Part 10: - Road of Sacrifices Part 2

Darkstalker Kaathe

When Yuria dies she mentions that she failed Kaathe. Even if you played Dark Souls you may have never encountered Kaathe because in order to even find him you have are not allowed to give the Lordvessel to Frampt, who is much more readily accessible. But knowing who Kaathe is gives us a good idea of learning more about what the Hollows of Londor are up to, considering that their allegiance seems to be with him. First, here's his dialogue upon meeting him in the Abyss, entered from the ruins of New Londo, after retrieving the Lordvessel:

"The truth I shall share without sentiment. After the advent of fire, the ancient lords found the three souls. But your progenitor found a fourth, unique soul. The Dark Soul. Your ancestor claimed the Dark Soul and waited for Fire to subside. And soon, the flames did fade, and only Dark remained. Thus began the age of men, the Age of Dark.

However… Lord Gwyn trembled at the Dark. Clinging to his Age of Fire, and in dire fear of humans, and the Dark Lord who would one day be born amongst them, Lord Gwyn resisted the course of nature. By sacrificing himself to link the fire, and commanding his children to shepherd the humans, Gwyn has blurred your past, to prevent the birth of the Dark Lord.

I am the primordial serpent. I seek to right the wrongs of the past to discover our true Lord. But the other serpent, Frampt, lost his sense, and befriended Lord Gwyn. Undead warrior, we stand at the crossroad. Only I know the truth about your fate. You must destroy the fading Lord Gwyn, who has coddled Fire and resisted nature, and become the Fourth Lord, so that you may usher in the Age of Dark!"

Even though Kaathe's intentions oppose Frampt's he tasks you to do the exact same thing. To kill Gwyn. But instead of linking the fire he wants you to just not do that. Once you did as you're told, funnily, both Frampt and Kaathe show up to welcome you as their Dark Lord. I'm not sure this if this is supposed to tell us something about Frampt or the primordial serpents as a whole. But that's something to ponder on for another time, really.

Kaathe seems to want to help humanity reach their true potential the Dark Soul he mentions most likely being the source of Humanity (Humanity being an in-game item and a mechanic in Dark Souls). So every human has a bit of the Dark Soul inside them. Souls games make clear thet humans are creatures of the Dark by their nature. Kaathe commanded the Darkwraiths to collect humanity, which is essentially synonymous with the Dark.

Embracing the Dark and possibly hollowing is seen as a means to end the age of fire for good and jumpstart a new age of man. We never really learn what happens after you become the Dark Lord, though, if you go through with Kaathe's plan. At this point I should also mention that by killing Yuria we've locked ourselves out of one of the endings for Dark Souls III, but don't worry, we'll still see it and how to get it.

As an interesting aside: Some people believe that Gwyn "resisting the course of nature" as Kaathe put it, was Gwyn linking the Fire to Humanity, which is why the curse of undeath appears every time the flame is fading. It makes sense and is a very interesting theory for sure. This could also be the "First Sin" that is being referred to in the Title of Dark Souls II: Scholar of the First Sin.



Soul of a Crystal Sage
Soul of a Crystal Sage.
One of the twisted souls, steeping in strength.
Use to acquire many souls, or transpose to extract its true strength.
The twin Crystal Sages once serves as spiritual guides to the scholars of the Grand Archives, and one went on to ally with the Undead Legion.

Crystal Sage's Rapier
Thrusting Sword with tiny crystals scattered across its blade, used by the Crystal Sages for self-defence.
The crystals boost the magic damage inflicted by the sword, and the item discovery of its wielder, fruit of the lifetime of research conducted by the sages.
Skill: Stance - From stance, use normal attack to back step and execute a surprise attack, or a strong attack for consecutive thrusting.

Crystal Hail
Unique sorcery developed by extraordinary preacher twins known as the Crystal Sages.
Casts a cascade of small crystal soulmasses from above. Crystal soulmasses have piercing qualities.
In a pact said to have been formed long ago, one of the Sages allied with the Undead Legion in order to train the sorcerers of Farron.

Butcher's Knife
Butcher's knife with an oddly large blade wielded by the madwoman haunting the Road of Sacrifices.
Squarely-landed hits restore HP.
Back in the Undead Settlement, the woman acquired a taste for human flesh, of which she took glee in partaking.
Skill: Sharpen - sharpening the blade increases HP restored with each successful hit.

Golden Falcon Shield
A metal shield fashioned in the form of a falcon with wings outstretched.
The golden falcon was the emblem of an ancient band of sellswords, and even to this day, many mercenaries remain who look upon it as a token of good fortune.
Skill: Parry - Repel an attack at the right time to follow up with a critical hit. Works while equipped in either hand.
Note: the description is most likely a reference to the Band of the Hawk/Falcon from Berserk

Exile Greatsword
Bloodstained greatsword wielded by one of the Watchdogs of Farron, who preside over the slumber of fallen warriors. The blade is a reminder of the exile's past misdeeds.
Inhuman strength is required to wield this heaviest of curved greatswords.
Skill: Spin Slash - Slice into foes with a large spinning motion, and continue spinning to transition into a strong attack.

Great Corvian Scythe
Great scythe of the forlorn souls guided by heretical storytellers. The Mistress of the Painted World is said to wield a great scythe herself. Great scythes inflict profuse bleeding, such that the blood patters on the wielder.
Skill: Neck Swipe - This attack aims for the scruff of a foe's neck, and when successful, functions as a head shot, inflicting heavy damage.
Note: The Mistress of the Painted World is Priscilla, from Dark Souls. She could be found in the Painted World of Ariamis, which was filled with human-bird hybrids, much like the enemies in the first stretch of the Road of Sacrifices

Black Knight Greatsword
Dark Souls III:
Ultra greatsword wielded by the Black Knights who wander the lands. Designed to face chaos demons.
The Black Knights constantly faced foes larger than themselves, and this sword's unique attack greatly reduces enemy poise.

Dark Souls II:
Ultra greatsword wielded by knights who served a lord of light in a long forgotten age.
Even after their flesh was charred by flame, they remained as strong as ever, and stood watch, challenging visitors to their land.

Dark Souls:
Greatsword of the black knights who wander Lordran. Used to face chaos demons.
The large motion that puts the weight of the body into the attack reflects the great size of their adversaries long ago.


Black Knight Set
Dark Souls III:
Armor of the Black Knights who roam the lands.
The knights served the First Lord Gwyn, and followed him into the flame upon its linking. They became ash, but still wander the realms to this day.

Dark Souls:
Armor of the Black Knight who haunt Lordran.
The knights followed Lord Gwyn when he departed to link the flame, but they were burned to ashes in newly kindled fire, wandering the world as disembodied spirits ever after.


Fallen Knight Armor
Armor of an order of fallen knights who disbanded and fled but met untimely deaths.
The drab, tattered cloth conceals tough, black metal which provides dependable protection from fire. It is just possible to make out the majestic gold engravings on its surface.

Conjurator Set
Attire of traveling conjurators.
Conjurators were the predecessors to pyromancers, and spent their lives roaming the lands. No wonder their attire was designed to protect them from fire, poison, and other threats of nature.

Braille Divine Tome of Carim
A sacred braille tome from Carim, filled with advanced miracles.
Give to a storyteller to learn advanced Carim miracles.
In the Way of White, there is a tradition of placing great faith in the words of the blind, and braille tomes are not unusual.

Great Swamp Pyromancy Tome
Pyromancy tome from the Great Swamp containing advanced pyromancies.
Give to the old master pyromancer to learn advanced pyromancies of the Great Swamp.
Spells of the Great Swamp are passed down from master to pupil. Without a master, there is no pupil, but without a pupil, there is also no master.

Farron Coal
Coal used for weapon infusion.
Long ago, used to forge the greatswords of the Undead Legion of Farron.
Give to the blacksmith in the shrine to allow the use of gems for heavy, sharp and poison infusion.

Sage Ring
A ring given to Farron's Undead Legion by one of the preacher twins, known more commonly as the Crystal Sages."
Shortens spell casting time.
The sorcerers of Farron's Abyss Watchers were known to be lonesome warriors who would only rely upon more pragmatic spells.

Morne's Ring
A malformed ring given to knights of Carim.
Boosts miracles.
Morne served the goddess Caitha and later became an apostle of the Archbishop. They labored together to provide comfort to the suffering.

Great Swamp Ring
Ring said to be chiseled from the bone of a flame salamander by blighted Pyromancers living in the Great Swamp.
Boosts pyromancies.
It is believed that salamanders are the descendants of demons, born of the Chaos Flame, from which Pyromancy is also said to have originated.