Firelink Shrine 22: New Arrivals
RecurringExtra
Designated Background Character
- Location
- Out of Focus
"Alright, hear me out." You start.
"This should be good." Hawkwood grumbles out.
"What if we went back to fight that De-"
"No."
Well, it was worth a shot. "Back to the Shrine, then?"
"Please."
The two of you reach your hands to the bonfire, and you feel the ground fall away beneath you once more.
You arrive back at the shrine, finding the place to be entirely unchanged from how it was when you'd left. Piles of ash here, big fancy chairs also covered in ash over there. There's some comfort in the familiarity, but a little bit of variety would be nice...
"Good to be back."Hawkwood says with a sigh, his shoulders falling as if a literal weight had come off his shoulders.
"I'm sure that this big pile of gray is a real comfort for you."
"Better grey and drab than red and dead." Hawkwood says with a shrug.
"How long have you had that one ready to use?"
"Too long. Anyhow, I need to get this fixed." Hawkwood says, lifting his cracked broadsword up.
As Hawkwood wanders off to likely bore Andre to death, you spot the Firekeeper enter.
"Greetings, Ashen One. I am glad to see thee returned safely."
"That makes two of us." You say.
"Has thou journey been a success as of yet?"
"If you're asking about any of the Lords, I think we might be getting close to one or two, but otherwise, not so much, I'm afraid.""
"It is to be expected. I was merely curious."
"By the way, do you think you could let me do that soul reinforcement thing?"
"It would be my pleasure, Ashen One."
You step forward, and kneel in front of the Fire Keeper once more, and hear her words flow into your mind.
Level up(s) available!
"Know you of the arrivals to the Shrine?" The Firekeeper asks once you've finished reinforcing your soul or whatever.
"Do you mean Yoel and Irina?"
The Firekeeper nods, although her head turns up towards the largest of the thrones. "Indeed, but there is another. A guest who wished to speak with you."
You follow her gaze, spotting a man leaning against the throne of Lothric at the top of the semicircle. Decked out in fancy cloth armor embroidered with golden thread above a layer of sturdy leather armor. Covering his face is a mask of silver that leaves his eyes the only visible part of his body.
You stand back up, wiping ash off of yourself, before deciding that, yeah, this wasn't a very good idea. Once you've gotten (most of) it off, you climb up the stairway to meet with this masked stranger.
"Ah, finally taken notice of me, have you?" The man asks when you finally approach him, his eyes pale blue orbs hiding behind his mask of silver.
"Who are you exactly?" You ask.
"Who I am matters little at this moment. I wish to speak of you."
"Um, okay? About what?"
"I wish to congratulate you on your performance against the Darkwraith. Not many would be brave enough to fight such a beast, let alone strong enough to win." He says.
"It wasn't an easy fight, but we managed to take them out."
"Indeed." The man says, pleased. "Now, where is the Red Eye Orb?"
"Uh..." You mutter, as the man raises an eyebrow in confusion.
Red Eye Orb? You think back to when you were down in the cell, and remember a red orb that Hawkwood smashed with extreme prejudice.
"I think it got shattered." You eventually settle on.
"...Pardon?"
"Well, we went down to the cell, and after we killed the Darkwraith, Hawkwood smashed some weird red orb with an eye on it."
The man is silent for a moment, likely thinking.
"So the Red Eye Orb was destroyed?"
"Uh, yeah, why?"
"So you destroyed a priceless, irreplaceable artifact? Why?"
"I didn't do it. Hawkwood, the mopey guy did."
"Ah, I had wondered where he'd gotten off to." The man says with a nod, as he seems to have put all of the pieces together. "Interesting, most interesting..."
"Did you want it or something?"
"I'll put this simply to you:" The man says, ignoring your question. "Stay away from Rosaria of the Cathedral of the Deep."
"Is that the Lady that the fat women keep talking about?"
"No, she is not. But if you are uninformed, I advise you to stay that way.." The man says. "Now, I will be going. Pray that our paths do not cross again." He says as he walks off, a turquoise cape on his back flapping through the air with his dramatic turn.
You aren't sure what his deal was, but you have better things to do than sit here and try to figure out masked weirdos, such as actually going to meet up with everyone else who has just arrived.
You find Yoel in a corner of the shrine, through one of the pathways in the side that leads to a drop to a back corridor filled with water. With a sigh, you drop down into the muck from above, finding it luckily to be much more shallow on this side than it was on the other.
"Oh, our Champion of Ash, welcome home!" Yoel calls out as he realizes it's you. "This pilgrim, with a debt in death, hardly deserves to behold this divine flame. And I never would have, had you not taken me into your service. I thank you dearly for this... And assure you of my leal service
"Oh, um, thank you Yoel." You say, unsure of the amount of praise he seems to be heaping onto you. "I'm glad to see that you made it here safely."
"Oh my, you are much too kind, Champion of Ash."
"Please just call me Sayaka, or Miki, or something."
"Oh, no, it is not my place, as a mere pilgrim, to be addressing someone such as you so casually.
Well, it was worth a try.
"Now, champion of ash, I can offer two different services!" Yoel explains. "First, I can provide you with instruction on sorcery, as I had mentioned before. However, there is something else that I can offer you as well."
"Oh?"
"I am able to draw out your true power. It is a process that few know of, but us pilgrims of Londor are keenly aware of such things."
"I assume there's a catch to this." You say, having learned the hard way that there usually is one.
"That depends, Champion of Ash." Yoel says. "Now, let me see..." He says, turning his head as if he were looking at you in some different manner entirely. There are several moments of silence that draw on far longer than is comfortable.
"Oh my..." Yoel mutters, finally shattering the layer of silence that had seemed to descend out of nowhere.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, not by any means, although this might complicate matters..."
"What?"
"As I had said, I wished to draw out your true power, but it seems it already has been. And to an extent beyond anything I had thought possible..."
Drawn out power? Could it be...
"Well, I am afraid that I cannot be of much use to you in that regard. However, I can still offer to teach you what I know of sorcery, if that would be to your satisfaction?"
"Maybe, but first I have some other things I need to take care of." You say, having a task you are very much not looking forward to that you have to take care of.
"I understand. Please, come by anytime you might be interested." Yoel says.
It takes you a bit of wandering around, during which you note that Greirat seems to be missing, but you eventually stumble upon the person you were looking for.
Oh, Champion of Ash. Welcome back." Irina says with a smile.
"You really picked an out of the way spot, huh?" You say, avoiding one of several puddles of water. You found her on the opposite side of where you found Yoel, tucked away at the end of a hallway. "How did you even get here?"
"The Blacksmith helped me get over here.
"Why did Andre bring you here of all places?"
"I asked if he knew any quiet spots within the Shrine where it would be easier to concentrate."
"Concentrate on what?"
"Why, on miracles of course." Irina explains as if it were obvious. "Or, I would, if I had any tomes with me."
"You mean like books? How would you even read them?"
"In Carim, the most holy of texts are written in braille, as those without sight are free from the weighty judgement that plagues so many others."
Well, not like weird cultural practices are anything new by this point...
"I would be pleased to share the tales of miracles with you, although to be honest, I only know a few from my time as a nun."
"What are miracles exactly?" You ask.
"You do not know?" Irina seems shocked at this. "They are tales of the Gods that grant us power as a reward for our faith in the divine."
Huh. On the one hand, that sounds a bit like a creepy cult. But maybe there's something else to it?
"I may not have been meant to be a Fire Keeper, but I am honoured to serve you beside the Bonfire. The gods are ever-merciful. My gratitude lies with them, and with you. I am yours now. Your wish is my command."
"I'll... keep that in mind." You say. "Is there anything I can do to help you settle in or anything?"
"I'm fine as I am now. Please do not concern yourself with such things, for they should be beneath your notice."
"Well, what if I want to help?"
"Then please, if you could find me a braille divine tome, that is all that I would need." Irina says with a smile.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Just let me know if there's anything else that you'd like." You say, to which Irina nods. With that, you turn around and head back.
After your brief talk with Irina, you notice Greirat's back in the spot he was in the last time you were here.
"Welcome back. I'm glad to see you're still in one piece. Were you able to find Loretta yet?"
"Greirat, I..." You aren't sure what you should say, so you instead pull out the bone flute you'd found in the Settlement.
Greirat freezes when he sees it, before he slowly reaches a hand out and takes the bone from your hands.
"Heavens, she was already dead..."
"If it means anything, we didn't leave her body out to rot."
"Thank you for that small mercy. I-I'm not surprised about this, though. It's almost a relief, really." Greirat pauses. "You know, she was the only one who had been spared the curse by this point. Better this than have her suffer with the rest of us..."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Greirat."
"Don't be. There was nothing you could have done."
"At the very least, I'd like to return this." You say, offering him back the ring he'd given you, to which he stares at you in confusion.
"Are you sure you'd rather not keep it? I'd have little use for it myself."
"I'm fine. I'd much rather you just have it back."
Greirat continues to stare at you, before he gives you a slow nod, and takes the ring from you, pocketing it.
"Did you visit the Spirit Tree?" Greirat asks, seemingly trying to find any possible scrap of positivity that there could be.
"Oh, uh, no." You say, realizing you'd completely forgotten about his other request.
"I see."
With that, the conversation quickly dies out.
"Let me know if you need anything." You say, to which Greirat simply gives you a slight nod, before you walk away. It's only once you're out of sight that you hear his quiet sobbing.
After that encounter with Greirat, you feel, understandably, drained. Having to deliver the news that somebody they know is dead...
Was it this hard for Madoka? Did she even tell anyone?
Before you can continue down that line of thinking, however, you hear the flap of wings from the upper part of the shrine. Turning up, you spot the little crow from before surveying the shrine from the nest up above.
"Sayaka, Sayaka!" Kemuri excitedly chirps out when they see you approaching, before they take flight and fly directly at you. Laughing, you hug the adorable little bird as they fly right into your arms.
"Hey there, miss me?" You say with a wide smile on your face.
"Me, me, lonely." Kemuri chirps out sadly
""Hmm, well we can't have that now can we?" You say, stroking the little hatchling's head, before you realize a simple solution. This place may be a total downer, but there is one person who might have some positivity left in them.
Finding Andre isn't exactly difficult. Even if he'd moved somewhere else in the Shrine, the loud clanging noise isn't exactly subtle. This time, however, it's replaced by the sound of conversation and, weirdly enough, bits of occasional laughter. Walking over, you find him mid-conversation with Hawkwood, Andre seemingly laughing at something Hawkwood had said. Hawkwood, for his part, bears the slightest hint of a smile on his face, although you can't be sure from this distance.
"Ah, speak of 'er and she'll appear." Andre says with a chuckle.
"You have a bird now." Hawkwood says in a flat monotone.
"Their name is Kemuri." You say with a wide smile.
"Where did you even find a bird?" Hawkwood asks with a sigh.
"I told you earlier, it was on the Shrine's roof."
"You were actually serious about that?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"I thought you were just making an excuse for falling off the roof."
"What were y' doing on the roof anyhow?" Andre asks.
"I was just looking around." You say. "Why?"
"No reason. Just never been up there meself."
"Oh right, so there was this weird guy in a silver mask who showed up and started asking about that Red Orb you smashed earlier." You say.
"Silver mask?" Hawkwood asks nobody, before turning to Andre. "Wasn't there that one fellow?"
"Y' mean the one with the shotel, right?"
"I believe he said his name was Leonhard, but he was sparse on any other details. Spent most of his time just staring at people."
"Something the two of y' had in common." Andre says.
"Andre, must you wound me as well?" Hawkwood says with feigned offense, which manages to get a laugh out of you.
"Is he wrong though?" You ask.
"That's besides the point."
"I take whatever chances I get. Y' can't fault me for that." Andre says with a grin.
"But what could he want with a Red Eye Orb?" Hawkwood says, dispelling the oddly positive mood.
"He mentioned something about 'Rosaria of the Cathedral of the Deep' or something like that." You add.
"Well, whoever that is, if they're related to a Red Eye, then they're certainly bad news."
"Aye, anything that has to do with Dark Spirits is something best avoided." Andre says with a nod.
Dark Spirits...
"Oh, is that what the orb is for?" You say, thinking back to the Settlement, when you were attacked by Hodrick. You can't help but shiver a little when you think about it.
"Yes, it's a method by which one can invade others worlds as Dark Spirits. The less of them left in this world, the better." Hawkwood says with disgust.
"Got it." You say with a nod. "Oh, and by the way, what do you guys know about miracles?"
"They're just stories. Learn them by heart, and know how to channel their power, and you can use them." Hawkwood explains.
"If y' ask anyone who truly believes, they'd tell y' that y' need to as well, but if y' can handle the miracle, y' can cast it. Seen as much meself back in..." Andre adds in, before he suddenly grimaces in pain.
"Are you alright?" Hawkwood asks.
"Aye, just... my head..." He slowly shakes his head side to side, before letting out a deep breath. "I'll be fine, it's already started to fade."
"What was that about?" Hawkwood says, brow raised.
"Ach, who knows. Not like it's that strange compared to what usually goes on around here."
Well, that's not exactly wrong.
"Well, if it comes back, don't be afraid to say something." You say.
"Thank y' for the concern, lass, but it'll take more than a little head ache to put me down." Andre says, grin returned to his face.
"In that case, while I'm gone, do you think you could keep Kemuri company?" You ask.
"Hm, I don't know, I'm not exactly one to take too many breaks from work."
Kemuri lands on Andre's shoulder. You didn't think it was possible for a bird to give somebody a puppy-dog face, seeing as they lack lips, but Kemuri is sure as hell trying.
"...But I suppose I can make an exception " Andre says, finally giving in to the power that is cute.
The cost of the next six soul levels to level up is 1038 + 1238 + 1445 + 1659 + 1882 + 2113 = 9375 Total
You have 11,449 Souls at the moment, meaning you can level up six times.
Alternatively, you could also go to the Shrine Maiden andget scammed purchase some goods at a perfectly reasonable price.
[] Study Sorcery with Yoel
[] Learn Miracles with Irina
[] Try and comfort Greirat
[] Weapon testing with Andre. (Learn how to use new weapons)
[] Weapon practice with Hawkwood. (Get better with swords)
[] Try and fight the Blade Master again.
And then decide what you plan on doing next:
[] Continue on through the Road of Sacrifices.
[] Check out the path you initially skipped in the Settlement. Who knows what secrets may lay in store there? Well, they're probably awful secrets considering the rest of the place, but there's only one way to find out!
[] Visit the path the Giant was obliterating. He should stop trying to obliterate you as well. It seemed to be leading to a large building of some sort.
[] Go back and fight that Demon. You're feeling pumped up after that fight, and need another go at something. Hawkwood can be a stick in the mud about it if he wants, but he can watch if it worries him so much. Maybe you can get him to cheer you on?
FINALLY GOT SOMETHING OUT AH
This really should have been done sooner, but I had two papers jump out on me last week that I hadn't known about (one of which is due tomorrow that I've barely worked on weeeee) so that made progress a bit more difficult. I technically was making some progress, but it was on content that is almost entirely background details that has basically no real relevence to current events in the quest. I really can't go further into details there without spoilers. Additionally, this post itself really bloated up, as can be fairly obvious in that I really should have subdivided all of these encounters, but I was too stubborn to suck it up and just post each part on their own because... I dunno, I'm just kind of dumb I guess. Still, I don't plan on going anywhere. As long as people keep reading, I'll keep writing. Apologies for any possible errors (in before I somehow forget an entire god damn section) I'll try and fix them later, once I have all of my work finished.
Also, finally closing in on 100k words, which is, uh, wow. That's... something. Never thought I'd actually reach that milestone, but soon (yeah right) I'll be able to claim that I made it that far.
"This should be good." Hawkwood grumbles out.
"What if we went back to fight that De-"
"No."
Well, it was worth a shot. "Back to the Shrine, then?"
"Please."
The two of you reach your hands to the bonfire, and you feel the ground fall away beneath you once more.
You arrive back at the shrine, finding the place to be entirely unchanged from how it was when you'd left. Piles of ash here, big fancy chairs also covered in ash over there. There's some comfort in the familiarity, but a little bit of variety would be nice...
"Good to be back."Hawkwood says with a sigh, his shoulders falling as if a literal weight had come off his shoulders.
"I'm sure that this big pile of gray is a real comfort for you."
"Better grey and drab than red and dead." Hawkwood says with a shrug.
"How long have you had that one ready to use?"
"Too long. Anyhow, I need to get this fixed." Hawkwood says, lifting his cracked broadsword up.
As Hawkwood wanders off to likely bore Andre to death, you spot the Firekeeper enter.
"Greetings, Ashen One. I am glad to see thee returned safely."
"That makes two of us." You say.
"Has thou journey been a success as of yet?"
"If you're asking about any of the Lords, I think we might be getting close to one or two, but otherwise, not so much, I'm afraid.""
"It is to be expected. I was merely curious."
"By the way, do you think you could let me do that soul reinforcement thing?"
"It would be my pleasure, Ashen One."
You step forward, and kneel in front of the Fire Keeper once more, and hear her words flow into your mind.
Level up(s) available!
"Know you of the arrivals to the Shrine?" The Firekeeper asks once you've finished reinforcing your soul or whatever.
"Do you mean Yoel and Irina?"
The Firekeeper nods, although her head turns up towards the largest of the thrones. "Indeed, but there is another. A guest who wished to speak with you."
You follow her gaze, spotting a man leaning against the throne of Lothric at the top of the semicircle. Decked out in fancy cloth armor embroidered with golden thread above a layer of sturdy leather armor. Covering his face is a mask of silver that leaves his eyes the only visible part of his body.
You stand back up, wiping ash off of yourself, before deciding that, yeah, this wasn't a very good idea. Once you've gotten (most of) it off, you climb up the stairway to meet with this masked stranger.
"Ah, finally taken notice of me, have you?" The man asks when you finally approach him, his eyes pale blue orbs hiding behind his mask of silver.
"Who are you exactly?" You ask.
"Who I am matters little at this moment. I wish to speak of you."
"Um, okay? About what?"
"I wish to congratulate you on your performance against the Darkwraith. Not many would be brave enough to fight such a beast, let alone strong enough to win." He says.
"It wasn't an easy fight, but we managed to take them out."
"Indeed." The man says, pleased. "Now, where is the Red Eye Orb?"
"Uh..." You mutter, as the man raises an eyebrow in confusion.
Red Eye Orb? You think back to when you were down in the cell, and remember a red orb that Hawkwood smashed with extreme prejudice.
"I think it got shattered." You eventually settle on.
"...Pardon?"
"Well, we went down to the cell, and after we killed the Darkwraith, Hawkwood smashed some weird red orb with an eye on it."
The man is silent for a moment, likely thinking.
"So the Red Eye Orb was destroyed?"
"Uh, yeah, why?"
"So you destroyed a priceless, irreplaceable artifact? Why?"
"I didn't do it. Hawkwood, the mopey guy did."
"Ah, I had wondered where he'd gotten off to." The man says with a nod, as he seems to have put all of the pieces together. "Interesting, most interesting..."
"Did you want it or something?"
"I'll put this simply to you:" The man says, ignoring your question. "Stay away from Rosaria of the Cathedral of the Deep."
"Is that the Lady that the fat women keep talking about?"
"No, she is not. But if you are uninformed, I advise you to stay that way.." The man says. "Now, I will be going. Pray that our paths do not cross again." He says as he walks off, a turquoise cape on his back flapping through the air with his dramatic turn.
You aren't sure what his deal was, but you have better things to do than sit here and try to figure out masked weirdos, such as actually going to meet up with everyone else who has just arrived.
You find Yoel in a corner of the shrine, through one of the pathways in the side that leads to a drop to a back corridor filled with water. With a sigh, you drop down into the muck from above, finding it luckily to be much more shallow on this side than it was on the other.
"Oh, our Champion of Ash, welcome home!" Yoel calls out as he realizes it's you. "This pilgrim, with a debt in death, hardly deserves to behold this divine flame. And I never would have, had you not taken me into your service. I thank you dearly for this... And assure you of my leal service
"Oh, um, thank you Yoel." You say, unsure of the amount of praise he seems to be heaping onto you. "I'm glad to see that you made it here safely."
"Oh my, you are much too kind, Champion of Ash."
"Please just call me Sayaka, or Miki, or something."
"Oh, no, it is not my place, as a mere pilgrim, to be addressing someone such as you so casually.
Well, it was worth a try.
"Now, champion of ash, I can offer two different services!" Yoel explains. "First, I can provide you with instruction on sorcery, as I had mentioned before. However, there is something else that I can offer you as well."
"Oh?"
"I am able to draw out your true power. It is a process that few know of, but us pilgrims of Londor are keenly aware of such things."
"I assume there's a catch to this." You say, having learned the hard way that there usually is one.
"That depends, Champion of Ash." Yoel says. "Now, let me see..." He says, turning his head as if he were looking at you in some different manner entirely. There are several moments of silence that draw on far longer than is comfortable.
"Oh my..." Yoel mutters, finally shattering the layer of silence that had seemed to descend out of nowhere.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, not by any means, although this might complicate matters..."
"What?"
"As I had said, I wished to draw out your true power, but it seems it already has been. And to an extent beyond anything I had thought possible..."
Drawn out power? Could it be...
"Well, I am afraid that I cannot be of much use to you in that regard. However, I can still offer to teach you what I know of sorcery, if that would be to your satisfaction?"
"Maybe, but first I have some other things I need to take care of." You say, having a task you are very much not looking forward to that you have to take care of.
"I understand. Please, come by anytime you might be interested." Yoel says.
It takes you a bit of wandering around, during which you note that Greirat seems to be missing, but you eventually stumble upon the person you were looking for.
Oh, Champion of Ash. Welcome back." Irina says with a smile.
"You really picked an out of the way spot, huh?" You say, avoiding one of several puddles of water. You found her on the opposite side of where you found Yoel, tucked away at the end of a hallway. "How did you even get here?"
"The Blacksmith helped me get over here.
"Why did Andre bring you here of all places?"
"I asked if he knew any quiet spots within the Shrine where it would be easier to concentrate."
"Concentrate on what?"
"Why, on miracles of course." Irina explains as if it were obvious. "Or, I would, if I had any tomes with me."
"You mean like books? How would you even read them?"
"In Carim, the most holy of texts are written in braille, as those without sight are free from the weighty judgement that plagues so many others."
Well, not like weird cultural practices are anything new by this point...
"I would be pleased to share the tales of miracles with you, although to be honest, I only know a few from my time as a nun."
"What are miracles exactly?" You ask.
"You do not know?" Irina seems shocked at this. "They are tales of the Gods that grant us power as a reward for our faith in the divine."
Huh. On the one hand, that sounds a bit like a creepy cult. But maybe there's something else to it?
"I may not have been meant to be a Fire Keeper, but I am honoured to serve you beside the Bonfire. The gods are ever-merciful. My gratitude lies with them, and with you. I am yours now. Your wish is my command."
"I'll... keep that in mind." You say. "Is there anything I can do to help you settle in or anything?"
"I'm fine as I am now. Please do not concern yourself with such things, for they should be beneath your notice."
"Well, what if I want to help?"
"Then please, if you could find me a braille divine tome, that is all that I would need." Irina says with a smile.
"Alright, I'll see what I can do. Just let me know if there's anything else that you'd like." You say, to which Irina nods. With that, you turn around and head back.
After your brief talk with Irina, you notice Greirat's back in the spot he was in the last time you were here.
"Welcome back. I'm glad to see you're still in one piece. Were you able to find Loretta yet?"
"Greirat, I..." You aren't sure what you should say, so you instead pull out the bone flute you'd found in the Settlement.
Greirat freezes when he sees it, before he slowly reaches a hand out and takes the bone from your hands.
"Heavens, she was already dead..."
"If it means anything, we didn't leave her body out to rot."
"Thank you for that small mercy. I-I'm not surprised about this, though. It's almost a relief, really." Greirat pauses. "You know, she was the only one who had been spared the curse by this point. Better this than have her suffer with the rest of us..."
"I'm sorry for your loss, Greirat."
"Don't be. There was nothing you could have done."
"At the very least, I'd like to return this." You say, offering him back the ring he'd given you, to which he stares at you in confusion.
"Are you sure you'd rather not keep it? I'd have little use for it myself."
"I'm fine. I'd much rather you just have it back."
Greirat continues to stare at you, before he gives you a slow nod, and takes the ring from you, pocketing it.
"Did you visit the Spirit Tree?" Greirat asks, seemingly trying to find any possible scrap of positivity that there could be.
"Oh, uh, no." You say, realizing you'd completely forgotten about his other request.
"I see."
With that, the conversation quickly dies out.
"Let me know if you need anything." You say, to which Greirat simply gives you a slight nod, before you walk away. It's only once you're out of sight that you hear his quiet sobbing.
After that encounter with Greirat, you feel, understandably, drained. Having to deliver the news that somebody they know is dead...
Was it this hard for Madoka? Did she even tell anyone?
Before you can continue down that line of thinking, however, you hear the flap of wings from the upper part of the shrine. Turning up, you spot the little crow from before surveying the shrine from the nest up above.
"Sayaka, Sayaka!" Kemuri excitedly chirps out when they see you approaching, before they take flight and fly directly at you. Laughing, you hug the adorable little bird as they fly right into your arms.
"Hey there, miss me?" You say with a wide smile on your face.
"Me, me, lonely." Kemuri chirps out sadly
""Hmm, well we can't have that now can we?" You say, stroking the little hatchling's head, before you realize a simple solution. This place may be a total downer, but there is one person who might have some positivity left in them.
Finding Andre isn't exactly difficult. Even if he'd moved somewhere else in the Shrine, the loud clanging noise isn't exactly subtle. This time, however, it's replaced by the sound of conversation and, weirdly enough, bits of occasional laughter. Walking over, you find him mid-conversation with Hawkwood, Andre seemingly laughing at something Hawkwood had said. Hawkwood, for his part, bears the slightest hint of a smile on his face, although you can't be sure from this distance.
"Ah, speak of 'er and she'll appear." Andre says with a chuckle.
"You have a bird now." Hawkwood says in a flat monotone.
"Their name is Kemuri." You say with a wide smile.
"Where did you even find a bird?" Hawkwood asks with a sigh.
"I told you earlier, it was on the Shrine's roof."
"You were actually serious about that?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"I thought you were just making an excuse for falling off the roof."
"What were y' doing on the roof anyhow?" Andre asks.
"I was just looking around." You say. "Why?"
"No reason. Just never been up there meself."
"Oh right, so there was this weird guy in a silver mask who showed up and started asking about that Red Orb you smashed earlier." You say.
"Silver mask?" Hawkwood asks nobody, before turning to Andre. "Wasn't there that one fellow?"
"Y' mean the one with the shotel, right?"
"I believe he said his name was Leonhard, but he was sparse on any other details. Spent most of his time just staring at people."
"Something the two of y' had in common." Andre says.
"Andre, must you wound me as well?" Hawkwood says with feigned offense, which manages to get a laugh out of you.
"Is he wrong though?" You ask.
"That's besides the point."
"I take whatever chances I get. Y' can't fault me for that." Andre says with a grin.
"But what could he want with a Red Eye Orb?" Hawkwood says, dispelling the oddly positive mood.
"He mentioned something about 'Rosaria of the Cathedral of the Deep' or something like that." You add.
"Well, whoever that is, if they're related to a Red Eye, then they're certainly bad news."
"Aye, anything that has to do with Dark Spirits is something best avoided." Andre says with a nod.
Dark Spirits...
"Oh, is that what the orb is for?" You say, thinking back to the Settlement, when you were attacked by Hodrick. You can't help but shiver a little when you think about it.
"Yes, it's a method by which one can invade others worlds as Dark Spirits. The less of them left in this world, the better." Hawkwood says with disgust.
"Got it." You say with a nod. "Oh, and by the way, what do you guys know about miracles?"
"They're just stories. Learn them by heart, and know how to channel their power, and you can use them." Hawkwood explains.
"If y' ask anyone who truly believes, they'd tell y' that y' need to as well, but if y' can handle the miracle, y' can cast it. Seen as much meself back in..." Andre adds in, before he suddenly grimaces in pain.
"Are you alright?" Hawkwood asks.
"Aye, just... my head..." He slowly shakes his head side to side, before letting out a deep breath. "I'll be fine, it's already started to fade."
"What was that about?" Hawkwood says, brow raised.
"Ach, who knows. Not like it's that strange compared to what usually goes on around here."
Well, that's not exactly wrong.
"Well, if it comes back, don't be afraid to say something." You say.
"Thank y' for the concern, lass, but it'll take more than a little head ache to put me down." Andre says, grin returned to his face.
"In that case, while I'm gone, do you think you could keep Kemuri company?" You ask.
"Hm, I don't know, I'm not exactly one to take too many breaks from work."
Kemuri lands on Andre's shoulder. You didn't think it was possible for a bird to give somebody a puppy-dog face, seeing as they lack lips, but Kemuri is sure as hell trying.
"...But I suppose I can make an exception " Andre says, finally giving in to the power that is cute.
The cost of the next six soul levels to level up is 1038 + 1238 + 1445 + 1659 + 1882 + 2113 = 9375 Total
You have 11,449 Souls at the moment, meaning you can level up six times.
Alternatively, you could also go to the Shrine Maiden and
You have six points to distribute, should you choose to level up that many times.
Current stats
Soul Level 11
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 10
Faith: 10
Luck: 20
Weapon Upgrade Options
You can currently upgrade one of the following once:
Astoran Straight Sword
Red-Hilted Halberd
Irithyll Straight Sword (Need Twinkling Titanite)
Pick two of the following:Current stats
Soul Level 11
Strength: 10
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 10
Faith: 10
Luck: 20
Weapon Upgrade Options
You can currently upgrade one of the following once:
Astoran Straight Sword
Red-Hilted Halberd
[] Study Sorcery with Yoel
[] Learn Miracles with Irina
[] Weapon testing with Andre. (Learn how to use new weapons)
[] Weapon practice with Hawkwood. (Get better with swords)
[] Try and fight the Blade Master again.
And then decide what you plan on doing next:
[] Continue on through the Road of Sacrifices.
[] Check out the path you initially skipped in the Settlement. Who knows what secrets may lay in store there? Well, they're probably awful secrets considering the rest of the place, but there's only one way to find out!
[] Visit the path the Giant was obliterating. He should stop trying to obliterate you as well. It seemed to be leading to a large building of some sort.
Sword Summon: 5 Corruption (beyond the first)
Light Wound: 25 Corruption
Medium Wound: 50 Corruption
Heavy Wound: 100 Corruption
Full Body Trauma: Depends on the situation, ranging from 300 to 600 Corruption based on severity.
Soul Arrow: 10 Corruption
Great Soul Arrow: 12 Corruption
Heavy Soul Arrow: 12 Corruption
Great Heavy Soul Arrow: 15 Corruption
Light Wound: 25 Corruption
Medium Wound: 50 Corruption
Heavy Wound: 100 Corruption
Full Body Trauma: Depends on the situation, ranging from 300 to 600 Corruption based on severity.
Soul Arrow: 10 Corruption
Great Soul Arrow: 12 Corruption
Heavy Soul Arrow: 12 Corruption
Great Heavy Soul Arrow: 15 Corruption
FINALLY GOT SOMETHING OUT AH
This really should have been done sooner, but I had two papers jump out on me last week that I hadn't known about (one of which is due tomorrow that I've barely worked on weeeee) so that made progress a bit more difficult. I technically was making some progress, but it was on content that is almost entirely background details that has basically no real relevence to current events in the quest. I really can't go further into details there without spoilers. Additionally, this post itself really bloated up, as can be fairly obvious in that I really should have subdivided all of these encounters, but I was too stubborn to suck it up and just post each part on their own because... I dunno, I'm just kind of dumb I guess. Still, I don't plan on going anywhere. As long as people keep reading, I'll keep writing. Apologies for any possible errors (in before I somehow forget an entire god damn section) I'll try and fix them later, once I have all of my work finished.
Also, finally closing in on 100k words, which is, uh, wow. That's... something. Never thought I'd actually reach that milestone, but soon (yeah right) I'll be able to claim that I made it that far.
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