Dark Souls III: Fireproof

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

It sure takes awhile to burn alive...

Turns out being an "Ashen One" has made me more fire proof than I realized, and as the flames subside I can tell that the first flame still hasn't been linked. Well, that's just great. I return to Firelink in hopes of answers, but instead find that the now sighted Firekeeper is still eager for the flames to die and that the cleric Irina is now not only blind but cannot feel anything either - a prisoner in her own body thanks to the dark tomes I had given her. She asks for death. I grant it.

Upon asking around about the whereabouts of her companion, the gargoyle helmed Eygon, it is Melentia the hag who gives me a lead - telling me that he had gone with Sirris had gone to face Holy Knight Hodrick at the Undead Settlement.

I go there to assist, scouring the area for them and soon find Eygon's corpse. Not so nearby is the mortally wounded Sirris who was triumphant against the Holy Knight who turned out to be her grandfather.

In our final conversation, I try to cheer her up saying she succeeded in her quest unlike me who failed quest to link the first flame. With her dying breath she tells me of another knight at the Cathedral of the Deep who might help.

Dark Souls III: A World without Fire

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Beyond the daddy dragon was a tomb with a single snakeman who was easily killed. I learned the "path of the dragon" gesture on a corpse just passed him and had a pretty good idea where to try it too (since the corpses there were also in the same pose). The crypt gives way to a dark version of the starting graveyard zone. Only this one has no fire and is guarded by grave wardens and the invader Daughter of Crystal Kreimhild (I assume that's the Crystal Sage from before). She isn't too challenging as I just kick her off a cliff.

Rematch, Mr. Spear Guy?

The spear statue boss in this dark world is much stronger too, but fortunately I have both Bill the swordmaster and Agnon Rhyat (sunbro player) to assist - finally a coop player can enter the boss fog! Agnon falls in battle, but it is enough for me to learn the boss' moves and earn a victory. Thanks Agnon! In the dark version of Firelink shrine I also find eyes of a Firekeeper, and the sole inhabitant - the creepy hag lady - is here telling me to leave before the darkness takes me. Good suggestion.

I warp back to the regular Firelink Shrine and give the eyes to my regular Firekeeper. She says that it's forbidden but plugs them in anyway, then asks if I wish for a world without fire. Having seen exactly what "a world without fire" is I say no. This upsets her, and she asks that I slay her so that I can take the eyes away from her. Again I have to refuse her request and leave her to get used to seeing the world as it is.

That's got to be a safety issue...

PS. My graphics card finally surrendered and lowered the visuals so I could play without crashing. The quality of the screenies will suffer a bit as a result! :P

Dark Souls III: Yhormine, Aldrich!

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Stout and tough.

After that little break I figured it's time to try fight bosses again, starting with Yhorm. Since my axe had a significant reach disadvantage I decided to upgrade a great sword, like the one I used in Drangleic, specifically for this battle. Turns out I shouldn't have bothered, because I have a surprise assistant this time around: Ser Chubby! He's here to fulfill a promise to his old friend, Yhorm and boy can he hold his own.

The epic fight ensues!

Apparently there's a new mechanic of "weapon skills" that I've been totally missing out on, but Ser Chubby's a master at it - using his wind sword to smack Yhorm around and leaving the giant open to cheap shots from me. Unfortunately Yhorm slays Ser Chubby during the battle, but is weak enough for me to finish off with my great sword. I take Ser Chubby back to Firelink for a proper burial using my sword as his grave marker.

I hate that arrow attack.

While here, I find Greirat has returned from his raid - selling a whole slew of new items. The kleptomaniac wants to raid Irithyll valley next so I let him go for it, while I return to Anor Londo to take down Petrus Aldrich. It takes a few attempts to work out that I can actually out pace his arrow storm, that he is weak in melee, and that his tail takes increased damage from my axe. Indeed, towards the end his only unblockable attack is using too much FX that makes me crash - but that just means I have to focus more on offense - discarding my shield and two handing the axe for maximum damage. Once I had that all down, he got ownzored.

Dark Souls III: Five Finger Discount

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

What gave it away?

To take a break from Aldrich, I decide to revisit old areas again this time starting with the High Wall of Lothric where I can now one or two shot most enemies - making exploration really easy. I manage to free the prisoner I encountered before now that I found the key to his cell and he introduces himself as Greirat the thief. He asks that I find a lady friend of his but since I already have one of her bones (how the hell I know the bone is hers is a mystery, I guess it's labelled?) he just gets sad and then asks if he can serve me... by raiding! Go for it buddy!

New friend vs old friend.

Opting to revisit Irithyll next, I find Sirris fighting Creighton the axe man on the bridge! How he survived being run over by a chariot is also a mystery, though I suppose he managed to kill Pate if he's that tough. He does put up a good fight but is no match against both Sirris and I. Sirris mentions her order is against the group Creighton now belonged to: Rosaria's fingers, because they are all evil scum.

Further in Irithyll I find Ser Chubby making soup in a kitchen which he happily shares with me (estus soup)! Such a jolly fellow. I then return to Firelink (because those frostbite knight patrols are annoying) and decide to kill Leonhard for Sirris. He's nowhere near as tough as Creighton and is killed easily. I then go to Rosaria herself and kill the evil slug with one shot. FOR JUSTICE!

Dark Souls III: Epic Justice

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Since my paths are blocked by a rock and a slenderman, I decide to revisit all the old areas in semi-speed run mode to see if I missed anything that can help me get past them. Turns out, I missed quite a bit! While re-exploring Firelink Tower I am trapped by a familiar bald guy: Patches! Guess he survived our previous encounter after all. His motto of robbing my corpse "later" hasn't changed, but he doesn't realize I already know another way out. Pity he is gone by the time I get back to where he was.

I'm also surprised to find Ser Chubby down a well at the Cathedral of the Deep. Someone has apparently stolen his armor, and I have a pretty good idea who. While there I also burn a bunch of maggot men in a moat and find a way to a higher level of the Cathedral where I slay some evil pallies, poop guys, and find Rosaria the Mother of Rebirth who also happens to lead "the fingers" PvP covenant, which Leonhard wanted me to join. Obviously I decline.

The attack of the turds.

Back at Firelink to level up, I am surprised to find Patches on a higher level peddling his obviously stolen wares - which includes Ser Chubby's armor. He asks for forgiveness for his antics. I say hell no. kill the f*cker and in a moment of epic justice, rob HIS corpse of all his belongings. IT FEELS SO GOOD! I then return Ser Chubby's gear to him and help him out of the well.

 

Die patches!

Dark Souls III: Road Blocks

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

Since Yhorm trounced me I am inspired to infuse my new axe with a "heavy" gem, which weakens the axe a little but takes a larger percentage of my character's strength for bonus damage. For those that play Mabinogi, its a similar methology to the 222 Broadsword which is fantastic in the hands of high level dex monkeys but terrible for everyone else. My new weapon doesn't phase Yhorm at all though, and he sends me packing just as fast as last time.

Damnit! Distracted by chest! :P

Instead I decide to explore the sewer underneath Irithyll City, which turns out to be just one big room full of white spider bug things. They are easily slain and nowhere as scary as the hairy one at the Cathedral. I then find myself in a nice gallery of screenshots artwork from the previous games, guarded by a trio of Anor Londo knights! Fortunately my upgraded axe makes up for my lack of parrying!

A couple of opened short cuts later and I an back at an earlier bonfire but now with a clear path to the Church dwelling boss, slender man Pontiff Sulyvahn - a tall dual sword wielder with fantastic reach and speed. Since this is the first place I see summon signs I try bring help in the form of Marcoh78, Eurion and Boro of Irithyll (players) but none can enter the boss fog for some reason. Thanks anyway guys!

Everything keeps stabbing me!

Best I could do was get him to half HP, which triggered his second skill of creating a phantom of himself who could do all the same moves and unlike the Crystal Sage's illusions, the phantom didn't die in one hit. Frustrated, I headed back to Firelink Shrine to consider my options.

Dark Souls III: Whack and Roll

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Not willing to run into that spider monster again, on my next foray into the Cathedral I simply jumped down to face the giants who were actually easy victims once you get under them. Not far away I finally find stairs down leading to a whole congregation of evil deacons for a game of whack a mole! These moles were too tough on my first round (I had them down to 25%), but on my second try I had both Sirris and Horace with me which made it a really easy battle. After taking a doll that they worship for some reason I warp back to Firelink and find Anri and Horace there.

Bring it on!

Apparently Anri took advantage of our ruckus and checked out Aldrich's coffin. Alas, it was empty so the search for him will have to continue. I also give Irina another braille dark tome that I found at the Cathedral. I guess there are a lot of evil blind folk? Not that it matters since I don't have the stats to cast any of the spells she sells, light or dark. Since the Cathedral is a dead end I warp back to the Abyss Watchers chamber and proceed deeper into some old looking catacombs.

The standard fare of rats and skeletons are here, including some that get up at extra time but are nowhere near as annoying since there are no necros reviving them. There are also some undead warriors who aren't that difficult to axe down, as well as pressure plate traps that are easily avoided. What catches me off guard are the giant rolling balls of skeletons. These humorous things just go back and forth between two points, and after slaying me once by knocking me off into a bottomless pit, I learned to use them to my advantage - luring foes including the invader Knightslayer Tsorig into the danger zones for cheap kills. I definitely find this place more pleasant than the Cathedral.

Behold my new weapon! Lol!

Dark Souls III: Unholy Ground

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VICTORY!

After defeating the Abyss Watchers I was back in Firelink Shrine with enough souls for the Firekeeper to cure my dark sigil, so I did. Yuria was not pleased at this, saying I was a "false lord" and simply left. Eygon showed up in her place, though just to check on Irina. Ser Sad is also chattier than usual, telling me about the history of the Abyss Watchers and how they got corrupted by the very thing they defended against. He also speaks of another Lord of Cinder: Saint Aldrich, who was once just a simple cleric with a penchant for eating people. He gained a lot of power (and visavisfollowers) when he started eating gods though! I instantly thought of any chubby clerics I'd met in the past... no way, can't be him.

Since it was adventure time again, I then decided to face the Crystal Sage once more, this time while embered and with Eygon as my helper we smash him and his little mirror images. Past him was a pair of bandits and a hollow hunting party, and then the Cathedral of the Deep where I and am promptly invaded by Yorams (player). We had a good duel, complete with the exchanging of "welcome gestures", and for a change I'm pretty sure I had this guy - but our fight was cut short as Chara (player) of the Blue Sentinels arrived. I backed off and let the two duel with Chara eliminating Yorams without much incident. Thanks Chara, and good fight Yorams! :)

With the Cathedral doors locked, I explored the grounds in a lengthy detour through a graveyard with endless zombies and a challenging rooftop section with many midget assassin ambush spots. Inside it only gets worse as the midgets are reinforced by pretty tough evil paladins, and a pair of giants who guard the main, flooded hall. In one ominously large yet empty room I am also jumped by a terrifying spider monster who easily kills me in my panicked state - good thing I've found ways to open the shortcut doors back to that initial bonfire!

HOLY F@#K!

Dark Souls III: Watch This

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Since I'm getting whooped on the field now, I return to Firelink Shrine to level up and more importantly, upgrade a second, regular axe which actually scales with my character's strength - which is something the Deep Axe doesn't do which means it is slowly getting eclipsed by it's regular cousin. Also, two new ladies were here. The first, Sirris of the Sunless Realms offered her aid on my quest, and the second - Yuria of Londor - stood over Yoel's corpse like a vulture, stating that I was their "Lord of Hollows" thanks to the Dark Sign Yoel had been giving me. What?

Yep, for every "free" level I've been getting these, more of the very thing I wanted to cure. Turns out the firekeeper can cure them, thanks to a firekeeper soul I found earlier, except it costs an exorbitant amount of souls. Should have guessed the free levels were too good to be true! Anyway, I purchase a braile tome from Yuria for Irina to read. She's blind too since she was in training to become a firekeeper.

These crystal lizards have grown pretty big. And pretty gymnastic.

I then get Sirris to help me slay another massive crystal lizard, and then return to face the Abyss Watchers with the help of BlackHand Gotthard (who looks a lot like an Abyss Watcher) and Londor Paleshade (a servant of Yuria). Gotthard falls in battle, and during phase 2 (with an entirely new lifebar), the power of all the Abyss Watchers fills him and we have to take him down. It is a long slog but since the Paleshade is pretty tough we beat him and I claim the first Lord soul!

Turns out he's prone to stun lock.

And then I put their collective severed heads on their allotted throne back at the Shrine. Do you expect anything less from Dark Souls? :P

Dark Souls III: Marathon Man

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While at Firelink Shrine I purchase a sewer key being sold by the hag. Makes me wonder if she goes around locking all these doors just to make a profit. Anyway, after slaying the mandatory rats (same ones from before since it's the same sewer) I unlock a side grate and find the nun prisoner Irina, who offers to train miracles in exchange for freedom. Sure! This makes her guard, the gargoyle helm guy named Eygon, a bit annoyed but he suggests he will be an ally as long as I keep Irina safe. Safe like... keeping her locked up somewhere you psycho?

Anyway, the path forward was then to go to the tunnel under the sniper cathedral - guarded by a scary frost knight. Since he was too dangerous I lured him into an adjoining room and just ran past into the nearby forest, which turns out to be the home to a huge flock of wereharpy hollows. Not so bad if you kill them before they grow their wings but when they are "flight-enabled" they are quite annoying. I also put down a madwoman with a giant knife in the area.

Anri and Horace. You never see their faces.

In the bonfire clearing just past that I meet the knights Horace and Anri who apparently are on the same quest I am - to return the Lords of Cinder to their thrones. Good to know I'm not the only one! They offer me to join the Blue Sentinels but I decline, preferring to be protected rather than be the one doing the protecting. They are gone after I rest at the bonfire, so I continue alone into the next area - a swamp. At least it's not poisonous, it's just inhabited by crabs. The small ones are ok, but the giant ones I soon learn to avoid.

I also encounter a lone, sword wielding, Anor Londo Knight in one of the ruins - and knowing my parrying skill (as a player) is long gone I opt to flee to another set of ruins which is home to more hollows, and on the path beyond I find a Crystal Sage. This magic based boss relies on teleportation for movement which leaves him open for a lot of attacks, but once I got him to 50% he began using mirror images too and that proved to be my undoing. Sigh.

That's a pretty big hat. I wonder if this was Grigg's master?

Dark Souls III: Right in the Nuts

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On the trip down from the archer, I hop off half way to find Ser Chubby sitting along the balcony quite confused as to how he got there. He's also quite afraid of a large flaming demon in the distance. I use my tried and true method of archery from where the monster can't reach me - but this forces Ser Chubby into action, charging the demon in close quarters. He can certainly hold his own though, and almost single-handedly slays the beast! After sharing a drink in celebration, he takes a little nap while I continue exploring, eventually making my way to a huge plaza where hollows seem to be worshiping a huge, misshapen tree.

Oh... it's not just decor.

This horrible thing is a boss, and much like the previous tree boss requires hits to land on it's cancerous sack weakspots. It's much more agile than the last tree though, which catches me by surprise. My 2nd attempt goes much better, where I use its own attacks to squish it's own, endless adds. Eventually it breaks the floor into a large underground pit. Despite the change of scenery it doesn't actually gain anything new, making it an easy kill.

Protip: Don't let giant foes pick you up. :P

Returning to Firelink Shrine to level up, I talk a bit to Yoel who offers to "draw out my true strength" which translates to free levels! Yay! There's also a new, tricorne hat wearing guy named Leonhard here who gives me a key to a lift at Lothric's High wall and asks that I slay the Darkwraith at the bottom for him. It happens to be a very short mission since there's a bonfire I can warp to nearby. Also since the skeletor has the exact same moves from the ones in New Londo Ruins, I make short work of him. This impresses Leonhard who suggests I join Rosaria's fingers at the Cathedral of the Deep. Sounds like a fetish cult.

Dark Souls III: The Circus is in Town

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With the deep axe, slow and steady progress led me to another bonfire and the unlocking of shortcuts back to earlier bonfires. I even find a prisoner caged in one tower but with no key I decide to come back some other time. In a cathedral guarded by knights (who I'm getting more efficient at killing now) I meet the elderly priestess Emma who offers me to join the Way of the Blue covenant. Since it helped me out last time I jump at the opportunity! Newbie guild for me! :)

It was then time for a rematch against Battle Cat, but this time I used an ember (the replacement of humanity here) to power up and to summon the katana guy from before. I'll call him Bill. Apparently kicking each other off a cliff was enough to become friends! He-man's steed has no match against the two of us, and Bill waves farewell as I go ahead and wave a little flag Emma had given me to summon transport to bring me to the undead settlement: demon transport.

These guys again!

Here I find the regular hollows being fed to some hounds by some sadistic villagers. I also find a pilgrim named Yoel who offers his sorcery services to me. Sure! The more friends the better! He warps out to Firelink shrine, while I continue into the rather large village full of psychos armed with pitchforks and butcher knives who enjoy stringing up their victims. Also among their number are fat, bearded sorceresses, and midget assassins. Oh and some caged victims have melded into ridiculous, multi-legged monsters. It certainly feels like I walked into a circus.

A circus that needs to be purified with fire.

Dark Souls III: And my axe!

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Outside Firelink Shrine I found a half naked guy wielding a katana, and he manages to kill me off a cliff! I return immediately and return the favor. Unfortunately the door he guards is locked (man I miss the master key), so I have no choice but to use the shrine bonfire to warp myself up to the High Wall of Lothric. It's beautiful. And full of undead. The dead dragons on the parapet are a cool touch too... until I come across a live fire breathing one - followed by dangerous knights.

I'll get up there... much later.

In typical Joe fashion, I decided to try sprint past them, because whatever was beyond would be easier right? Lol. After a crazy run across rooftops and courtyards reached some giant doors and encountered... Battle cat! To no ones surprise, the creature tore me to ribbons (though I was surprised I got it to 50% health). Having not found a further bonfire I opted to do the grinding then, especially since I had a handy dragon to help me farm souls. He didn't really care what he was setting alight.

Couldn't get the dragon to torch battle cat. :(

First 20k went to the hag, for a key to the Firekeeper tower right behind the shrine. It took me awhile to actually find he damn thing, but I netted a useful Estus shard, silver cat ring (more souls per kill) and Estus ring (more HP per estus) from what turned out to be a crypt for dead firekeepers (and there were a lot). The grind then continued in the same spot, to level me up a bit, until I could actually sprint to the tower the dragon was sitting on top of. There I found a mimic which I masterfully slew (no damage), partially because it was like the Dark Souls "humanoid" type and not the Dark Souls II "silent hill" type. :P

Most importantly it dropped a really cool weapon: a deep axe, which more than doubled my current damage output. After successfully slaying the first "dangerous" knight with it, I knew right away that I could finally advance.

Dark Souls III: One Way or Another

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After talking with Abbess Feeva it turns out that she knew of a place I could go to cure this curse, but since it was pretty far I'd need to be teleported via coffin to reach it. Using the same one I rode into the frigid outskirts she prepared a spell and I got in for a long nap. Too long I think, because when I emerged my armor was no longer black, instead it was a fully rusted grey and for some reason I was in a graveyard! I suppose my arsenal of weapons was also too much so I only had a long sword left for me by the Head of Vengarl.

It would suffice.

After dispatching the expected wandering hollows and an unexpected giant crystal lizard I found myself in a large plaza with a statue in the center. Like a moron, I pulled out the sword that was thrust into it, making it come to life. Fortunately my dodging skills had not rusted as much as my armor so I could take down the halberd statue on the first attempt. Beyond him lay a large structure, which had the familiar name of Firelink Shrine.

Just in case you thought you were somewhere else...

The blind firekeeper welcomed me "home", as did Ser Sad, Andre the Smith, and the merchant hag who now moonlights as a shrine handmaiden. Most interestingly, there are five humongous thrones here, one of which is occupied by a little man named Ludeth. Apparently he is a Lord of Cinder, the only one with balls enough to face his own demise to link the fire. The other four have gone missing, and to no ones surprise it's my job to bring them back - one way or another.

Dark Souls: Reading between the Lines

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While bonfire jumping I found Ser Chubby and his daughter reunited at last. She was weeping over his corpse.

Them feels.

Feeling a little more hollow than usual at the sight of Ser Chubby's fate, I mindlessly began bonfire warping and suddenly noticed that around half of the warpable bonfires were next to covenants. One in a lower tomb of Anor Londo struck me as particularly odd since it was a dead end, so I dug through my inventory and found a ring that seemed linked to the place. Putting it on the nearby wall vanished, revealing stairs down to a fog gate.

Upon my approach a voice calls begs for me to stop. He introduces himself as Gwyndolin, youngest son of Gwyn. He warns that I shouldn't cross the threshold for mortals shouldn't defile Gwyn's tomb. Wait, hang on a minute - I just fought Gwyn. The voice offers me to be a guardian of Anor Londo, to protect the city and the illusion of his sister. WHAT? Gwynevere is not real?! I'm tempted to go in there but since he is so polite and technically not a threat, I opt not to and leave him to guard that mysterious tomb.

He again reiterates I should take his father's place and link the flame though. What the hell does that even mean. I'm starting to question if he's trying to play me - maybe the Kiln is Gwyn's prison? As I ponder this back at Firelink Shrine a helpful player message suggests I can jump from a cliff to the higher ruin where the giant raven has been waiting this whole time. Curious, I curl up into a ball in its nest (because I guess I'm going insane) and after a few minutes it swoops in and brings me...

Back to the Undead Asylum where I started! Makes sense. :P

Don't you have Hobbits to deliver to Mt. Doom or something?

Dark Souls: Quest Hook

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Following the narrow ledge into another cave with more skeletons I finally found the lair of Gravelord Nito - a giant, floating amalgamation of bones who summons even more skeletons. Fortunately his own area attacks take care of them, and it becomes a case of stamina management. He still gets me the first two times with surprise AoE but his soul is mine on the third go.

Breaking the bag of bones...

With all four lord souls now in my posession I return to Frampt at Firelink Shrine and ... find the sock puppet asleep!? Also seems that Ser Chubby's daughter has moved on and the girl from the pit I rescued before is Petrus' crush, a fellow cleric named Rhea. She also offers miracle magic but my low faith score makes them useless to me.

Since I have some time to kill I decide to see if I can track down Ser Chubby by bonfire hopping (teleporting). One of my first stops was that empty cave behind the hydra at Darkroot Basin where a golden crystal golem now resides, much like the one I needed to free Ser Chubby's daughter from. Indeed, killing it releases a woman - Princess Dusk of Oolacile. Who? What?

She claims to be a time traveler and before I can get more than that (well actually she's just hard to understand) a giant hand reaches through a whirling portal and drags me in! WTF just happened?

High five!?

Dark Souls: Death Knights of the Deep

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After slaying the demon tree, Ser Chubby's daughter was happy to see me back at Firelink Shrine. She gave me some trinkets as a reward for saving her father who had gone on one last adventure. After getting my gear repaired from demon land I decided it was time to go face those "unkillable" ghosts in the flooded ruins just below the shrine. You see, it's only at this point that I started reading item descriptions, only to realize most of the story in this game lives in the gear. More importantly I also find out what some things are used for, like transient curses: they allow you to hit ghosts!

Mine's bigger than yours.

My first enemy isn't a ghost though, it's Ser Dick!? After nonchalantly running him through I explore the haunted place which is far easier to do when you can actually fight back against the things that can fly, move through walls and come in swarms. At the top of one building I found a strange guy named Ingward, the "keeper" of this place, who upon sensing the lord vessel gives me a key and some back story of the place.

Apparently some terrible darkness took hold of the previous inhabitants, warping them into monsters and to stop them the whole city was sacrificed (via flooding). What I seek is below the water though, and the key he gave unlocks the great door that lets all the water rush out giving me access to the very dark and damp "floor made of dead bodies" below.

It's not long before I come across one of said monstrosities: a death knight!? There are many of them down here, and they are really tough to fight!

I really hate their grabbing, soul eating attack.

Dark Souls: Lord Vessel

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

After that super easy fight against Smough and Ornstein (yeah right), I find myself rewarded by meeting Princess Gwynevere, daughter or King Gwyn who is huge in all the right places! She gives me the Lord Vessel and asks I serve her as a princess guard, I don't hesitate to say yes. Because I'm an idiot like that. She then tells me to return to the sock puppet, Kingseeker Frampt, and to take her father's place. "Yes, your highness!".

These player messages are great.

The Lord Vessel is pretty handy too, it lets me warp to almost any bonfire I've lit so in a flash I'm back at Firelink Shrine getting eaten by the sock puppet. Wait what? It's ok - he was just transporting me to the altar below which use unlocks four orange fog gates via cut scene, behind which are located the four lord souls I'd be needing. That's what Frampt tells me anyway, before bringing me back top side.

I notice that Ser Dick is gone, but a new merchant is now semi-hiding on the aqueduct bridge. From this fellow I purchase Ornstein's armor, which not only looks cool - it makes for very functional "scout" gear. Havel's set would still be my go to from bosses though, and since I only knew where one of those orange fog doors were, I headed there first: back to Anor Londo and up to the library known as the Duke's Archives.

A pair of armored boars guarded the passage leading to it, and there was no fire to let them run into this time. However, just like in a bed time story my dad used to tell me I ran between two trees (actually an iron fence and a pillar) where the boars got stuck and easily poked them to death with a spear.

The Uglaboogs method works again!

Dark Souls: Covenant of Hollows

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While farming some giant leeches in the swamp (yes, eww) I revisited a great tree that sat there and thanks to signs left by other players, found two secret passages leading to a drop called the Great Hollow. Because we weren't low enough yet? So I traversed the vertical maze of winding branches (inside the tree), slew more cute froggies, ran passed a colony of shroom people and finally at the very bottom, got out onto beautiful beach with a bonfire at the serene Ash Lake. Man, such a Warriors of the Wind moment.

It's so beautiful down here.

On the opposite bank was a hydra and due to it's close proximity to the bonfire I figured now was the time to learn how to fight it. Getting up close was the simplest - made easier as more and more heads were removed. Still a long fight, but not very difficult now. Hidden further along the shore was an even bigger surprise: a black dragon. Wordlessly he asked that I join his covenant. I said yes! Of course, I found out later that this was a more PvP one. Oops!

I speak only with my mind.

Anyway, the lake was a dead end so I had to climb all the way back up the tree and back up through Blighttown to get back to Firelink Shrine. This journey was getting a lot easier. Laurentius and Griggs, the two I had rescued before, were now here. Griggs offered to teach me magic (but my INT was too low) while Laurentius offered lessons in Pyromancy. Since that school of magic had no requirements, I learned as much as I could!

I also spoke to Petrus to rejoin the Way of the White Covenant (since you can only be a member of one at a time, it deactivated the PvP one) and learned his buddies had come and gone, and he was now quite worried about their fate. Unlike most normal quest givers in other games though, he drops absolutely zero hints on who they were or where they were headed.

Dark Souls: Rite of Kindling

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

Returning all the way to Firelink Shrine, I returned the Firekeeper's soul to her body which resurrected her and she rewarded me by complaining her tongue had been restored. Sigh. I then decided to try my luck in the Catacombs of skeletons which get up again and found it more doable now that I've leveled up. Also, it turns out that they revive due to ugly necromancers lurking in those crypts - so slaying them became my top priority.

Traversing the place was terrible though, with so many floors that simply gave way underfoot and putting me into new, unexplored areas. Obviously the theme in this place was "down". A bald adventurer named Patches was down here, and I suspect he also made my life more difficult by flipping various bridges around via switches on the stone pillars. Couldn't prove it though so I just continued on the descent, deciding that falling in some places is faster than wading through skeletons.

Having the word "Trusty" in your name has the reverse effect.

Apparently I wasn't the only one thinking that, and was joined by Paladin Leeroy at the bottom canyon of the place where crazy skeletons riding spiked wheels (yes it's absurd) almost killed him via stun lock. After saving him he returned the favor when we reached the lowest crypt containing a three headed/masked sorcerer who enjoyed the mirror image spell. The two of us slaughtered him easy and I found the "Rite of Kindling" (more Estus flask uses per fire, yay)!  

Gee, you think he's a necromancer?

Leeroy was going to continue on into the pitch black cave ahead, because we weren't far enough "down" yet. I didn't feel like fighting blind so I used a homeward bone and returned to Firelink Shrine to level up and kindle some flames!