OK the final concept has ballooned into a short INVOLVED animation.

There will be toppled, massive stones scattered on the ground covered with ancient symbols; these will be stacked and placed haphazardly. Just below these will be a layer of magma, visible between the giant toppled stones. Now, a few of the stone pylons are still standing and this is where the next alien species live, perched a-top of the pylons like gargoyles. I will have the pods sitting on top of the pylons, using their tentacles to hold them up as they wrap down around the pylon. There will be small metal suspension bridges attaching the pods that the aliens use to travel across.
The one point I want to make visually is in the background there will be a distant smoldering volcano, defining why there is magma and rubble, and, I want one of the tentacles to wrap down to the bottom of the pylon, touch the magma, steam rises, the tentacle retracts quickly, as if in pain, and then it unwraps, and takes off in to the sky.
I spent 3 hours rigging my pod with over 200 bones and IK.....

crazyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.