Elden Ring Lore - The Abductors & The Inquisitor 

I thought I could sneak past the one by the lava lake to where you find Rya, but it sneaked up and sent its guillotine sniper rifle into the room and instantly killed her. She whispered "thanks" as she faded away. I make a point of breaking these things when I find them

Rykard is one of the most under appreciated Demigods. He created the Abductor Virgins, which are used everywhere, from Raya Lucaria do Leyndell. Then he created the giant crawling hands that patrol Carian Manor and Mountain top of the giants. Finally, he has the coolest looking house around a volcano! The guy deserves some respect! ✊🏿

The cave where the gold beetle talisman is located has a lot of destroyed abductors, what's crazier is there are two of Malenia's rotted knights at the very end. My theory is Rykard was also trying to capture Malenia and her knights as well for his own benefit.

Maybe that one Abductor below the Academy was the OG version, the last one of its kind, that was bestowed by Rykard himself to have transpositional powers. Like Patches said, it's a surviving one. And the subsequent versions of the Abductors didn't have the enchantments the OG ones did.

Ah yes, the Brazil Express enemies.

Abducter also pertains to doors,which close like an oyster or bivalve which use abductors muscles,scallops, to pull its shell closed .

one little thing some might have picked up on, is ghiza's outfit (officals attire and bloodsoaked bandages) is made from peices of armor that are modified and uncovered verstions of the House marias set which is identical apart from having a mask over the head peice and a shawl over the officals attire, which makes it clear he was from house marias, as the shaded castle is located quite close to the volcano manor, and they were notably a house known for being executioners. so it is likely he is one such as well.

It is possible that Ghiza was also Rykard's lover, let me explain: The old 1.0 descriprion of Daedicar's woe talisman reads: "Disturbing likeness of a an old noble whose skin was flayed. He smiles with a serene tenderness. Increases damage taken. This soft-featuted man's name was Daedicar, and he was one of Captain Rykard's paramours, as well as an attendant in his inquisition. He would test new methods of torture first upon himself, making a gift of pain and first-hand knowledge to the one he loved." In the final game Daedicar is no longer a man and an inquisitor but a woman and the mother of the men serpents ("It is said that this woman, named Daedicar, indulged in every form of adultery and wicked pleasure imaginable, giving birth to a myriad of grotesque children."), but it's possible that Ghiza inherited the lore of the old male Daedicar, after all Ghiza is a cruel inquisitor very close to Rykard and so was Daedicar and Daedicar's face was flayed and Ghiza wears bandages on his face and Zullie the witch in one of her videos showed that his face is full of scars...they definitely share some similarities

The snakes in the abductor virgins might be similar to the coil shield, which has a moving copper snake.

I love these mini stories. I feel like there's still a lot we don't know and I would love to explore more of these.

8:25 they can also be found at in the fortified manor in Leyndell

The only lore I need on the abductor virgins is that they are weak to lightning. Also, pizza cutter goes brrr...

*Pov: your about to get grabbed but you roll back to early:* 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀 💀

My thought was that the hanging flesh strips on the inside of the Virgin are there to serve as fuel for the snakes.

Yeah, Rykard definitely had a hand in creating these monstrous living machines. The fact that there is flesh of people connected to Serpents kind of gives that away.

You know thinking about it, the abductors kind of remind me of the maidens that were experimented by seath the scaleless. Since that scaleless dragon really like doing blasphemous stuff.🤔🐱

Hey STG, I have a request/challenge! What about the Finger Reader Crones, and I'm specifically thinking about outside of the "Queen's Bedchamber" grace where you find piles upon piles of dead Finger Readers. I noticed them all in a recent playthrough and it got me wondering.. If anybody can tackle Elden Ring's obscure lore, it's definitely you :D

There are also the ones within Leyndell, near the area associated with the roundtable hold.

Besides the ones found throughout Caelid, there is one other major location with a pair - Leyndell, near the Divine Bridge (which in turn leads to the Isolated Tower and Malenia's Great Rune). This placement is odd, but given that there's some found in the Abandoned Cave in Caelid (albeit destroyed), something comes to mind: they were an attempt to counter Malenia's forces. They're immune to Rot and Poison and resist Fire and Holy - the latter of which is used by the Cleanrot Knights. They make a good counter against Malenia and her army (though obviously not a perfect one as many were still destroyed). But, they're weak to lightning, making them easily controlled by the Leyndell Knights. Perhaps they were captured and put to work to guard the bridge? This also holds given that the Shattering seems to have aligned Renalla's children to some degree - at the very least, Ranni trusted Rykard enough to give him the Blasphemous Claw to combat Maliketh, and the virgins seem to fight on the side of Renalla's children in all cases.

If I were to make a guess, I would say that the others found out about what Rykard was doing and destroyed the mechanism that transports them, but left one around to transport traitors and the like to the sickest torturer in the Lands Between.

I think more conflits with theese guys and lyndel solders would be nice. Or just mini battlefields with theese guys mowing down everyone

This kind of stuff is why Souls games are absolutely peak gaming. A single enemy can have lore deeper than the majority of entire games.

Goddamn mate the guy who does those arts on every video deserves a medal, if am not mistaken there are two more at Leyndell Great video as always 🎖️

Another word for Virgin is Maiden. The Abducter Virgin is a casket lined with spikes that impales the person inside when closed. A spike lined casket exists in the real world, and its called the Iron Maiden. Virgin is probably a mistranslation or an intentional reference to the Iron Maiden.

What blows my mind is that during the shattering, Renallas rune of "re-birth" power seemingly veined, While Rykard gained the power to rebirth his men in the image of a snake. (Not cannon, just a assumption.) Renalla and Maliketh's runes should not even be a part of the Elden Ring at the time. Still both are said to be just a fragment of what once was.

Great video! The Virgin Abductor also might have been based on the legendary Apega of Nabis, which was basically an ancient Greek version of the iron maiden that supposedly looked like the Spartan queen Apega. I know there's a bit of a debate as to who exactly Elden Ring's Virgin Abductor is supposed to depict (i.e. Tanith, Rennala, or some other, cooler third woman) but that historical tidbit could tip the scales towards Tanith. I'll also point out that the Black Dumpling hood looks a lot like the top of the Albinauric Pot used by the Cuckoo Knights, which seems to imply that those knights were also involved in capturing Albinaurics for the Volcano Manor.

The crowns and expressions are similar to the harpies, not to mention the harpies have wounds where their womb is and they're song is about how they were destined to be mothers. I think this was perhaps when Rykard was still loosely allied with the golden order, albeit to serve his own means. Prolly the harpies were pregnant women and their children were abducted in utero and used to create these abducter virgins.

Couple of points i noticed about the abductors: they are built in volcano manor clearly from the part constructed ones there. Volcano manor town has a godskin and black flame monk present. The abductors carry a swaddled baby, a relic of the apostles is the swaddling cloth, the inside of the Virgin is covered in flat meat, possibly flayed skin i think, Melina (who im pretty sure is gloam eyed queen) makes a throwaway comment about her virginity 'im no maiden.' So when I link all these points i start to wonder if the virgins are a collaboration between rykard and the apostles. Could the abductors have been in part tasked with stealing away babies to turn into new apostles? I make that guess from linking the swaddling cloth to the baby on the virgin. Is the head a depiction of the gloam eyed queen swaddling an infant godskin? I feel like Rykard would engage in any blasphemy to destroy the erdtre and helping strengthen the godskins would make sense. Particularly with the presence of godskins in rykards base.

Just a theory, perhaps the reason there's so little information is because the inquisition purposely expunged their own information? They seem very sentral in many ways, but with far too lille information tied to them. Also, I believe the desk in the room with the omenkiller and the Albinauric mask might have been Ghiza's desk, seeing as no other notible inquisitor is known, and it's probably not the desk of the omenkillers. Also, the fact that his desk is in a room filled with racks, chains, gibbets and guillotines is just sickening. What a disgusting, yet intriguing character.

I have been contemplaring a NG+ run RP-ing as a pissed off Crucible Knight looking to get even with Marika.

i agree with everything on this video except the part where the Virgin abductors are made from tortured people. For me it is the black snakes inside that control it, since Rykard has his own army of snakes.

Maybe the Inquisitor's Girandole is actually tied somehow to Messmer? Maybe he too was an Inquisitor before Marika hid him away? Impaling and flames are definitely his thing, and currently he is "behind the curtain" of Marika...

Great art, Pat! This one came out very well. Hope you got some much needed rest ❤

So, the tarnished named Ghiza made the abductor virgins to send warriors, Albinurics, and nobles to the Volcano Manor 👌

Very a"peeling" lore dive, nice one mate!

Theory The hand creatures are rykards hands that he has chopped off and regrown and experimented on

Im so glad to see one of my suggestions being made into a vid, thank you so much.

I'm sure I'm late to the punch, but while listening to this I thought about the abandoned cave in caelid. The cave where you obtain the gold scarab talisman from the cleanrot knight duo. The whole cave is littered with the remains of abductor virgins. But then being there doesn't really make any sense. But they're everywhere along the walls throughout the cave as you sprint through

Oh man, i LOVE Zoids!

Strips of flesh? No, that's just bacon! The sneks get hungry, so they carry some bacon to consume when there aren't any people to eat.

The more reasonable explanation for how they ended up in various locations is that they were gifts to his family. Other than Radahn, none of them are that righteous.

Abductors can be found near the round table hold replica in Leyndell and i once found one in some middle of nowhere cliff in caelid

Just my left field thinking but could there be a subtle connection between the abductor virgins and the giant sentient ball bearings. I speculate because that is how they propel themselves. Think hard enough you might get to a far offshoot connection to the nox and the albanoric bloodclot lol

Your work is sublime.

The snake things inside the abductors look more like those tentacles in the blasphemous blade or rykards wounds which I belive are the twisted souls of tarnished

Great video! btw i noticed that 2 of those machines are in side corridor of Fortified Mansion for some reason.

Great video as always, hate fighting these things

This was amazing! Thank you for your thoughts and opinions!

What if the abductor in Raya Lucaria was there to kidnap powerful mages to be consumed by the snake so then he could draw upon their power?

Their grab animation works on Selivus Puppets.

I think that next time he should do Lour on the tibamarina

After the amount of time I’ve been in those guts, they shouldn’t be called virgins

Inquisitor or not I ain't afraid of no geezer.

I remember getting eaten by the one at the bottom of the waterwheel. I ended up getting stuck in the torture chamber for hours until I pulled out my Demi-Human's staff and cheesed the fight by standing on the rocks on the side of the arena and flinging pebbles below me. At least it worked. On an unrelated note, have you ever gone over the Chariots? I can't quite figure out why the Golden Order saw fit to install giant stone lawnmowers in the hero's graves instead of soldiers. The riders look like Tree Sentinels, but something still feels a bit off about them...

I have wild theory of Abuductor Virgin was. It about the Model i think it wss related to DLC too sonce it was Model from 2 woman who Loved by Preator Rykard (Rennala & Tanith). I believe The Tanith model are the one who hug a baby let me believe Rykard & Tanith actually long time ago have a Biological son but some how their son is Missing or maybe get exile of some case & Their Son was actually are Messmer The impaler.

so, there's one location that the abductors appear that you didn't mention: outside the abandoned cave. The interior of the cave also has a huge number of them in a destroyed state. given that it seems unlikely that the abductors would be capable of traversing the roots to reach the cave, it suggests that they were brought there for some purpose, possibly by the cleanrot knight duo found inside. I'm not quite sure what to make of this but the environmental storytelling seems to be trying to convey _something_. Also it's possibly notable that the cane isn't otherwise associated with the carian royals (aside from being in caelid but that's not a super strong connection)

Subbed. Really like your lore videos.

Great, now I feel sorry for the abominations I thought I'd never feel sorry for. I hate them still the same, it just makes me sad now on top of that :D

Questions why does the abductor virgins give the scarlet rot effect

Personally I prefer the idea that the Volcano Manor instead taught groups of snakes to pilot the Abductors. They train them very. Very well

There are two in Leyndel.

I am really puzzled by the volcano manor, abductor virgins, etc: it really looks like the gloam eyed queen cult, where she could abduct people, raise snake children, etc. To me, the volcano manor was the house of the gloam eyed queen: where Marika was looking for a perfect golden order, the GEQ was raising snake people to kill other gods: 2 faces of a same medal.

From my first play thru no other creature stood out to me as more terrifying, disturbing yet fascinating as the Abductors. As I played thru the game I searched for lore or explanation of what and Why?? lol Info on them is fairly sparse so I really appreciate the topic! The extra pair of tiny arms holding an infant and they're called virgins.. Straight nightmare fuel.

I read somewhere that the visage of the Abductor Virgins is based on Queen Rennala, but I have no idea if that is just a theory, or if its mentioned somewhere.

Its weapons are like the moon and the sun .

I honestly thought Abductors basically abducted virgin women or something along those lines. Why? We know Fromsoft takes a lot of historical inspiration and in the past, there were actual job titles in Ancient Egypt, Victorian England, Colonial America, and many other places in different times that abducted virgin women. Whether it be for “science”, pure brutality, or… a different reason… things like this existed in the past. Considering Fromsoft’s history of taking key elements from the past, I thought it could’ve been a possibility.

_'Pustules for heads.'_ No? Their heads are wrapped in bloody, decaying flesh. Another form of torture.

Maybe the iron maiden is just another scheme by patches to do us in and take our treasures

I always thought Mohg was th most twisted of them all, guess not...

What if the victims also become more Abductor Virgins?

Abductors are weak to lightning

I have a partial theory about these enemies which goes along with all of this. But, it's not fully thought out, so please bear with me: The Virgin Maidens, as Patches refers to them when you meet him in Liurnia, *scream* Marika to me. I can't think of a single representation of Marika where she is not in her "crucifixion" pose and the motif decorating the maidens seems to be a mockery of this. But the entire package also suggests a few other things One, that Marika who is currently crucified on the Elden Ring, is trapped against her will. Two, that much as the maidens' arms remain deadly Marika may not be incapacitated entirely. And three, that like the maidens whose lower halves/reproductive organs have been transformed into horrific instruments of torture something (awful) may have been done with Marika's lower half. Remember that while she hangs by her arms and shoulders she is also traversed by a red object related to Radagon, the mysterious entity who is sometimes credited as the father of her younger children I also noticed Patches calls them "virgins" which need not be a reference to Marika but to those used to create them,. But, if it were a reference to Marika, it could have major implications

Lord of Blasphemy, indeed

Can you make a video on where are going all the troll caravans plzzzz??

Let’s go new video 🎉

I don't know, this seems like a lot of speculation to me. I think patches mentions that the virgins were originally ALL translocators, but only the raya lucaria one works now. As for the rest, I don't think it's clear why the manor was involved in torture - it doesn't actually align with the purpose of the recusants. I think it's more likely just some cookie cutter "violent morbidity" that Miyazaki puts in all his games. The story is that they're brutal and cruel, and I don't think there's any more canon to it.

Sooooo maybe tanith had an abducter abduct rya the snake lady 🤔 😳

They tried to take me to Brazil so i sent them to Brazil

Once again an absolutely amazing video! I never actually knew the lore about these enemies. It makes me want to kill them more yo offer them mercy

I do think that Rykard, at least with Rhadan genuinely DID send them there to help protect redmane castle. Given Rykard has a framed photo of him in his manor, I think he has some admiration for his brother at least.

Great video! What is the song name?

The Black Dumplings are hoods on the albinaurics, not growths or pustules.

Why does this guy sound like most of the true crime RU-vidrs I watch

you make some decent guesses here but i disagree that the circumstantial evidence is enough to assume they're correct...for instance, i assumed the girandole was from a different inquisitor, and the Virgins were tools sent out by the inquisitors... doesn't make much difference either way tho but i'd definitely say you're completely wrong on that last statement - that true death doesn't exist in The Lands Between. i know i've argued that with you before, and sure, when you throw the word "true" in there, the statement *could* be true (because we know that death exists, but what defines "true death"..?) but i know for sure that what you said in the video is a baseless assumption. we're never in told, in the game or by the developers, anything about death not existing in The Lands Between, that's just an assumption a lot of people jumped to based on the Rune of Death having been removed from the Elden Ring and various vague comments about certain enemies being the pitiable product of "life unending" and stuff about the world needing "death indiscriminate" restored, etc. but of course, people die permanently in the story, so death exists, but the player character is effectively immortal due to Grace, and some enemies have lived multiple lifetimes for whatever reason...so we don't know what the deal is. i personally think that death was non-existent for a time, but then it was reintroduced to the world through Deathroot after the Night of Black Knives, and that's why Maliketh is trying to collect it all. but that's just my best guess. and that would mean death has existed for thousands of years, but not exactly as part of the natural order of things, more like a virus...so you sometimes end up with weird distortions of death like the zombified nobles who won't die, and Those Who Live in Death, etc...but then you also have others like the demigods we fight and 90% of our friends dying true deaths...

About that one cave filled with abductor virgins in caelid, any clue?

Nice video

Do a “elden ring” lore on sigemyer of catrina

Personally I disagree about the theory that the Abductor Virgins are siphoning the forces of Rykard's family. I genuinely believe they were placed there as a form of protection and they simply attack the ones who invade those places, just like the hands do. I don't think we have any proof of Rykard being hostile towards the rest of his family but we do know he has helped Ranni and likely looks up to Radahn considering the large painting in his manor.

Someone please answer... where does it say Rykard created the hands?

She no virgin my homie told me

The inquisitor is Deadicar

Greetings from the Carrot-Man 👋🥕

Commenting for the algo

A virgin with a baby in a game with a lot of Christian imagery... Did y'all forget about the Virgin Mary?

alright guys just started the video lets hope square doesnt make elden ring seem like an L2 simulator in the background gameplay this time edit: they did :(

Sup

First Edit: nvm😢

Love your videos. Please make more.