Throughout the base game, there were always strange structures that I and many others wondered about. They were pillars and platforms built into or out of the cliffsides; almost looking as if they were holding the very world up. These ruins could be found everywhere, but never were the explained, nor did we get to see much of them aside from these pillars and platforms, save for two locations; the Highroad Cave in Limgrave and the Ruin-Strewn Precipice connecting Liurnia and Altus.
It would not be until the DLC came out that we got anymore information about these ruins, which came with the Rauh Ruins in the Northeastern region of the Lands of Shadow. Even then, information is rather scarce, as these locations and the cultures that inhabit them seem incredibly ancient.
If I were to hazard a guess, my first idea would be that the people of Rauh were the original inhabitants of the land when the Lands Between and Land of Shadow were one; existing before the arrival of Marika's people or even the Hornsent. I would also assume they were likely the worshippers of the Crucible as we can find Devonia in the Rauh Ruins, as well as the Bird Warriors and Golden Hippos, all of which use Aspects of the Crucible.
Devonia in particular was said to have set out on her own to search for the Crucible, so her being in this location suggests to me that this place has to be very important to and connected to that which she is looking for.
Throughout Rauh, we can also find statues of a strange woman.
We have no idea who this woman is as of yet, nor what her significance was. I have seen some put forward the idea that she herself is Rauh, but I am personally of the opinion that Rauh was simply the name of region/nation and its culture, rather than a singular person. Regardless, she is objectively important to them and this place; possibly even being the god the Lands Between during the Age of the Crucible prior to the take over of the Hornsent and then Marika.
Her outfit also has some similarity to good ol' Elden John from the base game, who is notably absent from the DLC, as is much of the architecture we currently associate with the underground and the Uld Palace Ruins. It's possible these two cultures had some connection; possibly being one in the same or, perhaps the people of Rauh were not the first to inhabit the land, but took it from the Uld people, only to have the land taken by the Hornsent, and then taken again by the Golden Order. Perhaps this cycle of taking land and erasing ancient cultures is far older than we realize.
Another idea I had about the Rauh lady is that she could be Romina. Evidence? Well, she's the boss of Rauh, and Romina's Kindred can be found around the base of the ruins, as well as within alongside some good old rot puddles. We also never see what Romina looked like before her transformation, save for her silhouette during the crusade in the Story Trailer for the DLC. The end point of Rauh is also notably a church filled with Rot and Romina, which could imply that this area and civilization was one that worshipped the Rot, which I have mentioned in a previous post has its own sort of cycle of life, death, and rebirth like the Golden Order did. Rot's power is rather intense; after all, just look at Caelid. There's also the Lake of Rot, which connects to the Grand Cloister, which has the Uld civilization ruin architecture and Elden John statues, possibly linking these two once more, but it could also just be a coincidence.
One idea that I am a fan of is that the Rauh people are actually Ancestral Followers. The title of Ancestral implies an ancient heritage, which of course could simply imply the worship, or follow, their ancestors, but perhaps it also means they are the ancestral people of these lands; the natives who were looked down upon for their "primitive" ways by the overzealous Golden Order, and thus shunned and left to live underground. It would not be the only time undesirables found themselves trapped underground, after all. And, once again, this may connect Uld to Rauh, as Uld is a place where we can find Ancestral Followers. In fact, it is the only place they can be found above ground.
Rauh also seems a bit like a tomb. This is a weak connection, but if they are worshippers of their ancestors, a giant tomb would be fitting. Additionally, Hornsent legend speak of ancient Horned Warriors, whom their own horned warriors are based upon, according to their item descriptions. The Ancestral Followers are seen wearing headdresses of horns and antlers, possibly implying that they were the horned warriors of legend who the Hornsent appropriated following the banishment of the Followers, or that they too revered some ancient horned warrior and sought to imitate them in the same manor as the Hornsent.
Another idea that I had was that these people worshipped Eiglay; the God-Devouring Serpent. We learn there were worshippers from the Serpent Curved Sword, which can be found in the Ruin-Strewn Precipice. Their potential reverence of snakes could explain why they would be erased from history, assuming they were. Aside from that though, and the Sword of Light being available in Rauh, which connects to the Sword of Dark, which loosely connects maybe to the Abyssal Serpent, and then the snake skin in the Land of Shadow... there's not much there.
Once again, I'll have to do some more digging around and stuff to come to more conclusive conclusions, but it's also possible that all we'll ever be able to do is speculate, and that's part of the fun. Would love to hear any other potential theories. One thing we can be sure of, however, is that the Rauh people were likely once a dominant civilization in the Lands Between pre-split and that, whoever they are and whatever happened to them, they are seemingly gone and forgotten; possibly even intentionally so.
