Lyric Suite
Converting to Islam
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2006
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I think the game feels like its designed so that you should fight Messmer before heading to the Ruins.(i may even do the ruins of Ruah before that as well).
There's an area in Rauh where you have to use an item drop from Messmer to unlock the endgame
I see. I still can't find the bastard to begin with, but i guess i'll make sure to make a final sweep of the Storehouse to see if i missed something. Before doing that though i think i'm going to get rid of Commander Gaius and explore that area which i can only assume is gonna give me a good deal of lore about the Shamans.
In either case, the first order of business was to deal with all the quests:
~ Part 41 ~
Alright, so, first off, we meet Sir Ansbach again, just chilling reading some book like he isn't surrounded by Fire Knights and those annoying vulgar midgets:
He claims that after "unburdening" his soul to me (by revealing he tried to kill Miquella), he had hoped to make a fresh start, but there is one thing that is still in his mind which prevents him from moving on.
It seems after i killed Mohg, somebody did away with his body, which was then taken to Miquella.
I like how he doesn't make a big deal out of the fact i was the one that murdered his lord. In fact, his whole personality is the complete opposite of what would expect of the Pureblood Knights after meeting the Bloody Fingers in the original game (or the Sanguine Nobles for that matter).
Anyway, while ignoring the fact i was the one that killed his lord, he claims to have "failed" him somehow, by which i can only assume he means he failed him by not freeing Mohg from the "charm" Miquella put on him (by killing Miquella). Because of this, he feels he has a responsibility to safeguard the honor of his lord's remains, not the least because who knows what "they" (who?) may have in mind with his body?
So, next is Freyja. Before you get to her you can hear her literally waging battle with the books. She even has a line where she wishes she could wipe those "fickle, fidgety little letters" clean off the page. Can definitely sympathize, since reading is indeed teh hard. BTW, is it me or all the female voice actors kinda of suck? They all have the same monotone voice, Freyja, Leda and even the dragon lady.
In either case, she doesn't say much if you talk to her, only that she wished Ansbach had just told her what he found so she didn't have to read the books herself. I guess that means they are looking for the same thing?
So back to Anshbach again then. I look around to see if i can just drop down as i killed a bunch of Fire Knights and i don't want to do it again. It's easier to look under all the nooks and crannies if you don't have bastards trying to murder you every step of the way. From up here i see another of those Crucible gods:
Wonder what kind of crazy shit i'm going to see in the ruins of Ruah.
I try to make my way down to go ask Ansbach about this, but i end up discovering a new section with some interesting stuff. First off, an ancient secret rite scroll:
Shit i think i know where is going lmao. I also found this thing, whatever it is, a spirit calculus (what the hell is a calculus? Isn't that a mathematical discipline):
BTW there was a bunch of guys here staring at what appears to be nothing:
If attacked, they use healing spells. There's a group like this near the base as well, and those guys absolutely fucking hate tables:
They'll literally fuck up any table or chair they come across. I guess this is what happens when you spend years studying stone tablets. You can tell those guys are tired of that shit.
Anyway, i think the point of those guys is to heal Fire Knights. In fact, there was one above the spaced out trio, near more of those mysterious funerary boats:
I'm going to assume the purpose of the three down here was to heal the one up there form a "secret" location, except i ended up killing them before i killed him. Eventually, i discover another Miquella's cross (after walking over Hornsent Jesus lmao), the final one i presume:
So the left arm was left in Belurat and the right arm in the Shadow Keep? Might that mean something?
Near the cross i find a letter written by Sir Ansbach:
So basically i missed something, but i'll look for that later. I can only assume this is an hint on how to find Messmer, but it's curious how this implies Messmer's room was "flooded". Did the residents of the keep turn against him? Is this why the flame of Messmer "failed" to find "purcahse" with the Fire Knights?
Finally, before dropping down to the floor level, i manage to get my hands on yet another thrusting shield:
Interesting, so this is part of a ritual and Rellana, who partook in the same ritual, just happened to have her own version of it.
So i talk to Sir Ansbach, and i'm given two options, one to hand him over the Secret Rite Scroll, and the other to tell him about Freyja's decision, which, what decision? Did i miss something? Should i have taken this stuff to her first i'm kinda of confused. I click on the decision thing, and he comments that she must be feeling the "need" to reaffirm her allegiance before she heads to war. I "think" this is about what she told me last time i saw her, that she is striking out on her own, the whole thing about the vow Radahn had etc, but if that's the case, why wasn't i given this line the first time i met Sir Ansbach here? Also, i got the impression they knew they are both here and were alreading sharing things with each other.
Oh, he also adds that she appears to be "hardly troubled by the rot". So all the Redmane people are rotted, not just Radahn. Maybe that's why she was literally fighting with the books her brain is already addled lul. He then wonders if their concerns may not just be two sides of the same coin, which in hindsight after what gets reveleaed next he is correct except i have no clue how he made this leap here at present.
Now, the scroll thing. Like, whoa. So this is how Radahn fits into this. Miquella wants to use Mohg's corpse as a "vessel" for the soul of his "king consort" (can you say lord's vessel?), essentially making Radahn the "Elden Lord" of his new divine order, or something to that effect. Of course, Ansbach doesn't take kindly to this, and considers it the greatest insult to his lord. Miquella didn't care about Mohg at all, he just wanted his dead corpse. His thoughs now move towards revenge. At first he claims he is too old now to follow through with what his mind is clearly telling him, but then he scoffs and admits he could never defeat Miquella even were he to spend a lifetime honing his "craft". Whether this is enough to stay his blade is to be seen.
I now go talk to Freyja but she has nothing to say. I go back to Ansbach and sure enough resting unlocked his next line. Why does FromSoft still do this? We know this is how it works they might as well save us the time. Anyway, apparently, after reasoning out he is too old to fight Miquella, he just wants Freyja to do the work for him since she is still young. This crafty bastard lol. He gives me a letter which is "neatly folded" to keep "prying eyes" (obviously my own since i'm the one carrying it) from reading it. I like this. The letter isn't sealed or anything. Sir Ansbach just trusts me enough that he knows i wouldn't open it. I mean i totally would if the game would let me, but hey, let's pretend we have an honorable relationship.
Anyway, Freyja actually likes the idea. She thinks being resurrected to wage battle again is a more fitting fate for Radahn than an "honorable death". "Endeless" war she says. So the Redmane are basically Neocons. She askes me to tell Ansbach it would be an honor to face "his bow", even more so to face his "blade". Yeah well all that shit will belong to me soon enough. Ansbach finds her message amusing. Unlike him, i guess she has no conception of fear (could also be because she is dumb as bricks owning to the rot).
She gave me this knewl shield btw:
There's a kind of synergy here that Radahn is a lion, given that Marika's Elden Lord was also a lion (Godfrey/Serosh). Godfrey was also Marika's first "consort". I'm getting the sense the relationship here has little to do with anything sexual and this whole homo shit with Miquella as well as the whole pedo shit with Mohg is just a huge overintepretation of vague aspects of what appear to be esoteric beings.
Anyway it's now time to deal with this Leda shit once and for all. Because i can't make up my mind whether i want to help this crazy woman or the angry Hornsent, i decided to make a manual save and test both outcomes. Turns out there was quite a bit of lore involved in those fights (which Leda can win on her own so i could easily sit back and take notes of their prattle while she just killed everybody). I'm gonna separate both events:
He claims that after "unburdening" his soul to me (by revealing he tried to kill Miquella), he had hoped to make a fresh start, but there is one thing that is still in his mind which prevents him from moving on.
It seems after i killed Mohg, somebody did away with his body, which was then taken to Miquella.
I like how he doesn't make a big deal out of the fact i was the one that murdered his lord. In fact, his whole personality is the complete opposite of what would expect of the Pureblood Knights after meeting the Bloody Fingers in the original game (or the Sanguine Nobles for that matter).
Anyway, while ignoring the fact i was the one that killed his lord, he claims to have "failed" him somehow, by which i can only assume he means he failed him by not freeing Mohg from the "charm" Miquella put on him (by killing Miquella). Because of this, he feels he has a responsibility to safeguard the honor of his lord's remains, not the least because who knows what "they" (who?) may have in mind with his body?
So, next is Freyja. Before you get to her you can hear her literally waging battle with the books. She even has a line where she wishes she could wipe those "fickle, fidgety little letters" clean off the page. Can definitely sympathize, since reading is indeed teh hard. BTW, is it me or all the female voice actors kinda of suck? They all have the same monotone voice, Freyja, Leda and even the dragon lady.
In either case, she doesn't say much if you talk to her, only that she wished Ansbach had just told her what he found so she didn't have to read the books herself. I guess that means they are looking for the same thing?
So back to Anshbach again then. I look around to see if i can just drop down as i killed a bunch of Fire Knights and i don't want to do it again. It's easier to look under all the nooks and crannies if you don't have bastards trying to murder you every step of the way. From up here i see another of those Crucible gods:
Wonder what kind of crazy shit i'm going to see in the ruins of Ruah.
I try to make my way down to go ask Ansbach about this, but i end up discovering a new section with some interesting stuff. First off, an ancient secret rite scroll:
"A scroll made of white tree bark.
Few can decipher the scroll, which describes the secret rite of the divine gateway said to be found at the tower enshrouded by shadow.
"A lord will usher in a god's return,
and the lord's soul will require a vessel.""
Few can decipher the scroll, which describes the secret rite of the divine gateway said to be found at the tower enshrouded by shadow.
"A lord will usher in a god's return,
and the lord's soul will require a vessel.""
Shit i think i know where is going lmao. I also found this thing, whatever it is, a spirit calculus (what the hell is a calculus? Isn't that a mathematical discipline):
"An exceedingly rare to find calculus, suffused with spirituality.
Material used for crafting items.
Found by hunting horned beasts in the ancient ruins of Rauh.
Has a distinctive acrid odor, which some claim to be a sign of particular spiritual potency."
Material used for crafting items.
Found by hunting horned beasts in the ancient ruins of Rauh.
Has a distinctive acrid odor, which some claim to be a sign of particular spiritual potency."
BTW there was a bunch of guys here staring at what appears to be nothing:
If attacked, they use healing spells. There's a group like this near the base as well, and those guys absolutely fucking hate tables:
They'll literally fuck up any table or chair they come across. I guess this is what happens when you spend years studying stone tablets. You can tell those guys are tired of that shit.
Anyway, i think the point of those guys is to heal Fire Knights. In fact, there was one above the spaced out trio, near more of those mysterious funerary boats:
I'm going to assume the purpose of the three down here was to heal the one up there form a "secret" location, except i ended up killing them before i killed him. Eventually, i discover another Miquella's cross (after walking over Hornsent Jesus lmao), the final one i presume:
So the left arm was left in Belurat and the right arm in the Shadow Keep? Might that mean something?
Near the cross i find a letter written by Sir Ansbach:
"Message left by Sir Ansbach, addressed to kindred spirits who also pursue Miquella's trail. "It would seem that the people of the keep have flooded the holy quarter that leads onward to the Scadutree, barring access. However, there is no route that leads there from this storehouse. Perhaps there is another way to reach the holy quarter, from somewhere else in this keep...""
So basically i missed something, but i'll look for that later. I can only assume this is an hint on how to find Messmer, but it's curious how this implies Messmer's room was "flooded". Did the residents of the keep turn against him? Is this why the flame of Messmer "failed" to find "purcahse" with the Fire Knights?
Finally, before dropping down to the floor level, i manage to get my hands on yet another thrusting shield:
"A "thrusting shield," or combined weapon and shield.
Enables the wielder to attack and guard simultaneously.
An armament once used in ritual combat performed to honor the Erdtree—a custom that had somehow remained within the realm of shadow."
Enables the wielder to attack and guard simultaneously.
An armament once used in ritual combat performed to honor the Erdtree—a custom that had somehow remained within the realm of shadow."
Interesting, so this is part of a ritual and Rellana, who partook in the same ritual, just happened to have her own version of it.
So i talk to Sir Ansbach, and i'm given two options, one to hand him over the Secret Rite Scroll, and the other to tell him about Freyja's decision, which, what decision? Did i miss something? Should i have taken this stuff to her first i'm kinda of confused. I click on the decision thing, and he comments that she must be feeling the "need" to reaffirm her allegiance before she heads to war. I "think" this is about what she told me last time i saw her, that she is striking out on her own, the whole thing about the vow Radahn had etc, but if that's the case, why wasn't i given this line the first time i met Sir Ansbach here? Also, i got the impression they knew they are both here and were alreading sharing things with each other.
Oh, he also adds that she appears to be "hardly troubled by the rot". So all the Redmane people are rotted, not just Radahn. Maybe that's why she was literally fighting with the books her brain is already addled lul. He then wonders if their concerns may not just be two sides of the same coin, which in hindsight after what gets reveleaed next he is correct except i have no clue how he made this leap here at present.
Now, the scroll thing. Like, whoa. So this is how Radahn fits into this. Miquella wants to use Mohg's corpse as a "vessel" for the soul of his "king consort" (can you say lord's vessel?), essentially making Radahn the "Elden Lord" of his new divine order, or something to that effect. Of course, Ansbach doesn't take kindly to this, and considers it the greatest insult to his lord. Miquella didn't care about Mohg at all, he just wanted his dead corpse. His thoughs now move towards revenge. At first he claims he is too old now to follow through with what his mind is clearly telling him, but then he scoffs and admits he could never defeat Miquella even were he to spend a lifetime honing his "craft". Whether this is enough to stay his blade is to be seen.
I now go talk to Freyja but she has nothing to say. I go back to Ansbach and sure enough resting unlocked his next line. Why does FromSoft still do this? We know this is how it works they might as well save us the time. Anyway, apparently, after reasoning out he is too old to fight Miquella, he just wants Freyja to do the work for him since she is still young. This crafty bastard lol. He gives me a letter which is "neatly folded" to keep "prying eyes" (obviously my own since i'm the one carrying it) from reading it. I like this. The letter isn't sealed or anything. Sir Ansbach just trusts me enough that he knows i wouldn't open it. I mean i totally would if the game would let me, but hey, let's pretend we have an honorable relationship.
Anyway, Freyja actually likes the idea. She thinks being resurrected to wage battle again is a more fitting fate for Radahn than an "honorable death". "Endeless" war she says. So the Redmane are basically Neocons. She askes me to tell Ansbach it would be an honor to face "his bow", even more so to face his "blade". Yeah well all that shit will belong to me soon enough. Ansbach finds her message amusing. Unlike him, i guess she has no conception of fear (could also be because she is dumb as bricks owning to the rot).
She gave me this knewl shield btw:
"Shield made to resemble a fierce golden lion with a luxuriant mane.
Awarded to especially valorous members of Radahn's personal guard on the occasion of its formation."
Awarded to especially valorous members of Radahn's personal guard on the occasion of its formation."
There's a kind of synergy here that Radahn is a lion, given that Marika's Elden Lord was also a lion (Godfrey/Serosh). Godfrey was also Marika's first "consort". I'm getting the sense the relationship here has little to do with anything sexual and this whole homo shit with Miquella as well as the whole pedo shit with Mohg is just a huge overintepretation of vague aspects of what appear to be esoteric beings.
Anyway it's now time to deal with this Leda shit once and for all. Because i can't make up my mind whether i want to help this crazy woman or the angry Hornsent, i decided to make a manual save and test both outcomes. Turns out there was quite a bit of lore involved in those fights (which Leda can win on her own so i could easily sit back and take notes of their prattle while she just killed everybody). I'm gonna separate both events:
Second, we deal with the invations:
~ Invasions ~
So Leda is a psycopathic bitch:Alright, so i pick the red sign and the first thing we get is Leda and the Hornsent just throw their mutual prejudices in their faces. Leda (who tries to act all noble by calling the Hornsent "worthy", like we don't know she is out for blood for the sake of killing) claiming the Hornsent is bound to betray them, and the Hornsent just taking her invasion as a sign he was always right about the tarnished. Basically this is a fight between a violent psycopath and a racist. The Hornsent also calls her a zealot, which, aren't you a potentate? Look who's talking. Leda aknowledges my arrival in the most flat and monotone way possible. They should have gotten a better actress like i said this one kinda of sucks.
Hitting the Hornsent prompts more racist remarks about my "mongrel's blood", but it's interesting that he claims he expected more from me. Did he really trust me?
Now, as soon as the Hornsent dies, he has this amazing line:
"Apologies… O Mother, wife, and… chil…"
Wow. First, who is this "O Mother" exactly? I had to use this gesture to open the statue of Marika earlier, but it's literally impossible that the Hornsent would be invoking her. Only thing i can think of is that the Hornsent and the Shaman worshipped the same entity whoever this mother is. I had this thought for a while that the Hornsent and the Shamans are related, possibly even the same people. After all, what would have distinguished Marika and her tribe from everybody else before the age of Erdtree?
And then we get the line about his wife and child, which shows his revenge is personal, but not just that, as Leda then claims that Miquella never "betrays a vow", and tells the Hornsent to go join his family. Was the Hornsent promised the resurrection of his family?
After the fight, i get the Hornsent set and his sword. Let's see what we have here. First, the mask confirms that the Hornsent is a potentate, and also confirms those are actually maggots:
So much shit to unpack here. Are the maggots the same as the frozen maggots? Why would they ward off impure thoughts? Are they actually fly maggots? Also what divine ritual? Are the manflies potentates who failed to pass this ritual? Gives us more FromSoft i wanna know wtf is going on lol.
Now the chest piece says this:
The sword and wrists also have to do with vengeance. And then we get this crap:
So the Hornsent likes to soil himself and had his balls hanging out this whole time. Not sure we needed to know this.
Reporting to Leda yields this talisman, which i'm not entirely sure how useful it can be:
Let me guess, she killed all the Needle Knights because she was paranoid about them too.
Now talking to her again has her feint guilt for what she did for like five seconds before declaring she must weed out the next threat. I'm forced to rest at the site of grace before i can hear who she chose as her next victim: Sir Ansbach. Apparently, she doesn't believe Sir Ansbach's claims that he now a worn-down soldier, and she now reveals that no only was he the leader of the Pureblood Knights, but that it was they who cut open Miquella (i assumed she was talking about Miquella's cocoon but she also mentions "cascading sheets of blood". Was Miquella actually cleaved open?). So basically she doesn't believe that he is too old and feeble, and thus cannot be allowed to "fester". It's like she thinks those people are a desease, the sociopath.
Before leaving she flats out claims that without Miquella's influence she simply cannot trust others. So basically there's really no point in her pretending. Anybody who isn't under the influence of Miquella's charm is gonna be on her hit list by default.
Well, i have a backup so why not, let's go kill Sir Ansbach. While getting there i get stuck on a stone tablet on the ground like come now:
Anyway, sure enough Sir Ansbach isn't there and in his place i get two summoning signs. Now as soon as the fight stars, she basically tells him the reason she is doing this is because of his "ambivalence". Basically she doesn't really know if he can trust him or not, she just figures might as well kill him just to be on the safe side. Like damn. He does claim he has his doubts though. No dishonesty from this guy, he is just this much of a class act. As soon as i hit him he doesn't even get mad, he is just glad i'm helping Leda so that she can stand with an ally, given that she tends to "overestimate" (at first i assumed he was talking about her own skill, or lack of thereof, which would have been a sick burn) the "burden" she might carry.
As he dies, he bemoans that he failed them "both", both Miquella and Mohg, which shows that despite his thoughts about killing Miquella, he still harbored a sense of duty for the latter, with or without the spell that was holding them all toghether. This guy is great.
He drops a bow with a crazy dexterity requirement that is basically a great bow that's however as fast as a shortbow, which is pretty impressive. I also get his armor, which let's see. First off, the helm:
Nice. Not much that we didn't know but very poetic rendering.
Now the the chest piece tells us more but what it says is a bit cryptic:
So there was no logic in him serving Mohg, and he also knew no justice was going to come out of it, but he still followed him, precisely because of those reasons? Not sure what this means. Maybe it's just some awkward way to stress how great of a sense of duty this knight had, but it could also point to a darker aspect of his personality, given that apparently his allegiance to Mohg was both illogical and immoral when it comes down to it.
Talking to Leda once more yields her usual spiel about honor, after which she hands me another talisman similar to the first, but quite a bit more useful, though still not super great (it's half the bonus you get from other talismans, though of course the attacks this boosts are much easier to land on a boss).
Anyway, so now apparently i'm next:
Holy crap this crazy bitch lol. Of course, in my case she is actually right since i AM going to kill Miquella (or would if he was in the game, but killing Radahn is basically the same thing for all intended purpose) but still. She correctly wonders why i was never under the influence of Miquella. I'd say she should have wondered that from the start. In fact, it's unclear why she even assumed i was one of them when i first showed up.
Now i restored my save so let's see what we get if we help the Hornsent instead:
Hitting the Hornsent prompts more racist remarks about my "mongrel's blood", but it's interesting that he claims he expected more from me. Did he really trust me?
Now, as soon as the Hornsent dies, he has this amazing line:
"Apologies… O Mother, wife, and… chil…"
Wow. First, who is this "O Mother" exactly? I had to use this gesture to open the statue of Marika earlier, but it's literally impossible that the Hornsent would be invoking her. Only thing i can think of is that the Hornsent and the Shaman worshipped the same entity whoever this mother is. I had this thought for a while that the Hornsent and the Shamans are related, possibly even the same people. After all, what would have distinguished Marika and her tribe from everybody else before the age of Erdtree?
And then we get the line about his wife and child, which shows his revenge is personal, but not just that, as Leda then claims that Miquella never "betrays a vow", and tells the Hornsent to go join his family. Was the Hornsent promised the resurrection of his family?
After the fight, i get the Hornsent set and his sword. Let's see what we have here. First, the mask confirms that the Hornsent is a potentate, and also confirms those are actually maggots:
"Grotesque mask constructed from countless solidified caterpillars. A ritual implement of the greater potentates of Bonny Village. Used to ward off thoughts of impurity, doubt, temptation, and other wickednesses one is vulnerable to while absorbed in divine ritual."
So much shit to unpack here. Are the maggots the same as the frozen maggots? Why would they ward off impure thoughts? Are they actually fly maggots? Also what divine ritual? Are the manflies potentates who failed to pass this ritual? Gives us more FromSoft i wanna know wtf is going on lol.
Now the chest piece says this:
"Ragged black cloth overlaid with braided cord. Attire of a vengeance-seeking hornsent. The braided cord ties together the vow of the revenger with the victims' grudges. It must never come undone. Enhances both watchful spirits and the vengeful spirits summoned by horned bairns."
The sword and wrists also have to do with vengeance. And then we get this crap:
"This lightly soiled loincloth of ragged cloth does little more than conceal one's nether regions."
So the Hornsent likes to soil himself and had his balls hanging out this whole time. Not sure we needed to know this.
Reporting to Leda yields this talisman, which i'm not entirely sure how useful it can be:
"Handicraft depicting a golden crossed-tree. One of the items conferred to the Needle Knights. Enhances dash attacks. Long ago, the Needle Knights were in service of Miquella, but now they are no more. Save for one."
Let me guess, she killed all the Needle Knights because she was paranoid about them too.
Now talking to her again has her feint guilt for what she did for like five seconds before declaring she must weed out the next threat. I'm forced to rest at the site of grace before i can hear who she chose as her next victim: Sir Ansbach. Apparently, she doesn't believe Sir Ansbach's claims that he now a worn-down soldier, and she now reveals that no only was he the leader of the Pureblood Knights, but that it was they who cut open Miquella (i assumed she was talking about Miquella's cocoon but she also mentions "cascading sheets of blood". Was Miquella actually cleaved open?). So basically she doesn't believe that he is too old and feeble, and thus cannot be allowed to "fester". It's like she thinks those people are a desease, the sociopath.
Before leaving she flats out claims that without Miquella's influence she simply cannot trust others. So basically there's really no point in her pretending. Anybody who isn't under the influence of Miquella's charm is gonna be on her hit list by default.
Well, i have a backup so why not, let's go kill Sir Ansbach. While getting there i get stuck on a stone tablet on the ground like come now:
Anyway, sure enough Sir Ansbach isn't there and in his place i get two summoning signs. Now as soon as the fight stars, she basically tells him the reason she is doing this is because of his "ambivalence". Basically she doesn't really know if he can trust him or not, she just figures might as well kill him just to be on the safe side. Like damn. He does claim he has his doubts though. No dishonesty from this guy, he is just this much of a class act. As soon as i hit him he doesn't even get mad, he is just glad i'm helping Leda so that she can stand with an ally, given that she tends to "overestimate" (at first i assumed he was talking about her own skill, or lack of thereof, which would have been a sick burn) the "burden" she might carry.
As he dies, he bemoans that he failed them "both", both Miquella and Mohg, which shows that despite his thoughts about killing Miquella, he still harbored a sense of duty for the latter, with or without the spell that was holding them all toghether. This guy is great.
He drops a bow with a crazy dexterity requirement that is basically a great bow that's however as fast as a shortbow, which is pretty impressive. I also get his armor, which let's see. First off, the helm:
"The iron mask of Sir Ansbach, giving the appearance of a quiet, wise, old bearded man. But an old fear lurks beneath, together with the cold, unflinching discipline that once honed his blade, now employed to enhance Blood Oath and dynastic skills."
Nice. Not much that we didn't know but very poetic rendering.
Now the the chest piece tells us more but what it says is a bit cryptic:
"Attire of Sir Ansbach. The embroidered crest of the Pureblood Knights has now all but faded away. Slightly enhances Blood Oath and dynastic skills. Ansbach understood that keeping his oath to his old master was not an act of logic, nor would it bear any justice, but it was for these very reasons he was unable to let go."
So there was no logic in him serving Mohg, and he also knew no justice was going to come out of it, but he still followed him, precisely because of those reasons? Not sure what this means. Maybe it's just some awkward way to stress how great of a sense of duty this knight had, but it could also point to a darker aspect of his personality, given that apparently his allegiance to Mohg was both illogical and immoral when it comes down to it.
Talking to Leda once more yields her usual spiel about honor, after which she hands me another talisman similar to the first, but quite a bit more useful, though still not super great (it's half the bonus you get from other talismans, though of course the attacks this boosts are much easier to land on a boss).
Anyway, so now apparently i'm next:
Holy crap this crazy bitch lol. Of course, in my case she is actually right since i AM going to kill Miquella (or would if he was in the game, but killing Radahn is basically the same thing for all intended purpose) but still. She correctly wonders why i was never under the influence of Miquella. I'd say she should have wondered that from the start. In fact, it's unclear why she even assumed i was one of them when i first showed up.
Now i restored my save so let's see what we get if we help the Hornsent instead:
You try to help someone, and this are the thanks you get:
So i go in to help the Hornsent and the guy gives me shit, telling me he basically never asked for my help. Even after i kill Leda he basically tells me to stay out of his way and his path for revenge. Meanwhile, Leda asks whether my decision to help the Hornsent is due to my "compassion" for his plight. I guess compassion doesn't enter her vocabulary.
Killing her (but not really, since she vows to come back, which, is this how it works? Invasions are supposed to be final for NPCs last i checked) yields the Hornsent ash of war and her rune, which seems to suggest without Miquella's influence there's no much light or grace in her:
Her "faded" eyes. As she said herself earlier on, there's a dark side to her nature.
She doesn't invade Ansbach if you help the Hornsent, so to see what happens if you help him instead of her i had to do a third run. Ansbach thinks i'm crazy for helping him, but he is glad i'm on his side. After beating Leda, she asks her to continue to keep Miquella in her care. This guy is just great. The rewards for doing this are just his bow and Leda's rune again.
Killing her (but not really, since she vows to come back, which, is this how it works? Invasions are supposed to be final for NPCs last i checked) yields the Hornsent ash of war and her rune, which seems to suggest without Miquella's influence there's no much light or grace in her:
"Blessing of Needle Knight Leda. An unalloyed light that has never dwelled in an eye. Use to gain 40000 runes. Miquella gifted Leda with gentle gold to bring a soft hue to her faded eyes."
Her "faded" eyes. As she said herself earlier on, there's a dark side to her nature.
She doesn't invade Ansbach if you help the Hornsent, so to see what happens if you help him instead of her i had to do a third run. Ansbach thinks i'm crazy for helping him, but he is glad i'm on his side. After beating Leda, she asks her to continue to keep Miquella in her care. This guy is just great. The rewards for doing this are just his bow and Leda's rune again.
So, after testing all those alternatives, i decided to help the Hornsent, which automatically also saves Ansbach. You get a lot of stuff by helping Leda, but honestly, she just sucks and is such a boring character. The Hornsent may act like a bastard but he is a far more compelling character and Sir Ansbach is just too much of a bro to kill. Plus i already checked if you get his stuff in the end lol. As an arcane build it's basically the only thing i care about any of this anyway, but it's nice that the roleplaying option coincides with the rewards i actually want.
Anyway, next couple of days i'm not gonna have much time to play but i think i dealt with enough lore to keep you guys busy for a bit. Until next time dudes.
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