#im talking about the gay rot and the wholesome siblings right now

[arx-aru]

anyway this octopus at the ruin-strewn precipice killed a relic-wielding serpent cultist so that's pretty pog

i think this particular octopod is potentially very relevant lore-wise actually though but also it's very funny he's a funny guy look at him. but okay so-

coupled with the evidence of Rykardian assassins hunting Malenia and her knights post-Aeonia, that the octopuses are associated with Miquella, and that the Ruin-Strewn Precipice is one of three choke-points separating the Altus Plateau from the lower Lands Between--it's possible with enough rot coping (this bitch that's me) to interpret this murder scene as...

a) a distant Miquella trying subconsciously or not to protect his sister with octopuses(which is adorable i choose to believe this)

and/or b) the octopuses are drawn to the residual Miquellen traces left by Finlay's Miquellen/Haligtree magics(Cleanrot Commanders(what Finlay is) use Halo Scythes which have Miq-Trina's visual design motifs(sickle, half-circle, eclipse silhouette) as well as unique AoW specifically being "Miquella's." they also cast a unique AoE blessing with a Haligtree sigilwhoops it's actually malenia's sigil). So this could be the remains of one of the "all manner of foes" Finlay fought off in her journey

i like those 2 options the best but it's also just possible that

c) it's another case of Rykard trying to protect and/or control the happenings around Raya Lucaria(where his mom is and where he has Iron Virgins patrolling). Because the Ruin-Strewn Precipice appears to be draining great excesses of water into Liurnia, possibly being the cause of the city/regions' continued flooding (it rains there already, which was presumably responsible for the "Lakes" that have since been subsumed into a single region-wide mire that Liurnia is now). it could be that the sword's former wielder was investigating or attempting to halt said flood, given the location.

The evidence for C, though wholly environmental/speculative, is decently compelling perhapsedly; Raya Lucaria seems to be under environmental siege by, uh, octopuses. a lot of octopuses. Given his many predicaments, it would make a lot of sense for Miquella to want Rennala's Rune of the Unborn--it is the only low-risk way we know of within the present Order for him to address any one of his 3 biggest problems (his curse, his sister's curse, and what has more recently been done to his body)

Additionally, the Ruin-Strewn Precipice has one of the rarer bat encounters-- a Bat Lady is singing in Latin about infertility here. There's another in Liurnia(still relevant) and other areas also but I believe this dungeon the most concentrated in numbers singing bats appear anywhere in-game.

i do think the connections to Miquella are very strong on this cliffside. So there's definitely something to figure here. The Serpent Sword and the Vulgar Militia also mean that Rykard and Maliketh had/have a hand in whatever the deal is.