Quelana NPC

So, I was talking to the Pyromancy witch and she said something I thought was odd...not that I hadn't heard it before but I never really paid much mind to it.

"The Witch of Izalith? Please, do not speak of her. I abandoned my mother and sisters and fled to this land. Now I roam these parts, feigning ablution, and pretending to seek answers."

Now, I've never really thought much about this, but I decided to look into it...ablution is a rather obscure word so I looked it up and this is what merriam-webster had to say about it:


a : the washing of one's body or part of it (as in a religious rite)
b plural : the act or action of bathing

I imagine that the first is what we're looking for...now we obviously know why she would want to wash clean her sins in her involvement of the Dragon Wars, and most likely the creation of the Bed of Chaos...but why would she feign this? Feign, meaning to pretend.

I take this as her not being sorry for what she's done, but rather fears persecution from those who have the power to punish her, and of course, the only one she probably rightfully fears is Velka, goddess who punishes the guilty.

Also, what answers would she PRETEND to seek? Answers to why things are going the way they are? I don't know, but this bit of text makes me not like her much at all.

By saying that she "feigns absolution", she might be mocking herself, like... she's seeking forgiveness for something that cannot be forgiven. It's all self-loathing.

As for the answers, that might pertain to finding a way to restore her sisters to human form, only she's long since given up on that.

But she says "ablution."

Curse my eyes, letting me read things that aren't there. Anyway, that's my guess.

She left her mother and sisters. I think she's saying that she's pretending to go soul-searching (in the traditional sense, not in a farming for souls sense) and repent for abandoning her family. She doesn't mention anything about anything from the Dragon Wars troubling her or something about her creating the Bed of Chaos; (that was the Witch of Izalith, not her) it's about her leaving her family to save herself.

Acarnatia wrote:it's about her leaving her family to save herself.

That might have been the right decision, seeing how all the other witches are dead, demons, or hollow

I wasn't talking about the ethics of her actions, only what she's talking about.

Yeah, that's what I thought too, that it was absolution and perhaps a simple misspelling, but no, ablution is a word and most likely what they did mean to have her say.

****EXTREME SPECULATION AHEAD****


I think she really isn't sorry and she doesn't even care what happened to her sisters. When you go talk to Einigyi (spelling?) says that even he has heard of her wandering the poison swamp...yet she does not visit her sister? If she feels so bad why would she not at least attempt to contact her? Even asking the player to kill her mother and sisters.

Perhaps Quelaag is the reason, and she fears she'd be attacked on site which is likely as she managed to make it out unscathed...and naturally a half-spider sister would probably be rather jealous of a healthy sister.

She seems to want you to kill the Bed of Chaos/ Ceaseless/ Sisters out of mercy, but honestly I think she only wants to be the last one, and she never mentions that the Bed of Chaos is being watched over by another of her sisters. To be honest I think the sister in Lost Izalith guards the BoC because Quelaana has tried to kill them herself but failed.

In this case Absolution and Ablution are similar in context. Feign is just a synonym for pretend so I think Sanhedrim's explanation is still good. She's just pretending she can make-up/cleanse the wrongs she (or her family) have done but she can't. She's simply lying to herself and knows it.

As for the older sister, as a Darkmoon I like to invade Lost Izalith. While waiting for the dirty sinners to cross the lava lake, I've studied the eldest sister and her hand is human. Maybe she's just crazy like Logan. Regardless, she's not hollow.

It's possible, it's also possible it's a mistranslation. But either way, I don't like her, I think she's a coward who could do more to help the world at large if she wasn't so self absorbed.

alchemydesign wrote:It's possible, it's also possible it's a mistranslation. But either way, I don't like her, I think she's a coward who could do more to help the world at large if she wasn't so self absorbed.

I like her, but you're right about her being such a coward who could do more. I can kind of understand how she feels, but I can see the more negative interpretation now. Never thought of it like that before.

alchemydesign wrote:It's possible, it's also possible it's a mistranslation. But either way, I don't like her, I think she's a coward who could do more to help the world at large if she wasn't so self absorbed.

I agree she's a coward to some extent, but overall I think she's very sad, depressed and filled with regret (at least that's the impression I get from the way the voice actress says her lines). But there is definitely more she could do to help out rather than just moping in Blighttown, she's obviously very powerful.

As for asking the player to kill her mother and sisters, could that be because she can't bring herself to do it?

Her reason for not doing it is that she "..lacks the strength; and the bravery..." so you may be right, she may not be able to bring herself to do it, but she also knows and tells you that theyve spent a thousand years in anguish so you'd think she'd want to be the one to take them out of their misery...I know I would do that for one of my family if they were in dire straights such as that.

Yeah I totally agree, she should help her family, or die trying.

I don't know if there's any info to confirm or deny this, but it could be possible that in all of that time she has tried and has failed. Hence why she spends her time depressed in Blighttown. But then maybe if she had tried, she would have said something.

alchemydesign wrote:Her reason for not doing it is that she "..lacks the strength; and the bravery..." so you may be right, she may not be able to bring herself to do it, but she also knows and tells you that theyve spent a thousand years in anguish so you'd think she'd want to be the one to take them out of their misery...I know I would do that for one of my family if they were in dire straights such as that.

You THINK you would do it for your family. There's a chance you even would. But nobody can truly know if they can do it until they (god forbid) have to.

Besides, maybe Quelana DID. Two of the sisters are missing, and one is dead. Of the one that is dead, so is placed in a respectful way; as if she were moved by someone who cared for her.

Shkar wrote:

alchemydesign wrote:Her reason for not doing it is that she "..lacks the strength; and the bravery..." so you may be right, she may not be able to bring herself to do it, but she also knows and tells you that theyve spent a thousand years in anguish so you'd think she'd want to be the one to take them out of their misery...I know I would do that for one of my family if they were in dire straights such as that.

You THINK you would do it for your family. There's a chance you even would. But nobody can truly know if they can do it until they (god forbid) have to.

Besides, maybe Quelana DID. Two of the sisters are missing, and one is dead. Of the one that is dead, so is placed in a respectful way; as if she were moved by someone who cared for her.

Hm, you make a good point, it IS possible that she already took some out, but I think it more likely that Ceaseless accidentally killed the one on the alter, that's why he stands sentinel there. At least that makes more sense to me, especially since he doesn't patrol the area looking for his other sisters.

alchemydesign wrote:

Shkar wrote:

alchemydesign wrote:Her reason for not doing it is that she "..lacks the strength; and the bravery..." so you may be right, she may not be able to bring herself to do it, but she also knows and tells you that theyve spent a thousand years in anguish so you'd think she'd want to be the one to take them out of their misery...I know I would do that for one of my family if they were in dire straights such as that.

You THINK you would do it for your family. There's a chance you even would. But nobody can truly know if they can do it until they (god forbid) have to.

Besides, maybe Quelana DID. Two of the sisters are missing, and one is dead. Of the one that is dead, so is placed in a respectful way; as if she were moved by someone who cared for her.

Hm, you make a good point, it IS possible that she already took some out, but I think it more likely that Ceaseless accidentally killed the one on the alter, that's why he stands sentinel there. At least that makes more sense to me, especially since he doesn't patrol the area looking for his other sisters.

I know the sisters are resistant to heat, but Ceaseless is the source of all of the lava in that area. I doubt he could have moved her without destroying the surrounding area.

Shkar wrote:

alchemydesign wrote:

Shkar wrote:

alchemydesign wrote:Her reason for not doing it is that she "..lacks the strength; and the bravery..." so you may be right, she may not be able to bring herself to do it, but she also knows and tells you that theyve spent a thousand years in anguish so you'd think she'd want to be the one to take them out of their misery...I know I would do that for one of my family if they were in dire straights such as that.

You THINK you would do it for your family. There's a chance you even would. But nobody can truly know if they can do it until they (god forbid) have to.

Besides, maybe Quelana DID. Two of the sisters are missing, and one is dead. Of the one that is dead, so is placed in a respectful way; as if she were moved by someone who cared for her.

Hm, you make a good point, it IS possible that she already took some out, but I think it more likely that Ceaseless accidentally killed the one on the alter, that's why he stands sentinel there. At least that makes more sense to me, especially since he doesn't patrol the area looking for his other sisters.

I know the sisters are resistant to heat, but Ceaseless is the source of all of the lava in that area. I doubt he could have moved her without destroying the surrounding area.

This^

I think whoever put her there, was someone other than Ceaseless, and someone he knew perhaps and wouldn't attack (Quelana?).

Probably

*MAJOR SPECULATION AHEAD*

Prior to the creation of the Bed of Chaos, Quelana was most likely banished or, left on her own, making her seem more like a prodigal child. This is supported by Eingyi's dialogue calling her "Lost Quelana" which implies that she has done something wrong which resulted in her banishment. She also seems to avoid talking about her mother and sisters, which further supports this idea, whether she feels angry about them or afraid to face them, since she tasks the Chosen Undead instead of her to finish off her sisters and her mother who, as we all know, have all been turned into demons. Because she left Lost Izalith she was able to escape the calamity that befell upon her mother and sisters unscathed.

That's pretty much my idea about her. :3

i see this as the whole "pyromancy is **** magic" kinda thing. remember, everyone bt pyros hate pyros

Lol. Well, as for her being a prodigal child...I don't know, I think there is text somewhere that states she was lucky to have been spared/made it out...but you could be right.

alchemydesign wrote:Lol. Well, as for her being a prodigal child...I don't know, I think there is text somewhere that states she was lucky to have been spared/made it out...but you could be right.

I remember this as well. I believe she said something about how when the disaster began, she ran and abandoned her family.

As for why she asks you to release her family from their curse, I think it is mostly about being unable to do so emotionally.

Or maybe because all her attacks are fire, and the bosses blocking her way to her mother are very fire resistant...?

She's a master pyromancer, dont think itd stop her.