What's up guys, I'm Dave Klein, and welcome to my Dark Souls Lore series.
Today, we're going to talk about the mystery that is the Goddess Velka.
From being associated in taking the Undead to Lordran, to her mysterious ties to the
Painted World, without ever appearing in the game, she has made a strong mark.
So -- Let's Begin.
We know from the Black Set and Velka's Rapier, both found in the Painted World of Ariamis,
that Velka is the "Goddess of Sin".
Oswald of Carim dons her gear, and is one of her pardoners who will pardon the Chosen
Undead of their sin.
According to the Mask of Velka: "The pardoners listen to the confessions of sinners, urging
reflection and salvation.
Their masks symbolize separation from worldly desires."
Velka maintains the "Book of the Guilty", where she "oversees the list of the guilty,
who have disrespected the Gods of their covenants, and shall one day face the wrath of the Blades
of the Darkmoon."
According to the Karmic Justic miracle "For each sin there is a punishment, and it is
the task of Goddess Velka to define the sin, and mete out the punishment."
We also know thanks to the Vow of Silence miracle, Velka is "a rogue deity, but she
is versed in arts both new and old, and is considered to have a great range of influence
even as gods are concerned."
What we gain from this is Velka is a deity not associated with the Gods of Lordran, who
is also rather smart, and knowledgable of both the new and old arts.
She seems to prefer her followers are intelligent over faithful, as Velka's Talisman allows
players to "[cast] miracles not by drawing upon faith, but intelligence."
In fact, even her rapier scales with intelligence, with a scaling grade of B.
We also know Velka has a strong association with Crows.
In the Painted World of Ariamis, crows can be found everywhere, guarding Velka's equipment
and miracles.
Flocks of crows will disperse as you approach her gear, and Half Crow/Half Humans stand
guard.
The Crow Hybrids also carry "Souvenirs of Reprisal", associated with the Book of the
Guilty.
Yet another connection is Velka is known as "The black-haired witch", similar to the statue
in the Painted World.
Finally, in the Dark Souls: Design Works, Miyazaki San is quoted saying: "[The Crow
Demons] were originally designed as worshippers of the Goddess Velka whose bodies were warped
by their devotion.
I think this obsession makes them really interesting characters."
We can therefore assume a number of things -- The crow who carries the Chosen Undead
from the Undead Asylum to Lodran is due to Velka, and all of the crows in the Painted
World are associated with her.
(Play video of Velka's crow taking the Chosen Undead to Lordran with tale playing out).
So -- here's the big question...
why is Velka taking the Chosen Undead to Lordran, and does she have anything to do with the
legend of the Undead?
First, let's rewind.
When taking a look at the Painted World of Ariamis, you will also find crows flocking
around and guarding the Dark Ember.
The Dark Ember being an "Ember required for weapon ascension.
The church long hid the forbidden black ember, and no living blacksmith knows of it.
Occult weapons were used to hunt the gods, and are effective against their following
and kin."
Outside of this, we also find Velka's Rapier, which just happens to do a large amount of
Occult damage and is an effective item for fighting big bad Gwyn.
Looking at the Effigy shield, we also know that "in an ill-fated plot to destroy the
very gods, the followers of the occult once attempted to steal the power of Gravelord
Nito, the first of the dead."
It would seem that Velka played a major role in the Occult rebellion, and may, in fact,
have been leading the charge.
Her weapon deals occult damage, her crows guard and protect the Dark Ember, and everything
associated with both Velka and the Occult has been locked away into the Painted of Ariamis.
But, the Occult rebellion failed.
"Greetings.
I am Oswald of Carim, the pardoner.
Thou art a friend.
For thee, a warm welome.
Cometh thou to confess?
Or to accuse?
For indeed all sin is my domain."
Velka is the Goddess of Sin, so why then is Gwyndolin metting out justice to those in
her book of guilty?
"The Goddess of Sin Velka oversees the list of the guilty, who have disrespected the Gods
of their covenants, and shall one day face the wrath of the Blades of the Darkmoon" -- the
Blades of the Darkmoon being Gwyndolin's Covenant.
We can also purchase Indictments from Oswald of Carim in order to add indicted players
onto the list of sinners, yet "The indicted player will be added to a list of unfortunate
souls who will one day face the wrath of the Blades of the Darkmoon."
For joining Gwyndolin's Blades of the Darkmoon, players are given a blue eye orb, and tasked
with invading the world of the guilty, collecting Souvenirs of Reprisal from them.
"These mystical orbs are granted to Blades of the Darkmoon, knights who serve the Dark
Sun Gwyndolin, so that they may serve the Gods in meting out vengeance."
This has lead some to speculate Gywndolin and Velka are working together...
Yet...
there are only two NPCs in the game who drop Souvenirs of Reprisal...
Lautrec of Carim and Velka's Crow Men.
Gwyndolin thereby REWARDS you for killing Velka's crow hybrids, and taking as many Souvenirs
of Reprisal as you can.
Velka's Talisman allows undead to cast miracles by using intelligence, where-as Gwyndolin's
Darkmoon Catalyst does the exact opposite - allowing undead to cast spells via faith,
and not intelligence -- with a faith scaling of A.
And what happens if players choose to kill Gwyndolin?
Oswald of Carim will gleefully greet you with a new piece of dialogue...
only available AFTER doing so: "GOOD TIDINGS, THOU ART WELCOME.
LAUDABLE IS THY DEDICATION TO SIN."
Oswald would seem to be congratulating the Undead for a job well done.
Bear in mind, again, Velka is the Goddess of Sin, not Justice.
Whether you are being congratulated for being sinful and killing Gwyndolin, or for killing
a sinner, that of Gwyndolin, you are still be congratulated, none-the-less.
Another point worth bringing up: As I discuss in my Four Kings Lore video, Velka and Carim's
influence can be found throughout New Londo.
The exact same statue built to honor Velka in the Painted World also exists on the Shrine
the Four Kings reside in.
It would seem, Velka even may have had a hand in the Four Kings betrayal of Gwyn, as no
statues of Him can be found anywhere throughout New Londo, even despite granting the Four
Kings a fragment of his Lord Soul.
So what does all of this say?
For one thing, it would seem that Velka was at war with Gywndolin.
Gwyndolin is systematically killing those in her Book of the Guilty, and if players
in the list are killed by a Blade of the Darkmoon, their ranking in the Book of the Guilty goes
down, making it possible that this is a bad thing.
Gywndolin is also having his covenant slaughter crows, while meanwhile, the intelligent "rogue"
deity Velka has been busy scheming against the Gods.
Yes, Velka is a schemer.
The nation most associated with Velka is Carim, which is a nation centered around scheming,
stealing, and backstabbing."
That tells us a lot.
You would think that if Velka was associated with Justice, the nation associated with her
would be all about that.
However, Carim seems to expound the exact opposite.
"I am free.
Now I can get back to work...
Keh heh heh heh..."
Lautrec of Carim schemes to take Anastacia's, the Firekeeper Soul, possibly for the love
of the Goddess Fina.
"What ever's the matter?
No, I can tell.
You need me more than ever.
Mwah hah hah!"
Marvelous Chester schemes to aid the chosen undead, and when their guard is down, destroy
them.
"Thou art welcome anytime.
It is only human to comit a sin...
Heh heh heh heh..."
Oswald schemes to use his priestly powers to absolve you of sins... for a price.
He even sells indictments, further seeming to encourage you to rat others out of their
sins -- thereby making them need absolution.
"Stocking up on Indictments?
How honourable of you.
Heh heh heh heh..."
Arstor of Carim, a famous earl from the region, utilizing his intelligence uses others to
benefit himself.
The various bite rings are "infamous bite rings commissioned by Sir Arstor
of Carim.
Despite the dreadful rumors surrounding its creation, this ring is an unmistakable asset"
He also creates Purging Stones which are a "Secret treasure of Arstor, the Earl of Carim.
[They] Reduce curse build-up and break curses.
Humans are helpless against curses, and can only redirect their influence.
The Purging Stone does not dispel curses, but receives them as a surrogate.
The stone itself was once a person or some other being."
Anyone we find clearly influenced by Velka is plotting something, and it would seem Velka,
the "rogue deity" has been scheming away herself.
I believe Velka plotted against the Gods and began the Occult rebellion.
Once this failed, she plotted a new strategy -- to utilize the Four Kings against the Gods.
When this failed, I believe she started the legend of the Undead, a legend that would
allow her to take various Undead Warriors into Lordran, and have them relentlessly attack
and destroy the Gods she has been warring with.
Gwyndolin attempts to counter this by manipulating the Undead into his own cause -- that of linking
the flames.
Some may think Gwyndolin started the Legend of the Undead, as several Undead from Astora
talk about it, but if that were the case, there is absolutely no reason Velka would
aid him, and take the Undead into Lordran for him.
This is definitely a huge point of contention, and I'm just giving you my theory, and I'd
love to hear what you guys believe?
Do you think it was Gwyndolin, Frampt, Velka, or some other being who started the legend?
But why plot against the Gods?
"For each sin there is a punishment, and it is the task of Goddess Velka to define the
sin, and mete out the punishment."
Perhaps Velka felt the Gods sinned, and it was time for their punishment.
Perhaps she felt Gwyndolin was overstepping his bounds by meting out punishment when that
was her duty.
Or, perhaps...
my belief: This is purely speculation, but I believe
Velka was around at the start of the Age of Fire... and viewed the Gods guilty for wiping
out the Dragons.
In the new regime, Gwyndolin has tried to take over her Godly role, giving even more
rise to her anger.
She is now meting out justice to the Gods of Lordran for the way they rose to power.
Alright guys, that wraps up my Velka lore video.
If you have any comments, thoughts, or theories on Velka, I'd love to hear.
Also, I want to give shout outs to MSPainting and John Quick for helping me piece together
this Velka lore video.
I hope you guys enjoyed, as I really tried to put a lot of time and thought into this
one.
I'll see ya next time!
Peace.