Londor

Londor, also known as the Hollow Realms or the Land of Hollows is a mentioned location in Dark Souls III.

Description

Londor is a realm located to the south of Lothric, consequently placing it even further south of Drangleic. For more on Londor's geography, see below.

Lore

The dark art of Lifedrain unique to Londor.

Roots

The origins of Londor can be traced back to when the Primordial Serpent Kaathe welcomed three human sisters into his service as his maidens: Elfriede, the eldest; Yuria, the middle child; and Liliane, the youngest. Kaathe's past attempts to uncover a Dark Lord, to prevent the linking of the First Flame, and to finally bring about the Age of Dark had largely failed; the order of the old gods remained dominant and the Age of Fire persevered, albeit increasingly faintly. His failures notwithstanding, the Primordial Serpent was steadfast in his pursuit, and eventually enlisted the sisters as his capable hands. And so Kaathe taught the three sisters, already highly skilled fencers, the art of the Dark Hand, used for absorbing the humanity of its victims. In turn, they used their battle prowess to establish the Sable Church, an organization that claimed to offer salvation to Hollows. They settled in the land that would become known as Londor, "the Hollow Realm".

The three sisters shared Kaathe's aim of ending the Age of Fire founded by the gods and ushering the Age of Dark; however, the means and the ultimate goal differed from Kaathe's original vision. The sisters of Londor sought to crown not a "Lord of Men", but instead a "Lord of Hollows", who they claimed would wear "the true face of man". By the time of the Sable Church, the form of the Hollow appears to have been acknowledged as the original condition, the "most honest shape", of humans; whether this position was espoused by Kaathe himself is uncertain. Moreover, instead of leaving the First Flame to die out, the Sable Church wished for their Lord of Hollows to usurp the Flame, to "wrest it from its mantle", which would empower their new Lord. This mission seems to align with Vendrick's own wisdom, who viewed a true leader as one who would "inherit fire and harness the dark". Nonetheless, the Sable Church of Londor came to view the Darksign as more than a curse, and found it worthy of investigation.

Organization

The sword resembling the towers of the Sable Church of Londor.

Elfriede, as the eldest sister, became the leader of the organization. There being three founding sisters ensured that their legacy would survive in the event of any one's demise, each sister able to carry on their mission and ensure that the Dark Lord would one day emerge.

The Sable Church of Londor came to be seen as a haven for those with unsavory or blurry pasts, along with other rejects of the Age of Fire. The Church was physically identified by its black and twisted towers, a motif imitated in their artifacts. An increasing number of Undead and Hollows would find refuge in Londor, forming a society of wretchedly aged, deceitful, deeply detested Hollows. Their widespread stigmatization led the Hollows of Londor to adopt illusory rings which allowed them to retain a false human appearance. They also made use of purging stones that granted them some semblance of normalcy, which in some cases caused them to turn against their own kind.

The hollow titanite gems of Londor.

The inhabitants of Londor also managed to mine their stagnant humanity and use it to infuse titanite, creating Hollow Gems that they would then use to forge hollow weapons—artifacts that were able to peer into the "essence" of their wielders and increase their damage based on their luck, the unique and elusive essential property of humans.

The divine tome containing the dark miracles of Londor.

Londor became host to a culture and religion that would be considered anathema by the Way of White faith. Liliane, as a founder of the Sable Church, weaved tales that portrayed the suffering and conflict of Hollows, to whom the Church aimed to bring salvation. These tales were recounted in dark miracle tomes which were forbidden in the rest of the world, on account of offering salvation to Hollows and conversely cursing all living beings. Londor espoused the veneration of the occult, and their tales/miracles were consequently focused on Hollows themselves, antithetical to the Way of White religion built around the gods of Anor Londo. The utility of the miracles derived from tales of Londor ranged from combative to cunning, and were accompanied by Velka's ancient miracles recovered by the Sable Church.

The attire of the Pale Shades of Londor.

The Sable Church also trained agents to enact its will in the wider world. Such agents, all skilled swordsmen, were taught to trust only their blade and nothing else, and were said to bring the silence of Londor with them wherever they went. These swordsmen became known as the Pale Shades of Londor, a group of assassins who killed in the name of the Sable Church. These were undying hollows who fought for neither honor nor exaltation, and left "nothing but withered moans" in their wake. Their undeath was cause for great trepidation amongst their victims. The Pale Shades were taught the art of the Dark Hand, the ancient miracles of Velka and a forbidden dark sorcery that cast a manifestation of humanity which tenaciously pursued its targets. They were equipped with poisoned throwing knives as well as lethal curved claws that caused heavy bleeding. They donned pure white attire and golden masks with faint, kindly smiles which earned them the moniker "Harlots of Death". Sir Vilhelm, a knight of Londor known as a cold-blooded hangman, would also report directly to the three sisters of the Sable Church, becoming particularly loyal to Elfriede.

Search for a Lord

Since their inception, the goal of Londor always remained to find their awaited Lord of Hollows who could overthrow the order of the old gods and inherit the First Flame, wresting it from its kiln, so that the Undead could assume "the true face of mankind". Determined to free mankind from the shackles of the Gods, the Sable Church of Londor studied the Dark Soul and the Darksign. The result of their research was the Dark Sigil, an artifact capable of overpowering the sigil of fire placed around the Dark Soul, allowing the darkness which had accumulated in the body to flow free again, unlocking the full potential of humans. If a bearer of the Dark Sigil were to tease out their full strength, they could attain the power necessary to withstand and assimilate the First Flame, emerging as the Lord of Hollows.

The Dark Sigil of a true Lord of Hollows.

In addition, Londor pioneered a method to further augment the strength of their future Lord through a "marriage" ceremony. By using the Sword of Avowal in a ritual, the Dark Lord could extract and transfer the darkness of another Hollow into themselves, thus increasing their power to a level sufficient to claim the First Flame.

At some point before seeing his dream realized, Kaathe died, and left the sisters of the Sable Church to carry on his vision of an Age of Dark led by the Dark Lord.

The ceremonial sword for the wedding rite of the Lord of Hollows.

At some point, Elfriede, as leader of the Sable Church, departed Londor to attempt to link the First Flame. It is uncertain whether she intended to usurp the Flame, bringing the Sable Church's efforts to fruition, or if she wholly abandoned Londor to link the Flame for another purpose (see Sister Friede#Theories). Regardless, she was unable to withstand the Flame's power, and was burned to Ash. Following her failure—and after being resurrected by the Bell of Awakening—Elfriede chose to renounce everything, leaving behind her role as leader of the Sable Church, Londor, and even her name, becoming known simply as "Friede". Having lost her purpose, she was eventually drawn into the Painted World of Ariandel and came to consider it her new home, leaving Yuria and Liliane to carry on the mission of Londor.

Close of an Age of Fire

The pilgrims of Londor.

As the First Flame faded and Prince Lothric refused to link it, the Unkindled were exhumed from their graves to hunt down the Lords of Cinder of the past that had refused to return to their "thrones" and serve as fuel for the Flame a second time. It was at this pivotal moment that Londor and the Sable Church decided to make their move. Hundreds of Hollows were exiled from Londor, sent away to Lothric on a pilgrimage with the specific goal of "dying". They were equipped with shell-shaped protections chained to their backs, similar to ones found on robes of clerics that warded off stagnant darkness during long journeys which could manifest as Pus of Man. Finally these pilgrims were taught a dark miracle, the only tale known to them, that they believed carried words of forgiveness; in reality they were cursed by this magic, which attracted more attention from foes, and presumably accelerated their "preordained death".

These pilgrims of Londor, whose humanity had accumulated and stagnated inside their body during their journey, underwent a peculiar transformation upon death. As time passed, their corpses would grow and evolve into a new form of sentient life, similar in appearance to a humanoid insect. These humanoid "Pilgrim Pupa" were harmless on their own, but were capable of manifesting and controlling physical bodies known as Angels: These aerial creatures were adorned with large, brilliant wings, and could unleash lethal rays of light. Some Pilgrims, however, seemingly did not turn into Pupae that conceive Angels, and instead became similar entities known as Pilgrim Butterflies. These twisted beings are only vaguely similar to the Angels, and continue their progenitors' journey towards upper Lothric, populating the skies of Lothric Castle. Some Pilgrim Butterflies are even capable of taking symbiotic hosts in other beings similar to the Pupae and their Angels; however, the lives of the Butterflies are bound to their hosts, meaning that they are killed if their host is slain.

The dark angels spawned from the corpses of the pilgrims of Londor.

Many pilgrims of Londor would perish on their journey north; few made it to the city gates, and even fewer were those who made it inside the walls. The journeys of many pilgrims were cut short when the High Wall appeared: a massive seismic upheaval raised the city of Lothric high above the land and formed a plateau, destroying its bridge and cutting it off from neighbouring regions. Dozens of pilgrims were unable to get inside the city, and expired just outside the High Wall.

An Angel which likely sprouted from a Londor Pilgrim seems to have triggered a chain of events that led to a war of faith within Lothric. One day, Gertrude, the holy maiden of the Queen, was visited by "an Angel", who revealed to her a tale. The holy maiden was transformed by this revelation, and spread word of this miracle, and with it the worship of these creatures whom she considered "divine messengers". However, this "Angelic" faith was declared heretical in Lothric, since it was antithetical to the Way of White faith and undermined the legitimacy of Lothric's Firelinking duty. While Gertrude's faith went unrecognized by the Three Pillars that governed the realm, it nonetheless garnered a substantial body of followers within the Lothric army. This division seems to have erupted into a civil war amongst the army ranks, pitting the loyalists of the Pillars against the Winged Knights who followed Gertrude's Angelic Faith.

Yuria, one of the founders of the Sable Church, eventually arrived at Lothric, intent on realizing Londor's vision. Here, she would introduce herself to an Unkindled, given that they demonstrated the strength and willpower to become the rightful Lord of Hollows. She would guide them along the path of Lordship, facilitate their "marriage" to Anri, and finally encourage them to usurp the First Flame.

Londor's location

Pilgrims of Londor are stated to "venture north" to arrive at Lothric, which places Londor south of Lothric. In addition, a catalyst found in Dark Souls III traces its origins to Drangleic and is said to be "customary in the far north", which presumably places Drangleic north of Lothric. This establishes the three realms on the following axis, from northernmost to southernmost: Drangleic, Lothric, Londor.

Londor was possibly founded upon Lordran, the ancient realm of the Gods, where Kaathe had already emerged several times in his attempts to end the Age of Fire. Considering the creatures, artifacts, weaponry and the cult that Kaathe left in the wake of the New Londo and Oolacile incidents, it seems reasonable to suggest that one or more natives of Lordran would have discovered his legacy and chosen to succeed him in his mission. Moreover, the very name "Londor" plausibly originates from "[New] Londo", having gone through linguistic change over millennia.

Trivia

• The English localization of many descriptions regarding Londor use terms such as "foul", "unsavory" and "leaden silence" to describe the land with a negative meaning. However in a more accurate translation these adjectives simply do not exist and the atmosphere of Londor appears much more neutral despite its dark aspects.
  • Example1: Dead Again (Dark Souls III) description: "Londor, the Hollow Realm, is a society of undead, comprised of the corpses and shades of those who led unsavory lives. Is such blessing really something one must ponder?"
    However a more accurate translation would be: "In Londor, the land of the Dead, Immortality is Human, and corpses are not related with the living anymore, since they are incompatible after all. Why should we hesitate to bless them?"
  • Example2: Vow of Silence (Dark Souls III) description: "Members of the Sable Church are all trained swordsmen, each sworn only to their weapons as they bear the leaden silence of Londor."
    However a more accurate translation would be: "Members of the Black Church are all excellent swordsmen, the silence of Londor is always with them and the sword alone will never betray them."

Characters

• Kaathe (mentioned only)
• Elfriede
• Yuria
• Liliane (mentioned only)
• Sir Vilhelm
• Yoel of Londor
• Old Woman of Londor
• Londor Pale Shade

Artifacts

• Black Set (Dark Souls III)
• Dark Hand (Dark Souls III)
• Morion Blade
• Onyx Blade
• Londor Braille Divine Tome
• Dark Blade
• Vow of Silence (Dark Souls III)
• Dead Again (Dark Souls III)
• Atonement
• Untrue Dark Ring
• Untrue White Ring
• Purging Stone (Dark Souls III)
• Hollow Gem
• Pale Shade Set
• Manikin Claws (Dark Souls III)
• Poison Throwing Knife (Dark Souls III)
• Dark Sigil
• Sword of Avowal