There's more to them

We need to breath life back into this thread. Poor Skarekrow tried to start a Rickert discussion years ago and no one joined in! It's so sad!

I'm not sure why Skare hates him so much tho, I'm somewhat fond of Rickert. Seems to me like he may have attempted the pilgrimage of the 'Chosen Undead', he made it to the ruins and experienced failure. So in order to preserve his sanity he locked himself away to avoid going hollow and/or to prevent himself from hurting someone had he gone hollow.

Did you read my Rickert? Wyrm's got a thread going now that will hopefully show some new light on NPCSs. Skare hates him because he is so much effort to kill and rewards you with so little.

Yes I read your Rickert., but you forgot to ponder how he smiths without any smithing gear!

God I wish the archives were easier to search lol. At the time I wasnt aware of his lack of hammer but someone posted he may use his magic to do what a hammer would normally do.

Wish there was a sorcery for a magic giant *** hammer!

Um.....I just mentioned that in my "Hatred of Rickert" post. I hate him but I do find it intriguing he has no hammer yet manipulates things in an eventual mechanical way. Three other smithies plus you can etch titanite for instance but we all need mechanical tools. Rickert doesn't. I theorize he's really frickin' (fRickert for new curse word?) powerful but deviates from other Vinheim sorcerers. I think he turned his back on them (note the crappy spells he knows) because he was fascinated with the physical world more than most. Dough is right.......I ran back and forth to Firelink swapping magic and weapons to try to kill him. He was my fourth Blacksmith to kill and I already had three hammers. I really wanted a magic hammer. He didn't play along, now he dies!

Dough......I did a discussion on Priscilla in another thread around here somewhere. I would have pasted it here too but I thought we were sticking to the less popular characters in this thread. I can try to find it and move it here. To answer the question above, she's not wearing a dress (in my opinion at least). You're right that they're fuzzy wings. The peculiar doll is assumed to be hers and mentions specifically that it is wearing an odd or strange dress or something to that effect. Also, where it meets skin in some places it blends into her skin or, I think at her neck, it starts to look like scales (from afar it would be mistaken for lace). Lastly, her tail is obviously her and not clothing and that's the same look.

We do do less popular toons but Pris has a lot of lore. Links to Seath, the occultists and possibly Nito and WoW. Lol sorry bout the rickert thing, I though you posted that a longer time ago and didnt want to go digging for it. Might have to redo the bastard.
So who shoudl i do next? Logan, Pris or Rickert again? Or does anyone want to help me out and do one?

My thoughts on Priscilla.....I didn't go into as much as I thought I did in the following post. I think some of my other thoughts on her might have been in my Jeremiah post. Like her stating it's a peaceful world and it's really not. I think she believes this and just hasn't been out of her room lately. Some observations from binocular use near her. Like I said above, the dress appears to be a part of her, not actual clothing. She has scales on her neck and scalp I believe. Her eyebrows are little white horns. Nothing shocking to anyone yet I doubt. On to my earlier post about her:

I see the "locked away" theory a lot but I tend to not believe it:

The
doll is the only real story piece about what happened. The first thing
I'll point out is the word "clutched" in the item description. I believe we can all agree it
was her doll......
The words "held," "grasped," "possessed" etc.
would have also sufficed to establishing ownership. "Cherished" would
have worked to convey a sense of emotional attachment. Clutched is a
word of desperation. I believe the doll was the only thing Priscilla
could count on and love and be there for her. In her loneliness, the
doll was her desperate plea for love. The "odd dress" spoken of in the
description seems to hint at Priscilla's dress. This means the doll was
the only thing in existence like her, suggesting an even deeper
connection (and why it's the key to get in). Also, the doll says the
"abomination" was "drawn in" to the painted world. The use of the word
"abomination" rather than "crossbreed" is likely meaningful. A liger is
a crossbreed. Not meant to be, but still with a place and even thought
well of (at least by Napoleon Dynamite). The monkey frogs from
Beerfest are an abomination. Unwelcome even to their creator. This
enhances the idea of loneliness for Priscilla. "Drawn in" could have a
hidden meaning (I'll add at the end) but the concept is she was pulled
into the world.....not pushed. My theory is that out of loneliness, her
imaginary world became real. Then it became so real she was literally
drawn in. So the painted world could have just been a commissioned
painting until her imagination made it more.

Secret "drawn in"
meaning.....maybe the only friend she had was Ariamis, who, knowing the
truth about the painted world agreed to literally "draw" her into the
painting so she could escape the loneliness of her given existence. As
there's other things in there that appear foreign to the painting this
could be a real possibility

EDIT: I forgot to add my thoughts on her weapons and such. I'll do a post about that today.

I like it. I;ve never bought the prison theory either. i think she can leave when she wants, and she did when she led her army of occultists out to attack the gods. She reasily knows about the exit and there is nothing stopping you leaving. Odd she doesnt show any recognition of the doll when you have it? Maybe dro preload in front of her? Although that may have been removed after she was removed as the heroine. Ariamis is one of those NPCs like Lloyd. Someone really important that we have no info on.

I'm fond of Rickert, but I'm fond of most Npcs. It seems FROM's technique of only including valuable important dialogue, that's voiced well, without over doing it really gets me interested. They give just enough to catch my attention but leave enough unexplained for me to fill in things on my own. I'm not sure if I would be in love with Priscilla and Dusk if they babbled on like a TES npc.

I think you would. You;d just turn down the volume and stare at their feet .

DoughGuy wrote:I think you would. You;d just turn down the volume and stare at their feet .

Lol yes I'm somewhat obsessed with Priscilla's feet. It's unhealthy I know!

@Skarekrow I generally agree with you, though I think she is accurate in saying the world is peaceful just not in the context you suggest. I believe she means that the painted world is not a threat to the outside world, and probably is relatively peaceful internally. You are attacked when you enter simply because you're an invader who doesn't belong and in order to get in you had to kill a building full of Painting Guardians, so it would be assumed youre a threat. So it could be a peaceful place in that context, even though its weird.

I would agree that the painted world was made as an escape for Priscilla. She was miserable in Lordran and through some magic a new world for her to inhabit and rule was created for her.

Ok....rant engage:

Let's start with her soul.....
"Soul of Priscilla the Crossbreed, trapped inside the painted world of Ariamis.
Special beings have special souls. Use the soul of this crossbreed
bastard child and antithesis to all life to acquire a huge amount of
souls, or to create a unique weapon."

The first think that jumps out is the word "trapped." I don't buy "imprisoned" since I am sticking to my "drawn in" theory but perhaps the loss of the doll indicates that she can no longer travel back and forth. Next words of note are "crossbreed" and "bastard" child. This suggests that she is not an experiment in the strict sense (test tubes, Frankenstein rig etc.) but could be an experiment of what happens when two species mingle. The use of crossbreed reinforces the idea of her parents being different species. The word "bastard" implies that she has two parents but they weren't married. The alternative term is "illegitimate" and most often refers to a child that occurred as the result of an affair. I hadn't noticed the term "antithesis of all life" prior to today but it fits nicely with the rest of the discussion. This could mean a couple of things. The obvious is an existence dedicated to ending life. Another interpretation could be that she is contrasted to "intended life" and in this case it reinforces her "abomination" label.

However, I'll come back to it after discussing her weapons for what I think is a third meaning.
Priscilla's dagger:
"This sword, one of the rare dragon weapons, came from the tail of
Priscilla, the Dragon Crossbreed in the painted world of Ariamis."
"Possessing the power of lifehunt, it dances about when wielded, in a
fashion reminiscent of the white-robed painting guardians."

And her Scythe:
Scythe born from the soul of Priscilla, the stark white crossbreed trapped inside the painted world of Ariamis.
Even the Gods feared Priscilla's lifehunt ability, and in the hands of a mortal, its power will turn upon its wielder.

Both weapons have similar features and point to the possible real nature of the word "antithesis." Lifehunt I believe is often mistaken for the "bleed" effect on the victim. This seems to be confirmed by Priscilla's Scythe and it's ability to turn on a mortal as it inflicts bleed on us as well. The dagger contains the power of lifehunt as well, and the only similarity in effect between the two is bleed damage. I believe that this is merely the mechanism to show in game what the weapon should actually do to you. A paradox exists with this weapon and the dagger. The scythe states that the God's fear the power of Lifehunt, yet the dagger is armed with occult energy, what the gods supposedly are weak against. Yet the dagger does not mention gods fearing the power of lifehunt. What could this mean? The bleed and occult damage are fine and dandy but lifehunt is a different power. One to be truly feared. Yes, the bleed damage can destroy an opponent (Asylum, Firesage, etc.) and the occult can be nice as well. However, the bleed effect is not easily triggered on the Gods, and the dagger's increase in occult damage isn't sufficient to outperform "regular" weapons. So what do the gods really fear......

Losing their soul. Not death. Their soul......completely obliterated. No rebirth....no passing go to collect $200.....game over man. This is the true lifehunt ability and the "antithesis of all life." Not the "ending" of life but the disintegration of it's core. The scythe provides the best glimpse of this. It states that the power will turn on a mortal. The bleed kills us and obviously game mechanics don't allow for permanent Chosen Undead death or even respawning mob perma death. The scythe only provides a glimpse into this theory though. The real sinister evidence is in the dagger. Note in the description of the attack form that the dagger dances. Not "the user attacks in a dancing manner." The dagger controls the attacks, not the wielder. A dagger that is living and possibly sentient and potentially malevolent. This is lifehunt. The weapon takes control. In your hands it controls the attacks and hunts for the life (souls) of others. It stands to reason the scythe is the more powerful weapon, with a higher lifehunt. The control this weapon exerts on you is obviously not benign. As it seeks to end the lives of others, it seeks yours as well. It makes sense then that both weapons require high dexterity to unlock their full potential. It would take a feat of agility to keep up with a weapon that dances of its own accord.


Federally......You could be onto something that they're merely responding to a threat in this world. I only have two pieces of evidence against that and they're far from flawless. The first of the two pieces is Priscilla herself. She doesn't attack on sight. If she's confident enough to talk to you first rather than a sneak attack from the fog gate it stands to reason she could have the rest stand down. Also, she might be able to communicate telepathically. I don't believe her lips move while talking, and I have confirmed that several important NPC's do a talking animation (Quelana is enchanting to watch speak). So she could ask you to be peaceful as soon as you step in. It could also be that when you reach her negotiations are a last resort. The second evidence piece is the bloated hollow who is hiding and doesn't attack you. His location is pretty far off the main path so he should have a reaction when you find him if he was hiding from you. Also, he has a window and appears to be sorrowful. Is he looking out and weeping at what happened to the world? Finally with this guy, he drops a pyro spell which I theorized before could mean that pyro is not native to the world/bloated hollows as it demonstrates a clear passing of the torch (ha ha get it?) of this skill. Pyromancy does seem contradictory with the rest of the world. It could still be though that he thought he had a hell of a hiding spot and is too terrified to attack you.

what if the power the occultist stole from nito was somehow "put" into priscilla? "antithesis to all life" sounds like nito, maybe the "lifehunt" was once nitos power?

She talks to you because she is merciful. She does not fear you, she is Priscilla the Half Breed with powers even the gods fear! She is not threatened by a mere undead, so she decides to give you the chance to escape her Lifehunt ability, and permanent death based on your post, by giving you the opportunity to leave peacefully. She simply has the wisdom to realize the others may have misunderstood your intentions so she gives you the chance to use the only exit, incase you were simply trapped and wanted to leave.

Also um I was under the impression Prisc was Seath's daughter and this was common knowledge. Did I just get this idea in my head somehow or am I missing something? It seems to me Seeth (Seath?) procreated, through means unknown, with an undead or maybe a god during his experiments. Since she has a boss soul I would think maybe both parents need to have special souls too so a normal undead or human wouldn't work. Guess I'm just rambling now.

The common theory is she's Seath's and Gwynevere's daughter. Fed....that makes a lot of sense too. Like I said, I don't know if I agree but your guess is as good as mine for sure. The telepathy possibility is really my biggest hang up because you're right. She shouldn't fear us at all. Until we teach her otherwise. Not that I've killed her three times or anything. My hang up is that she seems to plead for the inhabitants of the world and not just herself. If she can think at us strongly enough across the world I would believe she'd reason with us before we slaughter everyone. I feel she either thinks the hostile inhabitants don't have a place either and are refusing to leave or she's not wholly aware of what's going on. Again, this theory is a big assumption on my part since it necessitates that she can communicate with her mind, has the desire to do so, etc. And this post is really just to continue discussion since we're having a great one at the moment.

Hellooo, that's not a bad theory and haven't done anything on the goings on of the Painted World beside Pris, Jeremiah and Ariamis stuff. I know there's a lot of thought out there resulting from the Occult ember, Velka stuff etc that I haven't delved into. It could be that there's a warped Nito element in her. In my theory though I would differentiate between Nito's power and Lifehunt. Nito has power of death, which seems like the antithesis of life. However, the game is built on the concepts of reincarnation and ressurection which mean that death is actually just a section of life not the opposite. Nito's good buddies are a good example of this as he brings them back from the dead, meaning his power is to partially restore life or at least animus. He does know a few ways to kill (miasma in the opening, hand to hand, sword dance) but Nito is fairly well linked to death as rebirth. Priscilla could be too, since my ideas are definitely not fact but it seems that death and life aren't opposites in this game.

I think our ideas on her statement of the painted world being peaceful are colored by our perceptions of the character. I sympathise with her character and see her as very powerful so I see what she says in a more positive light, I guess this is an example of how much freedom FROM provided in DkS because we are even free to interpret the Npcs how we like.

As far as her being the product of Seath and Gwynevere this makes sense to me. The location of her painting, being so close to the palace, and the significant protection given to the painting makes me think Gwynevere is interested in protecting it. Then again i could be missing something because I don't even understand why I was rewarded for killing o&s so what do I know?

You get rewarded because they're a-holes. Lol.....oooooor.......I've always just assumed Gwyndolin really didn't care for them but tricked them into protecting the room. The fake Gwynevere (Dough I stopped using the word "illusion"......you know why) is like a last ditch fake out. Basically, this guy's strong enough to beat these two....crap.....let's see how mentally tough he is.

So you're going on the assumption that the "bad" ending is really the good ending? Meaning Gwynevere is just another test, if might couldn't defeat him humongous tits will! I like that line of thinking.

Lol.....Pretty much

Well then I failed the test. Her "Amazing Chest" convinced me to not slaughter her. Tho I didn't link the fire.

Off Topic, your location is Satellite of Love, you wouldn't happen to be a Ron and Fez listener would you?

Heard of en but no. mystery science theater 3000 fan

This really couldnt get any less on topic could it?

They just don't give up!

This should just be joined with my random offtopic, and it would be totally fitting.