Lothric

For the boss battle, see Lorian, Elder Prince and Lothric, Younger Prince.

For the character, see Lothric, Younger Prince.

Lothric is a mentioned location in Dark Souls III.

Description

The symbol on the banners of Lothric.

Lothric is a kingdom located in the far south of the old Drangleic. Its main city is situated upon a massive protrusion of rock, the walls and castles of Lothric are a testament to its former glory and mightiness. However, upon the Ashen One's arrival, the kingdom is in ruin: almost all of the inhabitants have been reduced to Hollows and the courtyards and castle pathways are littered with the remains of deceased knights and soldiers, indicating a great battle had taken place recently. The kingdom is also suffering from an infestation of Pus of Man and has been cut off from the other lands.

Lore

Dragonslaying Foundation

The origins of the kingdom of Lothric can be found in several legacies of the region of Drangleic, suggesting that the ancient inhabitants of the land upon which the new kingdom would arise were survivors of Forossa and Vendrick's Kingdom together with followers of the Way of Blue and the Heirs of the Sun, as they brought with them artifacts such as the Spirit Tree Crest Shield, the Golden Wing Crest Shield, the Sunlight Straight Sword and even the same Priest's Chimes to their new home.

The old knights of Lothric worshipped the god of the sun.

However, the new inhabitants of the region soon found themselves facing large numbers of wyverns and had to become dragonslayers to survive. Thanks to the culture and knowledge imported from Drangleic, the people of Lothric turned to the Nameless King, once venerated as a god of war and the sun, and built an altar for him, thus the first knights of Lothric began to worship the ancestral deity who in return gave them the tools to face the wyverns. Their first armors were heavy masses of iron capable of withstanding dragon fire and similar in design to the ancient armor of the dragonslayers of Anor Londo while their shields were capable of absorbing the high lightning emission of wyverns. From the sun god they also soon learned how to infuse their weapons with the power of lightning, lethal against dragons, and the ancient techniques for hunting archdragons.

The old knights of Lothric's armor for dragonslaying.

Armed and protected to counter the fearsome creatures, the old knights of Lothric devoted themselves to the covenant of the sun god and finally learned to use his miracles which allowed them to manipulate the power of lightning. The people of Lothric thus successfully hunted the wyverns that resided in their region, but by observing how their god commanded such creatures, they even learned how to tame and ride them, thus gaining a terrifying arsenal and advantage over their human enemies. By the time the wyvern problem had been resolved, the nascent people of Lothric had already gone through a social and political transformation and now, alongside the royal family, the army, clergy and scholars had consolidated themselves in their respective domains: the three pillars of the government of the new kingdom.

Three Pillars

The kingdom of Lothric is organized around three distinct political entities that administer with a certain degree of autonomy the army, religion and archives of the realm: the Three Pillars that supports the royal rule.

The Knight

The symbol of the Knight.

The Knight's Pillar represents the army of the kingdom of Lothric and the armed wing of the royal family since its foundation, making their task the defense of the kingdom's borders and the security within the city walls. The knights have long abandoned their old and heavy armor, built specifically for hunting wild wyverns, to wear lighter armor more suitable for conventional warfare. Despite this, the knights of Lothric continue to maintain the traditions linked to wyvern hunts: their shields have in fact suitably high lightning absorption and their weapons are imbued with the strength of lightning while they still keep hunting tools in their arsenal for this task.

Thanks to their support of the royal family the knights were granted permission to befriend the wyverns and even keep them in their barracks inside the city, as the creatures would became part of their army and rode into battle. Due to the presence of the First Flame in their region, the Stagnation led other lands to converge on Lothric and, thanks to the power of the terrifying creatures, the knights crushed every people and country that came into contact with the borders of their kingdom, leading the knights and their dragons to become the symbols of Lothric.

Following the alliance between Lothric and Irihtyll, knights would begin using crossbows that employ lightning bolts produced by the giant blacksmiths of the city of the gods.

The staue of a beheading knight inside the Cathedral of Lothric.

After the founding of the kingdom, when the scholars gained control of the Grand Archives and emerged as the third pillar, the Knight and Priestess would strengthen their ties to balance the new strength. The army would provide the high ranks of the clergy with a guard armed with greatshield with high magic absorpition thanks to the blessing from the priestesses while the clergy would create miracles for the army's use such as blessings for their weapons and magical barriers effective against magic. It was even said that no knight inside Lothric Castle could fall, because they were blessed by divine protection, telling how much strong the ties between the two pillars were especially inside the city.

The knights would have taken their vows in the Lothric Cathedral, in a ceremony in which they would have shed their blood in a ritual basin in front of a beheading knight. In fact, throughout the kingdom there are various statues of knights in the act of cutting off their heads in a ritual way, symbolizing how the order took their duty towards the kingdom very seriously and the culture of sacrifice dictated by the cult of the linking of the First Flame was deeply rooted in them.

The cult of the Nameless King, god of the sun, is still widespread among the knights of Lothric, and one of his altars can be found right near the military barracks. The knights are part of the Warriors of Sunlight covenant and as such have access to the miracles that use lightning in battle.

The knights of Lothric befriended wyverns.

However, the veneration of the god allied with dragons and the importance they held in the culture of the army led the knights to aspire to become the creatures they rode. The knights of Lothric made pilgrimages to Irithyll of the Boreal Valley and then meditated to reach the residence of the Nameless King on the Archdragon Peak. Knights would obtain special stoneplate rings granted to those seeking to become dragons and stones infused with the power of the everlasting dragons, to achieve a transformation of the torso and head into that of a draconic creature, the first steps in secret rituals that sought a complete transformation while meditating toward the remains of an ancient Dragon. Despite the long and hard process, the attempts to imitate the shape of an ancient dragon and their desire to reach a perfect imitation achieved success and some of these knights managed to transform themselves into wyverns, returning to Lothric or remaining to guard their sacred place .

The Priestess

The symbol of the Priestess.

The Priestess's Pillar represents the clergy of the kingdom of Lothric and the religious wing of the royal family since its foundation, making their task the management of the faith of the kingdom, the ecclesiastical structures in the city and the support of the knights and citizens with healing and protective miracles.

Thanks to their support of the royal family the High Priestess was granted permission to serve as the wet nurse of the prince and consequently care for them during childhood. In addition, Lothric Cathedral is the first building erected directly after the city's main gate and represents the bridge between the outside and the Lothric Castle and Royal Garden.

The symbol of the ancient accord of the Way of Blue..

The religion of Lothric has its roots in the Way of Blue originating from Heide in the region of Drangleic and consequently venerates the ancient gods of Anor Londo and in particular Dark Sun Gwyndolin, king of the gods and god of the darkmoon. In addition, the High Priestess holds the parchment of the moon, symbol of the ancient accord of the Way of Blue and the protection of its members.

Due to the presence of the First Flame in the region, the kingdom of Lothric became inevitably linked to it from its founding and its religion and culture accordingly. The tradition of the linking of the Fire plays a central role in Lothric and there are several testimonies of this: the Firelink Shrine is located just outside the city walls and easily connected to the Royal Gardens. An indefinite number of people throughout the long history of the kingdom came here to take part in the ritual initiated by Lord Gwin's sacrifice and even those who failed, becoming an Unkindled burned by the Flame and turned to ash, were still buried near the shrine in the Cemetery of Ash.

The arena where those aspiring to link the Fire were judged..

Over time, the ritual of the Linking of the Fire evolved more and more, going from a simple temple inside the Royal Gardens to a real arena complete with stands, in which Iudex Gundyr's golem judged those who aspired to become Lords , testing their strength. However the ritual of the linking of the Fire was not just a religious façade for the masses but permeated the kingdom at every level up to the royal family who were obsessed with producing a worthy Champion in their line to continue to justify their divine mandate as kingship and their duty to safeguard the Age of Fire.

After the founding of the kingdom, when the scholars gained control of the Grand Archives and emerged as the third pillar, the Knight and Priestess would strengthen their ties to balance the new strength. The clergy would would create miracles for the army's use such as blessings for their weapons and magical barriers effective against magic while the army would provide the high ranks of the clergy with a guard armed with greatshield with high magic absorpition thanks to the blessing from the priestesses. It was even said that no knight inside Lothric Castle could fall, because they were blessed by divine protection, telling how much strong the ties between the two pillars were especially inside the city

The braille tome of miracles for knights.

In particular, the priests of Lothric specialize in supporting the army's knights, creating miracles designed to bless their weapons, heal them and protect them from magic. These miracles are written in braille tomes, typical of Carim's new Way of White culture, implying cultural and faith influence between the two nations.

The cult of the Nameless King, god of the sun, is still widespread among the army of Lothric, as one of his altars can be found right near the military barracks, and the knights of the kingdom are part of the Warriors of Sunlight covenant.

When Gwynevere reached Lothric and became the queen of the kingdom, marrying into the bloodline of its monarchs, she resumed her role as a divinity and was worshiped by the population of Lothric as a symbol of "bounty and fertility". Her "heavenly daughter" Gertrude also became her holy maiden and her healing miracles were taught to her personal knights.

The current High Priestess is Emma, who, as tradition dictated, was also Prince Lothric's wet nurse. She deeply wished for him to fullfill his destiny and become the designated Lord of Cinder and blessed the holy sword that he was expected to wield with strong magic.

The Scholar

The symbol of the Priestess.

The Scholar's Pillar represents the scholars of the kingdom of Lothric and the academic wing of the royal family since its foundation, making their task the management of the knowledge of the kingdom, the academic structures in the city and the support of the realm with researches and sorceries.

The history of the scholars began when Lothric was still young and Aldia, Scholar of the First Sin reached the developing kingdom, becoming the "first of the scholars" and teaching his sorceries to them. Thanks to their support of the royal family the scholars were granted permission to manage the Grand Archives which contains all the knowledge of the kingdom and carry out their scientific research. Over time, scholars accumulated an immense amount of knowledge and the grand Archives became an enormous structure containing an equal amount of books. However, the knowledge contained in the tomes not only represented a danger to their sanity, implying that they had come into contact with particularly profound research into the nature of the soul that led their anchor to reason to be washed away, but the books were literally cursed, releasing ghostly and pale limbs towards those who reached them.

The great library of the Grand Archives.

Consequently, although the scholars were sorcers, they were also pious men, who tended to their candles with reverence, signifying how the Flame guided their research and protected them from the cursed knowledge with which they came into contact and they feared deeply. Their candlesticks not only allowed them to reinforce their sorceries but also acted as weapons, representing both a "guiding light" in their research but a tool of self-admonishing and restraint, implying how scholars were brutally regulated by group pressure and discipline if they showed signs of giving in to the cursed knowledge of the Grand Archives. The scholars went so far as to cover their heads in ivory wax, forming a mask that covered them and transformed them into walking candles, to protect themselves from the madness that permeated their texts and to prevent their anchor of reason from being too easily washed away.

One of the Crystal Sages, gurus of the Grand Archives.

At some point the Crystal Sages reached Lothric and became the spiritual guides of the scholars of the Grand Archives. The two scholars were in fact inspired by the grand sage Logan, wearing hats similar to that of the legendary sorcerer as a symbol of their pedigree, and possessed a scroll containing the sorceries and research of Seath, a branch of sorcery that the two sages had carried on allowing them to replicate Logan's sorceries that utilize the power of crystals to their fullest as a medium for souls. The Crystal Sages introduced to Lothric not only crystal gems but also the heretical belief in the pale dragon Seath and his mad knowledge. The sages would thus continue to work on their research within the Grand Archives, even taking pupils and crafting weapons and [[castig tools that used the power of crystals to enhance their magical power, representing how the fruits of the lifetime of research had advanced to an impressive level.

More recently, Aldia, who had survived throughout the kingdom's history, became Prince Lothric's mentor in secret., teaching him powerful and refined spells and privately sharing his doubts about the linking of the First Flame.

The Hunter

The symbol of the Hunter.

The Hunters do not represent an "official" Pillar as they are an order of assassins who act in the shadows to serve the interests of the royal family. Their task was of vital importance to the royal government as they were employed to secretly punish the Three Pillars when they acted outside the king's interests, thus secretly eliminating internal dissidents.Precisely for this task they wore leather armors with a black cape cover like assassins' ones that shrouded them in darkness.

Among the hunters were also chosen the "Black Hands", a title established to honor hunters who served successive generations of kings and therefore demonstrated the ability to wield two blades, exceptional dexterity, extreme skill in carrying out their task and loyalty to the royal family, . However, this title was so rare that only three hunters achieved it in the entire history of the kingdom.

There are currently two known Black Hands: Gotthard, a hunter who rose through the ranks of the knights and was thus nominated for his swordmaship, and Kamui, a foreigner from the Undead Settlement who became part of the prince's private guard.

Firelinking Duty

A statue of the Primordial Serpent inside Lothric.

At some point during the founding of the kingdom the First Flame would drift up to position itself on the region of Lothric along with its Kiln, forever marking the history and culture of the people. As a consequence of the presence of the Flame, in fact, all the lands of the world would have begun to converge towards the city of Lothric, thanks to the space-time effects of Stagnation. Because of this event some Primordial Serpents would have many interests in continuing to propagate the cult of the linking of the Flame to continue the Age of Fire and the tradition started with the sacrifice of Lord Gwyn. In fact at some point Frampt or other serpents affiliated with his ideology reached the city. Over time the serpents passed on the culture of linking the Flame to the royal family of Lothric, pushing them to preserve the tradition and actively produce heirs capable of becoming Lords of Cinder. Frampt or other serpents affiliated with his ideology, were represented in numerous statues, on par with the Three Pillars of Lothric, with elegant clothes and angel wings, showing how they had a central role within the kingdom and were considered "divine messengers" .

At a certain point the kingdom of Lothric came into contact with that of Irithyll of the Boreal Valley, led by the king of the gods Gwyndolin, finding common ground and a favorable diplomatic bridge thanks to the fact that Lothric not only found itself managing the system of the linking of the Flame but its religion was deeply rooted in the Way of Blue which venerated the moon god. The two kingdoms would thus open their doors to each other and collaborate: knights of Lothric would begin using crossbows that employed lightning bolts produced by the giant blacksmiths of the city of the gods while scholars and knights of Lothric would reach Irithyll. Irithyll would also allow the knights of Lothric to come and make pilgrimages with the goal of meditating and try to reach the residence of the Archdragon Peak.

The symbol crest of the Blade of the Darkmoon depicting the moon of Gwyndolin and the sword of Lothric.

The two realms would enter into such stable relations as to determine an official alliance and leading the symbol crest of the Blade of the Darkmoon knights to represent the ancient original moon combined with the typical sword of the knights symbol of Lothric, furthering influencing the religion of the kingdom but also ensuring that messengers bearing the banner of Lothric could take advantage of the transport demons in the service of ancient Anor Londo. Now in possession of the knowledge provided by the primordial serpents and the ancient gods of Anor Londo, the kingdom of Lothric would develop its role in the linking of the Flame, building the Firelink Shrine just outside the city walls and easily connected to the Royal Gardens, in order to guarantee a safe and regulated way to access the Kiln of the First Flame. In addition, the shrine would once again accept Fire-kepeers capable of assisting Champions who aspired to link the Flame, supporting them on their journey and transferring the power of the souls they found to them.

The dark secrets of the first Fire Keeper of Lothric.

However at certain point the First Flame began to fade again and the first Fire Keeper of Lothric had a vision of the end of the Age of Fire and the beginning of an Age of Dark, a barren plane of endless darkness. For this reason, Ludleth, a student of the art of transposition of Courland, the process of extracting and coalescing the essence of a soul and in doing so transfer its true power to the user to grant powers once thought unattainable, was called to become a Lord of Cinder, to link the First Flame again and repel the dark vision of the Fire Keeper. Despite his apparent lack of strength and his small appearance, Ludleth managed to gain the strength necessary to become a Champion, something for which he himself expresses remorse, asking to be forgiven. Despite his role, Ludleth was then literally exiled from his country and collaborated with Lothric, ensuring that the first Fire Keeper was deprived of her eyes and that all future maidens like her were deprived of their sight to prevent them from observing the future without the Flame thanks to the power of their darkness. The original eyes were hidden in a version of the Firelink Shrine on the verge of sinking into darkness and where the First Flame was an instant away from being extinguished.

The arena where those aspiring to link the Fire were judged..

In addition the ritual of the linking of the Fire was not just a religious façade for the masses but permeated the kingdom at every level up to the royal family. At one point Gundyr himself, an ancient king of Lothric, was charged with the duty of becoming a Champion and link the First Flame, demonstrating how the power that the rulers of the kingdom obtained from the Flame also led them to have to shoulder the responsibility of extending its life. Champion Gundyr thus received an iron halberd with the power to break poise and to never crumble and was sent to the Firelink Shrine to do his duty. However, someone had different plans for him and the king found himself restrained by a chain that blocked him in his path, leading him to fall into an Abyss and get lost in the folds of time. Gundyr thus found himself in a moment of time when the Firelink Shrine had no fire and ended up arriving "late" for the celebrations that awaited his fate. The Fire Keeper who was supposed to welcome her champion never met him and the ensuing tragic farce became a favorite tale of the masses of Lothric, a stain on the reputation of future kings of the realm. The fate of the aspiring Lord, however, was not the result of chance, in fact the one who had charged him with his duty had also condemned him to eternal service from the beginning. Gundyr would in fact be defeated by an unknown warrior and then become sheath to a coiled sword and transformed into an indestructible golem, becoming the ritual test for those who would attempt to link the First Flame after him, testing their strength and worthiness Over time, the ritual of the Linking of the Fire evolved more and more, going from a simple temple inside the Royal Gardens to a real arena complete with stands, in which Iudex Gundyr's golem would judge those who aspired to become Lords , testing them. An indefinite number of people throughout the long history of the kingdom would come here to take part in the ritual started with Lord Gwin's sacrifice and all the Fire Keepers that served their purpose of guiding potential Champions would be disposed of and dropped inside the Bell Tower of Firelinking Shrine, piling in up in the dozens. Even more were those that tried and failed, becoming an Unkindled burned by the Flame and turned to ash, were still buried near the shrine in the Cemetery of Ash, a mass of numerous graves of all those who have failed in their task.

At some point, Gwynevere would leave Irithyll and reach Lothric to become the queen of the kingdom, marrying into the bloodline of its monarchs , testifying to the now total alliance between the kingdom of Lothric and Irithyll. The goddess resumed her role as a divinity in the city, producing holy water with healing properties and being worshiped by the citizens as a symbol of "bounty and fertility". Her "heavenly daughter" Gertrude also became her holy maiden and her healing miracles were taught to her personal knights. During the long tradition of supporting the linking of the Flame by the kingdom of Lothric, the goddess alone cared for the Cemetery of Ash, the resting place for the Unkindled, beings who had failed to link the flame and whose graves saw no visitors.

Royal Madness

The tragic illusions of the royal family.

At a certain point Oceiros became king and the representative of the entire culture of linking of the Fire of the kingdom, shouldering the burden of the duty of firelinking and the expectations of fixing the failure of Champion Gundyr; the symbol of his royal guard in fact represented a large golden bird turned towards the sky, towards a crown, symbol of the royal family's desire to fulfill their task of producing a worthy Champion to maintain the Age of Fire. The king married Gwynevere, Queen of Lothric and with her generated the divine princes of the kingdom who were entrusted with different destinies. Lorian, as the eldest prince, was designated heir to the throne and for this reason he received the ancient brass armor handed down by the royal family together with a crown helmet patterned with flame, symbol of the kingdom's tradition of firelinking. Lorian was raised as a knight and proved his incredible prowess on the battlefield, leading a war against the remnants of the Chaos Demons and even capturing some of them to serve as slaves for Lothric. The prince even faced the Demon Prince in a duel and was able to single-handedly defeat him, resulting in his greatsword being eternally scorched with the flame of chaos and his armor to be stained black.

The fronton celebrating the coming Prince of Cinders.

Lothric instead, as the youngest prince, was designated to become a Lord of Cinder, sacrificing himself in the linking of the First Flame to keep the Age of Fire alive. The prince was in fact the hope not only of the entire kingdom but the result of the obsession of the royal family and the king to produce a worthy Champion from among their ranks as a symbol of their divine mandate and duty. For the young man who was supposed to enter the Kiln of the Flame arena, a platinum sword was created and blessed with strong magic by the High Priestess even before he was ready to fullfill his destiny. Oceiros in fact created immense propaganda around Lothric, not only giving him the name of the kingdom, but building statues that depicted him ready for sacrifice and with his sacred sword even before he linked the Flame, already preparing his throne at the Firelink Shrine who called him the hope of the kingdom. Despite all the hopes that were placed in him, Lothric soon revealed himself to be a sick and shriveled child, so weak that he never grew out of his baby clothes, which remained his only clothing throughout his life and were blessed to at least try to keep him healthy. Lothric continued to live and at some point Aldia, the first of the Grand Archives scholars and doubtful of the linking of the Flame, became his private mentorThe frail prince still demonstrated talent for sorcery, for which he did not need a medium being the son of a deity, and learned several powerful and refined spells.

When the royal family realized that Lothric would not improve from his condition , they resorted to repulsive acts in an attempt to obtain a worthy Champion for the linking: the rulers would in fact bind the souls of the two brother princes together with a curse, in the hope that the weaker Lothric would thus share the strength of Lorian, making them able to sacrifice themselves to the Flame together. Despite the monstrous practice, Lorian himself had the desire to submit to the curse, to try to help his younger brother, even at the cost of depriving the kingdom of the heir he represented. However, fate played a bad joke once again: the souls of the two brothers, linked so closely that they could nearly meld together, made them inseparable and Lorian could not die if Lothric did not too. However, their union also led the older brother to share the younger's condition, making Lorian crippled and mute to the point of being unable to walk on his own legs and the two unable to link the Flame. The now twin princes thus found themselves unable to fulfill the destiny for which they had been brought into the world and would become inseparable in kinship, fueled by their grief for their fate..

Oceiros consumed in his madness.

In his layer years, now consumed by continuous failures in the search for a solution to the problem of finding a worthy Champion, Oceiros became fascinated by dragons and began to slide into madness, eventually turning to the cursed knowledge of the Grand Archives. Here Oceiros found heretical faith in the white dragon Seath and became so absorbed in it that he wore a ring with a dragon scale and had his army use shields decorated with a "white dragon" while giving his royal guard magic rings that enhanced sorcery. Now lost in his madness, the Oceiros became known as the "consumed king" and many assassins were sent to try to kill him and remove him from power, but thanks to his magic ring he managed to save himself, attributing his salvation to the divine protection of the dragon scale.

Continuing to study the sorceries and knowledge contained in the Archives and brought by the Crystal Sages to Lothric, Oceiros found himself walking the same path as Big Hat Logan, reaching the same level of "enlightenment" as him and then going completely mad. The king, in his deep delusions, believed he had to become a dragon himself in order to produce an heir strong enough to link the Flame. His mad plans would found support from Pontiff Sulyvahn, who began experimenting with transforming humans into pale dragons. Despite the large number of failures and abominations that presented only a faded fragment of the dragons' strength, the experiments were eventually successful and Oceiros managed to transform himself into a scaleless dragon form, albeit an imperfect and distorted one, even obtaining the sorcery of Seath's crystal breath. Once his desire for transcendence was satiated, Oceiros once again fathered a child with Gwynevere, believing that a descendant of dragons would make a worthy Champion. Once he obtained his child Ocelotte, Oceiros retreated with his royal guard to the royal gardens close to the Firelink Shrine, completely ignoring the state of his kingdom to protect the "child of dragons" who represented the culmination of his desires and the only thing left in his life. Despite everything, the king was not even able to see Ocelotte, holding him tightly in his palm and relying only on his madness.

After producing the potential champion, Gwynevere would quietly disappear from the kingdom of Lothric. Realizing that the Flame would soon go out and it would be necessary to bring back even the Unkindled to search for a new champion, the queen enshrined her ring in the Cemetery of Untended Graves, so that one day an Unkindled might profit from its use.

Angelic Heresy

An Angel shares a revelation to Gertrude.

Gertrude, the Holy Maiden of the Queen, one day was visited by an Angel, a lucent humanoid creature created by the evolution of humanity of the pilgrims of Londor that were arriving to the kingdom of Lothric. The entity revealed to her a truth capable of manifesting pillars of light together with tales of the end of the Age of Fire. The holy maiden was convinced by this enlightenment and began to spread the worship of those she considered "divine messengers". However this faith was viewed as heresy in Lothric, as it opposed the worship of the ancient gods and the duty to continue linking the First Flame and was consequently unrecognized by any of the Three Pillars that govern the realm.

A civil war of faith ravages Lothric.

Due to the danger that her new faith posed to the kingdom, despite her position of closeness to the Queen, Gertrude was imprisoned in the ceiling cell inside the Grand Archives. Here she was subjected to the experiments of the scholars, probably intrigued by the feathers she had manifested as a result of her faith. The scholars even experimented on her sacred chime, using the power of crystals to make a catalyst that was suitable for casting both miracles and sorceries. Eventually the abuses of the scholars led the woman to lose both her voice and her sight but she remained determined to record what the Angel told her, even if in the form of fragmentary scrawls. Even though Gertrude was still in captivity her incomprehensible tales somehow reached the rest of Lothric and became the foundation of an "angelic faith" that venerated angels despite the Three Pillars' condemnation of heresy. Over time, the heretical faith also spread among the knights of Lothric who, despite maintaining the symbols and armor of the kingdom, swore themselves to the Angels. These soldiers even went so far as to create iconography and art of their new faith and their strong faith led them to develop angelic wings similar to those of the objects of their worship. Still seen as heretics, these Winged Knights armed themselves with weapons more befitting of executioners and came into conflict with the Three Pillars and Lothric's loyalist army.

In the final days of the reign of Lothric and the First Flame, Gertrude died, still in her cage. However the Winged Knights, after having executed dozens of Lothric Knights, would continue to patrol various locations within Lothric and even the Castle while Gertrude's most loyal Knights were positioned to defend their saint's resting place above the Archives..

Lothric's Refusal

When the First Flame began to fade and the time came for Prince Lothric to fulfill his destiny and become a Lord of Cinder, he simply refused. After reflecting on his mentor's teachings, the state of the kingdom and the world, his cursed life and the atrocities committed to continue to link the Flame the prince decided to ignore his "duty", refusing to continue the legacy of the Lords, and instead chose to wait for the Flame's death from the distance. In fact, the prince retired to the top of his castle together with his brother Lorian with whom he shared his soul, protected by his royal guard and the exponents of the Three Pillars: Lion Knight Albert, Black Hand Kamui and Daughter of Crystal Kriemhild .

• Boreal Outrider Knights and Dancer of the Boreal Valley INCOMPLETE

The conflict leads to heavy losses among the knights.

Despite the great losses of the regular army, the knights managed to regroup and maintain key positions in the city, rallying to protect the Cathedral and the High Priestess Emma, ​​securing the military barracks and the Castle Following the civil conflict that would have made the streets of the city unsafe, most of the population would have tried to find safety on the walls, along with the rest of the army's infantry that deserted from the ranks

However, they would soon meet their death here too, transforming en masse into Hollows, reducing themselves to becoming murderers and thieves. The lack of regular army forces to patrol the city's borders would have led thieves from the Undead Settlement to scale the walls as well. However, they would have stopped here in their raids as they were frightened by the rumors coming from the Castle, in which anyone who entered disappeared. The effects of the fading of the Flame and their faith would also have transformed some of the desperate citizens into trees with a humanoid appearance, turned in prayer towards Lothric Castle.

A manifestation of the Pus of Man.

However, the increasingly desperate situation of the Flame would have led to further problems: a plague would have begun to spread among the undead of the city which would cause their Dark Soul to explode from their bodies, manifesting itself as an amorphous black blob with bestial features which would attacked anything with destructive ferocity. The infestation of these Pus of Man would have led the students of the Grand Archives to close the doors of their facility for good, isolating themselves from the desperate situation of the kingdom to continue their work.

Due to the Stagnation bringed by the dying Flame, one day the High Wall appeared, a massive seismic upheaval of the land beneath the castle, raising it high above the bridge that once lead to it and disconnecting it from all nearby regions. As there was no route to leave and enter, messengers had no way to return and pilgrims were unable to seek refuge, leading to the total isolation of the kingdom during its final days. The Stray Demon that was once the gatekeeper of Lothric would remain trapped on the broken bridge, even without a trace of its flame

The eclipse and the Pilgrim Butterflies in the skies of Lothric.

During the last days of the reign, when the Flame was at the limit of its strength, the sun itself above Lothric would have weakened, transforming into an dark eclipse barely contained by the remnants of light at its contours. Another result would have been the manifestation of the Pilgrim Butterflies, gigantic humanoid insects born from the final evolution of humans transformed into trees on the walls of Lothric. These beings with immense branch-like wings would infest the skies of the city, migrating towards the tip of the Castle and even taking control of the Dragonslayer Armour remaining in the military barracks.

Complete Ruin

The ruins of Lothric.

When the First Flame was reduced to a fading spark, the entire world would collapse in on itself, converging toward the Kiln of the Flame and piling up all kingdoms and cities into a massive pile of rubble. In those times, the citizens of the kingdom even forgot the miracles of their goddess of sunlight queen, ending up circulating childish but sincere stories to try to recall her image and her blessings.

Despite everything, the loyalist knights managed to eliminate the problem of the heretical Winged Knights and the plague of the Pus of Man, however their victory was empty as they too were now reduced to Hollows, consumed to the point of being covered in ramifications and being reduced to patrolling the piles of ruins left of their city. What remained of Lothric's citizens would sink into the stagnant Abyss, becoming possessed by the dregs of the Dark Soul and manifesting as corrupted murkmen.

Characters

Royal Family

• Oceiros - King of Lothric
  • Lorian - Elder Prince and Designated Heir
  • Lothric - Younger Prince and Designated Lord of Cinder
  • Ocelotte - Last Child of the Royal Family
• Gwynevere - Queen of Lothric
  • Gertrude - Holy Maiden of the Queen

Lothric Pillars

• Aldia - First Scholar of the Grand Archives and Private Mentor of the Prince
• Crystal Sage - Master of the Grand Archives
  • Kriemhild - Favorite Pupil of the Crystal Sage
• Emma - High Priestess of Lothric and Wet Nurse of the Prince
• Albert - Knight of Lothric
• Gotthard - Black Hand of the King
• Kamui - Black Hand of the King

Locations

• Cemetery of Ash
• Firelink Shrine
• High Wall of Lothric
• Lothric Castle
• Consumed King's Garden
• Grand Archives
• Untended Graves
• Kiln of the First Flame

Gallery

Progression and essential items map.