgates burst, unleashing eternal torment. The strength of a mighty dragon. Magnificent, but deadly. It's no surprise that Dragon Communion is ruinous.”
Bayle’s Tyranny also reads:
> Even after being consumed, the throbbing heart of Bayle continues to resist its subjugation, never weakening. One day, the fire within will consume the very body and soul of its Communion devourer. One day.
Is it men which consume the dragons or dragons which subsume the men? Those who partake will shed their humanity. The end result is the magma wyrms: men transformed into dragons.
Church of Eiglay
Several magma wyrms inhabit Mt. Gelmir and the surrounding area. It may only seem natural, but they are also a thematic tie to the nearby religion, one which also ritualizes consumption.
Serpent God’s Curved Sword:
> Curved sword fashioned in the image of an ancient serpent deity and tool of a forgotten religion practiced on Mt. Gelmir. Formerly used to offer up sacrifices, this sword restores HP upon slaying an enemy.
Devourer’s Scepter:
> Scepter in the shape of a serpent devouring the world. This weapon will one day become the very symbol of the Lord of Blasphemy. A vision of the future briefly seen by Rykard in his final moments before being devoured by the great serpent.
Blasphemous Blade:
> Sacred sword of Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. Remains of the countless heroes he has devoured writhe upon the surface of this blade. Now they share the same blood, bound together as family.
Man-Serpent Ashes:
> Spirit of a deformed man-serpent that wields a whip of magma. It is said that long ago, the elder serpent that dwelled on Mt. Gelmir devoured a demigod, and the birth of the man-serpents followed.
In many ways, these two religions are a mirror to one another. The Serpent-God’s worshipers once offered up sacrifices—not for them to consume, but the Serpent. The end result of Rykard’s self-sacrifice is the birth of the Man-Serpents: serpents transformed into men.
Within the Serpent, all who are devoured become one. It’s easy to draw parallels between the Serpent and the Hornsent’s Living Jar rituals, and between the Serpent and the Crucible, where all life was once blended together. Indeed, serpents bear the Crucible’s very shape.
But where the Crucible is the expression of life in all of its variety, the blasphemous Serpent seeks to consume it. Its hunger is bottomless, its greed unchecked. This greed is the Serpent’s sin, a line which Dragon Communion so dangerously toes. If the Erdtree commands life, burial, and rebirth, then the all-devouring Serpent represents the violation of that command. It absorbs life that should be returned to the Erdtree, and declares its hunger for the gods themselves.
From Gelmir Knight Armor:
> Armor worn by knights once loyal to Praector Rykard. It bears an emblem that none wear any longer, standing as it does for a lord that fell from loft ambition into gluttonous depravity. As the lord lost his dignity, so too did these knights lose their master.
Evidently, feeding himself to the Serpent was not the dealbreaker for Rykard’s followers. Instead, it was his slow descent into depravity from then on. For as much as the Serpent became Rykard, Rykard also became the Serpent. He, too, shed his humanity.
Supporting Details
Below are some observations that further explore the themes above:
- The Beastmen near the Crumbling Beast Grave are consuming their dead.
- Gurranq is possessed by a specific, insatiable hunger. “It is all... consumed. Still, I am not sated... Not nearly sated… Marika, is this... what it is... to sin?"
- The frenzied Leyndell Soldiers on Mt. Gelmir turn to cannibalizing their dead.
- The same extends to rotting Starscourge Radahn, “gorging on them like a dog … howling at the sky”.
- Crucible Knights are found in Farum Azula and Volcano Manor. This Crucible Knight drops the Aspects of the Crucible: Breath incantation.
- After you defeat him, Lady Tanith is found consuming Rykard’s corpse, exclaiming, “Dear Rykard, please find purchase within me, I wish to be your serpent; your family. One day, let us devour the gods together.”
- Recusant Bernahl is another major tie between Farum Azula, Beasts, and Lord Rykard. He invades you on the bridge to the Old Lord Talisman and wields the Devourer’s Scepter.
- Godskin Nobles have assimilated inhuman features, described as “not unlike the Crucible”. The Noble has a serpent’s tail, while the Apostle has a torso-stretching attack similar to the Man-Serpents. If the Serpent is a symbol of gluttony, Godskin Nobles certainly look the part. More could be explored here about their practices of assimilation, their aptitude for skin, and their association with serpents.
- In seeking to become dragons, Leyndell's Dragon Cult deserves special attention for not partaking in Dragon Communion. Even for the sake of their city, there was a temptation they would not dare.
- Anastasia Tarnished-Eater is labeled as a Recusant of the Volcano Manor. Her Butchering Knife restores HP like other weapons associated with Rykard and Serpents, identical to the Bonny Butchering Knife where a shed snakeskin is also found.
Thanks for reading! I apologize if anything I’ve written here has been covered already, but I hope I could provide another perspective.