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Bloodborne Story and Lore Discussion Thread [Unmarked Spoilers]

N

Noray

Unconfirmed Member
One thing that I don't know: What did they do at Byrgenwerth? We know Laurence and his Healing Church peeps used Great One blood to try to become more like them, but how did Willem get to be so old and and get that weird shit growing out of him?

Also, if Rom was a person who was "granted eyes", and he was keeping the barrier between the Nightmare and "reality" in check, did Willem want us to kill him or not? Basically, what the hell is the deal with Willem, Rom, the Amygdala monsters, Patches and the Lecture building that's somehow floating around in the Nightmare? These are big questions, I know, but probably the ones that are giving me the most headaches.
 

ExVicis

Member
One thing that I don't know: What did they do at Byrgenwerth? We know Laurence and his Healing Church peeps used Great One blood to try to become more like them, but how did Willem get to be so old and and get that weird shit growing out of him?

Byrgenwerth initially was just excavating and researching the Chalice Dungeons they found. After they found Ebrietas they then were just obsessed with elevating Humanity and becoming like the Old Ones themselves it seems.

So I can say probably that Byrgenwerth differs from the Healing CHurch in that the HEaling Church was about Blood Ministration and worshiping the Old Ones while Byrgenwerth was about trying to understand and make Humanity like them.
 

Branson

Member
Is there a place, sort of in chronological order so I don't spoil myself, to read up on the story of where I am currently in the game? I just beat Rom and was curious to know what the fuck he was and why it happened like that.
 

Gbraga

Member
I think Vaati is awesome. He brings the lore to life and turn it into short narrative films.

I love that too, the lyric aspect of his videos are great, but I feel like they function best when they're based on fleshed out lore discussions, instead of just his own interpretation. He became too eager to produce content ahead of everyone, and put too much work into things that are just random theories with not enough evidence.

His Dark Souls videos were the best imo, probably because he had more sources to the lore than he did in Dark II, making videos from the start, and now with Bloodborne. Even his "10 things you missed" only talked about obvious stuff in Bloodborne so far.

I'm very excited about his challenge videos too, he's a great youtuber.

Never saw any reference to that, do you have an item description or something?

Archibald's stuff, the Tonitrus, Tiny Tonitrus, Bolt Paper, Spark Hunter Badge, they all mention Archibald was fascinated by Darkbeasts, in particular the natural lightning they emanate, and dedicated his life to its artifical reproduction. Which is why I believe Paarl isn't a real darkbeast.

The cannibal turns into a beast who emanates lightning, so, a darkbeast.
 
Never saw any reference to that, do you have an item description or something?

The description of the bolt paper and the Tonitrus mention that they are designed to conduct the same electricity as the Darkbeasts. Darkbeast Praal, the only one so named, also conducts the same electricity. The cannibal guy ALSO conducts the blue electricity and has a human-looking face in beast mode, similar to Praal's skull. From all this you can conclude that he's probably a Darkbeast.
 
Is there a place, sort of in chronological order so I don't spoil myself, to read up on the story of where I am currently in the game? I just beat Rom and was curious to know what the fuck he was and why it happened like that.

Just keep playing the game. Even now there is no definitive answer on what the fuck Rom was and why things happened like they do after killing him. Only extra stuff we got on him is a line that a boss later in the game shouts while fighting him.
 
What is Rom ? Is he good or evil ? Does he hide the real yharnam on purpose or is he made that way ?

Really interesting what happens after you kill it.
 

Cruxist

Member
Darl beasts are undead beasts I believe (based on the description of Izzy's stuff)

Plus I think Darkbeasts are more natural. Beasts are largely due to blood abuse, while the beggar Darkbeast is still completely rational, just in disguise.

There's a theory out there that Paarl is actually an artificial Darkbeast too.
 

Gbraga

Member
Plus I think Darkbeasts are more natural. Beasts are largely due to blood abuse, while the beggar Darkbeast is still completely rational, just in disguise.

There's a theory out there that Paarl is actually an artificial Darkbeast too.

I didn't make that connection, you're completely right, the cannibal is indeed rational when turned.

It gives more room for my based-on-nothing theory that it has to do with Clawmark vs Beast then, since I don't feel like the cannibal is lying about being a real yharnamite. I don't think he's from some lost civilization where beasts were a thing of nature.
 

Gritesh

Member
What if you don't kill the cleric beast until after Rom is dead. Is he still in the same Form?

Just wondering what things may be changed after killing Rom including optional fights
 

Tactics18

Member
Gehrman also has this dialog which I didn't see mentioned -
"Oh, Laurence... Master Willem... Somebody help me... Unshackle me please, anybody... I've had enough of this dream... The night blocks all sight... Oh, somebody, please... "

He knows both Laurence and Willem. So it's safe to assume he attended Byrgnwerth in some form.
I wonder who he sided with after Laurence' betrayal.
 
What is Rom ? Is he good or evil ? Does he hide the real yharnam on purpose or is he made that way ?

Really interesting what happens after you kill it.
Rom is nothing, vacuous. Rom gained so much insight that he was elevated to what you see, but he's unable to share any of his knowledge because his brain is fried. I think it's reasonable to think that Rom's friends might have started Mensis considering the talk about their brains being "aborted" when they tried to contact Mergo.

One thing that I don't know: What did they do at Byrgenwerth? We know Laurence and his Healing Church peeps used Great One blood to try to become more like them, but how did Willem get to be so old and and get that weird shit growing out of him?

Also, if Rom was a person who was "granted eyes", and he was keeping the barrier between the Nightmare and "reality" in check, did Willem want us to kill him or not? Basically, what the hell is the deal with Willem, Rom, the Amygdala monsters, Patches and the Lecture building that's somehow floating around in the Nightmare? These are big questions, I know, but probably the ones that are giving me the most headaches.

I think Willem is kept alive by Rom somehow. That's why he wants you to kill it, and why you see notes saying that Rom keeps Master Willem from his students. I also don't actually believe that Rom was ever doing anything that important, as far as I know nothing suggests he was doing something like that, simply that Rom knows a lot. He hides all manner of rituals, but he only hides them because he can't express them. I also don't think the Healing Church was originally trying to become Great Ones, but rather just communicate with them. That's why they used the Old Blood, which isn't necessarily Great One Blood (and seems to be the opposite based on its effects).

But anyway, the way I think of it:

Willem just wants to know about everything, that's why he likes eyes and knowledge, not pretension or blood.

The Healing Church and Laurence try to use the balancing effects of Beasthood to further the understanding of the Great Ones, and eventually modify blood ministration further seemingly to turn humans into great ones themselves.

Mensis tries to become great ones through arcane knowledge alone, not beasthood. I think they might be the "pretension" aspect pushed further. The One Reborn and all that shit with the baggers don't make no sense.
 

Defuser

Member
I do like that Darkbeast theory. Considering all the other beasts we've encounter doesn't have actual name. Only Darkbeast Paarl has a name.
 

Coconut

Banned
Wait people in here don't like Vaati?

Gehrman also has this dialog which I didn't see mentioned -
"Oh, Laurence... Master Willem... Somebody help me... Unshackle me please, anybody... I've had enough of this dream... The night blocks all sight... Oh, somebody, please... "

He knows both Laurence and Willem. So it's safe to assume he attended Byrgnwerth in some form.
I wonder who he sided with after Laurence' betrayal.

Gherman is is sitting and asking to be unshackled what other things do we know of that are shackled down and sitting?
 

ExVicis

Member
装甲悪鬼村正;159194434 said:
Maybe the medium which Byrgenwerth scholars found below Yharnam was one of those Umbilical Cords?

The leading theory is that it's Ebrietas which probably where they got blood from for Blood Ministration. I mean one of her attacks is she spits out tons blood that causes Frenzy. As well the Great Isz Chalice she drops explains "It was also the first Great Chalice brought back to the surface since the time of Byrgenwerth" which is where you can also find Ebrietas as a boss.
 
The leading theory is that it's Ebrietas which probably where they got blood from for Blood Ministration. I mean one of her attacks is she spits blood that causes Frenzy. As well the Great Isz Chalice she drops explains "It was also the first Great Chalice brought back to the surface since the time of Byrgenwerth" which is where you can find Ebrietas as a boss.

But the OG blood ministration blood removes frenzy, it doesn't cause it :)

I do agree they probably found something of the sort, although I'd argue they probably just found the slugs at first rather than Ebrietas.
 
N

Noray

Unconfirmed Member
I think Willem is kept alive by Rom somehow. That's why he wants you to kill it, and why you see notes saying that Rom keeps Master Willem from his students. I also don't actually believe that Rom was ever doing anything that important, as far as I know nothing suggests he was doing something like that, simply that Rom knows a lot. He hides all manner of rituals, but he only hides them because he can't express them. I also don't think the Healing Church was originally trying to become Great Ones, but rather just communicate with them. That's why they used the Old Blood, which isn't necessarily Great One Blood (and seems to be the opposite based on its effects).

After killing Rom, we get the blood moon and the Amygdala appear everywhere in the Unseen Village. That's not coincidence. I take the line that "the spider hides all manner of rituals from us" to mean that he is keeping the Mensis rituals in the Unseen Village, well... unseen. There's also the Lake rune: "Great volumes of water serve as a bulwark guarding sleep, and an augur of the eldritch Truth." We find Rom in a great body of water, seemingly sleeping. Amygdala is in the Nightmare. We kill Rom, and the line between Nightmare and "reality" seems to blur considerably, you see what I'm saying?

Another take on that line is that the spider is Patches, and he is hiding Amygdala (the master) from us, because Amygdala is in the Nightmare Frontier while the other Amygdala-like monsters are not. I think Patches, due to him being Patches, has more importance than he's being given in all the theories atm. i don't think he's "just Patches".
 

Cruxist

Member
I didn't make that connection, you're completely right, the cannibal is indeed rational when turned.

It gives more room for my based-on-nothing theory that it has to do with Clawmark vs Beast then, since I don't feel like the cannibal is lying about being a real yharnamite. I don't think he's from some lost civilization where beasts were a thing of nature.

Yeah, there's definitely more to the Darkbeasts than we know. The cannibal, Paarl, Archibald, some connection to Byrgenwwerth.

Personally, I'm of the mind that Paarl is an artificial Darkbeast created by Archibald. I think this also confirms that The One Reborn or at least one of the Great Ones we fight is artificial.

If the methods followed by Archibald led to the creation of an artificial Darkbeast, and those methods were also the same methodology used by the church, it would make sense that they (almost) succeeded in creating an artificial Great One.
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Unless I'm misremembering Gehrman never appears outside the dream. Much like Micolash he exists within the dream, and in the real world is probably shackled somewhere. And like Micolash, perhaps nothing more than a corpse (assuming the corpse that enters the nightmare is Micolash). Micolash is killed in the nightmare and "wakes up" (though probably into nothingness, death). And killing Gehrman releases him from the dream. I wonder if we've unintentionally seen Gehrman and just haven't realised it.

I also kinda feel the Great Ones are linked so heavily to nightmares and dreams that they almost feed off it. The curse of the beast is nightmare made reality. The blood was always going to be tainted as it is the essence of the Great Ones, and that beastly, nightmarish form is part of their very existence. Nightmares and dreams are a place of communion, but one mortals could never truly master, either driving them mad or unwittingly unleashing horrors onto the world.
 

ExVicis

Member
But the blood ministration blood removes frenzy, it doesn't cause it :)

I do agree they probably found something of the sort, although I'd argue they probably just found the slugs at first rather than Ebrietas.

I would have agreed, but Ebrietas is stated to have been abandoned which says to me that she was left on our world and too much other stuff seems to want to point to Ebrietas being in the Isz Labyrinth.

But that's a good point. Why would the blood in-game remove frenzy but hers causes it? I'm starting to think maybe the Healing Church actually started using more than one kind of blood.

Another take on that line is that the spider is Patches, and he is hiding Amygdala (the master) from us, because Amygdala is in the Nightmare Frontier while the other Amygdala-like monsters are not. I think Patches, due to him being Patches, has more importance than he's being given in all the theories atm. i don't think he's "just Patches".
Here's a question, can you kill Amygdala before you kill Rom?

What happens if you off Gehrman before the last boss fight?
He just peaces out.
 
I would have agreed, but Ebrietas is stated to have been abandoned which says to me that she was left on our world and too much other stuff seems to want to point to Ebrietas being in the Isz Labyrinth.

But that's a good point. Why would the blood in-game remove frenzy? I'm starting to think maybe the Healing Church actually started using more than one kind of blood.
The Old Blood probably isn't from a Great One I don't think, but is rather associated with Beasthood. I don't think there's any reason to believe they started using Great One blood at any point unless you consider Celestial Emissary, and even then it seems to be a more recent and experimental thing I would say. Considering that blood ministration originally was to help commune with the great ones, and that sedatives cause a reliance on blood ministration, I think it's fairly intuitive that the Old Blood for blood ministration helped by getting rid of frenzy by calling back to instinct.

After killing Rom, we get the blood moon and the Amygdala appear everywhere in the Unseen Village. That's not coincidence. I take the line that "the spider hides all manner of rituals from us" to mean that he is keeping the Mensis rituals in the Unseen Village, well... unseen.

Another take on that line is that the spider is Patches, and he is hiding Amygdala (the master) from us, because Amygdala is in the Nightmare Frontier while the other Amygdala-like monsters are not. I think Patches, due to him being Patches, has more importance than he's being given in all the theories atm. i don't think he's "just Patches".
You can see the stuff in the unseen village now because you have insight. That's why you can see the red moon too, and why you could see the spiders before if you just had enough insight. It's definitely referring to Rom (because of the reference to Willem), but there's no veil lol. You just killed a creature with a lot of eyes.
 
装甲悪鬼村正;159197938 said:
Huh, I was pretty sure the encounter with Ebrietas happened after the founding of the Healing Church.

After the founding of the church, but before the founding of the choir.
 

Yurt

il capo silenzioso
Gehrman also has this dialog which I didn't see mentioned -
"Oh, Laurence... Master Willem... Somebody help me... Unshackle me please, anybody... I've had enough of this dream... The night blocks all sight... Oh, somebody, please... "

He knows both Laurence and Willem. So it's safe to assume he attended Byrgnwerth in some form.
I wonder who he sided with after Laurence' betrayal.

that's fantastic, I missed that one!

So he's basically Matt Damon's character in Interstellar :p he's been waiting for someone to replace him (you) or save him (Laurence) from being the Moon's slave?

so maybe whoever turned you into a hunter wants to save Gehrman then? Fuck sorry I'm in Vaati territory now am I? :lol
 
装甲悪鬼村正;159197938 said:
Huh, I was pretty sure the encounter with Ebrietas happened after the founding of the Healing Church.

Yeah, it's kinda weird to think about. I think they just found the slugs in the labyrinth (as evidenced by the Pearl Slug description), and then didn't actually find Ebrietas until after they found the Great Isz Chalice. I'd argue that the chalice was probably found after the Church was formed, since as someone already pointed out it's said it was found after Byrgenwyrth.

I think they found the chalices in the order you find them. Pthumeru found the slugs and started everything, Loran is when they found the Old Blood (beasts, yo), and Isz is when they found Ebrietas and started moving towards the C.E. direction.

That order might be out of place though, since it says corrupted blood (not vilebloods I don't think, probably beast) began the whole thing.
 

ExVicis

Member
The Old Blood probably isn't from a Great One I don't think, but is rather associated with Beasthood. I don't think there's any reason to believe they started using Great One blood at any point unless you consider Celestial Emissary, and even then it seems to be a more recent and experimental thing I would say. Considering that blood ministration originally was to help commune with the great ones, and that sedatives cause a reliance on blood ministration, I think it's fairly intuitive that the Old Blood for blood ministration helped by getting rid of frenzy by calling back to instinct.
That's also possible too but I'm thinking now maybe they used all blood they could find.

I think there's also that theory that they used the Pthumerian Queen's blood. It's also possible they used the Pthumerian Queena and Ebrietas' blood.

But whatever the case, Ebrieta's blood attack in her Boss Fight does cause Frenzy, so that much is certain and she is an Old One. So...I guess we need to figure out what's up with that.

You can see the stuff in the unseen village now because you have insight. That's why you can see the red moon too, and why you could see the spiders before if you just had enough insight. It's definitely referring to Rom (because of the reference to Willem), but there's no veil lol. You just killed a creature with a lot of eyes.
This is what I think is correct since no one else acknowledges the Amygdalas or the Baby crying in the background or any of the crazy Eldritch stuff. Hell Eileen's been all out and about hunting Hunters and she doesn't say anything except that it's been a a rough Hunt Night.

In killing Rom I don't think it's a world veil has been lifted but a veil from just YOUR eyes has been lifted.

装甲悪鬼村正;159197938 said:
Huh, I was pretty sure the encounter with Ebrietas happened after the founding of the Healing Church.
I've never seen any timeframe on her meeting except for that she predates the Choir. She might be after the founding of the Healing Church though.

yes, you can get picked up and sent to the lecture hall the moment you get the tonsil stone
Ah okay, that's interesting then because it means you can learn about Amygdalas and their existence long before Rom is dead.

Fuck sorry I'm in Vaati territory now am I? :lol

Nah it's fine, unless you're presenting it as fact and making videos about it I don't think anyone should mind.
 
N

Noray

Unconfirmed Member
there's no veil lol. You just killed a creature with a lot of eyes.

That's it? That doesn't seem like From to me. Then why does it put you in the Unseen Village immediately when you kill Rom? What's the significance of Rom being inside of the lake? Just because? Not exactly a compelling case you've made.
 
What if you don't kill the cleric beast until after Rom is dead. Is he still in the same Form?

Just wondering what things may be changed after killing Rom including optional fights

I actually wondered if you can find the Cleric Beast up in the area of the ball and chain giant since that is where he jumps down from if you just skipped him and went right for Father G. If something like that happened someone would have mentioned it by now though.

Gehrman also has this dialog which I didn't see mentioned -
"Oh, Laurence... Master Willem... Somebody help me... Unshackle me please, anybody... I've had enough of this dream... The night blocks all sight... Oh, somebody, please... "

He knows both Laurence and Willem. So it's safe to assume he attended Byrgnwerth in some form.
I wonder who he sided with after Laurence' betrayal.

He also has a less desperately sad sounding quote earlier in the game when you find him sleeping just asking what is taking Laurence so long, and that he is grown old and will not be much use.

Here's a question, can you kill Amygdala before you kill Rom?

Yes. I did.
 
That's it? That doesn't seem like From to me. Then why does it put you in the Unseen Village immediately when you kill Rom? What's the significance of Rom being inside of the lake? Just because? Not exactly a compelling case you've made.

Rom wasnt in Yharman but in another realm or phase then you finally have the "eyes" to see the creatures without becoming mad thanks to Rom flowers things then you were teleported to the light chalice.

Damm you aliens ruining my souls games
 

EatChildren

Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Rom did nothing wrong. He was an innocent party and you murdered him.
 
That's it? That doesn't seem like From to me. Then why does it put you in the Unseen Village immediately when you kill Rom? What's the significance of Rom being inside of the lake? Just because? Not exactly a compelling case you've made.

He's under a lake because lakes are associated with the Great Ones, as are moons. He's in both! And my case is built on every note we see, none of which mention veils, and how everyone reacts after you kill him.

How does "breaking a veil" explain any of that stuff anyway? lol. The doll even mentions how you seem different now after you kill him. You've absorbed his essence, and the insight that comes with it.

Rom did nothing wrong. He was an innocent party and you murdered him.

He's definitely a tragic figure if nothing else. No matter what kind of person he was before, it's a terrible fate he faces. That doesn't stop the rest of Mensis from wanting to copy him though I guess lol.
 

ExVicis

Member
He's under a lake because lakes are associated with the Great Ones, as are moons. He's in both! And my case is built on every note we see, none of which mention veils, and how everyone reacts after you kill him.

How does "breaking a veil" explain any of that stuff anyway? lol. The doll even mentions how you seem different now after you kill him. You've absorbed his essence, and the insight that comes with it.
Yep the only one who notices anything different is the Doll.

"Good Hunter, you presence somehow soothes. I sense the ancient echoes within you."

He's definitely a tragic figure if nothing else. No matter what kind of person he was before, it's a terrible fate he faces. That doesn't stop the rest of Mensis from wanting to copy him though I guess lol.
Incredbily tragic. Especially when you consider Rom never attacks you until you hit him. And then after you hit Rom and the boss fight starts he doesn't actually attack you but actually seems to be fearfully trying to get away from you.

Rom doesn't even start attacking you until it's clear you're not gonna leave him alone and have done substantial damage to him.
 
Rom did nothing wrong. He was an innocent party and you murdered him.

That sure is what it felt like. I took the time to just examine him closely and run all the way around his arena before attacking him at least.

The same goes for Ebrietas. Both are great ones that do not attack first and you just kill. Do you feel like a hero yet?
 
That sure is what it felt like. I took the time to just examine him closely and run all the way around his arena before attacking him at least.

The same goes for Ebrietas. Both are great ones that do not attack first and you just kill. Do you feel like a hero yet?
If anything with Ebrietas you're killing the (mother?) figure for all those poor little slugs that face towards her lovingly at the entrance to the UCW :(

And little blue dudes (Choir Members? There don't seem to be any others left) try to protect her too!
 
Yep the only one who notices anything different is the Doll.

"Good Hunter, you presence somehow soothes. I sense the ancient echoes within you."

Oh my, I really didn't even notice that connection. This game really could have used a different mechanic for absorbing bosses/special mobs. It just being more blood echos, watever time to level, kind of downplays some of the significance of it.

You practically killed a baby

implying that later on I didn't literally kill a baby as well
 

ExVicis

Member
If anything with Ebrietas you're killing the (mother?) figure for all those poor little slugs that face towards her lovingly at the entrance to the UCW :(

And little blue dudes (Choir Members? There don't seem to be any others left) try to protect her too!

You know maybe the Celestial Emissary was one of the few people who could actually communicate with Eberitas and that's why they got that role of being the Emissary.
 
N

Noray

Unconfirmed Member
Yep the only one who notices anything different is the Doll.

"Good Hunter, you presence somehow soothes. I sense the ancient echoes within you."

Oh wow I never made that connection. I never remember when exactly NPCs get new dialogue. Still have no idea why Willem wants you to kill Rom though (or even if he does).

Also interesting that the NPC outside Willem's door is a Choir hunter. Now, what would a Choir hunter be doing "guarding" Willem? Making sure no one gets to him. Why?
 

ExVicis

Member
Oh wow I never made that connection. I never remember when exactly NPCs get new dialogue. Still have no idea why Willem wants you to kill Rom though (or even if he does).

Also interesting that the NPC outside Willem's door is a Choir hunter. Now, what would a Choir hunter be doing "guarding" Willem? Making sure no one gets to him. Why?
I think it's at the very least because even though Willem is basically a shadow of his former self he still knows and understands damn near everything that's happened it terms of Byrgenwerth, the Healing Church and the Old Ones.
 

Coconut

Banned
Oh wow I never made that connection. I never remember when exactly NPCs get new dialogue. Still have no idea why Willem wants you to kill Rom though (or even if he does).

Also interesting that the NPC outside Willem's door is a Choir hunter. Now, what would a Choir hunter be doing "guarding" Willem? Making sure no one gets to him. Why?

Is it a real choir hunter though? Because it has attacks similar to Iosefkas imposter.
 

WGMBY

Member
But that's a good point. Why would the blood in-game remove frenzy but hers causes it? I'm starting to think maybe the Healing Church actually started using more than one kind of blood.
.

I think that's because Insight causes Frenzy, or Frenzy is excessive insight. That's why High Insight give low Frenzy def. Blood takes you in the opposite direction, removing insight and strengthening beasthood, and calming the nerves.

Which actually suggests to me that the Great Ones encourage the Hunt to protect themselves. The more people who are beasts, the less that are aware of their existence, because they would have low insight.

Or maybe I'm talking out of my ass
 
Is it a real choir hunter though? Because it has attacks similar to Iosefkas imposter.
The imposter is probably a member of the Choir too, so that makes sense.

That's weird then since supposedly Willem is lost but there's a hunter there. I wonder if the non-named hunters are "real"? Isn't there a note that says to watch out for hunters from different worlds?
 
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