Licia the Viable Faith Build has come to Drangleic to spread the good news about miracles.
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| I think I probably have Majula labeled as Heide, and the sunken ship represents the Bastille/Wharf. |
The western coast of Drangleic can't be approached by ship unless you know where one of the ports are/were.
In the past, Heide probably served as the primary/only official port for the empire. People from outside refer to Drangleic as the 'lost continent' (Chloanne) for a reason. But certainly not impossible.
Travelers entering the country generally travel overland through the northern mountains, somehow ascend the high wall (and then survive the eastern mountains,) gain access via a noble, be beckoned Betwixt by the Call, or navigate the unmapped and unmappable dark chasms of the Abyss between Drangleic and Lordran.
Of course, probably the easiest way into Drangleic is through No Man's Wharf.
If you know it's there.
When the Curse appeared in Olaphis the King was convinced that sorcerers and pyromancers were to blame. Possibly things like the Lost Sinner's failure and the appearance of the Ruin were used as evidence. The purgings were also used as cover for the removal of political dissidents. These three factions, sorcerers, pyromancers, and enemies of the crown, would go on to found the Melfian Magic Academy. Of course, there were a whole lot fewer of them when they finally reached a new shore. The Academy, which has nothing to do with any church or god, goes out of their way to deny Gwynevere's existence, which might be true but what a weird thing to say.
As a result of the purgings the church began to fill the power vacuum left by the banishment of all of the academics and hippies and pinkos. Dot dot dot. Shulva. Dot dot dot. Lindelt Sect.
Broadly, Licia is a pilgrim/exile from Lindelt making pilgrimage to the sect's homeland. Officially, the Lindelt sect was founded by the survivors of a country that had been menaced by a dragon. The founders, the original Archdrakes, are said to have slain the dragon. In actuality this is a whitewashing of the story of Shulva, where the pre-Lindelt church, allegiant to Elana, set off the events that would lead to the final descent into the civil war that would lead to Venn (Blue/Anor colonist) and Alken (Red/Drang nativist). The Shulvan inquisition into Sihn the Flameless (and probably Septic,) was brought to an end by a very probably misguided Yorgh and the Drakebloods.
The Archdrakes, in other words, are stealing valor from their mortal enemies, the Drakebloods (Replenishment). The Drakebloods, at least some of them, would seemingly be loyal to Elana and the dragon worshipers, and might serve as her royal guard, although it's unclear if this is a result of betrayal, Elana's magic, or having hollowed naturally while trapped in the Sanctum with no recourse but to wander aimlessly or try to fat roll away from Bizzaro World Maiden Astrea's onslaught. Seems bizarre that there isn't any evidence of them having tried to chisel their way out or make like ladders or something. It's like they just got there, which has interesting implications now that I think about it and goddamn it the Yorgh thing might have happened recently and the whole area might have just been in stasis until
Licia is in possession of a miracle associated with daughters and handmaids of Gwynevere, reportedly stolen from and never recovered by Lindelt. The 'sister' miracle is in possession of Targray, captain of the original faction of the Blue Sentinels. It seems strange, or maybe not, that Targray the psychotically faithful might be working for Elana and Carim, while Licia the Hustleress might be...well, let's slow down.
Licia, like Petrus before her, is a not-well-disguised con artist pretending to be a faithful servant of the church, and it seems fairly obvious that neither one is wanted back home. Unlike Petrus (who murdered a noble in cold blood,) Licia earns the ire of something like the Black Eye. This would seem to imply that the crime that invokes the Eye relates to the victim's material circumstances, rather than social standing. Anastasia was, like Rhea, a member of the Way of White and may have been, like Rhea, descended from nobility. In fact, this may be why Rhea positions herself where she does after arriving at Firelink. The difference would seem to be that Anastasia serves a critical role in the bonfire system, whereas Rhea is, by her own confession, pretty useless. An alternate explanation could be that the Eye focused on Lautrec because he was an 'outsider,' whereas Petrus' status as a cleric - even an exiled one - may have shielded him from assassination. Leonhard's status as noble would seem to dispute this, however.
Given Licia's proficiency with miracles and evident shrewdness, it would seem safe to assume that her obvious 'bumbling con artist' disguise is itself a disguise. Well, actually, that's a huge assumption and really needs to be justified, which I'm sure I'm about to fail to do.
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| 'lvl200 paladin vs middle-aged white lady,' you think it'd be a lot more one-sided |
Licia uses the Idol's Chime. The name may be a reference to the Fool's Idol in Demon's Souls. In that game, the Idol was a demon-possessed 'doll' impersonating the Queen/High Priestess of Latria. Licia gifts the chime to the player if they have at least 30 faith. The chime states that
In any town there will be a few folk with
unusual urges. They either endeavor to resist
these urges, or act upon them out of the view
of others. The world is not so welcoming they
may bare their souls true.
We should also consider that Licia herself could be the Idol in question. I suppose then the question becomes 'is/was she a legitimate idol?' I'm referring to the generally negative connotations of the word 'idolatry.' When something is called an 'idol,' it can mean something sacred/holy. However, when people use the world 'idolater' or idolatry,' the connotation is usually negative, i.e performatively (and mindlessly,) worshiping a holy book instead of reading and trying to understand it.
So Licia, as Idol, could be a common criminal impersonating a saint, or she could be a legitimate saint that happens to also be a criminal. The chime itself, which is another candidate for the Idol scales much better with hexes than miracles. This could refer to Licia's 'unusual urges.' On the other hand, the implied 'resisting' and 'hiding' of these urges could refer to Licia not using miracles when invading, and then not using hexes when invaded. In other words, Licia isn't handicapping herself to protect the secret of her identity so much as she's trying to protect the secret of her obsessions, which are viewed as 'unwelcome.'
While in Heide, Licia states that she had heard rumors of Drangleic's troubles, and laments that people may have 'scarce room in their hearts for miracles.' This could be in reference to the Way of Blue/Sentinels. The WoB was/is a folk religion native to Drang, while the Blue Sentinels would seem to be a semi-religious institution dating to Venn or Olaphis (or maybe even very recently, but a similar 'Sentinel' institution would have preceded them, both of which function in a way similar to the Darkmoon Blades). Given the Heide Sentinels' opposition to Alken's Brotherhood of Blood we can assume that, regardless of whether Targray is loyal to Elana, Queen Venn, Carim, or the original Queen/High Priestess of Olaphis, he would have no or little knowledge of Lindelt, and would be most concerned with stopping Mytha's ascent to power.
In other words, while the disposition of the Sentinels towards Licia/Lindelt is somewhat unknowable, Licia seems to have made her journey with reason to believe they would view her as an ally. Whether or not Licia would have held true to this alliance or used it towards her own ends is likewise unknowable, but it's Licia, c'mon.
When Licia moves to Majula she takes up residence in the rotunda dividing Alken from Venn. Though she claims the contraption runs on miracles, it actually functions by means of a lockstone in her possession and gained through unknown means. Judging by the state of the contraption when we find it, the rotunda would have last been under Venn's control, assuming Aldia's obvious presence in the Bastille didn't result in the gate being moved from its historic position.
After the Cursebearer gains access to the Shrine of Winter Licia comments that it must feel wonderful to possess such a glorious number of souls. Since this dialogue refers specifically to us, the change is probably meant to signal that the pilgrim is keeping a pretty close eye on our journey. Later, in the Undead Crypt, we gain access to the Crushed Eye Orb.
The Crushed Eye is an object of unknown, though ancient, origin. It is mechanically similar to the Black Eye Orb in that it allows the possessor to repeatedly invade the world of the 'sinner' that has drawn the eye's focus for the purposes of assassinating the sinner and reclaiming the 'soul' of the victim, even if the soul has been transposed into, for example, a miracle.
In the first game the 'mystical orb' is found on Anastasia's corpse, and allows us to invade the world of their murderer. That Eye 'gazes towards Anor Londo,' presumably looking directly towards Lautrec's location.
In the third game the eye functions almost identically, only with Rosaria's soul and Leonhard. This orb states that while it's possible to, in the spirit of vengeance, invade the world of the killer and reclaim Rosaria's soul, the Eye itself seems to feel that this course of action is inadvisable or unwarranted, and appears 'serene' while gazing towards Irithyll (presumably at the spot where Leonhard is standing).
Mechanically there is one important difference between the Black and Crushed Eyes, or at least something about the object of focus: the knights from 1 and 3 are not present in the PC's world when the invasion happens, while Licia is in the room with us when we somehow invade her in another world.
No entiendo esto.
If successfully killed during invasion, Licia will be gone from the invader's world.
During invasion, [and only during invasion,] Licia displays demi-god tier abilities, including the ability to cast, apparently an unlimited number of times, miracles like Blinding Bolt, Great Heal, and Wrath of the Gods. Invaded Licia has an incredibly short cast time, and dealing less than ~650 DPS will result in Licia healing herself at a pace that will quickly result in the invader running out of resources with which to continue the assault. Additionally, according to her catalyst, she may still be gimping herself at this point by not using hexes.
see if invading and dying to 'true' Licia results in 'false' Licia turning hostile, and if late-game non-invaded 'false' Licia is as vicious as 'true' Licia or invaded 'false' Licia. After some experimentation, I found that, in the Scholar version of the game, if you aggro false Licia she attacks the player with true Licia's moveset, but keeps up false Licia's disguise. After invading and being killed by true Licia, false Licia will remain friendly towards the Eye holder. Killing either version of Licia does not cause the light over the Majula entrance to go out. Switching the gate from Alken to Venn and vice versa does not cause the light to go out.
Blinding Bolt, which Licia casts, is said to have been crafted by the Old Gods, possibly Gwyn himself, 'but later forbidden by the same deity.' The tale continues 'Was [the crafting/banishment of this miracle done] to protect the world from hatred, or sorrow?' The player gains access to this miracle after claiming the Old King's Soul from the Old Iron King in NG+. OIK is closely associated with the Sun's Firstborn, so this 'Old King' may have been Nameless before he was 'stripped of his deific status. I don't think Licia is necessarily related directly to Gwyn or Nameless in a similar manner, but her knowledge of the miracle would indicate that she at least has/had direct access to accurate information regarding the Dragon War.
Evidence would seem to suggest that Licia is either a daughter or granddaughter of Gwynevere, or a handmaid of same. Additionally, she probably joined the Lindelt Sect under false pretenses and may possibly be allied with forces loyal to Ivory, Anor Londo under Gwyndolin, Carim, or even Elana. Licia has no apparent ties to Vendrick, Aldia, or Mytha's emergent kingdom.
As stated previously, Licia notices when we become powerful enough to pass through the Shrine of Winter. The Ring of Prayer talks about a few 'honorable noblemen' high up in Lindelt. At this point Licia begins selling an unlimited stock of miracles. Shortly after this point, just past the cursed Nashandra painting in the castle, the Nameless Usurper begins harassing the Cursebearer.
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| This is where she either Great Heals herself or WoG's off a third of your health if you try to stop her. |
Opinion is split on whether the Usurper is Licia or not, but the Scholar update weights the debate towards them being the same character.
There's evidence both for and against. Really, the base-game character model and equipment being different is enough reason to rule the Usurper = Licia theory out. If this is the case, then the Usurper would most likely be an Archdrake loyalist, although who knows what this means w/r/t the larger story and the Archdrakes publicly pretending they were the Drakebloods. Personally, I believe the Usurper is Licia because otherwise why further complicate things, I'm already insinuating her 'preceptor' could have been a daughter or handmaid of Gwynevere.
Licia is no doubt wanted in Lindelt-Volgen, and that she is targeted by the Eye of Vengeance makes it seem as it she's wanted for a crime against, if not the Anor gods, then whatever god the Crushed Eye relates to. Additionally, the eye would make it seem as if Licia is guilty of a crime worth granting an agent the power to repeatedly and consistently invade the same world, which seems like the kind of thing you want to keep to a minimum.
Licia mentions a 'preceptor,' which Wikipedia says is a teacher, generally at a monastery, and who is sometimes in charge of the monastery. In educational and administrative matters their concerns relate to the church, its clergy, and its laws and traditions. In Way of White terms, and assuming this meaning of the word 'preceptor,' this would make Licia's former boss a kind of small-scale version of the enigmatic Head Bishop of the first game. I say 'small scale' because even outside of Drangleic the Lindelt Sect doesn't seem very widespread, unless there's some connection between the Monastery and the arrival of the Blue Sentinels and Falconers in Volgen.
The title preceptor also refers to a monk responsible for making music and training monks in the traditions of chants and prayers.
One potential candidate for this precepter character - who could have been any relatively high-ranking member of the church - was Cleric Forsalle. Forsalle was well-traveled holy knight of Lindelt, but his critics accuse him of having 'demonic powers.' His name, possibly, is related to the Irish 'forsail,' meaning 'to force,' in the horticultural sense. This involves raising a plant earlier in the season than is normal, often by use of hotbeds. Forcing, of course, relates back to the Latin 'fortis,' or 'strong.'
Another potential candidate is Ivory Rhones, the sage credited with the Ring of Soul Protection. In a sense it's impossible to know if Licia is wearing one of these rings, but the Life variant implies they're somewhat easy to create, as her students were able to master their production.
These rings obviously serve the role of the Ring of Sacrifice in Drangleic. This decision isn't strictly necessary from a lore perspective either. Cromwell is, among other things, a ringsmith in service to Velka, so the Rare version could have easily made its way into the country and been 'cheapened' by Aldia, Navlaan, Gilleah, or some unnamed magic user. This cheapening idea presents itself in Lindelt as the clerics essentially having an 'easy mode' via the Life Protection rings. The rings were a lot easier to find and cheaper to repair in the base game, which actually led to a lot of irl articles of that exact nature.
This 'cheapening' is also mirrored in Melfia with the -plate rings. In Lindelt, the cheat led to students foregoing their training and developing the kind of false sense of pride that later gets called 'hubris' by historians. For Melfia it led to the Baby Boomer -> Gen X -> Millennial dynamic we see represented in Carhillion, Glocken, and Rosabeth.
The Crushed Eye
The Crushed Eye 'writhes unsteadily' 'with an unfocused gaze' in search of 'dishonorable miscreants.' The image shows that the eye has collapsed into what looks like a humanity sprite, and the eye around it appears calcified, dehydrated, or rotten. The description ends with the words 'Where are the fiends, where are they...'.
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| okay heres what i want for christmas namco bandai these, in comic-book-sized art books with the lore on the back three of them slashy souls my goddammed ass bamco |
So, in relation to the main topic, the Crushed Eye isn't 'looking' for or at Licia, not the way the Black Eye looks at Lautrec and Leonhard. What happens is is the Drang Eye has been locked in a box possibly since ur-Drang, but judging by it's condition and the heavy references to Olaphis in the Crypt I feel like it's safe to assume the original Colonists either brought it over from Lordran or created it based on the Black Eye Orb.
If the Eye had been hidden while active by someone who later died or left the Drang sub-continent, then this would explain the Eye's desiccated appearance and apparent madness. The Eye would never be able to turn off, and would also never be able to find its target.
The Crushed Eye image shows the eye embedded in a decorative frame that looks like it might have once been attached to a necklace. The border of the frame shows runes in the Ancient (Soapstone, titanite) script. From my ignorant perspective the most prominent ones read, left to right, H X R. The H could possibly be more of an N, and the top quadrent of the X is closed off, making a kind of table-looking character.
The eye could possibly be reacting to the Soothing Sunlight miracle, it possibly being transposed from the soul of a heavenly child or handmaid, but this would raise questions like the Eye's lack of reaction to Targray's miracle (probably it wasn't created via murder, while the Lindelt version was). It could, of course, be reacting to Licia herself. Licia would seem to think so.
Targray and the DS2 Blue Sentinels will be getting their own post, so don't make yourself crazy over Targray's inventory unless you want to.
When invaded, Licia probably thinks you're tracking her using a healthy Black Eye, but expresses delight that she can now murder us guilt-free.
She admits no specific crime beyond wanting to kill us, which is like the untaxed loosie sale of crimes in the Soulsverse. Probably the most hyperbolic think I could think of would be that the theft of the Soothing Sunlight miracle involved murdering a Heavenly Daughter/handmaid of same to get the soul to create the miracle. The victim was probably her/the 'preceptor.'
Current evidence would seem to suggest that the Crushed Eye became active sometime in early-Olaphis and has been active ever since. Possibly as a result of the failed attempt to recreate the First Flame, or due to the murder of someone like Queen Olaphis I. The murderer, or an accomplice, came into possession of the Black Eye and, somehow, managed to have it secured in the Crypt for perpetuity. The object of focus, at some point in the future, became untrackable. Probably this was the result of the object leaving Drangleic, as there doesn't seem to be any kind of camouflage that would work against the Eye, and the death of the 'fiends' would seemingly serve as proof of vengeance, and cause the Eye to...go wherever it goes.
Licia seems to serve as a 'close enough' substitute murderer to satiate the eye, probably because she is/was being tracked by a Black Eye assassin in Lindelt-Volgen.
On the other hand, the Crushed Eye remains in our inventory after dispatching Licia. I don't know if this is an oversight or intentional, but it would seem to suggest that the Eye will continue to be active (and probably insane,) until the original object of its gaze dies. This of course also means that the 'fiends' are still alive in the Cursebearer's time, just not in Drangleic.
Finally, let's close with an attempt at a translation of the Eye.
I'll be basing this on Skarekrow's work with the Titanite translations, and the following translator pages
http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/meanings.html
http://www.therunesite.com/elder-futhark-rune-meanings/
http://www.heathenhof.com/the-elder-futhark-runes-an-instructive-guide/
And look I'm a rank amateur at these kinds of translations, but the script is all over the three games and translating it is basically just using a decoder ring and then trying to work out a narrative w/r/t the in-game context. I don't think anyone ever thought video games would be played like this. Anyway, if you're looking for something new to do with Dark Souls it can be fun, is what I'm saying. Plus also I'm also probably dead ass wrong about all of this.
Basically runes are emojis. :) - Smiley; represented by a crescent moon and two stars, Smiley relates to happiness, playfulness, fair weather, and approval. When cast, the Smiley rune invokes good fortune, cheer, friends and family, and camaraderie. When reversed, Smiley invokes sadness, disappointment, and misfortune. Smiley cannot be inverted, but can be lain in opposition as sarcasm, sadism, double-heartedness, or condescension.
See?
First, each rune has a word associated with it, and the word a more abstract concept. The Uruz Rune means 'ox,' and the meaning of the word lines up pretty well with the character of the Iron King: strong, ascendant, virile, potent, and so on, and further invokes the idea of a great victory ahead. Ti give a few examples, Gwyn, during and shortly after the Dragon War, would have been identified with this rune, as was King Alken up until the conquest of Brume Tower.
When runes are cast they may appear upside and/or backwards, in which case an alternate meaning, merkstave, can be attached to the rune. The merkstave, which means 'murky stick,' invokes a dark, murky, or shadowy meaning, rather than 'opposite.' the merkstave of Uruz, for example, invokes loss or failure as a result of short-sightedness, obsession, or cruelty. In other words, the 'light' meaning of Uruz contains the kinds of 'blessings' that lead to the 'curses' of the 'dark' meaning.
Sound familiar? It's like the first half of the Hero Cycle. Unwarranted rise, fall from grace.
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| The Eye is obviously sentient to some degree, and has been locked in a box for hundreds of years. |
Okay, so in the above picture the normal artwork is on top, and the runes, bottom left to middle right, are:
[U] ; HMR
The runes are
[Uruz] (U;Auroch/Ox - merkstave)
Hagalaz (H; Hail)
Mannaz (M; Man/kind)
Raidho (R; Wagon or Wheel)
The inversion of Uruz makes me think that the Eye itself is meant to also be read as merkstave. There doesn't seem to be an obvious 'up' side to the pendant, as the missing chunk along the top may have mirrored the bottom, rather than attaching to some broken-off clasp or loop. If this is the case, the inverted reading becomes
[RMH] ; U
[Raidho] - Wagon
[Mannaz] - Man
[Hagalaz] - Hail
---
Uruz - Ox
The meanings of these runes are something like
Uruz (Ox) - Physical prowess and raw potential, good health, freedom, change for the better and so on. the dark meaning denotes weakness, obsession, misdirected force, sickness, ignorance, rashness and so on.
Halaz (Hail) - Nature's wrath expressed as uncontrollable destruction, can refer to a psychological destruction as well; trials and tribulations; necessary evils; Crisis leading to harmony. Merkstave: not used in merkstave specifically, but the 'opposition' read denotes natural disaster, stagnation, decadence, and hardship.
Mannaz (Man) - Man as both individual humans as well as the species; interpersonal relations and social order; creative intelligence. Merkstave: depression, mortality, self-delusion; manipulation, espionage, subterfuge. The 'light' reading would seem to invoke gregariousness and community, while the dark reading invokes self-interest and individualism.
Raidho (wagon or chariot) - Travel or journey/ing; change, evolution; seeing the proper path due to an enlarged perspective. Merkstave: crisis, stasis, injustice.
Possible translations
A standard reading might be something like
Curse
Crisis [sin] evokes the uncontrollable but focused wrath of nature
[A] human will embody this vengeance, [which involves]
A sacred journey, aided by divine insight, to restore harmony.
And the merkstave meaning might be
Rigidity and stagnation unleash unhealthy obsessions
This Darkness gives rise to self-delusion and subterfuge
[in an attempt to avoid]
[in an attempt to avoid]
Nature's wrath, which comes not as a cleansing storm
but as a slow decay
but as a slow decay
Blessing
So, assuming I'm not completely wrong about everything, it seems like the runes are telling 'both sides' of the same story. In the HMR reading, it seems like a murder invokes a kind of natural vengeance, human/s are charged with enacting this vengeance, by traveling with the Eye's aid to the instigator of the crisis and resolving it.
In the RMH reading we have a situation where the crisis is avoided, but this leads to rigidity, which leads to obsession. This failure to 'journey' manifests as the Dark tendency to isolate oneself and engage in deception and Machiavellianism. The tendency, based around the fear of death or loss that prevented the journey, invokes natures wrath. Rather than coming as a 'spirit of vengeance,' it comes instead as a kind of ongoing suffering or wasting illness.
My interpretation of the story obviously influenced my translation, but to me the inscription seems to be short-handing the Red/Nameless King -> Blue/Gwyneveredolin dynamic we see repeated over and over across all these different characters and societies. A white society (Gwyn) devolves into a Red warlike society, civil unrest leads to the Red faction being exiled and a Blue faction taking over and running everything like the CIA.
What's interesting is that the [Uruz] rune seems to be set in opposition to this. Meaning that the standard 'Black Eye' journey, a very Red series of events, is associated with a very Blue...outcome? I called the rune Curse up there because it's associated with a concept like Hollowing, but a Hollowing not only of mind, but of fame, fortune, and morality. In the merstave reading we see a very Blue situation leading to a very Red outcome (the Dark actor 'sins' and begins engaging in a bunch of sneaky underhanded shit to avoid justice and, consequently, justice takes the form of them having to be alone with themselves for the rest of their life. This story, then, is set against Uruz, which I've called Blessing, since it invokes the kind of kind-of-unfair advantage people like Gwyn get that then sets off the Red/Blue civil war.
Alright, I think that's that. I'm at a point where I think I can pump out one of these every two weeks, so long as things don't get any busier. They'll be edited and revised as I go along, just like Scholar and Prisoner.
