Elana, the Squalid Queen – Souls Lore – Wikidot

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Elana is a child of dark, one of the abyss spawn, a confounded quintessence of Manus and his Dark Soul. Like her sisters; Nashandra, Nadalia and Alsanna, Elana is a fragment of Manus’ emotions. She represents wrath or anger.

There is no mention of Elana outside of her soul and weapon. This is interesting to note in connection with her moniker “the Squalid Queen”. Squalid describes something that is extremely dirty and unpleasant, most often due to poverty or neglect. A Queen is not likely to live in poverty, but perhaps there is no mention of Elana because while she was the Queen, she was largely ignored by the Sunken King who focused on his Eternal Sanctum and the worship of the Slumbering Dragon. Perhaps she grew bitter due to this neglect, and allowed herself to fade into obscurity, all the while plotting vengeance against her King. How was it that Sir Yorgh managed to reach the Dragon’s Rest when all we find is Elana barring our way? When the entrance to the Eternal Sanctum was so heavily guarded, by those who would sacrifice even their physical form to eternally guard the Dragon? Perhaps there was someone on the inside, plotting vengeance upon the Sunken King.

How Elana came to be the Queen is unclear, but it is likely that in a similar way to the other shards of Manus, she took form and came to the Sunken King. She courted this monarch of considerable power, and desired to make the Sunken King’s power her own (see Chime of Want description). Why the shards of Manus seek power is not known. As they are children of Dark, it is likely that they seek to spread the Dark of the Abyss, and therefore extinguish the Light. Or perhaps, like Manus, they are simply driven by powerful emotions and these emotions are best expressed when wielded with great power.

Elana is amassing souls in anticipation of the coming day of vengeance. She is gathering more and more power so that either she can carry out vengeance (as this seems most likely) or so that she can defend herself against vengeance, in a similar way that Alsanna devotes herself to a ritual to escape the coming apocalypse.

We know that Elana sings to the dragon, the same song as the Sanctum Priestesses. The Priestesses also sing to the Dragon, and it is said that they sing to preserve the Dragon’s deep slumber. Elana rests beside the slumbering dragon, Sinh who resides in the Eternal Sanctum built by the Sunken King. She is said to accompany (as in go somewhere with or escort) Sinh. We are encouraged to view the song they sing as a sort of lullaby, but one wonders if a single phrase of their song ever reached the Dragon’s ears. How was it that Sinh became filled with poison? That he continued to fill with poison? From what we have seen of dragons, they do not naturally fill with poison. It therefore may have been that while the priestesses sang, their song cast a spell upon Sinh, and the spell filled Sinh with poison. The Sanctum Priestess tiara says it prevents effects that block spells. Sinh’s soul description says that when Sinh’s rain of death toppled the city, the dragon’s purity was restored. It is interesting that the Dragon had become impure, almost dirty and squalid. Elana and the priestesses’ association with poison indict them further. Elana’s Wrathful Axe creates a cloud of dark poison when its strong attack is used, while when the Priestesses die, they sometimes create pools of dark poison where they fall, almost as if they are filled with it.

The information we know about Elana raises more questions than it answers. How is she amassing souls? From what we know of her, she simply seems to be standing before a shrine dedicated to Sinh, singing her lullaby. How can this then be construed as soul amassing? The only way that souls appear to come to her is when the Player comes to kill her. Are we fulfilling the role of other would-be monarchs who she has slaughtered before?

Who does she wish to gain vengeance upon? Elana is an augur of wrath (extreme anger) and her axe is described as an armament (a military weapon). It may be that she wishes to avenge her dead husband, whose home was invaded and whose life was taken by unnecessary brutality. Or perhaps she wishes to carry out vengeance on a more grand scale, by making everything one with the Dark and extinguishing the would-be monarchs who seek after the Light. Perhaps she is simply driven by a strong emotion, and this emotion does not necessarily have a particular goal, only that it is enacted upon any it can be. The answer is illusive and illumination of her intentions go with her to the grave.