Chapter 1: Yharnam

Ludwig's memories of his first day in Yharnam would be like mere flashes to him. He remembers the rain pouring on his sickly body for his entire journey; the trek felt like days, but could have easily been months or just mere hours. He remembers the panting of his trusty dark-haired steed Zallen, who carried him through thick and thin until they were both as drained as they had ever been. And yet they kept going; Zallen out of loyalty, Ludwig out of his desperate struggle for self-preservation.

A noble, blonde knight in his thirties, Ludwig Leonhart originated from a distant country, but while his future could have once seemed bright, his present was now an ailing body ravaged by advanced consumption. He tried everything, for money was no objection; but nothing would be able to ease his suffering. As his life faded further and further away from him, he heard tales of a city far away, where a sacred cure could rid you of any disease. Knowing it too good to be true, but having exhausted every other possible avenue for treatment, he set out on his journey with hope back in his green eyes.

Ludwig no longer remembers where he is from: he forgot his family, his home; his entire life until that very first day he set his sights on the expansive Gothic city of Yharnam. He might have been royalty or a merchant, a great heir or a reviled bastard, he might have set out on this journey on his own or lost companions along the way… The only thing he knows for certain is he had to have had money, for his horse was loaded with riches and treasures that he would use to buy or bargain for his own life.

Yharnam is a sprawling metropolis characterized by Gothic and Victorian style architecture. It is reminiscent of late 19th Century European cities including Paris, Edinburgh, Cologne and London. Residents of Yharnam are called Yharnamites and the city is comprised of many districts, with Old Yharnam, the foundation on which the city was built at the lowest, ground level. The natural inclines of the terrain lead to New Yharnam, comprised of five main residential districts: North, South, East, West and Central. A great bridge then lifts the terrain even more leading to the tallest part of the city, the Cathedral Ward, home of Yharnam's only religious institution, the Healing Church. A looming giant clocktower stands tallest among every single building; it is known as the Astral Clocktower and it's part of the gigantic Grand Cathedral. Around the city are many smaller villages that are part of the same political whole and also under the tutelage of the Healing Church, like Yahar'gul, Hemwick Lane, The Fishing Hamlet, Byrgenwerth and many others. The neighbouring kingdom of Cainhurst is dangerously close to it, only separated by a great lake. Tensions do exist, but hostilities have never broken out between the two. Although the height of humanity's current technological and arcane science is found in Yharnam, the city appears rather grim and decadent and its countryside has been ravaged by mysterious creatures for longer than anyone can remember.

These creatures are, however, unknown or dismissed by the outside world, where Yharnam is famous for different things. Notoriously closed off, Yharnam is home to the miracle cure Ludwig was told about; a cure that can heal any ailment. It is called the art of Blood Ministration or Blood Healing and is employed by the Blood Ministers of the Healing Church of Yharnam who worships, researches and administers the Blood. Over the years, many desperate travelers have ventured into this city in search of this cure. However, the cure takes its own toll and few have ever returned from it.

Ludwig arrived one night, under the cover of darkness, face covered and his noble attire hidden underneath a back cape. As the rain pestered his body, he dismounted his horse and walked in on foot, as instructed by the people at the city gates. Dragging his tired horse by the reins he entered and contemplated the beautiful full moon overhead. It contrasted heavily with the dirty streets and the faces of passers-by filled with contempt and disgust. Although he knocked on many doors, the distrustful, unhelpful and unwelcoming citizens didn't help him find his way. However, the architecture would never let him lose sight of the gigantic Grand Cathedral in centre of the dense, unclean city and Ludwig slowly made his way over to the Cathedral Ward.

It was here Ludwig was finally welcomed with open arms, as the gentle people of the Healing Church of Yharnam directed him to a place where he could stay and undergo treatment. His relief was immense as he finally entered Oedon Chapel, a place seemingly dedicated to a divinity he had never heard about. He was only one of the many sick and downtrodden who sought the help of the Healing Church, the whole chapel seemed to have been turned into temporary housing for the many travelers who saw Yharnam as their last hope. The Vicars of the Church had him join the many other pilgrims in unkempt common bedding chambers and eventually, after a few days, it was his turn to undergo the treatment and receive a transfusion of what they called and worshiped as "The Good Blood".

These events would later become muddy and hazy, as the treatment to his affliction was long and hard, eventually destroying all the memories of who he was before reaching Yharnam. Without a home to return to, Ludwig made the city his new home and the people of the Healing Church his new family. Ludwig would, however, never forget the faces of the suffering people the Church had him stay with, a memory of a pain he had almost given up on overcoming. Ludwig's riches and horse were given to the Church and in exchange he was given a place of residence among the housing of the clergy in the Lower Cathedral Ward. The Upper Cathedral Ward was, however, inaccessible to everyone but the higher strata of the Church. It was there that resided the holy medium of the sacred Blood and it was there that It was researched and refined before being used in treatments.

Friendly with the Vicars and the Blood Ministers, Ludwig studied to become a Cleric, versed in both the art of fighting and the arcane, and slowly rose through the ranks of the Church eventually becoming more and more aware of the inner workings of this city he initially knew nothing about. The city's religion worshiped the Old Gods and the Blood while the citizens worshiped the Church who allowed them to imbibe of it. The city streets were filled with statues looking upwards, praying to the sky, something Ludwig had always found peculiar.

The only other thing any citizen of Yharnam was required to know about were the mysterious creatures who inhabited the countryside and how they often had to be dealt with: The Hunt. In Yharnam, inhuman monsters resembling giant wolves plagued the city and all the land around it, attacking the citizens without rhyme or reason. Believed to originate from the ancient Pthumerian labyrinths over which the city was built, the so-called Scourge Beasts are known for their agility, acute senses, and a hunger for human flesh. They usually hunt in small numbers of two to three in an effort to overwhelm their prey. The Hunt is, then, a specific event, created to answer the Beast Scourge, usually taking place at night, and dictated by the Church, who warns the citizens to stay indoors and lock themselves in, preferably burning pungent incense that wards off the monsters. These are nights in which the so-called Hunters, elite warriors trained to kill beasts, would stalk the streets to look for these creatures and rid the city of them.

One would be pressed to wonder why this happened; Yharnam was, after all the only city where beasts of this kind roamed the countryside and sometimes made their way to the city proper. One would also be forgiven for wondering how a city in a constant state of alert kept its citizens, but this city was indeed the only source of the miraculous Blood Cure. Everywhere in the world, sickness was abundant while Yharnam had pretty much eradicated it. A city without sickness was free to pursue many other fields of research, from the technological to the understanding of science and the exploration of the ancient past. In a remote outskirt, the most well regarded scholar academy in the world oversaw a big lake; it was known as Byrgenwerth Academy, where a group of individuals studied and explored the depths of human knowledge. Byrgenwerth is also known as the tomb of the Gods, for once a group of young Byrgenwerth scholars discovered a holy medium deep within the tomb. This lead to the founding of the Healing Church, and the establishment of Blood Healing. In this sense, everything sacred in Yharnam can be traced back to Byrgenwerth. The city attracted not only everyone who had ever dreamt of pursuing a scholarly career, but also attracted the sick and downtrodden from other parts of the world, who would inevitably finance its growth. The rich and the poor traveled to the city, and none were ever denied treatment, however, in gratitude, they would often pay the Church back with everything they had, as did Ludwig. Even after they were cured, none could resist the tantalizing euphoria educed by this mysterious blood concoction, and many of the townspeople became addicted to it.

Healing Blood was something only the Healing Church of Yharnam possessed and worshipped and was administered as a treatment through blood transfusions. This blood was seen as a sacred holy medium, and not much of it was publicly known, other than that it was excavated long ago from an ancient tomb in a dungeon beneath Byrgenwerth Academy. Its value was too great, which led the common folk to not ask questions and instead consider it a blessing or a miracle. The special doctors who performed these transfusions were called Blood Ministers, but eventually they weren't the only ones who could perform these tasks. Doctors would perform special scientific experiments to further refine and purify the Blood; citizens would share their blood with each other; Blood became an indulgence just as much as it was a cure, and the Blood industry became the most important of the entire city. Every year Yharnam produced more blood than alcohol; as the former is the more intoxicating and valuable. There were no bars in Yharnam, no pubs or taverns. Only Blood was found. And Blood Clinics. Eventually the industry even created Blood Vials who would have and injection system imbedded in them, forgoing the process of setting up a traditional transfusion. The user would instead stick the Blood Vial on himself and the injection system would empty it into the user, who would feel an elation unlike any other. These Blood Vials were also adopted by the Hunters of beasts as a healing device for patching up wounds quickly while on the field. Hunters even used the crystallized Blood to strengthen themselves and their weapons, often making them a target for deranged "blood drunk" citizens looking for that extra kick and eventually even foreigners looking to steal Yharnam's secret.

The Hunters were one of the three main forces who shaped the city and its politics; the others being the Healing Church and the scholars of Byrgenwerth Academy. The Hunters were led by a man called Gehrman, known as The First Hunter. Gehrman was an older, uncompromising, unflinching man who founded a workshop in the Cathedral Ward, where he trained Hunters and built for them special weapons made specifically to hunt beasts. These weapons were special and different from what one would see outside the city as they often feature what is considered a "trick". Trick weapons weren't just built for killing, they were made for versatility, often having two different ways of being used to allow for on the fly adaptation to a battle without need to change weapon itself. Some examples of these weapons were the Saw Blade, a one-handed saw that can be extended for better reach, sacrificing speed; the Hunter Axe, a one-handed axe whose handle can be extended to perform longer, heavier attacks, becoming two-handed and the Threaded Cane, a walking cane excellent for stabbing that can be broken into multiple slicing pieces, becoming a sort or slashing whip. These weapons were often paired with guns on the opposing hand, something Hunters used to stagger their enemies and help close distance moreso than dealing actual damage.

Although the Hunter's Workshop was one of the pillars of Yharnam community, it was a very exclusive and slightly undercover organization. Gehrman's strictness allied to the common fear of beasts among the population made it so that every actual Hunter has to be not only very courageous but also amazingly skilled in battle. Having been some sort of knight in his old life before getting sick, and not wanting to dabble in Blood Healing, Ludwig eventually joined the Hunter's Workshop so that he could better help out and earn a living in his new home. After all, the Healing Church and the Workshop were allies and often worked together. Under Gehrman's tutelage, Ludwig learned how to use the trick weapons and the weak and strong points of the beasts, soon becoming a Hunter in his own right. He adopted the garb of the Hunter, a dark attire that provided stable defense to anyone facing Yharnam's beastly threat, also allowing one to stalk beasts unannounced, when under the cover of night.