Quote Originally Posted by Februs View Post
I don't think it is Ratatoskr for a couple of reasons. It's too small, for one, and it wouldn't seem wise to commit a grave crime (big enough to start a war) and pin the evidence up in a cave so close to a major city. The side-quests in the area reveal that there was actually a full sized settlement nearby that was buried by Bahamut's nuclear winter. No one would look twice at it now, given that most living Ishgardian's were raised on a twisted history and faith going back hundreds of years, but back when there was peace between man and dragon it would have looked pretty suspicious to have one strung up in a cave with it's eyes ripped out.

I am interested in it's missing eyes though. If they are actually missing (I haven't gone to take a look myself yet, and I can't say I paid much attention to it the first time I was in the cave) then it stands to follow that the Dragon was powerful enough for someone to want them. It also stands to reason that the dragon may not, in fact, be dead. If it's eyes are returned to it, it's possible it could reanimate. This would explain it's apparent lack of decomposition.

If I had to take a guess, I would say that the dragon in the cave is likely the leader of whatever brood was in the area of Dusk Vigil. If you go just west of that dungeon, there's evidence of a battle and the remains of several dragons (which are not really talked about all that much in the MSQ). I would expect that this dragon was involved in that conflict, was likely lured into the cave during the battle, and skewered. The only question is, who did it and why did they chose to remove the eyes instead of flat out killing the dragon?
That conflict was detailed in 3.1's sightseeing log (fingers crossed that 3.2 has a sightseeing log update!)

These mountains on the outskirts of Ishgard were valued as a mining site for slate of exceptional quality. Three years past, the knights of House Dzemael attempted to carve an Ishgardian stronghold into the cliffs, enraging the dragon Cuelebre and his followers. Remnants of the gruesome battle that followed still lie scattered about the crags, unable to decay in the chilled altitude.