Elden Ring: What Happened to the Dragons' Rule of The Lands Between

gamerant.com:

There is a lot of untold history in Elden Ring, with only hints of it found in gear sets, enemies, and locations. Amongst the untold history is what the world was like before the Shattering and even before the Greater Will came to the Lands Between. Part of this history relates to the dragons.

Dragons actually once ruled the Lands Between, before the Erdtree and the Greater Will came. It is even hinted that these dragons were following the will of a different Outer God. Not only that, but these dragons had their own version of an Elden Lord and his name was Placidusax (who can be found in Crumbling Farum Azula).

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One piece of lore describes the ancient dragon Gransax having attacked the Royal Capital of Leyndell. This attack marked the beginning of a war against dragons. While the reasons for this attack are not told, fans have theorized this attack was due to the rise of Marika and the Greater Will. The dragons may have felt threatened or wanted the Elden Ring, or for the Greater Will to abandon the Erdtree.

Godwyn the Golden lead the charge in the dragon war and defeated the ancient dragon called Fortissax. After the defeat, the two actually befriended each other and that lead to the capital housing an ancient dragon cult. Despite this event, however, fans believe most dragons were wiped out in the war since few exist in the Lands Between during the events of the game. One other theory is not that the dragons were wiped out, but forced to hide. The item, Lansseax's Glaive revealed that dragons can take on human forms. Lansseax was a dragon that did this to become a priestess of the ancient dragon cult.

Farum Azula was basically the Royal Captial for dragons, and Placidusax who acted