A/N: Alright, so last chapter brought up some very controversial ideas and theories. It had a lot of sensitive subject matter, so I guess I'll just check out the ensuing shitstorm of-

"Ludleth so goddamn badass!" Oh, thank you, I tried to-

"Sulyvahn is actually talking real sense at the end there. You have done a fantastic job of making him compelling. It's hard to remember that he is the antagonist at times. Hell, I'd certainly want to be on his side." Uh, yeah, Sulyvahn is my favorite villain archetype, I'm really glad-

"The battle between Ludleth and Aldrich was very well written. The dialogue was both clever and very meaningful." Oh, you *dainty hand wave* -

"Now this is impressive! The Aldrich v. Ludleth scene was wonderful and all of the characterization so far has been extremely well done!" Stahp, you're making me blush, I don't know if my heart can take- "I think that you might have just earned a TVTropes recommendation, if that's alright with you."

…

Oh. My. Fcuk.

I've only been dreaming about it since I wrote Dragon Souls, I'll play it cool and are you fucking seriousicanbelivethisishappenfsfncsfdsm

Seriously, you guys are all awesome.

"If we were awesome, YOU'D GIVE US ANOTHER CHAPTER BITCHWIGGLET!"

I know. I've been very tired having to keep up my pace. Faded Embers is very hard on me to write. Also, I go back to jail (school) next week, so I'm going to be busy.

So, rather than leaving you with a void of nothing (I'll still upload, but slower), here's something that's easier to write but still good, that I've had on my mind awhile. I could likely dive deeper into this first chapter, but honestly I'm really fucking tired, and everything will be explained in due time, so I'm lazy, sue me. The chapters after this first one will be of far greater quality, I assure you. This first one mostly suffers from me not being sure how to begin, but you should be more than happy with the end product.

Yes, indeed. As was foretold, the fire has faded, and only dark remains. With the dark obscuring all sight, clans and kingdoms of Hollows eke out a fragile living in the Age of Man, the Lords of Cinder long since departed

In the absence of the old lords, The Dark Lords, sovereigns of great strength, claim the harrowed lands for their own, presiding over a fragile peace in an Eastern land

But, within the depths, the faintest Embers have slowly begun to flicker into being, the essence of life swallowed by the shadows coming together, flames once again rising from the ashes

Upon these newborn flames, the Dark Lords lay their claim, seizing their unimaginable power for their own,

Haruka of the White Nights, the Tribal leader of the Horned Oni

Moon Lord Menodoran, presiding over the devout Candle Makers

Livia, The blood queen of the disgraced monks

And the forlorn king of the boreal giants, Monghuul of the Northern Limit.

Alas, with the fire comes disparity and unrest, the Lords destined to turn on one another, dreaming of becoming the one true Lord

Already, there are whispers of the old legends, of an undead who will return a phantom and end the eternal night, drawn into the world by the coming dawn

As in previous games, your abilities are determined by a set of stats, most of which are the same as previous but by a different name. There are slightly new mechanics however, but those will be explained in a moment.

Vitality: Your capacity to endure incoming damage, your number of hit points.

Endurance: Your resistance to being fatigued in combat, increases your stamina.

Attunement: Determines number of Attunement slots and focus.

Resilience: Increases the ability to resist being knocked off balance, recover from being stunned, and bear heavier equipment.

Agility: Physical temperance for faster, more nimble movement and increased invulnerability.

Strength: Raw physical strength, which translates greatly to heavy arms that rely on overwhelming power above all else.

Skill: Knowledge of how to perform delicate, precise motions, which translate greatly to weapons with fine edges and blades.

Enchantment: Eldritch knowledge of Soul arts, which allow for greater mastery of various sorceries.

Temperance: Religious zeal and mental self-control necessary to channel the will of the Lords.

Humanity: Dark essence within the heart, which belongs to all humans. Increases the effectiveness of bleed and poison, increases curse resistance, and channels Dark and Blood sorceries.

Right away, you can see ten stats heavily similar to those of Dark Souls 3, only there are two that appear radically different from the pack. "Vitality", which allowed you to carry more weight the past few games, now also increases poise and reduces the duration of stunlock by various weapons. This allows for faster recovery from being guard broken and swinging a giant weapon.

On that note, Dark Souls 1 poise is back in its full, unsoiled glory, as is the return of armor, that, get this, is more than a fashion statement and actually boasts great defenses.

Rest easy, there will be no flipping Havel's with unlimited poise, because there is yet another stat, Agility, which has a few different effects:

If "Resilience" is the Strength stat that allows for greater tanking of damage with heavy armor and poise, "Agility" is the Dex stat that allows you to zip around the battlefield and evade attacks more easily. Essentially, Agility, like Equip Load, has various "tiers" of effect.

Low agility, or Tier 0 or 1, will make you roll very slowly and sluggishly, with fewer I-Frames, like in Dark Souls 2. Tier 2 to 4 Agility, or the 30 SL soft cap, and your movement will be similar to Dark Souls 1 midrolling or Fast Rolling, Tier 5+, and you will start to become outright lightning fast, with faster and further rolling animations like in Dark Souls 3, and faster recovery from those rolls. However, note that higher Agility rolls actually drain more stamina, so you cannot spam them as much as you want.

What this means is that, while you can still mix it up, in order to rollspam like in Dark Souls 3 with high I-Frames, you must invest in Agility, which will take SLs away from your other stats, and likewise you can become an unstoppable melee tank like in Dark Souls 1, who can shrug off most light attacks, but only if you have high armor and high resilience paired on eachother.

Unless your opponent is a very high Soul Level, or has invested heavily in Resilience and Agility with a heavy draw from offensive stats or HP and Stamina, it will be very unusual to see a heavy armor character that can also move fast with high I-Frames.

This allows for finer customization and differentiation between strength and dex, though the opposite ends of the spectrum will be massively buff platemail-clad knights that can shrug off most heavy hits and take massive punishment, but suffer slower rolls and reaction speed, vs ninja fighters that can gracefully fly through most attacks without missing a beat, but will suffer heavy damage if they get hit, and not be able to resist getting swatted a couple times per mistake.

Note that the agility mechanic does not replace Equip Load, you still have "Fast", "Middle", and "Fat" based on your equip load, but a Fast Roll with Tier 1 Agility will not take you as far or fast as Tier 3 will.

Character Classes: Note a lot of their starting gear is based on Asian weapons you may not be familiar, nearly all of them will be explained at length as they are found through the game.

Ronin: A disgraced Samurai slaughtered in battle after departing the presence of his lord. (The Knight, starts the game with heavy armor, high resilience, and a Tachi.)

Bandit: One of the many brigands that prey on passing merchants, fallen after a raid turned against him (light armor with high HP, Endurance, and Strength. Wields a Bandit Axe).

Warrior: A nameless swordsmen, who once wandered the eastern lands as a mercenary. (Medium armor, Quality Strength/Dex, wields a Chinese Jian)

Ninja: Dubious assassin, responsible for many deaths and sporting a lethal bag of tricks. (Low armor and resilience, high agility and dexterity, begins the game with Claws, 10 Shurikens, and a Shortbow).

Missionary: A faithful monk, who brought the gospel to waiting citizens throughout the countryside. (very light armor, high temperance, begins the game with the Chigikiri, a Sacred Chime, and the "Heal" miracle)

Sorcerer: A budding master of the Soul Arts, and a practitioner of sorceries. (low armor, strength, and dexterity, high enchantment, starts the game with a Dao, Sorcerer's Staff, and the spell "Soul Arrow".)

Blood Monk: A long estranged student of Livia who wields abhorrent black sorceries, stoned to death outside a village. (High Humanity, moderate enchantment and temperance, begins the game with a Bloodletting Blade and Bone Talisman, which casts "Blood Needle" and "Dark Orb".)

Peasant: A simple farmer of no renown, the few worldly possessions to your name stripped away by bandits soon after death. A journey this daunting should only be taken by masters. (Naked save for a club, SL 1 and very low stats overall.)

Burial Gift:

Ring of Life: "A simple red ring, carrying a humble blessing from a long time ago to remedy the pain of a long travel. Slightly raises HP."

Soul of an Old Man: "Soul of an elderly peasant. Use to gain a trivial amount of souls."

Spirit Water Vessel: "A bottle crafted pearly wax resembling ivory, originating from the candle halls of Menodoran, the Moon Lord. These casks are highly valuable across all of Holy Tian-San for their ability to cure nearly any disease and heal any injury.

Emperor Chen Fu closely presides over such miracles, ensuring Lord Menodoran does not endanger his precarious rule."

Firebomb: "Bundle of gunpowder, wax, and oil, which explodes violently when thrown. Hardly a devastating force against more hardened targets, but it can provide a momentary distraction in a pinch."

Humanity Crystal: "A precious, crystalline stone containing the concentrated life essence of Humanity. In the flameless age, these sprites gather together for warmth, slowly condensing into these rare gems. A matured crystal can pull a phantom completely through the veil of death, returning their body.

Always remember, though, returning to life is a temporary condition without the proper caution to stay that way."

Refined Ore: "A very rare mineral that can harden a blade as well as hone its edge, though this intense tempering process renders the weapon lighter, requiring more effort behind each swing to leave a mark.

Unsurprisingly, these ores are held primarily by the emperor of Tian-San for the arms of the imperial army, their halberds among the strongest in the East."

Pendant: "A weathered stone pendant, coated in a dusting of ashes and scared by fire. Very close to being called truly ancient, it has no obvious effects, but it holds a strange sense of familiarity and comfort, as though a piece of the previous holders lives within it." (Actually boosts souls absorbed by 1%, and increases Humanity by 2 so long as it's in your inventory).

The game begins within a desolate fortress, similar in style to Demon's Souls. The castle walls possess a distinctly Asian style, with piles of burning rubble, dead bodies, and spears rammed into the ground indicating the violence of the battle.

It zooms in on one dead body, laying on a pile of rubble, starting to flicker to life, leaning up off the pile of rocks in an incorporeal state similar to Demon's Souls, your Player Character. You immediately start off, walking past the smoldering debris, with the distant sounds of combat all around.

The scene has an eerily dreamlike quality to it, as everything is realistic, but the sky is a dull grey color, mist swirling around the ground floor, which gives you the belief that the world before you is not entirely there.

You quickly find a dull green vessel on a dead body, terribly aged, but still useable:

Estus Flask: "An ancient jade flask, said to bottle fire itself. Crafted for the now extinct Undead to carry soothing Estus with them, rejuvenating their strength on their travels. This vessel is long ashen and cold, but remains a traditional vessel for healing brews, the faintest warmth still trapped within."

So, in this future, the loss of the First Flame has rendered the curse obsolete, and cleansed it. That, or there is nothing left but hollows and no new undead have been created since then. In any case, the world outside has changed a great deal since the events of Dark Souls 3.

As you make your way through the old fortress, all the other enemies are your basic hollow infantry, sans they are in the same phantom state as yourself. They don't have a lot of health, but can still deal some heavy damage if you are not careful.

There are many opportunities to learn the ins and outs of Souls for first timers. There's this one section where a ladder takes you above the main courtyard below, allowing you to throw firebombs down on top of your enemies, which can also trigger some explosive barrels, execute a plunge attack on one of the more dangerous enemies lurking below, or use a bow if you have one.

There are also lots of hidden secrets tucked away, teaching you to take full advantage of all the side corridors and passages that may seem useless at first, like this one staircase, which can take you inside the crumbling wall and after a brief jump across a gap, safely lead you past a large hoard of wandering soldiers, saving you from burning up you, we'll call it "Tea" for now.

After going a ways, you come across a sight that should be very familiar to long-time Souls fans: an open garden, free of any enemies, only rather than a burning fire, a very nice oriental stone fountain rests in the center, with three tiers of water running into a small pond where small koi can be seen swimming.

When you activate it, your character rests cross legged, seeming to gaze into the pond, recovering all of his strength and refilling your tea. There is actually a great deal of detail, telling a little bit about its history, as will every fountain you come across, with slight changes to them to reflect their area.

Be wary though, as these fountains are very rare and spaced far apart, only one or two per main area, but your tea can be replenished through various creative sources or by killing strong enemies to make up for it, as well as shortcuts to loop back on previous fountains. It encourages a more careful, tactical approach to combat and eliminating enemies as efficiently as possible, much like Bloodborne.

This one appears to be made entire of grey stone, with eroded statues standing on each tier, and the floor is covered with ashes. Upon resting, you are allowed to teleport to the next area. The name of your current location is the Misty Fortress Wall, the area you can teleport too is likewise called the Edge of the Mist

You teleport to an area mostly blocked off by ruins, with a large gateway ahead of you, the portcullis closed. Between the absence of enemies, the fountain, and the open space, any veteran should be able to see the impending boss fight.

You take your first steps forward, and a featured thing drops in front of you. It has large, very colorful wings, feet like a hawk and an emaciated chest with smaller feathers branching to the side. It does have two mostly human arms with large talons, its head vaguely humanoid with a long, thin, and pointed face and a long nose, whiskers trailing to the sides of its face and a crazy bundle of frazzled fair sweeping off his brow.

It's based very heavily off a mythical Tengu, and likewise its name is fittingly "Guardian Spirit"

Because he's baring your path, you naturally need to fight your way through, though he can put up a pretty strong fight. He has a decent amount of HP, can fly in erratic, sweeping patterns to get away from you, use both the claws on his hands and his feet to attack.

Whenever he flaps his wings to fly backwards, he beats you about the face, staggering you and potentially leaving you vulnerable a moment if he rushes again.

The fight is very fast paced and energetic, and is accompanied by a likewise energetic and swift theme, making you feel pretty badass for tangling with this bird monster. (/watch?v=4rCdgwQnxTQ)

At 50% HP, his attacks become more focused, using his claw attacks, but gaining the ability to swoop in from above, claws out. If he grabs you, he will hoist you into the air, flying upwards a way before dropping you, sometimes sweeping you off your feet without stopping and throwing you into a wall, your character slamming into the rocks and taking heavy damage.

In the middle of fighting him, he can also jump above your line of sight, drop on your head, and use his actually very sharp fangs to chew you into submission, building up very heavy bleed.

He's faster than Gundyr, but not as strong and his Stage 2 doesn't greatly increase his power, meaning a first try or only a few tries are needed to down him. He offers nothing but a handful of Souls for beating him, and the banner upon beating him is "Flame Retrieved"

Killing him opens the doorway to the outside, your character walking into the swirling mists, everything going dark.

You awaken later, this time under a sky that is completely black, much like Untended Graves. The area is a cobblestone path lined with various small shrines and idols, leading up to a great temple, lit up by faintly flickering candles and torches, light dancing across the fractured mosaic that covers the floor.

The entire area is peaceful, filled by an ambient acoustic that is both sad and gently warming, the white noise of water running across the stones surrounding the temple and the fountain you come across in the Shrine, identical to the one from the dream plane, giving you a feeling of comfort. (/watch?v=z7eSpk1YYS0)

The area is called The Lord's Cenotaph, the temple itself is referred to as the Shrine of Cinders

Both of these names, much like Firelink in the past games, are very fitting, as a Cenotaph is an empty tomb, in other words a tomb built to honor a person or group of people that have been buried somewhere else, while a Shrine is a holy place built to venerate and honor a holy entity.

The engravings and paintings along the walls, and the statues and idols, some of which look eerily familiar, are all here because the building is essentially a mausoleum created to honor the Lords of Cinder and the First Flame.

Looking around, no-one else in the building, you find another door outside, leading to a court that is fenced off from the outside world by high walls of stone and pillars, though it is notably plain and dreary compared to the interior of the shrine, everything made of dull rock. It does have a noticeable resemblance to the Kiln of the First Flame from Dark Souls 1, the parallels further solidified by a large Lordvessal in the center, a gentle flame flickering within.

You walk up to the woman standing over the Lordvessal, the Firekeeper.

Her outfit is vastly different from the Firekeeper's past: she hides her face with a broad wicker hat, keeping her face shyly tilted downwards, wearing a kimono with broad sleeves down to her ankles, and wooden sandals. Her outfit is all very dark, a violet color near black with many unknown symbols, with faint coverings of ash and dust. She keeps her hands tucked into her sleeves, crossing them at the middle, so you can't tell if they are injured like in Dark Souls 3 or not, in fact you can't see much of her at all, the Firekeeper greeting you with a calm, quiet voice:

"Lost soul, who has wondered from beyond the sleep of Death. I am a Firekeeper, the last of my kind."

"Kind Spirit, I have beckoned you back into this world to carry out a humble mission. This is Tian-San, the land of three Lords. The Dark Lords are sovereigns claiming leadership of this world by the might of their spirits, and held in balance by their compromise, but they have lost their way."

"Flames, long gone from this world, have begun to return, and the voracious Dark Lords have claimed them for their own. The world faces chaos, thus is your mission. Strike down the Dark Lords, reap their flame, and return it here, to me. When the Flames meet, I will make them whole again, and the light of the world will shine once more, and cleanse the eternal Dark."

"This shrine was abandoned long ago, but I have made it new again. I must remain here, to prevent any more fire from escaping into the world. However, I will kindly make the strength of their souls your own. To imbibe your flesh with the power to overcome the Lord's clutches."

"Down the way from here is a village. You may begin your journey there, and find the path forward. Back the way you came, further to the lands beyond, there is a great temple. If you desire anguish, they will provide it to make you stronger, but I warn you, do not make such choices lightly."

"Do you desire the strength of Fire?"

No. "As you wish. I will remain here in this shrine, as it goes with Firekeepers and champions. You may use me in any manner you see fit, Good Spirit. No, do not regard me with disbelief, it's not a trespass if it's upon a Firekeeper."

Yes. "Very well, embrace me, let these Embers sear to the core, and stir your spirit to greater power."

After that, she will greet you and offer the "Proper Bow" Gesture, leveling you up as a normal Firekeeper.

If you decide to attack her, or use her for target practice (you monsters know who you are), something very interesting will happen:

She takes damage, full damage, and her Health Bar comes up, but you quickly notice your attacks barely harm her. I mean, the strongest attack you have deals damage so small to her HP you wonder if you even hurt her at all, the Firekeeper warning you to stop hitting her.

"Mmm?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Stop this, now."

"Good Spirit, stay your blade."

If you hit her after the final warning, she parries your blade with her hand, her riposte a palm strike that sends you flying back away and will nearly assuredly kill you, as it will fuck up even a very high level character. If you try this late game, and you get up and continue attacking her, she will let you beat her to death (it takes a very long time though).

As she dies, she will utter the words: "Does this please you, Foul Spirit? I am not a slave, I am… a woman."

She will come back after you rest at the fire, but when you draw near, she will turn away from you. She will not speak to you for the entirety of the game, and will just have "…" display every time you select "Talk", though you can still level up. Suspiciously, her prices for leveling you up are 50% higher, and there is no way to reverse this.

With that, the first leg of the journey is complete, with the path going towards the village, or back away from the shrine, and towards another mausoleum…