Talk:Furtive Pygmy/@comment-35144614-20180329182933/@comment-173.67.161.6-20180702122622

In DS1, Firekeepers are "manifestations of the bonfire," and by offering Humanity to the fire, either through kindling or reversal of hollowing, it is stored within the Firekeeper. Seeing as Humanity is a representation of Dark, it has to be contained in order to let "Light" flourish. When a Firekeeper perishes, the flame goes out because Dark has escaped back into the world again. Think of it like the conservation of mass--matter cannot be created or destroyed, only moved.

Proceeding to DS3, Humanity is replaced by Embers, which is perhaps alluding to the use of Humanity as a sort of fuel for the fire, as the Ember is shaped much like a Humanity sprite. We also find Human Dregs, representing the lowliest, most "useless" emotions, products of a concept known as "the Deep." (The series heavily implies that Humanity and the Dark represent emotions such as nostalgia and sentimentality, even love, which Gwyn deems to be detrimental to civilization. A "dreg" is the least desirable factor, be it a residue or a human.) The Deep would seem to be a vast collection of Humanity, as opposed to one Humanity that has expanded beyond the host's control to form an Abyss. It's not implausible to think that the Dreg Heap is a representation of the Deep, on account of the barnacle-riddled scythemen that rise from the ash to cast Deep Soul and Great Soul Dregs.

Humanity is still present, it simply takes a more nuanced form in DS3. With the lack of Firekeepers, it would appear much of the Humanity that was contained in DS1 has been released, bringing the world all the nearer to the Age of Dark. Our role in the game as the "Ashen One" implies a connection to Humanity and our latent ability to fuel the First Flame, if we so choose to embrace that power.