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Eons before the Age of Ancients, there was only Dark. Within the dark the world was unformed,
until it wasn't. Dust, rock and fog shaped. Within the fog everlasting dragons, grey crags,
and arch trees reside in a state of perpetual tranquility; free of storm. But, all of that
is about to change. Below the surface a fiery core was discovered by creatures that came
out of the dark. The core was the first flame. The flame brought about many changes; it brought
Life, death, and of course light and dark. The creatures from the Dark obtained these
fundamental elements of life, death, light and dark from within the flame. They deemed
them Lord's Souls. The captures of these Lord's Souls would become
personifications of the elements they begot. First was Nito, the capture of and personification
of death. Soon to follow was the Witch, the mother who borne children and manifest life.
Gwyn would seize the light, so gloriously incandescent. And the final Lord's Soul, was
Dark -- hidden and forgotten. With their newfound power the Lords challenged
the dragons on the surface. Gwyn hurled bolts of sunlight; peeling away the dragon's immortal
skin. Nito diseased their exposed flesh, leaving them decayed. And the witches burnt their
sanctuaries, the arch trees. In the end, the Lords were victorious over
the Everlasting Dragons. But at great cost. The dragons shall never be forgotten...
We knights fought valiantly, but for every one of them, we lost three score of our own.
With devastating loses The Age of Ancients was no more. A new age was upon the world;
the Age of Fire; the Age of Gwyn. After the War of Ancients, the Dragons were
driven nearly into extinction by Gwyn and his faithful knights. With the dragons removed
from the surface the Lords were given opportunity to flourish and for a time the Age of Fire
was prosperous. During this time Gwyn had three children; an unknown firstborn son,
a daughter Gwynevere and a frail boy Gwyndolin. Additionally, great cities and civilizations
were formed. With culture came covenants to worship and pay homage to these great deities,
and many humans took the Lords as their Gods; none more-so than Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight.
But, Gwyn himself either loathed humanity or feared it all the same, made evident by
those closest to the Lord of Sunlight and their attitude toward humans.
Halt! This is the tomb of the Great Lord Gwyn.
Tarnished, it shall not be, by the feet of men.
You humans... ...always taking what you please, always resorting
to force. Humans... mmmhhh, what vile creatures
Thou are strong, human. Surely thine kind are more than pure dark
Gwyn's disdain for humans was rooted in a fear of the Dark Soul; the counterbalance
to his power. The first human, the pygmy who found the Dark Soul, split the lightless Lords
soul into countless shards, bequeathing the fragments to humans; giving them their humanity.
The Lord of Sunlight found though, that if humanity was sacrificed to the First Flame
through the Fire Link, the destruction of Dark Soul fragments brightened the light;
fueling the flame and igniting his power. Humans and the undead they produced would
be tolerated, but nothing more, if only to prolong the Age of Fire and prosperity.
But where humans thrive in great concentration, darkness seems to accumulate as well; little
by little inching forward, consuming the light. As humans became more prosperous the First
Flame began to fade. In fear of the dark and the dwindling First Flame, Gwyn seeks the
Witch of Izalith for aid once again. At Gwyn's behest, the Witch of Izalith attempts to use
the power of her Lord's Soul in combination with pyromancy magic to duplicate the First
Flame, but the powerful spell is corrupted and births life to all demons instead.
Gwyn is now confronted with a new threat of chaotic demons in addition to the darkness.
War on all fronts is spreading Gwyn's influence and power thin. During the Great Demon War,
an unknown primordial serpent approaches the sorcerers of Oolacile; pleading with them
to upturn the grave of Primeval Man, either to deliver the final blow, ending the Age
of Fire while it's weak or to scavenge what remains of the Dark Lord's Soul to satiate
the First Flame's hunger. Yet, neither goal is met as the Primeval Man fathered a light-devouring
Abyss and his rage infects humans, mutating their humanity; turning them into feral creatures.
In fear of the Abyss, Gwyn sends three of his greatest warriors to deal with the darkness
of Oolacile. Although the great knight Artorias was able to slay the Father of the Abyss,
none of the knights return from Oolacile; a devastating blow to Gwyn's strength. After
the fall of Oolacile, Gwyn orders the great human city New Londo to be purged, for there
are creatures there known to serve the dark even before the abyss was found in the city's
depths. At too great a risk to the Age of Fire, New Londo is flooded, murdering many
humans. The Lord of Sunlight is not unfamiliar with
genocide; he destroyed all the dragons to usher the Age of Fire into prominence, if
the humans must die as well, then so be it. The Lord of Sunlight will make any sacrifice
to insure the Age of Fire, but the massacre has unforeseen consequence.
Recognizing the dire situation many of the Gods of Anor Londo abandoned Lordran and with
many of Gwyn's allies perished or lost, the Age of Fire falls into a state of entropy;
decaying into obscurity. There is only one course of action that remains,
Gwyn will sacrifice himself to the Fire Link. Before departing he speaks with youngest son,
Gwyndolin the last remaining deity of Anor Londo, ordering him to shepherd the humans
to the North, away from Lordran, away from the Flame.
Gwyn is the Lord of Sunlight, but all suns must set; and in that twilight -- the period
when day is ending and night is beginning -- is what Gwyn fears the most; a time when
only dark will remain. With no other avenue to pursue, Gwyn ventures across the Ash Dunes
of the kiln into the heart of the Fire Link to reignite the dwindling Age of Fire.
...Thou will understand, one day. At thy twilight, old thoughts return, in great
waves of nostalgia. Gywn reaches forth with an absolute sense
of clarity; completely lucid of his willingness to sacrifice any life to prolong the Age of
Fire. As he touches the Fire Link, as the flame begins to consume the Soul it once offered,
in a moment too late with no return, Gwyn realizes what he truly sacrificed: Love, his
children, his integrity; everything he should have cherished... gone.
Now he only remains as a hollow; a husk. The Lord of Cinder, like the mindless undead;
devoid of humanity. If only Gwyn had not resented humanity, he
could have learned much from them: their willingness to sacrifice anything for the ones they love,
their unrelenting hope for the future, even when the universe has none to offer in return,
their magnificent strength and willpower to topple obstacles larger than themselves, their
hunger for knowledge and pursuit of the ultimate truths, their ability to be knocked down,
time and again only to stand up and fight once more.
Dark is not the end. Humanity is just the beginning. There is a balance to all things
and just as it started, so shall it finish in dark. For one era's end is another's Genesis.