#eiglay

Ok, so bear with me here. Was playing Elden Ring earlier, and was hit by a realization that is absolutely, positively an example of one of the following memes:

So buckle up and lets go because Drake is back on his hyperactive conspiracy theory bullcrap!

First off, the snake-worshippers of Mt. Gelmir:

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

Fairly cut and dry. They worshipped Eiglay, Serpent of the First Sin, and used such swords to sacrifice to it (her? Idk).

Next, the assassins that also operated out of Mt. Gelmir:

Serpent Bow: Malformed bow in the shape of a pair of poisonous snakes. Imbues arrows with poison through pagan magic, revealing its true worth when used with poison-infused arrows. Used by assassins known as the Formless Serpents.

Based on the common snake motif and the allusion to “pagan magic”, I think it’s fairly safe to assume that these groups were at least connected, if not one and the same.

But wait, the Serpent Bow uses poison. What other deities that we’ve talked about in the past are associated with poison?

Poison Armament: Those who dwell within poison know rot all too well. The death that begets life, that comes to all equally. That is to say: it is the cycle of rebirth put into practice.

“But wait,” you say, “that’s just a coincidence!”

And I would’ve thought so too, except for one thing. May I present:

Scorpion Talismans: A talisman carried by assassins who strike unseen. Patterned on a scorpion freshly shed of its exoskeleton, its claws seizing a heart that (sparks with lightning/burns with fire/with a blessed glow/shimmers with magic).

Granted, this is a bit of a stretch. However, unless I am sorely mistaken, the only assassin groups we hear of in-game are a) the Black Knives, b) the Sellian sorcerers, c) the Ravenmount assassins, and d) the Formless Serpents.

The Black Knives may strike unseen, but they wouldn’t carry the symbol of the scorpion, a heretic’s relic according to the Scorpion’s Stinger. The Sellian sorcerers use magic to hide their presence, but their connection links them more to the Nox and the Eternal Cities. Ravenmount assassins dress so as to evoke the imagery of the Deathbirds and are in no other way associated with scorpions. Thus, I propose that Scorpion Talismans were carried by none other than the Formless Serpents who struck “unseen” from afar using pagan magic to enhance their archery. After all, one need not fear increased damage (a secondary effect of the scorpion talismans) if one does not plan to be within range of one’s target.

And so, I propose that the Formless Serpents worshipped both the God of Rot, the Divine Scorpion, and Eiglay, the Devouring Serpent. Targets assassinated and sacrificed in the serpent’s name are thus inducted into the rot to which all life must return to be born again.

But wait, that’s only two deities! How then could I call it a Tripartite Pantheon? Friends, may I once more present for your perusal:

Bloodboon: Thrust arm into the body of the Formless Mother, then scatter the bloodflame to set the area ablaze

Granted, this is THE most threadbare of my connections. However, I would propose that draw a portion of their name from the Formless Mother. Not much evidence other than this, but I feel that it helps draw the theory together into a cohesive hole.

In conclusion, I propose that the “forgotten religion” of Mt. Gelmir is as such: the Formless Serpents were an assassin group worshipping a triune pantheon featuring gods of death, life, and rebirth. Their god of death was, if not Eiglay themselves, then at the very least the cultural memory of a devouring serpent. The god of rebirth was none other than the God of Rot, as discussed in my previous lore theory. The god of life was the Formless Mother, desiring wounds and granting new life. Thus did the assassins operate: targets were assassinated, their souls fed to the devouring serpent. From there, poison and rot returns their bodies and souls to that from which they came, and the Formless Mother of blood crafts their soul-matter into a new form and grants them new life.

So yeah, not sure if any of that makes sense, but it feels like I may be onto something here.

Actual footage of my thought process: