Aerial view of Liurnia. Narrator: Liurnia. Narrator: Its lakes have the power to refresh the mind and soul. Narrator: This is the perfect locale, for the students of glintstone in Raya Lucaria, Narrator: and those advised by the moon, the Carian clan.
Narrator: It is here, the Tarnished give up their dreams, to see gold.
The great mausoleums of Limgrave, particularly the Stranded Graveyard. Narrator: Tarnished often resurrect in the great tombyards of Limgrave.
The broken bridge between Limgrave and Liurnia. The rugged cliffs of Stormveil. Narrator: Seeking gold, they move north. Narrator: Though the Great Bridge is now broken, and Stormveil a mighty fortress, they find means to overcome the rugged cliffs to reach the lakes.
Narrator: From here, there are four paths. Narrator: All lead through pain.
Narrator: In olden times, the most frequented path went through the Liurnian Highway, over the Great Bridge to Raya Lucaria, and from there the succeeding Great Bridge to the Grand Lift of Dectus, upward to the Altus Plateau.
The seals around the Academy. Narrator: Unfortunately, since the time of the Shattering, the scholars have allowed the bridges to crumble. Narrator: This was one part of their "defense". Narrator: To ward off intruders, they had also placed seals of glintstone around the academy.
Narrator: In those same times, one could take a boat from Stormveil westward, to the Carians' famed Moonlight Altar, to the Four Belfries, and then to Carian Manor. Narrator: From the Carian Manor, one took a landbridge over to the Grand Lift of Dectus.
A view of the crumbled landbridge over Carian Manor. Narrator: Unfortunately, the Carians, fending off the Golden Order and the Cuckoo, broke this same landbridge. Narrator: And any who enter the Carian grounds, is killed on sight.
Narrator: The last route to the Grand Lift, is through the east, which the Tarnished by D's instruction had been taking. Narrator: By continuing through the Liurnian Highway, one crossed two landbridges to reach a village high on a plateau, Narrator: and from there, descend to the Grand Lift.
Countless of Tarnished dead, at the hands of the Ancestral Worshippers. Narrator: And yet, to this day, the landbridges are destroyed, and below this plateau is a labyrinth of ruins inhabited by a fearsome race of heathen worshippers. Narrator: And on the plateau, are greater horrors yet.
A distant view of the entrance to the Ruin-Strewn Precipice. Narrator: The last path, does not use the Grand Lift whatsoever... Narrator: and so escapes the notice of the Order. Narrator: And yet, it is untamed for a reason.
The narration transitions to the scribblings of a journal. Narrator: ...And so, this is where I am headed. Narrator: In hopes of seeing gold, once more,
It is Diallos. Diallos, writing: and honoring the great House Hoslow, Diallos: and finding my dear servant, Lanya, who scampered off I know not where,
Diallos is stuck with the Prophet, Corhyn, Meilyr, and Patches, on the Scenic Isle. Diallos: with these intolerable fellows.
Corhyn and the Prophet are praying. Corhyn: Diallos, let us pray. Corhyn: "Oh Erdtree, thank you for each and every of thine blessings..." Diallos: No thank you.
Patches kicks Diallos. Patches: Hey, beggar, when are you going to prove your keep here? Patches: At least the other two can shoot a thing-a-what's-it. Patches: Unless you buy something from me? Diallos: No thank you.
Meilyr: Diallos, what do you think those dragonflies taste like? Meilyr: Give me your whip. Meilyr: You want one or five? Diallos: No thank you. Meilyr, obviously, takes his whip anyway.
Diallos, thinking: Oh, Lanya, save me from these brutes!
Patches, to Corhyn: So, saint. Where are we going today?
Corhyn: I think we have to stay in the lake. Corhyn: All land-bound routes will take us higher.
Corhyn: And the mining village is on the ground. Patches: Wonderful. More soggy boots.
Corhyn: We can go northwest, but I heard that route is perilous.
Corhyn: We can go straight north, through the ruins of the Academy's town... Corhyn: But Albinaurics haunt them.
Corhyn: We can hug the northeast coast, but I'm not sure what wildlife flocks there.
Patches: So what? Corhyn: Neither are great...
Rya is behind them. Corhyn: Therefore, we should take the route of least travel. Corhyn: North it is.
Rya: Hello. Patches, shocked: Hell! Corhyn: Who?...
Patches, pointing a knife: Who are you?! Rya: I need some assistance... Patches: You walk up to any stranger for help?!
Rya: Yes? Patches: NO! Patches: Get out!
Rya hangs her head. Rya: Okay... The Prophet listens.
The Prophet holds her sleeve. Rya: Ohh, thank you dearly.
Patches: I can't wrap my head around someone who can't see being genteel... Rya: My mistress sent me off on an errand...
Rya: But I was accosted by a ruffian, and I'm in a bind. Rya: He made off with a precious necklace.
Patches: An errand. In a swamp. Patches: This beggars belief. Rya ignores him. Rya: I would be sure to provide ample reward.
Patches: Don't let me stop you, keep talking. Rya: Only...he too is Tarnished.
Rya: If you've any qualms confronting your own, I shall find another... Patches: No, none whatsoever.
Patches: But...what are you offering? Rya: An invitation to my home...
Patches: In the swamp? Rya: In the manor.
Patches: Let's go.
Everyone heads to the Boilprawn Shack with Rya, except Meilyr, who is still trying to catch dragonflies. Patches is rolling up his sleeves. Patches: Now let's see this scoundrel...
Blackguard Big Boggart is resting, cooking his prawns. His iron mask, rusted and dark, is intimidating and designed to isolate its wearer from others. Patches: ... Patches: You have this young woman's necklace?
Boggart: Yeh. Boggart: Want me to bust your teeth over it?
Patches: No.
Patches walks away.
Rya: Ah, ah...sir knight... Patches: Your necklace over my ivory; good day to you, miss.
Corhyn, to Boggart: Sir, that necklace is not rightfully yours.
Boggart: Is that so? Boggart: And yet it's rightfully on me. Boggart: Up my ass. Boggart: You want to pull it out?
Corhyn, flustered: Sir! Diallos: Sir, you give me no choice but to protect this girl's honor.
Diallos: For I, am a scion of House Hoslow. Boggart: Alright.
Diallos: ...
Diallos: What are you even going to do with it? Boggart: I dunno. What was she doing with it?
Diallos: ... Boggart: ... Corhyn: ...
Diallos: I mean, you already have this big house. Boggart: Not my house. I found it.
Diallos: Do you think me innocent? Diallos: Why would this house, of everything, survive in this lake?
Boggart: I dunno, why is anything the way it is in these godforsaken lands?
The Prophet takes one of Boggart's hands. Boggart: Hey!
The Prophet extends one finger over Boggart's palm. Boggart, raising a fist: I'm going to split your skull -
A rune falls down.
Boggart, staring at gold: ...Hum. Boggart: Alright, let's trade.
Diallos: It's not even yours! The Prophet stands up.
The Prophet holds his hands out as a cup. Gold fills his hands.
He pours the gold into Boggart's hands.
Boggart: 'ey now, 'ey now, easy fella... Boggart: Don't go treating me like I'm a charity case.
Boggart throws the necklace at Rya. Boggart: Here. Girl. Boggart: It's your fault you got duped in the first place.
Boggart: You want some advice? Boggart: You ain't got one shred of wit in you. Boggart: Stay out of these lands, or tell your idiot mistress you will.
Rya, to the Prophet: Thank you kindly... Diallos, to the Prophet: You reward vice with good deeds.
Boggart: And you know everything, but don't shut the hell up. Boggart stands.
Boggart grips his preferred weapon, the Iron Balls. These have bashed the brains and cracked the bones of countless foes. Boggart: How about you piss off?
Diallos dashes; Corhyn backs away.
Corhyn watches as the Prophet stays behind.
The Prophet picks up one of the prawns on the grill.
Boggart waves the Iron Balls over the Prophet's head. Boggart: 'ey! Taking a man's food?!
The Prophet looks at Boggart rather innocently. Boggart: ...
Boggart: Well... Boggart: Never met someone with a taste for prawn I couldn't trust. Boggart rests.
Boggart: And someone shutting up for once; well, can't be a bad fellow.
Boggart: We'd make good mates, I reckon. The Prophet eats prawns.
The Prophet keeps eating prawns. Boggart: Marika's tits, you must be 'ungry.
Boggart: You're Tarnished too, ain'tcha? Boggart: Can you see it then? The guidance of grace?
The Prophet vigorously nods. Boggart: Even though you're blind, huh?...
Boggart: I can't see it all no more.
Boggart: Going by your clothes... Boggart: You worship Marika?
The Prophet vigorously nods. Boggart: Huh.
Boggart: How can you look up to a cunt like her?
Boggart: Makes no bloody sense, why some no-name shithead like me should get called to the Lands Between.
Boggart: Cruel bloody joke, you ask me.
Boggart: And you - you're no different than I am. Boggart: Not beloved nor blessed.
Boggart: How can you love someone who hates you? Boggart: You'd have to be a real twisted fellow.
Prophet: ... Boggart: ... Boggart: Ah. That ain't a yes-or-no question, huh. Meilyr is behind them.
Boggart: I reckon I don't get it. Boggart: I'm not one for thought, anyway.
Boggart: I reckon, too, as people, we're both fucked. Boggart: Hell. This life.
Boggart: Alright mate. Still 'ungry, are ya? Boggart: Eat up.
Boggart, to Meilyr: You want your face caved in, man?!
The Tarnished, in a semi-circle around Rya. Rya: I am Rya, in the service of Lady Tanith of the Volcano Manor. Rya: I seek stalwart Tarnished who might join our house. Rya: You are all brave. Not only a steady hand, Rya: but a steady heart as well. Rya: Such strength is precisely what my lady seeks.
Rya hands out letters. Rya: Take this. Rya: You are now amongst a family of champions.
Patches: ... Patches: You belong to the Volcano Manor?
Rya: Yes. Patches: That volcano up north?
Rya: Yes. Patches: On the Altus Plateau, that we are trying to get to, where Leyndell is? Patches: The same Leyndell who swore to destroy the Recusants of the manor? Rya: Yes.
Patches: I want vengeance with so much passion you would never comprehend it. Rya: On whom?
Diallos: I don't quite understand. Corhyn: The Volcano Manor sits on the heights of Mt. Gelmir.
Corhyn: Warriors who have recused the Erdtree's excellence gather there. Corhyn: Heathens.
Corhyn rips the letter in half. Corhyn: Even having this letter would make one an enemy of Leyndell.
Rya: Hey! Corhyn: If you are a servant of them, I renounce you.
Rya tries to pick up the pieces of her letter. Patches: To be fair, Leyndell's not chummy with Tarnished as it is...
Patches: Use your head, man. Patches: If this is their means to recruit Tarnished, then they're pretty desperate.
Corhyn: It matters not. Corhyn: Whether the enemy is weak or strong, to truck with them is a sin.
Patches: Zealot. Patches puts the letter away. Patches: Well, what's a piece of paper anyway... Patches: Maybe it'll sell...
Rya glares at Patches passive-aggressively, having heard this comment. Diallos: If you've been roaming Liurnia, have you met a girl named Lanya?
Diallos: You know, fickle as the wind? Diallos: Little tomboy? Patches, thinking: How does that help, you idiot...
Rya: I saw a girl passing northward to the ruins, Rya: but I hadn't engaged with her.
Diallos takes a hold of Rya. Diallos: That's her! Diallos: It's fate!
Diallos runs northward. Diallos: Lanyaaaaaaaa!
The other Tarnished follow him. Patches, wondering aloud: When am I going to separate myself from this parade of fools...
Diallos, stopping in Academy Gate Town, is crestfallen.
He picks up Lanya's body, crestfallen.
Diallos: Lanya... Lanya... Diallos: It's me, Diallos. Answer me, would you?
Corhyn: Diallos... Corhyn: I'm sorry.
Diallos: Lanya...was my companion since childhood. Diallos: We had a bond surpassing that between servant and master.
Diallos: I...I... Diallos: Oh. Ohhhh.
Patches, snooping around. He finds a ring. Patches: Hey...
Patches tries to discreetly pocket it. Everyone watches him sternly. Patches: Uhhh...
Patches: Diallos, this your ring? Diallos: I don't...I don't recognize it.
Rya: That's one of Lord Rykard's rings. Rya: Hum. Someone must have dropped it.
Rya: May I have it? I should return it. Everyone sternly watches Patches. Patches: I...uh...oh, whatever. He gives it.
Diallos, with realization, is engulfed in rage. Diallos: So...it's the Recusants who did this...
Diallos: That hidden house...of despicable fiends... Diallos: They laid hands upon Lanya, and I refuse to let the insult stand.
Diallos: The tale of House Hoslow is told in blood.
Diallos: I, Diallos, swear to deliver the message.
Rya: Will you fellows help me home? Rya: I think it not wise to travel alone anymore.
Diallos: ... Everyone else: ...
Corhyn: Yes. Rya: Thank ye. Rya bows.
Corhyn: Everyone, hide.
Everyone runs, hiding behind the sunken remains of a house.
Second Generation Albinaurics pass by. They are led by a particularly large Albinauric, with a giant wooden club.
The Albinaurics search.
Seeing nothing, they leave.
Corhyn: ...We should get moving.
Meilyr: ...Are those frogs?
Boggart: Go ahead and taste 'em, Boggart: but you'll get a mouthful of mercury.
Everyone looks at Blackguard Big Boggart.
Boggart: You're heading to Altus too? Boggart: I'll walk with ye.
Corhyn: Al- Boggart: 'cept, no yappin'. Boggart: Don't talk to me.
Boggart: An' don't make chit-chat, and don't bother me.
Patches: And what do we get out of this arrangement?... Boggart: I beat the tar out of whatever crosses your way.
Boggart: You lot couldn't fend a lobster. Boggart: 'Tis a better deal than most.
Patches: Normally I'd say "Sod off" but it's nice to have someone else's body before mine.
Boggart: Asshole. Patches: Boor.
Patches: Who's next? Who wants to join our fantastical crew.
Hyetta - who looks exactly like Irina only blindfolded - appears, out of nowhere. Hyetta: Hello? Is someone there?
Patches facepalms.
Night. Everyone is sleeping, somewhere around the Gate Town North.
Only the Prophet is awake. He is sitting upright, as if he is staring at something.
Zoom in to his blindfold.
A single shard of light, in the darkness - a Grace. This is what the Prophet is staring at in his mind, though he is blind. The Prophet is there, or, a projection of him.
Two feet emerge by the Grace.
The feet sit down.
It's Melina, everyone's favorite character. She enters hooded, which is closer to her introduction in the Stranded Graveyard. Melina: Greetings, traveler from beyond the Fog. Melina: I would like to strike an accord. Melina: Would you like to hear it?
The Prophet nods.
Melina: I, burnt and bodiless, by my own power cannot travel alone. Melina: I can only adhere to Tarnished with grace.
Melina: Please, take me to the foot of the Erdtree.
Melina: And yet, unfortunately, this accord will, alas, be a weak one. Melina: I cannot name, now, what I would give you.
The Prophet, regardless, nods.
Melina: ...Thank you.
She puts her hands on her hood.
Melina reveals her face to the audience. Melina: I am Melina.
Melina: ...Though I am the delinquent in this bargain, please tell no one of me.
The Prophet nods.
Melina: I see. I have nothing to fear, then.
Melina: Wait. I can trade you.
Melina gives him a ring. Melina: This will summon a steed, Torrent. Melina: Like me, he is incorporeal, but by thy light he will gain substance.
Melina fades. Melina: Sir... Melina: Thank you.
The Prophet, back in Liurnia.
He caresses the ring Melina gave him, showing what had happened was not a dream.