This post will be similar to Of Scholars in that it acts less as a straightforward narrative - not that anything is straightforward about this - and more as me expanding on notes that I have that didn't fit elsewhere, introducing and advancing different storylines or aspects of the 'physics' of the 'four humors.'
[update 5/27 - All of the Elana/Mytha stuff is outdated. Elana's faction seems to be something like the precursor to Lothric, and was allied with Carim, Mirrah, and Volgun. Mytha's faction is something like the precursor to Carthus, and was allied with Jugo & the Grave Wardens. Other factions and their loyalties are nebulous or split. Look every time I think I get to the bottom of something it turns out it was just another surface scratched through THIS IS THE REAL DARK SOULS]
Additionally, I'll be setting up more of an outline of the forces that will carry over to the sequel, so if you're not intimately familiar with DS3 you're...probably going to end up angry at me anyway because I don't proof or factcheck enough.
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| When the ashes are two, a flame igniteth. Or someth thing. |
This series barely scratches the surface of Drangleic so far [and won't still, by the end of the series - FM], so while parts will be filled in here and in the Cursebearer and neighboring states posts don't expect all of this to tie up in some nice, succinct little narrative.
As it is, I keep having to rein in the scope of these posts, as sticking to one plot thread in these games is like trying to sort out Hiro from Heroes string web.
[Past Me leaves to eat dinner here - Future Me]
See? I got distracted, came back, and tried to figure out what Eleum Loyce means. Half an hour later and I have 15 tabs open, and I'm like "I think it's the in-game Welsh/Gaelic/Irish dialect for 'great leap' [leum] and the in-game Norse Dialect for 'loosening or thawing' [losa] but I'm probably wrong about both." And now I don't know where to put that.
If you ever want to get started on trying to crack the code on the in-game languages you should. It's great fun if you're the right kind of crazy. "Artorias...Okay, so that's probably Artor or Arthur in English, and then rias or ias as some kind of modifier...wait... Bear of the Drowned River Valley? That can't be right.'
Blood and Bone
In the last post I outlined Mytha's kingdom, which includes Huntsman's Copse, the Purgatory, Harvest Valley, and Earthen Peak. Additionally, she may be working with Agdayne and the Grave Wardens. This Kingdom of Bone is a 'Red' faction, with the Brotherhood of Blood functioning as Dark Warriors of the Sun. They're not Sunbros in any sense, but they are descended from the Drakebloods and act as the STR/FTH covenant whose members work for Mytha, even if they don't know it. "Spill blood, any blood. Doesn't matter whose. Really. But Sentinels, kill Sentinels." The overseers of the Sentinels, it would follow, have a more noble-sounding justification for keeping their members in the dark. "Sin is punishable by death, unless you're a member of the Brotherhood, then it's extra punishable by death."
So, to outline the in-game 'Blue' faction that exists - or is beginning to exist - in the Cursebearer's 'now': The Order of the Forlorn.
See? I got distracted, came back, and tried to figure out what Eleum Loyce means. Half an hour later and I have 15 tabs open, and I'm like "I think it's the in-game Welsh/Gaelic/Irish dialect for 'great leap' [leum] and the in-game Norse Dialect for 'loosening or thawing' [losa] but I'm probably wrong about both." And now I don't know where to put that.
If you ever want to get started on trying to crack the code on the in-game languages you should. It's great fun if you're the right kind of crazy. "Artorias...Okay, so that's probably Artor or Arthur in English, and then rias or ias as some kind of modifier...wait... Bear of the Drowned River Valley? That can't be right.'
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| EXPLAIN THIS, BIRD |
Blood and Bone
In the last post I outlined Mytha's kingdom, which includes Huntsman's Copse, the Purgatory, Harvest Valley, and Earthen Peak. Additionally, she may be working with Agdayne and the Grave Wardens. This Kingdom of Bone is a 'Red' faction, with the Brotherhood of Blood functioning as Dark Warriors of the Sun. They're not Sunbros in any sense, but they are descended from the Drakebloods and act as the STR/FTH covenant whose members work for Mytha, even if they don't know it. "Spill blood, any blood. Doesn't matter whose. Really. But Sentinels, kill Sentinels." The overseers of the Sentinels, it would follow, have a more noble-sounding justification for keeping their members in the dark. "Sin is punishable by death, unless you're a member of the Brotherhood, then it's extra punishable by death."
So, to outline the in-game 'Blue' faction that exists - or is beginning to exist - in the Cursebearer's 'now': The Order of the Forlorn.
This covenant acts...not in opposition to the Kingdom of Bone, but they don't like each other. The The Order of the Forlorn (blue faction) consists of Queen Elana, the Kingdom of the Rat, Gavlaan, at least one of the four retired Firekeepers, Grandahl, possibly the Blue Sentinels (Heide sect,) and possibly Nashandra.
I don't know about Nashandra. or Shanalotte, for that matter.
Broadly speaking, the Kingdom of Bone and the Order of the Forlorn wants to kill everything.
Revelatory, right?
The queens are descended from Manus.
But what was Manus?
General consensus has it that Manus was an Abyssal entity created in Oolacile, when Ool mystics dug up the corpse of a primeval Pygmy Lord (possibly the Darklurker,) and experimented on it. The dark of the Pygmy, prodded by Ool light magic, went wild. This created a chain reaction of tainted humanity, a seemingly endless font of poisonous, corrosive Dark reflecting the evil behind the mystics' lofty-sound intentions
They were trying to bring new forms of magic into the world. And they did.
Manus was the 'Father of the Abyss' in the sense that he was the 'source' of the Abyss, the corrosive black fog, beneath Oolacile.
Important distinction: there are at least two different meanings of the word Abyss in the fiction. The first refers to the tainted Dark of Manus, and the second refers to Dark that has gotten so thick that it turns to liquid, something that tends to happen deep below ground, since Humanity is (possibly,) the heaviest humor and sinks to the lowest depths.
It's made clear that Manus isn't entirely evil. After the Chosen Undead rescues Dusk she comments on how our 'balance of the humors' and 'resonance' are the same as Artorias (she was told he saved her,) which is interesting more for the terminology than the justification for why she doesn't remember you. She then says:
"I still think on that creature from the Abyss that preyed upon me. My faculties were far from lucid, but I quite clearly sensed certain emotions. A wrenching nostalgia, a lost joy, an object of obsession, and a sincere hope to reclaim it. Could these thoughts belong to the beast from the Abyss? But if that were true, then perhaps it is no beast after all?
"Oh, please forgive my ramblings. It's just that, I wish to know the truth. And no one, not even loving Elizabeth, will tell me."
This abyssal chasm of poisonous fog began to dissipate after the death of Manus. The dark inside was atomized, so to speak, but slowly began to re-form, taking shapes that 'hint at man's true nature.'
So, if the timeline I'm making still holds up, this means that Elana couldn't have appeared in Olaphis until some time after Manus was slain. I would suspect that this would put her arrival towards the end of the Olaph empire, likely after the child/ren of the Sunken King arrived.
I don't know about Nashandra. or Shanalotte, for that matter.
Broadly speaking, the Kingdom of Bone and the Order of the Forlorn wants to kill everything.
Revelatory, right?
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| Gavlaan caught up in some evil shit, yo. No wonder he drinks. |
The queens are descended from Manus.
But what was Manus?
General consensus has it that Manus was an Abyssal entity created in Oolacile, when Ool mystics dug up the corpse of a primeval Pygmy Lord (possibly the Darklurker,) and experimented on it. The dark of the Pygmy, prodded by Ool light magic, went wild. This created a chain reaction of tainted humanity, a seemingly endless font of poisonous, corrosive Dark reflecting the evil behind the mystics' lofty-sound intentions
They were trying to bring new forms of magic into the world. And they did.
Manus was the 'Father of the Abyss' in the sense that he was the 'source' of the Abyss, the corrosive black fog, beneath Oolacile.
Important distinction: there are at least two different meanings of the word Abyss in the fiction. The first refers to the tainted Dark of Manus, and the second refers to Dark that has gotten so thick that it turns to liquid, something that tends to happen deep below ground, since Humanity is (possibly,) the heaviest humor and sinks to the lowest depths.
It's made clear that Manus isn't entirely evil. After the Chosen Undead rescues Dusk she comments on how our 'balance of the humors' and 'resonance' are the same as Artorias (she was told he saved her,) which is interesting more for the terminology than the justification for why she doesn't remember you. She then says:
"I still think on that creature from the Abyss that preyed upon me. My faculties were far from lucid, but I quite clearly sensed certain emotions. A wrenching nostalgia, a lost joy, an object of obsession, and a sincere hope to reclaim it. Could these thoughts belong to the beast from the Abyss? But if that were true, then perhaps it is no beast after all?
"Oh, please forgive my ramblings. It's just that, I wish to know the truth. And no one, not even loving Elizabeth, will tell me."
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| 'Because we don't want to tamper with causation, child, and your timeline is convoluted enough. Also: you're an elf, Dusk. Do you not know about elves? |
This abyssal chasm of poisonous fog began to dissipate after the death of Manus. The dark inside was atomized, so to speak, but slowly began to re-form, taking shapes that 'hint at man's true nature.'
So, if the timeline I'm making still holds up, this means that Elana couldn't have appeared in Olaphis until some time after Manus was slain. I would suspect that this would put her arrival towards the end of the Olaph empire, likely after the child/ren of the Sunken King arrived.
Her aspect is wrath, the real reason for the Sunken King's purges, not to restore order or protect his people from the curse or whatever the king told himself and made everyone around him tell himself as well.
Alsanna is the fear that underlies the Ivory Queen's courage, Nadalia is the loneliness that King Alken could never confront due to his narcissism, and Nashandra is the all-consuming lust and greed of Vendrick underlying his pretenses to heroism and glory.
Gwyn's Curse
The cycle of the/a First Flame is Life(birth,) Light(growth,) Dark(decline,) and Death(death, but in the philosophical 'each ending is a new beginning' sense). The changeover between ages 'officially' happens whenever the appropriate Lord appears and 'takes their throne. We can assume Izalith was the first link, as she is the Life souls and real fertility goddess. Although most of her story is missing, thanks to all the brilliant and hardworking loresmiths out there we may now have some idea of what the Age of Fire and early-Izalith looked like.
When I say 'Age of Flame' here, I mean the period when Izalith's Lords Soul was ascendant. The 'First Flame,' which is referred to as 'the Fire,' or 'of Fire,' exists across all the cycles. So the Age of the Flame is a subset of the Flame itself, if that makes sense. Confusing, I know. Gywn's age of Fire is the Age of Light.
This Age of Life/Flame, began shortly after the First Flame was found and continued until Gwyn declared himself King of Light and took his Throne, whatever that involved. Probably Izalith trying to recreate the First Flame was her version of Gwyn's Bonfire plan to retain power, but led to her people's downfall.
From there we enter Peak Age of Light, beginning probably with the Demon War and continuing until the flames begin to fade as Light begins to wane and Dark begins to wax. We know the rest.
Alsanna is the fear that underlies the Ivory Queen's courage, Nadalia is the loneliness that King Alken could never confront due to his narcissism, and Nashandra is the all-consuming lust and greed of Vendrick underlying his pretenses to heroism and glory.
Gwyn's Curse
The cycle of the/a First Flame is Life(birth,) Light(growth,) Dark(decline,) and Death(death, but in the philosophical 'each ending is a new beginning' sense). The changeover between ages 'officially' happens whenever the appropriate Lord appears and 'takes their throne. We can assume Izalith was the first link, as she is the Life souls and real fertility goddess. Although most of her story is missing, thanks to all the brilliant and hardworking loresmiths out there we may now have some idea of what the Age of Fire and early-Izalith looked like.
When I say 'Age of Flame' here, I mean the period when Izalith's Lords Soul was ascendant. The 'First Flame,' which is referred to as 'the Fire,' or 'of Fire,' exists across all the cycles. So the Age of the Flame is a subset of the Flame itself, if that makes sense. Confusing, I know. Gywn's age of Fire is the Age of Light.
This Age of Life/Flame, began shortly after the First Flame was found and continued until Gwyn declared himself King of Light and took his Throne, whatever that involved. Probably Izalith trying to recreate the First Flame was her version of Gwyn's Bonfire plan to retain power, but led to her people's downfall.
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| Quick, be more confusing, it's riveting - FM |
From there we enter Peak Age of Light, beginning probably with the Demon War and continuing until the flames begin to fade as Light begins to wane and Dark begins to wax. We know the rest.
Another important point: To truly link the flame is to advance the age. 'Linking the flame' in the first game meant 're-linking Gwyn's Fire of Light so the sprinkler system keeps going.'
If the shift from Light to Dark Ages had been done peacefully, probably the cycle would have kept going until another First Flame appeared, which I imagine can only happen after the first completes its Age of Death.
These ages also overlap with each other, with Gwyn's Kiln, in a sense, keeping a little bubble of his Age of Life ascendant while the Age of Dark sort of piles up outside the door, growing deeper and deeper.
No matter how dark it gets outside of the bubble; no matter how small the bubble gets; no matter how shriveled and unholy and corrupt the flame becomes: the Dark Lord will not, can not, emerge and the Age of Light will not and can not end. That's the idea, anyway, even if Gwyn didn't really think it through like that.
'Vendrick tells us to 'inherit fire, and harness the Dark.' He also tells us that he thought that with fire he could harness the curse, but that that turned out to be a lie.
King Olaphis could have, philosophically speaking, become the first true King of Man and Dark Lord, but he failed.
Same with Venn and Alken. Same with Vendrick. they were all 'true kings,' strong enough to accomplish the task, but unable to for one reason or another, possibly because of some aspect of the curse of Gwyn.
So, after a Dark Lord finally takes his throne, Dark can become the ascendant humor, the world will be remade in the Dark Lord's image, and the cycle will begin to move on towards the death of the flame, with a Lord of the Dead arriving at some point to claim heirship to the First Flame of Lordran and ending the cycle. From here, hypothetically, a new flame will eventually ignite.
Except we don't know if that's even possible, because of Gwyn's Curse.
Gwyn did everything a god could do to keep the Dark Lord from emerging and accomplishing this.
Gwyn's fear of the Dark was that a Dark Lord would one day rise from the ranks of humans and build a world that would treat the Lords of Light as Gwyn had treated the pygmy.
This fear, of the loss of his kingdom, his family (the parts he liked,) his world, would drive anyone to extremes bordering on madness.
Spoilers for the third game: I still haven't put all the pieces together with the Ringed City and the Seal of Fire, so this could all look much different later, but it seems like someone eventually succeeded in linking the First Flame of Drangleic, and we know that the Flame of the Kiln went out at some point, but we don't know what caused it or if they're related.
So, having sealed the Dark away as thoroughly and effectively as possible, what did Gwyn accomplish?
Most obviously he prolonged his Age of Light.
But, with the Dark unable to create a Dark Lord to usher in the next age, the Dark continued to accumulate. And stagnate. And create any-and-every Dark thing possible except a Dark Lord.
Hypothetically this will continue until the world sees only endless night and only embers remain, and still no Dark Lord emerges to link the flame of Lordran and continue the cycle.
Unless, somehow, a worthy heir to/usurper of the flame can be found.
If the shift from Light to Dark Ages had been done peacefully, probably the cycle would have kept going until another First Flame appeared, which I imagine can only happen after the first completes its Age of Death.
These ages also overlap with each other, with Gwyn's Kiln, in a sense, keeping a little bubble of his Age of Life ascendant while the Age of Dark sort of piles up outside the door, growing deeper and deeper.
No matter how dark it gets outside of the bubble; no matter how small the bubble gets; no matter how shriveled and unholy and corrupt the flame becomes: the Dark Lord will not, can not, emerge and the Age of Light will not and can not end. That's the idea, anyway, even if Gwyn didn't really think it through like that.
King Olaphis could have, philosophically speaking, become the first true King of Man and Dark Lord, but he failed.
Same with Venn and Alken. Same with Vendrick. they were all 'true kings,' strong enough to accomplish the task, but unable to for one reason or another, possibly because of some aspect of the curse of Gwyn.
So, after a Dark Lord finally takes his throne, Dark can become the ascendant humor, the world will be remade in the Dark Lord's image, and the cycle will begin to move on towards the death of the flame, with a Lord of the Dead arriving at some point to claim heirship to the First Flame of Lordran and ending the cycle. From here, hypothetically, a new flame will eventually ignite.
Except we don't know if that's even possible, because of Gwyn's Curse.
Gwyn did everything a god could do to keep the Dark Lord from emerging and accomplishing this.
Gwyn's fear of the Dark was that a Dark Lord would one day rise from the ranks of humans and build a world that would treat the Lords of Light as Gwyn had treated the pygmy.
This fear, of the loss of his kingdom, his family (the parts he liked,) his world, would drive anyone to extremes bordering on madness.
Spoilers for the third game: I still haven't put all the pieces together with the Ringed City and the Seal of Fire, so this could all look much different later, but it seems like someone eventually succeeded in linking the First Flame of Drangleic, and we know that the Flame of the Kiln went out at some point, but we don't know what caused it or if they're related.
So, having sealed the Dark away as thoroughly and effectively as possible, what did Gwyn accomplish?
Most obviously he prolonged his Age of Light.
But, with the Dark unable to create a Dark Lord to usher in the next age, the Dark continued to accumulate. And stagnate. And create any-and-every Dark thing possible except a Dark Lord.
Hypothetically this will continue until the world sees only endless night and only embers remain, and still no Dark Lord emerges to link the flame of Lordran and continue the cycle.
Unless, somehow, a worthy heir to/usurper of the flame can be found.
Queens of Men
Elana appeared first. Her name seems to be a variant of 'Hellen.' Hellen has quite an interesting history. It originally meant 'bright' and referred to the god Hellen, who the Greeks named themselves after. Helen, a goddess, was said to have been the most beautiful woman in the world, and was the reason for the Trojan War. Another possible connection is Saint Helena, an early Christian saint credited as the mother of Constantine.
Alternatively, it could relate to the Hebrew words for God and Grace.
If Mytha is the 'true' queen of Alken/Bone, then Elana is likewise the queen of Olaphis and the Order of Forlorn (not those ones). Elana seems to lead those who either have no homeland to return to or no purpose other than revenge; groups like the Gyrm, the Heide Sentinels, the Firekeepers, and so on.
And keep in mind: these are secret factions, so we know even less about them than usual. I say that because I'm likely wrong about several points, but I'm fairly certain I have the general idea right, and even if I have the general idea wrong, I feel that at least I've hammered out some kind of rough framework for understanding the story-behind-the-story-behind-the-story of Dark Souls.
Right, back on topic.
Elana casts Darkstorm, and appears to be able to create 'exact copy' golems of certain things at will, hinting that she has unbelievable necromantic power... or liferomantic power or whichever. Both probably.
Recall that necromancy, at least in the second game, seems to involve the art of using the life arts of Izalith to 'curse' the dead back to existence, similar to how Seath uses his moonlight to 'curse' the light soul and create soul spears.
Puppetry, or golem smithing or whatever, seems to be an equally dark art, possibly based on or related to soul transposition, that was first seen in Lordran and has survived all the ages of Drang. It might be a case of someone using souls to channel the Dead Soul, and thereby graft a raw soul onto an inanimate object.
That's a long shot, but this is all long shot.
This broad art of intentionally creating haunted or cursed items is ultimately ascribed to Seath by Ornifex, possibly referring.
Old King Olaph used golems extensively, and if we allow that the Old Knights were created in early Olaphis, and the Ruin Sentinels after the curse broke out, then this might be a glimpse into the history of the art.
The exodus of Anor Londo happened between the creation of the Iron Golem and Ornstein being replaced with Haunted Ornstein's Armor. Ergo, if skill and workmanship remained relatively equal between the two kingdoms, then we see a gradual progression from the big clunky, golem (which seems to use dragon parts to help make up its core,) to the more mobile Old Knights, to the more elegant Ruin Knights.
From here, Anor continues to refine the art, yielding the Ornstein clone, while Olaph loses critical information and things have to be rediscovered the hard way.
Elana's form is said to 'hint' at humanity's 'true nature.' Most obviously this is referring to the aspects of Manus and the Dark Soul. However, it could also literally refer to her appearance.
She looks like the torso of a tree person growing out of a very yonic-looking root formation, with a hollow's head growing out of the also-yonic-looking neckal region. Neckal isn't a word. I think yonic's a word. But if they're saying 'people are and hollows are plants,' then I agree, and there is ample evidence for it.
Her 'axe,' (it's more of a halberd, a weapon class associated with clerics,) creates a dark Wrath of the Gods-type explosion that...inflicts poison, apparently. I didn't realize that, but it makes sense, both from a pyromancer and a Shulva perspective.
Semi-related point: Velstadt, in addition to possessing the Sacred Oath miracle, and casting a dark version of it on himself in battle, also has a necrostorm-type spell that can be cast as the special attack on his chime hammer.
These dead storm and black flame versions of pyromancy we see being displayed by Elana (and Nadalia,) becomes very important to the later story, so I'm trying to separate them as much as possible from chaos pyromancy and fire sorcery.
In other words, once the uncontrollable Chaos was 'bred out' of pyromancy, pyromancy was then used to 'breed' Dark back in, leading down diverging paths of traditional pyromancy.
Elana also uses song, which I discuss more below. Officially the song is meant to help the dragon slumber, but it seems like it actually might keep Shulva's defenders more-or-less trapped in their roles through the 'clandestine ritual' (the phantoms are near priestesses, who are near the phantoms' hollow-but-not-that-kind-of-hollow-bodies, and I'm almost sure that's intentional on the Priestess' part).
We see that someone has locked a Milfanito in the Castle Drangleic donjon, and it seems like this was done to, essentially, slowly dope the occupants of the castle into a permanent nod.
I feel like the only way to further understand Elana would require extensive diving into the third (and even first,) game, so I'll leave this for now.
Next up are Alsanna and Nadalia, who can be thought of as a 'pair' the way Prince Alken and Princess Venn are a 'pair.' For one, they have the aspects of ice and fire. Alsanna is possible a cognate of 'Alice Anna,' translating roughly as '(Of the Nobility)(Grace/Prophetess).'
Alsanna seems to represent fear, the soul, and light as the second element, which can be thought of as the 'growth and development' phase of life. I'm not going to talk about Queen Venn as Ivory Queen quite yet, but I do want to point out that the reason Alsanna 'stabilized' is because she found what she was looking for: courage.
Because they both need the same thing: to resolve the internal conflict. To reflect, and find answers, no matter how much you fear them, or to fall prey to some ruinous nostalgia. An invented better day, before the Other fucked everything up.
Cuz we're all like that, right? That, essentially, is where most people go wrong when they go wrong: by trying to run and hide from their own shadow.
Because if you don't quit hiding from the thing hiding in the mirror it will kill your entire world, and maybe it already has. The thing hiding in the dark that you have been hiding from for so long that you don't even know you're doing it, and no matter how long or how hard you run or hide from it, it won't go away.
Because it is your missing parts and they are dying, literally, to get your attention.
So you do, and it's both better and worse than you thought it would be, but mostly you find some measure of
peace.
...and Alsanna finds someone to protect her and Old Queen Venn finally finds something worth protecting and we all get a great big dose of the feels.
Nadalia, read as a variant of 'Natalie,' seems to mean 'merry christmas.' Or rather, it means 'birth, birthday, or in commemoration of the birth of someone important.'
She's described as an augur of solitude, and may not have appeared until after the Iron King was dead.
She's a pyromancer, like Elana, but channels a dark flame. She's described as being incredibly powerful, but that she opted to renounce her flesh and soul when she realized she was trapped in the tower. In performing this 'dance,' Nadalia was transformed into a black smoke. This smoke is likely the same as, or a variation of, Dark Fog.
Alternatively, it could relate to the Hebrew words for God and Grace.
If Mytha is the 'true' queen of Alken/Bone, then Elana is likewise the queen of Olaphis and the Order of Forlorn (not those ones). Elana seems to lead those who either have no homeland to return to or no purpose other than revenge; groups like the Gyrm, the Heide Sentinels, the Firekeepers, and so on.
And keep in mind: these are secret factions, so we know even less about them than usual. I say that because I'm likely wrong about several points, but I'm fairly certain I have the general idea right, and even if I have the general idea wrong, I feel that at least I've hammered out some kind of rough framework for understanding the story-behind-the-story-behind-the-story of Dark Souls.
 |
| Sometimes, just as a thing falls to pieces... |
Right, back on topic.
Elana casts Darkstorm, and appears to be able to create 'exact copy' golems of certain things at will, hinting that she has unbelievable necromantic power... or liferomantic power or whichever. Both probably.
Recall that necromancy, at least in the second game, seems to involve the art of using the life arts of Izalith to 'curse' the dead back to existence, similar to how Seath uses his moonlight to 'curse' the light soul and create soul spears.
Puppetry, or golem smithing or whatever, seems to be an equally dark art, possibly based on or related to soul transposition, that was first seen in Lordran and has survived all the ages of Drang. It might be a case of someone using souls to channel the Dead Soul, and thereby graft a raw soul onto an inanimate object.
That's a long shot, but this is all long shot.
This broad art of intentionally creating haunted or cursed items is ultimately ascribed to Seath by Ornifex, possibly referring.
 |
| I think this is a more advanced form of the Gravelord Soul Sign language |
Old King Olaph used golems extensively, and if we allow that the Old Knights were created in early Olaphis, and the Ruin Sentinels after the curse broke out, then this might be a glimpse into the history of the art.
The exodus of Anor Londo happened between the creation of the Iron Golem and Ornstein being replaced with Haunted Ornstein's Armor. Ergo, if skill and workmanship remained relatively equal between the two kingdoms, then we see a gradual progression from the big clunky, golem (which seems to use dragon parts to help make up its core,) to the more mobile Old Knights, to the more elegant Ruin Knights.
From here, Anor continues to refine the art, yielding the Ornstein clone, while Olaph loses critical information and things have to be rediscovered the hard way.
 |
| Pictured: the hard way. |
Elana's form is said to 'hint' at humanity's 'true nature.' Most obviously this is referring to the aspects of Manus and the Dark Soul. However, it could also literally refer to her appearance.
She looks like the torso of a tree person growing out of a very yonic-looking root formation, with a hollow's head growing out of the also-yonic-looking neckal region. Neckal isn't a word. I think yonic's a word. But if they're saying 'people are and hollows are plants,' then I agree, and there is ample evidence for it.
Her 'axe,' (it's more of a halberd, a weapon class associated with clerics,) creates a dark Wrath of the Gods-type explosion that...inflicts poison, apparently. I didn't realize that, but it makes sense, both from a pyromancer and a Shulva perspective.
Semi-related point: Velstadt, in addition to possessing the Sacred Oath miracle, and casting a dark version of it on himself in battle, also has a necrostorm-type spell that can be cast as the special attack on his chime hammer.
These dead storm and black flame versions of pyromancy we see being displayed by Elana (and Nadalia,) becomes very important to the later story, so I'm trying to separate them as much as possible from chaos pyromancy and fire sorcery.
In other words, once the uncontrollable Chaos was 'bred out' of pyromancy, pyromancy was then used to 'breed' Dark back in, leading down diverging paths of traditional pyromancy.
Elana also uses song, which I discuss more below. Officially the song is meant to help the dragon slumber, but it seems like it actually might keep Shulva's defenders more-or-less trapped in their roles through the 'clandestine ritual' (the phantoms are near priestesses, who are near the phantoms' hollow-but-not-that-kind-of-hollow-bodies, and I'm almost sure that's intentional on the Priestess' part).
We see that someone has locked a Milfanito in the Castle Drangleic donjon, and it seems like this was done to, essentially, slowly dope the occupants of the castle into a permanent nod.
I feel like the only way to further understand Elana would require extensive diving into the third (and even first,) game, so I'll leave this for now.
Next up are Alsanna and Nadalia, who can be thought of as a 'pair' the way Prince Alken and Princess Venn are a 'pair.' For one, they have the aspects of ice and fire. Alsanna is possible a cognate of 'Alice Anna,' translating roughly as '(Of the Nobility)(Grace/Prophetess).'
Alsanna seems to represent fear, the soul, and light as the second element, which can be thought of as the 'growth and development' phase of life. I'm not going to talk about Queen Venn as Ivory Queen quite yet, but I do want to point out that the reason Alsanna 'stabilized' is because she found what she was looking for: courage.
Because they both need the same thing: to resolve the internal conflict. To reflect, and find answers, no matter how much you fear them, or to fall prey to some ruinous nostalgia. An invented better day, before the Other fucked everything up.
Cuz we're all like that, right? That, essentially, is where most people go wrong when they go wrong: by trying to run and hide from their own shadow.
Because if you don't quit hiding from the thing hiding in the mirror it will kill your entire world, and maybe it already has. The thing hiding in the dark that you have been hiding from for so long that you don't even know you're doing it, and no matter how long or how hard you run or hide from it, it won't go away.
Because it is your missing parts and they are dying, literally, to get your attention.
So you do, and it's both better and worse than you thought it would be, but mostly you find some measure of
peace.
...and Alsanna finds someone to protect her and Old Queen Venn finally finds something worth protecting and we all get a great big dose of the feels.
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| Shit sword, though. source |
Nadalia, read as a variant of 'Natalie,' seems to mean 'merry christmas.' Or rather, it means 'birth, birthday, or in commemoration of the birth of someone important.'
She's described as an augur of solitude, and may not have appeared until after the Iron King was dead.
She's a pyromancer, like Elana, but channels a dark flame. She's described as being incredibly powerful, but that she opted to renounce her flesh and soul when she realized she was trapped in the tower. In performing this 'dance,' Nadalia was transformed into a black smoke. This smoke is likely the same as, or a variation of, Dark Fog.
Exposure to this fog drains or corrodes the will, and is the reason hexes were originally banished. Nadalia's smoke can further animate corpses and armor, haunting them in the matter of a puppet, but with Nadalia's atomized consciousness serving as the vitalizing graft.
This means that all, or almost all, of the defenders of Brume Tower are, in a sense, Nadalia.
So.
Why does Fume Knight buff when you enter as Velstadt? Because Raime, according to developer interviews, is gone. He gave himself to his new queen and she took him. Maybe this means their souls twisted in some sense, but the interview seemed to make a point of mentioning that Fume is called Fume because he runs on fumes, and the fumes (brume) are Nadalia.
Also: in his second phase he throws away Raime's sword and adds dark flame to the Fume sword. This would seem to indicate that Nadalia is even more in charge during the buffed phase.
Probably it's just because of the Rematch of Titans aspect of it, but I can't help thinking that Nadalia knows who Velstadt is.
Or not.
This means that all, or almost all, of the defenders of Brume Tower are, in a sense, Nadalia.
 |
| Somebody's missing an eye, shh. |
So.
Why does Fume Knight buff when you enter as Velstadt? Because Raime, according to developer interviews, is gone. He gave himself to his new queen and she took him. Maybe this means their souls twisted in some sense, but the interview seemed to make a point of mentioning that Fume is called Fume because he runs on fumes, and the fumes (brume) are Nadalia.
Also: in his second phase he throws away Raime's sword and adds dark flame to the Fume sword. This would seem to indicate that Nadalia is even more in charge during the buffed phase.
Probably it's just because of the Rematch of Titans aspect of it, but I can't help thinking that Nadalia knows who Velstadt is.
Or not.
Nashandra I take as 'Ash' 'Andra' (Burnt Remains/Shade Tree/archtree)(The Other). More on her in the next post.
More Giant Stuff
It's not much, but here are some other King of the Giants points I couldn't work into a narrative:
Slaver, Singer, Song
Wellager is a scumbag and I'm glad his ghost is trapped in the worst moments of his life.
Having said that.
He does give some interesting insights, mostly because he probably started pawning of Drangleic's treasures an hour after Vendrick and Velstadt left for the Crypt.
He says Vendrick made magnificent findings on souls, has watched over the land for ages, that Nashandra appeared alone and from a far away land, and that Vendrick's victory over the giants was hailed as a glory for the ages, and the might of the giants was used to build the castle in honor of both the victory and the queen.
This seems to imply that Vendrick is responsible for some art or magic unique to Vendrick. I suspect it was something like resurrection or ashen mist hearting, that then snowballed into the revelation that caused him to flee the Giant Lord and renounce...well, almost everything, really.
It was Wellager that went to Mirrah to secure the contract with the Great Blacksmith Llewellyn. Wellager also duel wields weapons and really dislikes giants. This all, I think, connects with what I've said about the overland route to Lothric and Lordran.
Moving on to the Milfanito.
The Demon of Song sings and is a demon.
Song = a form of Death magic
Demon = hybrid creature
Demons, in the other two games, is used almost universally to refer to creatures birthed from chaos, with the most unusual examples being the batwings and Sanctuary Guardians, both of whom may have been created by Seath or one of the Anor gods. The song demon, however, is specifically identified with an art of the dead. It's possible, probably even likely, that the Demon was a Milfanito at some point.
Demons in the second game mostly refers to people or creatures associated with the Dead Soul.Cleric Forsalle, I think, is referred as a demon, and most healing miracles seem like they utilize death magic in some fashion. Caitha, Goddess of Tears, is said to be a demoness.
We do know that the Way of White was far more interested in Nito than Gwyn in the first game, so it's possible that the Lindelt Archdrakes we see around are responsible, but I have no idea how or why.
The Demon carries the Embedded's Key, which 'unlocks' the cell 'door' of the Milfanito in Drangleic Castle. I don't know why, unless it was somehow related to Vendrick's final, and only, retreat.
I think that does it for now. Sorry that it was so disjointed and tangent-y, but trying to hammer all of this into a single narrative, even a really long one, still requires a ton of stuff to be cut or omitted and then filled in later.
Next post will be about the Cursebearer, the Three Kingdoms, and maaaaaybe the path of transcendence.
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| For what ruler taketh not a spouse? |
More Giant Stuff
It's not much, but here are some other King of the Giants points I couldn't work into a narrative:
- Repel seems like a more advanced version of Twisted Barricade, the Hex version of the Ool Twisted Wall of Light spell. They warp physics, which is a dangerous thing to do.
- The Giant Lord might have some connection to Forossa and Lothian.
- He might have been the king of Ur-Drang before the Anor colonists showed up.
 |
| See, it's not just that it's sexist when you decontextualize it, it's that the entire narrative is presented w/o context, which means context has to be established through trial and error lore hunting, until eventually you learn that, oh, it's mostly not sexist, and actually pretty subversive, but, like, ain't no one gonna do that with a game they think is sexist. |
Slaver, Singer, Song
Chancellor
from Latin 'cancellarius';
a porter, secretary, or doorkeeper.
Cancellarius
derived from 'cancellus'; 'little crab';
a lattice, grate, or barrier.
Cancellus
diminutive of 'cancer';
an enclosure, usually circular;
a tumor or cancer; a barrier
Well
from proto-Italic 'welo';
to want
Ager
Field, estate, or territory
Wellager is a scumbag and I'm glad his ghost is trapped in the worst moments of his life.
Having said that.
He does give some interesting insights, mostly because he probably started pawning of Drangleic's treasures an hour after Vendrick and Velstadt left for the Crypt.
He says Vendrick made magnificent findings on souls, has watched over the land for ages, that Nashandra appeared alone and from a far away land, and that Vendrick's victory over the giants was hailed as a glory for the ages, and the might of the giants was used to build the castle in honor of both the victory and the queen.
This seems to imply that Vendrick is responsible for some art or magic unique to Vendrick. I suspect it was something like resurrection or ashen mist hearting, that then snowballed into the revelation that caused him to flee the Giant Lord and renounce...well, almost everything, really.
It was Wellager that went to Mirrah to secure the contract with the Great Blacksmith Llewellyn. Wellager also duel wields weapons and really dislikes giants. This all, I think, connects with what I've said about the overland route to Lothric and Lordran.
 |
| Probably they were big fans of the Executioner's Chariot, as well. |
The Demon of Song sings and is a demon.
Song = a form of Death magic
Demon = hybrid creature
Demons, in the other two games, is used almost universally to refer to creatures birthed from chaos, with the most unusual examples being the batwings and Sanctuary Guardians, both of whom may have been created by Seath or one of the Anor gods. The song demon, however, is specifically identified with an art of the dead. It's possible, probably even likely, that the Demon was a Milfanito at some point.
Demons in the second game mostly refers to people or creatures associated with the Dead Soul.Cleric Forsalle, I think, is referred as a demon, and most healing miracles seem like they utilize death magic in some fashion. Caitha, Goddess of Tears, is said to be a demoness.
We do know that the Way of White was far more interested in Nito than Gwyn in the first game, so it's possible that the Lindelt Archdrakes we see around are responsible, but I have no idea how or why.
The Demon carries the Embedded's Key, which 'unlocks' the cell 'door' of the Milfanito in Drangleic Castle. I don't know why, unless it was somehow related to Vendrick's final, and only, retreat.
I think that does it for now. Sorry that it was so disjointed and tangent-y, but trying to hammer all of this into a single narrative, even a really long one, still requires a ton of stuff to be cut or omitted and then filled in later.
Next post will be about the Cursebearer, the Three Kingdoms, and maaaaaybe the path of transcendence.
