A/N: Haaalo. Next chapter is likely going to be delayed, since this one has taken fucking forever (like four times as long) as the other ones, and the next couple are going to be biggies as well. The previous few were all finished in a few hours each, just been holding on to them to space it out a little, but yeah, it is very unlikely you will see next chapter tomorrow.
After exiting the Grotto, the way forward is towards the upper echelon of Londor, however, since we found the hidden ring in the last level, it's time to pay another visit to the NPC we met earlier.
Warping back to the Inn, Claribel will be in her usual spot, if you speak to her, you will have the option to show the Pale Bloodgem to her. Her response will be immediate:
"What is that? I… that's my ring, where did you find it?"
"I… No, that can't be right…"
"No… I… I remember now. You shouldn't have brought that thing back. I threw it down there for a reason, I'd all but forgotten, until now. That thing… it only brings death and misery, it was better off in the depths."
"So, now that you know my little secret, what now? Are you going to shun me?"
Condemn: "Can't say I blame you. Well, I won't bother you, just leave me to my memories." (loops, closes her quest, and she will not sell you items)
Forgive:
If you have less than 50 Hollowing: "How kind of you, a human taking pity on a poor, Hollow girl like me. I guess not all of you are bad." This will prematurely close the quest, she will still sell you items.
If you have greater than 50 Hollowing: "You're serious… well, I suppose we're both finely hollowed, huh? I could sense something good about you, when you came in. Death, after death, after death. And yet, here you are, still lucid as the day you were born. I understand the Burden, of being lost in this mad, dying world, and lacking even the blessing of a dull mind."
"I was a knightess, of a noble house, a long time ago. That's all I can remember… Mirrah, I think. I became a blade in the dark, and hunted for money, and then for Souls, after I turned that is. It was bloody, awful work."
"I think… I think a part of me enjoyed it. Oh, I eventually stopped hiding in the dark, I just waded into the fray. I took pride in how I could slay my quarry, didn't even need to backstab. It got so easy."
"When I wasn't fighting, I felt my skin crawling all over me, like I was going to burst."
"I thought it would give me a purpose, to stop the Hollowing. Ah, what a young fool I was. I lost nearly all my senses, at night, I would dream that I had become one of the mindless beasts, without even a name."
"I was afraid… and that fear drove me to give up fighting. I came to Londor with a new name, a new purpose. Now, I bring comfort to the lost. I no longer cast a grim shadow wherever I stand. Afterall, I'm already in one great shadow."
"Ahhh, listen to me breaking down like a mewling babe, speaking so morbidly. I guess it's been far too long since I've experienced this… kinship."
"…What? Why are you looking at me that way? Do you expect me to start carrying your hide around? Relive the glory days and all that nonsense."
No: "Good, I was worried there." Closes her quest, she will lower her prices and act far more friendly.
Yes: "*laughs* I think you cracked your head on the way down that well. It's been ages, I only just remembered my name, do you really trust me to protect you? Even in my prime days, I worked alone. I'm only good for protecting myself."
No: "Good."
Yes: "I don't think you understand. This is my home now, I mean, I hate the damn Sable Church as much as anyone, stealing our Souls and Humanities, breeding all manner of vile wretch that would just as soon murder their neighbor as befriend them. But, not enough for me to have a sudden urge to murder again."
Do Nothing: exactly what it says.
Offer Ring: "D-Damn you! You're stubborn as the old ass outside the stable, damn you!"
"*Huff* You just don't give up… Alright, I'll help you. But, not out of any righteous urges, or vows, I just want some peace around here. And…"
"Nevermind… I'll leave my sign outside the grave. Ah, I should probably warn you. The front gate is locked tight, nothing gets in. The only other way I know of is the graveyard, which runs around the terrace below, there should be a sewer tunnel, which you can use to gain entry from the basement."
"Passing the graves is easy to talk about, but if you intend to get that far, expect a nasty fight. The Gravewardens and Undertakers prowl those grounds like vultures, and they don't take kindly to uninvited visitors. The Souls of the dead, from way back to the flood, swarm the area as well. Your weapons will not help you, not even slightly. If you see them, run. Unless you are able to find a transient curse, to bring you down to their level, or use the proper piece of equipment."
"Hmm, since I mentioned it…" She grants a new spell:
Curse Weapon (Dark Miracle): "A black art from an old land, said to symbolize a great, piercing blade.
Binds the blackest of energies to cold steel, inflicting numbing, painful wounds that no earthly matter can repel. A cursed blade can rend even the ethereal.
How such a deathly corruption of miracle power can still exist will remain a mystery so long as its use lingers on."
Has very low requirements, only 10 Faith, 10 Intelligence, and Two Attunement slots, and it lasts five minutes. Your HP will drain at a rate of 5 HP per second, and raise physical AR by 10%. The benefit is that it will ignore all defenses of any enemy, as though they were wearing no armor. This essentially means that anything you hit with a Cursed weapon has a defense value of 0, or 110% of physical AR connects.
This also applies to shields, hitting a shield will cause your weapon to reflect as usual, but the damage will go straight through it. Obviously benefits a heavier weapon, but it will make damaging highly physically resistant enemies much easier.
Ednatiel continues: "A trinket I picked up, a long time ago. I will leave my sign, and await your signal."
"Well, what are you still doing here? We have people to kill." (Loops)
With that done, we are ready to head towards the Sable Church with our new friend. At the end of Old Londor, a towering gate stands in the way of the front entrance, leaving a path to the left, which snakes around the base of the plateau.
Sliding the rusted iron gate open, you are greeted to an eerie, brilliant sight as the area tag appears:
Grave of Hollows. The area is characterized primarily by sloping piles and clusters of graves, a narrow path stretching around in the pale light filtering through the gaps in the cave ceiling in the back, setting a faint blue hue over the twisted, barren trees. Clusters of Darkmoon Grass grow on the sides of the path, and vines and underbrush have grown wild here and there.
Ednatiel's sign is near the first bonfire, and will read "Ednatiel the Nail", which will bring her in. She will be in human form. Her weapon, a shortsword, is completely unique, but her armor is the Binded Set from Demon's Souls, the one that Miralda wore. Which is nice, considering that is one of my favorite armor sets in the entire series but it has never made an appearance since then.
She will stand with crossed arms until you walk away, but she actually has exceedingly unique AI, and will respond to various actions you perform:
Random Gesture/Shield Dancing: "What are you doing?", "Yeah, sure." "Gods almighty, one of those Undead…"
Applause: Dignified Bow
Any type of Bow: Dignified Bow
Any type of Prayer or kneel: "I'm flattered."
Legion Etiquette: Silent Conviction
Point Down: *throws a dagger at your head* (yes, it can inflict damage)
Staring at her Chest/Butt with binoculars: "Don't think I can't see you.", "Is this really the time for that?", "Stop that, now.", "…", she will walk up and slap the binoculars out of your hands after the third warning.
Staring at her face with binoculars: "A little intrusive, don't you think?", "Ever heard of personal space?"
Healing her with miracles: "Ahhh…", "About time you did something useful.", "That felt good."
If you get invaded by NPCs, or by other players: "Oh…", "This should be entertaining."
But if you try to get her to Gank, she will just stand with her arms crossed: "What's the matter, afraid of a little Darkwraith?", "Fight your own battles.", "Sorry, I don't cater to cowards…", "I'm not your nanny, fight back."
She will clap if you win, as well as offer words of encouragement when you land successful parries.
If you die at any point, she will Look Skyward, unlocking the gesture for you to use.
You have to defeat the boss with her to progress the quest, you do not have to clear the level with her present, but you can if you want to.
Ednatiel is exceedingly capable, and can easily keep up with you if you stay nearby. She casts "Curse Weapon" against ghosts, which will cause her blade to turn completely black with a faint purple haze, and use her melee and parry skills to shred through basic mobs with extreme speed and efficiency.
However, she still needs assistance, as her skills are single combat only. If she gets zerg rushed and surrounded, especially by the bigger enemies that can't be push-locked, she will get beaten up a great deal. She can only heal a few times with Estus in combat, but she can cast nigh-unlimited warmth.
After taking a fair amount of damage after a skirmish, she will place Warmth, and if you stand near, sit down and rest under it while she recovers. This will also heal you, so you can sit by her and wait to heal. This only happens if all the enemies in the immediate vicinity are dead, if something is attacking either of you, she will Estus instead, so it pays to help her clear the level so she will not take too much damage and waste a heal and instead use Warmth.
Conversely, if you place warmth, she will run over and rest under it.
The main undead enemies you face are the undertakers, hollows with funeral garb and shovels, dragging bags of bodies, shoveling dirt, and absently wandering. A few cart pushers on the path will hilariously attempt to run you over, taking off top speed with their body cart, plowing you down, and slowly screeching to a stop and shuffling their way back around to do it again.
The undertaker hollows are not too dangerous, but have a habit of swarming if you are not careful, and the occasionally half-rotten bodies will burst from their graves and crawl after you, grabbing your feet and preventing you from running a short time.
In fact, there is one enemy wielding a hammer that can be seen driving giant stakes into the ground, hands sticking out of the dirt. It appears they are having trouble keeping the dead in the ground. The hammer wielders tower over you, and are very hard to down. They can also grab you, pulling you off your feet with one hand, before drawing a stake from their rattling bundle and ramming one through you
The Gravewardens, with their twinblades, are significantly more dangerous, and are drawn when hollows occupying one of several bells begin to ring them wildly for assistance.
The deadliest adversary are the New Londo ghosts, the phantoms strongly resembling their first iteration. They are completely intangible, allowing them to easily fade through the environment in order to outmaneuver and zerg rush. They are also immune to every weapon, save for the Astora Straight Sword, Crescent Axe, Wolf Knight Greatsword, and other holy weapons, though a cursed weapon or transient curse will make them vulnerable short term.
Another dangerous enemy to beware of only appears a few times, and while not a threat themselves, are devastating if you do not go out of your way to kill them first. They raise a black lantern, swaying it back and forth and unleashing a rapidly expanding cloud of blackness. It turns out to be Numbness, if you touch it, you gain damage resistance, but also total blindness.
Not everything is hostile, as you can find another friend lingering beneath a tree. Graverobber Fredrick appears short and squat, hunkered to the ground and looking up towards you beneath a heavy black coat.
"Hehe, hello, weary traveler! I have a fine haul of mmm precious loot, if you've the souls. Or, if 'ye feel like croakin' feel free to do it nearby, that would be most gracious!"
He sells various bug pellets, resins, and basic weapons, though the Transient Curses he sells will be the most useful of the lot. He also vends his armor set and a Shovel, which can be used as a weapon:
Graverobber Coat: "Heavy black cloak, crafted to blend into the evening gloom. The stitches are coming apart and dried mud is caked into the fabric, but it offers fantastic resistance to Frostbite and Dark.
Numerous sacks filled with pillaged goods adorn the under shirt, marking this as the garb of a Graverobber, who preys on the endlessly resurrecting dead."
Graverobber Gloves: "Tough leather gloves, crafted to drag heavy materials from their rest. The fabric is so stiff it can barely flex, and the threads have nearly worn through, but it offers fantastic resistance to Frostbite and Dark.
Clear indentations on the palm, from treasure pulled from its rest countless times, mark these as the gloves of a Graverobber, who preys on the endlessly resurrecting dead."
Graverobber Boots: "Sturdy black boots, built to walk over uneven rocks and graves. The soles have nearly ripped from the pad, and drag the ground constantly, but they offer fantastic resistance to Frostbite and Dark.
Rocks, fragments of names and epitaphs, are embedded into the heel, marking these as the boots of a Graverobber."
Shovel: "A plain worker's spade, used to dredge up the earth, presumably to lay graves and gardens.
This farmers tool was never intended as a weapon, but between the tough wooden shaft and sharpened steel head, this can serve as an impromptu weapon if the need is truly dire.
Weapon Skill: Galvanize, temporarily boost stamina recovery speed by sheer force of will, or perhaps as a channeling of the original owner's industrial efforts."
Classified as an axe, though the light one handed and two handed R1s are spearlike pokes, while the R2s are downward sloping smash attacks. Scales A in strength and D in Dexterity, with an average AR.
His most interesting item is a set of four keys, outrageously expensive all things considered, but they unlock tombs and crypts that are otherwise inaccessible, two of which have great items to grab. If you buy all four keys, and loot all four tombs, he will place his sign by the boss, and serve as an ally, as well as offer a grim warning:
"Wow, 'ye got 'em all, ye' cheeky bugger. Thank you kindly for the souls. I guess I'll pay ye' back by lending a hand on yer' hard travels. Oh, but uh… I hope ye' weren't planning on sneaking yer' way into the Sable Church. The Souls of the damned roam that place in droves, especially… well…"
"'Ave you ever seen a Giant? Not like one of 'em, big fellas just stomping about, I mean, a real giant? The kind that can kill 'ye with just a glance? We got one of those prowling the graves, think he's stuck there, watchdog… or sumin'. Nasty, nasty beastie…" (loops)
As to why he is holding the keys, rather than just looting the crypts: "Ach, don't get me wrong, there is no nook or cranny I can't squeeze meself into but… uh… well, some of the tombs around here are a bit unfriendly for my like, or just 'ad something not worth the bother. Now… 'yer souls, never can 'ave too many souls."
"What's in there 'ye say? 'Ave you no adventurous spirit? One way to find out… mmm, treasure, great treasure behind them doors, does it not arouse you?"
If you decide to attack him, he will cry out, before going silent. You may notice he has a very tanky health bar. Without a word, he will open his coat, placing a hand on his knee and pushing himself all the way upright. He towers over you, drawing a massive shovel, which he will beat you to death with most ingloriously, as well as using his free hand to grapple, smashing you into the ground or throwing you to the side. He can also execute powerful leap attacks.
Killing him, he will curse you: "Blasted… Hollow…"
Dropping the Graverobber Ashes: "Ashes of a simple Graverobber, who mucks around the graves of Londor.
The line between hollow and living and hollow and dead is a thin and blurry one indeed, though the Graverobbers think little of it in their plundering."
His inventory will be unlocked at the shrine handmaid, but you lose him as a summon, and the four keys will be greatly more expensive than usual.
Now, as to what those four keys unlock, they are here, in descending order of cost and the loot they unlock:
Ornamental Tomb Key: "A brass key with several engravings and decorations across it. Likely belonging to a hero of the past.
Young and Old, Rich and Poor, Mighty and Lame, no matter the disparity, all men will hollow one day.
The graves overflow with the once mighty and powerful, Now, they are all just dead."
The Tomb is a little more accessible than most, leading you to a rotunda with a single coffin in the center. Pushing it open, you are able to loot the item:
Ivory King Ultra Greatsword: "Ancient Greatsword that belonged to a king of Old, used to slay Chaos demons.
The Ivory Ore of the Boreal Valley once shone brightly in the sun, channeling great arcane power, but has since turned dull and ashen, burned in the fires of Chaos. This sword has passed multiple hands, its thorny blade still sharp over the eons, craving the flesh of the impure.
Weapon Art: Ivory King Stance. Grasp firmly in both hands and channel the might of the King for a brief time. The fearless lord of Eleum Loyce, the greatest of the Forrosa Lion Knights, stood before the gates of Chaos, challenging the Demons to pass him.
None of them did."
This sword shares the same moveset as the claymore, albeit a little slower, and will smolder a bit as you two-hand it, but the giant lightsaber blade is not a thing on it…
Until you use the weapon art. You drag your arm along it, materializing the buff. I deals a flat 25% of it's AR in Magic Damage, or 25% extra power if the blade and buff connect, but it lasts only 15 seconds and it wrecks your FP and item Durability.
You gain a pretty sizable boost to hyperarmor and the blade switches movesets from claymore to Loyce Greatsword (full speed). Jumping attacks will make you do that crazy leaping slash, complete with a small FIIIIIIIIIII
Other than that, it is identical to its Dark Souls 2 counterpart.
Shiny Steel Key: "A finely polished steel key. Some say it fits the resting place of a cleric who challenged the Sable Church of Londor."
It opens an underground chamber, where numerous skeletons are sprawled out, dead. They cover the entire floor, all the way up to the body of an elite cleric with tons of arrows stuck in his chest sprawled out on the ground, a circular ring surrounding him, where the skeletons were pushed back. You can immediately pick up a new miracle:
Citadel: "A tremendous epic from ancient times. Secretly developed by the Way of the White for their battle clerics, few have ever learned this romantic in its entirety.
Raise shining pillars of light in the vicinity that banish enemies while rejuvenating allies for a period of time, securing a sanctuary in the middle of the thickest battle.
Mankind has often turned to religion as a means of finding peace, order, and unity in the uncertainty of the world, and yet it is the holy cities that raise the highest and thickest walls of all."
This beast takes 55 Faith and 100 FP, but it's a top tier support spell. You charge up a huge ball of energy, then trigger a flash of light, a large golden glyph appearing on the ground as though great heal was cast, only it stays on the ground, eight pillars of gold light appearing around the rim. Any enemies (invaders or NPCs) that step within the border get burned with magic damage, while you and any allies will gain 20% damage resistance and heal extremely fast.
If you step out of the field, you will keep the 20% resistance for about 5 seconds but not heal, but you can step in and out of the ward at your leisure until it disappears after 90 seconds.
It's got plenty of use in PvE, and can be a downright Troll in PvP, but unless you are playing at a very high level, it is unlikely you will ever see this without your opponent having invested most of their points into Faith.
Blood-Soaked Iron Key: "A heavily rusted and decayed key, caked with dried blood. Fits the lock on a tomb abandoned when a mad hollow took up residence within.
The Gravewarden's secure hollows in death, ensuring they never again rise up, but they are not invulnerable to death themselves. When a hollow warrior becomes too dangerous to contain, the Gravewarden's merely lock them away, allowing them to turn the dust in their prison."
That sounds pretty ominous, so I tracked down the proper tomb near the middle of a group of trees. Inside, the ceiling has caved in, allowing pale light to enter, moongrass and a few gnarled trees sitting at the edges.
At the center, nestled in a large pool of blood, is a hollow, seemingly meditating in the ray of light using the "Path of the Dragon" gesture. The moment you get close, or try to hit her, she will stand up and attack immediately.
She has the look and fighting style of a battered kung-fu master, with a rather tattered orange cloak draped over her. The sleeves and front part of the robe around the legs has been ripped off, showing off her thin, emaciated legs and arms, both covered with bloody bandages. Her face is unseen, concealed with an oriental mask resembling the Mask of the Mother, an orange hood drawn up.
Her most noticeable piece of attire is a large, skeletal limb fused to her right arm, the hand and forearm fitting over hers, breaking at the elbow, and continuing with a spiny shoulder blade serving as a makeshift pauldron.
Her fight is… insane. Imagine if the Bone Fist and Beast Claw had a baby, with a few minor tweaks, you would get something like this. Her health drops whenever she attacks, so despite her enormous health pool, she will die pretty quickly if you play carefully, the trick is staying alive long enough, as she is extremely aggressive and one mistake can result in a combo that will likely take away the majority of your health.
She also has several knockback and knockdown attacks, which will disrupt your ability to heal or charge slower attacks. Almost all of her moves can be parried, which will make it much easier. At half health, she will tense up, drawing her arms to her chest and twitching, before unleashing a great, clearly inhuman roar similar to Amygdala.
Afterwards, she will attack significantly faster at the cost of taking significantly more self-damage, and gain a frightfully powerful AoE attack. Luckily, if you are fast enough, she can be knocked out of the animation and not go into her makeshift Phase 2, though she will try to buff again at random intervals.
Overall, her "Glass Cannon" setup made the fight a little easier than it otherwise would have been, but you may die a few times on the first go around.
She drops her weapon for you to pick up:
Parasitic Arm: "A fractured skeletal arm salvaged from a malformed creature, one of the very rare Bone weapons sometimes found among hand-to-hand combatants in the East. This came from an especially grotesque creature, and tendrils of muscle and sinew remain clinging to the ivory, rising off the bone when human flesh is near, suggesting the desire to satisfy its bloodlust by proxy.
When placed on a human limb, it buries needles of bone and strings of tissue hungrily into the flesh, creating a union only the severing of one's whole arm, or death, can break. Those who withstand the agony of such a process are granted the overwhelming strength of beasts, crushing their victims to fleshy pulp with ease.
Alas, it channels the strength of beasts, but not the resilience, and those who charge into battle find the tremendous strain too great for their flesh to handle. And yet, this arm has possessed countless owners, for who can resist the ecstasy of blood and bone splintering in the hands?
Weapon Art: Beasthood. Dig deeply into the soul, and draw out a tremendous roar that knocks nearby opponents down, follow with strong attack to unleash a torrential beam of soul power. While beasthood is active, bearers will enjoy an even greater bond with their inner beast, until every bone in their body is broken and every drop of their blood is spilt."
That's right, Bonefist is back, and it's better than ever. It scales S in Strength, S in Dexterity, and D in Intelligence, though only the Hadoken and Kamehameha scale off of it. At 40 Strength and Dexterity, it has a respectable 350 AR, though it is actually much higher with Beasthood Enabled.
Light attacks drain your health by 1% per strike, which is a bit of a nuisance, but it has an incredibly diverse and effective moveset to make the trade worth it, though heavier attacks have a higher penalty of about 3%.
You see forcewaves and bits of floor kicked up whenever you attack, which just gives you the impression that you're hitting stuff so hard, you're breaking your bones trying to keep up. The trouble is that, like the dragon transformation, once it's on you're stuck with it until you die, just placing it in your hand equips it, meaning you cannot switch to other weapons on your main hand. When you respawn, you will find it automatically disequiped.
The moveset is basically like this: One handed R1 will make you punch, spamming it will make you punch and knee consecutively. R2 causes you to uppercut, charging it will make that uppercut launch people into the air, the folowup R2 is a basic haymaker punch. A running R1 will make you stoop close to the ground, lunging forward at very high speed and knocking anything off their feet with a devastating punch. Running R2 will cause you to leap forward in a frontflip, driving your foot down, which will pancake people hit directly by it.
The Two Handed moveset is similar, but a great deal heavier. Your other arm will raise into a stance, with faint tendrils running down the skin, which will disappear when you go back to one handing (you can change between one and two handed whenever).
Your R1 attack is a set of two punches, followed by two knees and a couple more punches if you spam it, each attack advancing you a little and tracking side to side, like some kind of forced march… only you punch things. R2 is a sweeping counter-clockwise kick, followed by a double punch, a high kick, a set of two high kicks, a kick to the chest, then the kicks looping until you run out of stamina.
Running R1 makes you hunker to the ground, placing your hand to the floor followed by a speedy lunge forward into a clockwise kick that stuns anything caught in the way, which can be immediately followed up by the counterclockwise R2. Running R2 is a jump attack that has you leaping straight up, lingering a second, then diving forward with both feet out (fantastic tracking). A direct hit will inflict heavy damage, slamming people into the ground, your character gracefully backflipping off the pinned opponent.
Pressing L1 will stomp the ground, causing stagger, with an L1 followup giving you the bone fist Hadoken.
L2 is risky to use, but will give you a great deal of power. The roar has a bit of a windup, but will knock anything standing directly by you off their feet, or at the very least cause them to stagger a bit. A followup strong attack will cause both your hands to glow, thrusting forward in a violet Kamehamaha wave.
Your regular attacks are mostly unchanged, aside from being a little faster, but your R2 attacks will be significantly more speedy, as well as attack at FULL CHARGE, even though they are getting thrown out instantly, giving them about 80% additional damage, or a base AR of a crippling 630.
Your L1 is greatly changed, you raise your fist high into the air, causing it to glow, and smash the ground, triggering an AoE explosion. Hitting L1 a second time will cause you to slam with your other fist, and using L1 one more time will cause both hands to raise over your head, smashing the ground for an even larger AoE that does a ton of damage… if anything is still standing that close.
Before you get too excited though, every R2 and L1 drains a lot more health than before, a flat 100 points per hit, with 10 HP lost every second. Unless you are running 99 Vitality with every HP boosting Ring, you will die extremely fast, as you don't have to hit someone to lose health, just attacking will remove a chunk. This should only be used sparingly, setting up attacks with R1, then hitting those super-fast kicks to lay people out before the health drain becomes too much of a problem.
Upon going back to the Shrine Handmaid, I found a new armor set available:
Sohei Hooded Mask: "A beautiful porcelain mask depicting a fine maiden, with a monk's hood drawn overhead. The mask is cracking, and the embroidered selvedge of the hood has already been shredded.
Masks like these belong to elite Eastern warriors, and while not as sturdy as metal, the ceramic is very durable and protects the face from all manner of thing.
To allow the mask to fall into such disrepair suggests a loss of the traditional standards of beauty and grace."
Bloodied Sohei Bandages: "Long spools of cloth bandages worn over the arms. They are drenched with blood and several chips of bone are embedded within. No self-respecting warrior would wear these.
These bandages soaked with herbal salve are a grim symbol of those who have taken the Path of the Beast, dooming themselves to self-annihilation, their once lithe, strong arms slowly fracturing."
Bloodied Sohei Sandals: "Comfortable, open sandals that allow the foot to breathe, though seldom worn in combat. They are accompanied by long, bloodied bandages from ankle to crotch, and the wood is starting to rot.
These bandages soaked with herbal salve are a grim symbol of those who have taken the Path of the Beast, dooming themselves to self-annihilation, their once lithe, strong legs slowly fracturing."
Tattered Sohei Robe: "The deep, reddish robes of an eastern warrior monk, lovely embroidery setting it apart as the robe of a highly esteemed and skilled member of their monastery. The fabric has blackened with layers of sweat and grime, and the wearer has ripped the sleeves and entire front half of the skirt away, the frayed coattails dragging behind to allow greater movement of the legs.
Such an indecent garb could only be worn by a hollowed, once proud warrior who has forsworn all modesty and discipline, turning savage and depraved.
The curse of hollowing erodes men, civilizations, and cultures with equal rancor, such that even the most noble of souls can turn to nihilism, discarding all hopes of the future."
Interestingly, after you kill the monk, Ednatiel will gaze at where she died for a minute, before saying: "Poor girl. I wonder if she even had any idea what was happening, or… never mind, let's just go. This place reeks of blood…"
Ring of Antiquated Keys: "A set of three aging steel keys. They are particularly large and ornate, and very heavy. Based on the sloppiness of the improvised loop of metal, these keys were separated, and united again by a Graverobber. The allure of what could lie behind a door with three locks is tantalizing, but the growls of inhuman beasts cause robbers to shy away."
This unlocks a large stone building a ways to the side, nestled against the mountain. It is very hard to find, as you have to find a set of stone ruins behind several Gravewardens, break an illusory wall into a smaller cluster of graves before the tomb, then finally approach the door. Opening it, you can hear deep, agitated panting. The interior is black, but you can hear the noises. I went in with a torch and, lo and behold, I was met with four skeleton beasts from Tomb of the Giants, aged and decayed, but just as deadly as I remember them as I frantically dodged between their one-hit-kill charge attacks and claws.
After handling them, I found a brazier in the middle to light, which causes large torches atop a set of pillars to ignite, illuminating the chamber. As they ignited in sequence, the last pair at the back of the room lit up an alter of some kind, and when I went in to get a closer look, I was in for quite a shock.
It was a stone coffin with the lid broken off of it, shattered pieces littering the floor alongside broken chains, with several scared, crushed skeleton beasts against the wall. It looks like whatever was in the coffin had escaped, though they tried their hardest to keep it in. Just behind the coffin was a faded mural covered with unreadable text, a Zweihander, rusted and decayed with noticeable burns along the metal, and an item on a pedestal:
Mask of the Father: "Mask of an ancient necromancer, lost to time. Its eyes stare unblinkingly, its mouth open in a silent scream beneath the curls of golden hair. It was said he bore the weight of his family on his back after a terrible affront to Death was committed, but his tragedy is hardly remembered today.
Synonymous with a cult of warriors who sought its power to raise item burden to shoulder massive armaments, traversing the battlefield with speed and grace, while shrugging off unbelievable damage. These infamous Darkwriaths are long since extinct, but on the interior of the forehead is inscribed a single line:
'Legends never die' "
You take the mask, and start for the exit, but without warning, a Red Phantom rises from the ground ahead of you, his massive bulk pretty imposing as he stands about a foot taller than the player, and wears incredibly heavy golden armor, his shouldered Zweihander already out to his side. The invader has no name, and greets you with perhaps the most famous gesture in all of Dark Souls, which unlocks for you on seeing it the first time:
Well, what is it! He immediately charges into battle. I'll be honest, I died multiple times trying to defeat him. He is able to Ninja Flip through most projectiles and slower attacks, and his damage resistance is absolutely unbelievable, while his Chaos Zweihander has a good chance of killing you in two strikes. He will also, at random, pull out a pyro flame and fire Black Flame, which is practically an instakill attack.
He doesn't use weapon arts or heavier moves very often, and usually just goes for the light 2h R1s, but it's hard to trade hits with him since he doesn't stagger… like at all, which is especially a pain since he chugs Estus, using four heals five times, even though the first heal restores all his health.
I won't lie though, watching him spam "Well, What is it!" after each death did bring back memories.
With a considerable amount of patience, and parries, I managed to finally down him. At the Shrine Handmaid, a new set was waiting for me:
Royal Sentinel Set: "Armor/Leggings/Gauntlets/Helm of the towering sentinels that once guarded the city of Anor Londo.
Once upon a time, the Giant Blacksmith forged numerous sets of this armor for his kin, until they left alongside the numerous gods fleeing the fading First Flame, the discarded armor left to gather dust.
The White Iron and Brass is unbelievably sturdy, nigh impenetrable to the likes of common arms, but very few can hold up under the crushing weight, as it was never intended for human use."
Now that we have everything we need to basically beat the entire game, it's time to finally confront the boss:
Grim music begins before you see the boss, walking down a narrow path with no visibility on what's at the end. Sounds of screeching metal, a massive sword slamming the ground, and the dying sounds of hollows starts to get louder and louder as you walk. If Edna is present, she will visibly shiver:
"I don't like this… and I don't scare easy."
When you step into the open, you are met with an open grove, damage numbers appearing as a massive knight slaughters several hollows, collapsing to the ground. He uses a Greatsword to support himself, with an equally massive greatshield at his side.
You can still flee, but if you take another few steps forward, the fog will appear and the Knight will push himself upright, staggering at first, then sprinting.
Enslaved Knights will make you panic for a second, until you realize that the boss is seemingly alone, despite being referred to plural. The Graverobber was correct, he is indeed a giant, about twelve feet tall, towering over you, but his build is very thin and lanky. His armor is shining silver, with pauldrons modeled on wolves heads, crescent kneepads, sloped elbow guards, and scale mail over all of his extremities. His Helm resembles a wolf, pointed, angular, and predatory, with a set of two slits on the visor. A great blue cape flairs behind him, blowing with his wild movements.
With his massive kite shield in his right hand and completely black sword in the left, he is extremely striking, both visually and in how deadly he is.
His theme, as you dodge frantically over the bodies of the dead, the light filtering through the cavern ceiling, trees, and graves, is ominous, graceful, and threatening (/watch?v=Zh83dhvuZkE).
Aside from brief pauses to growl and line up on you, there is very little downtime in his attacks. He does a charging thrust, gliding over the ground, executes frontflips that slam down on your head, a spin to win, a slash into a backflip, plunge attacks.
You name it, and chances are he can execute it with his sword. He also factors his shield into his strategy, bashing you off your feet to get slashed in two, blocking every chance he has to no-sell ranged attacks and stronger attacks, and generally making the fight extremely hard due to the highly limited amount of time I had to hit back.
Aside from the extremely good balance of offense and defense, his combos come at you as fast as you can dodge them, I constantly was taken by surprise as he chained different moves together while I was distracted with getting around that damn shield.
Also, there was something incredibly uncanny about him, while I knew this was the first time seeing him, something in his fighting style made me feel like I'd fought him a thousand times before…
Ednatiel helped a lot in distracting him, but even solo, there are gaps that can be exploited. He has a pretty long recovery on the plunge attack and some of his heavier moves, the key is not to get too careless and try not to run too far from the boss, lest you miss an opening.
After several tries, we got him down to half health, where he collapsed to the ground let up a very familiar scream, going limp. It all came flooding back: why his attacks, weapon, and shield were so familiar, why he seemed so new yet so old at the same time…
The greatshield cracks, shattering to pieces and covering the boss in a healing light that causes his body to gain a bright blue halo, his theme becoming tragic, with a holy ring to it, as he was a great, holy warrior that fell to the dark all that time ago, and still suffers for it (/watch?v=UemPu_vgO00). He stands back up, the halo condensing into a shade, a black impression set over the boss. His shadow resembles a noble samurai, a feather trailing behind his head, with his sword in a low stance. He holds his sword down low and to the side, hesitating a moment, before lunging forward blindingly fast, uppercuting me into the air and backflipping.
As I stood up, the boss screamed, his voice becoming a low growl, this time his shadow becoming a towering suit of jagged iron. He raised his sword up high, focusing blue flames into the base, the Bweeeeeeeeem engraved into my head after countless fights as I instinctively dodged through the column of sweeping flames, the sword remaining on fire as he lunged forward with a thrust from his greatsword. As i dodged, he reached to his side and drew a smaller blade with his free hand, throwing out a set of light slashes and following with sweep from his sword.
Another shriek, this time that of a woman, and suddenly he had the vestige of a monk-like warrior, his sword on his back with a second small blade drawn in his other hand. He attacked with a series of lightning fast slashes from one blade, leaving trails of blinding fire, followed by thrusts from the other sword.
I gained an appreciation for his and her name, Enslaved Knights, for he had a piece of every great knight stuck inside, constantly changing his strategies as he alternated between Artorias in his prime, to Velstadt, Raime, Alonne, Ciaren, Gough, and Pursuer, emulating their moves with the Greatbow and Greatsword on his back, duel blades on his hips, and even his bare hands.
Stage 3 comes when he is down to about 20% of his health, which is good considering he becomes absolutely hellish in his final breath. They grasp their head, shrieking as the shade retreats away, the silver starting to smolder. They scream collectively, bringing the greatsword up in both hands, grasping the hilt in a deathgrip as it cracks, erupting into blue soul light whole their visor turns into two slits of fiery red. The theme becomes one of panic as he flies, and I do mean, flies at you, the attacks becoming sloppy and erratic as the noble knights finally crack (/watch?v=CXBK-vTr0WI).
His two handed moveset shares vague similarities with several other bosses, but is more or less unique. Each blow is accompanied by blue flames flying around, the ground erupting in a fissure of energy a moment after getting struck, the boss unleashing beams along the ground as he unrelentingly charges forward, leaping and flipping across the whole area to keep attacking.
Thankfully, rolling through his attacks at the right time will cause his combos to miss 9/10, since he is no longer able to track your movements very well, but it's a nailbiting battle since one wrong move is death and the extended hitboxes from the flames and bursts could stun you at a very bad time, and the boss fucking screams his and her lungs out through the whole thing.
After an extremely tense battle, he was finally brought down, Ednatiel cosplaying me as she dropped off her feet, panting for breath and fading to her own world.
Wasting no time, I checked out the soul and all the boss items:
"Soul of the Enslaved Knights, servants of the Lord of Londor. The Abyss draws countless souls from across the unraveled timelines, some of which find their way into new forms across the cycles, a fact the grim lord of the Sable Church uses to capture ancient knowledge and power.
The Soul of the Wolf Knight, lost in the darkness and unable to find rest, was placed into a suit of enchanted armor, other great souls joining him as time passed. But, their wills were too strong to break, and when they looked down on themselves they were stricken with grief and horror, and gradually went thoroughly mad.
The Lord of Londor, with a heavy heart, banished the bewitched armor to the graves, to ward intruders from his castle, knowing that one day an undead may come to challenge his rule."
Enslaved Knight Set: "Bewitched armor crafted of the finest silver, serving as a vessel for great souls. Wearing this steals the heat from the body, and fills the soul with icy cold.
The workmanship, born of the vast talents and intellect of Londor's highest echelon, would strike envy into proudest knights, but betrays the torment and sorrow of the souls that dwelled within."
Darkslayer: "Featureless greatsword of dense black metal, modeled on a cursed blade that slew numerous Darkwraiths in the battle of New Londo. The blade is overflowing with soul power, several luminescent fractures covering the edges. Channeling the fighting spirits of old unleashes arcane fire that embodies the blessing that was stripped from the original blade long ago.
Weapon Art: Burning Warcry. Unleash a spirited battlecry that boosts damage a short time and ignites the blade with arcane fire. Follow with strong attack to unleash multiple strong attacks in rapid succession."
It has a moderate level of physical and a mild amount of Dark damage. It scales D/D in Strength and Dex, but A/A in Faith and Intelligence, which scales both the Dark damage and the flame buff. The follow-up R2 on the weapon buff resembles that of the greatclub, where you go ape and smash the blade all over the place, and it can be followed up a second time to add a couple more slashes.
It has a pretty standard greatsword moveset otherwise, aside from the fact a lot of the attacks make you run and jump forward a bit, giving it a longer reach than what it may appear at first.
Interestingly, the blade is Cursed, which means it can damage ghosts and a good portion of its damage will pass through shields, especially with the buff active, which actually makes a blade a pure elemental weapon as the physical damage turns into Dark damage and the blue flame buff adds Magic damage.
Numbness (Dark Miracle): "Cast darkness over oneself to obscure pain and trauma, but greatly compromise vision.
In a deathless world, where suffering runs in eternal cycles, the Dark promises restful, waking sleep, for if trauma cannot be perceived, and one is incapable of feeling, no pain can be experienced.
At least, that is what the desperate believe."
Works much like it did in Dark Souls 2, boosting your defenses by an entire 40% with nearly unlimited poise for about 30 seconds, however, the drawback is far more severe. Your entire screen goes almost completely black, with only the really bright hues visible.
When something sprints or swings a weapon towards you, it will light up with a set of white ripples, mimicking sound, which allows you to find the general direction of your target, but enemies holding still, not sprinting, or inanimate objects will be almost completely invisible.
You are just as likely to walk off a cliff or stumble in circles while your opponent laughs their asses off as actually hit anything, but if you do get into a brawl, you will be able to move at full speed and walk right through hits without a care, it's up to you to get creative with it.
Heading back to the Groggy Crag to find Ednatiel, I discovered she was not present, completely missing. But, there were signs of a struggle: chairs and tables were flipped, several lights were burned out, blood was all over the place, and the Kitchen Knife could be picked up off the floor.
Something had happened while I was gone, but there was only one way forward. Past the Enslaved Knights was a path to a gorge with a sewer opening. I lept in and waded through the water, eventually finding a ladder and climbing to the surface, the area tag appearing as I scaled out of a hatch in the ground:
Sable Church