Dark Souls 2 - Story Explained

oh [Music] it is called drangleic a kingdom built on the civilizations of old founded by vendrick the venerable king this kingdom was established for the aid of his elder brother aldia using the souls of the four great ones but what prompted the king to move heaven and earth to cross the ocean and wage war with the giants legends speak of a woman possessing unrivaled elegance and beauty her name was nashandra as time passed fendrick and nishandra would grow closer the two would solidify their union through marriage and this culminated in her becoming the queen of drangleic one day she spoke of a great danger an impending doom originating in the land of the giants chancellor welliger an adviser to the king confirms these events long ago the queen came to us alone from a far away land she warned our lord of the looming threat across the seas of the giants these ill tidings were a fabrication a great deception designed to fool the king together vendrick and ashandra would accrue a great army capable of battling the giants vendrick favored the strong those who would take up arms and fight for a common ideology royal soldiers would form the main bulk of the army their equipment was constructed by the royal blacksmith from high quality materials among the soldiers in his ranks sorcery was utilized but vendrick had a particular disdain towards miracles lending credence to the idea that the king had little faith in the gods accompanying vendrick and ashandra was his elder brother aldia and so with all preparations in place the legions of vendrick navigated the oceans and embarked on their conquest the armies of the king slaughtered the giants wreaking havoc and devastation taken by surprise the giants stood little chance against the invaders vendrick had successfully defeated the giants and claimed his prize unbeknownst to him that he was just a thread in a tapestry of deceit furthermore some giants were ensnared and taken back to drangleic for experimentation a cruel fate the results of these experiments proved fruitful using the knowledge he gained fendrick was able to create an entity known as a golem sharing a similar appearance to the giants these constructs were designed for hard manual labor devoid of a soul the golems lay dormant this meant that the golems would only function when given a steady supply of souls once absorbed they will spring to life and glow with a bluish hue once perfected vendrick ordered the golems to construct drangleic castle a monolith among the architecture of the kingdom a symbol of vanity and victory worthy of a monarch the castle was specifically built by vendrick as a symbol of love for the chandra the kingdom of drangleic would flourish entering a long age of peace a piece so deep it was like the dark peace would not last a vengeful shadow emerged from the land of the giants the king of the giants also known as the giant lord united his people and assembled an army a legion of vengeance with the sole intent of destroying vendrick and his kingdom built on the blood and enslavement of giants the giants landed on the northern shores and set siege to king vendrick's castle to claim an invaluable prize captain drummond a noble warrior within vendrick's army sheds light on these events long ago the king crossed the seas pillaged the land of giants and brought back a prize the giants are no ordinary barbarians a singular rage burns within their hearts they cannot find it within themselves to forgive the misdeeds of our lord it is revenge for the kingdom's misguided barbarism some suggest that this prize was most likely the giant's kinship a key required for the path to the throne of wands the giants never forgot the pain they endured under the conflict initiated by the king waging war against the kingdom of drangleic the giants with their unbendable will plunge the kingdom into a perpetual conflict felt across the generations citizens abandoned the kingdom and the future of drangleic lay upon a knife's edge vendrick held fast to hope and eventually eradicated the threat of the giants the giants were eventually defeated by an unnamed hero but alas victory came all too late this bittersweet victory marked the decline of the once prosperous nation drangleic has suffered a blow it could not recover from a greater danger even greater than the giants now threatened the kingdom the fading of the first flame the undead curse rapidly hastened the deterioration of the kingdom enlisting his brother's help aldia and vendrick began their research into souls fendrick attempted to delay the fading by exiling the undead and by employing the use of great souls in direct opposition to the gods at the undead pilgrimage fendrick opposed the linking of the first flame he chose not to relight the fire fendrick instead tried to find another path to be free of the cycle unfortunately he failed in this endeavor vendrick's relationship with his brother also diminished the arrival of the undead curse placed a strain on their relations aldia had an obsession with the undead they fascinated him to no end day and night he and his alcoholics would toil away in his keep performing experiments trying to find a way to transcend the cycle his infatuation with the affliction led him to study gwyn whose sin was to link the first flame to prevent the age of dark and so aldia devoted himself to learn from the mistakes of the lord of sunlight and in so doing became the scholar of the first sin lord aldia attempted to uncover the secrets of life himself and viewed the undead as a key to this mystery although the king's elder brother helped found drangleic he later lost interest in the land's fortunes no longer interested in the prosperity of the kingdom aldia turned his gaze towards dragons attempting to elevate humans from the affliction into dragon hood in order to escape the undead curse both brothers sought the truth but through different means and there further meant the eventual withering of their familial ties their fragile bond would cease to exist once king vendrick condemned his own elder brother to the mansion forever isolating him within the confines of his keep aldia wanted to shed the yoke of fate perhaps he attempted to usurp the first flame but instead was warped into an abomination of being neither dead nor alive inhabiting the bonfires of drangleic some say he achieved his goal of transcending the cycle though not in the way he intended others may view this as a failure aldia's body being tied to the bonfires chained to the very thing he wanted to escape soon fendrick would discover the true nature of nashandra and that she was in fact a child of the father of the abyss harboring a desire for the first flame nashandra set into motion events that would enable her to access the throne of wants when the chosen and dead defeated manus his being dissipated into fragments the smallest of which and the first become sentient was nashandra as confirmed by vendrick himself the abyss once had form but then dissipated and yet traces of its existence endured each fragment thirsting for power spread dark with no relent my dear chandra was one such fragment a feeble tiny thing that thirsted for power more than any other driven by insatiable lust for the worthy vessel nashandra coveted that which she did not have power and so she sought the throne of wants she desired the age of darkness to become a reality allowing her to rule over it as the lord of dark having realized this fendrick ventured into a self-imposed exile but not before dispatching the watcher and defender to safeguard the throne to his shame he chose not to confront the queen even now he clung to his love for nashandra he was accompanied by a small troupe of knights as well as his right-hand man valstadt the royal aegis a fiercely loyal companion and general of vendrick's armies there was also another who was once devoted to the king raim more commonly known by the title fume knight was the left-hand man of vendrick he was a distinguished knight who was highly revered rain and velstadt were known as the left and right arms of the king until their wills clashed and raim was deemed a traitor ultimately rain would venture away leaving velstad to protect the king himself fendrick hid away from the eyes of nachandra and split his body from his great soul forcing her plans into a stalemate he remains in the undead crypt to this day where he now wanders as a hollow felstad and his knights still stand in his defense ensuring no one can gain access to the king leaving nashandra as the regents queen of drangleic and so concludes the journey of vendrick a man who witnessed both the rise and fall of his kingdom i am no king i am more fit to be a jester i was unaware of my own blindness we are feeble vessels with feebler souls we would cast aside the prop of life only to face greater hardship are you another such fool or something more [Music] like a moth drawn to a flame your wings will burn in anguish time after time for that is your fate the fate of the cursed one day alone and dead bereft of meaning is lulled to drangleic a decrepit kingdom this auspicious individual arises only to find themselves and things betwixt a dark confine illuminated by a crack in the mountain a hut can be discovered within this place is home to three old ladies moral appears to be reticent and grient shows little interest towards the newly awakened strowan however provides some guidance she helps the undead who is absent of memory recall their name and provides them with a vague purpose her tone denotes that we are not the first but in fact one of the many undead seeking something in drangleic for this withered kingdom has a certain law the goal of an undead is to seek souls and in the process lose them stuck in a cycle and doomed to repeat it accompanying them is milibuth the housekeeper she reveals that the ladies were once fire keepers three of four sisters the fourth appears to be absent as indicated by the empty chair perhaps she departed on her own eventually residing in firing shrine many years later the fire keepers want safeguarded bonfires but if three can be found in one location it is safe to assume they have abandoned their respective posts hope seems lost in the age of the fading flame and so the fire keepers all but scattered to the wind in addition she refers to things betwixt as a limbo a link between drangleic and the outer world venturing towards the light in the crevice a serene landscape unveils itself painted with the orange hues of the sun accompanied by the calming sound of crashing waves majula appears to be a new home for the lost undead this small decayed village is located on the coast of drangleic a large stone well a mansion and a small tower mark the key features of the area in the basement of majula mansion shards of the lord vessel can be seen a subtle reminder of the kingdom that once inhabited this land many adventurers blacksmiths and tradesmen converge upon this point as majula provides peace to all who would seek it it is here where we first make contact with the emerald herald chanelot a name gifted to her by her kin the dragons her role is pivotal in the events of drangleic her original purpose was to shatter the undead curse this is also the very reason she was brought to life the existence of the undead and hollows occupying the land signify her failure to break the curse as a result she chose instead to shepherd the undead providing them with esther's flasks and a vessel to channel souls so that they may become powerful enough to slay the four endowed with immense souls the names of the four are unspeakable and so their identity remains a mystery for now if this can be achieved the undead may succeed the once king of drangleic vendrick and claim the throne of want the ultimate seat of power in this land with this objective laid before the undead they are granted the title bearer of the curse a moniker shared by all who would seek the throne atop a staircase sat next to a pillar is solden the crestfallen warrior a man whose hopes have been all but extinguished he refers to the undead as having an irreversible fate suggesting that it is impossible to break free from this path and that all are merely props on the stage of life failure in his eyes is inevitable and so he sits in medjula a place where life is almost normal solden states that the real curse is to be alive to walk this earth and that the lack of death at the end of life is a predicament his philosophical outlook certainly implies that he feels life has little purpose if the sweet embrace of death does not lay at the end of it he also notes how fire keepers once tended the bonfires and wonders where they went unaware that three are living close by avoiding their duties sold and relates to the plight and struggles of the undead but for now seems content to lead a stagnant life in the distance the tinkering of a hammer striking an anvil can be heard in a humble abode resides blacksmith lenigrest the green skin of the smith reflects his undead state similar to the bearer of the curse his memories have faded although he has retained his ability to smith as well as the memories of his daughter sometime in the future a stone trader by the name clauan hailing from the merchant land of volgen is convinced by the bear of the curse to set up shop in majula as her title implies she is a trader of stones materials used specifically by blacksmiths to upgrade armor and weapons cloane states you see that blacksmith over there is he one of those hollows he seems to keep eyeing me up he sort of looks like my father he's a blacksmith too you see the poor man's such a worrywart but he wouldn't follow me out here would he conversing with lenograst reveals that clown is indeed his daughter my witless daughter finally came home just as oblivious as she's always been well at least now i can keep an eye on her despite recognizing her they will never be unified as a family as clown fails to identify lenigrast as her own father perhaps his undead form made him unrecognizable to her or is cloane suffering from memory loss as all undead appear to sadly the two will never be reunited but lenograst can have peace of mind knowing his daughter is safe in close proximity sits marlin the armorer similar to clowan this merchant also originated from the land of volgen he claims the blue sentinels have gained much power in his homeland and so their blessing is required to set up shop insinuating that blessing is only received if a donation of coin is given in order to escape the competition he traveled to drang lake but has had little success this has broken the morale of the armorer as he resorts to begging hoping people would purchase his worse his timid nature is displayed with both his physical posture and trembling voice however as more souls are given to him and his shop expands his confidence increases exponentially eventually his personality exudes one of arrogance and greed the deeper his pockets become the more he struggles to recall his past his memories fade into obscurity but his obsession with wealth persists carilion of the fold also moves to majula after a time a great pyromancer and sorcerer who originated in malphia in the academic field carilion is highly respected as seen with his station as a distinguished professor at the malfian magic academy the politics of his colleagues annoyed him to no end he argued that the academies were terrible places to learn magic which angered another teacher master glocken ultimately he grew tired of their petty squabbles leading him to drangleic where he could strengthen his knowledge in the magics his apprentice rosabeth who was once a people to glocken would follow him to drangleic rosabeth was an accomplished student of carillion as she was skilled in the art of pyromancy she was also fascinated by sorceries once reunited in majula rosabeth decides to distance herself from her master choosing to accomplish her goals by herself a noble cause another prominence resident is stationed in majula a cat by the name sweet xiao qua conversing with her reveals that she's potentially an ancient being someone who predates the kingdom of drangleic are you going to see the old ones those four who have grown so incredibly ancient they must have sprouted quite a thick coat of moss by now the heavens sake no one even knows their names anymore she's directly referring to the souls of grave lord nito the witch of izalith seath the scaleless and gwyn the lord of sunlight her knowledge of these ancient beings implies that she may have lived during or close to the events that unfolded ages past surrounding majula lies the forest of the fallen giants a historic location this once war-torn land had seen much conflict as the name suggests this particular area was a key location when the giants retaliated and laid siege to the kingdom of drangleic the cardinal tower was built many years ago by vendrick's soldiers acting as an outpost of defense against the invaders giant corpses can be found throughout the zone as well as hollow soldiers each warrior once belonged to the army of vendrick even in this state they defend their homeland the graves of giants are dispersed across the area their remains withered and gave rise to great trees many years from now one lone grave of the giant can be found in the cemetery of ash an individual known as pate makes an appearance for the first time a mild-mannered treasure seeker similar to patches his trustworthy facade is a tactic used to gain the trust of the bearer of the curse pace journey to drangleic with an infamous killer known as creighton of mirror a dysfunctional team to say the least a cartographer by the name of kale also recounts that a murderer had escaped execution in his homeland of mirror confirming that he is a homicidal individual creighton is first discovered captured in a cell which he had initially designed to imprison pate unfortunately it appears as though he had been caught in a trap of his own making he harbors a grudge against pate due to his selfishness according to creighton pate would always steal the lion share of the treasure and refers to him as a backstabbing knave just like pace creighton veils his trooper's owner a choice must be made do we side with pate or make an ally of creighton it is worth noting that creighton's armor and weapon are replicas it is doubtful that a disgraced killer would be a knight of mirror upon inspecting his armor we can see that its design resembles that of the night order of the eastern land of mirror but with some odd differences that catch the eye perhaps it is a finely crafted imitation his weapon is also a forgery of the dragonslayer's crescent axe lacking any sort of lightning infusion the true axe belonged to the unbeatable lothian but he abruptly retired from the battlefield and was never heard from again some say that he grew tired of the frailty of human foes and set off to slay the legendary dragon lothian was a shieldless warrior this explains creighton's lack of a shield perhaps he is trying to imitate the legendary soldier nevertheless the two can eventually be found engaged in a jewel it is here that their story concludes the bearer can either provide a to pate or creighton the sole victor will display their gratitude for even this is a farce as a booby trap chest will be left behind as a final farewell to the bearer of the curse turning back to the forests of the fallen giants a great enemy enters the fray the last giant is found contained within an underground cave chained and impaled with numerous swords with a pillar punctured through his torso why did this giant in particular deserve such treatment strangely it appears as though the last giant recognizes the bearer of the curse throughout the engagements the last giants grows impatient and reckless losing the fight he decides to tear off his own arm to use as a makeshift weapon in a desperate attempt to slay the bearer of the curse despite his struggle he is defeated the soul of the last giant provides a window into the history of this creature the lord of the giants who had brought wreck and ruin to the entire kingdom was said to have been felled by an unknown warrior his beaten and broken remains were then dragged beneath the stronghold where he was sealed away the last giant was none other than the giant king who traveled to drangleic for revenge against vendrick and his sins no wonder the king placed the giant in a deep cavern and subjected him to great torture to keep him sealed away forever and with that the giants were no more close by the pursuer arrives a lumbering warrior with an imposing presence this mad knight was originally from the kingdom of alken his sole purpose is to hunt down those afflicted with the undead curse as stated by his ultra greatsword the pursuer hunts down those branded by the curse as if each undead soul that he claims will atone one of his sins what these sins were are never revealed although centuries later his shield reveals the following far too heavy for an ordinary person perhaps it signifies the foolishness of resisting the curse it is possible that his sin was to attempt to resist the undead curse however we can never truly know the answer nonetheless he is unyielding in his pursuit of the undead adjacent to majula lies hate's tower of flame however the entrance appears to be blocked luckily a woman by the name lysia can aid the bearer of the curse speaking to her reveals that she's a devout disciple to the gods having journeyed to drangleic to spread the word of miracles so that all can bear witness to their wondrous power according to her the pathway can only be opened with the power of miracles she has also found a possession of the miracle soothing sunlight this miracle once kept by the lindelt monastery was stolen and never recovered based on this description we can surmise that lucia is a thief a con artist swindling the undead for their souls although she opens a path ahead it is not through the power of miracles but by operating the mechanism using the rotunda lockstone a stone which rotates the medulla rotunda insert into the central pillar to align the rotunda with a different passageway nothing magical about it but a fine feat of engineering we can discern that lucia is not to be trusted furthering this notion is the appearance of the phantom invader nameless usurper a mysterious woman clad in the robes of a lindelt cleric this phantom is none other than lucia she is a self-serving individual whose goal is to obtain souls through the use of the crushed eye orb the world of lucia can be invaded where she confirms her identity moving forward we finally arrive in haiti's tower of flame a beautiful landmark submerged in water the architecture of the towers are evocative of anor londo the land of gods from many years ago defending the area are the haid knights face warriors who will only attack when provoked whether hade refers to a kingdom or was just a name for the land is not clear for no records date back far enough to tell all that is known is that the way of blue has its origins and hade and that hade was later subsumed by the sea the grand designs of the buildings suggest that this city was once fit for the gods the ring of the sun princess states the princess of sunlight left anor londo along with many other deities and later became wife to flame god flan this item description denotes that gwenevere the princess of sunlight departed on orlando and married flan perhaps they lived in the tower of flame for a time residing in the tower is a dragonrider long ago the dragonriders mounted worms and were fed on the battlefield for their unparalleled strength the rank of dragonrider was reserved for honorable warriors who helped found drangleic together with the king they crushed its former inhabitants and erected a magnificent kingdom upon their graves here we learn why the armies of vendrick were so powerful and dominant as vendrick employed the use of dragonkind in his army to bolster his forces a guardian dragon can also be found nearby built on the edge of the land lies the blue cathedral a base of operations for the blue sentinel covenant within the structure is an old dragon slayer the old dragon slayer is reminiscent of a certain knight that appears in old legends it is doubtful that this individual is ornstein but rather someone who is inspired by his legacy following the defeat of the dragonrider the path to no man's wharf is open this expansive area is home to varangian sailors cutthroat pirates that once inhabited the northern seas of drangleic a former king launched a campaign to capture these terrors of the high seas but rather than imprison them force them into hard labor at no man's wharf among the many foes in the wharf are the suspicious shadows a regiment of warriors that abandoned the mirror army to become mercenaries instead those who were especially adept assassins were often hired as bodyguards in an attempt to stave off the curse king vendrick hired shadow men to put down the hollows but before long they were hollowed themselves they are yet another reminder of vendrick's futile attempt to stave off the undead curse deeper still a bell can be discovered once rung a ship is signaled to dark stationed at the brig of this leaking ship resides the flexile century a monstrous creature that was assigned the task of emptying the dungeons of poor cursed souls this lizard-like creature oversaw the ferrying of undead into the lost bastille overcoming this adversary allows the bearer of the curse to utilize the vessel and travel to the lost bastille the prison is home to the undead who were once exiled by vendrick undead prisoners roamed the vicinity their appearance is indicative of their hollow state undead citizens are also held captive here for many their only crime was showing signs of the curse notably some of these former citizens of drangleic were the victims of lord aldia's experiments their bodies are horribly disfigured as a result of the unspeakable procedures to which they were subjected their life force is now sustained by unstable and highly volatile souls jailers also patrol the perimeter with their stray hounds in order to ensure none may leave the lost bastille contained within one of the many cells is strayed of alaphis strayed was an established sorcerer who was personally invited to the kingdom of al office this kingdom was one of the many that came before drangleic it once occupied the very land drangleic was built upon olafis was home to state-of-the-art sorceries and pyromancies a perfect location for a sorcerer like strayed the most notable of his inventions are the pyromancies flame swathe and lingering flame in addition it appears that the ring of resistance and the dispelling ring were also crafted by strayed unfortunately strayed never accepted an apprentice as a result much of his extensive knowledge is permanently lost his black hood reveals that people eventually feared him and in the end strayed was led into a dreadful trap culminating in his petrification strayed spent several lifetimes of stone during this hiatus kingdoms rose and fell until the land called drangleic came to be once cured of his affliction strayed confirms the notion that many kingdoms came before drangleic so how long was i sat petrified long enough for the old kingdom to have crumbled i see long enough for olaf is to rise fall and fade away evidently drang lake i've never heard the name is that what they call this place now no flame however brilliant does not one day splutter and fade but then from the ashes the flame reignites and a new kingdom is born sporting a new face further beyond resides the ruined sentinels crafted by the man known only as the jailer these creatures have no corporeal form it is only an empty soul that haunts the armor interestingly the armor was inspired by the ruined knights who were dispatched to the ring city a place built by gwyn to isolate the pygmies at world's end as confirmed by their armor armor of the company of knights who were sent to the ring city on an old king's orders the knight sought the dark soul but were so soundly crushed they had little choice but to swear themselves to the judicated giants the ill-fated company was later immortalized in a dark fable inspiring the aspect of certain golems in whom their name lived on the knights were deployed possibly by gwyn to obtain the dark soul as time passed the rune sentinels would eventually be created influenced by their tail but devoid of a soul making them more akin to golems than the knights they were inspired by another important landmark is situated in the los bastille the belfry luna to understand the significance of this bell tower we must first refer to two old kingdoms the kingdoms of alken and then long ago flourished on these very grounds they were both founded by the same man but were reduced to rivalry and spite the bell keeper's attire speaks of the love between a prince and princess to this day the forbidden love of the prince of alken and the princess of venn manipulates these marionettes the twin bells symbolize the bond between two lovers who can never be united the bell keepers are their eternal guardians for that is their love that is their curse their love was forbidden due to the strained relationship between the kingdoms we can infer that the belfry luna was built for the princess of venn due to its affiliation with the moon the moon represents femininity as indicated by gwyndolin whose affinity with the moon led to him being raised as a female on the other hand the belfry soul is associated with the prince of alken due to the sun's connotations with masculinity it is safe to assume that the kingdom of alken once resided in the location where the iron keep now stands and that the kingdom of then once occupied the lands of the lost bastille marionettes were constructed to serve as a means of defense for each tower just as life was given to the dolls perhaps it was also given to the belfry gargoyles who reside atop the tower yet another measure of protection unable to cement their love the prince of alken was to be wed to another a merchant of ladders known as laddersmith gilligan sheds light on this tale that creature she was human once you know yeah in fact she was word to the prince of that nearby castle but her husband he had feelings for another the princess was desperate and sawed eternal beauty hoping that it would restore the prince's uh affection you see what i mean gilligan is referring to mytha the painful queen revealing that the prince of alken despite his marriage with mytha was still enamored by the princess of venn doubting her self-worth mitha became obsessed with delusions of unattainable beauty she even bathed herself in poison believing it would elevate her appearance solely driven by the desire to win the heart of her husband but is the person in question the prince of alken of the old iron king the queen sought the king's affection even poisoning herself to attain beauty despite the monstrous consequences all for the compelling madness known as love this could be referring to the iron king whose keep is in close proximity of earthen peak the home of mytha some may posit the theory that the prince of alken may have ascended to the title of king having climbed the ranks of royalty however the scorching eye inceptor places doubt on this notion when the old king rested this dilapidated region from the kingdom of then the act required all the resources the enfeebled lord could muster if the prince of alken became the old iron king why would he subdue the kingdom of his beloved whoever mytha truly coveted remains a subject of mystery even if the prince or the king did not love her there was another who may have truly adored the painful queen the soul the covetous demon states there was once a man whose deep affections were unrequited his situation is similar to mythos both possessed a deep love for another but this love wasn't returned despite this he remained an earthen peak where he became a glutton in turn he was transformed into the covetous demon which only made him lonelier than before at the lowest point of the lost bastille is a tower known as sin as rise a structure built to apprehend the vilest of all prisoners at the end of the path shackled by chains dwells a lost sinner a bug reminiscent of the parasites found in lost izalith worms its way into her eye sockets writhing in the skull of the host the prisoner is sent spiraling into agony her attire is reminiscent of torture the penal mask contains spikes pointed inwards a brutal method of torment a straight jacket is tightly cinched against her waist to restrict her movement the penal handcuffs restrain the use of her hands and her skirt is a symbol of shame worn only by the guilty even the blade grasped firmly in the hands of the sinner saps the life of his wielder in her agony the sinner has etched writings into the floor of the prison what manner of person deserves such a barbarous fate not much is known regarding the identity of the lost sinner despite this a few theories exist firstly the soul of the lost sinner reads the lost sinner eternally punishes herself for the sins of her past out of great shame and regret the sinner imprisoned herself additionally she's also found the possession of the old witch soul the very soul that belonged to the witch of izalith in another cycle pyromancers also ate the lost sinner in battle potentially the lost sinner was a pyromancer of some kind perhaps she was once magus egel a devout follower of the old dying king it should be noted that the penal handcuffs used to bind the lost sinner also boost the power of pyromancy if imprisoned of her own volition it would make sense to wield something of power in order to maintain her solitude and prevent the old witch's soul from falling into the hands of a nameless undead or perhaps she's merely a puppet at the mercy of the izalith parasite on the other hand the lost sinner could also be a great priestess who originated from eliam loyce according to the eye of the priestess all the great priestesses replaced one of their birth eyes with an artificial one returning it after that term was complete you may recall that the chaos bug crawled into the empty eye sockets of the lost sinner who may have willingly removed her eye to join the covenant of precessors eliam loyce was a frigid kingdom ravaged by the old chaos this would explain how the chaos bug came to be the lost sinner lives deep within the bastille the fool trying to light the first flame it appears that the old witch's soul in conjunction with the parasites may have influenced the mind of the lost sinner who in turn also tried to give fire its own life when met with failure she isolated herself forever atoning for the sins of her past for now in pursuit of the next great soul the bearer of the curse migrates to huntsman's cops when the iron king began to see the effects of the undead curse he established this zone a specific location designated for the hunting of the undead numerous cells can be found throughout the forest where the undead would be caged it would not take long for the hunters themselves to fall to the undead curse as a consequence no one was left to eliminate the undead and their numbers only increased presiding over the area are the skeleton lords who reigned from deep within the huntsman's cops the old iron king commanded the capture of all undead but those charged with the task were overcome by the curse succumbing to the affliction the lord forgot their purpose choosing instead to build a house of bones from the undead falcon the outcast a man steadfast in his belief of the dark resides in the outer perimeter of the huntsman's cops the art of sorcery and pyromancy were of little appeal to the outcast instead falcon chose to become versed in the knowledge of hexes a lost practice which originated from ancient times hexing appears to be an offshoot of sorcery but its specific origins are unknown he states that those who choose to study hexes are a lonely lot those who have a taste of dark are drawn into its vortex and rarely return perhaps it appeals to something deep within the human soul hexing appears to be a fusion of miracles and magic a hybrid that appeals to humans due to their inherent connection with the dark so fascinated is falcon with the dark that he travels to distant lands spreading word of this magic [Music] neighboring the area is a structure known as undead purgatory connected by an old and withered bridge in the inner confines an executioner and his chariot eternally punished the undead the old iron king persecuted the undead ordering the executioner to butcher them repeatedly crushing them under the wheels and hooves of the chariot it appears as though the old iron king went a step further than vendrick in his treatment of the undead choosing to inflict misery rather than banish them from the kingdom the chariot was created only to torment undead and it took the form of a horrendous mad steed a window into the soul of his master titchie gren a member of the brotherhood of blood lies at the top of the purgatory this covenant worships the god of blood and war na alma those who profess faith in nor alma have rejected all that is this world and vow to travel a path stained with blood they choose to live a life drenched with the blood of the undead the scythe of nar alma is imbued with the power of the dark this is no place for talk of such things however this cult appears to have some connection to the dark unbeknownst to the iron king if the king knew this he would not tolerate their kind as the dark is intrinsically linked to humanity and the undead curse something which he detested rather than reveal this the covenants hid their affinity with the dark and partook in the hunting of the undead but the brotherhood of blood only participated in the killings in order to appease their god by way of blood sacrifice leaving the purgatory behind we now move to harvest valley a land mired with poison the large windmills found the venom causing it to blanket the valley and suffocate its inhabitants behind a small path we stumble upon a sunlight altar when closely examined this altar is reminiscent of the warrior of sunlight shrines discovered in lordran perhaps this is the very same altar that once resided in the undead burg many kingdoms had risen and fallen over the years but this shrine remains worship of the sun now a lost belief was once widespread amongst great warriors moreover the sunlight palmer reads perhaps these famed champions are no more or perhaps they have no desire to appear in public view but their very absence has made tales of their brave deeds all the more alluring and this shield memorializes one of their brethren some may say that the warrior depicted on the face of the shield is solaire of astora however there were once many warriors of sunlight and this could just be a symbol used to represent all who are heirs to the sun beyond the valley surrounded by windmills and blanketed in poison stands earth and peak mannequins patrol the area conniving ambushes who strike from the shadows a fickle queen gave them life and tore off their faces how else could she forgive those who dared gaze upon her the peculiar art of puppetry is a vestige of the two lost lands a queen breathed life into these dolls with the very miasma that afflicted her poison drenched bosom so that she would have slaves to serve her temperamental will as mentioned previously the queen noted here is mytha a woman who resorted to consuming poison to attain beauty and win the affection of her partner the poison furthered her madness and caused her body to malformed by igniting the windmill through the use of a torch the bearer of the curse is able to disperse the poison in the adjacent room at the heart of the tower mitha can be encountered nesting in her empty bath of poison it is here that the bear of the curse puts an end to the tragic life of the baneful queen over time earthen peak would collapse sinking into the very ground it was built on the structure would eventually crumble becoming ruined on the outskirts of the ring city the scorched markings of the windmill are still visible to this day nevertheless the next great soul lies in close proximity the iron keep stands atop a sea of lava a colossal fortress constructed entirely of iron a merchant by the name magarold provides insight regarding the state of the keep there's good iron in these parts no king even used it to build a castle but the thing was too heavy it slowly sank into the ground players spited it from the earth and and the place turned into this a plethora of both elon and ironclad knights safeguard the keep still stationed at their posts in defense of the fallen king alongside them stands a smelter demon a towering golem of infernal strength despite these obstacles the bearer of the curse remains resilient and traverses the fortress arising from the depths of the ocean of fire emerges a king his appearance is more akin to that of a demon than the man he once was much of the history of this figure and his compulsion for establishing an unassailable empire remain shrouded in mystery there is more to the legend of the fallen monarch as the bearer of the curse will uncover when in pursuit of the crown of the iron king and so falls the great king a man whose reach extended his grasp the curse bearer remains resolute in their objective and sets their gaze upon the next soul returning to medulla the laddersmith gilligan provides aid in exchange for souls using his expertise he places a ladder in the pit of majula enabling the bearer to descend into the rotten chasm after many cycles his deceased corpse can be found laying in the profaned capital surrounded by ladders the grave of saints resides deep within the pit a burial tomb for the devout and righteous members of drangleic this territory falls within the control of the rat king defended by the royal rat vanguard their purpose is to test the worthiness of those who seek royal audience having overcome this test the rat king departs some wisdom the insolent fools line up to trample upon our boroughs my servant dispatch these invaders and thy reward will be handsome indeed determined to defend the grave of saints and the doors of pharaohs the king had established a covenant in order to recruit warriors to aid in safeguarding the territories of the right king the rat king is proud and merciful as any king true to his stature should be the right king looks favorably upon those who would follow the path of right even disgraceful humans it appears as though the rat king believes the lands of the underground are his to rule alone and that humans have encroached upon his subterranean kingdom building burial mounds in his territory contributing to his disdain of humans having said this he has not fully abandoned hope for humanity as the bearer of the curse can be recruited into his covenant to make right the sins of the humans of old deeper still lies the gutter an unstable structure consisting of wooden bridges and fragile shacks this area is devoid almost completely of light although sconces can be lit to illuminate the cavern all manner of creatures call this place home from hollows to bugs and disfigured creatures statues that spew poison are also strategically positioned throughout the area the same statues which encircle the perimeter of the entrance to the pits signifying that these carvings may have been disposed of in this world perhaps the residents of majula treated the pit as a dumping site for all unwanted items beneath the gutter is the black gulch a derelict cave filled with parasites and creatures the poison glows with the greenish tint highlighting the path forward exploring the gulch leads to the discovery of a distinct individual by the name dark diver grandel the leader of the pilgrims of dark a firm believer who urges the bearer of the curse to pursue the dark to his deepest depths a dilapidated altar similar to the ones found in the shrine of armana act as gateways into the dark chasm after conquering each portion of the chasm the bearer of the curse arrives at the gate of the dark lurker the appearance of the creature resembles that of an angel the face of the entity is concealed in shadow by its hood during the encounter the entity proves to be a formidable foe possessing an arsenal of various dark magics nonetheless the dark lurker is defeated leaving behind its soul the dark chasm of old is the remnant of some ancient dissipated being the nature and identity of the dark loker remain ambiguous its appearance is much more akin to a being of light despite its affinity with the dark from this soul strayed of allathis can create the life-drain patch hex this distorted dark brewed by hexes drains the life force of those who touch it perhaps the dark lurker's goal was to lure those with the fondness of the dark with the purpose of devouring them for their humanity towards the edge of the gulch the next great foe reveals itself the rotten a towering monstrosity whose body is the culmination of many hollows leading the pack appears to be a single hollow a hive mind dedicated to the preservation of the decay the rotten embraces all in his sanctuary for all things rotten or tossed away he appears to be in the process of constructing one of the many small statues we see around the area his delicate nature when attempting to reconstruct the object hints at his nurturing personality the rotten welcomes all who were rejected by the societies of norm choosing instead to embrace the blight and mutations of all creatures putting the populace back together again piece by piece unfortunately he must be put to rest once conquered it is discovered that the rotten was in possession of the old dead one soul the very soul which belongs to grave lord nito the first of the dead beyond the borders of medulla a shaded wood shrouds the area a small dense forest enveloped in a thick mist of fog a decapitated head of a warrior named van gaal speaks to the bearer of the curse after the collapse of feroza fengal deserted his kingdom and pursued mercenary work although he is ashamed of this strangely even for rose's lion knights a motley crew of rabid fighters kept him at arm's length his helmet resembles that of a beast as he was not unlike a mad beast on the battlefield the description of his character describes vengal as a ferocious and deadly warrior who was feared even by his companions this is further enforced by the description of his shield the chisels on the face were carved by van gaal to count the heads he claimed many marks occupy the surface indicating how prolific van gaal was in the number of lives he claimed in a display of fateful irony during a particular battle fengal was beheaded he remarks that he often has visions of his body and warns not to approach it suggesting a link still exists between the body and mind in the shaded ruins his animated body is discovered a mighty figure wielding a scimitar and a sword legend has it that it was built to test the limits of the strength of herosa knights until vengal swung it about like a wooden plaything claiming ownership by demonstration nevertheless the headless body is destroyed vengal is appreciative of this gesture and offers his summon sign as a symbol of gratitude signifying that with the death of his body his spirit was made whole again a weaponsmith by the name on effects can be found trapped in a small confine below the ground of the shaded runes this captive crow demon closely resembles the creatures who once lived in the painted world of ariamis she is a crucial ally to the bearer of the curse as she has the uncanny ability to forge weapons using the many powerful souls obtained along the journey according to her this technique was pioneered by seath the scalers though she does not mention him by name it is said that our technique originates from a strange being that inhabited this land a pale beast that lived long long ago we don't even know what exactly it was her dialogue also provides a clue into the origin of the next great soul in the immediate vicinity another important figure can be found he can only be spoken to by equipping the ring of whispers a trinket utilized by roy the explorer tark states that he and a woman by the name najka were created by the same master a tragically lonely soul who conducted experiments and from his madness gave life to the two similar to tark najka was also a hybrid creature however she is much larger in comparison many seasons passed and the two grew closer and became inseparable eventually they were betrothed sadly their love would not last as her mind withered and she felt a madness for this reason tark states the following i wish to ask a favor of you i want you to kill my betrothed once i always found her at my side but as time went on things went awry she became violent raging uncontrollably eventually she came after me he pleads with a curse bearer asking for assistance in slaying his partner together they pierced the veil of fog and confronts the mad scorpion s tark does not falter and provides aid until the very end with her soul put to rest take thanks the bearer of the curse both he and najka will no longer suffer in an eternal conflict meanwhile the bearer of the curse enters the doors of pharos a location named after pharos the vagabond a legend who wandered the land creating contraptions to help those in sincere and dire need the scope of his travels was so wide that faros has been mistakenly credited with many inventions that were crafted by others a race of people by the name gurm call this place home a stocky powerful race which once dwelt above ground they were regarded as inferior by humans and unjustly exiled below they are amicable by nature but harbor an intense distrust of surface dwellers particularly humans in addition many of the germ living in the doors of pharos have gone hollow and become threats to the living lonesome gavilan belongs to this race of people as indicated previously the doors of pharaohs are also a domain of the right king as evidenced by the existence of the royal rat authority another ardent subject of the monarch venturing forward the settlement of brightstone cove soldora unveils itself a mining village that was once ruled by a figure known as duke sildora the eccentric lord known for his fascination with spiders built a town and a personal fortune by mining brightstone one day the town was overrun but lord sildora only stood by and watched eerily contented by examining the area we can see its inhabitants have succumbed to the spider infestation morphing into vile creatures this parasitic species bury themselves into the body of a host commanding them to move like a puppet each parasite thrives of their host by draining the blood from within eventually we come upon a holy chapel home to the prowling mages and his congregation in this room a small number of undead laborers supplicants and hollow priests have gathered the labourers are dressed in tattered clothing resembling that of a prisoner insinuating that many miners of the cove were indeed slaves the supplicants appeared to have fallen under the spell of the prowling mages retaining no will of their own they now serve the mages with blind dedication lastly the hollow priests were once the clerics of drang lake it is unknown whether they act of their own volition or as an extension of the mages as well the prowling mages itself originated in aldia's keep warlocks in aldia gave rise to wicked things and even cast forbidden rituals upon themselves no one knows if they were born mad or if their own misdeeds drove them over the edge each alden warlock would utilize a cursed bone shield an item reinforced by a covert ritual that granted the shield the power of flame using a combination of dark magic it appears that the prowling mages gained a devout following from the people of brightstone cove perhaps they turned to him in the darkest hour as their home collapsed under the weight of the parasitic infestation the peasant settlers who toiled the farms and mines in the outskirts of the city were fortunate to succumb to the undead curse as the higher class citizens who resided in the city were ravaged and became sustenance for the spiders as the cursed bearer delves deeper into the cove the environment begins to change the area is now blanketed by a coat of thick webbing and the swarms of spiders only increase finally the dukester freya enters the fray a gargantuan two-headed spider its body is protected by a layer of armor and a collection of spiders scurry to aid his master the spider uses a flurry of vicious attacks including a luminescent beam similar to sorcery the ground is covered in the bones of the deceased victims of the spiders who were devoured or infected the bearer of the curse still overcomes the spider and its very being evaporates into the ether the great soul now rests in the palm of the young hollow the soul makes reference to a being known as a writhing ruin an ancient thing whose shadow remains cast over the land it first took possession of a solitary insect but grew its power feasting on the wealth of twisted souls found in the land the writhing ruin could be a direct connotation to seath who physically writhed around due to his tentacles or perhaps it is more symbolic referencing his betrayal of the dragons in addition freyja also drops the old pale drake soul a soul which can be used to forge the moonlight greatsword or manufacture a spell known as a crystal soul spear in wake of this revelation it is no surprise that a pale dragon can be discovered ensnared in webs in the very nesting place of the duke's dear freyr this pale drake could possibly be seath or perhaps it was another who fell victim to the creature in the adjacent room the lord's private chamber can be found sildora's obsession with spiders is further enforced by the cage found in his room this cage most likely housed freyja in its infancy some posit the theory that seath utilized the spider and duke in experimentation eventually giving rise to the colossal monstrosity according to the spider fang description supposedly the duke himself an eccentric soul fascinated with spiders went on to take a form that was far from human it seems that the fate of both dukes seath and seldora are interwoven as you may recall the identity of the creator of tark and najku remain a mystery that is until talk states what skill you've defeated my master but our master never dies and he changes form so that he may seeth for all eternity from this information we can surmise that seath's soul manipulates all who would use it inflicting misery on those around him forever carrying on his will in all manner of forms through his vile experiments just like the chosen and dead of old the bearer of the curse has obtained each great soul but this is only one step of the journey at this point aldia the scholar of the first sin fendrick's brother makes an appearance for the first time his form is reminiscent of a large bonfire an amalgamation of roots and fire rather than shepherd the young hollow he instead questions their very nature and informs them to seek out vendrick and embark on the path of the king your mother do you wish to shed this curse then accept the fate of your ilk and face the trials that await you inherit the order of this world or destroy it can you be a true monk can you [Music] outgrown hollow have you what it takes truly hello sheep after vendrick he who almost became a true monk avenger nick is certain to guide your way young hollow conqueror of fear what drives you so to overcome the supposed curse [Music] tracing the king's steps the bearer of the curse is led to the shrine of winter a gate that houses the path to drangleic castle king vendrick's work of art the house that ruled their kingdom stretching further than one can comprehend a long dark road lures newcomers towards the central seat of power exposing a castle that towers above all the bleak exterior reveals a sign of abandonment yet the fortress maintains its aesthetic charm over the hill and past the forest is the king's castle where a man peered straight into the essence of the soul those who come to drangleic seeking salvation soon lose hope and turn hollow it happens to them all sooner or later the emerald herald forewarns of the horrors that had taken place in the castle stating that little remains but wandering hollows haunting the once prospering manner she follows up with a reminder of the commitment binding the bearer of the curse to their pilgrimage in attaining the throne of want the emerald herald fulfills her purpose of guiding the undead to the fate of drang lake what they choose to do with such responsibility is their choice alone surrounding the property are stone soldiers knights of valstad the royal aegis when vendrick confined himself to the undead crypt valstad followed his king and remained by his side the knights in his service waited patiently for his return until they turned to stone primal knights can be seen guarding the premise from intruders the mammoth-like creatures are the creations of king vendrick using the long-forbidden sorcery of his brother aldia exploring the castle interior leads to an encounter with a ghostly figure named chancellor welliger who identifies the bearer of the curse as a trespasser unaware of recent events the phantom is protective of vendrick's domain ignorant to the state of the world and the king's doom as he recollects his memory chancellor welliger unravels the truth and informs of how the fate of drangleic came to be little is known about the chancellor except that his apparel is identical to that of the drang knights who were once feared mercenaries suggesting that he may have been a soul sword at some point in time during king vendrick's reign in light of learning about the endeavors of king vendrick and queen nishandra the bearer of the curse advances through the labyrinth fending off countless royal swordsmen the remaining survivors from the war against the giants atop the castle resides nashandra seated on a monarch's throne declaring herself queen of drang lake brave undead visit vendrick we have no need for two rulers brave undead seek the throne follow the symbol of the monarch and do what must be done the queen explains that king vendrick wielded the strength to rule his people and stand in the face of adversity when the undead curse spread like wildfire but in the end never had what it took to assume the true throne nashandra urges the bearer of the curse to seek the former king insinuating that he must be put to rest as he now offers little contribution to the kingdom do her words ring true or a mere fabrication to manipulate those who stand before her reality remains obscure for now but the truth always prevails in the end roaming within the castle walls is ben heart of dugo crossing paths with the bearer of the curse on multiple occasions throughout their journey ben hart is on a quest of his own traveling from lands far in purpose of perfecting his swordsmanship and proving the worth of his greatsword originating from jugo benhart is acclimated to long reaches of desertous lands housing many sorceresses and corrosive ants lining the horizon of the desert bernhardt's persistence has guided him to drang lake wandering the lands with his blue moon greatsword by his side an heirloom passed on for many generations it seems as if he's on a mission for redemption proudly carrying a shield emblazoned with a family crest of some sort possibly representing his heritage wielded as a badge of honor benhart for one reason or another feels the need to prove himself to his family or yet prove his family's value to the world convinced that immense power slumbers within his heirloom he seeks to conquer the powerful beings inhabiting drang lake believing that in testing his strength the powers that lay forth within his weapon will reveal themselves in search of etching his family name in history bernhardt meets the merchants marlin and maggerold who quickly realized that his weapon may be a replica of a far greater sword the moonlight greatsword a revelation that would shatter the hopes of this warrior if only his stubbornness would allow him to believe such claims bernhardt's ignorance may be a blessing as his faith in the steel he carries has led him to pursue greatness would he have chased perfection if he knew the true worth of his sword or lack thereof in not knowing benhart fought and defeated many great souls using nothing but a replica greatsword mastering his craft along the way in a sense this brave warrior proved his worth more so than he could ever know traversing deeper into the castle the bearer of the curse faces the twin one perched up on a ledge firing a great bow whilst the other approaches with his weapon in hand although previously known for their unparalleled strength these revered warriors stood no chance in defeating the bearer of the curse having accrued many powerful souls through the course of their pilgrimage posing a prevalent threat however is the looking glass knight a champion who challenges visitors to the lordless castle long ago the king's passage was a route taken by the bravest warriors to prove themselves but now it only prevents one from pursuing the runaway king upon closer inspection the looking glass knight wields the king's mirror as a shield an item akin to the mirrors that are later found in aldi's keep the similarity extends even further as in both cases a knight can forcefully break through the mirror emerging from the abyss-like confines of the glass where the knights arise from is unknown but the looking glass at the castle is said to have been a passage to another world in seeking king vendrick the bearer of the curse contests the looking glass knight slowly wearing him down through an onslaught of attacks until the titan collapses in defeat having proven themselves the bearer of the curse descends deep underground unveiling a hidden sanctuary known as the shrine of armana upon entering the sanctum an enchanting melody can be heard travelling from afar emanating a sense of peace that caresses the air the calm before the storm long before the undead curse harrowed the kingdom of drang lake the shrine of armana was created as a haven dedicated to sustaining the demon of song when the demon developed a taste for human flesh it was contained within the shrine of armana but the line of precessors who looks after the shrine and appeased the creature have died off with that said the demon of song escaped its prison but remained confined to the shrine of armana unable to find its way to the surface the name itself derives from its ability to lure prey into its layer by mimicking the graceful harmonies sung by the milfonito the milfonito was said to have been given life by grave lord nito who taught them to sing songs that would comfort the dead the milfonito have little concept of self as their existence relies solely on singing and they will continue to do so until they can no longer the milfonito can still be seen residing in the shrine living a secluded life and showing no interest in the quarrels of the world one can even be sighted in drangleic castle imprisoned by an embedded who was once a human but similar to the demon of song became tempted by the taste of flesh unable to resist his urges the embedded bond himself eternally with chains awaiting the day that someone would bring a rapsodic end to his fate to release the milfonito the bearer of the curse slays the demon of song and in return retrieves the key to the embedded which can be used to unlock the cage why is it that the demon of song holds the key to the embedded it is unclear to what capacity but similarities can be drawn between the two both disgraced by their lust for flesh evidenced with the embedded hiding his face behind a mask whilst the demon of song hides within his own body a subconscious indication of shame could they be one and the same being a soul transferred from the frail body of an embedded to the demon found in the shrine unfortunately no one remains to speak of the true nature of these creatures passing through the shrine leads to the undead crypt where a mysterious figure awaits confidently leaning back on a wall with his arms crossed act dane is a finito and similar to the milfonito was given life by the gravelord his role is to watch over the dead ensuring that they maintain their peace akdane warns that light is not welcomed in the crypt expressing that in the past humans were one with the dark until the lord of light gwyn banished the dark out of fear of humanity akdane intends to provide solace through darkness for those who've passed bringing humanity closer to their natural essence did you come for him the one called vendrick you will find him deeper inside many castle servants and the like have come to fetch their lord but they rest here now put to death by the king's own gods perhaps he's not in the mood for company the king's shadow valstart guards the undead crypt preying on those who've come to find vendrick as a means to reach the king the bearer of the curse is pushed to slay the loyal knight putting an end to their long-standing service to the king forging ahead leads to the long-awaited meeting with the former king of drunk lake vendrick the once powerful ruler now a shell of his former self a hollow stripped of all his attire his lifeless body roaming around a small dark room having lost all sense of self in pity of what the king has become the bearer of the curse strikes vendrick down putting him out of his shameful existence and upholding the image of the potent king that he was contrary to being seen in his current state granted the king's ring the bearer of the curse is able to access aldia's keep located in the far eastern outskirts of drung lake outside the premises lucatiel of mirror can be found she along with her brother azlatiel were both respectable knights in their native land held to high regard by the people of mirror their competitive nature formed a rivalry between the two ensuring that their abilities remain sharp but it is said that lucatiel would always fall short in surpassing her brother's achievements afflicted with the undead curse azlatiel without a word left mirror never to be seen again having later incurred the same fate as her brother lucatiel traveled to drangle lake to seek answers to the curse in addition to finding azlatiel hopeful that her brother is still alive and well the bearer of the curse encounters ozlateel at the entrance to aldi's keep but not in the state that one would hope to find him in failing to overcome the burden of the curse azlatiel had lost all hope and with that became a hollow a fate most tragic when luke teal reached drangleic she had already become convinced that one cannot escape the undead curse but she never surrendered her will as she held onto the possibility of reuniting with her brother the remaining hope she harbored was crushed by what happened to azlatiel her own kin forsook his knighthood to prey upon others driven to madness by the undead curse for what reason should she press on when all meaning to her life had been shattered before her eyes and so lucatiel with no faith left in her heart accepts defeat allowing the curse to extinguish what little light she had left inside her the once prosperous knight of mirror now one of many hollows in drang lake before surrendering to her fate lucatiel implored that her name be remembered a dying wish bestowed upon the bearer of the curse many years on a mask named after lucatiel can be found revealing that the bearer of the curse stayed true to their word and spread the name of mera's most valiant warrior from one ear to another keeping luke teal's legacy alive for thousands of years past her death proceeding to aldi's keep it is evident that the location is discreet by design sealed away by vendrick himself condemning his own elder brother to a secluded mansion this stemmed from their disputes over how the pair would tackle the truth to the secrets of life confined to the mansion lord aldia would invite various guests to aid in his experiments but those who were summoned to the manor would disappear indefinitely becoming vessels for his body of work in visiting aldia's residence one can bear witness to his monstrous creations chained cages as seen suspended from the ceiling various concoctions left untouched basilisks held captive in enclosures ogres roaming the hallways and many malformed beasts dwelling in the mana's basement aldia used his hammer not as a weapon but as an instrument to dissect his victims once they outlived their usefulness the maniacal lord even kept giants in his manner attempting to recreate the dragons of old his trials led to the birth of the guardian dragon an inferior breed to the everlasting dragons once given life do the dragons watch over the land of their own will or are they in the grip of one of aldia's spells taking drastic measures aldia even created life severed from its physical form believing that this may be the answer to transcending the undead curse born of aldia's obsession with the first sin the forlorn lost both their corporeal form and a world to call their own now they drift into other worlds ever in search of a home but without self one has neither beginning nor end and so the fall on have only to wonder within aldia's keep a mysterious figure can be found seated under a giant staircase this is the royal sorcerer navlan who appears to be of two minds fluctuating between multiple personalities if the bearer of the curse interacts whilst in human form the sorcerer remains distant pleading to be left alone as he seeks no conflict if one is to approach whilst hollow the alter ego surfaces prior to the fall of drangleic the royal sorcerer set out to devise new spells in hopes of introducing new forms of magic into the world in doing so he mistakenly created a separate consciousness tethered to his vessel when the sorcerer sought strength the new soul navlan decided to demonstrate hijacking the sorcerer's body whilst he slept and committing massacres as a feat of strength the sorcerer soon found out and locked himself away along with the evil spirit within him as to prevent any further malevolent acts it's important to note that the spirit tied to the sorcerer was not developed during his experiments but merely awakened long ago the spirit navlan was also a sorcerer one who used hexes to create dark spells such as the scraps of life his goal was to restore the banned art of resurrection possibly to overcome the grief of losing a loved one or perhaps the idea itself simply interested him his endeavors came at a considerable cost as due to the use of hexing which was banned from most kingdoms the heretic navalon was executed along with his entire village and the mere utterance of his name became a crime navlan is often described as an exiled sorcerer suggesting that he had been forewarned of the consequences of hexing and yet his courage did not waver as he continued to practice his craft until it led him to the grave it appears that forgoing his death navlan succeeded in his goal casting a spell that would allow his consciousness to live on whilst his body decayed until awakened by the royal sorcerer at a later point if the bearer of the curse is to entertain the evil spirit navalan will request four acts of murder to be committed placing targets from the heads of gilligan kale falcon and the emerald herald it is unclear why navlan would care to target gilligan and kale possibly to test the moral standings of the bearer of the curse but the choice of falcon the outcast raises some questions falcon is also a sorcerer one that is devoted to utilizing the power of the dark and hexes and the stuff he carries was forged by lord aldia it is possible that the royal sorcerer falcon and aldia were all members of the drangleic royal court and collaborated in conducting numerous experiments to uncover the secrets of immortality if so then attacking those who are of value to the royal sorcerer is navlan's method of retaliating against the one who imprisoned him this stands true for targeting the emerald herald as she was likely the creation of aldia and the royal sorcerer one of their many failed solutions to break the undead curse navlan is painted as the evil part of a fractured vessel whilst the royal sorcerer is the model for good the two form a complete being harboring both good and evil each of which fight for ascendancy the more accurate depiction of navlan is tragic however the once passionate sorcerer banished from all magic academies and exiled his village and then executed along with his entire community likely killing any family he had with him the soul of navlan is not one of evil but a spirit of vengeance beyond the guardian dragon a lift awaits the bearer of the curse elevating them to the highest peak above the surface the dragon airy a land housing countless dragons connected by nothing but worn out rope bridges if one is to miraculously make it through these fatal lands they'll find themselves arriving at the dragon shrine a temple built in service of the ancient dragon the shrine is teeming with dragon knights equipped with armor crafted from the scales of a black dragon the black dragon great shield tells the story of a dragon that lost its tail to a brave warrior in a magnificent battle and the tale was later used to forge several legendary weapons is it possible that we now bear witness to the equipment crafted from the remains of color meat the black dragon slain by the chosen undead long ago reaching the top of the shrine the bearer of the curse is acquainted with the ancient dragon who gives them an action-missed heart a thing of magic allowing one to delve into the memories of the withered the murk shifts and stirs yet another stands before us then so be it for the curse of life is the curse of want and so you peer into the fog in hopes of answers the ancient dragon is often referred to as a false deity a prop sweet charqua even references this entity as a being that's playing the part of a dragon insinuating that it's a creature of dubious origins the dragon soul is said to have been created by those who appeared into the essence of the soul the emerald herald describes vendrick in this exact way implying that the king alongside aldia gave life to this ancient being whilst the guardian variant was a small scale success the ancient dragon demonstrates aldi's considerable progress in attaining immortality albeit through the recreation of an everlasting dragon with the ashen missed heart in hand the bearer of the curse can pass through space and time unraveling the mysteries of the war against the giants if the curse bearer is to trace back their steps and revisit the cave which housed the duke's dear freyja they can use the ashen missed heart to interact with the crystal below the pale dragon revealing a path into the dragon memories reversing the hands of time to a crucial point in history this places the bearer of the curse in a land shrouded by fog grey crags and fallen everlasting dragons with the notion that the pale dragon is seath the scaleless it is possible that the memory belongs to him dating back to when seath betrayed his own kind a show of his treason evidenced by the deceased dragon laying motionless rotting away with time transitioning to a war of a different era inside the memory of vamar an injured captain warns of a losing battle pleading that one must turn back and leave at once as this is not a fight to be involved in following the king's siege on the land of the giants the giants sought to invade drang lake in retaliation to humanity's wrong doings as they descended upon drangleic captain drummond was charged with manning the cordial tower and ensuring that the giants do not reach the king's residence drummond speaks of a leader amongst the towering beasts one that is certain to be their king no matter how formidable the being may be captain drummond did not fear death swearing to stand tall until his last moments and fall with his honor intact and sword clasped in hand my blade may break my arrows for wide but my will shall never be broken those who live by the sword will die by it and i drummond won't go down without drawing mine as valiant as he was drummond failed his mission to uphold the fort but even with the stronghold overrun by the giants a slither of hope remained as the bearer of the curse boldly enters the battle with a firm assurance that the tides of the war are soon to be shifted this unknown hero marched through memories of the past slaughtering the giants one by one from the memories of vamar to oro and finally the memory of jay battling to rescue the fate of drangleic from its imminent demise with the ultimate threat being the giant lord the curse bearer charges through a bridge covered with the corpses of both fallen soldiers and giants evading multiple projectiles until finally reaching the leader of the invaders a showdown that would define the future of a kingdom cut down from the base the giant lord collapsed to the ground every inch of his size turned against the titan sending shockwaves through the ground upon impact commonly upon death giants become one with nature turning into great trees but the giant lord's fate would differ from the norm what remained of him following the battle was dragged into a cave beneath the fort where he would be chained and sealed away for eternity many years later the giant lord would come to be known as the last giant he who'd once again be faced with the unknown warrior that struck him down still resentful of his defeat the last giant recognizes the bearer of the curse and seizes the opportunity to exact revenge though with his strength now greatly diminished the last giant would be laid to rest one last time history is often written by the victors and so the truth in its purest form remains clouded in mystery but with the possession of the ashen missed heart the bearer of the curse was able to explore a timeline of the past and not only experience the giant's invasion on drang lake but actively take part in the war rewriting history with every swing of their blade with this newly found phenomenon all that is concealed will be exposed and the world's lies will bear their true essence testament to lord aldia's profound adage no matter how tender how exquisite a lie will remain a lie [Music] [Music] propelled by tales of ancient crowns buried deep in the conflicts of drangleic the bearer of the curse journeys to unfamiliar grounds unfolding remarkable history embedded in a land long forgotten hidden far below the surface of the world a lost kingdom swallowed by the wrath of an everlasting dragon a supposed deity idolized by a naive king and his adherents a mark of misplaced faith humanity worshiping what remains of a race nearing its extinction desperately seeking answers to make sense of their burdensome existence in a world of tragedy and death long ago sin the slumber and dragon was discovered in the lower most depths of the world the dragon slept in peace although burdened with a buildup of poison that had long brewed within his very core surrounding his resting place the city of shulva was constructed the very foundations of this kingdom was crafted in ore of the deity that humanity had unearthed the kingdom of shulva was governed by an unnamed king of the past now recognized as the sunken king alongside ilana the squalid queen as the city flourished the number of worshipers multiplied the growth of the kingdom ensured that a concrete system was in place to preserve the dragon's deep slumber entrusting sanctum soldiers and knights to defend children from any invader who dares to set footwear unwelcomed sanctum priestesses followers of ilana were charged with singing melodies that would keep the dragon at rest however one must wonder if a phrase or even an echo of their songs ever truly impacted the dragon the soothing vocals may have been not more than a sacred tradition preserved through time as a sign of love and respect for their deity or perhaps there are more sinister forces at play here ones destined to bring ruin to the city of chauver after all the pillars of this civilization were formed on a basis of faith placed in an everlasting dragon a creature capable of toppling an empire if evoked what could possibly go wrong inevitably as with all kingdoms of the past a threat reveals itself and challenges the role of the current monarchy however in this case the goal is not sovereignty but the acquisition of the blood of the dragon shalva was attacked by sir yorg and his army of drake blood knights who sought the dragon's blood to gain a better understanding of life to transcend their own banal existence perhaps they also believed sin to be a deity of sorts what is known for certain is that they worshipped the blood of the dragons and were led by sir yorg in a siege of the eternal sanctum their path to further knowledge couldn't differ any more than that of the sunken king the drake blood knights proved too powerful for the guardians of the city severing their bodies with each purposeful swing of their mighty greatswords which encapsulated the essence of what they fought for with an insignia chiseled upon its hilt symbolizing dragon's blood the sanctum knights fought with every ant of their being as they renounced their own flesh to eternally guard the sanctum from sir jorg and his drake blood knights although honorable this was to no avail as all who stood in between sir yorg and sin were slaughtered bodies piled up throughout the city the king witnessed the blood of his people decorate the walls of the kingdom he had built and made his final stand against the invaders fighting with all he had believed in as he took his final breath protecting the dragon's sanctum the last image he witnessed was the red cloth wrapped around the drapeblood armor waving triumphantly as they passed his debilitated body the red cloth symbolizing the sacred blood of dragons what follows the fall of the king is best illustrated by syriog's ring which reveals that when sayoc faced sin the slumbering dragon he drew blood with a flash of his steel but sin responded by spewing forth the poison that had long brewed within him blanketing the city in a miasmic cloud so york disturbed the dragon with a single great strike of his spear unaware that evoking the beast would awaken its wrath unleashing a lifetime of encapsulated rage sin reigned death upon the city releasing the poison that he had harbored for many ages toppling the kingdom to its bare foundations and putting an end to sir yorg and his siege the eternal sanctum the once towering bulwick crumbled with the city shortly after sin's awakening clearing the long-standing history of the kingdom with a single smite spewing the poisonous fog resulted in sin restoring his purity at the cost of a kingdom its king alongside sir yorg and his legion a tragic end to a race that discovered a dragon worshipped its magnificence and perished by its side queen elana having survived the collapse of shulva resides in the dragon's rest and continues to sing her lullabies whilst facing a mural depicting the dragon overlooking his worshippers who pray beneath him suspiciously she's the only one to have survived the city's destruction how could this have been upon further investigation it is revealed that ilana was born as a fragment of manus father of the abyss making her sister to nashandra as a child of the abyss she represents a shard of manus emotions ilana constitutes the trait of wrath and anger as evidenced by the vengeful path she pursues following the loss of her city this child of dark accompanies the dragon slowly amassing souls in anticipation of the coming day of vengeance now a collector of souls ilana continues to grow in power as she prepares for vengeance to strike again punishment for the sins of challenging mother nature the forceful continuation of the age of fire the coming day of vengeance refers to the arrival of judgment in the form of a vessel that will lead the world to an age of dark and vanquish all who had sided with the light until then the daughters of manus desperately seek a worthy vessel for such a cause one thing that remains to be revealed is that of how sin had come to harbor poison within him as all through history there are no signs of everlasting dragons innately possessing a buildup of poison further affirming this notion is the soul of sin which specifies that following the reign of poison that was released the dragon had restored its purity insinuating that it had been pure once upon a time before being burdened with the toxin one theory links back to the inception of the age of fire suggesting that when the four lords stood to face the everlasting dragons sin was present in the war and nito's miasma of death and disease binded the dragon to a lifetime of poison causing sin to retreat deep beneath the surface where it would hibernate until awakened by sir yorg a subsequent theory attempts to justify why the kingdom of shulva worshiped sin speculating that prior to becoming a flourishing civilization shulva was infested with poison sin may have sacrificed his well-being to consume the poison suppressing its effects and keeping the harmful substance at bay resulting in the king and those who followed to worship sin for the sacrifice he made for their sake this mirrors the sacrifice carried out by the fair lady offering up her health to save her servants from a parasitic disease which in result led to them worshiping her this theory makes sins rampage sympathetic as from its perspective the dragon sacrificed a great deal for the people of shulva only for them to pay its kindness with betrayal poetic in a way weaponizing the very poison the dragon had suppressed to spew it back in the face of those it had protected and vanquished the kingdom in its entirety the most likely possibility places elana as the culprit suggesting that she along with her priestesses had sung spells of poison into sin under the guise of keeping the dragon at rest ilana may have put together this evil concoction to further a grand plan to spread darkness a way of extinguishing those who seek the light she is referred to as the squalid queen which is associated with being extremely dirty and unpleasant especially as a result of poverty or neglect not exactly how you'd expect a queen to be described as a fragment of manus elana likely came from nothing fought her way into becoming a queen and manipulated the king of shulva until she grew powerful enough to destroy the kingdom from within similar to how her sister nashandra is responsible for the fall of drang lake ilana may have caused the fall of shulva although there's no clear evidence of this being the case history has proven to repeat itself many times over if the pattern of repeating cycles are to hold any credibility in this world it is plausible that elana and nishandra had set out with identical goals of crippling kingdoms that advocate the age of light in order to bring forth the dark a continuation of their father's legacy evidence of their success is visible in what remains of the kingdom of shulva and drangleic as ilana awaits the day of vengeance she's confronted with the bearer of the curse who duels the squalid queen and puts an end to her ceaseless journey of spreading the dark to gain the crown of the sunken king one must face the destroyer of cities the essence of calamity itself sin the slumbering dragon grasping a narrow victory the curse bearer achieved what sir yog and his legion could not executing the towering dragon that possessed the kingdom of shulva interminably the deliverer of crowns now wields the crown of the sunken king [Music] seeker of fire i see you've subdued another foul creature one of the father of the abyss born that confounded quintessence of humanity the abyss once had form but then dissipated and yet traces of its existence endured each fragment thirsting for power spread dark with no relent [Music] in search of a second lost crown of a past king the bearer of the curse finds themselves gazing upon several high-reaching towers isolated from all civilization and connected only by metal chains spanning miles across the skies the towers are seen resting above a volcanic wasteland and sprawling high above the clouds to understand the origin of these peculiar towers one must go back to a time long ago to the beginning of a kingship derived from the lust for power and glory the tale of the old iron king begins with a little-known unestablished lord who possessed dreams of grandeur from the ruins of the old kingdom of venn the enfeebled lord began crafting his empire with what little resources he could muster but with the discovery of an iron-producing miracle the tides of power began to shift within drang lake the scorching ironceptor was capable of harnessing the powers of iron and enabled the lord to produce an endless supply of the material the construction of the broom tower birthed many creations that would later flourish into a kingdom the tower was a base of operations hosting a giant clockwork contraption that worked in accordance with the inceptor which transferred heat to the tower resulting in iron being manufactured on a grand scale one can only envision the extent of what could be forged with this interminable resource infinite possibilities laid in the palm of the lord and he was not short of inventive ideas capitalizing on his newly discovered marvel the lord assembled his own army of iron soldiers with the help of a dear companion the maga sigil the soldiers were granted life by a rare enchantment an infusion of iron and souls every king resides in a castle a display of their strength to the world and so the lord paraded his power by erecting a castle of his own crafted from pure iron infamously known as the iron keep reborn as a powerful leader the iron king decorated his formidable fortress with a vast collection of weapons moving contraptions and iron sculptures to name a few of the many pillars designed to showcase his accomplishments he even tried his hand at forging a dragon out of iron in the heyday of his land the aldine king fancied entertaining dubious and eccentric guests from far away lands most of them were charlatans but among the riffraff was an unusual night from the far east he trained the iron king's men in the sword in obeisance to his new lord the unusual knight being cyrillon a masterful swordsman who aided the iron king in elevating his kingdom stance in drang lake the extent of cerullon's involvement in establishing the king's empire remains clouded and some sources suggest that suralon chose to serve the king in the early days of his reign whilst others claim that the kingdom was in its prime when sir elon offered his expertise to the king over time sir alon became the king's most trusted knight but at the very peak of his size rule sir lon set out again in search of lands yet unknown the sudden departure never explained and his absence sorely missed the aldine king bequeathed suralon's name to his iron warriors a sign of respect and gratitude towards the mysterious knight that helped shape a kingdom a meaningful gesture emanating from a far from gracious king as the kingdom continued to blossom the magus eagel under the king's commands sought to grant fire a will of its own creating pyromancies such as the dance of fire and fire snake alas no amount of growth could satiate the greed of an arrogant king as regardless of what he gained his gluttonous hunger overthrew his fulfillment in pursuit of an unbreakable empire the old iron king alongside eagel furthered their experiments of given life to fire but little did they know they were meddling with forces far beyond their competence eagel's precipitous enchantment to awaken fire backfired to the highest of degrees the earth spotted fire and a beast arose from the flames the short-sighted king was incinerated by the creature in one swing and his castle devoured in a sea of flames in a flush the king as we knew him ceased to exist his life taken by a mass of iron that had been given a soul was this metal goliath there from the beginning or was it a product of the king's conceit succumbing to the flames that swallowed his castle the iron king's flesh was charred and his soul possessed by the things that lurk below his legion of elon knights although mightier than alan's iron were submerged by the flames that devoured the king's land a consequence of unbridled greed swallowed by the scorching iron the old iron king came in contact with the one whose name must not be repeated and became a vessel that bred icarus earth who could this possibly be referring to the old king's soul which can be retrieved upon the aldine king's death reads the once magnificent soul continues to exert influence over the land even after the eons have reduced it to these remnants an influential soul from an era long past could it be the old iron king through all the years past continued to live on through gwyn's soul the human ego how many ugly iron castles has it erected and they don't even see the folly of their ways but that's what makes watching humankind so delightful [Laughter] it reminds me of someone who lived long ago a vainglorious liar who ended up hurling himself into the flames now he's icarus earth if i'm not mistaken in wake of the tragic events that transpired eagel having been responsible for the collapse of a kingdom and the downfall of its ruler eternally punishes herself for the sins she's committed she confines herself to a dark empty room as a prisoner of sinners rise the legend of the aldine king and a magus eagel mirror that of gwyn and the witch of izalith a powerful being commanding his associates who skilled in the art of pyromancy to give life to fire only to birth a colossal flame that devours a kingdom and births demons the old witch soul description matches that of the old king soul further linking them to a cycle etched in history a doomed fate they knew not of were their actions that of evil or were they victims of their own destiny a written providence guiding them down a path to repeating the mistakes of the lord's past even so life knows not of compassion and so eagel devotes the remainder of her life repenting for her sins no not for her good deeds or even her mistakes but as a nobody a lost sinner following the kingdom's collapse a child of dark bearing inconceivable strength arrived from lands far away seeking a king but found herself in a kingless land devoid of souls and in journeying there has all but condemned herself to a fate most wretched nadalia a child of the abyss spawn represents a fragment of manus that equates to solitude and loneliness in search of a king nadalia entered the broom tower and wondered the halls in the hope that she would cross paths with the king but her hopes slowly diminished as all she could hear were the echoes of her footsteps bouncing off the desolate walls of a worn down tower as she descended to the basement of the tower nadalia discovered the crown of the old iron king confirming his demise finding himself secluded in a kingdom that had perished nadalia became dispirited and as a consequence renounced her flesh and wondered broom tower in the act of dancing the bride of ash was transfigured as smoke enticing people to her residence and so her seat of power came to be known as the broom tower nadalia burned herself up in flames whilst clasping the crown and the smoke emitting from her body invited scores of men who were dispatched to this land to tap the replete stores of iron but they soon lost their nerve when faced with the child of dark and all but the most steadfast of them became servants of the black fog to defend against intruders the bride of ash entrusted her soul to the ashen idols scattered throughout the tower and through them she was able to attack poachers who attempted to retrieve the iron that had been abandoned excluding nadalia the broom tower ceased to receive many new arrivals until one night was courageous enough to make his entrance the rebel raim after his defeat by valstadt came to broome tower in search of greater strength when he found it it came not from a regal father like before but from a newfound mother who gave him true purpose rain became infatuated with the bride of ash and with his newly found motive settled in the land of smoke and fog guarding the dungeon of the tower and with it the remnants of the queen's body now molded from ashes shifting away from his old ways of life rain became a stalwart warrior and although he had the ability to expunge the black fog he chose to embrace it and accompany the child of dark that haunts his sword as time passed the bearer of the curse discovered the broom tower and its history began to unveil itself and most intriguing was the finding of siralan's armor graciously displayed on a model figure the placement of the armor may have been an admiration of the knights who imparted his expertise to the king but upon interacting with the armor the bearer of the curse travels into a past memory of the old iron king blurring the lines between what truly took place following cerullon's departure and what had been altered in the timeline as a result of a memory of the past being infiltrated having entered the memory the curse bearer is halted by a myriad of elon knights standing in guard of their master and his fortress conquering the opposition leads to a vast silver chamber with spotless marble flooring and a blood-red sunset piercing through the wide open windows where sir alon awaits your arrival with a clash of steel the battle began both warriors fought valiantly swiftly maneuvering across the arena with grace their swords danced vigorously and nothing was held back when the dust settled the curse bearer stood tall as the victor having bested a master at his own craft in retrospect whose triumph was this was it the bearer of the curse who fought the mighty sir alone or were they simply a vessel living through the memory of the aldine king who at the height of his power pursued his old friend with vengeance at the heart of his motive after all no one turns their back on the old iron king or at least that's how a power drunken king would justify their actions in an unfortunate turn of events sir alon is defeated by the king the once student surpassing the master [Music] reaching the dungeon of the tower the bearer of the curse discovers night raim now known as the fume knight a result of absorbing nadalia's black fog his protective nature is displayed in full as he instantly becomes hostile in protection of his queen wielding his fume sword and ultra greatsword the knight guards the entrance to the bride of ash driven to acquire the crown of the old iron king the curse bearer charges ahead unshaken by the fume knight's presence as the fight progresses rain calls upon the aid of his queen infusing his sword with fire and dark but even so he falls short the taste of defeat stings worse than ever invoking the long-suppressed feelings of his loss at the hands of valstart further demonstrating his disdain towards his former comrade rain will instantly ignite his sword if the curse bearer arrives wearing the armor of the royal aegis the path now cleared the bearer of the curse descends a staircase leading to the bride of ash and claims their prize the crown of the old iron king this land is [Music] and the people fled in fear [Music] to fulfill their purpose the seeker of crowns ventures into a large snow-covered kingdom a barren wasteland with its residents frozen to death and those who remain bear little of their humanity left the tragedy that befell this kingdom is one of nature's doing a consequence of the chaos flame ignited by the witch of izalith over a millennia ago in attempting to recreate the first flame a flame of chaos emerged and devoured the city of izalith the flame consumed the witch and molded her into the bed of chaos and although the twisted being was later defeated by the chosen undead the chaos flame did not dissipate sooner or later the flame reappeared deep below ilium leuce forcing the ivory king to form a rampart structure to contain the ancient chaos going as far as placing his throne upon the very mouth of the flame as a first line of defense the king built a great cathedral to appease the raging flame but when he sensed the degradation of his soul he left without a word leaving everything to alsana who had unbeknownst found a place at his side but these were events of long ago and today no one even remembers the king's name [Music] and contained the spread of chaos but the chaos would not be seated and the king gave his soul [Music] [Music] wishes [Music] perhaps one day he will return [Music] who was this king who put his people before himself relinquishing his own kingdom to subdue the chaos flame the ivory king hails from the land of farosa famously known for its god of war farim sad to say the territory of farosa became lawless after the kingdom fell to war nonetheless after being crowned the ivory king was the first to offer his hand in times of need be it for his homeland of farosa or his people the king was known to be ever so merciful and devoted to his great land willing to do whatever necessary to protect his people his kindness was not to be fooled for weakness as when necessary the king was firm in disciplining those who have wronged him he was known for exiling people into the frigid outskirts where the relentless blizzard does not tire a fate worse than death those who were exiled either died from the harsh environment or were granted a merciful death by the king's pes lud and zalin entrusting the kingdom to alsana the ivory king faced the flame head-on plunging down to the depths of chaos his knights patiently awaited his return but a great deal of time passed and their king was still nowhere in sight the weight became too long to bear sir fabian led the loyal knights of ilium lois to follow their king into chaos the honourable soldiers fought valiantly to exterminate the creatures that dwelled below but unfortunately as with the ivory king the majority of the selfless knights were never seen again burdened with the responsibility of leading illium loyce alsana prays in silent vigilance the child of dark in reverence of the apocalypse devotes herself to a ritual in hopes of appeasing the raging flame alsana is another fragment of manus the augur of fear similar to her sisters she journeyed forth in search of a king alsana sought the ivory king in the hopes that his strength would drown out her fears but upon arriving in illinois what she found was of much greater value alsana was welcomed with open arms and the king's genuine affection and compassion provided comfort beyond imagination soon after she found a place by the king's side devoting herself to him as his oracle before delving into the flame the ivory king tasked arva one of his seven pets in guarding the beloved child of dark and gifted alsana a special sword inscribed with the name of the land a final farewell the incarnation of my father's fears [Music] now i realize wishes watching over chaos until the end of time in safeguarding illium loyce from the encroaching chaos a great wall of ice was built surrounding the kingdom suppressing the scorching heart flame deep underground this came at a hefty cost as when the ivory gates opened the cold found its way in rendering the land uninhabitable those who were fortunate escaped others can still be seen buried beneath the snow the lifeless city was watched over by priestesses who similar to alsana had devoted themselves to appeasing the flame retainers were tasked with attending the priestesses but with them gone the retainers were void of purpose and wondered the frigid land of ilium loys thereafter the few knights of lois who survived delving into the flame although frozen over remain faithful to the king's orders awaiting the call of their master with the ivory king submerged in the chaos who is to lead the advance on the swollen flame here arrives the bearer of the curse unknowingly placing themselves in the heart of the conflict at the request of the oracle who pleads for her lord's rescue from the unspeakable chaos the bearer of the curse takes it upon themselves to recruit the knights of lois to fight by their side freed from the shackles of frozen time they pledge their sword to their savior and march forth towards the inferno in lead of their garrison the curse bearer without hesitation plunges into the unknown a leap of faith the zealous knights of lois in a heartbeat follow their masters every step vowing to strike down each more formed terror that arose from chaos and they would not hesitate even if it were their own king from the old chaos emerged charred knights of lice burned black by the flame the same chivalrous knights who fought and fell alongside their once proud king now reside in the realm of fire having lost all sense of self they roam aimlessly in constant agony as they continue to burn by the eternal flame their age lives on driven only by the urge to eradicate those who disturb the flame no matter who they may be even their former comrades as the battle unfolded the bearer of the curse and their four nights of voice fought with true purpose guiding the many awful souls that lurked below to a place of peace admirable sacrifices were made to subdue the flame as one by one the knights began surrendering their bodies to the portals of chaos freezing the pathways between realms in the midst of the mayhem one more portal appears one larger than any previously encountered from a cloud of fire and darkness emerges the burnt ivory king stripped of his sanity the king wreaks havoc on his own loyal knights those who've come to rescue their noble king would meet their end by his charred blade with the bearer of the curse still standing it is up to them to put an end to the burnt ivory king rescuing him from the depth of hell and putting his tormented soul at ease a bittersweet victory at the cost of an honorable king the sacrifice of the ivory king is to be spoken off for eternity an example of true leadership a virtuous take on what it means to burden oneself with a crown a true king if there ever was one as for the curse-bearer who seeks no glory or accolades claims the crown of the ivory king concluding their journey through befallen kingdoms with the flame submerged ilium lois successfully snuffed the old chaos and as a result the demon race began to dwindle in numbers slowly dying out without the replenishing of the chaos flame gradually being guided to near extinction innumerable demon corpses are discovered many years later piled up within the smoldering lake a result of the ivory king immolating himself to the chaos enabling ilium loys to employ ice magic and freeze the eternal flame following the battle the bearer of the curse bids farewell to alsana who without the comfort of her lord the child of dark may revert back to her state of incessant fear if anything is to be noted from her journey it is that fate can be disrupted unlike her sisters who played into their predestined fate of spreading dark and banishing the light alsana subverted the expectations that had latched onto her from birth and simply sought a life of comfort and compassion could it be that even a child of dark can seek solace i am not the only one like one day you may encounter another another baby [Music] having united the three crowns the bearer of the curse travels into the memory of the king a point in time during king vendrick's self-imposed exile in bestowing the crowns to the king the offering is reciprocated in the form of vendrick's blessing an enchantment infused into the crowns enabling the beholder to resist becoming cursed and better yet resist becoming a hollow what are the implications of a gift of this magnitude it is made apparent that forgoing vendrick's tragic end he sought the crowns of the fallen kings in hopes of resolving the blasphemous hex that is the undead curse in light of the crowns being acquired by the curse bearer king vendrick even in death is granted a second chance in fulfilling his goal but does vendrick's blessing truly break the curse or is it more in line for being a temporary solution keeping the curse at bay whilst other avenues are explored anyhow having become a vessel to complete vendrick's imperfect journey the bearer of the curse takes their leave and heads towards their end goal the throne of want as mentioned previously when king vendrick and his brother aldia used the four great souls to form the kingdom of drangleic a secret room was created housing the throne of want akin to the kiln of the first flame a means of sustaining the age of fire whilst vendrick was hesitant to claim the throne nashandra had an assured desire to bring forth the age of dark the throne of want being the sole motivator for her arrival in drangleic remaining faithful to the king's request the throne watcher and defender stand as guardians of the sacred throne shielding the world from lachandra's evil unaware of the king's approval the guardians do not grant access to the throne of want forcing the bearer of the curse to dispose of them even if reluctantly in doing so the one obstacle obstructing the chandra's path to the throne is removed inciting the queen of drang lake to reveal herself not as the facade of beauty she is known to convey but in her truest form the authentic depiction of darkness nashandra ever so close to fulfilling her destiny stands ready to usurp the bearer of the curse's quest and claim the throne for herself in stating you have proven yourself to me nashandra confesses that since the very first encounter with the curse bearer she has been exploiting their ignorance directing them to amass the king's great soul elevating their being to match that of vendrick's finally a soul powerful enough to satiate nishandra's lust for strength anything less would be inadequate for this prisoner of desire the queen's own strategy became her undoing as the seeker of adversity through all the turmoil they had faced and kings conquered grew in power far beyond what she had envisioned ironic that a fragment of the dark manipulated humanity into aiding her claim to the throne only to underestimate their strength once she no longer needed them mindful of this knowledge it is no revelation that the bearer of the curse defeats nashandra with little effort in an instant the fragments of the abyss who nourished their beings by the side of would-be monarchs ceased to exist their destiny stripped away their fates contorted why does this triumph taste of bitterness was eradicating the children of the abyss in service to the world or was it favorable to those who seek the prolonging of the flame cycle when the father of the abyss perished from existence the dark shattered into tiny pieces leaving behind the shards of manus who came to be nishandra queen of drangleic elana the squalid queen nadalia the bride of ash and finally alsana the silent oracle these beings were destined to seek power their very existence formed to facilitate the spreading of the dark and extinguishing the light they are often described as fall creatures but is their existence truly of menace to the world one day the flames will fade ushering in the age of man and restoring nature's organic flow of time when the lord of light banished dark the flux of life was shattered and the repercussions trickled down to humanity initially they were cast away to be secluded from civilization followed by being branded with the dark sign binding humanity to the undead curse in perpetuum a fate unjust for a race seized of their inherent claim to the world when the age of ancients reached the end of its cycle the age of fire was welcomed when it came time for further evolution the age of dark was denied its stay history's cyclical nature remains unchanged as once again the children of dark who've arrived to guide the world back on its course are renounced of their rightful declaration to a new age as the divide between people continues to create a rift in the world structure order is quietly submerged in chaos and the distinction between light and dark becomes distorted generations pass in an instant kingdoms rise to the highest of calibers and in time collapse all the same it is for this reason that vendrick never claimed the throne for himself of course one mustn't rule out the possibility that vendrick simply lacked the courage to face the fate of the world as his very soul suggests that when he was beckoned by the dark vendrick was overwhelmed this king who once ruled the world of men was a lacking vessel for the true throne this paints vendrick as a feeble monarch unable to act when called upon but the truth is in the detail as vendrick's inaction may be the greatest protest to the fabric of cycles in his early days king vendrick ii sought fire believing that with it he could harness the undead curse oblivious to the fact that the inception of the curse derived from the very flame he pursued in realising his error vendrick had an epiphany deeming the light and the dark to be one and the same each incapable of existing without the other with fire came disparity heat and cold life and death light and dark a shadow is not cast but born of fire and the brighter the flame the deeper the shadow in inheriting fire one could harness the dark devoted to this idea vendrick chose to embrace the light and dark equally but he lacked the wisdom to see this concept come to fruition the king's fight for truth was cut short and although unable to satisfy his hunger for answers vendrick died with the clarity of knowing that an answer lies beyond dividing light and dark but in marrying the benefits of both the king's brother aldia was of a similar mind trusting that success comes in the form of averting the cycle of ages and breaking the predestined chain of light and dark however his philosophy differed greatly from vendrick's they both sought the truth but through different means aldia the scholar of the first sin studied the actions of lord gwyn tirelessly attempting to uncover the secrets of life itself he believed the undead to be the key to this mystery if he could untie the facet of hollowing from the tether of the undead curse then it would be no curse at all to live on past death without the prerequisite of becoming hollow a blessing if anything this single breakthrough would ascend humanity beyond its mortal coil while liberating it from the plague it had long carried through his diabolical experiments aldi approved that the dark could be used to transcend life's physical boundaries manifested in the creation of the fall on in an attempt to escape the cycle aldia likely sought to transcend his physical being and command the first flame becoming akin to a god the controlling hand that unites the universe if this theory proves true aldia would wield the means to manipulate the curse's spread through the dark sign and achieve the goal he had set out to conquer when the bearer of the curse's path converges with aldias the scholar acknowledges that he had ultimately failed the consequences of his ambitious endeavor written all over his being now a deformed creature a slave to the first flame the one who challenged the karma now shackled to the very thing he fought to control proof that the first flame answers to no human or deity aldia sacrificed all that held meaning to him for the sake of freeing humanity from the fate of the curse casting a wrench into the twilight machine comprising reality his morally inept experiments would have been justified if only he had succeeded but his efforts amount to nothing having made peace with his shortcomings aldia looks to the bearer of the curse for answers and is met with silence the lack of response speaks a thousand words for itself as the young hollow intends to pave their own path no longer looking to others for solutions as a final test of strength aldia stands to face the young hollow a final hurdle for them to prove their worth following his defeat aldia imparts his wisdom onto the bearer of the curse and several choices present themselves in proceeding to the throne of want the bearer of the curse would accept their role in this cycle linking the first flame as the lord of light once did prolonging the age of fire in rejecting their duty they choose to play no part in further warping the natural state of the world walking away from the deceptive pilgrimage created by the gods to sustain their powers on the back of human sacrifice to not preserve the light or advocate for the dark is to pursue an alternative as king vendrick and aldia once did their results leave little hope for equipment as one hollowed in a crypt and another lived on as a deformed entity bound to the flame for now and ever in retaliating against fate fate has proven to win on every occasion in such a case why fight a losing battle when it's much less a burden to fall in line and fuel the perpetual cycle like many who've come before whilst aware of their faint chance of breaking the loo the bearer of the curse in a true show of character ventures into the unfamiliar in search of a permanent solution to end the curse in favouring one age over another the world neglected the possibility of something else entirely the juxtaposition of light vs dark draws a linear boundary to a vertical of infinite possibilities in truth regardless of the age that prevails the victor will always be the cycle itself observing as the world quarrels over what comes next like marionettes controlled by the strings of time the bearer of the curse ignites hope for freedom a beacon of promise for humanity who have lived in a plane of suffering since their inception in acquiring vendrick's blessing a new course can be charted without the hindrance of the curse make no mistake vendrick's blessing was intended for humanity and humanity alone is only in human form could someone access the vault to his crown vendrick through all his flaws placed his faith in humanity in light of their inherent limitations he did not look to the gods for answers but believed in men to seek adversity and bring peace to the world beyond the scope of light and reach of dark is the balance between order and chaos the answer to the tragedy of human existence if only one is brave enough to walk the path of the unknown sometimes i feel obsessed with this insignificant thing called self am i wrong to feel so maybe we're all cursed in the moment we're born humans were one with the dark the former king of life he feared humans feared that they would usher in an age of dark regret anguish bewilderment what wonderful gifts they are they are the essence of life don't you agree they say that she is the last fire keeper that she's a gentle shepherd lighting the way for you cursed fools nonsense bearer of the curse if you are to be the next monarch then one day you will walk those grounds without really knowing why many monarchs have come and gone not one of them stood here as you do [Music] fire came to be and with it disparity heat and cold life and death life and dark dark was seen as a curse shadow is not cast but born of fire and the brighter the flame the deeper the shadow inherit fire and harness the dark such is the calling of a true leader [Music] here we are at the end of another dark souls video thank you very much for watching we really appreciate you guys supporting us and the comments you leave behind on our videos have really motivated us to keep going and making more dark souls content we've spent the last three months working on this and we're very excited to finally get to present it to you guys so we really hope you've enjoyed it and if so please let us know what you think in the comments whether it's positive or negative we'd love to hear your thoughts on it yeah not only through the comments and your likes and support the sub count is insane we've had the biggest growth ever like we've done this channel for years at this point and in this last year alone from when we started assassin's creed and came all the way to bloodborne and dark souls our subcannes just increased so much and it's just given us that motivation that we needed to keep going and it shows us that we're doing something right here i'm going to keep giving that to you and we're not going to stop here there's going to be a dark souls 3 story explained and it's going to come sooner than you think so stay tuned for that i'm really looking forward to doing that one so if you love this one and you've loved what we've done this year then just stay tuned because there's way more of that coming so i'm not sure if you guys know but we do this youtube thing as a hobby on top of full-time jobs working nine to five so that's why it's kind of taken us longer than you'd expect to bring out these videos uh we would love to be more consistent with it and provide you guys with the dark souls video uh quicker than we have done between dalso's one and two but it is a bit difficult with our current situation so if you would like to support us further you can always support us on patreon of course only if you can it is much appreciated and it will help us make this hobby of ours kind of a job which is obviously something we'd love to do full time not only will it help us make content at a faster pace but i think the quality itself will also improve uh so if that's a possibility for you guys we would really appreciate it so please take a look at our patreon it's the first link in the description so once again thank you so much for your support and we really hope you have a amazing end of the year happy holidays and merry christmas to everyone we'll see you guys next year [Music] you

Channel: The brother's code

Views: 1,191,459

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Id: t3xxTJq6IjY

Length: 152min 42sec (9162 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 22 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/BurningDara]

DS2 has my favorite story out of all FS games hands down. Really good video