Goddamn Hawkshaw.
I'd been kicking around this idea that the DS2 Hawk and Leo Rings were given to or taken by characters that are acting as representatives for Gough and Ornstein in Drangleic. I've gone over the Old Dragonslayer at length, but briefly I believe him to be Ornstein's hollow following in Nameless' footsteps after either having his Lords Soul stripped by Seath (and made into a golem) or being defeated by the DS1 Chosen Undead (Solaire, for the purposes of this project).
I couldn't make much sense of the Hawk Ring beyond maybe it meant Lanafir was involved in the War of the Giants but sided with Raime (Raime's Baneful Bird Ring has the same hawk design as Gough's Ring). But I've realized something: royal blacksmith Help Anytime had Hawkeye's Ring in the Chosen Undead's time.
Here's something I just noticed because I'm incredibly dense.
We find the Hunter Set in the Fort as well, near the Seeding Giant. The Large Leather Shield, carried by the DS1 "Pharis" NPC Hunter in Darkroot, is also in the Fort, near the elevator to the Last Giant.
Here's another thing:
Raime and his soldiers' helmets looks like Leeroy's Way of White paladin helmet, obviously. But also they look like Gough's helmet.
Gough predates both Raime and Leeroy.
So here's what I'm trying to figure out.
Who Blinded Gough?
I don't think Gwyn did this, as Gough both earned and is still displaying a badge of Gwyn's favor when we find him. Personally, I think Nameless is probably the culprit because I think Nameless was stripped and banished for being a complete dick. However, the culprit/s dismissed Gough as 'brutish'. This makes me think Seath was maybe responsible, because I think Nameless, who only respected strength of arms, wouldn't consider 'brutish' much of an insult. Of course, both or neither could have been involved.
What happened to Gough's dragonslayers?
Hawkshaw makes the case that Gough was responsible for training the Silver Knights in dragonslaying, and they may have been under his command during the Dragon War. I feel like it's safe to assume that the other Anor giants fell under his command at the time, before they were enslaved, or more obviously enslaved. Additionally we seem to have human hunters like Pharis, and some of these, I suspect, became loyal to Alvina and the Forest Hunters. Others, I suspect, may have been foundational to the, uh, founding of the Thorolund White.
Did Durgo meet Help Anytime?
Somehow Gough's ring ended up with Help Anytime. Given Gough's dialogue, it's possible Gough gave the smith the ring before being 'jailed' in Oolacile. It's also possible a Gough loyalist took the ring upstairs after.
From here the ring travels to the Fort of Fallen Giants. It's heavily implied that we find the ring on Durgo's body, and one of the things we know about Durgo
Is Lanafir Lordran?
Probably. Between Durgo and Magerold I feel pretty confident about this.
Magerold is interested in the Iron Kingdom. I've made the case that the Iron and Ivory civil war period of Drangleic coincided with or slightly predated the main story events of DS1, and the Iron King was, as a prince, connected to the Warriors of Sunlight, although Iron kind of went through the journey backwards and instead of becoming Buddha he became Scarface.
Stuff from Magerold's Traveling Merchant set:
Blue represents knowledge in Lanafir, but is associated with faith in Drangleic. Eagles represent wealth in Lanafir, strength in Drangleic. Lanafir is the 'farthest land to the south' and their people seem 'odd' to Drangleic natives. The traveling merchant set is also the starting set for the Explorer class. Additionally, Mags sells Gough's wood carvings.
Durgo was described as having blue eyes and being well-known-and-travelled despite Lanafir's isolationism. He's described as having defended Lanafir from aggressors with his brother-in-law. His Greatbow is made from what seem to be giant ribs and a horned skull. Durgo's ring and hat both extend arrow range, and the Twin-Headed Greatbow has the greatest range of greatbows.
Problem I have with Lanafir=Lordran: Lordran seems like it should be to the east, past the three kingdoms, not past the southern ocean.
We can say that Lanafir is heavily associated with Gough and seems to be very interested in the Iron Kingdom, Raime, and Eleum Loyce (Durgo's hat and bow are found here).
Is Zena Drangleic?
Slightly less probably. We only have Domhnall to go off.
Domhnall's helm, like Magerold's symbolizes wisdom, although in Zena horns represent wisdom. Horned noble characters: Vamos, the lady titanite demon concept art, Iron King, Mytha. I'm yet unable to get or find a good picture of Domhnall's glorious medals, but they mostly appear as copper, silver and gold coins with religious iconography, and we see a similar design on the Gyrm set, which possibly cross-references Vamos. Additionally, he appears to have access to crystalization prior to gaining access to the Duke's Archives, which could possibly also connect him to Tseldora, which I believe was originally a Gyrm settlement.
His shoulders display of what I take as a hawk of the Gough variety but not necessarily aligned with Gough.
His golden gauntlets symbolize a vanquisher and his silver-inlaid boots symbolize an explorer. Gold and silver in dark souls seems to be associated with the covetous serpent rings, with gold being item discovery and silver being increased soul gain. Doesn't seem to relate, but Ciaran I'm talking about later and Leonhard is the only other gold/silver noble I can think of and we're STILL NOT THERE YET.
Pharis
I don't think the hunter NPC from Darkroot is Pharis, but it could be, and if it isn't she's meant to be a mortal stand-in for Pharis. I think the DS1 hunter Forest Hunter may have accompanied Durgo to the Fort of Giants, based mostly on the armor set being in a chest in one of the only areas of the fort where the defenders aren't mindless zombies.
Pharis' hat is 'universally' loved by children; their gender is left ambiguous; I would really like it if the English world would come up with something better than the current bullshit with pronouns; we find the DS1 positioned in a, goddamn I must be tired I'm getting doctor seussy, sniper position between the Garden and Basin, meaning the basin may have been her stead before Seath moved in.
Pharis, whoever they originally were, was a dragonslayer and ranked alongside Gough despite being human. There's a lot to unpack there. Dragonslayer means 'was alive at the Dawn of Fire'. Ranked alongside Gough is more nebulous. Does this mean 'was as prolific as Gough?' does it mean 'there were Five Knights of Gwyn but lets easily forgotten the pygmy?' does it mean 'Hi Gwyn Here! Look, Anor Londo can't brag about having an order of blood-crazed hornet assassins acting in darkness as a pillar of empire, Pharis, so your zombie looking ass is going to play one of My Four Knights in public until you betray one of my kids for Alvina, Gough, etc,'?
In any case, Pharis was mythologized into Godhood as Evlana in Drangleic, and admiration of her, or her hat at least, continued into latter-day Farron.
Helm of the Holy
Let's say Raime and Leeroy, at some point, were contemporaries. Let's say they could say "I was there!" when Lloyd's Apostle set up shop. Let's say they both were turned undead, willingly and intentionally.
Let's say the old hero their armor is modeled after is Gough's, despite neither being a ranged character or having any apparent narrative or faction connections beyond possibly being members of the Old Way of White.
Let's say Durgo and possibly one or more Forest Hunters, acting in Gough's interests in some sense, came to Drangleic to meet with/work with/ join the cause of/potentially recruit Raime. Possibly they were brought together by Vendrick between Vendrick being, for the purposes of this work, the canonical DS1 Dark Lord (stole the lords souls and went home), and building an army of mercenaries and refugees. Possibly, if Lanafir is Lordran, Durgo joined Vendrick for the prince's return.
Let's say they agree this shit with the giants has gone too far around the time Vendrick starts scavenging ironclad and necromancing elephant monsters. They were banished. Raime went to the Forge of Alken/the Iron Kingdom, Durgo goes to the Old Chaos in...shit it's this thing again.
Look.
Ivory is not the King of Forossa. Regardless of their current gender or title they were, in Drang, Princess Venn. Forossa isn't even a kingdom by the time we arrive in Eleum Loyce. Ivory is a King of Drangleic.
Durgo goes to the Old Chaos in Venn/the Ivory Kingdom.
