Golem Souls
Chapter 3: Stonevale Canyon
Hello there friends and enemies, how are you all doing? Just to note, this will be a very inconsistent 'Fic, mostly because I go between 'lets get writing! Yeah!' and 'meh, maybe later.' I will be featuring Chapters about NPCs, Special Bosses, and Mechanic/Story Points of interest. The area chapter, though, like this one, will be the most common. This will include an area description, a bestiary of the enemies and a boss summary, as well as Points of Interest and NPCs.
All that aside, welcome to Stonevale Canyon.
After defeating the Demon of Ruination, you will find yourself walking through a small backdoor, into Stonevale Canyon. The canyon is wide, but still enclosed enough to make you feel trapped. The only things you find at first are ruined military banners and dead soldiers, who resemble roman legionaries.
If you look up, you'll see that the cliffs slope inwards, almost making this place a tunnel. The sun shines through in a very thin line, always at the center of the canyon floor. The canyon at first seems to be empty.
As you press on, however, you find a small encampment with several of the soldiers walking around hollowed. These are your first enemies, and will be around for a while.
Enemies
Damned Legionaries: These guys are basically the hollow soldiers of Golem Souls, all of them wield a javelin (Throwable Spear), a gladius (A short sword with moderate damage and C-Scaling with Dex.) and the legion shield (Basically a smaller tower shield). They may drop any of these, or their legion set, which has decent physical and magical protection, but is weak to fire and lightning.
Damned Centurions: These fellows are upgraded Legionaries, wielding the same weapons, but are better armoured and more dangerous in a fight. They will parry, dodge and try to circle behind you if you turtle. They are also often accompanied by a Standard Bearer, so beware.
Legion of Damnation Standard Bearer- Thank the lord that there is only a few of these guys, since they basically call down all the Damned Legionaries and Centurions in a large vicinity, who will then proceed to swarm you. Fun times.
Legion of Damnation Cleric: These guys wear the same basic armour as their fellows, but carry talismans and shields. They cast healing magic on the Legionaries and Centurions, as well as Force if you get too close for comfort. They can be killed while casting their healing spell, however, so just be a little patient and hurt a few Legionaries, and you should be fine.
Now time for the first, and most common, NPC!
NPCs
Royal Legionary Jason- You find Jason in a decrepit watchtower at the edge of the boss fog, which is between two towers. Jason is in the one to the left. Simply break down the door with a kick, walk up the stairs and there he is, sitting on a bench halfway up the tower, in a pose similar to Pates. He wears the same basic armour as the Damned Legionaries, but he is human. He has a sword positioned up against the bench next to him, and upon first seeing you, he will reach for it, before stopping, saying "Oh, you're not one of those hollows, are you. Good."
Upon talking to him: "Who am I? The names Jason, former Legionary of the Twelfth Legion. You saw the some of the other members on your way here, and you'll see a few more if you look through that window there."
Talking to him again: "Oh, the path ahead? It's defended by some bloody statue. There used to be four of the bastards, but now there's just one. Only damn thing we accomplished…"
Talking to him a third time: "Well, ain't you sociable. Tell you what, I've got a feeling you may want some backup against that golem. I'll come with you. I've been meaning to pay my last respects to my mates anyways."
He will then follow you to the boss fog, no soapstone required.
Boss: Stone Sentry
This thing is basically babies first Artorias, meaning he fights in a similar way, but is easier than the Abysswalker.
Upon entering his boss room, you will see four stone pedestals, three of them empty. One, however, has a statue of a warrior wearing a cloak with a hood concealing the face, holding a massive greatsword almost as tall as it in front of it, blade down. Before the statue is a pile of dead Legionaries.
The camera suddenly zooms in as the statue moves, tightening its grip on its sword, before cracking its neck and leaping from the pedestal, landing in front of you. It roars before swinging its sword over its shoulder.
The Stone Sentry is a fast and powerful opponent, with lots of fast swings and thrusts. its main attacks include:
Swing: The Stone Sentry swings his sword toward you, in a ninety degree angle. Easily dodged by rolling back, but it covers his entire front.
Double Swing: The Sentry swings twice in a ninety degree angle in front of him, the first swing is easily dodged, but beware, as on the second swing he lunges forward.
Thrust: Rather self explanatory. He stabs forwards while lunging, rolling to the side will dodge this attack handily. Being hit will throw you backwards, and deal heavy damage.
Thrust-Feint: This attack looks for all the world like a thrust, but will suddenly cancel into a swing to the left or right, if the thrust doesn't connect. It will automatically aim to you if you roll away, so be wary.
Back Uppercut: If you linger behind The Stone Sentry for too long, it will perform an attack similar to the Black Knight Greatswords uppercut, only backwards. It will through you into the air and deal heavy damage, but you can roll away if you're fast enough.
Summons: There are no summons available for this boss, but you can talk to Royal Legionary Jason and he will assist in the fight. Jason is a decent ally, he deals decent damage and can block the Sentries attacks. That's right, this guy may not deal too much damage, but he has remarkably high poise and health.
After killing the Sentry, you will be rewarded with:
Core of the Stone Sentry: "The core of the mighty Stone Sentry, guardian of the Mountain of the Gods. The Sentry was created en-masse for the demon war, but now only a few remain operational." Grants 5000 souls.
4000 souls
The Core can be used to forge:
Stone Greatsword: "This copy of the blade of the mighty Stone Sentry is not imbued with any special magical powers or miraculous abilities, but sometimes all a warrior needs is a good honest blade."
Requires 30 strength to wield, but has A-scaling with Strength and a D-Scaling with Dexterity. Additionally, you can perform the backwards uppercut if you perform a two handed R2/RT.
If you had Jason help you with the fight, he will be bowing before the pile of corpses on one knee.
Talking to him: "Thank you for your assistance, now I can finally lay my comrades to rest. Here, take this." He will hand you a Legion Shield.
Legion Shield: "This shield was manufactured by the nation of Remus for its brave legionaries, who fought in solid block formations. It is a solid, well built shield, with no special attributes, but it fulfills its duties."
This shield has good all around defenses, as well as good stability and a shield bash.
After collecting whatever you should desire from the canyon, you press on, into the mountain.