Sing to me, O Muse, of the Unkindled, born of ashen remnants, denied the ascension to the lofty mantle of Lords of Cinder. When the tolling of a bell, a dire lamentation, heralds the perilous waning of the First Flame, these ashen figures are stirred from their slumber. Emerging in the hallowed Cemetery of Ash, they embark on a perilous odyssey, seeking to revive the flickering embers of the primal fire. Their appellations echo through the ages – Unkindled, Champion of Ash, Ashen One – each a thread woven into the ancient tapestry of the unkindled origins.
Mystery veils the nature of these ashen beings. As blades clash and destinies entwine, the fallen Unkindled leave behind ashes, a somber testament to a fiery demise preceding their rebirth. Are they kin to the arcane rites of bonfire creation, or do they hail from the realm of nameless Accursed, who, having kindled the First Flame, met their fiery demise? In stark contrast, the Lords of Cinder, majestic in their might, transcended the mere embrace of ash, ascending to the fiery dominion of Cinder.
A cosmic dance unfolds through the language, where the very words Cinder and Ash engage in a play of profound significance. Ash, the vestiges of complete incineration, stands in stark contrast to Cinder, denoting an incomplete consummation by the flames. The Undead, willingly immolating themselves in the bonfire, become sustenance for the insatiable First Flame, leaving behind naught but ashes to be rekindled by the sacred embers. Throughout the odyssey, these ashes recur, underscoring the eternal rhythm of Dark and Flame, resonating with the haunting words, "Ash seeketh embers."
In the annals of Dark Souls II, epochs unfurled, witnessed by countless souls who, in self-sacrifice, fed the Flame to repel the encroaching dark. The emergence of Lords of Cinder, separated by vast temporal chasms, attests to the rarity of survival through the fiery crucible. Even the mighty Gwyn, a paragon among Lords, underwent transformation, bearing witness to the profound sacrifice demanded by the linking. The ages unfolded, birthing legions of Unkindled, filling the Cemetery of Ash with tombs echoing with tales untold. The climax of this saga pits the Unkindled against the Soul of Cinder, an embodiment of all who once linked the fire, wielding mastery over every combat discipline.
Further evidence surfaces as the Unkindled rise from the ashes in their human forms, in stark contrast to the charred corpses of the Lords of Cinder. Ludleth and his brethren, reanimated in flame, wield newfound powers that manifest in fierce confrontations. Aldrich, seer of an impending Age of the Deep Sea, spurned death, feasting upon the divine to shape his ominous vision.
A haunting melody, the Nameless Song, resonates through the annals of history. The dirge, unveiled upon the conclusion of the Chosen Undead's journey, lingers as a poignant testament. These sacrificial echoes, nameless and forgotten, underscore the ceaseless cycle of sacrifice for the prolongation of the age of gods, their tales eternally consigned to the ashes of obscurity.
The Unkindled, shrouded in enigma, bear a solemn duty. To seek the scattered Lords of Cinder, to rekindle the First Flame, and to preserve the precarious age of fire. Unlike their predecessors, they defy the inexorable hollowing process, their humanity sustained by Dark Sigils as they navigate the tangled strands of fate. In the crucible of choice and destiny, the Unkindled march, their footsteps echoing the timeless cadence of a world on the brink.