Elden Ring players are taking a closer look at one of the game's strange, inaccessible map locations and pondering what its story may be. Elden Ring is full of odd locations, many of which are fully explorable and have rich lore explaining what they're all about. Yet the map of Elden Ring is also full of places that developer FromSoftware never included in the game. They're oddities, but that doesn't mean that there isn't lore associated with them, too.
One example of how Elden Ring's lore has led to wild theories regarding the game's strange map locations has to do with its final boss. The Elden Beast is said to have arrived in The Lands Between on a golden star. Some believe this means sent it on a meteor, from which the Erdtrees and the Golden Order quite literally grew. Where this meteor landed, however, isn't clear. Some point to the watery area at the center of the map covered by clouds. Others have different theories.
The latest area of the map that Elden Ring players are theorizing about is found north of Volcano Manor and The Shaded Castle. It's found within the water at the center of a sort of bay. On Elden Ring's map, it's represented as a sort of whirlpool with a land mass at its middle. The land mass looks to have some sort of construction on it, though, adding to its mystery.
A post on Reddit asked what this location might be, and if Elden Ring's lore made any mention of it. One player says it's not a land mass or island at all, but rather a sinking ship. In other words, it's a dangerous whirlpool that the map is warning ships to avoid. Others say it's just a flourish by the mapmaker and isn't a location at all. Another player theorizes that it's part of a huge map section FromSoftware hasn't finished, part of the unexplorable mountain range to the west of the Mountaintops of Giants.
The vast majority of responses in the thread are jokes, though. It's somewhat funny because closer to Elden Ring's launch, the thread might feature many more theories instead of jokes. It's been long enough that Elden Ring players may have forgotten the lore, or are simply tired of speculating about questions they'll never have answers to.
Overall, the thread is rather representative of the Elden Ring community as a whole. There are players who want nothing more than to speculate widely about the lore of The Lands Between, others who embrace the ridiculousness of Elden Ring's massive and strange world, and otherwise just people who enjoy sharing fun with other Elden Ring players. It's now been eleven months since the release of Elden Ring, and fans still love talking about it.
Elden Ring is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.