Accessing the new AotA content

Hi guys, 1st off thank you for taking the time to read my post..i'll try and be brief...

I bought the DLC friday, downloaded it, and then youtubed how to access it. Found I needed to goto anor londo and kill that 1 ice creature to the right of the library entrance thing and he drops a key, but he does not. So....I checked and frantz the snake is NOT by the firelink shrine, but still sits in the abyss by the 4 kings...I've also rang both bells (gargoyle/Quellog)....really really wanna see the new DLC, i love this game so much...100's of hours into dark souls and prolly 1,000 hours into demon souls, so any ideas how to get frantz to pop up top would be wonderful...and I do NOT see where I have procured the lordvessel anywhere and that is distressing.....any thoughts or ideas/help would be GREATLY appreciated!! happy holidays every body!!

There are 2 serpents, if you want to access darkwraith stuff you go to the serpent in the abyss, and you can give him the lord vessel etc. However, if u talk to the serpent above, after giving the lordvessel he will disappear for the rest of the playthrough. Who did u give the lordvessel to?

I gave it to the one in the abyss, and joined his covenant too. Actually, i cant remember which one i gave the lordvessel too, i'm sorry...when i jump down the hole...(the one by firelink shrine where the snake usually is....the lordvessel thing is there, but the door is locked, no fog...no access...

Well, i didnt have this issue, but i believe you gave it to the darkwraith serpent, due to the fact the one above is gone. Sadly, you cannot get him to come back up. But it should appear, after u go into the library. So you placed the lordvessel on the shrine correct?

Well assuming that you're trying to access the dlc the broken pendant will only drop after you've defeated the hydra and golden golum in Darkroot Basin and saved Dusk.

Basically she has to be free in order to be kidnapped so that you can travel to the dlc to rescue her again. I do however believe that she doesn't need to be alive to enter the dlc, however that is just an odd occurrence I ran into.

^Very true, i did forget that you have to "clear the way" to the portal.

yes, i did kill the hydra and rescue her...hmmmm

After placing the Lordvessel, it must be filled with the souls of: Seath the Scaleless, Four Kings, Nito and The Bed of Chaos, to gain access to the final area; Kiln of the First Flame.


does all that have to be done before AotA???

No.

this is frustrating man....thx for ur help tho guys..

Sorry I'm late to the party!