Hey /tg/ wanna talk about Dark Souls lore? Theories/headcanon? Tabletop implementations?
I'll start off with some of my theories:
>Gwyn's Firstborn/Nameless Kingis Priscilla's dad andStormdrakeis her mom. He was disowned because he was adragonfucker
>Velke raised Gwyndolin, that's why he's so obsessed with retribution
>Velke pardonedGwyn's Firstborn/Nameless Kingfor his sin, which is why he was exiled and not killed. This also why her minions (Crow Demons) in the Painted World
I may be late to the party, but I think what was stolen from the giants had something to do with the dragons. Idly reading the description for the dragon bone fist got me thinking
>The Gods fused the power of the soul with
the great bones of the dragons, forming an
appropriate core for the giant golem.
I actually think that Priscilla was created artificially by Seathe, in Gwyndolin's image. I think Seathe saw a kindred spirit in Gwyndolin and was obsessed with them because they were both outcasts, and that's also why the moonlight butterfly has a similar headpiece and the same boss theme.
as for system, i don't think anyone has adequately made a game for it, some hacks and attempts, but no system.
>>46481112
Anor Londo is CLEARLY Kadath. 'Bat' demons are clearly Night-Gaunts.
>>46484531
The best parts of the game just don't really make sense as something to resolve with dice
You could just take the setting I guess, but that doesn't really need to be written out the same way as a whole game
>>46481112
I don't know any system that directly incorporates death into mechanics, so I'd be hard to run. Except Paranoia, but that has shit to do with the game.
Setting in general could be adapted into most systems, preferably combat oriented ones, obviously.
Also, not to be an ass, but it's Velka and this seems more related to /v/ than /tg/.
>>46485782
A dark souls board game was announced, if we talk about that it counts as /tg/
Also you don't necessarily have to be an undead.
>>46485941
Was it?
Also, not being an undead kind of defeats the point, they're pretty much the only exceptional non-boss beings who exist.
>>46481112
Sorry OP, but the firstborn can't have been kicked out for that because it specifically says in one of the item descriptions that he was kicked out for losing the anals of history. Don't think he could have been a dragonflucker either, because the only two dragons around in his time were Seeth (A dude) and the dragon you pray to to join the dragon covenant (whom I'm fairly sure is a dude). Or at least, he couldn't have had Priscilla that way. He COULD have been a dragonfucker I guess, I know the guy everyone likes to say is the firstborn has made some kinda awkward jokes about liking or being liked by men before...
![maxresdefault[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/ziicY3b.jpg "maxresdefault[1].jpg")
>>46481112
I'll post my Grand Theory (I can't find the lore snippets I'm looking for, so this will be a little rusty):
Dark Souls 2 Kingdom of Drangleic does not take place in Anor Londo.
Drangleic is an entirely separate country that is adjacent to Anor Londo.
Anor Londo however IS invaded by King Vendrick when he sails across the sea to steal from the Giants. He steals from them and their people the lord souls (and maybe the lord vessel, but finds it to be a useless bauble) which King Vendrick and Aldia study methodically before distributing amongst the people of their kingdom.
The Giants you see in Anor Londo and Sen's Fortress are a "people". When the lord souls were stolen from them they and their people began to hollow in their own unique way as they took on the appearance we see them in dark souls 2: their hollowed 'ring' is on their face and their bodies become wrinkled, emaciated and stony.
When beings hollow they return to the original forms they took during the beginning of time before they became possess with flame: Giants in the same sense do not become "hollows" when they've had enough but truly die and become Giant Trees- The same Giant stoney Trees that grew at the dawn of time in the age of grey and so forth.
The Giant "Hollowing" is slightly confirmed in Dark Souls 3 due to the presence and appearance of one of the Bosses: Yhorm The Giant,who at one point was a lord of cinder and a Giant who had linked the bon fires, but has since become recently hollowed and his "face" is missing.
>>46488011
Yhorm actually does have a face, you can see it if you can get Siegwald/Patchesto help you. Then again, he is a Lord of Cinder so maybe he's exceptional, just like how the MC of DaS3 isn't a Hollow.
>>46487394
>>46487394
>he was kicked out for losing the anals of history.
The item text is at odds here. Sunlight Medal:
>The symbol represents Lord Gwyn's firstborn,
who lost his deity status and was expunged
from the annals.
Ring of the Sun's Firstborn:
>Lord Gwyn's firstborn was a god of war,
but his foolishness led to a loss of the
annals, and rescinding of his deific status.
We don't actually know how many dragons there are at the time of DaS but Gaping Dragon and Hellkite Dragon are both around also, so it's not impossible, especially when you consider that Gwyndolin has memories of kid Priscilla before her imprisonment so it may have happened a long time before the Chosen Undead's adventure.
>>46485782
If Warcraft can have a lore general there's no reason for a Souls one-off.
![latest[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/y1dIXsr.png "latest[1].png")
>>46488011
More Theories:
-The Cathedral of Blue was originally built in honor of Gwynevere who had originally fled Anor Londo and crossed the sea to where Drangleic now stands. Gwynevere stayed for a time and imparted her wisdom, miracles, lore, legends and so forth onto the people as well as her taste in architecture as reminiscient by the cathedral she had built.
-The Heide Knight's Tower was built as a lighthouse to welcome and guide the paths of any Gods that might flee anor londo in the same fashion as Gwynevere did.
-This however all happened VERY early in the lands development, so much so that the entire area has had enough time to sink into the sea and the remaining survivors: Gwynevere's Giant-sized Knights as well as her host of normal sized human knights the "Heide" knights were conscripted and re-purposed into Vendrick's Army as Mercenaries and Dragon Riders.
![darksouls3[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/lUIfSxt.jpg "darksouls3[1].jpg")
>>46488281
>Yhorm actually does have a face
>Then again, he is a Lord of Cinder so maybe he's exceptional, just like how the MC of DaS3 isn't a Hollow.
Both of these statements are very true and after having watched the boss fight again; you can clearly see Yhorm's little peepers burning red.
But it still stands: Yhorm is a Giant, Yhorm is a lord of Cinder and Yhorm has "hollowed" in his own way- The absence or void growing on his face is too flagrant and obvious to outright dismiss and his resemblance with the other giants -especially the Giant King from Dark souls 2- simply can't be ignored.
I do though agree that it's entirely possible that Yhorm being a lord of Cinder can't entirely "hollow", but we could be confusing the difference between a 'past' lord of cinder and a current one like wot the player is vs the bosses they fight.
>>46484531
>>46485672
I'd run it using ORE. Works interrupts/hybrid attack-defense strategy into the core mechanic, hit locations can help to make fights more interesting. The death stuff is more something you do with the campaign. The issue is still disincentivizing it sufficiently that people will actually focus on winning, but I guess people run past fights in the games all the time. Probably just make your XP stick to the enemy that killed you, so as soon as you fuck up and die your progression is held hostage.
To represent the increase of skill with creature knowledge use a sort of perception system; finding a solid strategy to deal with something, by surviving while contributing sets to identifying weaknesses in its movements and the like. Depending on the quality of the sets you tell them more or less - a partial strategy gives an ED, a realized strategy (once you successfully score a hit while watching its movements) upgrades that to an MD, and continued watching when you already have an ED or MD against that enemy will reveal any damage vulnerabilities for that height.
Feeling a touch inspired, now. Might try to write it up in a way that makes some fucking sense.
>>46486303
You could always be unexceptional. I hear that makes for fun games sometimes.
I think tabletop games can learn a lot from Dark Souls, but not necessarily from the mechanics.
It'd be interesting to see a TTRPG built around the idea of death being a temporary setback or even an ongoing necessity, but there are so many ways that could go you'd need to have a strong core idea, since that mechanic wouldn't be enough for a game in and of itself.
Instead, I think the Souls games environmental storytelling is something a lot of GMs could learn from and incorporate into their games. Telling stories through environmental details and subtle NPC relationships, building complexity and depth in a world through things you might overlook rather than laboured exposition.
I'd also love to see more RPGs figure out how to make 'boss' mechanics work. In vidya, fighting a single huge enemy is immensely satisfying, but it's hard to figure out how to capture that same feel in games, especially considering the sense of scale.
![2606085-tumblr_n0boquikhh1tr79wjo1_250[1].gif](https://i.imgur.com/ikYniOp.gif "2606085-tumblr_n0boquikhh1tr79wjo1_250[1].gif")
>>46488360
>>46488500
MORE LORE THEORIES! LETS GO!
The Brother of Vendrick and Grand Wizard: Aldia of Drangleic discovered and understood a lot about the nature of souls, the dark soul and the various species of organisms that dwelled within the world of Dark souls and from what he gathered we can in turn learn a bit more about how the other species interact.
All living beings that are not immortal hollow in some way or another, but Aldia observed the discrepancies between certain creatures and how they reacted to hollowing: Giants as mentioned previously take AGES to truly 'hollow' and even when they do they turn into trees. Mammals though such as Rats, Dogs, Horses, etc all Hollow in a similar fashion to humans- becoming visibly undead, emaciated and eventually going insane.
Aldia worked with a number of process: researching petrification and mirror magic in hopes of 'sealing' people away to spare them the curse, he was also at a later time given records of Seath the scaleless' work and began working on human-chimeras that would be resistant or avoid the curse all together (making in the process Mastodon Knights for Vendrick)
Aldia's big breakthrough came though when he discovered Reptiles and Dragons though do not hollow: Basilisks, Drakes, Wyverns and even the humble crystal lizard NEVER HOLLOW. This discovery is what originally lead to Aldia developing his research into his obsession with breeding wyverns, tending to reptiles and attempting to turn people into Dragons in order to curb the hollowing process.
>>46489007
Doesn't the Undead Dragon in Dark Souls 1 sorta go against that?
![latest[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/uQZIrWV.jpg "latest[1].jpg")
>>46489072
>Doesn't the Undead Dragon in Dark Souls 1 sorta go against that?
Yes, it would, but to make a long story short:
I'm under the impression that every "undead" Dragon has some sort of flaw or impurity or problem within it that caused it to hollow/undead.
The reason I believe this is because the only other Undead Dragon you encounter in dark souls 1 resides in the painted world; a pocket dimension and realm devoted to housing "mistakes".
I liked demon's souls the best
>>46489267
I didn't have it mind when I made the thread but Demon's Souls and Bloodborne discussion is fine too.
>>46489169
There's also all of those half bodies in lost izalith.
I'm going to run out of bumping images pretty soon.
>>46485586
holy shit how did I never realize this. Why is nobody talking about this?
I think that the half dragons are definitely just one of the many creatures of chaos created by The Witch of Izalath. I also believe that the skeletal dragons are just ones effected by the plague of Nito, considering they're the only dragons in lore who can do toxic damage. But what of Sinh the slumbering dragon? why is he so full of poison and hate? Is he hollow as well?
>>46491598
I'll help you out with bumping but I got nothing that hasn't been said before to discuss.
>>46488281
>Patches
Only impersonates the one time i'm fairly certain.
>>46490370
The half-bodies are a copy-paste in an unfinished area.
>>46488281
>Gwyndolin has memories of kid Priscilla before her imprisonment
Where was that revealed? I don't recall any items mentioning both of them.
>>46492330
Crazy theory I liked for Bloodborne was that when you defeat the wetnurse you don't kill Mergo, it gives you the Nightmare Slain because the wetnurse was actually terrorizing Mergo to make sure it died like all the other eldritch one's children and killing the wetnurse freed Mergo from it's nightmare.
>>46492439
>Where was that revealed? I don't recall any items mentioning both of them.
The anon is making the assumption thatAldritch dreaming of Priscilla was on account of his slow eating of Gwyndolin.
>>46492439
>>46492475
Aldritch's Lifehunt miracle says that while he was eatingGwyndolinhe saw a young, pale girl crying, and from that memory he crafted a miracle.
>>46488281
The item thing seems like it could conceivably be a translation problem. A fair bit of the game's text is kind of weird and stilted, and I always assumed it was intentional, but I wouldn't be surprised that was not 100% the case.
God, how they fuck up thee, thou, thy and thine.
>>46492652
Another interesting theory is that the Blood Minister at the beginning of the game is Caryll the Rune Maker.
Considering you get the hunters rune engraved in your head at the beginning and Gehrman says blood ministers don't remember the hunters, while this one not only does but knows about paleblood, it points to someone who was intimate with some of the deeper mysteries of Yarnham.
>>46488649
Check out Pheonix Dawn Command. You play an empowered semi-divine warrior destined to die and return seven times. The only time you level up is on death, and the circumstances of your death determine what kind of new powers you can take when you come back.
![latest[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/UTaERVu.jpg "latest[1].jpg")
>>46492222
>But what of Sinh the slumbering dragon? why is he so full of poison and hate? Is he hollow as well?
Sinh is actually not full of poison and hate... Well he was full of poison, but not "hate".
Sinh found and carved himself a private den deep, deep, underground to hide himself away from the prying eyes and advances of humanity and gods- a common enough practice among many of the 'true' living and remaining dragons within dark souls. (think the dragon covenant in dark souls 1)
The "Sunken King" however founded Sinh and began worshipping the dragon (something also often done in the dark souls world) and wanted nothing more than to preserve the dragon's peaceful slumber deep underground.
Sinh HOWEVER had begun being poisoned from seeping pollution from the surface world; specifically trash, corpses and poison seeping down from the gutter and the hundreds of trash and corpse heaps being created by the kingdom of Drangleic.
Sinh was awoken though when The Sunken King's nation was invaded by the drakeblood knights: they pierced Sinh's body and pop him like a zit letting all that poison flood out and drown the city.
Sinh found out what had happened and not knowing what to do decided to simply go back to sleep- lounging around and using the ruined city as his private roost as he tries to figure things out in between killing looters.
Interestingly enough: Sinh is probably the same sort of Dragon as Kalameet given their appearance and so forth.
>>46492915
I actually backed that on Kickstarter, but its approach to death is very thematically different from Dark Souls. Still, it should be cool.
>>46492270
>>46492330
>>46492470
>>46492531
>>46492604
>>46492893
What's the story behind these? I haven't played bloodborne
>>46493116
There's an NPC you talk to through a window at the beginning of the game. He offers advice and direction, with his dialogue changing as you beat bosses. He gets sicker and sicker until he turns into a beast at one point.
>>46493184
Here is another tale.
A young girl worried about her father, who has gone out to hunt beasts, and her mother, who has gone in search him.Sadly you have only bad news to tell.
>>46493216
Depending on how you talk to her, she either locks the doors and hides. Or she leaves, seeking safety.
>>46493243A poor decision.
Anon, pls.
>>46493300
Fine, I'll post the rest.Though it's completely non-canon.
>>46493266
>>46493184
I love souls games
>>46493394
...And like that I feel wonderful.
>>46494064
i wish we could see what his armor looked like in prime condition
>>46489169
You're forgetting the one in the valley of the drakes.
Last OP bump.
>>46491714
Because dream quest of kadath is a relatively unknow story by lovecraft, that doesn't fit his usual narrative of doom & gloom.
This said, the flight from Sen fortress to anor londo is a clear homage to that book. That tipped me off.
>>46494064
I always liked the implication from that set that the Ivory King was a woman, since the set has that really weird buff where it gives you life on killing an enemy of the opposite gender. This wouldn't actually be implying shit, except that it's completely useless if you aren't a woman, as there's like., five enemies in the entire game that count as female for the armor to work. Well, that and the fact that the Loyce armor states that the king never took off his armor, and so the knights did the same in his honor.
Still, it's an interesting idea that being a "king" in souls standards has more to do with personal skill and power than the actual linguistic definition of king.
>>46492425
It's still part of the game and thus, the lore.
>>46496697
>It's still part of the game and thus, the lore.
Not really, the common perception is that they're more a placeholder enemy for something else. Izalith isn't actually full of walking dragon asses. Izalith is the most unfinished part of the game.
How am I supposed to wait 5 more days for this game, lads?
>>46500898
I'm repeatedly smashing my head against the wall. It's a poor replacement, but it keeps the edge off.
>>46500898
>>46501147
Personally, I just repeatedly listen to "Dancer of the Boreal Valley" and occasionally "Vord of the Boreal Valley" whenever I feel the urge.
I've watched some lets plays of Dark Souls and Bloodborne, but have yet to play any myself. Did buy a PS3 finally some time ago and after catching up on my Metal Gears, I'm guessing my next step is Demon's Souls. If I enjoy it, will look into DS1 and 2 on the PC.
I always wanted to try out the Souls' series storytelling method in tabletop. Just droping the players in a world to explore and have them piece everything together from item descriptions an unreliable NPCs.
I'd probably write up some cards with item descriptions like in the games and hand them to the players whenever they find new people/objects/locations. In fluff the players would be afflicted by a curse, not necessarily undeath, that would show them memories when triggered, possibly those of other people with the curse.
But I'm afraid that in praxis this would be the hardly any different from regular tabletop storytelling unless I let my players run into dead ends until they get that I won't just make up the story they want to hear.
>>46500898
Prepare a Dark Souls campaign so that when your players think you're being a normal person again you can annoy them even more. Or you can enroll in university, that's been working for me so far.
Just don't watch any videos or streams. I spoiled the final boss for me with 10 badly timed minutes.
>>46492470
The one thing about Bloodborne I had a hard time understanding is what was up with the Mergo fight and the Great Ones connection to babies. Anyone able to clear up why there were so many Great One babies like child of Kos and Mergo even though not being able to have children is a plot point for them?
>>46501708
I think that it's not that they can't have children, but that shit always happens when they try. They all want kids, but if they try to have one with a mortal, you either get something like Ariana's baby or it kills the mother, or you die before the whole thing can finish like Kos.
Plus it's part of the game's massive pile of double entendre's with its own name.
BLOOD.
BORNE.Get it, because babies?
>>46489169
The undead Dragons are not that way from hollowing. Rather they were exposed to Gravelord Nito's miasma of death and plagues back during the beginning of the age of fire when the first lords fought the dragons for control of the world
>>46501708
At some point many of the great ones ascend for what ever reason (either they loss the ability to reproduce or they where being hunted by moon presence), The ones left over needed babies (to continue lineage or just for numbers) use humans for that need and in exchange they give dreams.
>>46482150
I thought that the King stole the secret of animation? Isn't that why there are so many golems at the castle?
So is the DLC for Bloodborne worth getting? I'm looking for something to tale off the edge for the next few days? Is there still co-op in the game or will I need to go it alone?
>>46501954
You telling me it's not the blood-borne disease spread in the town? I cannot accept that.
>>46481112
Priscillais still alive in Dark Souls 3
>>46485782
Wraith World.
>The most important feature of Wraith World is that your character can live on in two ways at the end of their adventures. Either, through the birth of a son or by achieving great deeds that grant them a place in THE BOOK OF LEGENDS.
>As far as fluff is concerned, player characters are given the chance to obtain the status of Wraith in death. NPCs cannot become Wraiths. Once a character dies or retires, it's soul and body are taken to the Netherworld, where it rests and awaits an opportunity to come back to the material plane of Gaia and challenge future generations of heroes. Wraiths that are defeated in combat are not destroyed, but are simply placed back in THE BOOK OF LEGENDS.
>>46504312Is there finally a covenant to protect her fluffy tail, or is she just a boss again? Is she still stuck in the painting?
>>46504239
The Old Hunters is extremely worth it I think. Tons of new weapons, bosses, lore and stuff for a single DLC.
>>46487394
From stated that the Dragon Covenant dragon is canonically female as she is a Firekeeper.
>>46504296
It's all the entendre's.
All of them.
>>46504239
I've seen upwards of thirty different player/spirits around the past few days and co-op queues average around 2minutes.
>>46494637
I'm actually using that sword for my cleric build, I really like the design
>>46504312
>Priscillais still alive in Dark Souls 3You mean her daughter Yorshka?
>>46504296
Off the top of my head.
>blood borne disease
>blood you level up with
>the old blood
>people going blood crazed
>the vilebloods
>the one reborn
>the great ones not being able to have children
>Annalise wanting to give birth to a child of blood
>Paleblood
>the game's symbol spelling out the name.
>Ariana having a baby
And a million more, not counting lore speculation.WE NEED MORE PUNS
I NEED DARK SOULS 3.
I CAN'T WAIT ANYMORE.
>>46503650
Yes it is. I'm saying that I think that the secret of animation had something to do with the bodies of dragons or some such, as evidenced in the description of one of the first golems we see in the series.
Perhaps with limited resources, aldia was tasked with creating more dragons in order to produce more such materials so drangleic could have all the golems they wanted, as silly as that sounds.
>>46493184
I don't recall the man turning into a beast, or the man at all? I've played through it multiple times, where is that?
>>46513531
First lantern after you leave the clinic.
>>46513531
His name is Gilbert. You can interact with him at the window next to the very first lantern you reach in the game, he'll give you the flamesprayer at one point.
What do you guys think Gwyn linked the fire to?
A bump, then farewell.
>>46496395
fuck off tumblr
How do humans become undead? Where does the curse come from?
>>46510702
I was more thinking the double meaning of the title. How you have blood-borne, like a disease, and you have blood born, as in born from the blood or given life by the blood.
Can anyone explain me what happened at the end of Dark Souls 2 SOTFS?
I just finished it yesterday and I'm still confused?
Are there actual stories/scenarios in these games that are not fan theories?
>>46516394
it's not a curse, humans began as the undead and once they get humanity they became standard humans.
>>46492932
poor sinh, he didn't do anything wrong. He just wanted to nap.
>>46517116
Not sure if this is technically true since only those who bear the dark sign become hollowed.
>>46517102
Most sense I can make of the Aldia plot line is that he is trying to convince you to forsake the throne and not repeat the same mistake as his brother, Vendrick. He riddles you throughout your adventure to see if you believe the King's mistake is one worth repeating or not.
>>46516394
>How do humans become undead? Where does the curse come from?
It's just the natural process of the world. So much so that by the time dark souls 2 has rolled around people not only expect it to happen but prepare for it to happen: The throne of want or whatever in dark souls 2 is just a massive "kiln" where a designated chosen undead is placed inside and their humanity burned to feed a flame for another age of fire.
It was established in Dark souls 2 & 3 that KINGS in the "soul universe" are acknowledge based entirely on their eligibility as fuel for a lands first flame or whatever they have available to them.
>>46517102
>Can anyone explain me what happened at the end of Dark Souls 2 SOTFS?
The Chosen Undead/Cursed essentially abandons the age of fire in order to wander the land as it succumbs to an age of darkness.
>>46481112
I have a question.
Where the hell do you learn about the lore?
I read some item descriptions, but it doesn't give much, and aside from that and some dialogs, I've never seen much explanations playing the games (though I never went really far, because I suck at them).
>>46517250
>>46517309
Thanks, I'm also watching Dark Souls lore videos, it makes more sense to me now.
>>46517309
>The Chosen Undead/Cursed essentially abandons the age of fire in order to wander the land as it succumbs to an age of darkness.
That's if you chose the Dark Ending.
The video games are casual garbage that just rely on "LEL U DIDNT NO THAT SO U DIED LE EPIC HARDCORE XD" shit. But I'd pay big bucks to play a tabletop of it that actually was difficult and had some interesting lore. And it's possible. Fuck, they made Hotline Miami into a tabletop, so this should be possible.
>>46517250
Yeah, Aldia's ending really seemed to me to be an interesting twist on the 'Dark' ending from the first game. Since the main ending leaves it open whether or not you link the flame, the Aldia ending basically boils down to Aldia convincing you to say "fuck the flame, fuck the cycle, fuck this bullshit. I can't hollow anymore because king reasons, so I'm gonna go figure out option three."
I find it very satisfying, in a way that the original game's tragedy endings weren't. That might just be me not liking tragedies much though.
>>46517599
Sounds like someone ragequit at Sen's Fortress.
>>46517633
Nope, all of them so far have been piss easy. A cheap death out of nowhere is not actual difficulty. But I usually play roguelikes and grand strategy when it comes to video games anyway, so I'm used to unfair shit. Dark Souls is cheap and not actually difficult. Cut out the first few random deaths the game gives you and you can just walk through the entire thing. Minesweeper is more difficult than the Souls series.
>>46516394
>>46517250
When the world was all foggy and full of dragons, there was no life or death, just a bunch of raisin people mindlessly shuffling around caves. Fire gave them the ability to live and not just exist, but also let them die. When the fire starts to fade things gradually revert to that original state, resulting in what looks like a plague of undeath.
And there's where the god/human distinction becomes important. Humans benefit from the fire, but they won't immediately shrivel up without it because they still have the dark soul (humanity) as a backup. Gods are running on pure fire, so they're fucked if it runs out.
>>46517819
Where can I find a good summary of the story of the first 2 games?
>>46517913
I'll give you a brief summary. Do you just want the actual game events or the hidden lore and bits of story and legend hidden throughout?
![latest[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/ol2rsCU.jpg "latest[1].jpg")
>>46517913
>Where can I find a good summary of the story of the first 2 games?
I've just been going to the dark souls wikis and searching for "plot", but I can give a summary as well of what essentially is going.
And provided this anon delivers: >>46518060
You can draw your own ideas from what the spill over of what we say.
>Dark Souls 1
Gwyn (The sun/king God) shepherds humanity as God king of their land and leads the humans, gods and giants into an age of 'fire' after his successful defeat of the dragons from the age of grey. Gwyn however notices that the age of fire will not last forever and the various lords attempt to recreate, kindle or bolster the fire: bonfires are made, undead are burned, the witch of Isalith attempts to make a 'new' flame and ends up making demons.
Gwyn finally has had enough though and creates a massive 'bonfire' to the first flame which he throws himself into; burning his soul and body to fuel the "first flame" and artifically extend the age of fire.
This is only a temporary fix though and Dark souls 1 takes place after this extended age of fire has begun to end: The Chosen undead collects numerous souls to make them more powerful and increase the grandness of their own soul and humanity so they'd make a sufficient sacrifice to the fire OR to withstand the age of darkness if they choose not to light the fire.
>>46517913
So long ago the world was ruled by dragons, but four godlike lords discovered the Lordsouls and used them to wrest control from the eternal dragons, wiping most of them out. This is also when the dark soul was discovered by the furtive Pygmy, who would become the predecessor of mankind.
Fastforward to ten present day, you are a cursed Undea who bears the dark sign, the appearance of which heralds the beginning of the end times. Undead like yourself are locked up in an old asylum and you have been rotting here for an indeterminate amount of time when another undead in armor drops you a key to make good your escape. You meet up with your savior, Oscar, to find him dying and he asks you to take up his quest and travel to Lordran. You agree and he gives you his estus flask, which contains powerful healing magic of the sun. You defeat your captor, a wandering demon preying on the undead within the asylum, and make your way out only to be gripped by a giant crow and carried off to the land of kings, Lordran.
When you arrive you meet a crestfallen warrior, another who seems to be on the same quest you fin yourself upon and he informs you that the path to Sen's Fortress is sealed and that a pair of bells must run to open the gate. You journey through undead burg, a city full of hollows who might once have been attempted heroes like yourself or may have lived here before losing their minds and humanity. You meet solaire, a member of the brotherhood of sunlight and he explains to you how time and space are strange here and can be manipulated and that undead can call for aid across these worlds and he shows you how. You free Lautrec, a man locked away and he thanks you. You defeat the two gargoyles guarding the belfry tower, possibly with solaire's and lautrec's aid and ring the first bell.
![osnohiruircex3nockf8[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/WONkirD.jpg "osnohiruircex3nockf8[1].jpg")
>>46518171
>Dark Souls 2
Across the world of Dark souls numerous kingdoms rise and fall all while the age of fire continues to be artifically extended again and again through the process of sacrificing or burning especially magnificent souls. King Vendrick and his brother Aldia are two such souls: using all of their powers they wrestle control of a distant country and it's neighboring kingdoms and form the unified nation of "Drangleic".
Drangleic is made famous for it's splendor, extravagance and martial prowess- attracting many people from around the world to pay tribute to the lords of the land and so forth. King Vendrick though and Aldia have done this for one singular purpose: to find a cure for the curse of the undeath and escape the cycle of fire and darkness.
King Vendrick attempts to research the nature of souls and in doing so crosses the sea and wages war with the Giants of Anor londo: stealing from them the secrets of golems, souls and their lord souls.
Aldia researches ways to circumvent or change the nature of humanity: researching giants, breeding wyverns, successfully creating a dragon and producing several human/dragon/animal hybrids before disappearing.
Eventually though the Giants invade the land of Drangleic and lay seige to it for THREE GENERATIONS before their king is defeated and sealed underground. The war however has weighed heavily on Drangleic and it's king; turning them both into a shell of their former self.
Seeing no other alternative: King Vendrick flees from his fate to assume the throne of want (a massive kiln where chosen/rulers are burned to extend the age of fire) and instead seals himself away deep, deep, underground within their kingdoms crypts- threatening Drangleic with an age of darkness.
The Chosen undead in Dark souls 2 is a person who's gone hollow and seeks a cure for their curse; edged on by nothing but rumors they scour Drangleic for the cure and answers.
![eded58fddc8ec56e39fcabf08d55dffd[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/TkfQa3W.jpg "eded58fddc8ec56e39fcabf08d55dffd[1].jpg")
>>46518171
>>46518290
Now, here are the SUPER DUPER DARK SOULS 3 SPOILERS CONCERNING THE ENDINGS OF THE FIRST TWO GAMES.
These are VERY MUCH SPOILERS, so avert your mouse hovers if you wish for them to retain virginal.
ALSO KEEP IN MIND: This has been skimmed from conversations, item descriptions and from the environments so this could change depending on what's translated.
>Dark souls 1 Canon Development.The Fire is linked and Gwyndolin having been the only god to survive/remain inherits all of anor londo and begins ruling and guiding the surviving/remaining humans and giants as their patron god. Gwyndolin's influence spreads across their culture, traditions, miracles and so forth and Anor londo changes from a land of sunlight to a land of almost "twilight" a kingdom of "dusk" sort to speak. The kingdom of Anor londo develops the custom of "heirs of cinder": Humans and Giants with fantastic souls that had previously burned themselves on the first fire to extend the age and exist to appoint a "lord of cinder" who among them would inherent their souls and further the tradition.
>>46518271
The asylum demon doesn't prey on the undead in the asylum, it just makes sure none leave, that's why it wanders around the roof near the exit, ready to jump down
![latest[1].jpg](https://i.imgur.com/DdnvhkY.jpg "latest[1].jpg")
>>46518393
Dark souls 2 fate is also mentioned -very, very briefly and more subtly- so HERE IS YOUR WARNING IF YOU WISH TO REMAIN UNSPOILED. AVERT YOUR CURSORS.
>Dark souls 2 Canon DevelopmentThe Chosen/Cursed one ends up not linking the fire and instead rejects the cycle in favor of an age of darkness: taking upon themselves the Emerald herald as a spouse/mate, collecting the crowns of King Vendrick and the sunken kings and becoming something rumored as a "King of Hollows." Drangleic and most of it's own culture and the neighboring culture of it's kingdoms falls into obscurity or disappears with a few exceptions (mainly hexes).
>>46518271
You travel into the underbelly of the city, battling demons prowling the city as well as a horrible diseased dragon, possibly rescuing a sorceror and a pyromancer along the way and make your way through the blight town beneath it into the great swamp the whole city is suspended above. Here you meet Quelag, one of the children of the Witch Izalith warped into a spider monster and defeat her to ring the second bell. You may find her sister, the pale lady, one of the last daughters of chaos who is slowly dying and needs a steady supply of humanity to recover.
When you return to firelink shrine the bonfire is extinguished and the firekeeper that tended it has been murdered. A priestess and her procession of clerics prepare to depart to the city catacombs to recover the rite of kindling. A primordial serpent has awakened and introduces himself as Kingseeker Frampt, a servant of Gwyn. He explains that the fire is dying and Gwyn left some time ago to rekindle it. If the fire should ever go out the age of gods would end and darkness would reign supreme. He tells you that you are the chosen undead and that it falls to you to replace Gwyn and seek the Lord Vessel in Anor Londo beyond Sen's Fortress.
You travel through the winding traps and travails of Sen's Fortress battling giants and serpent men, freeing a sage, assisting an onion armored knight, and besting a golem to be carried by winged demons off into the sky.
You are left in a glorious golden city of eternal sunlight that can only be Anor Londo. Its guardians, silver knights, harry you as you travel to the inner halls. You are confronted by the Dragonslayer Ornstein, one of Gwyn's four knights, and the giant Executioner Smough. Defeating them you meet Gwynevere, and giant woman and daughter of Gwyn who bestows the Lord Vessel upon you allowing you to travel through the linked flames.
You take the Lord Vessel to the Altar of Kings guided by Frampt and release the seals Gwyn has set.
>>46485782
My brother and I adapted D&D 5th edition pretty well.
We created custom weapon rules where every weapon had some sort of unique niche (variences for battleaxe v. Longsword v. warhammer.)
That, combined with death occurring the instant you hit 0 HP. Between these two it was a very nail biting fight from bonfire to bonfire. Just the way a multiplayer dark souls RPG ought be in my opinion.
>>46518518
Frampt tells you that you must collect the Lord Souls in order to secure passage through the great doors of the altar to the First Kiln.
You Journey to destroy Seathe the Scaleless, traitor to dragon kind in a grand library called the duke's archive where he studies secrets to immortality. He is seemingly invulnerable and defeats you easily, throwing you in a cell below his tower. You free yourself and the sage you met earlier, who has come to learn Seathe's secrets, and learn his immortality comes from a crystal hidden in the caves below. You descend into the caves only to be confronted by Seathe again, but destroying his phylactery allows you to kill him and claim the Bequeathed Lord Soul, gifted to Seathe by Lord Gwyn.
You journey into the catacombs to defeat Nito, the first to Die and master of the Gravewardens. Foul necromancers resurrect endless legions of skeletons but you put them down with holy weapons or by killing their dark masters. Patches, a traveler of some sort, introduces himself and seems suspicious of you until you confirm you are not a cleric. He 'mistakenly' triggers a trap on you but apologizes and you go on your way. You find a Pinwheel Demon performing the Rite of Kindling using the last humanity of various hollows and defeat him, stealing his secrets. Further on, in the pitch black Tomb of the Giants, you find patches again and he kicks you over a ledge and says he'll come gather your things after you starve to death. In the pit you find the Priestess you met earlier. She and her clerics were tricked by patches and her guards have become hollows. You rescue her and climb out to confront patches and he begs for his life. You pass down further and kill Nito and his army of the undead, gaining his Lord Soul.
>>46518640
Make sure you don't forget the DLC stuff
>>46518640
Through your Journey you begin to realize not everything is right in Anor Londo. You use a stone you found where the Firelink firekeeper was killed to travel to the world of Lautrec and avenge the firekeeper, killing him and taking back her soul, which you then use to revive her, for which she speaks her first words of thanks. A strange painting, guarded by robed figures, holds a hidden world within it and you find it to be a prison for the Half-Breed Priscilla, daughter of Seethe. You also come to realize Gwynevere is an illusion, the real one having fled across the sea when the fires began to fade. The illusion is maintained by Dark Sun Gwyndolin, Gwyn's second son, who also maintains the permanent sunlight upon Anorlondo as well as organizing the Darkmoon Hunters who seek out and destroy those who act unlawfully in his father's realm. Attacking Gwynevere or facing Gwyndolin dispells the illusion and reveals Anor Londo to be a kingdom shrouded in darkness.
You continue your journey to the Ruins of Lost Izalith beneath the great swamp and destroy the ceaseless discharge, a warped son of one of the witches of Izalith the exudes lava from his body, passing into the depths revealed after the lava cools. You kill countless demons, including a fearsome centipede demon and gain its ability to walk over lava. Here you meet Solaire again in a crisis of faith. He has been on a quest to find his own Sun and is beginning to lose hope that he will ever find such. After crossing a vast expanse of lava and killing another daughter of Chaos you find Solaire, possessed by a creature called a sunlight maggot which makes its host see glowing lights before it, and are forced to kill him. The Witch Izalith herself has been warped into the Bed of Chaos: a failed attempt to recreate the First Flame the resulted in her and all her children becoming monstrous creatures. You slay the last remnant of the witch and claim her Lord Soul.
>>46518737
In the great swamp you also find a passage down an ancient primordial tree to the ash lake, the bottom of the world before it was shaped by the gods. Here you find the last immortal dragon, hidden away from the mortal world above.
The last soul to collect belongs to the Four Kings of New Londo, a human city founded in the shadow of Anor Londo. The city is filled with ghosts and flooded. You find you must curse yourself in order to defeat these accursed beings and make your way to find one of the Sealers standing guard over the dead city. He explains that the city fell to corruption and that the lure of the abyss tempted the kings into unleashing the dark wraiths upon their citizens, souls who prey upon the humanity of others to gain ever greater power. He sees you have the lord vessel and understands the significance, so he allows you to drain the city, setting the dark wraiths free once more. But even fighting your way to the dark depths of the abyss you find you cannot walk through the abyss.
You travel to the darkroot garden to find the grave of Artorias, the Abysswalker, another knight of Gwyn. He is legendary for having walked into the abyss to battle the forces of evil untainted. In your travel you slay a Hydra and rescue a strange woman named Dusk of Oolacile, a woman out of time. The same place you find her a rift appears to have appeared that reacts to a pendant you found in Seathe's study. A shadowy hand grabs you and pulls you through the void.
You find yourself in Oolacile in the distant past and after defeating the guardian of the sanctuary on it outskirts you meet a talking Mushroom that explains what has befallen the kingdom. The abyss has arisen and spread out to claim the city after its people fell to the temptations of a primordial serpent. She asks that you rescue Princess Dust from its grip and you set out to do so. You are horrified to find Artorias himself, corrupted by the abyss, and are forced to kill him
I favor the theory that Haval was trying to kill Gwyn and find it possible that DarkStalker Kaathe is the one who convinced him to do it.
Ive often pondered though......Artorius and Ornstien aren't human, and Hawk-Eye Gogh certainly isnt human. Why is havel smaller than everyone else who seems to live there? Or is he in all likelyhood a really small Giant.
Was he even hollow?
>>46518864
You realize something is terribly wrong but you make your way into the depths of the city, killing the warped citizens of Oolacile and their strange dark magics. You find a silver pendant, one of the relics of Artorias, which protects you from the darkness. You find horrifying phantoms throughout the abyss, humanity reduced down to its purest darkest form, and are lead by a mysterious phantom of a cat to find a massive Wolf Pup under siege by the phantoms. You rescue Sif, the Wolfhound of Artorias, and claim Artorias' shield. In the deepest reaches of the Abyss you confront Manus, the Father of the Abyss. This is what has become of the furtive pygmy, who hid the dark soul in the souls of humanity that it might grow and multiply. You slay him alongside Sif and rescue Dust. But she is so weak and nearly unconscious and mistakes you for Artorias, which is doubtless how his legend will come to be.
When you pass by where you fought Artorias you find a grave erected in his honor and Ciarn, one of Gwyn's knights, paying her respects. She asks for Artorias' soul and gives you her weapons in return before leaving to mourn for her fallen companion.
One of the last dragons, Kalameet, roams these lands, and with the help of the giant Hawkeye Gough, the last Knight of Gwyn, and his massive bow you bring the dragon down.
Back in the present day you sneak past the forest hunter covenant to the grave of Artorias. Before you desecrate the grave, Sif confronts you. He recognizes you and howls in pain, but stands against you anyways to protect his master's grave. You slay your onetime companion and take the Abysswalker's Ring.
>>46519009
Leaving the Darkroot Garden you may be confronted by Havel, the Rock, once a highly respected Bishop, one of Gwyn's Generals and the bane of many a mage. He attempts to crush you with a massive dragon tooth with little warning.
You return to New Londo and defeat the four Kings, claiming the portion of Gwyn's soul that he gave to them back when they were men of honor and righteousness. In the shadows lies Darkstalker Kaathe. He could explain that Frampt is a liar and is using you. To be Gwyn's heir is to accept death, linking the fire and prolonging the age of the Gods at the cost of your own soul. The end of the flame would usher in a grand new age of darkness. An age without gods. An age of Man.
Having collected all of the Lord Souls you use the Lord Vessel to break the seal on the Altar of the First flame and enter the Great Kiln of the First Flame far down in the unshaped primordial depths of the world. Gwyn's legion of knights, their armor scorched black in the flames of the Kiln, stand between him and you. When you reach Gwyn very little of him is left. He has become the Lord of Cinder, his own soul burning away to maintain the link between the First Flame and the world above. The once greatest of gods is still quite capable however and it takes a long exchange of blows before you snuff out what little remains of his flame.
You are now left with a choice. To link the flame, consuming yourself in the process, or let it extinguish and usher in the Dark Age of Humanity as it's Dark Lord. The Primordial Serpents standby, watching.
>>46518737
>Half-Breed Priscilla, daughter of Seethe.
>implying Priscilla isn't the daughter of the Nameless King
>>46519144
>The Nameless Cuck
>Father
>>46519312
He's a dragoncuck, that's why he was stripped of his deific status.
Am I the only one sad that you couldn'tmake Sir Oscar drink his estus flask, or drag him to the bonfire?
>>46519544
Not as sad asnot being able to heal Eileen with a vial and carrying her back to Cathedral Ward to keep her safe.
>>46519560
Or Solaire, Onion Knight, Pyromancer, Sif, Logan, Logan's bitch apprentice, orthe Crestfallen Warrior. You inspire him enough to try again and he fails and turns hollow immediately.
>>46519617
>tfw Onion in DS3 can get a happy ending.
>>46519669Its Dark Souls, there are No happy endings
>>46519712
>implying
>>46519972
secret ending confirmed for best ending
>>46520206
Wait what?
>>46520223
Bloodborne's secret ending is the best.
Did you not get the secret ending, anon?
>>46520269
Not played. Only played demons and dark 1&2
>>46513790
I wish the girls would just get along.
>>46520720
the secret ending is thatafter killing an elder god, you become a slug-like human/eder hybrid, which is the next step in human evolution.Or something like that.
>>46520751
>>46520763
So why were the Living Failures considered a failure? They certainly were a greater challenge and were tougher than that joke Celestial Emissary
>>46520884
Because their purpose was to be mediators between mankind and Old Ones. And they failed at that.
>>46520884
The living failures were originally supposed to be ambassadors between humans and the Old Ones, to facilitate communication (turns out, there's only so much you communicate simply by keeping your arms at a right angle).
They were not able to mediate between man and celestial, and because of this, they are failures.
>>46519095
Also, Is the Dark Age of Humanity actually bad? It might have been a lie so the "gods" can hold the power and control they created themselves by the fire.
>>46517675
the souls series is "difficult" because it treats the players like thinking humans instead of being either unfair or holding them by the hand. this is proven by soul level 1 naked runs while most others still think it is difficult.
you appear to already have gitten (?) gud, but since sens fortress i launch an arrow at ever chest i see
>>46521341
That's true, its a game in wich you need to learn it, and then it reward you for that, but its not really HARDCORE
>>46521374
It's only considered hard by this age of faggots who have to be led by the ring in their nose
>>46496395
Maybe he was ready to kill his bride. Just in case.
>>46521475
well , you can make it only this difficult if you plan it to be beatable by skill alone while many other games depend on power level , grinding and equipment aside from player skill. if you would give realistic stats to most bigger enemies / bosses tho, you would be fucked anyway
if you go sl 1 naked , this is hardcore
>>46518966
I far as i've concluded:
Gwyn and his knights are gods (A race generally larger in stature, status, souls and power. No signs of hollowing except perhaps Gwyn) with a few exceptions: Gough and havel.
Giants are anouther race and include Sen's fortress giants, Anor Londo blacksmith, Gough and Smough. Giants were shunned by at least some gods regardless of their status but Gwen clearly dosen't care much since Gough is appointed so prestigiously.
Humans are smaller than most gods generally lower class have humanity and are capable of hollowing. Anor londo is biult for all large and small humanoids and Gwen is shown not to be rasist when other are, so there's no reason why humans couldn't fight along side gods against the dragons. Also keep in mind Havel was a bishop and the game does show that humans do worship the gods. When hollowed a human prunes up, doesn't speak and attacks you on sight without provokation. Havel, if human, fits this bill.
The only god i'd discribe as hollowed is Gwen which could be to do with his connedtion to bonfires and so humanity. Artorious could be said to be hollowed or shows traits of hollowing and this is also ties to the abyss and so humanity.
>>46517633
I've honestly found Blighttown more frustrating than Sen's Funhouse. Traps at least stay in place and usually have some hints around the, the blowdart fucks came out of nowhere. Also I didn't have controls so firmly in hand yet.
>>46521871
Whay some humans are so huge, though? Like Vendrick or Velstadt.
>>46522081
Vendrick took a lot of giant souls and to link the flame himself he'd have to be fairly powerful personally. I know in the developer notes on the the Gaping Maw Dragon they said it became what it was because the Age of Fire allowed it and other things to be warped by emotions and desire, so maybe all the big humanoid bosses got that way because their powerful souls warped their bodies.
>>46522174
Literal rule of cool, I love that.
So that final boss in DS3HOLY FUCK THAT PHASE TWO MUSIC
>>46522583
I know right? The moment it kicked in the nostalgia and mindblowing hit me like a ton of bricks.
>>46522768
Got a link?
>>46522860
On mobile, sorry. Just go to YouTube, search "Soul of Cinder Theme" and wait for 2 minutes in
>>46520206
>>46501229
Demons Souls is the first one, Dark souls is the good one, dark souls 2 is the ok one, dark souls 3 comes out in a week.
But if you have a PS4, then fuck souls and go play Bloodborne. Same damn game with more visciousness and tricorner hats.
One thing I've always wanted to know, how come a lot of the enemy hollows are so much bigger than the player? I know it's just to make them look more imposing, but is there a canon explanation? Mutation from hollowfication? Were people just bigger back then?
>>46525741
Eh, I'll just wait for the PC release.
>>46525877
yup, Giants. and this game is made by the japanese so you can't just be taller.
>>46525899
>I'll just wait for the PC release.
>Bloodborne
I have some bad news for you anon.
>>46525877
Pygmies are naturally tall. It's the Humanity within the humans inherenting the spirit/form of the furtive one that makes us small
So who the fuck was this guy?
He was weird
>>46526416
Just another guy pulled in like you.
>>46525995
It's scheduled right after PC version of Demon's Souls.
>>46526446
He wasn't pulled from Lordran for sure
>>46494637
I love that sword. So much. I'd wield it when i invaded dressed as Skelitor.
I just sorta wish Dark Souls 2 had better lore for some of its bosses than really loyal knight of Vendrick who is Likely hollow and contruct of vendrick and aldia's creation (like my boy the pursuer)
>>46525995
What do you mean?
http://www.kdramastars.com/articles/80705/20150406/bloodborne-pc-release.htm
>>46526686
That would be cool if it were true.
>>46522209
Yeah, its a lore sticking point but dark souls 2 gets a lot friendlier when you just equate size with power and not species.
I'm actually playing Dark Souls for the first time, and I'm wondering, why is everything in ruins? Why is everyone dead? It's.. kind of depressing.
>>46526839
because you're in a middle to late stage slow-death post-apocalypse
>>46526839
You're at the end of an age.
>>46526839
The Fire Fades
>>46526839
It is literally the end of reality. The first flame is dying, and with it the Age of Gods is ending, and everyone is either in a mad dash to save it, loot it, or run away from it.
Didn't you pay attention to the opening?
Also because the creator is a massive Berserk and Lovecraft fanboy
>>46526884
>>46526890
>>46526966
>>46526990
I guess I misunderstood. I was looking up more things about lore earlier and I read something about how the Age of Gods was ending to make way for the Age of Man, and I didn't think it was actually an apocalypse, just changing to a new era.
Also, is it ever stated what role the furtive pygmy played? Or was nothing said because the pygmy didn't do anything? Apologies if these are questions that get answered as I play along, I just get too curious about lore and what's happening that I end up looking things up to learn more.
>>46527147
Do you have the DLC? Furtive Pygmy was the one who sired the human race, then eventually became Manus, the Primeval Man, Father of the Abyss
Also, Age of Man is either a lie by Kaathe or its actually awful, since hollows and the like are the true forms of humanity. The Age of Man is essentially the Age of Darkness, as humanity is born of the Dark Soul.
>>46527147
>>46527285
Keep in mind that Dark Souls says very few things explicitly. These are common interpretations (Look up vaatiVidya on Youtube for some incredibly insightful and detailed videos on Dark Souls lore), but so much is left up to the player to puzzle out for themselves, the game is more about you telling your own story through the prompts the game gives you and how you react to them.
>>46527371
>Look up vaatiVidya on Youtube
Adding to this: Silver Mont and PlagueofGripes are also good for this as well
>>46526496
Probably a Hunter from Yharnam that through all the time and space fuckery that is going on during the night of the Hunt somehow wound up in Oolacile.
>>46527371
>Look up Vaati
Look man, I'm all for memeing, but the dude's content is like, 80% lifted from /vg/ and the wikis. It's hardly insightful.
>>46527285
>>46527371
I don't have the DLC, I didn't think I'm high level enough to do whatever things the DLC adds since I just started, so I was planning on just buying and downloading it once I'm at a higher level. Did the DLC add more lore stuff? I asked a friend and he told me it was just an extra boss fight.
So basically, humanity is bad and the age of man is bad? That.. sucks.
Thank you though, I'll watch their videos whenever I take a break from playing, which will probably be soon because I keep dying. Fucking Blighttown, no wonder I kept seeing all those messages about sorrow and despair ahead.
>>46527439
Except he's explicitly from Carim.
Personally, I just think he's some asshole Noble or something from Carim who pissed off the wrong people, ran off to Lordran, and it just so happened his good luck charm was Manus's necklace or something.
>>46527465
Are you playing it on PC? If so, you should have all the DLC by default.
>>46527473
Is he? Shit I never really bother with him so I never learned his lore past his basic dialog and appearance.
Neato.
>>46527487
No, I'm on ps3.
Now I wish I got it on pc instead
>>46527465
>Did the DLC add more lore stuff? I asked a friend and he told me it was just an extra boss fight.
Your friend is either a lier or an idiot.
It adds quie a few important bits of Lore
Also, humanity isn't "bad" per say. Light and Dark are two sides of the same coin. The Dark only became a problem when Gwyn created Bonfires to extend his age of light and turn Humanity into a fuel source. This in turn aggravated the Dark, causing it to become dangerous and consumptive. This is further exacerbated by the fact that, since its feared, generally Evil people are the ones who seek to use the Darkness, like Kaathe and the Darkwraiths.
Light represents Ambition and Enlightenment. Dark represents Emotion and Resignation. It's when either holds sway alone that problems happen
>>46522081
Everything is larger in DS2. Compare giants, I'd almost say they're different races.
DS2 takes place long long after DS1 it's plausable to say inhabitants got bloated/engourged on the souls/power since gwen and his crew have left.
>>46527727
Wow, I'll be sure to get the DLC now then. What's a good level to fight Artorias? I'm afraid of fighting him and losing all the humanity I've gotten. I'm currently lvl 41.
And thanks for the explanation. I think it's really cool how they tell the story without actually telling it, but I am not a bright man at all so most of these things just slip through me.
>>46528148
Depends, what is your build and how far in the game have you gotten?
Also, if your not too great at Fighting, you could cheese him with eagle shield and a fast enough weapon
>>46527465
Its several extra boss fights.
And the age of man isn't necessarily "bad", Kaathe just doesn't tell you about the drawbacks when he explains it. Having humanity (the item, pieces of the dark soul distributed by the pygmy) prevents hollowing, so it IS survivable and not just a fancy term for "everyone is fucked". The first problem is that without fire, people can't die properly, so you have to deal with hollows whenever someone loses their humanity. The second problem is that if you get too much humanity clumped together in one place, it can go out of control, mutate people, dissolve fuckhuge holes in the ground, and become evil waifus.
Life in the age of fire is great when the flames are going strong, but really awful when its fading. Life in an age of dark could go either way. It might be okay, and not have those inevitable shitty periods like fire does. Or it might be awful all the time and lead to the abyss truly, physically ending the world.
>>46528148
Levels are relative. You more want to focus on upgrading gear and finding where you want your stats at. You can be lvl 200 and have dropped all your points into the stat that does nothing but boost resistances and the game will stomp you. You can't get to Artorias until you're around the mid point of the main game anyway.
>>46484531
The closest I can think of is an Apocalypse World system hack. Maybe, I still don't think that'll cut it, but it's the best I can come up with.
>>46525877
>>46522209
>>46522174
>>46522081
There are about three races: Humans, Giants and Gods.
Humans can grow larger and more massive by consuming souls and becoming greater than their original selves and so on and so forth. King Vendrick is one such example: he's human of flesh and blood and humanity just like you, but he had consumed countless souls to create his kingdom becoming a 'giant' human.
Giants come in the no-face flavor and the metal-plate flavor you see in sen's fortress and so forth: they're just big naturally, but even they can get a little bit bigger.
GODS on the other hand are entirely composed of the first flame and souls and can grow to be MASSIVE, but as the age of fire wanes they hollow just like humans do and they grow >smaller< as well in-tandem with the flame and light dimming or much like how a fire would die down.
>>46528225
I'm starting to think that the Dark Lord ending is the real ending for DS1. Because in DS2 the dialogue of Ghrandal the Darkdiver says that Darkness covered the world and the receeded, leaving the places you go for the Dark Pilgrims covenant. Also Aldia mentions that even if it's not rekindled, the first flame will never fully go out. There's always a spark of it.
>>46528225
>Life in an age of dark could go either way.
DS3 answers that in one of its endings.
When the light fades, cinder and ash will scatter, and small tiny embers will pop up within the new realm of Dark. And within that new world, Light and Dark will be at an equilibrium, and there will be hope for the world.
Of course,this requires the First Flame to be smoothly and mercingly snuffed out, and not just allowed to petter off.
neither the Light nor the Dark folk seem to want that though, as both have their own plans and endings
>>46528334
Wrong, DS3 confirms that you rekindled the flame is DS1. The tradition of having Lords of Cinder comes from being in memory of your sacrifice.
Though the Canon ending in DS2 is the one where you piss off with Aldia
>>46528201
I'm currently using elite knight armor with the drake sword, distributing my stat points between vitality, endurance and strength. Each is currently at 26 I think, I've been putting my latest points into dex so I could use the dark knight greatsword.
What do you mean by cheese him?
>>46528292
The Gods being entirely First Flame wouldn't make sense. Gwyn and the others found the flame and then used the Lord Souls within to defeat the Everlasting Dragons. This implies they existed before the First Flame or at the very least were not aware of it initially.
>>46528387
>drake sword
Oh you poor poor sap.
>>46528388
Before the First Flame, everyone was pygmies. There was nothing that denoted Gods, Humans, and the other things from eachother. It was after Gwyn found the Light Soul and shared its power that the race of Gods was born
>>46528292
Gods are not of the First Flame. All gods were once just beings that seem to have familial connections of Gwyn and his divine dynasty, the discovery of the Lordsouls gave them power. Much of Gwyn's power was delegated to the other gods, in addition to Seath, and the Four Kings, and to link the First Flame.
>>46528387
you want to get a better sword. drake is good for the early game but it doesn't scale off a stat and is hard to upgrade (upgrades are where most the danage come from).
get easy to upgrade weapon.
Black knight weapons are good and need 10 twinking titanite to fully upgrade.
Otherwise get a vanilla weapon like a claymore, scyth.
If your in the depths and find aye simmui guy buy the crystal sword.
>>46528387
>What do you mean by cheese him?
Eagle shield has excellent stability, so timing your blocks and managing your stamina can help you block most of his attacks and allow you to get in a few good shots between each combo string.
Worked for my Sorcerer build.
>>46495907
Actually, there's a stronger mythos surrounding his dream stories than there is his Cthulhu stories. In fact, there's no actual 'Cthulhu Mythos'; it was all cobbled together years after the fact by other authors. Lovecraft's real mythology was very much the dreamlands.
>>46528479
Where does the 'everyone was pygmies' come from?
The only one mentioned was the Furtive Pygmy in the intro and they seem surrounded by their race, but this is mentioned after all the lords are introduced and each is surrounded by their race.
>>46528599
The opening cutscene, the implications from DS2 about how Hollow is the natural state of man, and also I think PlagueofGripes mentioned a few reasons and sources too
![latest[1].png](https://i.imgur.com/gee9uQJ.png "latest[1].png")
>>46527147
>>46527285
>>46527465
>>46527727
>>46528225
The thing with Manus is that Manus wasn't originally evil nor was he truly dead or whatever when he was found burried underneath Oolacile and dug up.
He had been sleeping underground -collecting his strength after siring the entire human species was tiring work- and the serpents told the Humans of Oolacile that they could harbor a new age of man and prosperity free from the obligations of the fire and the gods by feeding off the SWARTHS of humanity produced by "Manus, the primeval man."
Humanity responds to emotion: it's why hexes work the way they do and why humans are so fucking temperamental, so in order for the Oolacilites to get as much humanity out of Manus as possible they essentially tortured him.
The Tortured Manus for fucking years and years and he could take it all, but eventually they took his primitive little pendant (which if you look at closely resembles some sort of ember or bit of charocal or carbon- perhaps an ember of the dark soul?) and shoved it into time and space where it could NEVER be found and Manus lost any shits he had.
He essentially poisoned the humanity he produced: turning himself and everyone else into horrible monsters.
What happened in Oolacile wasn't a "true" age of darkness but a corruption of it due to the evils of man. Sounds ironic, I know, but that's what happened.
>>46528387
Don't listen to this guy; >>46528529
BK weapons are average at best.
You want either the lightning katana (pretty gud, adds bleed), chaos Zweihander (also pretty good, nice attack animations) Kalameet sword (good luck) and I can't remember many other good weapons, but BK weapons are super average and kinda bad though you can beat the game with them.
>>46528529
Yeah, I heard that it doesn't scale, but it's still currently my strongest weapon with 200 attack. My second strongest is a +3 zweihander with 183 attack, but I don't like using it as much before of how slow it is.
Am I better off just using a vanilla long sword, upgraded a bunch of times? I was afraid of investing in it and find that it's not as strong, or invest souls into a vanilla weapon and then find a stronger, better weapon shortly after.
The crystal sword didn't seem pretty good since I can't repair it. I'm currently near the beginning of the depths.
>>46528531
Alright, I'll do that, thank you.
Thanks everyone for helping out a newbie, I was afraid of asking for help since when I asked my friend for tips, he basically just told me 'lol git gud like eveyrone did'
>>46528638
Oh, thanks. I guess I should look up what those are.
>>46528638
I doubt he has access to chaos or lightning yet, and I really hope he doesn't go for Kalameet's tail with a fucking drake sword. That sounds like a special kind of hell.
>>46528682
>Am I better off just using a vanilla long sword, upgraded a bunch of times?
Essentially yeah, especially when you take scaling into consideration. Though I'd first recommend shopping around to see which sword has the best moveset and scaling for you. Maybe farm a bit.
Personally, I recommend the good ol' Balder Side Sword.
>>46528717
If he's in the depths he could potentially already have a +10 Uchigatana.
>>46528778
Alright, thanks. Not sure about the Balder Sword though, just googled and it says that's mainly a dex weapon, and a third of my points were poured into strength.
>>46528819
I.. actually don't have the uchigatana. I was afraid of killing the merchant and then realizing sometime later that he was selling something I'd need. Also I didn't want to be a dick.
>>46528897
>I was afraid of killing the merchan
That's fair, it's something you kinda have to "know" besides he sells a key you want so it's probably a good thing you didn't kill him.
>>46528388
>>46528479
>>46528503
>>46528599
>Gods not entirely of the first flame.
The Gods didn't exist before the first flame; the only thing that existed before the first flame was those creepy little wrinkled up guys who MAY or MAY NOT have been "hollows" or "pygmies" or something.
The point is is that the Gods are not composed of Humanity and are instead a entirely a product of the First Flame: They found the finest souls within the first flame and it made them who they are is what I'm saying.
>>46528942
You mean the key to get that wizard guy out from that one room? Already got it. Anything besides that that I'd need from him? I might just go do that soon if the Uchigatana is a good weapon.
>>46528960
>The point is is that the Gods are not composed of Humanity and are instead a entirely a product of the First Flame: They found the finest souls within the first flame and it made them who they are is what I'm saying.
You would be wrong. Gods refers to Gwyn and his dynasty. Neither the Witches of Izalith nor Gravelord Nito were gods or even worshipped as such, but they also found Lordsouls as Gwyn did. Only Gwyn made himself and his kind gods, living in the holy city of Anor Londo.
There was some sort of existence before the discovery of the Lordsouls because Allfather Lloyd was uncle to Gwyn.
>>46528960
I think it's more like Gods and Humans are both at heart the same thing (hollows) but the Gods are born from one of the three lords (well, mainly Gwyn, the witch and her kids possibly but they aren't really referred to as Gods. They might have had a totally different culture with their pyromancy and Izalith and demons and stuff) and Humans are descended from the Pygmy with his dark soul which was different in that it has an antagonistic relationship with fire and seems to be able to grow within its vessels instead of just being thinned out like Gwyn's lord soul.
>>46529086
That Allfather Lloyd stuff seems to directly contradict the opening cinematic and is likely a religious fabrication.
>>46529066
Doesn't he sell resin? Resin is p good.
Asides from that though, no he doesn't. The Uchi is pretty solid and it stacks with DEX so if you're already leveling dex to use the BK weapons it'll scale with that really well.
I have a +15 Uchgatana user with 40 dex and she kills just about everything.
The intro makes it seem like everything happend in quick succession but really the lordsouls could have been picked up long after fire arrived.
>>46529192
I'm pretty sure he just sells purging stones and transient curses
>>46529192
Is dex better than str? I was putting all my points into str (currently at 26) while my dex is only at 16
I thought dex was only for being able to use a wider set of weapons which I wasn't too interested in at the time, so I've mostly been ignoring it for better health, endurance and strength
>>46529209
There was probably a pretty long span of time between them all finding the lord's souls and attacking the dragons. Gwyn had time to build up an army of knights and dragonslayers, the Witch of Izalith had like twelve fucking kids and trained them all to be masters of fire (except her doofus son), etc
>>46529182
>That Allfather Lloyd stuff seems to directly contradict the opening cinematic and is likely a religious fabrication.
The opening cinematic doesn't contradict anything, if anything it's deliberately sparse on details. It only says that from the Dark, "They" came.
>>46528682
Try the claymore, its a good middle ground between the longsword and the zwei. Its one of the items on the dragon's bridge.
To make the dragon fly off and not roast you when you try to pick it up, you have to reach the bonfire room at the end of the bridge. Just head up the stairs, run to the other safe spot right across from it, and wait for the dragon to hop down. As soon as he does, haul ass past him and sprint to the bonfire.
>>46528960
Hollows are an after effect of prolonging the Age of Fire according to Aldia. Or at least the Undead are. But there's no concrete evidence that everyone was the same before they found the Souls.
The intro states the Fire came along, and it allowed the world to have more than just a basline of "Grey and Dragons". The very existence of the fire creating verity in the world would indicate the ability for there to be varied races. Though it also says that they came out of the Dark, so they do share a common origin.
>>46529242
Dex has more raw DPS if you wanna min-max and do a hybrid build with weapon buffs, but high power strength weapons knock enemies around and stagger bosses and stuff.
>>46529242
Depends. If you're stacking STR you should try to find a weapon that scales with it for sure. DEX is fine for damage though. You can literally do any type of build and do ok, unless you do archery cause that's the poo.
Claymore may be good for you as per (>>46529285).
>>46529311
If I put points into dex, it lets me hit faster? I didn't know that.
>>46529343
>>46529285
Alright, I'll start upgrading my claymore then. Thanks for the help. I feel a little bad for derailing a lore thread to ask for tips, but thanks.
>>46528225
>become evil waifus
Let's be entirely fair to the children of dark here and admit that only Nashandra started off properly evil. Elana got justifiably mad at her kingdom getting rekt, Nadalia went absolutely batshit due to loneliness, an hero'd and became a disembodied yandere ash lich and Alsanna was a pure waifu/daughteru/sisteru/friendu/whateverthehellherrelationshipwiththeivorykingwas until the end.
>>46529497
no it's just that dex weapons have higher dps when fully scaled.
dex does actually make you cast spells faster though. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHfPcu_B0nQ
>>46529603
Oh, neat. I don't use any spells though. I guess I can keep ignoring dex then.
>>46529692
Pretty much.
Check out pyromancy though.
>>46504239
It's worth it from the weapon selection alone. Though the boss fights are fucking amazing, even compared to the base game. It's like From saves their best boss fights for their DLC. It was true for both Dark Souls 1 and 2, it was true for Bloodborne.
>>46529692
The thing that really makes dex weapons shine is weapon buffs. They add a few hundred damage to every hit, so they work best on weapons with faster movesets.
Ricard's rapier is a cheesy example of this. The r2 is a flurry of stabs. Doesn't do much damage on its own, but if you add a buff you suddenly do hundreds with each with little poke, and if you add stuff like the tearstone ring on top of that you can dish out thousands of damage in a few seconds.
>>46488553
ORE would be really good considering how much of Dark Souls combat is based on proper timing.
>>46530028
ricards is so crappy though that falchion r1 spam outdpses it with buffs (and doesn't leave you extremely vulnerable with a long animation)
>>46527147
>the Age of Man
The Age of Man is the Age of the Dark, wherein everyone goes Hollow except for dickwraiths.
>>46527465
The Age of Fire sucks because it's artificial and doomed to end.
The Age of Dark sucks because almost everyone turns into a mindless monster and civilization dies.
>>46527425
Ma nigga
>>46529593
>Alsanna
All I wanted to do was protect her smile.
My theory is that Bloodborne and Dark Souls is the same universe, but different time periods.
>>46532845
Doesn't really hold up. The supernatural aspects in Bloodborne all stem from the ayy lmaos and seem exclusive to the handful of civilizations that had contact with them, while in DaS the supernatural is an inherent part of the entire world and all its civilizations from day one, and its most important traits (the fire and hollowing) are absent in bloodborne.
Also, Iosefka mentions the Hippocratic oath.
