Since iâm playing through SOTE again, iâm thinking the giant horned humanoid bodies in the Specimen Storage of the Shadow Keep may be the Hornsentâs ancestors who built Rauh and worshipped the Crucible. Since the Crucibleâs influence seems to originate in Rauh, based on the Crucible Knight Devonia being there, who left the Erdtree and Godfreyâs service long ago to search for the Crucibleâs source. And we know the Hornsent either worship, or find sacred, the Divine Beasts who are gifted with elements of the Crucible - most prominently horns. And see themselves as special because they have horns.
The specimens size would be just right for the giant corridors and doors in the labyrinthine area you first go through in Rauh. Though the flaw in that idea lies mainly in two instances in Rauh; with the size of the Church of the Bud (which admittedly couldâve been constructed long after Rauh fell) and with the Swordâs of Light and Darkness, which are very much so Straight Swords not of a giantâs size or make, but the Sword of Light can be âpulledâ from the Stone Scabbard in the tower in Rauh. The fact the Stone Sword can be filled with either Light or Darkness is similar to the Rauh Burrows which can harbour Sprites; beings of energy. Which to me makes the Stone Sword seem more to be an artefact of ancient Rauh at least, even if the size doesnât match. But From games and Size have always had an interesting relationship so who knows. Maybe the Stone Sword grows in size with whoever picks it up first.
It would also be an interesting connection to the Giants of the Lands Between, considering the furnace item mentions that the Fell God haunts the Sagas of the Hornsent. Aka, the Hornsent have horror stories of the Fell God, which makes sense since the Fell God is a God of Ruin - very much so naturally opposed to something like the Crucible of Life. It would be apropro for them to have such horror stories of the Fell God if their own ancestors hadâve nearly been wiped out by it, or, conversely, were forced into service of the Fell God themselves.
The antelopes/deer present in the Storehouse seem to me to be references to the Ancestor Spirits, and a tie in to the underground dwellers of the Ancestral Followers. Who may either be tied to the ancient Urd Dynasty as descendants themselves, or may simply have shared in belief of the Crucibles supremacy over life. As evidenced by the Horn charm talismans having their highest rated versions made by the Hornsent, yet their lowest rated versions are made by the Ancestral Followers.
Theres a lot more than you may even think about tied up between them all until you replay and reread a bunch of stuff.
This is why i love Fromâs games man. Though admittedly Elden Ring is the height of their lore-weaving by far.
