Dark Souls II: The Crown Collector

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

After proving myself to be the "true" Havel cosplayer, I decided to revisit the locked door beneath the Iron Keep finding that I could open it this time and soon found myself standing upon a set of towers covered in ash. This place was home to comparatively weaker ash undead empowered by ash statues, ghost archers, lightning rogues, as well as cowardly bomb carrying goblins who were the foil to the very dangerous giant headless warriors that lurked around.

Odd that explosive ogres worship a flaming torch...

One tower also had flammable half ogres who worshipped a flaming stick, which obviously I needed to steal to "power up" the main tower. Lol. The invader Quicksword Rachel tried prevent this theft but she couldn't live up to her name. Eventually I reach the bottom of the place, finding an ash covered dome protected by four ash statues. After destroying them and activating the nearby bonfire, I stepped through the fog gate and was confronted by the fume knight (possibly named because he's high on fumes) who promptly kicked my butt.

Dude's not good at handling multiple opponents.

The second attempt was much better since brought the ever persistent Ellie and the Sunbro's Zou and Kikimimi. The fume meister killed Zou, but didn't have enough gas to endure the rest of us, leading to his demise. Behind him was a roasted corpse and another king's crown. Awesome. Thank you Zou and Kikimimi! Feeling that I was on a roll, I returned to Vendrick for a rematch ... and got totally p0wned. Damn this guy hits hard.

Dark Souls II: Two Havel

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Though the Ivory King was defeated, I still hadn't finished exploring his city. In doing so I found a coffin I could ride out into the frozen outskirts - a beautiful snow field which has alternating, blinding blizzards every minute. Oh, and giant psychotic ice deer that can literally fly. Wasn't long before I got the "You Died" message.

I figured I'd do the same at Sanctum City, exploring for bits I missed - and boy did I miss one. After defeating the tank invader Rockshield Baldyr in a long battle of attrition, I found myself heading into a cave littered with poison statues and the local poison undead. Fortunately Alfis and Rapacious Andrei joined me for this trek which really cleared the path down into the dark.

Team Exploration go!

There in the lowest level, we encountered three brigands - the leader of which was a Havel cosplayer like me! Each of us going one on one was probably a bad idea as Andrei and Alfis died quick. I had to use the Kenshin method (running to separate them out) to slowly whittle away at them. Eventually only the two Havel's remained, and there could be only one! I got a good supply of souls from that encounter, that's for sure!

He did put up a good fight!

Dark Souls II: Me:OW.

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

Now experienced with defeating Velstadt, the grand knight, I thought I'd have another crack at the ugly siren with Benhart and Ellie. I also decided to try the drake armor for mobility since I know she likes her adds. It goes much better but still ends in defeat for us. Withdrawing, I opt to revisit the Shrine of Winter again which takes me to a snow fortress (now visible since there's no snow storm).

Backstabs with two handed swords are cool.

The gates open for me this time and despite a voice warning me about "the old chaos" I enter anyway. Surprisingly there's a boss fight nearby, the disembodied voice warning that "Aava is watching" (like the Jesus is watching joke?). Welp, the zone is a blizzard and I couldn't see a damned thing as some invisible thing (which I guess is Aava) tore me to bits!

Putting myself back together at the bonfire I opted to go the other way this time, and explore the rest of the city. As expected it was guarded by ice themed undead who were weaker than their poison cousins in Sanctum City. At least this let me make progress, gaining "the eye of the priestess" near a large flame at a central tower. After defeating the invader Holy Knight Aurheim, I was joined by my old allies Glencour (still Masterless) and Ellie to face Aava. Turns out Aava is a giant, sabertooth cat!

Bad ninja kitty!

Being able to see it doesn't help much as we are all sent packing pretty quick. Such a strong kitty!

Dark Souls II: The Shrine of Amana

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While the castle climb was pretty straight forward, the Shrine of Amana is around ten times more annoying. It's basically a large underground lake with some shallow parts you can walk through and many sudden drops which instantly kill you. There are lizard men who lurk under the water but at times are put to sleep by the song of friendly sirens (who stop singing when you get close to them).

There are also a lot of spell casters that enjoy sniping and halberd guards who pack a punch. After a number of failed forays I decide to counter snipe with my lightning short bow (it was in my pack, actually a lot of things are given you can't sell anything). This made the place much more survivable. I also found a full set of Drake keeper armor, the same type worn by the guys guarding the ugly siren. Since I quite like the cape I decide it will be my new "scout armor", relegating my Havel suit for heavy combat areas.

Gold people are members of the Sunlight Brotherhood!

At one bonfire surrounded by poisonous turtles, I am joined by Felicia the Brave (again) as well as ****LeDore (player) of the Brotherhood of Sunlight. Solaire's group! Not only do they lead me through a particularly nasty section of casters and knock the invader Peculiar Kindular into the watery abyss, the also help me fight a giant armored frog. Way scarier than the cute variety. Like the spider queen this one only takes damage to its face and manages to devour Felicia early in the fight.

That's one creepy frog...

Fortunately ****LeDore's magic is really strong as he basically kills the frog demon, which opens the path deeper into the mountain. Thanks ****LeDore!

Dark Souls II: Way of the Blue

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The higher level of the castle feels like a callback section. Enemies from almost all the other bits are present, including fire sorceresses, a gargoyle, giant warriors, assassin things, and even another bonemare. Had the help of Sellsword Luet for that last one though, and it was very easy since he was the very definition of a tank wielding one great shield in each hand. Sure he didn't do much (any) damage but boy could he take aggro. Haha!

THIS is a TANK.

At the final strech of hostile statues I am invaded by SultanofSwing (player). He managed to pull off a few shots on me but I turtled back to an elevator to recover. And more importantly hide. I guess invaders can't interact with objects? Anyway after wasting his time, he was finally scared off by the arrival of Thanaros (player), a blue sentinel (that covenant focuses on assisting "Way of the Blue"/Newbies with invasions). With his job done, Thanaros also vanished giving me a clear shot to the next boss room where Benhart and Ashen Knight Boyd join me to take on the Looking  Glass Knight.

Who is the fairest of them all?

He's called this because he uses a big mirror as a shield, and furthermore can summon invaders from it to help him during the boss fight! What a bastard! Fortunately he only gets to summon one during the fight who I put down quickly while still in the "summoning" animation. Eventually he falls as well, unable to handle the punishment from three attackers. While the others rest to recover I press on ahead into the Shrine of Amana.

Dark Souls II: Castle Climber

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At the Castle's main lobby awaited the spirit of Chancellor Wellager who gave more backstory to the now missing King Vendrick. Apparently the King loved his Queen so much that he brought his entire kingdom to war against the giants some time in the past to take something of theirs. I love how vague this all is. Anyway, the war resulted in many deaths and the king walking away from his throne.

"Interesting, you don't mind if I look around and loot the place do you?"

"I don't but the lightning knights might."

The ghost told me to go right ahead. Turns out the statues decorating the halls also doubled as the guards, coming to life when trespassers such as myself were detected. Fortunately by going slow, I could cull them one at a time as I made my way up the castle - throwing an invader called "Nameless Usurper" off a balcony before reaching a higher landing where I was introduced to the Queen, Nashandra.

Given how the balconies are constructed, she must like yelling?

She was sitting too far away to get a good look at, but she claims Vendrick never took the throne and that I should take it myself. She also suggested I go find Vendrick first for answers. "Could you maybe call your guards off then?" She just smiled and didn't reply. Fantastic. Not far off I met up again with Pilgrim Bellclaire and got her help in taking down two dragonrider knights (one being the guy who jumped into the water before). It's an easy victory and while I rest up at the next bonfire, Bellclaire continues her exploration. Inexplicably, Benhart is resting here too - swearing to assist me as I helped him.

Dark Souls II: Song of Defeat

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The bridge leads to the lowest section of the temple where a haunting song is echoing along the crumbling staircases. A small handful of elite knights guard this place, but they are easy enough to turtle backstab or simply avoid entirely. At the very bottom I group up with Benhart of Jugo, Steelheart Ellie the boxer and Jin (the player) to try take on the ugliest siren ever.

One of the more difficult bosses thanks to her adds.

Alas she proves way too tough with her dark magic, teleportation, heavy halberd staff, and most annoyingly her penchant in summoning either a bunch of skeletons, a grand mace knight, or a trio of piggies. Thanks for trying Jin! I must have tried ten times to no avail before heading back to Majula in defeat. The Emerald Herald consoles me, telling me I should probably visit the castle instead now that I have the four great souls.

You mean this castle?

I heed her advice, finding I'm able to now open a once locked door in the misty woods. There's another shrine teleporter to some frozen region but locked doors and poor visibility due to a snow storm send me back quick. The Emerald Herald even shows up there to remind me what I'm supposed to be doing. After fighting a whole bunch of hollows and some elephant knights I soon reach Drangleic castle and its seemingly endless supply of soldiers. Took awhile before I worked out that they needed to die next to the hollow golems so that they can open the main door.

Dark Souls II: The Jester

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Exploring Sanctum City is painful, and it gets worse when I reach the Mayan Temple Dragon Sanctum which is patrolled by ghost knights, who are immune to all attacks until I destroy their suits of armor. The first two have theirs laying out on display which is fine, but there are a lot more further in who I just have to run past since their armor is hidden. This takes more than a few attempts.

It's a huge place.

Near the bottom I am invaded by my once ally, Jester Thomas! Low on healing at this point I just dash past his pyromancies and out into a large shallow lake full of half dinosaurs, who join Thomas in chasing me. In the distance I see my salvation: a bonfire! I sprint as hard as I can and light it just in time before the Jester immolates me to death. Fortunately I can now respawn right there, which is a MUCH better starting point to explore that temple.

I thought we were friends! :(

After sneaking back past through dino land, I find Jester Thomas once more and this time after a long duel, slay the bastard. I also discover the "armory" room during a sprint scout and go to town smashing everything. This understandably angers the "ghosts" but I don't care since it makes them killable. Amazingly, I soon have the run of the interior of that temple - finding a stone key to raise a bridge to reach the next part of it, as well as an elevator shortcut back to the very first bonfire!

It's in situations like this that I wish I could carry the old D&D staple: rope. Sigh.

Dark Souls II: Earth Mover

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Balor (erm I mean the old iron king), is a ridiculously simple fight with easily readable moves yet he still manages to 1HKO Manhunter O'Harrah and knock me into the instadeath lava lake half a dozen times. I finally win but am frustrated that it took me so many attempts. Using the bonfire just past him scares the bejeezus out of me though since it explodes as a shrubbery appears to tell me "I'm interesting" then goes away. WTF? Ok to be fair, he also speaks a little bit about King Vendrick, who "almost" claimed the throne. Whatever that means.

Hello Mr. Jump Scare!

There's also another shrine teleporter here which leads to more locked doors so I return to Majula where I find a new, stout fella named Gillian sitting by the pit. He claims to be a laddersmith so I pay him a fair bit of souls for his longest ladder. This pays off in that it leads to a key! Not to the locked doors in the lava lake but to the locked doors beyond the lair of the Rotten!

I sure hope he decides to land.

Following the path down I find myself in a huge cavern which houses the ancient Sanctum City. The Mayan temple in the distance is a nice touch. This place is guarded by giant, poisonous skeleton warriors, corrosive bugs, and more poison shooting statues - these ones actually move since they ride little turtles! Even cooler is that the city landscape changes upon hitting switches (which I accidentally discovered during combat). Whole buildings move to form or reveal new paths. Best of all, there's a great white dragon down here. I suspect I'll be fighting him eventually!

Dark Souls II: Gesture of Friendship

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The interior of the Iron Keep is pretty well guarded by very "Eastern" knights wielding katanas who do a good job in giving me a hard time. An explorer named Magerold is here too, selling wares and talking about a shrine of dragons somewhere as well as Lucatiel who finally joins my party. I also should note this is the first area of the game that I've seen player summon signs, and get my very first co-op cleric named Lee.

The more the merrier!

The three of us make easy work of a smelter demon boss (1st go), which causes my team to disband. Lee waves vigorously as he vanishes. I only realize now that there is no actual method of communication beyond in game gestures and slow to write messages, so I spend a few minutes after the battle to learn and practice the gestures my character knows. In case you are reading this, thank you Lee!

The next area is some type of foundry which really kicks my butt with enemies knocking me into lava or just overwhelming me. Takes awhile before I find an alternate route (hard to see during combat and fire traps) above the gauntlet, defeating Oliver the Collector and finding a switch to turn off all the flame traps in the keep. Then I found the inappropriately dressed Manhunter O'Harrah nearby who accompanied me onto a lake of lava to face this guy...

Didn't Gandalf deal with you?

Dark Souls II: Cool Turtle

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Since the Belfry is another dead end, I revisit the Gutter next - since I have a key to a locked door there now. In a room littered with poison shooting statues I find my old armor! Erm, I mean Havel's old armor! It still weighs a ton, but with the super defense it provides I warp back to Earthen Peak more confident than ever. The climb is definitely more survivable now, and after easily defeating a giant demonic turd I am joined by Devotee Scarlett who is a bit of a punk/cleric.

You thought I was exaggerating huh?

She guides me to a nearby windmill and keeps pointing and gesturing at it until I torch the thing which makes her happy. Young people eh? There's nothing that really stops us from continuing our ascent. Even the fire sorceresses are easily slammed now, and when the pyromaniac Jester Thomas joins there is no stopping our little band. Even the medusa boss of the place had no chance. I just sat and watched as Thomas and Scarlett tore her apart.

Easiest "boss" fight so far.

They depart after that victory leaving the path open for me to a keep made of iron, sitting in a moat of lava. Because that's obviously the best place to build these things. On the approach I am invaded by Fencer Sharon who has no chance getting through my defense. After sending her packing, Armorer Dennis attacks next - and he has some cool magic sword powers. Not cool enough to win though (thank you Estus flask!). I make sure to toss his corpse into the lava so he won't show up again.

Dark Souls: What Goes Around

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I found the lady who ruled this painting in the final tower, beyond the dragon's bridge. She was quite enchanting and surprisingly, not hostile. Apparently this world was one of peace - except since I didn't belong, everything was hostile (to me). She begged that I simply leave her and her citizens alone, and since she was so polite about it I accepted - returning to Anor Londo.

Diplomacy success!

Feeling sufficiently powered up I decided it was time to return to the Kiln of the First Flame for a rematch with Gwyn. He still slammed me on the first attempt but it was then I found his weakness: I could parry his giant flaming sword. And so, without much fuss, I counter-stabbed his crotch repeatedly and killed the "Lord of Cinder".

Right in the crotch - just like I practiced.

A bonfire waited behind him for me to "link the flame". And what, become the next Lord of Cinder? No thanks. With a 180 degree turn I marched right out of there where Frampt and his fellow sock puppets all bowed before me. Hah! I am their new Dark Lord, and now I have the power to do ANYTHING!!! BWAHAHAHAHA... ha... wait a minute...

They threw me back into the Undead Asylum.

Welcome to NG+.

Dark Souls: The Fourth Knight

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The bird dropped me off where it originally picked me up, and the place looked exactly how I remembered it. Except there were a few more hollows now. And some of those knight guys. And the floor where I originally fought the fat demon to escape broke underneath me, making me fight ANOTHER fat demon. This one had no chance though as I was far too good now. I was a little sad that I had to slay Sir Estus, now a hostile hollow, but had no such feelings for the other knights who now patrolled the halls.

Here's your reward for helping me at the start...

In my old cell I found a strange doll which mentioned something about a magical painting. I knew exactly where that was! While digging through my pack I also find another key I hadn't used yet so I returned to Artorias' Arena and up some stairs to a locked tower I completely neglected before. Within I found the fourth "elite" knight of the king: Hawkeye Gough, a blind giant who has retired from dragon hunting and instead now makes wooden sculptures.

He talks a bit about the past, and that dragon slaying is the highest calling for any knight (given that Gwyn's army caned almost all of them). He asks if I am hunting the black dragon, Kalameet. I say yes, and the big guy decides to help out - using his great bow to nail the wyrm as it flies along in the distance. It's not dead though, just grounded. It would be up to me to give the coup de grace.

What a shot - especially for a blind guy!

Dark Souls: Kill you Later

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Beyond the Colosseum lay the ruined township of Oolacile, collapsing into the gaping abyss beneath it. The remaining inhabitants were either beholder head hollows or ugly chaos mages that used dark sorceries of the abyss. Fortunately there was a cool counter to this in the form of a simple silver pendant I found, which basically gives a one second "shield" that deflects all dark magic. Your timing in using it just had to be good (much easier than parry), so I spent a bit training with it - intentionally letting mages blast me.

Chester, the grinning merchant also decided to try snipe me while I crossed one of the long bridges. I pummeled him into submission then used his sniping tactic to get passed a horribly strong ogre thing that blocked the path down into the dark. Again. F-ing dark places. Here at the Chasm of the Abyss I got slammed by dark magic coming out of the darkness. So much for my shield huh? Good thing there was a bonfire right at the start.

Since I couldn't be cautious, it was running mode time - down and down until I started fighting ghost humanities (a consumable item?) which must be the easiest opponents ever. I also got visions of Alvinia (the cat) leading me through one section and right to a secret path where a much younger Sif was trapped. Of course I saved the puppy. If I didn't how could I kill it later? That would be a paradox!

I guess the sword also "grows up"?

Almost right beside that chamber was another shortcut elevator up to the "hub" section. Yay! Also, Chester apparently survived our previous encounter and was understandably upset upon seeing me again. I executed him for his crimes. One less bandit to worry about.

I do like it when they beg.

Dark Souls: Knights of the King

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Must have rabies - look at the crazy eyes!

I awake underneath a tree with only one way to go - a clearing with a not so friendly manticore. After crushing the beast I found myself at a small shrine with a talking shroom named Elizabeth. She tells me Princess Dusk has been kidnapped (that was quick) and like any good Mario I should save the princess! Well, I'm here anyway so why not. The nearby and eerily familiar forest is filled with gardener-type spriggans as well as gigantic knight statues who I opt to stay away from. There's also a black dragon.

After much running I find a quiet area that unlocks some handy elevator shortcuts. A shady guy named Chester is here too, selling some stuff and being a bit of a douche. I'm not the only one who was dragged here he says. I slightly suspect Chester's related to Ser Dick. Anyway, at a nearby Colosseum I witness a strange, beholder head hollow getting thrashed by a mighty knight. Who then sets his sights on me! Turns out this is Artorias the Abysswalker, after the abyss had corrupted him.

I just wanted to return your ring, you psycho.

He is a tough fight because learning all his moves (amazing to watch, less so if it connects) takes some time and more than a few attempts. Ultimately I end up face tanking him with the pyromancy called Iron Flesh. This stunts his DPS enough for me to outlast him and ultimately put him in the ground. After the battle a lady knight named Ciaran appears and gives him a proper burial, asking if I could give her the soul of Artorias. Since I sense a connection there I hand it over and she gives me her twin daggers in exchange - stating she wouldn't need them any more.

Turns out this was the Lord's Blade Ciaran, one of the four best knights of the King (Gwyn, I assume). I had already met (and slain) two of the others: Artorias and Ornstein.

Dark Souls: Over the Edge

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Fortunately I didn't break anything in the fall, and there -was- loot to collect down here. There was also a trembling leaf of a woman saying that she and her two allies were also tricked by Patches. Her allies were now hollow though, so I had to kill them - which proved easy after all that practice I had against Lautrec and his crew. After slaying the other mandatory odd undead things here I found a ladder back to Patches, who begged for forgiveness. I said no, and slashed at him. The fight was on!

To his credit, he was a decent spear user but not as decent as I was in parrying people with spears. After executing the scum I continued into another large and pitch black chamber - with giant arrows flying out of the darkness! Not willing to put up with this BS I opted to once again sprint passed everything. Fortunately the direction of the place was "down" and there were many parts where I could just jump to a lower level to avoid monsters.

Look at the size of these things flying out of the darkness!

Eventually the wall I was following led out into an open ledge overlooking Ash Lake, and it is here that Paladin Leeroy - having been corrupted by whatever was ahead I suppose - attacked me. His use of miracles caught me by surprise (which is silly since "Paladin" is in his name) which made it a tough battle. In the end I ran him through and let him stagger backwards off the cliff. The baby hydras need to eat something after all.

Rule of Cool: Don't look back at your defeated foe.

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

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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: A Big Improvement

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Gets less dangerous with less heads!

Having defeated the hydra at Ash Lake I thought I'd revisit the one in Darkroot Basin. As expected, running up to it was the only problem but once in there, he had the same weaknesses and suffered the same fate. Pity he didn't guard much though: a suspiciously empty cave and a ladder leading to another part of Darkroot forest. One with giant, rolling cats which I stayed the heck away from and one that led back to the forest guardians area.

Ambushed by shrubberies!

They were hostile again but now it was easy for me to take them down, and since they gave good XP I hunted them for a fair bit. Also at one of the cliff edges I found Shiva's corpse (or a corpse wearing Shiva's armor). I guess he was killed by the shrubberies / spriggans. Figured I'd rechallenge Sif, the great wolf too. Now that I could wear Havel's full suit though, I finally put the dog down.

High on a winning streak I decide it's finally time to return to Anor Londo for a rematch against the executioner and dragon hunter: Smough and Ornstein. "I do amazingly well and win on the first go!" is what I'd like to say, but what actually happened is I got curb stomped. WTF? At least I was getting one of them to half health now. A big improvement from last time.

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.