AISubs v3.7
Hello everyone and welcome to SideQuest!
Who is ready to progress?
I'm ready to progress.
So, welcome back and we're heading into a new zone. I'm excited.
That's not nice.
Yeah, I'm ready to see new stuff!
Ready to see a new place. Forest of the Giants was getting a bit old. Lost Bastille? That was alright.
But I think we can do better.
Not here, obviously, but um...
Maybe through this door?
It's time for a change of scenery.
By which I mean, hallways and stairs.
Many hallways...
Many stairs.
Ooh, chests!
Is it breathing? No? Okay, we're good.
Open wide!
Crimson Parma.
Hmm.
What. Have. We. Here?
A standard wooden Parma. The fancy name and nifty paint are surely a merchant's efforts to make this very ordinary shield more attractive.
I like it.
Actually, now that I'm here...
I remember that some of you said this grand lance was pretty amazing.
A lance fashioned from rare...
Gsteel? Geiststeel?
Gsteel? I don't know.
Designed for high-ranking drunglake knights, hence the decorative design.
Geiststeel equipment is of the finest make, but Geist-- I'm gonna have to figure out the pronunciation for that --is so rare that very few of these weapons were actually used in combat.
I am told that that's a pretty crazy good weapon, so...
I mean, it's not...
Ranked up to +4 like this mace is, so it...
Won't really compare right away.
And I can't equip it for a long time from the looks of those stats, so I'll keep it handy.
For a while, I guess.
That's all right, Mace. I still love you.
What have we here?
Hmm...
Open? No?
Hmm...
A puzzle
Okay, not really much of a puzzle, but...
I solved it!
Anyone coming through before I jump down there?
Ah, I'm sure it's fine
There's an item
Let's see if I can get up there
It would seem that.
Oh, no wait, there's a...
There we go.
Oh?
Oh, is that how I get back through here? Did that door close on me?
I see.
Oh, there's a stairway right here.
Silly me.
I'm gonna! You can't tell me what to do, comment!
Broken Thief Sword.
Eh, Soul of a Lost Undead. At least that's useful.
Merchant?
Can I get through there?
No.
Alas.
[footsteps]
Despair.
And...
numerous deaths. Hmm.
I feel suspicious for some reason.
Giant!
I've dealt with some giants. I can live with a giant.
Tough enemy ahead.
Hmm.
[distant growl]
My, my!
[footsteps]
But this is a very pretty area.
I like it.
Pretty and very familiar-seeming.
This feels incredibly similar to Anor Londo in architecture.
Well, mostly. I don't remember those bird, statue, soldier things, but...
The rest of this, though...
Oh, and you! I suppose I should talk to you.
Confidence required.
I don't know how I feel about this, but...
Oh.
I thought I was gonna be able to have a conversation, but, um...
Maybe you're just...
kind of a guy.
I think this thing's lying to me.
Yep, don't trust it.
Not one bit.
This is very pretty.
I do appreciate - oh my, that's large - I do appreciate Dark Souls II giving me a bit of eye candy up front.
Ah, you're not so bad.
Not with this mace! Boom!
You look cool, though. I will give you that.
Ah, this place is awesome looking.
Look at that.
That is cool.
So are these knights gonna be a problem, or are they just kinda hanging out?
They look a bit bummed.
Hello!
Whoa, okay - whoops, too early!
Too early!
Too early.
Got you, though.
Blue eye orb?
Of the cracked variety.
The heck is that?
"Invade the world of the guilty." Ooh!
Can only be used by members of the blue sentinels covenant.
That's me!
Punish the guilty to strengthen the bond with your covenant.
That is quite cool. I like that.
I mean, I don't really engage in PvP or do much at all with all the covenants I join, but
that is pretty cool functionality.
"Soul of a nameless soldier?" "Human effigy?" Both!
Welcome additions...
to my inventory.
Hello!
Too slow!
Gonna hit you!
Oh dear.
Ow.
Mm, gotcha!
I may be a little overleveled for here. That's fine.
What? Whoa!
Oh. [laughs]
Scared me a little bit.
What happens?!
Ooh!
This place is feeling very Unorlando.
Which I am fine with.
Oh, it's talisman? Great.
What's the name of this place? Can I see it in the, uh...
Mm, maybe I can't see it.
Nope, can't see the name of the place anymore.
It's like Hyde's Tower of Flame or something?
Which I'm guessing is that.
What is this place?
"Friend" ahead. I do love friends.
"Trio" ahead. In short, try eliminating one at a time.
That is sound advice.
One, two, three. Yep.
Can I eliminate one at a time? That is the question.
So let's start by standing back here...
and...
using some bow action.
Hello!
Yes!
This is the way!
Let us do battle!
Okay.
You're...
I spoke a little too confidently...
and dodged a little too...
not.
I went ahead and used a human effigy to get myself a little more health...
before tangling with these folk again.
Now then...
let us try that once more.
Eh?
Eh? There we go.
Catch!
Let's try this one more time.
Agh! Too late!
Got you, though.
Oh! Your friend's coming. Both of 'em.
Both of 'em.
Hmm, okay. Let's uh, decide how best to do this.
Alright, take a swing.
Take three.
There's a mistake! Got one of 'em, though.
Alright, and three, you're down.
Take that!
Old knight leggings. Cool.
I want to start trying to piece together lore a little bit, but I don't think I've got enough detail to, uh...
really start attempting that in any meaningful way.
I mean...
So we've got this "pursuer" character that has popped up three times now, once as an official boss, twice as just other encounters.
It is apparently a thing that...
pursues those bearing the sign, which...
I mean, if that's the dark sign, that means me and any undead.
Well, the white knights are here...
at any rate, so...
that's a thing.
Kinda would like to deal with one of you at a time.
Yee--oh, you're stronger.
Stronger than the big guys.
That is weird.
Ow! And fast.
Ah!
All right, play smart.
All right, so far so good.
So far... so good. Get out of here.
Yeah, I should take the big guy down first, since he only needs two hits.
Oop! All right, got him.
And--ah!
Bad, but I gotcha.
Sloppy, but successful.
So then there was the Forest of Fallen Giants, which I still don't know a whole lot about, but...
Old ruins of a castle that were getting attacked by giants.
Not really sure whose castle it was.
The giants seemed to be those large hole-in-head things that were often found attached to trees.
Yeah, I have very sparse bits of information to work with so far.
But if it's anything like Dark Souls 1, then information revealed much later...
In the experience, we'll start to kinda connect some of those dots.
That looks big.
Is there a bonfire anywhere around here?
I feel like before pressing on, I'd like to make sure I didn't...
miss something important.
Like a bonfire, for instance.
My voice feels very tired right now. I apologize if it sounds very tired.
I just finished recording a large chunk of a...
...upcoming Extra Frames episode.
And my voice tends to get tired pretty quickly for some reason.
Hmm, you're not gonna be any trouble, are you?
Ow, too slow.
Okay, one...two, alright.
Try trio, hurrah for lesser foe, try ally...circling around required a head, therefore try circling around...many tips, try duo...hmm.
Yes, but is there a bonfire around though? That's what I want to know.
I don't know, let's try it.
Wait a minute, what's this?
Ooh!
Hmm, do I want to summon or do I want to...
try this myself first?
Ah, you know what, let's summon. This is fun.
Masterless Glincour. Glincour. Glincour.
Whatever. Welcome to the team, buddy.
Let's do this.
What awaits?
We'll find out together.
Dragon Rider.
Ooh, you look cool.
Ah... okay, well...
That was a... brief engagement.
I feel so stupid. There's a bonfire right there!
What is wrong with me?
That's astounding!
An amazing lack of perception!
[laughs]
Why don't we go ahead and use that bonfire?
Yes, indeed.
Hey, there's what I'm trying to get!
Anyway...
[wind howling]
Kinda left poor Glencower alone in there.
Hope he's doing alright.
Ahh... thought I had more... clearance of that last swing.
It's kinda nice that you can use human effigies anywhere...
unlike humanity, which you had to, uh...
spend at a bonfire...
reversing hollowing.
Like now if I wanna summon help...
for that boss again, which...
I dunno, maybe I'll do, maybe I won't.
I can just use a human effigy right there, and then summon the guy.
That's a nice little bit of convenience.
Gotcha! Alright, there's one...
and... two. Alright.
[wind howling]
Gettin' lots of old night gear off these guys, that's great.
And those blue cracked eye orbs.
Kinda makes me assume that the blue sentinels have some attachment to this place...
or some significance at least.
Alright...
Yeah, I think I'll try this solo this time.
[wind howling]
Oops.
[wind howling]
Oops!
Eee, close one.
Okay.
Let's try this one more time and stay in a little closer to him.
So as to not get knocked off the ledge so easy.
Like this!
Ha! Oh man, missed.
Alright, I'm gonna just keep this rhythm up.
I can manage this.
You ain't so bad.
You ain't so bad!
What you doing?
I'mma dodging you. What you gonna do?
Nothing.
Except get hit. A lot.
Ow.
Alright, well I won't always dodge you, but I'll keep trying.
Careful. Don't get knocked off. Don't get knocked off.
Yeesh!
Do not get knocked off, please.
Yeee, careful.
Do not get knocked off!
What'd I just tell you?
Work those I-frames.
Yeah!
Take that, Rider of Dragons!
Down you go!
I'm starting to feel a little bit more mastery over this Dark Souls 2 combat now.
And you guys were right, higher agility makes all the difference.
Being able to have that Dark Souls 1 classic role and vulnerability again...
Huge difference! And hey, bonfire! That is a welcome thing!
And what looks like an NPC or a statue...
No, no, she's moving. He's moving. They're moving.
Let's go ahead and do that first.
Liar.
Asshole.
And liar again. Okay.
Well, hello!
Nope.
Cool.
You haven't seen my stats!
Well, well.
Cleric's Sacred Chime? Already got one of those. Can't equip it.
Ring of Prayer increases faith.
A ring blessed by the high priest of Volgan increases faith?
The clerics of the great city of Volgan are perennial--
are perennially entrenched in scandalous power struggles,
but among them remain a few strong-willed upstanding noblemen.
Neat.
And... whoa!
Many miracles. Heal, medium heal, great heal excerpt, replenishment...
resplendent life, caressing prayer, force lightning spear... cool.
Homeward and... guidance.
I can't use a single one of these, as my faith... is six.
It's nice of her to give me the benefit of the doubt, though.
Hmm.
So, hang on, let me see if I can remember what the larger stuff going on is.
I've arrived in Drunglake, uh, from Lordran or the rest of the world, I would assume, but I don't know.
Uh, met the Emerald Herald who told me that to deal with the curse or do something about the curse,
I need to see the king? Is that right? And to get to the king, I need to get four
great souls, basically, from... I'm not sure who from. I assume I'm working my way there.
I only have vague snippets, as you can tell.
Yeah, I don't, uh...
My preceptor always said this art should be shared with the world, and such is my only wish.
Okay, well, I don't trust you on that. I will give all these little comments that. I don't trust that that is your only motivation to be here.
But... other than that, you seem alright.
Sometimes I fight the urge to pack up and go back home.
It is... well... I must do this. And being out here all alone only makes this a more fitting test of my fortitude.
Hmm. I expected this cathedral to be bustling, but there's hardly a soul to be found here.
Few too many for my liking.
Without any goings-on, I'll have to move soon...
to a place I could gullible...
sorry... help the gullible... by teaching the good word.
Subtle.
I expected this cathedral to be bustling without any God - sorry, no need for miracles.
The Gods frown upon such soul-scrimpers.
Souls aren't really the problem. Again, you should see my stats. You're lucky I know what the word "miracle" means.
Praise the sun and then play dead.
Would that I could.
Do I have access to other... I wonder.
Ah, I got one more. Welcome, but uh...
No praise the sun... yet.
Someday... someday...
I should go spend all these souls - this is a lot of souls to just be walking around with in the back pocket.
[♫ intro music ♫]
That's right, some of you guys mentioned that I should pick up... this... cat ring.
Alright, alright, alright.
It was one of these rings... silver cat ring, reduces damage from falling.
Because uh... as you guys said and I think I've observed this as well...
Fall damage in Dark Souls 2 is way rougher than in Dark Souls 1.
So uh... yeah. I'll take it.
Hopefully this will help.
Cool.
I feel like I heard some of you mentioning in comments that uh...
Spending money... at these merchants...
Ends up giving you rewards, either like directly or it uh...
Increases the stock they have available, which...
Is definitely incentive to spend some money... around here.
But there's nothing I'm desperate to have...
from this guy just yet, so... not today.
Ooh, here's a thing to test.
Now that I've beaten another boss or two...
does the, uh...
does the basement map look any different?
It does not, so...
hmm, maybe my theory was wrong.
You got anything new to say?
Nah.
All right, let's get back out there.
Ah, she's gone.
I'm sure I'll be running into her again.
Heck, maybe she'll be back at my base at some point.
I need to equip these rings. What's going on?
Uh, let's see... so...
I think I'm gonna lose the, uh... life ring here.
'Cause the HP increase isn't that huge.
And I will replace that one with the silver cat ring...
to reduce the fall damage.
But now... I'd love to also get the covetous silver ring... is that the one?
Equipped?
Buuuut... I don't know if I want to lose any of these four to do it.
I will leave these four for now, but, um...
Hmm, I don't know, I may... may change my mind on that later.
What am I doing back here with 7k souls?
I am very absent-minded today.
Let's keep that vitality going up so we can keep equipping...
heavier armor.
And the endurance upgrade.
Why not?
Allllright!
And now let's get back out there!
So where to head now?
What's this? Illusion?
I don't believe that.
Getting to where I can't believe any of these silly messages.
At least not the ones that say "illusion", that's for sure.
Do I keep heading this way or...
check out that other direction...
through there?
No, I'll keep going this way, I've already started making some progress.
Let's see what else there is to see!
Hey, you know what? Since it's kinda dark in here...
let's go forward with our trusty torch!
Is it getting darker out here or is it my imagination?
Maybe it's just that I have the torch equipped.
Hey, here we go!
Can see a lot better now!
That's an improvement!
I mean, I can't...
and I can't use a shield, that's not good either.
"monastery charm," hmm.
Kinda miss that nice, outdoor, well-lit area.
Yep.
This place is totally Ener Londo looking.
All the way down to the big, giant knight defenders.
Whoa! Items aplenty!
That kind of makes me suspicious
Human effigy? Dark...troches? Troches? Trochais? I don't know
Soul of a proud knight...am I gonna die?
Old Knight Halbord, cool
Oof, didn't feel safe in there. At all.
For some reason. Maybe it was all the bloodstains, or maybe it was three items...
Just...lying out in plain sight.
In a very trap-like looking manner.
Hmm, 'kay.
What do we got?
What have we got?
"Chest to the left," you say? Very well.
Meh.
Whoa, what's this now?
Ah, stop it.
Don't hit you in the back.
Yeah, that's the stuff!
Ah, my, uh...torch is gone. Oh, now it's back!
[laughs]
Sans leggings.
Interesting.
Are you a unique character?
Think carefully and then praise the sun.
Hmm.
[scoffs] Thank you, message.
All right, Chest, what do you got?
Sublime bone dust.
Lots of items that I'm going to need to read descriptions of later.
Now let's see what's offed on the other side here.
Huh, elevator.
Anything else?
Hmm, other stuff below here. I wonder if the elevator goes up or down. Oh, well, down.
Down seems to be the only option.
All right.
Down we go, then.
I am starting to wonder what all I didn't, uh...
check out...
up above, but...
I'll get back up there.
Okie dokie
Yeesh, getting darker and darker in here
I like the water-covered floor, though
That is...pretty neat-looking
Okay
Oh, hello
And goodbye
Our time together was all too brief
This looks familiar
And you look familiar
Eugh
Do I dare
Their eyes glowing is all the more unsettling
Ah! Ah! Whoa!
Hah!
Did my flame go out 'cause I rolled in the water?
That makes some sense
That does make some sense
What do you got for me? Bleedstone, that's... different
And another item that I could use my, uh...
branch or whatever on
Hmm, I've got three of those now to choose between
I need to pick one
Hmm...
Eeny, meeny, miny, other one
Read message
Liar
It's just a wall
Nothing seems particularly dishonest about it
All right, what do we got?
Bonfire? Jog?
Hey! Well, bonfire at least.
Nice.
That's a good bit of progress for one episode, I should think.
And actually, before I venture further into this, we will backtrack to check out the rest of what's going on up top
at High Heed's Castle of whatever it was.