Millwood is a mentioned location in Dark Souls III.
Lore[]
The symbol of the Etheral Oak, depicting an immense tree whose peculiar branches open towards the sky.
Millwood is a remote and isolated[1] land covered by a black oak forest[2].
At one point, a primitive tribe of humans[3] reached the forest and discovered an "Ethereal Oak"[4], a towering tree[5] that was able to bless the land and those living there with its regenerative properties[6] to the point that even the local deers were infused with it[7]. Having found the divine place, the tribe decided to settle in the area[8], developing a crude culture that placed at its core the sacred oak, an animist religion different from the ancient gods of Anor Londo typical of most humans in the rest of the world. Their charbronze armor was adorned with the symbol of the Ethereal Oak[8] while their helmets with the antlers of the blessed beasts of the tree[7]. Their battle axes were also decorated in a similar way[9] and their shield decorated with the symbol of the sacred oak symbol was able to regenerate their health[10].
The attire of the Millwood Knights.
The chieftains of the Milwood knights were also their high priests[3] using their bronze axes as ceremonial artifacts for religious rituals and, thrusting them into the earth with a prayer, were able to cause a severe earthquake with tremors resembing an explosion[3]. In fact, their faith also included the worship of the earth[9] and their most ancient weapons, hammers with heads of natural stone, were a symbol of their fighting together with the earth itself, as they used them to upheave earth and cause shockwaves that rumbled like a warcry[11]. The culture of Millwood's inhabitants continued to place great importance on their sacred tree that blessed their land and as a result remained a society centered on their knights, tasked with the protection of the Ethereal Oak[9].
At one point Millwood was attacked by Midir, an ancient dragon corrupted by the Abyss[2][12]. The creature's goal, however, was seemingly not to destroy the land and its inhabitants as it only targeted the Ethereal Tree, trying to use its divine powers to cure itself of the harmful effects of the Abyss permeating its body[13]. The people of Millwood managed to survive the first attack but nevertheless did not tolerate the attack on their sacred tree. The knights adapted to the threat despite being warriors of the earth, crafting enormous bows and arrows designed to repel Midir, who became their sworn enemy, in raid after raid[2].
The remnants of the Ethereal Oak that the Captain of the knights bringed inside the Painted World.
Due to the continuous use of the Etheral Oak to heal itself, Midir ended up corrupting it and left it to rot[8] consequently leading to the collapse of the Millwood culture which revolved around the sacred tree in every aspect. As the people of Millwood had lost their reason to exist as a society along with their home[5], they became forlorns and, leaving their belongings[8], everyone simply left, drifting aimlessly for so long that they even forgot about their bitter enemy[5]. At some point, a group of Millwood Knights led by a captain who kept a branch of the Etheral Oak with him[5] were eventually drawn into the Painted World of Ariandel[5][14], where they were welcomed by the other lost souls and found refuge[15]. Here the remnants of Millwood society managed to rebuild a tenuous home, taming the wolves of the Painted World and patrolling the areas around their fortress, somehow maintaining the culture of their past in the form of their artifacts[16].
Long after the inhabitants of Millwood abandoned their land, the fabled forest was discovered by foreign explorers[8]. The only thing left were the still rotting Ethereal Oak and the vacant ruins of their homes, as no corpses were discovered and the belongings of the people laid neatly on the ground[8].
Theories[]
- It is possible to theorize that the Etheral Oak worked similarly to Mirrah's holy spring[17], as a natural source of divine blessing and healing[10]. Consequently, like the miracles of the gods of Anor Londo who used sunlight to heal[18], the tree could have provided its blessing directly by acting as a conduit for the sun's energy through the earth.
- It is possible to theorize that the fact that the Millwood religion gave particular importance to the earth, that they upheaved with their hammers[11] and shook with tremors from their axes[3], is connected to the need to "cultivate" the earth with the power of the Etheral Oak, making sure it permeated the land and remained in circulation, similarly in principle to plowing the earth prior to a sowing.
- It is possible to theorize that the fact that the people of Millwood simply abandoned their land en masse, leaving their belongings neatly on the ground[8] implies that Midir did not attack them with the aim of eradicating them and that the loss of their sacred tree led to the total collapse of their society to the point that the only thing they could do was leave everything and wander the world, completely lost.
Characters[]
Artifacts[]
- Millwood Knight Set
- Millwood Knight Helm
- Ethereal Oak Shield
- Millwood Battle Axe
- Earth Seeker
- Quakestone Hammer
- Millwood Greatbow
- Millwood Greatarrow
- Captain's Ashes
References[]
- ↑ The fact that the religion of the Millwood Knights remained primitive (see Earth Seeker) and that their land was discovered a long time after they left (see Captain's Ashes) implies that Millwood was relatively distant from other kingdoms and civilizations and not in contact for cultural exchange.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Millwood Greatarrow and Millwood Greatbow description.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Earth Seeker description.
- ↑ (霊樹, Ryōju lit. Sacred Tree)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Captain's Ashes description.
- ↑ Ethereal Oak Shield description implies that the tree's blessing was strong enough to regenerate health through its symbol alone.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Millwood Knight Helm description.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Millwood Knight Set description.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Millwood Battle Axe description.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Ethereal Oak Shield description.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Quakestone Hammer description.
- ↑ The "Abyss Dragon" can't be Black Dragon Kalameet because it was defeated centuries before the Chosen Undead linked the First Flame through time travel (see Black Dragon Kalameet), while the Millwood Knights are present in the Painted World of Ariandel not in the older version of the Painted World of Ariamis, implying that they are a civilization that comes after the defeat of Kalameet.
- ↑ Millwood Knight Set description implies that the Etheral Oak was "corrupted" by Midir's darkness who consequently must have had the tree as its target and the only use the dragon could have made of the Etheral Oak is to use the plant's blessing to regenerate itself from the corruption.
- ↑ Painted World of Ariandel#Enemies
- ↑ Storyteller's Staff description.
- ↑ https://darksouls.fandom.com/wiki/File:DLC1-Map_Bell_Tower_CMYK.jpg
- ↑ Holy Water Urn description.
- ↑ Bountiful Sunlight description.