Anderson Quest: Killing Vampires and Werewolves and Leprechauns (Hellsing/Bloodborne)

Dot really see why he was a heathen, all his stuff were just freaky ultra-old pre-human aliens knowledgeable in parts of science beyond he knowledge of late 19th century early 20th humanity. The only parts of his work that could be described as heretical by a late 20th century perspective were the Outer Gods Azathoth, Yogg-Saggoth and Nyarlathotep, the sentient and self-aware embodiments of Energy, Space-Time and Entropy respectively. Oh, and the fact that there was no loving God and that humans were alone in a cold, dark universe that didn't actually care if they lived or died. It was latter writers who tied in a Christianized mysticism that went completely against the themes in his work who are the ones responsible for any of the anti-god heresy most people think of sadly when they think of lovecraft these days.
He was also an atheist who believed the the universe is a fundamentally uncaring thing and that humanity had no purpose at all. Basically, the exact opposite of the Church's teachings. So: Heathen.
 
Do you think Anderson will become the best of friends with Alfred?
They'd get on great... if Alfred wasn't a proponent of the Healing Church. If we could persuade him that the heads of the Healing Church aren't all they're cracked up to be, then they'd probably be buddy buddy, but as things stand? Their meeting has a decent chance of going sideways.

Assuming, of course, we don't die horribly and in a multitude of painful ways during this encounter.
 
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A while back we had a vote where one of the Options was "Give the Iscariot Speech".

Someone pointed out that this would be difficult without the other members of Iscariot to do the responses to Anderson.

The QM said this issue would be resolved by having Anderson make tiny hand puppets and ventriloquizing the responses.

This was obviously the Best Thing Ever, but it was decided that this particular vote was not the time and place. And so some of us have been waiting to work the Hand Puppets in ever since.
Ping me when the time comes. I'll put my vote forward for that!
"Grant us eyes. Grant us eyes."
*99 insight*
"So...there's almost a hundred eyes in my head now? Groovy!"
 
[X] "The hell is dat bloody thing s'posed to be? Some kinda demon? Well, it ain't the first time some ghosty tried to get in the way of the Lord's Work."
-[X] Fill the bloody thing with as many blessed bayonets as you can toss at it at once.
--[X] If that ain't enough to finish it off, well, it's already pinned down by The Word, ain't it? Time to get your Father Merrin act on.
---[X] "Exorcizo te, omnis spiritus immunde, in nomine Dei Patris omnipotentis, et in noimine Jesu Christi Filii ejus, Domini et Judicis nostri, et in virtute Spiritus Sancti, ut descedas ab hoc plasmate Dei, quod Dominus noster ad templum sanctum suum vocare dignatus est, ut fiat templum Dei vivi, et Spiritus Sanctus habitet in eo. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum, qui venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos, et saeculum per ignem. "
 
"So...there's almost a hundred eyes in my head now? Groovy!"
I'm given to believe that the "eyes in your brain" thing is half-metaphorical, and half-metaphysical.

Madmen all over the place tried to experiment with actual, physical eyeballs, probably because they were insane and didn't understand Master Willhem's metaphor. I mean, he blindfolded himself, rather than sticking lots of new eyeballs everywhere on his head.

Alternatively, using physical eyeballs to gain metaphysical ones makes as much sense as "eye of newt" being tossed into the witch's cauldron to cast a spell.
 
Well, seems like the church follows eye "physical eyes" teaching at least somewhat, what with their watchmen having those eye-covered lanterns of magical doom.
 
Well, seems like the church follows eye "physical eyes" teaching at least somewhat, what with their watchmen having those eye-covered lanterns of magical doom.

Not the lanterns only get covered in eyes after the Pale Blood Moon appears, or if you get enough Insight, so it's most likely Eldritch Bullshit rather than the Healing Church covering them in eyes.

As for the Line your Brain with Eyes bit, I see it as both metaphorical and literal eyes on the inside.

See, as you gain more Insight, you begin to understand and perceive all the eldritch bullshit going on around you, much like Lovecraft protagonists go mad not simply because they saw some huge blob covered in mouths and eyes, but because the simple fact that blob exists is enough to get them to question what other things in the ancient books and stories is real, to get them to question the very foundations of what they think is reality.

Insight is Knowledge and Understanding. As we see with the lore surrounding the Cleric Beast's and Vicar Amelia, the people who woupd have the most Insight, the clerics of the Healing Church, turn into the most hideous and strongest Beasts, suggesting an actual connection between the Mutations and how much Insight you have, as if this understanding guides the changes.

Therefore, I think it's possible that as you gain Insight, you may actually mutate a bit and get Eyes growing out of your brain, Brain of Mensis style, especially if you believe the Line you Brain with Eyes part is Literal.

The many eyes in a jar inside Byrgenwerth and the fact the brainsucker dudes eat your insight by sticking a tentacle on your brain might also be evidence to support this theory.

And of course, I might be completely wrong.
 
So basically a eldritch abomination's sheer fugliness will make any poor sap go buggle fuck insane just by looking at them.:V
 
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Although the one problem with the Insight mutation theory is that there's a place at the Hunter's Dream where you can spend all your insight in one go for copious amounts of clothes.

That or you can ring a special bell 99 times to call for help and piddle away your insight that way.

Do the mutations just sort of go away, then?
 
Although the one problem with the Insight mutation theory is that there's a place at the Hunter's Dream where you can spend all your insight in one go for copious amounts of clothes.

That or you can ring a special bell 99 times to call for help and piddle away your insight that way.

Do the mutations just sort of go away, then?
Perhaps the eyes close, and gaining more Insight reopens them.
 
Although the one problem with the Insight mutation theory is that there's a place at the Hunter's Dream where you can spend all your insight in one go for copious amounts of clothes.

That or you can ring a special bell 99 times to call for help and piddle away your insight that way.

Do the mutations just sort of go away, then?
That's why I believe the inner eyes are metaphysical and metaphorical, rather than simple, physical eyeballs in your skull.
 
That's why I believe the inner eyes are metaphysical and metaphorical, rather than simple, physical eyeballs in your skull.
Or maybe that stuff is just gameplay mechanics or hunters-dream dream magic, I mean seriously "what we need are more eyes" is pretty straightforward.



Plus the description of the Eye Rune
"A secret symbol left by Caryll, runesmith of Byrgenwerth.

A transcription of "Eye," as spoken by left-behind Great Ones. Allows one to make additional discoveries.

Eyes symbolize the truth Master Willem sought in his research. Disillusioned by the limits of human intellect.
Master Willem looked to beings from higher planes for guidance, and sought to line his brain with eyes in order to elevate his thoughts."
 
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Although the one problem with the Insight mutation theory is that there's a place at the Hunter's Dream where you can spend all your insight in one go for copious amounts of clothes.

That or you can ring a special bell 99 times to call for help and piddle away your insight that way.

Do the mutations just sort of go away, then?

Why not? I mean, maybe they are just the physical representation of how your spirit ascends to a higher plane of existence? Like how a Great Ones physical body is just a shadow its real being casts on this three dimensional realm? Logically, if your mind descends again, the shadows it cast would grow fewer and then disappear, erasing the mutations.
 
We can also argue that Insight is a function of the collective dream world. Since there is evidence to suggest Yharnam (or rather the version in game) is a result of the collective consciousness of humanity influenced by the Great Ones seeking hosts for their children Insight could be a defensive mechanism, per say.

If understanding the Great Ones can literally make your head explode from the revelation of the universe's true nature than it makes sense why nearly everybody you encounter in the city cannot see the truth beyond the veil - it's immensely dangerous. It's assumed hundreds (perhaps thousands) of people fell into madness trying to 'line their mind with eyes' and view the truth of the universe. Even the main ways of obtaining Insight are incredibly dangerous and risky:

(1) Literally devour the thoughts and intellect of those that have already fallen into madness (Madman's Knowledge)
(2) Consume the barest of fragments of the Great One's alien knowledge (Great One's Wisdom)
(3) Bear witness to creatures that defy comprehension (view bosses and defeat them) or enter locations whose geometry grates against your understanding of the world (visit certain places and interact with NPCs)
 
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I just chalk it up to spooky eldritch magic and go on.
No need to lower my Frenzy resistance trying to figure that out.

If there's anything the professors of Miskatonic taught me, is that when you see (or rather, don't see) a monster that defies your understanding and whose mere existance is enough to drive lesser minds Mad, you don't try to understand it or its implications on the nature of Reality.

You look for a way to murder the fuck out of 'em. Books like the Necronomicon exist so you can know how to best kill those abominations.

I bet Alhazred wrote it to help people figure out how to better murder them squidheads, and all the translation errors from the many translations to over the ages accumulated and changes the intended meaning of the text.

For example,
"The powder of Ibn Ghazi is a powerful mixture made using terrible reagents and forbidden techniques, capable of giving form and manifesting the most terrible nightmares and demons.
Beware! Beware the beast that appears from the Dust, for its gaze brings endless torment, it's many eyes launching death like arrows upon those it faces!"

Should be something like:
"The Powder of Ibn Ghazi is a useful tool made from difficult to obtain materials and careful preparation, used to turn monsters visible and as a medium to manifest demons.
Be careful not to blow it into the eyes of other people because it hurts like hell, and remember to tell your archers to aim for the eyes when they manifest. It's easy, just shoot in the general direction of its head, most of 'em have a ton of eyes."
 
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It's worth noting that, in-game, increasing your insight doesn't just make you prone to fatal bouts of insanity, it will also reduce your beasthood stat. People with high insight are more able to resist becoming beasts than people with low insight. Though that does probably play a role in the creations of the more monstrous beasts; there was a Miyazaki interview where it was stated that the people who resist the curse the longest become the worst abominations when they do turn.
The urge to transform into a beast is in conflict with the basic sense of humanity we all have. That humanity serves as a kind of shackle, keeping the transformation in its place. The stronger the shackle keeping that urge to transform in place is, the larger the recoil once that shackle is finally broken. The results cause you to transform into a larger creature, or a more twisted one. The struggle between these two urges is one concept here. You see that pretty clearly with the beast characters designed early on--especially the Cleric Beast, which serves as their icon of sorts. That connects with the idea that the cleric is really the most fearsome beast of all.

So the insight itself is not directly making people into beasts, but probably does contribute to the existence of the more terrible ones.
 
It's worth noting that, in-game, increasing your insight doesn't just make you prone to fatal bouts of insanity, it will also reduce your beasthood stat. People with high insight are more able to resist becoming beasts than people with low insight. Though that does probably play a role in the creations of the more monstrous beasts; there was a Miyazaki interview where it was stated that the people who resist the curse the longest become the worst abominations when they do turn.


So the insight itself is not directly making people into beasts, but probably does contribute to the existence of the more terrible ones.

That does explain Vicar Amelia's...violent transformation. As a member of the church she must have been desperate to hold onto her humanity but when it finally snapped (coincidentally just as you arrive) she literally explodes into an enormous beast that actually dwarfs the Cleric Beast.
 
That does explain Vicar Amelia's...violent transformation. As a member of the church she must have been desperate to hold onto her humanity but when it finally snapped (coincidentally just as you arrive) she literally explodes into an enormous beast that actually dwarfs the Cleric Beast.
She also lost a rather... Concerning amount of blood when she turned.
 
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