- "I'm here to pay respects to a dear friend. Please, allow me a moment alone."
- — Lord's Blade Ciaran
Lord's Blade Ciaran (Japanese: 王の刃キアラン, Hepburn: Ō no ha Kiaran) is a character in the Dark Souls: Artorias of the Abyss DLC. She is also a mentioned character in Dark Souls III.
She is voiced by Hannah John-Kamen, who also voices Sweet Shalquoir in Dark Souls II.
Location[]
She is encountered in the coliseum on the way to Oolacile Township, after Knight Artorias is defeated. She remains there briefly, before disappearing for the rest of the game.
Plot[]
Ciaran appears after Artorias is defeated, asking the player for the soul they recieved after the fight. If they decide to hand it over to her, she rewards the player with the Gold Tracer and the Dark Silver Tracer. Refusing to give it to her will prompt her to stay until the area is reloaded, giving the player a chance to change their mind. Once she leaves though, there won't be any way to go back on her offer.
She will not spawn if the player consumes the Soul of Artorias before returning to the arena. The grave will still be there, though no one will be attending it. It's slightly different in the PC Version, as Ciaran can still be found kneeling by the small grave after the soul was used to craft the Abyss Greatsword. This gives the player a chance to still interact with her, or even challenge her for the unique loot.
Lore[]
Dark Souls[]
Ciaran was part of the gods' clan and the only female member of the Four Knights of Gwyn,[1] fighting her king's enemies in the shadows as all Lord's Blades did and filling their targets with terror.[2] As a knight, she earned the honor of a personalized Porcelain Mask that differentiated her from the other assassins of Gwyn, decorated with her own locks of ivory hair.[3][Note 1] In addition, she recieved the Hornet Ring, used while wielding her daggers to lay waste to her Lord's foes.[4] Her fighting style was akin to a graceful dance, mesmerizing her victims with the Gold Tracer before poisoning them with the Dark Silver Tracer.[5]
She appears to value Artorias a fair bit, stating that he was a dear friend of hers. She looked for him during the fall of Oolacile only to find him dead, put out of his misery by the Chosen Undead. She erected a small grave for him, offering a black lock of hair, likely the one featured on the knight's helm, and mourned him. Upon meeting the champion who had laid him to rest, she asked them to recieve his afflicted soul so she could give him a proper sendoff.
Years later, when Artorias' deeds faded to legend and the township was subsumed by the surrounding forest, her ring could be found clutched by a female corpse behind the hero's gravestone, meaning that the knight tended to his grave until her very end.[6]
Dark Souls III[]
Legends of Ciaran survive to the time of Lothric, remembered as the only woman serving as one of Gwyn's Four Knights, and for her deadly abilities, which helped her dispatch countless enemies to the throne of Anor Londo.[1] The Hornet Ring, her heirloom, can only be found in the Untended Graves, next to the same gravestone that Hawkwood the Deserter prays to in Firelink Shrine. It will only appear when the Abyss Watchers are defeated.[7] They are admirers of Artorias and upholders of his legacy,[8] which connects her to the tragic swordsman yet again.
Strategy[]
Ciaran utilizes Throwing Knives and Lloyd's Talismans. Her attacks can be quite damaging given their speed and her Dark Silver Tracer causing Toxic buildup and 6 damage per second once contracted. Bleed buildup is also a threat during the fight, and she has much more health than the average NPC, making her an adversary not to take lightly.
Note that she will still be equipped with her weapons even after trading the Soul of Artorias and recieving them as gifts. Even so, she won't drop a second pair upon being defeated, and neither will she drop the Soul of Artorias that was given to her.
Gifts[]
 Dark Silver Tracer |
 Gold Tracer | |
| Oolacile Township - After trading the Soul of Artorias | ||
Character Information[]
Health and Souls[]
| Health | Souls | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| NG | NG+ | NG | NG+ |
| 2,814 | 4,418 | 10,000 | 20,000 |
Equipment[]
| Right Hand | Left Hand |
Dark Silver Tracer +5 |
Gold Tracer +5 |
| Head | Chest | Hands | Legs |
 Porcelain Mask +5 |
 Lord's Blade Robe +5 |
 Lord's Blade Gloves +5 |
 Lord's Blade Waistcloth +5 |
| Rings |
 Hornet Ring |
Characteristics[]
| Respawn | No |
|---|---|
| Backstab | Yes |
| Damage Types | Slash / Thrust / Bleed / Toxic |
| Abilities | – |
Defenses[]
| Physical Defenses | Elemental Defenses | Resistances | |||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | S | S | S |
These stats are sourced from FuturePress's Official Dark Souls Strategy Guide.
Drops[]
| Item | Porcelain Mask |
Lord's Blade Robe |
Lord's Blade Gloves |
Lord's Blade Waistcloth |
| Drop Rate | Guaranteed | Guaranteed | Guaranteed | Guaranteed |
| Item | Dark Silver Tracer |
Gold Tracer |
||
| Drop Rate | Guaranteed (If not already traded) |
Guaranteed (If not already traded) |
Dialogue[]
| Click to see dialogue | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Unused[]
| Click to see dialogue | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Notes[]
- ↑ While the English version doesn't specify this, in the Japanese one it says "自身の象牙の髪を伴っている", with the word "自身" making it clear that the hair attached to the mask is her own.
Trivia[]
- It is speculated that Ciaran may have had romantic feelings for Artorias prior to the events of the game. Whether it was a mutual relationship, a one-sided crush on her part or simply a feeling she never got to confess in time, remains ambiguous and up to interpretation.
- In a cut interaction with Hawkeye Gough, Ciaran's feelings for her fellow knight are even outright stated.
- Although she is implied to be part of the divine race through her dialogue, her in-game model stands as tall as the player's. This would make Ciaran one of the few members of the gods' clan whose body proportions mimic that of humans, alongside Dark Sun Gwyndolin as he appears in Dark Souls.
- Ciaran is a name of Gaelic origin which means "Little Dark One", and is the male variant for Ciara. This choice follows the pattern of the game's naming sense (Gwyn is a female name in English but a male one in Welsh, Sif's gender is never revealed but is traditionally a female name), so it is either intentional choice or an oversight by the Japanese writers.
- She lacks unique face data, and as a result uses the default character creation face, leaving her true visage up to personal interpretation.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Hornet Ring (Dark Souls III) description.
- ↑ Lord's Blade Robe description.
- ↑ Porcelain Mask description.
- ↑ Hornet Ring description.
- ↑ Gold Tracer and Dark Silver Tracer description.
- ↑ Hornet Ring#Availability
- ↑ Hornet Ring (Dark Souls III)#Availability
- ↑ Wolf Knight Set description.