The Altus Plateau

The Altus Plateau, home to Mt. Gelmir, Leyndell, even the Erdtree itself, is the first region the Shattering has left clear scars across. There are barricades and soldiers camps throughout, and various impact wounds in the ground. Mt. Gelmir, the site of “the most appalling battle in the entirety of the Shattering” also has countless dead bodies piled up. Rykard became the Lord of Blasphemy, marking the Erdtree as the enemy which in turn brought the armies of the capital to his doorstep. What is interesting is that, despite the numerous camp sites of these soldiers, and the various battlegrounds, some of which are still populated even now, there is no evidence of the fight reaching the Manor, which is in pristine condition. However, the Prison town hidden behind is definitely not. On our arrival, we can see this town is in bad shape. It is unclear if the lava has risen as the architecture seems to fit the height the lava is at, but the buildings are nonetheless broken and sinking. This discrepancy between the town and the Manor indicates the temporal distance between their construction, and implies that the town and perhaps its serpent men were around long before Rykard set up here. It’s fair to assume that ‘prisoners’ would have been from war, but the serpent-men are said to have arisen “long ago”. And the fact that the town seems to be crumbling amidst the lava is certainly interesting. Has the lava control of the God-devouring Serpent changed in some way over the years? Or was the town never fit to last in such a brutal environment?

Outside of the Manor, at one of the bleaker battlegrounds, is a dead, or at least broken, Minor Erdtree. Trees are of course a huge part of the Lore of Elden Ring, and as such will require a more focused video to dive into. But, for now, there are a couple observations that are worth noting within this video, and we’d love to see what your thoughts are on them, and on the game’s trees as a whole. First, is the size variety of the Minor Erdtrees throughout the world. Or, rather, the lack of variety. For all the different locations and their climates, for all the history associated with each area, and for all their differing distances to the Erdtree, they are all of the same scale. And the second pertains to the Erdtree at this battleground - that it is broken, and seemingly dead, and is the first that we have seen in such shape. What exactly caused this to happen? And when? We will come back to this later. Before we continue, let’s take a moment to step back and look at the roads of the world. Leyndell is the capital of the Age of the Erdtree - the most recent superpower across the Lands Between, and looking at the transport links that lead out from it can tell us some of the most common and useful journeys of the age.

Moving to the capital, there are a few geographical details that jump out. In particular are the Erdtree, which will have to wait for another time, the moat and the capital’s location which say a lot about the Erdtree’s history without needing to read the various descriptions in the game. Leyndell is in a highly defensive position. Enemies can only really come from one side, given all other sides are protected by high mountains, or giant cliffs down to the water. It has high ground and can see for miles around, and features a large moat in addition to two outer walls. Coupled with its source of water, Leyndell can withstand a siege with ease. This design and location of Leyndell, and of course the Erdtree, is one of defensive tactics, and indicates the expectation of retaliation against them. Which is exactly what happened. “In the beginning, everything was in opposition to the Erdtree. But through countless victories in war, it became the embodiment of Order.” Even their army’s fighting style mirrors this: “The soldiers of Leyndell fight their battles defensively”

If we follow the main road out of the capital, we are led through the Altus Plateau and down the Grand Lift of Dectus towards Liurnia. There is also a secondary path that hugs the northern coast, reaching the windmill villages, which suggests some importance. Interestingly, despite the East side of Liurnia being “home to a highway road running north and south”, when we arrive at the scene this is only really the case for the southern half. One would more naturally go via Raya Lucaria to head down into Limgrave. And, it is clear that there are few branching paths in Liurnia. Unlike the Altus Plateau, or Limgrave, this region appears to be something people passed through, rather than traveled within. Further reinforcing the sense of a closed society that managed to keep what was theirs. The Carian west coast seems even more cut off, with little to no links to outside.