Dark Souls III: Thy place of belonging

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

DAMN!

After 30 or so attempts and maybe 10 or so embers, which I'm now using as a heal item rather than a pre-combat buff, I finally win this most epic battle as the nunja does not get up a fourth time (thank god). Is it strange that I'm going to miss her now?

I head out to where the white haired prisoner girl has begun painting on a canvas and tell her of her uncle Gael's (many) deaths. She doesn't seem to mind. Instead she tells me:

Those who aren't ken to fire cannot paint a world...

Those absorbed by fire, must not paint a world.

Don't worry, I haven't forgotten, Mother...

I can hear the fire crackle...

And soon, I will see it...

My thanks, Ashen One.

I will finish the painting.

Of a cold, dark, and very gentle place.

So that it might make a home for someone, someday."

It is with sorrow that I leave her there to die as Ariandel's flames begin to consume the place. That second line strikes a chord for me though. Perhaps it's some sort of clue as to why the fire didn't get linked, and why it's best that I am fireproof.

Dark Souls III: Fighting Fully

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Rejuvenated by the victory I return to face Friede and promptly get face stomped again and again. I do improve though, up to the point where I slay her! But this is Dark Souls, that doesn't really mean I won. See by doing that Ariandel goes ape shit and revives her.

Oh, so the boss fight only starts -now-?

Now I have to fight both a nunja, and a crazed giant bird wielding a cup full of lava! Even with Sir Gael's assistance, this does not end well for me and defeat resets the fight -fully- as per usual.

I opt to head back (bonfire warp works just fine) and chat with Corynx who gives me clues where to find more Estus shards (more healing). I manage to find two more which is still not a full set but it proves to be enough to slay both Friede and Ariandel! Huzzah!

This leads to phase THREE, where our favourite nunja revives again - this time with dual scythes (I guess she killed Scythegirl too) and insane dark magic moves. Yep. I die again. A lot. And this resets the fight -fully-. :P

Dark Souls III: Return from whence thou cam'st...

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Ariandel asks me to fetch Friede but there's no need, as she is already approaching with the exact same ice magicked scythe of the previous white-haired painting lady. It's pretty clear now that she killed her somehow and with Ariandel is now corrupting this world. I would not let that stand!

Or ... maybe I'll just back away now.

It turns out Friede is a nunja though (dual class nun/ninja) who can turn invisible and pretty easily kills me with said scythe. A few goes of this and I am so beaten up mentally I opt to withdraw first, following the suggestion of a player message to cut the long bridge outside.

This then serves as a ladder down to a root maze (guarded by two annoying great Nord archers) which reaches the frozen lake below. The area leads to a flowery valley with the bottom part of that tower where a lady with an affinity for wolves guards a curiously familiar grave.

Though not stated, I'm sure this is Knight Ciaran, especially given how tough she is (and she can somehow parry while attacking, the cheater). Worse when she summons a great wolf for aid. She's not as tough as Friede though, as it only takes me three attempts to defeat her.

Dark Souls III: Mountain of Madness

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Beyond the prison chamber is an exit to a snowy mountain pass which is heavily patrolled by the javelin dudes followed by wolves and the great Nords. In traditional Dark Souls fashion, since I was terribly outnumbered here (worse than 10:1) I decided to go to the old staple: Panic Sprint through everything and somehow it worked!

Oh yuck.

After opening a few shortcuts I found myself entering a large, smelly chamber full of carcasses - a hive of giant flies? While very yucky, these weren't that dangerous to get through since I wasn't silly enough to wake all of them up at the same time. A nearby lever opened a secret passage back at Sister Friede's chapel. How I saw what happened in a cut scene far away - I don't know, but that's not the first time it's happened either. :P

A secret passage from the hive then led to a tangle of roots down to a familiar looking circular tower... damnit. This IS the same painting that I was in before! With nowhere else to go I used a homeward bone to return to Friede and get some answers.

She just casually implied I should leave but didn't actually stop me from descending the secret steps into the large, underground sanctum. At the end was a giant bird man, peering into a golden cauldron. It turns out this is the titular Ariandel.

Dark Souls III: Vilhelm's Doom

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Apart from the very first "strong" birdman, the rest of the powered up freaks are easily avoided by some rooftop parkour. This leads me to some sort of cemetery around a library where Sir Vilhelm awaits with his dark sword and an ominous speech. I knew I'd be fighting him!

It is quickly apparent that a noble duel is bad for my health so I fall back to cheap tricks of corner attacks and climbing up a ladder. The ladder actually proves to be his downfall as he thinks he's clever to not follow me up, since that would leave him open. He also has a healing ability to negate my ranged attacks anyway so he's safe right? Wrong.

This makes him extremely open to a plunging attack from pretty high up, which when chained with my foreva-swingin-axe which stuns on every hit results in his dismemberment. Can't out cheese a cheeser! :P

P0wned.

I open up a secret passage in his library which opens up some stairs leading to a young girl with long white hair. This prisoner is a budding painter, Sir Gael's niece, and reminds me a lot of another white haired girl I met in a snowy painting so very long ago.

She also asks that I show her fire... which is a little disturbing.

Dark Souls III: Birdverine

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Upon properly scouting, I find another path that leads to a bonfire and a rickety wooden bridge spanning a large chasm, leading to some sort of chapel. At the door is a Sir Vilhelm, a knight in black armor with the voice of a chain smoker, who tells me to go in and talk to his boss, Sister Friede.

Friede is very amicable, gifts me a frostbite ring and politely tells me that I have no place here. Vilhelm's echo of this is more direct and aggressive. Yeah I'm going to fight him later aren't I? Deciding against leaving just yet, I follow a path down the mountain side which leads to a small village inhabited my mostly dying birdmen.

Sliding is fun! And one way...

It's good that most of them are dying though, because the few full powered ones are bloody fast and dangerous to fight. They must be infected by something because the strong ones also attack their weak kin. One dying birdman in a kitchen tells me this directly, begging me to stop this disease. There's definitely more than meets the eye here.

Dark Souls III: The Second Painting

Tales from Dark Souls - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

Following Sirris' instructions I find Sir Gael at the Cleansing Chapel (of the Deep). I guess I misunderstood that he could help me though, since he is the one asking for help - tasking me with bringing fire to the painted world of Ariandel, holding out a scrap of painting which serves as a teleporter. Why not, it's not like this is the first painting I've stepped into.

I soon find myself in a wintery mountainside, inhabited by tall, javelin throwing viking dudes, lonely trees, and packs of wolves. Individually they aren't that tough against my fully upgraded axe, but since this is Dark Souls - they come in groups of three or more. Still not a problem though. Even the giant wolf pack leader isn't a problem since I've fought one who wielded a giant sword before.

I like that it's just sitting in plain sight so you know what you're walking into.

Progress seems good until I hit some ruins near a crumbling guard post - that's when I encounter the giant Nords who live up to their appearance and cane me very easily. At that point I decide to look for a way around these guys...