The story of how Elden Ring's Lord Rykard became the infamous God-Devouring Serpent is one of ambition and corruption. Lord Rykard began life as someone who fought for what he thought was right, rejecting the Golden Order of Elden Ring and the oppressive dogma that he felt it imposed. Like many characters in Elden Ring, however, his story became a tragedy as his pursuit of power and freedom only led to corruption and persecution.
[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Elden Ring.]
Long before the events of Elden Ring and the establishment of the Golden Order, various insulated religious groups littered the Lands Between. Each worshipped their own gods and one of these groups worshipped Eiglay, the immortal Serpent-God. Eiglay demanded blood sacrifices in order to nourish itself and increase its power, so its followers often found themselves in conflict with other religious groups, such as those that follow the Deathrite Birds.
Redditor OrigamiGamer points out that players who get the Sacrificial Axe in Elden Ring will find that its effects mirror that of the Serpent-God's Curved Sword. Based on item descriptions, they also propose that prior to the Erdtree and the arrival of the Elden Beast, the two zealous groups were antagonistic towards one another and likely came into conflict. It's unclear how or when, but the followers of the Serpent-God Eiglay eventually vanished and Eiglay was left to rot inside Mt. Gelmir. That was, until, Lord Rykard discovered it.
Elden Ring - Why Lord Rykard Rules Volcano Manor
Lord Rykard (later known as Praetor Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy) is the son of Radagon and Queen Rennala, and is the eldest brother of General Radahn and Lunar Princess Ranni. When they were still young, the first Elden Lord Godfrey was robbed of his grace and Radagon left Rennala to become the second Elden Lord. With Radagon now the consort of Elden Ring's Queen Marika, the children were brought with him and, thanks to Marika, become demigods.
Despite the power gifted to them by Queen Marika, Rykard and Ranni grew to resent the Greater Will and its Golden Order. Rykard dealt with this resentment by traveling the world and his travels led him to the base of Mt. Gelmir. As he explored the volcano, he discovered ancient hexes and things left behind by the Serpent-God's religious followers who have long been forgotten. Being skilled in sorcery, Rykard took these hexes and began developing his own spells and sorcery using Mt. Gelmir's magma. As he continued exploring the volcano's inner chambers, Rykard discovered the weakened body of Eiglay.
Despite being one of the Atlus Plateau's harder optional bosses in Elden Ring, Rykard discovers a much weaker form of the Serpent-God. Despite this, Rykard is attracted to dignity and ambition rather than stature or power - such is the case with his wife Tanith. It's because of this that Eiglay is able to charm Rykard enough to make him settle on Mt. Gelmir and begin constructing the Volcano Manor. During its construction, Rykard became increasingly devoted to the Serpent-God and turned much of his manor into a shrine in order to show his unwavering devotion. It's at this time that Ranni comes to him for help.
Elden Ring - The Night Of Black Knives And Rykard's Inquisition
Now determined to fight the Greater Will and destroy the Golden Order, Ranni asks Rykard for help. Ranni gathered a group of like-minded people to steal a shard of the Rune of Death from Marika's half-brother Malekith and use the shard to forge god-killing weapons. It's unclear what part Rykard played but in the end, he was gifted with one of Elden Ring's Black Knife Daggers that was forged from the Rune of Death. With this event, the Elden Ring was shattered and Rykard became a loyal disciple of Eiglay the Serpent-God.
After the Night of Black Knives, Rykard devoted himself to Eiglay and rebuilding its forgotten religion. Due to his ideology, Rykard had amassed a following large enough to aid in the construction of Volcano Manor but after the fall of the Golden Order, he didn't have the charisma or accolades to maintain that following. In order to gain and hold on to power, he and his loyal followers began using the less devoted as ritual sacrifices for Eiglay, who in turn was increasing in power. Rykard eventually began an inquisition in which Volcano Manor began hunting Elden Ring's Tarnished and Golden Order sympathizers to use for sacrifice.
The magnitude of this inquisition was so great that Volcano Manor ran out of space for prisoners and corpses, including those that are displayed throughout Mt. Gelmir. Even worse, Eiglay was never satisfied and kept demanding more sacrifices. In the end, Eiglay promised Rykard great power and immortality if the latter offered himself to the Serpent-God. Having reached the peak of his devotion, Rykard agreed and Eiglay consumed his body as well as his shard of the Rune of Death. With this act, the two became merged and Rykard's face manifested itself on Eiglay's neck.
Many of those that once served Rykard turned against him and wondered how they could defeat Elden Ring's Lord of Blasphemy. They would eventually find an ancient blade that was made specifically to kill the Serpent-God. However, none were able to kill him as Rykard had become too powerful. Thankfully, a chosen Tarnished would one day arrive and defeat both Eiglay and Rykard with the ancient blade - at least for now. Since Rykard was imbued with the immortality of the ancient Serpent-God, as well as the power of the Death Rune, he did not truly die.
His head currently rests in his chamber, where his body is slowly reforming, and Tanith sits feasting on his innards in hopes that he will live on through her. In the end, Rykard's wish for the end of Elden Ring's Golden Order led him to corruption and into the home of an ancient, blood-thirsty god. Eiglay's influence slowly drove Rykard to sadism in order to reach his ambitions no matter the cost - even if it meant his own body and soul would be lost in the process. Elden Ring is full of darkness and tragedy, and Rykard's story is one of the most subtle, yet most devastating examples.
Source: Reddit/OrigamiGamer