Stone to Flesh : Evidence for Dual Life Source in Elden Ring
First in a series to compile evidence of two separate and defined “sources” of life in the ER universe, that they can and do combine, and how this supports the “Cosmology Theory”.
While many in the fandom take it as fact, there isn’t a consensus that Ancient Dragons are “stone” life forms, and what the relation between them and the drakes or “flesh” dragons, actually is.
This is a compilation of ingame texts and other evidence to demonstrate the certainty of the claim that the “flesh dragons” descended from “stone dragons”, and also to suggest a theory of exactly how, and possible even why, this change occurred.
First, some clarity on terms I use. 'Stone dragons' is synonymous with 'Ancient Dragons'. I’m not suggesting they are solid stone like golems; simply following the ingame terms. They are immortal in the sense of never aging, but not invulnerable to being killed.
'Flesh dragons' are the drakes, but doesn’t include magma wyrms or other amalgamations of a later date. These dragons can age, as we see with Greyoll. She is not merely overcome with Scarlet Rot, as Ekzykes is active with far greater affliction.
For those that need convincing, here is the best evidence, laid out in an order that makes the relation clear:
Dragoncrest Shield Talisman
Wrought iron talisman depicting a trio of ancient dragons. The ancient dragons, who ruled in the prehistoric era before the Erdtree, would protect their lord as a wall of living rock.
Gravel Stone
A small clump of sharp, pointed stones. Such compound stones, found in lands once beset by ancient dragons, are said to be the scales of those very beasts.
Dragonscale Blade
A weapon made by sharpening a Gravel Stone scale, thought to be the source of ancient dragon immortality, into an unclouded blade.
Dragon King’s Cragblade
A portion of the Dragonlord's power, gained from a remembrance. This weapon commands great power over the paltry, mortal dragons of today.
Dragonwound Grease
Solidified grease made from a gravel-stone mixture. When the dragons were born from their ancient kin, they lost their stone scales, which can now be used to cause them mortal harm.
Dragon Greatclaw
Weapon said to have been whittled from the claw of a great, ancient dragon, wielded by grotesque Tree Sentinels who yet serve the Erdtree. The claw is enwreathed with lightning, and tears through the dragons' feeble descendants with ease.
Dragon Communion Harpoon
A tool of the old Dragon Communion warriors, who were the agents of the ancient dragons' hatred for their lowborn descendants.
With that established, what greater meaning is there in this transformation from stone to flesh, and how may it have happened in the first place?
Changing a Priestess’s Heart
The heart of Florissax, the dragon communion priestess, is described as:
The stone heart of a Dragon Communion priestess. The priestess was once an ancient dragon herself, but sacrificed that form for feeble flesh to aid in the destruction of Bayle the Dread.
Underlining the contrast between the Ancient Dragon form and “flesh”. You only find this heart by defeating Bayle without causing her to fail Placidusax. If you do make her fail, she tells you:
My Lord will no longer look upon me. I have fallen from grace. An old dragon no longer.
It doesn’t make sense for ‘old’ in this context to mean she has de-aged. Instead, it is synonymous with ‘ancient’. Notice also “fallen from grace”. She has lost her Lord’s grace. When she pledges to follow you, she gives you her Spirit Ashes, which relate the following:
Florissax assumed this spirit form to offer her service to a new lord. Long ago, Florissax assumed human form to share Dragon Communion with the world. Now, she has acquired a human heart.
By changing her commitment from the Dragon Lord to the player, she has literally changed the form of her heart from stone to human. This gives new context to the regular dragon hearts – flesh speckled with gravel stone. We know Ancient Dragons can retain their form despite allying with humans due to Fortissax, but there is no indication he was abandoned by his former Lord
This implies some spiritual or emotional aspect makes dragons what they are. It could be a form of the dragon god’s power retained by Placidusax, or simply a fact of their nature. Despite this, we can assume Placidusax cannot revoke an Ancient Dragon’s form on a whim due to the existence of Senessax; indicated a traitor by the Hefty Red Lightning Pot.
Moreover, Florissax has a final interesting statement on the nature of dragons, telling the player:
One day, may you become a dragon whole, a Lord of your own making.
Some have interpreted this to mean humans can successfully become a dragon through dragon communion, instead of a magma wyrm. One could support this with the Stone Heart item, which suggests that Ancient Dragon hearts were the first form of communion.
But it’s worth noting that despite Florissax’s heart changing, she keeps her draconic humanoid form. The Ancient Dragon-Man appears to be the most stable “dragon” form a human can take. I suggest that Florissax’s statement is not referring to the physical form of a dragon, but some metaphysical aspect.
The Ancient Dragon cult also had the longing to “become dragons” as we read on the Malformed Dragon Helm of the Draconic Tree Sentinel:
After the great ancient dragon Gransax attacked, the sentinels had an epiphany. The only way to truly protect the Erdtree was to become dragons themselves.
This Sentinel uses several Ancient Dragon cult attacks, yet we know the cult did not take part in dragon communion. So what is meant by them “becoming a dragon”?
From Dragonbolt Blessing we learn that “only those loved by dragons can survive the ordeal of cladding their bodies in lightning”, and the only human to wield red lightning, Vyke the Dragonspear, is recorded as being “the one Lansseax loved the most”.
There’s a persistent indication that the affection of dragons, or devotion to them, is the fastest way to gain access to their powers, just as those devoted to the Crucible, the Scarlet Rot, the Formless Mother, or most importantly, the Erdtree, gain theirs.
While we will probably never know the true form or details of the dragon god, I believe there are enough details to surmise that the degradation of the drakes to beings of flesh is not simply a random genetic process but part of a spiritual conflict.
Bayle the Dread
The release of the Shadowlands brought a new confusion about the sequence of dragon devlopment, as Florissax says that Bayle is “the oldest, and vilest, of all dragons”. To take this literally would also require taking literally Greyoll’s description as “the mother of all dragons”, which immediately establishes a causal paradox between the two.
Instead, this makes sense as Bayle being the oldest of the “flesh” dragons. After all, Florissax also calls drakes the “bloodline” of Bayle. Even “bloodline” may not implicitly mean descendants, especially if one entertains the notion that Bayle has the influence of the Formless Mother.
Bayle’s eyes glow red. He is covered in grievous wounds and uses his own mangled bones as spears to attack his foes. He uses flames not only by breathing them, but in a similar way to Mohg’s bloodflame. Finally, the visual design of Mohg and Bayle is compellingly similar when compared side by side.
Despite the narrative from the Ancient Dragons that Bayle was a traitor and a tyrant, we know that Mohg is called similar terms by the Erdtree faithful, and while technically true, they do not convey the full story of why Mohg has become what he is.
What else but pure rage, personal and justified, could enable a being to continue for as long as Bayle has, in the condition he has? He is unquestionably a creature of fury, not ambition. He is too cunning to be mad, and yet he has never sought peace or ruse.
If Bayle is using the Formless Mother’s power, he could have shared his blood with other dragons and spread his form of flesh to them. Alternatively, having the form of flesh at birth could be the reason Bayle was rejected by other Ancient Dragons and turned on them to begin with. Either way, there is another link between Mohg and Bayle; they are touched by the Crucible.
Not only does Bayle display the curved horns we know as a crucible aspect, these same twisted shapes appear on his heart as “horn-like gravel stones”.
The Dragon as Crucible
Drakes contain all the elements called "crucible attributes" and represented on the Talisman of All Crucibles; feathers and wings, scales and lizard tails, horns and bony growths. They have horns coming out of not just their heads, but also their backs. Feathers not only on their wings but across the body. Their placement is not as random as it is on other creatures, but is still "excess to requirements".
They are a lifeform in which other creatures, distinct elsewhere, are merged. Or perhaps they came first and all their elements eventually filtered out into separate lifeforms. The crucible aspects could have been represented with fins, beaks, lion tails, hooves, antlers, whiskers, long ears, tusks, etc., but they are not.
Dragons, themselves, are crucibles. The "crucible attributes" are "dragon attributes".
We know Beastmen worshipped Ancient Dragons, and humans both yearned to be dragons and worshipped the Ancient Dragons in their own way too. Dragons are associated with the divine. Under Cosmology Theory, the divine currently is divided in two opposing forces; order headed the Elden Ring, and chaos represented by the Crucible. They have the same roots, and the split between them is unnatural, inciting devastating conflict and the manifestation of twisted divine aspects as Outer Gods.
The Dragon Lord’s downfall can only take place under this theory framework if his rule was unbalanced in some way. Rejecting individuals of their own kind that had been “contaminated” with the Crucible and become flesh is a prime way such a situation would come about. Like Marika, their god may have found itself unable to save this corrupted reign, and performed a similarly desperate act to end it.
The Cosmology Theory not only lets us to make sense of the dragon war, the dragon gods abandonment, the means by which stone Ancient Dragons became flesh drakes and why those dragon descendants are intrinsically linked with the Crucible, but also support the hints of Bayle’s outer god intervention and underscore the importance of understanding that chaos and order being in such extreme conflict is a flaw brought by incorrect guidance of the Fingers, and the pride and bigotry of individuals.