Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight
was the first Lord of Light
He feared the darkness, feared what it would do to his Age of Fire.
So he surrounded himself with powerful allies.
Even splitting his own soul, so that their power could be greater.
They would all fail him in the end.
Most abandoned the kingdom.
One went mad.
Another tried to relight the First Flame
But none compared to the treachery of the Four Kings
The Four Kings, who ruled over New Londo, were praised for their foresight.
Yet still they succumbed to the temptations of the Abyss
In exchange for the art of Lifedrain, the Four Kings gave up their kingdoms to Dark.
These were the events of long, long ago, and today no one remembers the kings' names
However, names change but the story remains the same and four kings again lose their kingdoms to the Abyss.
One of the four is Vendrick, the present Lord of Light
Like Gwyn before him, Vendrick surrounded himself with allies he trusted
He favoured simple warriors, who staked their every battle on strength alone
and he valued knowledge of all things
"My lord made magnificent findings on souls, an accomplishment for the ages."
"He vanquished the four Great Ones and built this kingdom upon their souls."
"Our King has watched over this land since ages long, long ago."
The man who was born to rule.
When he heard that the Giants from across the sea held a threat to his kingdom,
he vanquished them and claimed their strength.
When the Iron Kingdom fell, Vendrick sent his soldiers
to claim the replete stores of iron held in Brume Tower.
And when the Undead curse threatened his own kingdom,
Vendrick created monstrosities in the name of the greater good.
Everything he did, he did for his kingdom.
To serve him, the King had two he valued above all others, Raime and Velstadt.
These men were known as the Left and Right Arms of the King.
Even though they were as different as night and day.
Raime, the darker brother, cared deeply for his king.
He sought the man's admiration and saw Vendrick as a regal father-figure.
His greatshield was emblazoned with a great raven, an omen of death, but it was Raime's favourite bird.
This greatshield would one day be the only thing left of him in Drangleic, a foreshadowing of his fate.
Velstadt, the Right Arm of the King, was always at Vendrick's side,
as if he were his Lord's own shadow.
They say Drangleic is no place for any cleric with ambition.
Yet Velstadt had risen to the top
and remained the exception to his Lord's disregard of miracles.
The lore tells us that Velstadt was lured to Drangleic from a far away land
but forgot even why he came.
You can trace the man's origins to the sunken kingdom of Shulva
Where even now, amongst the ruins, a wrathful queen summons a follower in his image.
Such was his loyalty.
This queen brought destruction to her people and to her King.
She rose to power by gaining favor with the King and by singing to the ancient dragon they worshipped.
When the King of Shulva realised her true nature, it was already too late.
The ancient dragon awoke and spewed poison over the entire city
until only Elana, the Squalid Queen, remained.
If Velstadt is indeed from Shulva,
one has to wonder how he didn't see history repeating itself.
For the Darkness was rising, and his King was in danger.
Elana was not the only Child of Dark seeking a King.
A woman named Nashandra arrived in Drangleic and began courting the current King.
"She warned Our Lord of the looming threat across the seas, of the Giants."
"The King crossed the ocean and defeated the Giants with the Queen at his side."
There was no better way to seduce Vendrick, and the Queen knew it.
He valued this kingdom above all else and would vanquish any enemy to keep it safe.
So one has to ask:
Were the Giants ever a threat? Or were they simply a target Nashandra used to gain Vendrick's trust?
Regardless, Vendrick conquered the Giants' homeland and counted the battle as won.
"The Queen brought peace to this land and to her king"
"A peace so deep..."
"...it was like..."
"...the Dark."
A man can be judged by the company he keeps
and the company Vendrick kept was loyal indeed.
Velstadt, the Royal Aegis, would follow his King into darkness, if need be.
But there is a difference between loyalty to a King and loyalty to a kingdom.
So only one saw Nashandra for what she truly was,
while the other was blinded by faith.
Raime.
Raime was denounced as a traitor for speaking for his kingdom, but against the King and Queen.
Velstadt, utterly faithful towards the crown, would vanquish Raime for daring to question the monarchy.
So the Two Arms of the King clashed, instead of facing the true threat.
Nashandra had eliminated any threats to the kingdom, and had found a King blinded by love.
She was perfectly poised to usurp the throne, and Raime saw it.
The King's tragic flaw was his pride and Velstadt's flaw was his mindless faith.
For without tolerating those who challenge us, how can we grow?
The Light is always moving forward, and the Darkness will only win when the Light stops seeking it out.
With the kingdom at peace, Nashandra had halted the kingdom's momentum and Darkness crept closer.
Velstadt should have recognised the pattern that took place long ago in Shulva.
Both of his Kings were being manipulated by a Child of Dark.
Yet Velstadt did nothing to stop it happening again.
His faith in his King was absolute. The truth, irrelevant.
The King valued strength and loyalty, and both were on display here.
Velstadt fought for his King, Raime for the fate of his kingdom.
Both were loyal, both were powerful.
Yet Velstadt was the victim.
Raime was not killed for his treason, he was exiled.
His strength had not been enough, so he left the kingdom in search of greater strength.
He would never return.
He had learned that being right is meaningless without power to back it up.
Anyone could see that the kingdom was deteriorating under Nashandra's rule.
Yet Velstadt's faith had overpowered the truth.
Velstadt had come from a kingdom where a Dark Queen remained.
So perhaps Raime set out to check if other kingdoms had suffered the same fate?
So it was that he found himself in Brume Tower
A place that had once belonged to the Iron King before his fall.
It was common knowledge that the Iron King had taken no Queen.
So what Raime found there must have chilled him and corfirmed his fears about Nashandra.
The entire tower had been enveloped by a black fog.
It repelled any who came close,
haunting suits of armor, and fighting off any soldiers who attempted to enter.
However, Raime was not most soldiers.
A stalwart warrior, Raime had the ability to expunge the black fog.
He was strong, and tracked the black fog to its source at the base of the tower.
Amongst the remnants of a past kingdom covered in ash was Nadalia, the Ashen Maiden.
Nadalia arrived at this tower seeking a King, but was too late.
The King she seeked had already sunk below the molten iron and his rule had passed.
Dispirited, this Child of Dark made Brume Tower her home,
in the place she might have ruled alongside her King.
Perhaps Raime's original intent was to banish Nadalia, the Dark Queen of Brume Tower.
If he could do this, then he could return with proof to his kingdom and make his King see the truth.
At some point after entering Brume Tower though, this changed.
Just like Raime, Nadalia was deprived of a King and kingdom.
Perhaps they found some mutuality in this.
Raime decided to trust this Child of Dark, allowing her to cling to his sword in her miasmic form.
Raime was reborn, granted true purpose under a newfound mother, rather than a regal father.
Which begs the question:
Could such a Queen be evil? Or was Raime another victim of a Dark Queen's manipulation?
After Raime left Drangleic, the kingdom collapsed.
The Giants invaded, with revenge in their hearts
and Nashandra took the throne, forcing Vendrick into hiding.
Velstadt followed his King into the Undead Crypt, where he would guard him in darkness forever.
Raime remained in Brume Tower, protecting the Ashen Maiden from harm.
And then you come, seeking answers in empty kingdoms.