"In the Age of Ancients, the world was unformed, shrouded by fog, a land of grey crags archtrees and everlasting dragons, but then there was fire and with fire came disparity. Heat and Cold. Life and Death, and of course, Light and Dark.
Then from the dark they came, and found the souls of lords within the flame. Nito, the first of the dead. The Witch of Izalith and her Daughters of Chaos. Gwyn, Lord of sunlight, and his faithful nights. And the Furtive Pygmy, so easily forgotten.
With the strength of lords, they challenged the dragons, Gwyn's mighty bolts pulled apart their stone scales. The Witches weaved great firestorms. Nito unleashed a miasma of death and disease. Seath the Scaless betrayed his own. And the Dragons were no more.
Thus began the Age of Fire, but soon the flames will fade, and only dark will remain…"
He had recited the legends in his head since he entered the Asylum. He had made it his purpose, for without purpose his hollowing would only go quicker. He was called Sin, whether it was his given name or not, he could not remember.
For three years already he had been in the Asylum. His hollowing had already progressed much. He could only remember that in life he had been a wanderer of sorts, but beyond that, he knew nothing. His only possessions were his ragged robes with a plated left shoulder and a pendent he remembered receiving as a child, touching it brought him comfort. He guessed he had once had fond memories of the simple thing which was like a silver medallion on a chain.
He heard a noise from above, he looked up to the hole in the roof which bathed the room in natural light. Silhouetted in it was a man clad in armor, an Astoran Knight. The man pushed a corpse down into the room. Sin stood slowly and walked over to it. On it was a key, the key to his cell. Sin put it into the lock and turned it. Sure enough, the door opened.
Beyond it was a long hallway. Several hollows were here, some pounding on the walls, others writhing in agony. So preoccupied in their madness were they, that Sin was able to walk past them without them attacking. All through the hall he heard massive footsteps. Sin turned to one of the hollows and stole a broken sword from it. He moved slowly onward, to his left he saw the source of the sound, through some rusty bars was an Asylum Demon. He could tell it wouldn't notice him so he moved on faster. Eventually he came to a ladder, at the top was an exit to the passage that bathed it in natural light.
He climbed the ladder, it lead to an open courtyard with a sword sitting in its center. Sin walked over. He recognized it now as a one of many Bonfires scattered throughout Lordran it took him only moments to figure out how to light it. Somehow he just knew. He sat at it awhile, reluctant to leave its comforting light. But he had to. He hadn't died yet. He knew it was inevitable but if he died his hollowing would leap forward, enough so that the last of his sanity would be lost.
The solution was simple, he just wouldn't die.
He crossed the courtyard to a large gate, he pushed it open to find a second hallway, paved completely over with stone. On the other side of it was an even larger gate. He walked towards it quickly then a voice filled his head "Move!"
So he moved, where he had been standing landed an Asylum Demon. It swung its massive hammer at him and he barely dodged it. He maneuvered around it to the gate and tried to push it open. It was locked, and the door behind him had closed. The demon swung it's hammer and it smashed him into the gate. Barely able to think from pain, Sin ran for a recently open door, it closed behind him. He walked forward to find another bonfire.
To his surprise, his wounds were healed, his broken bones mended. He had heard stories of Lordran's Bonfires but had not truly believed them until now. He understood now, the rules were different in Lordran.
After resting he went to the doorway on the other side of the room, beyond it was a long hallway with a hollow archer at the end, it fired at him. The voice filled his head again "Get your shield!" He rolled to the doorway to his left where he found a corpse clutching a Leather wrapped shield. As he pried it out of the body's grasp he recalled that it had belonged to him in life. Sin returned to the hallway and ran to the end of the wall blocking the archer's arrows as he did so. It fled as he got close.
On a nearby corpse he found a Scimitar, one that had belonged to him in life. Sin continued on and slew the archer.
There was a fork in the passage; through windows he could see the courtyard with the first bonfire in it. To the left was a dead end but to the right were two sets of stairs, one going up, the other going down. He went down and it led him into the courtyard. After resting again at the bonfire, he stood and went back to the stairs.
He quickly climbed the stairs, too quickly; a rolling metal ball hit him, knocking him down onto the downward staircase. He climbed up, noting a hole in the wall in front of him he climbed the stairs again, he slew the hollow at the top and tried opening a door behind him, it was locked.
Sin had no choice but to investigate the hole the metal ball had made. The room was bathed in natural light by a newly made hole in the ceiling in a pile of rubble was the knight from before. The man spoke to Sin, but he barely remembered how to speak, barely remembered how to listen for that matter. Sin tried as best he could to listen but missed much of what the knight said, one thing did stand out: "Thou who art undead art chosen, in thine exodus from the Undead Asylum, maketh pilgrimage to the land of ancient lords."
Sin realized that the man had given him a task, a task the man couldn't do himself because he was as hollow as Sin, and was dying. The Knight handed him two items, a key, and an emerald flask of orange liquid. Sin left the room and went back up the stairs, the key fit the lock to the door. Beyond it was the Asylum's outer wall. Sin walked along it to find three hollows which he dispatched quickly.
Before him was a gate of fog he passed beyond it to find himself on a balcony. Below him was the Asylum Demon, this time he noticed a large key around its neck. Sin jumped down, plunging his sword into the creature's ugly green flesh. It swatted him to the ground, Sin rolled just short of a swing from its hammer. Sin rolled forward and slashed its fat belly. It swung again narrowly missing him. Sin rolled towards him again and unleashed several more slashes, but he got cocky, the beast's hammer hit him, knocking him away.
Sin slowly stood up, the creature raised its hammer to smash Sin, he rolled forward, but was hit with the handle of the hammer. Sin desperately unleashed a final barrage of slashes. The creature exploded into a brilliant display of light. Where it once stood was the key, and a tiny black sprite. Humanity, Sin had only heard of it in legends, said to be a fragment of the Dark Soul. Sin crushed it in his hand and it was absorbed into his being.
He pushed open the Asylum's great gate. Before him was a cliff, covered in graves. He walked forward slowly, unsure of the path before him. Then the voice filled his head again "Good job, now go straight ahead. Sin walked forward much quicker now.
The sight before him was one of myth, and legend, of gods, and demons, of dragons and of Lords. What he saw before him, was Lordran.
A great crow flew up before him, wrapping it's talons around him, but he knew no fear of it. The crow flew for hours. Finally it dropped him in front of a bonfire, already lit. He sat down and offered the Humanity to the flames. It burned up and Sin felt his mind restored, though much he had known would be gone forever, Sin could think clearly now.
But he had not come to the Asylum alone. Someone had come with him, a sibling, or a friend. He knew in his heart that they were now, like him, somewhere in Lordran