Board Thread:Lore Discussion/@comment-10209824-20140321195951/@comment-64.30.104.175-20140507051404

After completing the Dragon Shrine and getting the Ashen Mist Heart, you can trigger a special memory from the Crystal formed at the mouth of the Dragon in Freja's lair.

I presume that this is the memory of the petrified dragon that looms over the area. I believe this Dragon to be related, somehow, to the Ancient Stone Dragon in Dark Souls. It's obviously a different dragon since it doesn't have a beak, but... Doesn't the area in the memory seem ridiculously familiar? Ash Lake? It's possible that this Ancient Stone Dragon existed underneath wherever Dranleic is now. Lordran was a land mass on top of massive trees, so is it possible the entire world was covered in these trees in ancient times and Ash Lake was literally the entire surface of the planet? The trees in the Memory had all been shattered and fallen, so Dranleic was probably built at sea level on top of all the ash.

I like the idea that Dranleic is Vinheim. This is HEAVILY supported by Straid. Before Dranleic it was Olaphis, before that it was something else. Since these lands seem to have a heavy cultural influence from Dragons, and Straid implies that Olaphis was HIS kingdom, implying further that Olaphis was renowned for magic, Vinheim probably did come before Olaphis.

Anyways here is my overall theory. After the events of Dark Souls, the Lord Souls transfered to another region (Vinheim) or stayed in Lordran for all we know, and latched on to different beings. The Lord Souls seem to have a will of their own, influencing those who embrace them (The Witch's Lord Soul gives you an infatuation with Fire and desperately wants to link the bonfires or create Demons, Gwyn's Lord Soul imbues you with a lust for Power and desires to rule, and Nito's Lord Soul gives you a certain respect for Life and Death and desires to rest. The Pygmy's lord soul, Humanity, seems to have split and divided between humans so much that it can't even physically manifest anymore, and represents the Will of Humans, the Abyss, and the Curse). The Lord Souls decided to try and complete whatever their overall goal was, and over the course of hundreds if not thousands of years shaped the land into Dranleic.