and make sense out of them. Outside of the 'facts', one's best
bet is to compare the lore to real life mythology and the like.
Even then, it's mostly just speculation, but the more evidence the better. For instance, I am more or less 100% sure that I've hit the nail on the head in this post (https://soulswiki.forumotion.com/t5085-humanity-and-death), but that's only because I am referencing one of my favorite quotes from the entirety of the time I studied Classical Mythology. Dark Souls, however, borrows from more than just Greeks and Romans, and I'm sure from things that I've no familiarity with...so it would take a scholar far greater than I to recognize it all (or, perhaps multiple scholars...like ALL OF US!).
This Server business seems a little more incestuous than Humanity and Death, though...after all, people have been writing about those for thousands of years, and not quite so long about primordial serpants and curved greatswords. Still, I'm sure there are outside connections to be made that would tie everything together.
This was all I found from you when I searched to see if anyone had discussed the Server in depth. After further investigating (and dinner), I found some more stuff in your lore sticky (I think the 'search' only searches thread topics and not the posts). I'm not sure how to link to a specific post, so I'ma just quote ya.
Acidic_Cook wrote:This topic, the ancient rite, I have been
speculated and searching both physically and mentally again and again,
looking for the answer towards this 'ancient rite', a ritual used by
those who have past long ago. Such ancient rites have been seen
constantly in our view with both the rite of kindling and the large
flame ember. However, as I have searched over and over, I have found
many items linked towards this rite, and in better terms are linked to
one individual in turn: The first Firekeeper of the flame of disparity;
the goddess of sin, Velka.
31. Ancient Rites and Velka
In
the case of Lordran, we know that the rite of kindling is an important
aspect towards the way of white, meant to give 'extraordinary power' as
Petrus somewhat describes. The Rite of Kindling, as well as the large
flame ember (which states that it is part of the ancient rite ritual in
the description as well), also points towards Nito as well, as he was
known to have once the rite of kindling, as well as Vamos knowing of
where the large flame ember was (New Londo), which also ties towards the
Darkwraiths and the chaos covenant, although more so to the
Darkwraiths. We have speculated over and over about these two things,
what they mean, what they represent. However... their was a few things
that I have missed in my play.
One, is the Server. In the
description of this curved sword, it says that it was used for an
ancient rite, and that it has frightful occult energy. Interesting
enough, the sword's description changes later when certain upgrades are
made towards the sword, in which case would be that of the chaos and the
flame upgrades. The contexts of the sword, as well as the location, is
interesting by itself. For one, it is a unique sword, being found only
once in every playthroughs, unless given by an outsider player. The
sword, being a curved sword, is a unique type by itself. The only
greatswords found within Lordran other than the server are both the
eastern greatsword, murak, as well as the gravelord greatsword.
Interesting enough, both curved greatswords are owned by Nito and his
followers, as well as the rite of kindling, being part of the ancient
rite, also being held by Nito as well. The sword is made to leech life
with every hit that it gives, and its location is also special, as it is
guarded by giant leeches, which seemingly is proper due to the fact
that leeches are meant to suck life out of things in order to sustain as
well. Where the server lays, their are three leeches who surround such a
sword, in which might speculate that the leeches absorbed the power of
the energy within the sword, in which may be the cause of them being in
such a large state (maybe the mosquitoes as well, although hard to say
if that is so, as such mosquitoes can exist in reality in tropical
forests... or other bugs at least).
The most interesting aspect
of the sword, however, is the design of it. Many do not know, but their
is a picture of a special creature that many interact with in Lordran,
although only known to show in special occasions. The creature drawn on
the sword is of dark origin as well, as the sword is known to have
occult properties towards it. On the non-sharpened side of the great
curved sword, their is a creature with a long neck, in which extends
from hilt to the hook of the blade. With it, the head emerges from the
long neck, and with it shows a snake of sorts, that shows somewhat of a
mustache or ear content beside it, unblinking eyes, and an odd grin. The
Glutton Dragon, the Primordial Serpent, is the picture of this very
sword. Such a dragon would be an odd place to be in such influence of an
ancient rite, as the serpent is the representation of consummation, as
shown both by Frampt (titanite and item consummation and breakage) and
Kaathe (humanity to be absorbed to the dark hand/dark weapons). Such
influence between the ancient rite, the server, and the glutton dragons
gives such wonder as to what it would aim towards. How did this sword
come to such a location? Hard to say, however as blighttown leads
towards the demon ruins (which can allow Kirk to reach to the chaos
servants with the large flame ember, if he really did bring it with
him), as well as it being beside the great hollow, it can either be
brought from Kirk who lost it (unlikely), or is that of a possible woman
who dropped it... however speculation still continues as of why it is
their now, instead of with the large flame ember or with the rite of
kindling. Inconvenient place.
I have speculated before that the
ancient rite, being that it is tied to certain aspects towards the flame
of disparity, might be the tools used in order for those to become of
such quality as Velka, the flame of disparity, or perhaps even both. But
to what qualities does the ancient rite give? Hard to say. However with
many experiments, with a good amount of playthroughs to test it, I
still did not find anything... so I looked further.
I searched
in the wiki, i searched in the forum, the game, youtube, everywhere.... I
found many things in the game and looked over again and again, and yet I
still did not find anything that might have tied towards the ancient
rite... Then I found some things of interest that do tie towards the
ancient rite, Velka, and the flame of disparity. I found more items that
have descriptions that are tied towards this rite, as well as being
connected for the content of such items use.
The first, is the
the rings of sacrifice. Both of them. They are both tied towards this
rite, with the usage of humanity, be the aspect used in the connection
of both dark and fire, which is the very aspect of the flame of
disparity, as dark is part of the flame of disparity. As well, these two
rings function the same way, however one ring is resilient towards
curses. Curses, in which we the chosen undead have seen constantly, are
those of two influences within lordran. one are the dragons, in which we
see as the basilisk and Seath. The other is the ghosts of New Londo, as
well as artorias and the four kings. Such beings are tied towards Velka
as well, and no other being either use nor are infected by such curses.
Both these beings are tied towards Velka as well, being that Ne wLondo
has the influence of both the statues of her (and a child) that lead
towards the abyss, the holder of not only the four kings, but also a
dark serpent, a glutton dragon: Kaathe. Seath having some ideals that
are speculated to be tied towards Velka in many aspects, mostly due to
the lifehunter, the influence of power, and the aspect of him betraying
Gwyn in his absence, just as New Londo did; both being influenced by
Velka. The basilisk and Seath have other reasons of tying to the
rings... but that is for later.
The rings can both be worn at the
same time, both the brown and the magenta. In the description, it is
created in a sacrificial rite of the goddess of sin. Now whether or not
is used for the ancient rite is spectacle and possibly not so, as it
only says that it was created in a sacrificial rite. However, the ties
towards humanity, as well as these rings being known to be rare and
uncommon, with the only exception being the merchant that sells 10
normal rings of sacrifice (you can find two rings of sacrifice, three
rare rings of sacrifice, in the wild), it can be said that these rings
are indeed rare and hard to find. As the pardoner, the merchant who
sells these normal rings of sacrifice, is a priest and follower of the
Goddess of Sin, that it may be the the treasures that he brought with
him from the goddess to Lordran, or is the treasures he has found within
lordran, to be used by those who can afford it. It may be that these
rings are created in a similar fashion as that of the bite rings and the
purging stones, however it is hard to say, as it shows no dread of any
dark influence of its creation, unlike the purging stones and the bite
rings. Velka, as well as the bite rings and the purging stones, can be
said to be tied towards Carim. It is also noted that the cursebite ring
can be found in New Londo, where many Carim objects are also found as
well, including the parrying dagger, the red sage, and other factors.
The clams, the ones that are found by the dragon Seath as well as ash
lake, also have purging stones as well, which shows the question as of
how these things are made. The last note needed to make, is that the
ring of sacrifice is tied to the flame of disparity, as it uses the
breakage of the ring in order to bring a person back to life as human at
a bonfire. The indication of wearing it also shows a humanity symbol
under the user's top bar on the top left corner, which has a small
humanity symbol (similar to how wearing special rings or other sorts
bring sup a small symbol to resemble its influence, such as a green
shield with a yellow arrow, or other such symbols towards the aspect of
the item equipped and used).
The next is the Vow of Silence. A
secret rite also tied towards Velka, with the other being the rings of
sacrifice, both the rare and the more so common type. The vow of silence
is not to preserve the beings souls nor humanity after death, but more
so mute the use of any magic whatsoever. Interesting, as Velka, being
known as a black haired witch, would have negative impact towards such a
miracle. It would seem odd to have it equipped of all cases, being that
it removes the aspects of Sorcery, Pyromancy, and Miracles. However, a
few exceptions leave it to not hinder the use of magic. Such items
include the dragons weapons and their powers, the dragon body and its
powers it holds, and some items such as the stone great sword and the
trident. These weapons are tied towards magic, however are not hindered
by this miracle. However, one is not a weapon, in which is the dragon
body itself. This dragon body uses the power of flame and magic, as we
have discovered from before posts as of their origin of creation. Even
thou they are influenced by magic, these dragonoids are not affected by
this miracle. it may be due to the fact that these special abilities
that come from the dragon body use endurance, which would say that the
organs or the physical self has been altered to a state of becoming more
so physical than magical at all. Now what is this secret rite any how?
What is it meant for, other than muting the use of general and common
magic? It is said that it is a secret rite, but for what is unknown.
Perhaps it is part of a secret rite, in which seems to tie towards the
aspect of both flame and magic. So why is Pyromancy removed from play
after the use of the miracle? Perhaps it is the lack of magic, or
perhaps a lack of something else, being that it comes from the origin of
the chaos witches, not Velka or the dragons themselves. Who knows. The
aspect of removing the use of magic, however, seems to follow the ideals
of the blacksmith deity as well as the god of war, believing in the
aspect of only trust in the arm. As the dragon seems to follow these
trends, even thou they are that of both magic and fire, it seems to be
able to surpass such use of the miracle as well.
The next, is the
large divine ember. Similar to that of the large flame ember, it is
used for rites as well. However instead of stating ancient rites, it
states church rites instead. The location of the large divine ember is
interesting on itself, being found surrounded by followers of Nito,
holder of the rite of kindling (or was) and that these beasts of the
occult and flame are weak towards such divine weaponry, and the ideas of
the divine ember being near them would seemingly be... unstable. The
church rite has no information to it, however divine qualities can be
found in two aspects of Lordran: The gods of the sun, and the way of
white. The way of white, followers of Lloyd and the aspects of the
flame of disparity, seem to favour the location of the catacombs and the
tomb of giants; home of the Gravelord himself, the darkest pits of
Lordran. I have posted before about such influence that rhea, the way of
whit, and Nito have towards the flame of disparity, and that the way of
white seek it for something of the flame. I have speculated that the
way of white was part of the unification of the bondage of Velka and
Gwyn during or before the flame of disparity, in which case may be that
the way of white is a party of influence that had once held Velka as
part of their family... perhaps. The aspect of Rhea being different than
most is similar to that of the witches found within Lordran, being that
of Velka, Beatric, and the Daughters of Chaos. perhaps, as the ancient
rite is what the way of white seeks, that it is indeed part of such
unification and the flame of disparity. Now, as the divine ember is that
used for church rites, it may be that this ember is of use similar to
that of the large flame ember as well.
The last one, and possibly
the most unexpected and troubling out of them all, is the one I thought
that would against the idea of the first flame: The Dragon. Now this
made me go for a long search for a while. But... I have found some
interesting notes about such dragon body, found and given by the stone
dragon (who is a Firekeeper of an old bonfire, a bonfire of the war of
the dragons. Hinted by the lumber used to kindle it instead of bone).
Now the structure and the content of the body itself is interesting. The
fur it holds is similar to that of Nito and the Darkwraiths who follow
the ideals of Kaathe, a serpent of the dark and Velka. Interesting, as
the ideals of the darkwraiths and Nito are of similar aspects towards
that of the dragons. The darkwraiths are meant to grow themselves in
power, as much as a dragonoid does as well. The Gravelord uses the
aspect of an eye, a dragon eye. Not the same eye as a dragon, but
instead that of a lesser dragon, a basilisk, which is tied towards Velka
and Seath in many aspects, as stated before. All three have the ideals
of the black hair, symbolizing Velka as well. The structure of the
dragon also symbolizes a creature that use to hunt them down as well:
The Silver Knight. The legs, the chest, and the arms have the same
exoskeleton as that of a black and a silver knight, showing particular
fondness towards the dragonoids and even the dragons themselves. At
least the everlasting dragons. These aspects of the dragon body and head
are interesting at best. Now whether or not this dragon body and head
are used for the ancient rite is unknown. However such a dragon body can
not be dodged for the ties it has towards many of the beings of
Lordran, of both the dark and sunlight. As the stone dragon seems to be a
Firekeeper of the first flame, she seems to show the ideals of how
dragons are not completely separate from the first flame, even thou it
was first lit to remove the aspect of the everlasting dragons. But why?
Is it for the greater good of humanity, to allow the aspect of man to
become not the aspect of a shadow under such beasts of strength and awe?
Or is it due to the fact that perhaps another being seeking power, and
she brought others with her towards that goal? Speculation still
continues.
Now as for what the rite is used for, is right now
just speculation. however, it still stands for the aspects of bondage,
the first flame, a trueborn (Rhea, or at least a witch in blood), and
Velka in general. The search continues, but at least you know what I
have been doing for the past few weeks for lore. The search continues,
the lore close, have faith and patience.
So clearly, props to Acidic, as always.
by JohnnyHarpoon Fri May 11, 2012 7:21 pm
