Darkest Dungeon: Casualties at Arrival

Reports from Darkest Dungeon - spoilers ahead! You can follow the rest of the story here!

This place is cursed, and that's saying something given where we are. The gun slinger Isey and I were the first to arrive at this forsaken hamlet which seems to be run by a crazed caretaker named Penultimo. It's amazing the place still stands given the disrepair and the amount of horrors lurking in all the nearby areas.

At least the boss wasn't joking when he said that more help would arrive as soon allies and other adventurers just seeking gold or glory began to arrive just days behind us. I took the initiative to announce myself the leader of this little group and ordered everyone to focus their efforts on hunting the necromancer at the nearby ruins.

It is clear who is the leader!

The Khajiit pirate Skullcat, the ex-princess Dusk, Sultan of Swing and Gamesting were all victims of the bandits he had hired as security. Even Isey was fatally shot by one of their crossbows. Deeper in lay other problems in the form of cultists who slew Melentia and the Nerevarine Brutus. We even had one loss, Chara, to spider venom. 

This would not dissuade our attempts though, as with each successful expedition I knew we drew closer to his lair.

-Fawadin

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

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

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: Marathon Man

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

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: And my axe!

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

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

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

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 II: Eagle Knight Surprise

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

With my trusty broadsword in hand I set out on my adventure, following a stone corridor which led out into a great forest ruin. A strange albino hiclops (cyclops/hippopotamus hybrid) patrolled the river and didn't really pay attention to me, but all the hollow soldiers certainly did. They have a new trick now "play dead", which catches me by surprise more than once.

Surprise!

Still, I do pretty well and reach another bonfire - this one home to a merchant hag. Probably the same merchant hag from Undead Berg? She happens to have the key for the blacksmith's shop so I buy that before moving on. The area around her is quite tough though, with "heavy" ninja turtle soldiers.  I am also jumped by an eagle riding knight while exploring who slaughters me with ease. Good thing that bonfire is nearby!

Son of a...

In some nearby mines I also find Cale the Cartographer, who seems to be losing his marbles. He does admit to be squatting in one of the larger mansions in Majula though, and gives me a key so I can visit! I decide to do just that, seeing as the Lord Vessel's power of bonfire teleportation is still available to me. I warp back to Majula, slay a stray skeleton in Cale's mansion, and unlock the blacksmith's shop for him. Awesome! Now there's more stuff on sale that I can't afford to buy.

Dark Souls: Back to the Great Swamp

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

With the backing of a stronger bonfire I decided to return to Undead Berg to check on the doors I couldn't open before. I also tried fighting the red dragon again and just got roasted. Lol. I did find a path leading to "Lower Undead Berg" though, which I had completely missed before. It was populated mostly by hounds and assassin hollows who were at this point no match for me. It also had a hag who sold handy posion coated stuff!

This is one of the few games where you can literally buy shit.

After rescuing a novice mage named Griggs (apprentice of the Big Hat guy) and defeating a bigger twin weilding demon I found a door to the sewers which was inhabited by undead rats, yucky slimes, and cute, big-eyed frogs. I also rescued a pyromancer named Laurentius "of the great swamp" who had somehow gotten stuck in an urn. Towards the bottom of the whole place was a big arena, and unsurprisingly home to the resident boss critter the Gaping Dragon. Fortunately Solaire had also returned from Anor Londo and was present to assist!

Poking from the back: the "go to" method for most of these bosses.

While the dragon did thrash my ally who I suppose had to go back to a bonfire to recover, I got to see its very limited move set which rendered the rest of the fight very simple. Beyond him was a deep well leading to... Blighttown. Again? Since I hadn't been on this side yet I figured I'd clear it all the way down to the swamp. Those poison dart guys are annoying. Interestingly, once I got to the bottom, Shiva was no longer there. Ser Chubby was though, and was in dire need of anti-poison moss. Lucky for him I had a few spares.