#i imagine cogita being direct celestica (immortal or otherwise) and volo being gira clan descended or otherwise descended from the diaspora

[praazlwurm]

Giratina's Temple and the Celestica Ruins

aka Giratina/platinum clan theory is back (also sorry for using mspaint lmao)

So we all know about the Shrouded Ruins, yeah?

(This is the only spoiler warning for Pokemon Legends: Arceus you're gonna get)

Spooky. Ever-cloaked in mists and mystery, surrounded by black-stoned cairns like graves and home to the giant Odd Keystone that once (?) housed 108 souls. Very ghost-centric.

Well what if I told you it was a temple?

Greco-roman temples (and, problematic or otherwise the celestica are absolutely greco-roman coded) are constructed relatively uniformly, with an outer later of columns holding up the roof and an inner layer holding up an internal structure, providing additional support, ect.

We have a perfect in-game model to project from, too, in the Temple of Sinnoh (pre-explosion). You can see that some of the smaller columns are sometimes decorative - likely they held up torches or, in the case of the two nearest the 'altar,' offerings

So knowing that style and having the remaining structures we do see in-game, we can approximate a lay out of what the building may have looked like.

What makes this a temple, however, is more open to interpretation. My evidence to support that it is is actually the blue-tinged pedestals seen within the outline of the building - the place(s) of honor in any temple. Irl, the inner structure - the cella - was often fully-walled in, though sometimes this was constructed via wood and other materials that don't withstand time.

Now, ENORMOUS shout-out to pokemaniacchris and the incredible Crimson Mirelands Archeological Survey Project for a really detailed, in-character breakdown of the ruins structures throughout the mirelands. I can only assume the 'surveyors' hadn't reached Mt. Coronet yet in their explorations.

Pedestals like these (at least superficially similar) are found beneath dozens of statues around Mt. Coronet, including beneath Giratina, Palkia and Dialga in the Sacred Plaza area. Now, I know I'm supposed to be claiming that this is a temple to Giratina, but if we work on the assumption that the four pedestals corollate with Giratina, Palkia, Dialga, and Arceus, a new conclusion can, perhaps, be drawn:

That whoever built this temple saw all four of them on the same 'level' of power or -- and this is my hc taking over -- if the statues were placed in a certain orientation (see below) that they saw Arceus and Giratina on equal footing, with Dialga and Palkia one rank below.

And there is, imo, more evidence to support this disruption of the 'creation trio' into two pairs on equal footing, found in the Celestica Ruins! So, among the structures there are two notable, circular buildings that the Greeks also utilized, called tholoi (plural). Irl, tholoi were a mix of secular-use and small-scale temples, and seeing as these two are small (maybe 10ft across inside?) I would maintain the claim that they're small temples.

And they align/mirror each other just as the statues of Palkia and Dialga do.

This part becomes pure conjecture, but I like to think the smaller structures in the ruins might be other small-scale temples for the various mythicals, honoring each much as the Greeks honored a pantheon.

Lastly, the CMASP describes the "Gapejaw Bog Complex" as being potentially an entire agora all its own and I can't agree more. Such evidence would support the idea of there being two groups of Celestica (Note: Not the Clans.)

I actually found myself wondering if the mirelands weren't always quite so swampy, and instead flooded at some point in the past with the depressions around Gapejaw - left by housing foundations - filled in with swamp water.

At the end of the day, I think there's a lot of evidence that the Celestica revered Giratina as well as Arceus, Dialga and Palkia - at least early on. Something happened to cause this schism, and the Old Verses/Plate inscriptions point to an outburst of rage from Giratina -- though, in "pick a god (and pray)" I actually argue it was mispercieved on the part of the Celestica and this misperception is what caused Arceus to despair and withdraw.

Open to discussion!! fellow nerds please interact!!