"Abigail.. If anything happens to me.. Which I know is likely.. Just know I love you so much.. And I'm so sorry.. Tell everyone that I love them, too. And please, don't let them show you my body when this is all over.."
- Brandon of Thoruland
BRANDON OF THORULAND
Age: 21
Height: 6"0'
Weight: 192lb(s) [270 pounds with armor]
Eye Color: Brown
Hair Color: Black
Description
Brandon of Thoruland(also called the "Nameless Knight") is one of the former knights of Lothric and is a follower of the Way of White. He is a cursed Undead whose soul is branded by the Dark-sign and is owned by the Fire Keeper of the Shrine.
Before the Events of Dark Souls III
Brandon was born in the city of Thoruland centuries after the New Age of Fire began. He lived his life as a carpenter before joining the Lothric Knights to serve as one of the protectors of the High Wall. During the outbreak of the Undead curse, Brandon met his brutal end when he was twisted and torn in half by the Stray Demon prior to being eaten in a gruesome way.
Being found dead, his body had gained the Dark sign which branded his own soul under the Undead curse. Brandon had then awakened in the Cemetery of Ash, where he made his way to the Firelink Shrine and delivered his own soul to the Fire Keeper herself. Despite his brutal fate, Brandon was a loyal young man who served the Lothric Knights and was willing to give his life to defend the kingdom. The knight was quite adventurous and determined to prove himself of being worthy of protecting the country of Lothric.
Personality
Brandon of Thoruland was a humble and loyal young man who only wanted everyone to be happy, and was discreetly displeased with killing at first but grew desensitized by killing much more. Before his gruesome death, Brandon found love with a young witch named Abigail whom he proposed to. Brandon looked up to the officers and commanders of the Lothric Knights but was determined to excel everyone in the kingdom.
Brandon of Thoruland was a gentle and nervous young man who only cared over seeing his wife, Abigail along with salvation in the afterlife from the Way of White. Brandon is aggressive in absolutely no way unless he is provoked to an extent, and shows this by gently closing or opening doors throughout the game. Upon killing the Stray Demon, he was very satisfied among fulfilling his revenge and quotes in his journal that he is "trying not to laugh in glee, Abigail, he's trying so hard not to." Upon sitting at a bonfire, Brandon will look at a picture of Abigail before placing it in his armor and continuing his journey. Overall, he was once a very passionate and even complex young man.
Constantly dying throughout the events of Dark Souls III, Brandon gradually falls under a sense of cynicism and struggles to cling on to his faith towards the Lord. He shows this by begging God to kill him permanently and let him remain dead. Brandon forgets about his beloved wife, Abigail and only wants to die so his soul could be free of the mental and emotional agony that the curse brings upon him. The knight gradually becomes insane and loses his sense of reasoning, attacking his friends on sight. He asks the Fire Keeper to undo his curse and kill him, but he is rather told that the Undead curse is inevitable and he must hunt down and kill the Lords of Cinder to end his suffering.
Brandon of Thoruland's Journal Logs:
1. WAS I DEAD?
"What just happened? I remember being eaten alive by a monster and now I'm here.. In this God forsaken cemetery of nothing but ashes and burning corpses. The charred flesh smells so bad that I can't smell anything else when I walk away. I see the corpse of a knight from Astora, laying there against a well motionless as his armor is burnt to rust. I need to get out of this place. I need to find help.. Abigail, my love.. I'm coming home soon.. Please wait for me there.."
2. DEATH IN RETURN "I watched a man crouched on the floor as he was impaled by a large sword. I pull it out and in return, he.. or it… tried to kill me. Is it just me or has everyone in this graveyard been contaminated by.. whatever had killed me? Why wasn't I infected by whatever had consumed the other knights? I need to find help, it's the only way.. Abigail, my baby, I haven't forgotten about you.."
3. THE FIRELINK SHRINE
"This place.. It's so dark inside and looks like a ritual had happened here. I see a bonfire in the very center where I can only rest.. Above me, there are five thrones.. Five of which I assume resembled the Kings. I see a young woman in white and glossy hair, blinded by a crown that covers her eyes. She has a soothing voice, welcoming me to this place. There's a man sitting a far right of me, hunched on his knees with his hands cupped, condescending me that I can never find the Lords of Cinder.. I have no idea if this is just superstitious talk or these people are just crazy. There's an old woman sitting in the hallway, crowded by candles on the wall. Refers to me as Ashen One. Ashen One? Sounds stupid for a name. I look and see a man bulkier than I, who is the size of a brute, willing to aid me as a blacksmith. Despite how filthy he looks, he's the friendliest and least creepy out of everyone else in this place. I've got to find a way home.. To Thoruland.. To Abigail.. "
HIGH WALL
"My Lord.. Why did I have to come back here? The place where I worked.. And the place where I Died. The Fire Keeper, the lady blinded by a crown, told me that I must go through to reach the church.. But why here? It could've been somewhere different."
5. OLD FRIENDS
"I don't believe what I see. Charles.. Andrea.. Boris.. Petty.. Louine.. Bein.. Cyrus.. All consumed. Infected. Transformed. Into those things that I saw back at the Cemetery of Ash. I have to kill them.. To put them out of this cycle of misery. To bring them to sanctuary.. It would be an act of kindness. I've never wanted to kill in my life, but it was the only way for me to survive.. I couldn't go back to being a carpenter, even if it was what I wanted."
6. THE CYCLE OF DEATH
"Everyone here is transformed.. Consumed by the Darkness itself.. Cursed by the process of never dying.. Whenever I rest at a bonfire, it is the safest place I can be.. But it brings them all back to die once again.. To die by my own hands. My Lord in Heaven, must you bring them to eternal and everlasting peace like they have strived for? These people have had a purpose for life, why should they live for the purpose of death? They always said that life is short, and death is forever. Is this forever? I killed all of you.. I killed you.. And you.. And even you.. I'm sorry I did that.."
7. THE LOTHRIC KNIGHTS
"There is no hope.. No sign of help coming for me.. The Lothric Knights are consumed as well.. And they're not afraid to kill me on sight.. Why?"
8. HAIL THE NIGHTMARE
"I see several of those cursed undead worshipping monsters.. Organisms of blood and dark-charred flesh that hides within the undead's body.. The serpents within.. They're crouched on their knees, praying towards something that renders them useless and branded for death.. It's as if they're praying for their death to come, to end this cycle of death and die permanently so that the brand will be sealed away. My Lord in Heaven, have you branded me for death, too?"
9. THE CHURCH
"It's the church! Where I must go! Finally, I now know I'm making actual progress. I hope there is someone there, whether helpless like I am or holding an answer to what's going on. It's heavily guarded by Lothric knights and I have no choice but to push through."
10. HOPELESSNESS
"The more I die, the more I'm convinced that there is no way out of this cycle. I can't let that distract me from the objective at hand. The Fire Keeper promised me that there is a way out of this curse, and if it's what holding me back from going home to Abigail, then I won't let it suppress the power of my will. A knight knows that he must never stand aside and take the oppression that is brought to him and his people!"
11. VORDT OF THE BOREAL VALLEY
"As soon I approach the gate that will take me to the Undead Settlement, I am confronted by the infamous Vordt. He's too big for me to handle.. No.. No.. I'm used to dying and whether it will be gruesome or quick, I will push everything that he's got whether or not the odds are against him! I'm scared of you, and you can't hurt me.. YOU CAN'T EVEN KILL ME. YOU HEAR ME?! YOU CAN'T KILL ME!"
12. THE UNDEAD SETTLEMENT
"I watch more undead pray in position as monstrous hounds eat away at their flesh.. What do they pray for? Who knows.. Maybe it's for salvation.. Or maybe it's for death.. Maybe, these undead are satisfied by the thought of being eaten alive, the same way a child would be happy for a piece of cake. It will bring them a period of comfort from absolute nothingness, until they're brought back to this infinite death process. When I die, I sometimes see nothing but darkness.. and sometimes.. I see a light from above the darkness. Is this me going through the day of the Lord's judgement like a mantra. One time I die, I go to hell.. And the other time, I am brought to heaven.. But as soon as I jump into the fire, I am brought back here.. And when I reach the door to the Lord's Kingdom, I am brought back here.."
13. A THOUSAND WAYS TO DIE
"Burnt alive. Torn in half. Forced to watch monsters eat on my own organs as I lose conscious. My head is split in half by a giant's bare hands. My chest open as hounds feast away on my heart. Cut clean in two by the giant haverd of a winged knight.. I remember every single second of how I would die.. I remember the pain and screams I gave.. I can still hear my bones cracked and my flesh being torn apart. Whenever I come back from the grave, I feel so satisfied upon fulfilling vengeance on those who took my life, but when I'm killed without the chance of retribution, I am infuriated as I'm thrown in the pits of burning sulfur. The cycle won't end and the real suffering is yet to come."
14. TWO HOPELESS KNIGHTS
"As soon as I come close to the Farron Keep, there are two exiled soldiers just as hopeless as the rest of us. I don't blame the fact that they tried to kill me. They must have been satisfied when I ran my blade through their throats. It's the only way to escape this endless cycle of torment. I'd have to say those men are rather lucky to die permanently."
15. DARKWRAITHS
"Lord in Heaven, help me.. I think I just encountered a Darkwraith.."
16. THE STRAY DEMON
"There it is… The demon on the bridge.. The one who killed me.. I could recognize what it was the moment I saw it.. I'm filled with rage for what it did to me.. It brought me to this curse. It's killed plenty more men across the bridge from what I've seen.. I'm not afraid to fight you, no matter how big you are. Size doesn't matter to me. Not anymore at least. I don't care how many times you killed me. I'd be so happy to send you back to hell where you belong. No one will ever find a thing left of you!"
17. THE LOST DEMON
"Finally.. The Stray Demon who killed my friends and I, who massacred so many people throughout Lothric and left to rot on this bridge. Dead.. Killed by my tiny body and sword. Left to have its soul be shredded to bits in hell, by the demons who were once its allies. I'm trying not to laugh in glee, Abigail.. Oh trust me.. I'm trying my best not to.. The Lord tells us that revenge is a sin, but why do I feel so free?"
18. CONSUMING SOULS
"When I consume the souls of both the powerful and the weak, I feel stronger but at the same tiume, I feel so vulnerable. Powerful energy. Memories of other people.. I can feel their sadness and agony. The bitterness is consuming my way of thinking, and I fear that I will soon lose touch of who or what I really am.. it's like I'm restraining myself from the inside.. Which I know I am."
19. TRUST NO ONE
"Several of these other Ashen Ones are stalking me.. They appear out of no where, a good portion of the time.. I remember seeing a man covered by a red aura walking across the swamps of the Farron Keep, and I went to check on him to see if he was a friend. He waved to me with a grin, so I could assume that he was just trying to help me. But as I turned away to make my way to the bonfire at the Farron Keep, I was shot in the back and left to drown in the puddle of poisonous fecal matter. Ever since then, I have been haunted by these red people constantly. Some of them have been twice more powerful than me to where I'm rendered defenseless. I don't know how to stop these invaders.. Suicide seems wise for a choice."
20. AN AGE OF HOPE
"Abigail, I remember when we went outside of Thoruland to watch the moonlight butterflies ascending in the night skies. We would sing the songs of Duke Dunvich, then I would watch you pick the flowers from the broad fields outside the walls of the city. I was so happy when I left that shop, and stopped being a carpenter.. But now, I'm convinced that building houses and cutting through wood for the rest of my life would've been the best option than this. I realize now that I miss home, and I miss you, Abigail.. I miss you so much.. You always wrote beautiful poetry, whether or not it was that witchcraft nonsense. I got jealous when you showed me that poem you wrote two years ago, Age of Hope. I never meant to be such a close-minded prick when I criticized you. I need to stop.. I need to keep it all together.. Get my head intact.. I just forgot where I was. It's not like I want to care, but I know I should.. It's either I could get dismembered by a crowd of undead or impaled from the back by another one of those invaders."
21. DEATH IS THE SOLUTION
"I see several mutilated undead trapped in one cage, using their feet to walk in the form of a spider. Men in swamps, with gross bumps across their mutated heads. An unkindled man walking in agony as his flesh is a household for mangoworms. A pile of several burning corpses being worshipped by undead fanatics. Do they praise death as a sacrifice, or a message? Does fire somehow keep the body from perishing when it's dead, so that the soul may never come back? Death keeps making the far bottom of the list for worst things that could happen to me here. Death seems more like a solution to all of this."