Scattered across Elden Ring are pieces of a sky temple that once hovered above the Lands Between. Demolished stone structures littered with rune fragments suggest this ancient floating city existed before even the birth of the Erdtree and the reign of Queen Marika. However, whatever caused it to crash into the ground remains much of a mystery throughout Elden Ring unless one digs deep into its history.
[Warning: Spoilers for Elden Ring are below.]
The time at which Elden Ring takes place in its own lore is an interesting one. While the lore behind Elden Ring's Erdtree and Marika may seem like origin stories, they are actually considered recent events in the Lands Between (at least, recent in terms of history). Before the Erdtree, there were giants, and before them, there were great stags known as Ancestral Beasts and immortal dragons. These different species had entire civilizations that have either been lost to time or have become buried deep beneath the surface of the Lands Between before the time of Elden Ring's story.
As to which of these past species created the sky temple, it is clear that the dragons are responsible. After Melina obtains the fire of the Fire Giants near the end-game of Elden Ring, she teleports the Tarnished to Crumbling Farum Azula, a floating island off the Eastern coast of the Lands Between that is the home to many dragons. While nothing has been found in Elden Ring that explicitly states Farum Azula is the sky temple that fell apart, many clues suggest it is indeed responsible for the temple fragments scattered across the Lands Between. Not only is the temple city falling apart as its name states, but it also appears to be made of the same stone that the fragments of the sky temple appear to be made of. If Crumbling Farum Azula is thus the mysterious sky temple of legend, the question as to what is causing it to fall apart is still left unanswered. That is until the Tarnished faces the Dragonlord, the first true Elden Lord.
Farum Azula Has Always Been Crumbling In Elden Ring
While Marika and her now Tarnished consort Lord Godfrey may try to convince the Tarnished they were the first pair to rule the Lands Between, there was actually an Elden Lord before the birth of the Erdtree. This was possible because the Erdtree was created from the power of the Elden Ring only once Marika obtained it, so the system in which a god and a consort would wield the ring's power existed prior the birth of the Erdtree. There appears to have only been one Elden Lord before the time of Marika, and this Elden Lord was a dragon from Farum Azula named Dragonlord Placidusax.
Placidusax is part of a race of dragons that existed before time in the Elden Ring universe and was the first Elden Lord. This is suggested by the description of Placidusax's Remembrance that the Tarnished can obtain by defeating it: "The Dragonlord whose seat lies at the heart of the storm beyond time is said to have been Elden Lord in the age before the Erdtree. Once his god was fled, the lord continued to await its return." To whom Placidusax was a consort is unknown, though some speculate it was the Elden Beast. Regardless, since it was abandoned, Farum Azula has been left aloft in time, irrelevant to the happenings of the Tarnished and caught in a never-ending storm of tornadoes that leave it in a worse state than the Shattering left the Lands Between in Elden Ring.
The Talisman named after Placidusax, the Old Lord's Talisman, reveals more about these storms. According to the Talisman, Placidusax's throne lies "at the heart of the storm beyond time," and that Farum Azula "has been slowly crumbling since time immemorial." Thus, it seems that Farum Azula has always been destined to perpetually struggle against a great storm that crumbles and hurls pieces of the kingdom onto the Lands Between.
Other Theories About Farum Azula In Elden Ring
While the crumbling of Farum Azula is confirmed to be a result of the timeless storms wreaking havoc upon it, they may not paint the whole picture as to what happened to the great sky temple. After all, before the Shattering led to the Tarnished being exiled in Elden Ring and the wars that destroyed the Lands Between, many civilizations called the region their home, and if huge pieces of stone were regularly hurled into the ground, building these kingdoms would have probably been impossible. This leaves the question open as to why these pieces of Farum Azula are now falling onto the Lands Between in Elden Ring.
One possible reason could be that Farum Azula hosts the Death Rune. The Elden Ring once contained and enforced the concept of mortality in the form of the Death Rune, which Queen Marika got rid of when she became a god. She entrusted her half-brother Maliketh with the Death Rune before the time of Elden Ring, and he keeps it protected in Crumbling Farum Azula. That the Death Rune is responsible for decay and death may be the reason Farum Azula's crumbling has more recently resulted in pieces flying away from it: The city is destroyed at a quicker rate because it is haunted by the presence of the Destined Death.
Another popular theory amongst fans is that the sky temple was actually one of the Eternal Cities that was destroyed when Astel the Naturalborn of the Void struck the Lands Between in the form of a meteor. The reason why this theory has some traction is because of the Remembrance of the Naturalborn's description, which states Astel "Once destroyed an Eternal City and took away their sky." However, this more likely refers to how the Nox - the inhabitants of the Eternal Cities and owners of the coolest armor in Elden Ring - committed treason by plotting to create a Lord that would usurp Queen Marika's reign. The Greater Will then hurled Astel at one of the Eternal Cities, resulting in the Nox retreating underground. The Nox also relied on the stars of the night sky for magic, which were also clouded by the Greater Will. Thus, their sky was taken away in the sense that they have lost the stars that granted them magic and also in the sense they no longer live under the sky but beneath the ground.
While there are theories abound about the sky temple, the most likely answer to what happened to it is that Farum Azula is continuing to crumble as it always has. Though nothing in the game confirms this, that the city is falling apart and looks like the fragments scattered across the Lands Between suggests Elden Ring's royal city of dragons is the sky temple of legend. Regardless, the mystery of the floating city will likely be one of the most contentious pieces of lore in Elden Ring for years to come.