Elden Ring: How The Three Fingers Infected Frenzied Flame Village
Despite being infected with madness by Elden Ring's most ominous force the Three Fingers, Frenzied Flame Village is one of the best-preserved towns in the Lands Between. Secluded in the mountains of the Liurnia of the Lakes region, Frenzied Flame Village was once a small yet well-guarded community not far from the Altus Plateau. Strong stone walls surrounded the village, save for its northwestern side where the Church of Inhibition would allow residents to worship the Two Fingers and Queen Marika. For such a religious town to fall into the chaos of the frenzied flame, some devious force must have taken its people over by force. Or worse: tempted them to the forces of evil.
[Warning: significant spoilers for Elden Ring's ending follow.]
In Elden Ring, the frenzied flame appears to be governed by the mysterious Three Fingers, the opposing force of the Two Fingers who lie deep beneath the Surface of the Lands Between. The frenzied flame inflicts madness upon those who are touched by it. For the Tarnished, this means perishing upon becoming fully mad; for others in the Lands Between, it means the force of madness takes over their life while frenzied flames constantly attempt to burst from their eyes. Despite sounding so terrible, the power of the frenzied flame can be tempting like it was for the people of Frenzied Flame Village. A ghost on the way to Elden Ring's elusive Church of Inhibition dotes about how the frenzied flame's destructive qualities can create a borderless equality between all beings. Frenzied Flame Village also uses madness to protect itself at Frenzy-Flaming Tower, where four inhabitants of the town use the spell Howl of Shabriri to cast a flaming ball into the air that fells all who attempt to reach the town with madness damage. Even Tarnished - or especially Tarnished - hoping to become Elden Lord may crave the power of the frenzied flame to reach their goals.
Indeed, a fellow Tarnished appears to be responsible for the infection of Frenzied Flame Village: Vyke, Knight of the Roundtable. Once a promising candidate to become Elden Lord in Elden Ring like Godfrey before him, Vyke seemed destined for greatness. However, in his quest to restore order to the Lands Between, he appears to have been persuaded by an agent of chaos named Shabriri to meet the Three Fingers and use the power of the frenzied flame. Vyke's renown being immense, it appears he was able to win over what would later become Frenzied Flame Village and encourage its residents to embrace madness. While all of the trickery involved in making people fall under the spells of the Three Fingers may sound far-fetched, even the Tarnished can be persuaded to become the Lord of Frenzied Flame in an Elden Ring ending as Vyke was.
The major reason why Frenzied Flame Village, Vyke, and even players can be convinced to embrace madness is because of the figure Shabriri. In the description of the Howl of Shabriri, it is said that people believe "the sickness of the flame of frenzy began with Shabriri, the most reviled man in all history," and the description of the talisman Sharbriri's Woe states that Shabriri "had his eyes gouged out as punishment for the crime of slander, and, with time, the blight of the flame of frenzy came to dwell in the empty sockets." This shows that Shabriri was a man dedicated to lying and creating chaos, two acts the power of the frenzied flame have only been able to help him to do more of. Hence why the Tarnished can find him in the endgame area the Mountaintops of Giants in Elden Ring, where he will attempt to convince players to seek the power of the frenzied flame so that they can burn the roots of the Erdtree and save Melina from becoming a sacrifice.
While the Tarnished can ignore Shabriri, it appears Vyke fell for his tricks. In fact, Vyke appears to have followed the exact same path that leads the Tarnished to Elden Ring's Lord of Frenzied Flame ending. Upon seeing that he could not get through the thorns of the Erdtree, Vyke likely traveled to the Mountaintops of the Giants. There, he was likely tricked by Shabriri to utilize the power of the frenzied flame, probably in an attempt to protect his Finger Maiden from becoming a sacrifice like Melina. However, in accepting the frenzied flame, he was driven to madness and ended up murdering his Finger Maiden anyways.
The evidence for this storyline for Vyke starts with the Fingerprint Armor description: "No other Tarnished was closer to the throne of the Elden Lord than Vyke. But without announcement, Vyke traveled far below the capital, and was scorched by the flame of frenzy. Did he make his choice for his maiden, or did some other force lure him with suggestion?" This suggests that he was close to entering the Erdtree before heading to the Mountaintops of the Giants, hence why the Evergoal to summon Vyke near Shabriri contains a remembrance of him when he was a member of Elden Ring’s Roundtable Hold. However, his invader form (Festering Fingerprint Vyke) is found at the Church on Inhibition where a slaughtered Finger Maiden is located. This suggests he embraced the Three Fingers after leaving the Mountaintops and slew his Finger Maiden in rebellion against the Two Fingers. His hatred for Finger Maidens is further confirmed by the fact that both Shabriri Grapes and Fingerprint Grapes draw the Maidens toward the Three Fingers.
Vyke's story is not over, however. Vyke somehow ended up in Frenzied Flame Village, and rather than complete his quest to become the Lord of Frenzied Flame, he stays at the Church of Inhibition with the madness-infected villagers. While Elden Ring does not explicitly state why Vyke does this, one motivation is highly suggested: power.
Vyke is a highly regarded figure in Elden Ring's the Lands Between. He even won the favor of one of the ancient dragons according to the spell Vyke's Dragonbolt's description. On the road back to the Erdtree from the Three Fingers, Vyke seems to have used his charm when he stopped at a village to win its people over, convince them to embrace the Frenzied Flame, and become a figurehead of sorts due to his affiliation with the Three Fingers. This is supported by the flame of frenzy heirlooms located around Frenzied Flame Village, as it suggests its inhabitants are not only infected by madness but worship it and the Three Fingers. Additionally, after Festering Fingerprint Vyke is defeated, the same ghost who doted on the flame of frenzy now mocks Vyke, saying he is no true lord to them after all.
Thus, Frenzied Flame Village appears to have been charmed by Vyke after the Roundtable member became affiliated with Elden Ring's the Three Fingers. The way Vyke's story mirrors the Tarnished's is haunting in how it reveals the evil undercurrents functioning in the Lands Between. Such a complex story for a character that does not have a questline shows how expansive and powerful Elden Ring's lore really is.